Chapter Text
Yoongi was close to crashing.
But he couldn't do that in the middle of his shift, he needed to make it back home. Just a little more than an hour then he could clock out and head back to his apartment. But staying for even ten more minutes seemed like an impossible task to him. If he had to deal with one more demanding customer, he would snap. And then probably lose his job in the process.
“Sir, please.” He pleaded with the customer. “We’re booked. You need to make a reservation if you want to have a table.”
The man didn't seem to be happy with his words. “I told you I made a fucking reservation already!” He growled. “Check your system again, you fucking idiot.”
The man had made it clear that he had no respect for Yoongi. This was the third insulting name that the alpha had called him in the span of seven minutes. Yoongi had to hold back his tears at the harsh treatment, and went to check the list again, per the man’s request. No, order.
“We still don't have you in here. If you would like to make a reservation, I can have a table open for you in about two hours.” He said, trying to keep the tears from surfacing. Thank god he had his scent blockers on, so that the man couldn't smell his distressed scent.,
“Clearly you can’t do your fucking job.” The man snapped. “You’ve just lost a loyal customer. I hope you’re happy.” He said, turning on his heel and walking out the door in a huff. His unpleasant scent still lingered in the air.
The people who were watching the scene gave Yoongi a few pitying looks and slowly started to go back to their conversations, and Yoongi gripped the counter, trying to keep himself from having a mental breakdown in the middle of work.
He was running on minimal sleep for the past couple of weeks, and was struggling to keep his eyes open. The fact that he kept working overtime at his part time jobs wasn't helping. He had to use makeup to hide the bags under his eyes, so that his roommate wouldn't worry about his bad sleeping habits.
Yoongi gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. According to his watch, only an hour and seventeen minutes to go. He could do this.
It was fucking hard to, but somehow, he made it to the end of his shift.
Luckily, he didn't have to deal with any more annoying customers, but somehow, today seemed harder than normal. The fucking headache that he had wouldn't go away, along with the added stress of some tests coming up. He had to get home and study, like, three hours ago.
He grabbed his coat and said goodbye to his co-workers, before nearly sprinting out of the building. The moment he opened the door the cool autumn breeze hit him. It was almost enough to get him out of his annoyed attitude. He loved fall, more than anything. The colors, the flavors, the overall mood, was amazing to Yoongi.
He set off on a brisk walk to his apartment. His coat did almost nothing to keep out the cold air. Although he loved fall, he wished that it wasn't so chilly. He also wished that his job paid more so that he could buy a better coat. But that was at the bottom of his list at the moment. At the top was focusing on paying his bills, and maybe buying dinner.
It was about a fifteen minute walk to his apartment from the restaurant. It would have been shorter if Yoongi hadn't stopped to look at every couple that sat together in a cafe, sharing a desert. His heart ached every time he saw couples. He never had a boyfriend, only pitiful one night stands before his schedule got too hectic and he had to put a stop to his sex life.
Soon, he arrived at his apartment complex. Just his luck, the elevator had a large ‘Out of Order’ sign hanging on it. Great. Now he would have to climb up six flights of stairs to get to his apartment.
It wasn't that Yoongi wasn't fit, quite the contrary. He worked out relatively often, along with the fact that he had to walk everywhere he went. But something about walking up all those stairs that day made him run out of breath extremely quickly. The extra exercise only made his head pound even more than it already was.
When he finally reached his apartment, he realized that the door was already unlocked. His roommate must already be home.
“I’m back.” He called out, and immediately regretted doing so. The loud noise furthered the aching in his head.
“Hyung!” He heard Felix yell from the other room. The younger boy came rushing into the room. “How was your day?”
Yoongi flinched. “Can you quiet down a bit? I feel like a hammer is pounding into my skull right now.”
Felix frowned. “Not good, apparently. Given the fact that I was speaking at a normal level.” He took Yoongi’s jacket from his shoulders. “Do you wanna go lie down for a bit? I can make you some tea, that might make your head feel better.”
Yoongi sighed. “I can't, Lixie.” He said, rubbing his temples in an attempt to lessen the pain. “I have to study, I have tests coming up, and I really can’t afford to fail them.”
Felix gave him a worried look. “Dude, you had like, two hours of sleep last night. You really need to rest.”
Felix was telling the truth. He had a late shift the night before on his second job, leaving him with only a couple hours of sleep before he had to get up for classes in the morning.
“I swear, I’ll get some sleep tonight.” He said. A total fucking lie and he knew it. He had an early shift at the cafe the next morning, and he had to study his ass off that night. He would have time to have more than an hour of shut eye.
Felix let out a resigned sigh. “Fine.” He said, hanging Yoongi’s coat up on the wall. “I trust you to take care of yourself. Don't overwork yourself again.” He gave Yoongi a hug. “I’ll be over at Channie hyung’s house if you need anything.”
The younger omega was lucky. He had managed to capture the hearts of another pack, something that Yoongi had failed to do. Felix had seven other pack members that absolutely adored him. And as much as Yoongi was happy for him, he couldn't help but feel jealous too.
He watched as Felix left the dorm with a cheerful ‘Goodbye, Hyung’. Once he left, Yoongi sighed. He went to the kitchen and started the kettle, thinking that Felix was right. Maybe some tea would help him with his headache. Once the water was boiling, he looked around to see what type of tea they had. He wasn’t really surprised when all he found was a simple black tea. It was all their budget could afford. But hey. At least it was caffeinated. That would work.
How long had Yoongi been awake at this point? All the caffeine that he had consumed was starting to wear off now, leaving him more tired than he had ever been. He looked at the top of his computer screen.
3:17 am
He had been awake for twenty hours, and he needed to get some fucking sleep before he had to leave in a few hours. Yoongi sighed, and gave his paper one last look. It needed editing, but he could do that during his lunch break, and then turn it in afterwards.
With a lot of willpower, he shut his laptop and pushed it away next to his long forgotten tea. He didn't have enough energy to drag himself to his room, so he decided to sleep on the couch. Head still pounding, he grabbed one of Felix’s blankets that lay on the couch and pulled it over him, hoping that he could fall asleep soon.
Surprisingly, he did.
Yoongi had actually managed to get three full hours of sleep, and he was proud of himself. It was more than he had been able to get at a time in the past month. Of course, he wouldn't tell Felix that, as the boy would probably drag him to his pack's leader, and he would probably get the scolding of a lifetime. Of course, Yoongi was older than Chan, but holy fuck, could the man be scary when he wanted to be.
Yoongi wanted to avoid all possible scoldings, so he kept quiet when Felix called him in the morning.
“Morning, hyung!” Came Felix’s energetic voice over the phone. “How was your sleep?”
Yoongi groaned. Of course, he loved hearing the omega’s voice, but the call had woken him up from his much needed sleep.
“Lixie.” He yawned. “Now I love you, but why must you be calling me at the ungodly hour of-“ He checked the clock.
6:52
“Fuck!” He yelled out, tearing the blanket off of him. He had forgotten to set a fucking alarm. How could he be so stupid? “Forget what I said. You’re a fucking savior, Lixie.”
He could practically hear the younger man smirking through the phone. “I know, hyung. I know. Now, chop chop. That shift isn’t going to work itself.” He hung up the phone as Yoongi quickly put on his shoes. He was still in his clothes from the day before, but it was fine. He could change at work.
He did his best to brush his hair so that he didn’t look like he had just woken up and so that he looked presentable. He quickly grabbed his computer and shoved it in his bag before grabbing his coat and practically sprinting out the door. Fuck having breakfast, he didn’t have time. Maybe if he was lucky, he could snag something at work.
He honestly could have kissed Felix right then. He had been so tired when he went to sleep, that he had forgotten about his shift at the cafe in the morning. It was almost like Felix knew his schedule better than he knew it himself.
The cold fall wind cut through his jacket. Yoongi wasn’t surprised, though. The jacket had been cheap and had multiple rips in it that he had tried to patch. But buying another one like this would mean no dinner for a few nights, and he would only have to replace it again soon, and forget even the thought of buying a good quality one. That would mean giving up a month's rent.
He checked his phone for the time and saw that he was barely on time. It was a relatively quick walk from his apartment to his second job, unlike the restaurant, which was a little ways away. He liked his job at the cafe a lot more than the one at the restaurant, as the people there were, most of the time, actually fucking nice. And on the occasion that they did get a bad customer, there was always someone else there to cheer him up.
He arrived at said cafe a minute later. He shivered a bit when he opened the door and was engulfed in warm air.
“Yoongi!” Minho said from over by the counter. “I thought you were going to be late!”
Yoongi gave a small smile. “I accidentally overslept, I’m sorry.” He shut the door behind him and quickly went to the staff room in the back, with Minho following him.
“Well, at least you slept.” The beta said. “I thought you were going to stay up all night working on your paper.” Yoongi didn't have the heart to tell him that he almost did.
Minho was the beta of Felix’s newfound pack, as well as Yoongi’s boss. That sure had been an awkward affair when Felix had introduced Yoongi to the rest of the pack. However, his good reputation at work saved him and he too soon became an honorary pup of the group.
He set his bag down and grabbed out his uniform. “I’ll be right out, just give me a minute.” Minho nodded and went back to opening up the cafe.
Yoongi put his uniform on slowly, fatigue still in his limbs. He did his best to make the uniform not look too messy, but it proved hard due to the fact that he was fighting to keep his eyes open. The adrenaline that fueled him to get to work was wearing off, and his lack of sleep was catching up to him even more. Hopefully, he could keep Minho off his scent and keep the show of being a fully functioning person up for a few more hours. He also hoped that the scent blockers would hold up for that time. He also hoped that his scent didn't betray how tired he was. But he knew that betas didn't have as strong noses as alphas or other omegas.
He finished tying his apron and slowly walked out of the room. His headache was still killing him, but he couldn't ask Minho for painkillers. The beta would catch onto his distressed state and probably send him straight home. And Yoongi couldn't have that. He needed to pay his bills.
So instead, he tried to focus on something other than the pain. He focused on the day ahead of him, and how if he was lucky, he could get some tteokbokki for cheap if it was on sale.
When he reached the cafe counter, he put on a welcoming smile for the first customer of the day. Then he said the words that he would be repeating for the next couple hours.
“Welcome to Pied Piper, how may I help you?”