The alarm goes off at 5 am just as it does every day and Jieun slowly sits up from the comfort of her bed to get ready for another day in the miserable world. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and moves the covers from her legs, she shivers as the cold air hits her body and quickly crawls out of bed to throw on a pair of jeans. There’s no use in looking pretty when you’re just gonna work the morning shift at a small café right around the corner.

She grabs a cute blouse from her closet and throws her hair up in a bun, she spots her little purse on the table with the little makeup she owns and figures that a little mascara won’t hurt. She grabs the wand and applies a little on her lashes, it doesn’t do very much but it does open her eyes a bit so she doesn’t look half dead, which is a win in her book.

As she exits her's room and moves down the hall to the kitchen she makes sure to stay on her tippy toes so that she doesn’t wake her brother in the room next to hers, there’s no use in him being up this early.

The kitchen is dark and she goes to draw the curtains away from the window, it’s a floor to roof type of window and it really does open up the room, it’s quite nice to sit there in the morning and drink a cup of tea. But she doesn’t have the time for that now, she grabs an apple from the table and a pack of ramen from the basket on the shelf over her head. Healthy breakfast and a not so healthy lunch is an everyday occurrence for Jieun.

She exits the kitchen and into the hallway where her and her brother’s shoes are lined up right by the door, a pair of old converse and a pair of old sneakers. Not much of a line.

She puts on her converse and a sweater hanging on the door, it’s probably Jungkook’s but he won’t notice that it’s gone. She grabs a pen and quickly scribbles on the board beside the door, “don’t forget your lunch! It’s in the fridge, have a nice day :)” , she can’t even begin to count how many times she’s gotten a text from her brother with the words “thanks for reminding me,” so she always makes sure to leave a reminder by the door before she goes to work. She grabs her keys from the holder and exits the apartment quietly. Outside the door sits Mr. Booshin, an old housecat that belongs to the old lady on the floor above them that sometimes leaves cookies outside of their door when she goes overboard with the baking. She bends down and pats his head in greeting, he purrs and moves closer but Jieun doesn’t have time to get cozy with a cat, so she stands up abruptly and walks away.

It’s not cold outside, but it’s not hot either. She knows the day will grow hotter as time passes but this early in the morning it’s not really pleasant and she hugs her body tightly as she walks down the empty street. There’s no one outside beside her and she envies the people who are still in bed, cuddling their warm comforter and pillows.

As she reaches the corner of the street she catches sight of a few people huddling close together in the alleyway and she quickly looks away and hurries to open the door to the café, no one’s outside at this hour in this sketchy neighborhood, except for her and criminals.

She turns on the lights as soon as she gets inside and the place comes to life, it’s a relatively small shop but it pays well, is close to home, and offers flexible hours, which is really all she can ask for. And if the boss sometimes drags her