MONDAY

The clock strikes 10:55am.

Hongbin lets out a heavy sigh as he flips the sign from ‘closed to open.’

Another day at Starlight Subs. Another Monday.

And Mondays are the absolute worst.

Hongbin wonders why he even took this job.

And then he remembers why; it’s because of Sanghyuk.

//

They were out on one of their morning walks when they passed by the local sandwich shop, Starlight Subs. They'd both seen it many times, but today on the front door was a huge sign in bold letters reading, ‘HELP WANTED.’

Sanghyuk is the first to notice.

“Whoa! Look at this sign!” he says, dragging Hongbin’s arm to get a closer look.

Hongbin’s eyebrows furrowed. “What about it?” he puzzles.

“We should both go apply for jobs!”

“What??”

Having just graduated from university, Hongbin wanted to hit the ground running and jumpstart his career as a photojournalist.

But unfortunately, such a job was scarce on the market. He had quite a lot of searching to do, which was likely to take a while.

On the other hand, Sanghyuk still had a year left of school to go, striving to complete his graphic design major.

They live together in an apartment located in the middle of the city, about a short drive away from the university campus.

They’ve been dating for about three years now, having met at the university library, but only started living together a little less than a year ago.

And in that time, they’ve gotten to know the ins and outs of each other pretty well.

Immediately, Hongbin reads the expression on Sanghyuk’s face. His eyes widen.

“Honey. No. I don’t have time, and you definitely don’t have time. Won’t it be hard juggling this along with your final academic year?”

“I mean, maybe, but look! It says the hours are flexible! We can be flexible!”

Hongbin assesses the sign, beginning to think about the idea of having a part time job.

It could be good for them. It would hold him over until he found a photojournalist opening, and it would keep Sanghyuk busy when he wasn’t too loaded with coursework.

They could put their earnings towards paying the bills, buying groceries, and other things.

Other things, like dates! Dates are fun!

Hongbin makes a decision. He turns to Sanghyuk, who has been looking over at him with huge, puppy dog eyes this whole time.

He smiles, and takes Sanghyuk by the hand.

“Alright. Let’s go in and apply for a job,” he says. “I’m sure something can work out for us.”

“Yay!” Sanghyuk squeals. “You’re the best!” He presses a quick kiss to Hongbin’s cheek.

Hongbin blushes.

“Sheesh, you’re so weird,” he says, opening the door and leading them in.

And with that, Hongbin and Sanghyuk scored themselves part time jobs at Starlight Subs.

//

Hongbin hears a crash sound, followed by a high pitched shout of:

“SANGHYUK! YOU DROPPED THE TOMATOES!”

He turns around. No one’s there with him, so he shrugs and figures the sound came from the basement.

The basement is accessed via stairs through a door behind the sandwich counter, off-limits to the customers (not like anyone would want to go down there anyway).

There, all the food is stored and refrigerated if necessary. It took Hongbin about two weeks to memorize the inventory and their respective locations. On the left, top shelf, are the condiments. On the right, middle shelf, are the crates of vegetables. He knows all of it.

He also happens to know that there’s an empty space in the corner that’s perfect for secret make-out sessions with Sanghyuk in between their sandwich stacking.

Hongbin is proud to say that he’s the one who figured that one out.

At this moment, Sanghyuk emerges from the basement door pouting, followed by an enraged Wonshik.

Wonshik is the cashier and deli manager for Starlight Subs. He’s probably the most hardworking of the staff, aside from Hakyeon, the restaurant's operations manager.

Every day, he keeps track of their stock, ordering anything more if necessary and checking if any products reached their expiration date.

Wonshik has an exasperated expression on his face. “Sanghyuk,” he chides. “Haven’t I told you to be more careful when we’re moving the food around?”

“The crate was slippery!” Sanghyuk says defensively. “I