Chapter 3:

Walking on greasy floors without slip resistant shoes.

*Jungkook POV*

“Hello there Jungkook!” Eunhyuk said pleasantly. “N said you would be back here. Seeing as there are a lot of people tonight, do you mind if I bring the others over here to fill out paper work, too?” I nodded.

“Yeah, that’s no problem.” I smiled and he smiled back.

“Okay, I will be right back.” Eunhyuk left and I saw him wave some people over. There were 2 guys, one with short, dark purple, yes purple, hair and a strong jawline, and the other with bright orange hair and heavily lined eyes. “Jungkook, this is Sanghyuk and Taehyung. They will be going through orientation with you.” Eunhyuk gestured for them to sit and they did. “I will go get the files, just get comfortable, you have a bit of paperwork to do.” With that Eunhyuk left.

“Hi, Jungkook. My name is Taehyung, but my friends call me V. I don’t know why, they just do.” The orange haired one rattled off, reminding me of Eunhyuk during my interview. I nodded but the other one spoke up before I could reply.

“And I prefer to be called Hyuk if you don’t mind.” Hyuk said smiling. “You look so young. How old are you?”

“17 years old. I won’t be 18 until September 1^st of next year.” I pouted a bit. So long before I could move out and get away from everything.

“Woah, then you would be the Maknae here!” Hyuk said. “I worked here a few months ago but had to quit while my family and I went on vacation. It took me a bit to get around to coming by and filling out another application.” Hyuk shrugged but a light blush covered his cheeks.

“How old are you guys?” I asked them. They couldn’t be more than a year older than me.

“I am 19.” Hyuk smirked as my eyes widened. He had to be joking.

“I’m 18, going on 19 December 30^th.” Taehyung said.

“Am I really the youngest?” I said, kind of whiny to be honest. I didn’t want to be the youngest. I have already been the Maknae of BOTH of my senior classes, I didn’t want to be the Maknae again.

“Yup, you are.” Eunhyuk said as he walked up, his arms full of papers. He flipped through them, dividing them into 3 stacks and handing one to each of us. I gulped at the size of the packet and Eunhyuk chuckled. “I told you so. Now, get out and get cozy ‘cause you guys won’t be getting up for a hot minute.”

.   .   .  

“And sign one last time on the line below.” Eunhyuk said smiling. “Congrats! 2 hours of paperwork and now you are officially Value Guys employees.

Hyuk, V and I all cheered, clapping.

“Yup, you guys are done with the paper work part, now you guys get to watch a 30 minute video!” Eunhyuk said enthusiastically, getting groans from Hyuk and V.

“But, Hyung, I have already watched it.” Hyuk whined, showing aegyo. Eunhyuk shook his head laughing.

“Hyuk, stop, you aren’t cute nor are you the Maknae anymore. It’s part of procedure so you have to watch it again.” Eunhyuk said, obviously not going to budge on this.

“I am fine as long as I don’t have to write anymore. My wrist hurts.” I rubbed said wrist, moving it in circles to try and relieve the minor ache. I looked up and the other 3 were looking at me. “What?” I asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable under their gazes.

“Nothing.” They all said at the same time, looking away.

“O-okay, then.”

“Okay!” Eunhyuk piped up again. “We will be going to the crew room in the back to watch the video.” Eunhyuk grabbed the paper work and turned to start walking, V and Hyuk following behind. I followed too but before we got to the door that lead behind the counter I stopped.

“Wait.” I called, they stopped and turned. “Uhm, is Suga still back there?”

“Yeah, he should be anyways, why?” Eunhyuk asked, his brow furrowing.

“N-nothing.” I said, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

“Okay, then let’s go.” Eunhyuk led us through the door and stopped at a register, showing us how to punch it. I glanced around as Eunhyuk spoke and saw N bagging food. He looked at us and I guess I looked nervous because he went around the corner to the back. To my immense relief, I heard him tell Suga to “go into the cooler and get more chocolate milk, apple juice and pies” before returning to his post, winking at me. I mouthed a “thanks, hyung” and he grinned, nodding. Eunhyuk noticed the exchange and a look of realization crossed his face. I smiled shyly at him and he led us to the back quickly. Eunhyuk introduced some people on the way, N, some guy at the drive-thru called Hongbin, another manager named Leo who was bagging orders and didn’t even look at us, some guys in the kitchen named Ken, Rapmon (“Don’t ask, trust me you don’t wanna know”), and the familiar face of Ravi. I didn’t really pay attention, I was more worried about Suga walking out of the cooler across from the kitchen. We walked by the “fry vats” and my skateboard shoes slid on the floor a bit.

“Careful, its slick back here.” Eunhyuk called not even looking back.

Soon we were set up in front of a small desktop screen and the video was loading. The “crew room” as they called it was about a 10x20 room. On the wall furthest from the door was a little desk holding a desktop, printer and a cup full of pens. By the door was a set of lockers, four rows with 5 lockers in each row. They were for whoever needed them, they weren’t assigned in other words. On the back on the door was a full size mirror and around the room there were bulletin boards. One held a calendar, the other held the schedule for the next 2 weeks, and the last one had important information.

“Just watch this and I will be back here in a bit to ask you all some questions, so pay attention.” Eunhyuk said before hitting play and leaving, closing the door behind himself.

The 30 minutes video just went over the basics of everything and after the video was done, I had to wake up Hyuk who had fallen asleep on my shoulder.

“Well, that was fun.” Hyuk yawned and stretched. V followed suit.

We waited for another 5 minutes in silence for Eunhyuk to show back up. We were debating who was going to go out there and get him when the door opened.

But it wasn’t Eunhyuk.

“What’s up, es?” A certain redhead said as he walked through the door. I bristled and Hyuk shot me a worried look before speaking.

“You off, Suga?” Hyuk managed a realistic pleasant voice.

“Yup, I am out.” Suga opened a locker, grabbed a bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He turned and looked right at me, that cocky smirk gone and replaced with a slight sneer. “I will see you around.” He said it like he was addressing us all but I felt like he was talking to me specifically and I felt blood rush to my cheeks. He left and it was silent for a second as I looked at the ground. V spoke first.

“Jungkook, what was that?” He sounded concerned, but concerned in an angry way. I shook my head shrugging as I looked up at him.

“There is just this thing about me, some people just hate me for no real reason. Just for existing. But I am used to it.” I looked at each of them with a sad smile.

“Well, we like you. You are nice.” Hyuk smiled at me and I smiled weakly. They didn't truely know me yet and when they did they would start ignoring me like everyone else.

Eunhyuk came in a few minutes later apologizing about making us wait and saying something about the "fry hop" malfunctioning again, to which Hyuk chuckled. We answered some of Eunhyuk’s questions and he was pleased with our answers and gave us our uniforms and schedules for the next 2 weeks and let us leave. I was genuinely excited that I had work after school tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It made it better that tomorrow I got to work with Hyuk for a few hours, Friday I would get to work with V for my entire shift and the weekend I would get to work with both of them. I waited for V and Hyuk to gather their things and we walked out together, but I stopped in the lobby, suddenly feeling the cold.

Of course I left something.

"Crap, I will be right back." I did a strange 'wait' hand motion and asked Hyuk to hold my stuff before shuffling back to the crew room. Normally, I probably would have left it and decided it get it tomorrow but with there still being snow on the ground and it being, like, 8:30 at night, I decided that running back to the crew room was less effort then having to call in sick because I caught something. I grabbed my jacket and started putting it back on while walking back to the lobby in a hurried manner.

I had one arm through a sleeve and was focused more so on finding he other sleeve then being carful over the slippery section of tiles in front of the fry vats. I, with all my grace and poise, was only able to let out a rather unmanly 'eep' as my left foot slid out from under me and I fell to the greasy floor.

Or, rather, would have if not for a pair of strong hands, one wrapping around my upper right arm and the other around my waist, catching me before my head could hit the floor. I was tensed up for the impact and it took me a few seconds to realize I had been caught. I opened my eyes, I don't know when they shut, and looked up at my savior. It was one of the managers Eunhyuk had mentioned before, Leo I think his name was. I hadn't really paid attention before but know that I actually saw his face, I was in awe.

He was so damn attractive it hurt. It was easy to see that he had a cool, chic aura about him but at this moment, his eyes were wide with shock and worry, concern etched into his features. He pulled me up from our awkward position but didn't move his hands just yet. I looked around and saw Ravi giving me a worried look as well as N looking like he was fighting the urge to rush over.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, drawing me back to his face, noticing how dark his eyes were and how they were focused on me. His voice was soft and airy, the exact opposite of what I thought it would be. I felt my cheeks burn, I looked away from his dark eyes nodded.

"Yeah, th-thanks for catching me." I internally face-palmed at how I was acting. "I am a klutz."

"You're welcome, but just be careful." Leo said, he finally notice that he was still holding onto me and let go, but I could still feel where his hands were. More specifically,  where he had gripped my right arm. He probaby didn't mean to but I felt the beingings of a bruise.

It to bruise easy.

"I will." I promised the bowed, excusing myself as I walked past him, remembering that I still need to put my other sleeve on and did so more cautiously this time. I could still feel his gaze on my back as I left. N my arm comfortingly as I walked by, saying something like, "Be more careful, you scared me." and I just nodded.

"I heard some commotion back there." V said meeting me half-way, wide-eyed. I pushed a hand through my hair and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Yeah, I kind of, uhm, slipped." I chuckled halfheartedly out of embarrassment. Hyuk walked up, too, completing our triangle, with a look of shock.

"Are you okay?" Hyuk asked, looking me over once. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, one of the managers, Leo I think, caught me. But, it was pretty close. I really need some better shoes." I looked at my tattered, old, canvas skateboard shoes and sighed.

"I think I have an old pair of slip-resistant shoes from my old job you could have. What size do you wear?" V asked.

"7.5"

"I have size 8's you can have. I grew out of them a year ago, but they may be a bit big." I shook my head.

"You don't have to-" I started before V cut me off.

"Yes, I do. I would feel horrible if you got hurt due to slipping again and I had a perfectly good pair of shoes that could help prevent it. You are the Maknae, and a clumsy one at that, so we have to look out for you, Jungkook." V said matter-of-factly.

"I agree, we have to take care of you." Hyuk nodded, handing me back my things and I sighed rolling my eyes.

"Fine, I will accept your shoes." I said trying to sound indifferent but inside I was nearly at the point of crying. People actually cared about me without feeling obligated. It felt nice. It felt different.

"Good." Hyuk checked his watch. "Well, I have to go. I have a test tomorrow and don't want to be tired. Night you two, see you tomorrow, Jungkook." And with that Hyuk left.

"I need to get going, too." I said, "I have a bit of a ways to go and my aunt is probably worried." I waved bye to V and walked out the door, heading down the side walk towards my house. I put my ear buds in and started walking to the beat of whatever song was playing. The thin material of my tattered jacket really didn't help much with the cold or the wind and I could feel my nose already going numb. I really needed a scarf. 

But I didn't have wone so I hunkered down and picked up the pace a bit.

I got about halfway through the song before a car had pulled up beside me and honked. I jumped at the sudden noise and pulled out an ear bud, looking at the driver incredulously. The passenger window rolled down, I could see V in the driver's seat and that calmed me down immensely.

"Get in." I shook my head and tried to wave him off saying it's fine, but V's eyes narrowed, "No, I am giving you a ride. I don't think you realize exactly how late it is and how dangerous this part of town can be for a young person such as your self to be walking home alone in freezing weather. Nope, I am driving you." He didn't give me an option so, sighing in submission/relief, I climbed in the car and we were off. I was flattered that he cared so much. He was the first to care so much since my grandmother passed away.

I gave him directions to my house and when we arrived I got out.

"Thank you, I honestly don't like walking at night alone." I admitted. V just smiled and waved it off.

"It's no problem, I will give you a ride home from work anytime we have shift together and if you ask Hyuk to give you a ride, he might be able to as well. Just if you do get stuck walking, be careful. People around here aren't very friendly." I nodded that I understood and thanked him again before closing his door and going up to the house, waving at him one last time before going in.

"I see you got a ride home? Who was that?" Bam Bam asked from the couch, Aunt Luna looked up from her knitting to pay attention to my answer. I smiled and said something I didn't think I would say again for a very long time.

"Just a friend."

A/N: Man, I am horrible at updating this one. This is seriously going a lot worse than I thought it would. I am not even don with the next chapter yet but I will go ahead and post this because I feel like I am a lazy author, which I am but that doesn't mean I should feel like it. Anywho things should start picking up from here and getting more interesting. Jungkook has finally met Leo tho once again, I am not too certain if LeoxJungkook is going to remain the main couple/ pairing. Comment what you think. Either way, I ship my Kookie with everyone so you will get hints of all the ships involving Kookie including others.

Comment, subscribe, upvote if you really wanna. xD Let me know what you think. :3

-DarkBlossom<3