july 17, 2017 |  saint ives cafe

Another day, another shift. Another day wasted tuning in on other people's conversations while filling empty cups with bitter coffee. Another day filled with repetitive glances at the clock only to scold himself for watching the time - it would only make the hours pass slower. Ruffling his light brown locks, the boy let out a deep exhale - only to it back up as he noticed his manager watching him. The sun was hovering low in the sky, leading the male to constantly stop and cover his eyes from the glare. His manager noticed his halt in movement, walking up to the counter ready to unleash a mouthful. 

"Taehyung! How many times did I say not to just stand there. I'm not paying you to be a statue." His small, yet lean figure was quite intimidating, especially due to his darkly drawn eyebrows and skin wrinkled from age. 

The boy gulped, bowing lowly and swiftly turning around back to the machines. While nibbling on his lower lip, Taehyung took to wiping machines and countertops down, whistling a low tune as he worked. He wasn't what most people would call a misfortunate person though. His parents had good jobs, middle-class, and they had enough money to send him to university without worrying about living expenses. And yet they pushed all of his college tuition onto his own shoulders - someone who had never worked a part-time job in his life until college. Presumably, being a barista wasn't too difficult - after all, Taehyung wasn't in charge of anything difficult. All he got paid for was answering phone calls, accepting money, and bringing drinks. Basically the store's eye candy, and yet the boy had never dated a day in his life. He let out a soft sigh at the fact - was he just unlucky when it came to girls? His friend had said he was too nice - always more 'best friend' material instead of 'date' material. Maybe it was the girls' problem and not his instead. 

And so he resolved, that he would continue living life like it was. Back to his practice test of lattes. Wrinkling his brows in deep concentration, he placed his hand firmly around the metal jug, using the other hand to hover with the cup of espresso. Slowly, with his head tilted, he started spilling the milk downw