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namjin | hybrds | 3.7k words

Seokjin hums as he rolls his neck, then stretches his hands overhead with a groan. He pauses when his gaze falls on the clock on the other side of the room reading 03:19.

“Huh. That can’t be right.” Seokjin glances at the paperwork in front of him, then reaches out to take his phone and grimaces.

03:19.

He can practically see his grandmother shaking her head in disapproval, before gently scolding him about staying so late and not getting enough rest. Still, he takes a deep breath and quickly finishes the paperwork. By the time he’s done and locking the front of the teahouse, its already almost four in the morning.

At least none of the staff scheduled for the opening shift caught him still working.

The streets are quiet this late, though Seokjin has sometimes encountered someone headed into an early work shift. He likes it this way — peaceful.

Seokjin hikes his shoulders up to tuck his face into his coat as he turns the corner. As the owner of the teahouse, he was lucky to find an apartment that was close, especially for late nights like this one.

His teahouse was one of the very few businesses with long opening hours — opening early for those that enjoyed the morning, and closing a little after midnight. That was something the university students in particular enjoyed, especially when they needed a quiet place to cram for any upcoming exams.

It works best for Seokjin, and even though he doesn’t need to with the more than reliable staff he’s hired, he shows up every day because it’s the one place that quiets the steady buzzing in his head.

The buzzing that has slowly grown over the past several minutes as he enters his apartment building and heads up the stairs. He exits the stairwell onto his floor, then walks to the door at the very end of the hall. A long sigh leaves him as he stands in the entryway, the door shutting behind him. He doesn’t bother turning on the light, instead walking through his home with practiced ease as he heads to the bathroom to shower, then all but collapses in his bed.

His alarm wakes him a few hours later, early morning sunlight peeking out from underneath his drapes. Seokjin slowly opens his eyes and stares blankly at the ceiling, vision swimming for a little bit before clearing. His body feels heavy, and the buzzing in his head continues. He rolls to his side before reaching for his phone to see the time.

07:48.

He maybe “slept” for a little over two hours then, which might be a new record. He can’t remember the last time he truly slept. Sitting up, Seokjin runs a hand through his hair, scrunching his face as the buzzing grows a little louder before settling back to its favored volume. He pushes himself out of bed and shuffles through his morning routine, and soon he’s shrugging on his coat and heading out the door.

Now, the streets have slowly come to life with people on their way to work, the younger kids latched to their parents, or a group of older teens chatting quietly. Seokjin nods to the ahjussi opening his store as he walks past, then lifts a hand to the aunties on the other side of the road before turning the corner.

His teahouse soon comes into view, and as he gets closer, the buzzing slowly fades out, pushed to back of his mind as he slides the front door open.

“Ah, Seokjin-hyung, you’re here!” Jongyul gives him a warm smile, and pulls a tray from the side. Jongyul is the head of his staff, and has been there since the teahouse opened a few years ago,