"I'm sorry?"

The handsome stranger kept looking at his feet and shifting uncomfortably, but finally looked up into Jongdae's eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I'd...I'd like to apply for a job here. I'm sorry, I know it's not very professional to ask this way but I'm-"

"Sure."

"Ahh!"

Jongdae and the stranger both turned to find Jongin rubbing his knee which had just smacked into the side of a table, unaware that the reason was because Jongin was so shook by Jongdae's response that his head whipped around as he was walking, causing him to bump into the table.

What the are you doing?

Jongdae was officially at war with his brain, and for some reason couldn't care less that he was currently acting as brash and impulsive as a 5-year-old willing to eat sand to get his favourite toy. 

"Oh, really?"

The stranger's eyes lit up, his smile so wide Jongdae was blinded. From the corner of his eye, Jongdae noticed Minseok's head drop and shake, and turned to find Minseok glaring daggers into him. He just knew what his older friend was thinking.

You utter, utter moron.

"I-I mean, you can have the job but just uhm, just after an interview so that we can see if you're suitable for the role and if you are, then the position's all your's!"

Jongdae rocked back and forth on his feet, clapping his hands and laughing so forcedly and awkwardly that Minseok wanted to just slap him with a fish. 

"Oh oh yes, of course, I'm willing to do it whenever is most convenient."

"Uh..."

Jongdae raised his eyebrows, making an expression of contemplation before glancing at his watch.

"Actually, we could have it now if you can."

In all honesty, Jongdae just wanted to hire the handsome man as soon as possible.

Was he being irrational?

Yes.

Was he being unprofessional and reckless?

Indeed.

Did he give a single because this man was just too perfect that he wanted to cry?

Hell no. 

Jongdae didn't even have to look at Minseok to know he was giving him the most disappointed, disapproving look.

Whatever.

Jongdae was a good man who believed in giving people a shot. 

He was practically Mother Theresa. 

"Oh, now? Oh, yes, yes sure now's good."

With that, the shook but enthusiastic stranger and Jongdae proceeded into Jongdae's office for what Minseok knew was going to be the catalyst of the downfall of Milky Way. 

"Kim Junmyeon."

Jongdae nodded as he wrote down the name on a paper he had grabbed and titled "Application of Mr Perfect Kim Junmyeon"

"Okay, so uhm, why don't you tell me about yourself then Junmyeon."

Jongdae sat back, assuming the stance of an employer judging an applicant when internally he was just admiring how nice Junmyeon's skin was.

Must be so soft...

Like marshmallows.

Marshmallow cheeks that I just wanna chew on and- . STOP IT JONGDAE.

"Right, I'm 26 years old, I've lived in Seoul my whole life. I uhm...I love coffee! Haha, uh..."

Junmyeon chuckled but then went quiet, wringing his hands on the table as he seemed to go into deep thought. 

Jongdae was never really good at filling in awkward silences. He knew as an employer interviewing a candidate, he should say something. But for some reason, Jongdae remained quiet, waiting for Junmyeon to speak whenever he was ready. He noticed a nerve protruding on Junmyeon's shiny forehead from his intense frown, and for a second his chest clenched as he realised Junmyeon seemed to be a very troubled person. 

Finally after a few seconds of silence, Junmyeon sighed and looked up.

"Truth is, I've never worked in a cafe before. I don't know how to operate a coffee machine, heck I'm not even good at making my own coffee. I've never served customers and I've never worked at a cash register. I have no experience whatsoever."

Wow.

If there was one thing Jongdae had learnt about Junmyeon so far, it was that he really at job interviews.

"But..."

Junmyeon bit his lip, and Jongdae moved forward in his chair slightly, anticipating the rest of his sentence.

"What I do have is an intense passion to do my best in whatever I do. I'm a very hard worker and I'd like to think I'm a pretty fast learner as well. I'm very enthusiastic and willing to commit 100% to whatever responsibility I am given. I may not know anything, and I may not be good, but I can promise that I would work endlessly to make sure whatever results I produce are of quality and don't disappoint. I'm not the best by any means, but if there's one thing that's for sure about me, it's that I give my best in every single thing I do."

Oh .

Jongdae didn't know if the chill that went down his spine was from how effective Junmyeon's speech was, or how cheesy it was.

But it was definitely impressive. 

Jongdae was so caught up in paying attention to Junmyeon's intense speech that he had forgotten to take down a single word. 

Not that it made a difference anyway.

"The reason I'm here..."

Oh there's more.

"Is because, well, honestly I just really need a job. I've grown up my whole life being told what to do, how I'm supposed to live, what my future is going to be. And today I just...I decided I didn't want to be told anymore. I want to stand on my own two feet, and do a job that I found, not a job I was given. I know the right thing to say in my position would be that I have a passion for this job or that I'm good at it, but I would be lying if I said that. The truth is, I just need a job. And today happened to be a day where I came to a cafe which had a position available. So, I really do hope you consider me for this position, not for any skills I may possess, but because I know how hard I work for something I really want and need."

Jongdae shook his head in amusement, while Junmyeon caught his breath from his verbal diarrhoea. 

"You know...you're really bad at job interviews."

Junmyeon nodded, arching a brow and looking around.

"Yeah I uh- I just realised that."

"You've given me 100 reasons to not hire you."

Junmyeon nodded again, rubbing the back of his neck (a habit, Jongdae assumed, whenever he got sheepish or nervous)

"Yeah, I don't know, just figured it's better to be honest than sell myself as something I'm not."

As Junmyeon dropped his head and braced himself for the inevitable rejection, Jongdae decided to actually put aside his attraction and consider Junmyeon as a serious prospect for the cafe. 

After contemplating for a while, Jongdae made up his mind and let out a breath, praying that his next 2 words were not going to end up being his demise.  

"You're hired."