I am going to kill someone. I opened the front door, completely and utterly done with today. Work totally , and I just wanted to lounge around or even take a nap. The house was still and quiet, which was a bit strange because I was so used to being greeted by a blaring TV thanks to Takumi, or hearing Soyeon’s signature cackle echoing and reverberating throughout the house. Heck, even as I passed the kitchen, Ricky wasn’t there. He would usually be rummaging through the fridge for a snack around this time. 

“Maybe I get some quiet time for myself, heck, I deserve it,” I grumbled out loud, heading to my room to change my shirt. I was still feeling a little sticky, and that realization made me angry all over again. I was going to take a shower and change out of the soiled shirt.

“Ah, noona, you’re back.” The sudden voice made me jump. I reared my head and saw Vernon ambling towards me from his own room, munching on potato chips. He flashed me a toothy grin once he realized I got startled by him. I was a bit pissy, but seeing the maknae of the house made my heart soften a little.

“Vernonie, where are the others?” I asked him as we stood outside of my room. Apparently the others went on a triple date; Takumi and Mingyu suggested they go to the zoo, to which Seokmin quickly agreed, with Soyeon being equally excited. Ricky was also game, it was Woozi that was the hardest to convince. That’s no surprise, he has nearly the same apathy level as me when it comes to mushy dates. Knowing Ricky, he probably ered Woozi into going. Either that or he begged him endlessly until the smol one succumbed. And I already knew my boyfriend wasn’t home yet, he was, of course, still working. 

“Why didn’t you want to go with them?” I knew Vernon would’ve enjoyed the zoo outing too.

“Isn’t it obvious? Without Jun there, I would automatically be the third wheel. Which is insane considering that there are three couples to make me look lonely.” I felt his struggle and patted his head, earning me another smile. 

“Anyway, I heard you mutter something earlier. Is something wrong?” Wow, I wonder if Vernon picked up my observation skills or he’s just really good at reading emotions… 

“Nah, I’m just kind of irritated from work. I have to take a shower now, I got some fish sauce on me.” Vernon glanced down at my shirt, seeing a weird brown blot. 

“That’s not just some sauce on you, it’s almost like a puddle. There has to be a story behind this,” He deduced, pointing directly at the stain. I wave his hand away gently and promise him that I will tell him after I shower and change into fresh clothes.

“Kay, meet me in the living room after.” The maknae padded away as I went to fetch a change of clothing. I took my shower and I felt a little calmer. I patted my hair more with the towel, then when I was satisfied, I went down to the living room as promised. Vernon was looking over some papers. Curiously, I joined him on the couch, trying to peer at the paper.

“What is that?” I asked, but the youngest sheepishly hid the papers from view. 

“Just something I’ve been working on, but it’s not complete yet,” he replied.

“But enough about me, what happened at work?” I hesitated, not really knowing why. It’s probably because I’ve never actually vented to Vernon before, he was the youngest after all. I usually talked to Takumi, Soyeon and Ricky. I didn’t even really vent much to Jun, in fact, I told more problems to Mingyu because I felt like he was the easiest to talk to out of the lovers. But it was just me and Vernon here now, so I might as well try.

“Work is work, but something really stupid happened today. So we had this huge influx of customers during lunch, which wasn’t too unusual. But my coworker was feeling sick, so she was slower than usual. That’s why I had to take more of the customers, making me work harder. I was trying to do the best I could with all the commotion going on, but then this really pissy customer came back, interrupting my current order at the time. This lady, whom I’ve never seen come here before, was being really y just because I accidentally punched in the wrong type of fish.” Vernon had his eyebrows scrunched, looking nonplussed.

“She was yelling at me, but I still had a transaction to finish. She didn’t care. I tried to keep my cool as I rung up my current customer, who looked apologetic that I was being lectured during this time. I finished the order but the y lady just marched straight up to the front of the counter with her wrong order. I calmly told her that the price of what she originally ordered and the item I rung up were the same so all I had to do was switch them, but she told me this was too much hassle and that if she were the boss, she would’ve fir