Libra The Balanced Scales

September 22/23 - October 22

Libra is a Air Sign and Cardinal Sign
Libra is ruled by Venus

Libra is the 29th constellation in size, occupying an area of 538 square degrees. It lies in the third quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ3) and can be seen at latitudes between +65° and -90°. The neighboring constellations are Centaurus, Hydra, Lupus, Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Serpens Caput and Virgo.

    Bills are finally paid.

It's been over a week now and the anxiety is settling. She managed to utilize the free time given that Friday morning by visiting her local bank and withdrawing all the needed cash. Afterwards she went to the department that handled majority of the bills in order to pay them. Even so, Sora felt a chunk of her heart leave when the hundreds dollar bills in her hands were slowly slipping from her grasp. It is a hard thing to merely accept, allowing a few elderly attendants to just take away her hard earned money to only feed into the corrupted system of this work driven society.

Eventually Sora had to gain bearings on the situation and readjust herself. There is no good coming from a whiner who does nothing more than complain all day. Once the final bill was paid Sora walked- or limped, rather, to the store.

Yes, it is incredibly hard to constantly walk everywhere. After mother gotten sick she couldn't drive without constantly getting lost and Sora never bothered to get a drivers license, let alone learn how to drive. It never appealed to her back then but oh how she definitely regrets it now...

Of course there are times when she takes the bus. It is a major convenience and taking long trips can ease the burden of cracked feet. The argument still stands though which is the cost of swiping her bus card. A dollar and sixty cents adds up each time so she would rather spend little money as possible.

Sora managed to purchase a couple things for the house hold along with food. Mostly purchases of frozen boxed dinners with cheap brands selling so-called 'steak' as season baked boogers topped with lukewarm urine. Despite the horrid taste Sora tries her best to fix up the meal for her mother. As of current the woman has yet to complain.

Bath products, some toiletries, and other necessary items for the household. Returned home, prepared food, done some chores and went to work around the evening time.

Same ol' same. Nothing relatively new to see. But that was last week ago and it is now a newly risen Thursday morning. Sora was restocking some of the items within back to prepare for today's morning shift as Wednesday happened to be an incredibly dreary, raining and bleak day. Very little customers arrived which made things somewhat awkward but manageable. Whatever customers she did see yesterday happened to be the regulars of this establishment. Mostly foreign English teachers who would try conversing with her in broken Korean as she, too, tried to reciprocate such conversation with equally chopped English. 

They tip good money. She takes it, they leave, and then she cleans. 

Her mind soon reminiscences the times when her eyes would meet The One with Umber Eyes. How it would be miniature moments within itself- about maybe a millisecond or so if Sora truly counted the time- though, their gazes would never hold for long. She would look away, he would then turn his head, and they would avoid eye contact for the rest of the service provided.

Strange. Sora concludes, how out of all the men who sits with The One with Umber Eyes, none of them have really looked at her. Perhaps if she really stares at them really, really hard then maybe... just maybe, they would notice her. Then again, it is not like anyone really notices her. Why? She holds no value in this modern society filled with glitter and glamour and artificial concepts of physical interests. If there's any remote value then it's very little, if any at all.

But his eyes would meet hers.

Dull. A rugged shade of dusted ebony that embodied an aged woman who remained on this earth beyond time itself. Eyes devoid of life worth living, eyes with a soul long gone from a withering body. Hers.

Loving brown soil filled with warmth, of comfort, of the earth nutured with Mother Nature's touch. How those irises light up and blossom and twinkle in various emotions. A youth with many stories to tell, many stories to create, words to formulate an entire world just by one look alone. His. 

It's like... something in those eyes instills life. A sense of being. A sense of belonging.

"Taking up everyone's tables... so rude. She could be considerate." Hm? Sora looks over her shoulders to find Jinae murmuring to Seulgi. They were behind the counters and backs turned from the cash register. "Like she's ever considerate of anything," Seulgi replies with a gentle scoff.

Sora couldn't help but to blink. Do they know they're talking in hearing range? Or are they already aware of it? "You know we only had twenty customers in total, right? Morning shift had three servers, myself included, and the night shift is only you two. Four specifically requested me but we still go by rotation..." If her words fell of deaf ears then the two at the cash register definitely displayed obvious signs of it. They continued to murmur among themselves before snickering about something, and then walked to the back of the house.

Sora crinkled her nose.

She never understood the reasons behind their actions. She assumed such behavior would cease after high school but apparently not. Sure, Sora had her fair share of mistreatment growing up. Generally cast aside as some stereotypical loner who had far and few friendships in her life, most always constructed out of pure pity from compassionate strangers. Not that she ever minded it because truthfully? It is nice to talk to someone about something whether it is lighthearted conversations or intriguing discussions over simple subjects. In fact, it's been so long since she has truly talked to anyone besides her mother...

Her heart clenched painfully.

Two o'clock arrived and Sora clocked out and walked home. Luckily home was no more than ten minutes away although for her feet it feels much longer. Perhaps it's the gradual pacing of her walk, or the constant teetering on the sidewalk like a bloated penguin. Either way, she is tired and must prepare for later.

     Sora managed to wake up without needing her alarm clock considering the immense excitement bubbling from within. And what is today, exactly? Well, it's like any other day when you think about it but only a free weekend.

Her, Byun Sora, excited over having an entire weekend off. No doubling, no Fridays, Saturdays or even Sundays. This will allow some time to send her mother to the doctor. She can catch up with other responsibilities and take the time to relax. She can also write again. 

Opening this morning wasn't anything unusual but rather... odd. The first thing Sora immediately noticed was the vacancy of the morning shift servers. After the mid-morning shifts end then few of the morning servers would come in. Consider it as a constant clock-hour rotation with workers coming in and out of the establishment. So, it doesn't make any sense to find herself the only individual outside of the cooks to be here.

"Ah, there ya are." Out from the backhouse came out a manager quite unfamiliar. An overweight man most presumably in his late forties with a thin crusted beard and slanted eyebags sagging far further than an a senior citizen's shriveled up skin. Sora blinked in confusion although she remained quiet. "I need ya to quickly get on. All the servers for the morning shift called in sick-" sick? Can't be... all of them? Absolutely ludicrous. "Go ahead and pick up the first customer." First customer? "Wait, wait-" everything is becoming utterly confusing and she never seen this man before. Did the owner recently hire this man?

"I- who are you again?"

"Oh, sorry. Name's Samjun but call me Sam. New manager."

"Oh."

The man pointed his fat stubby finger at a customer, someone noticeably blond and probably a foreigner, sitting near one of the booths near the third window. "He's been waiting for a couple of minutes now. If ya could pick him up that'd be great." Before Sora had the opportunity to speak the man was yelling something along the lines of gibberish to the cooks. 

A sigh escapes Sora's lips.

She walks over to the customer preparing herself with a pen and notebook in hand. "Welcome to Pancake House-" the English words were soon lodged in the moment Sora laid eyes on the customer.

Him.

suddenly runs dry. Course, hot and thick as if she was infected with an abrupt fever. A flu. An agonizing disease. The preparation to speak English quickly fades away and instead replaced by stilled silence. By the surprise written on his gawked face it seems like he too did not anticipate for this meeting. 

The One with Umber Eyes.

There it is again. An emotion filled with burning intensity and shock, an amalgamation of multiple adverbs to describe an entire feeling of... well, how can she describe this? "Aren't you..." Her heart skips a thundering beat. It stops, then speeds up. "Are you serving me today?" The sound of his voice is delicate and careful and sweeter than a music any bird could tune. Obviously it was a Seoul dialect as each verb made Sora's knees incredibly weak.

"Y-yes." She stuttered. On normal occasions she would never stutter...- let alone pause to consider her choice of words. However, something about being in the center of his presence made things, for a lack of a better word, anxious. Yes... very anxious and uncomfortable but in a... dares she say it? Pleasant way. "I uh, I-I sorry. Here, I'll repeat myself. My name is Byun Sora and I'll be your server for the day." It feels strange. Strange to talk to someone after admiring them for so long.

It's odd to see him blond. In fact, Sora could've sworn his hair was brown last time or... was it? Has it been that long since she last seen him? Couldn't possibly. He would frequent this place with his friends at least once a week if not every other week. On the flip side he and his friends also have multicolored hairdos and outfits that question poverty or celebrity status. Moreover the guy is wearing nothing more than a wool turtlenecked sweater with the color of seasalted sand and some typical blue jeans. 

Just looking at him resembled that of the sun. The brightest star where all the planets orbit. 

The One with Umber Eyes smiles. Those lips were plush pink and soft and cushiony and- and why is she staring at his lips? Her gaze returns to his face, perfect and bright and everything pleasant other than she. "Hi Byun Sora," oh, god, the way he says her name is the heavenly gates opening up with angelic beings singing. "I think this is the first time you waited on me... right?" The question made Sora pause.

"I-" she her lips. "I believe that's quite right."

"So..." It seems like even he don't know what to say. "Hope I don't scare you away," there was an underlying sense of amusement evident in his remark when his brown eyes twinkled.

"You won't." He definitely will.

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely." That's another lie, too. Despite that Sora flipped through her notebook and held the pen tightly in her left hand. She could feel the nerves in her wrist twitching but tried distracting the anxiety with other things. "What brings you here today? Want some strawberry french toast or..."

"Just a red velvet pancake, eggs and some hazelnut coffee, please."

"Regular or decaf?"

"Decaf."

The order was simple enough, though it seems like every syllable written on her adequately plain notebook looked like chicken scratch from a literal chicken's foot. Sora nodded and snatched the menu off the table and went into the kitchen to ring up the order. As of current it seems like The One with Umber Eyes is present in the restaurant, but it'll only be a matter of time before other customers would come. Thursdays is a commonly sluggish day after breakfast... then again, majority of the weekdays can be sluggish if it weren't for foreigners and Koreans craving Western breakfast foods.

The young woman grabbed a ceramic mug and poured the man some decaffeinated coffee. She also gave him about four little containers of hazelnut creamers and a spoon.

About some time later Sora greeted another table and took their orders. Not much either and something simple like buttered french toast, grits (she never understood how to eat that slop) and soggy requested peppered eggs. By the time she rung in the guests order The One with Umber Eyes's food appeared on black tray. Sora grabs his plate and made her way back to the table.

When returning to the table she noticed The One with Umber Eyes was reading something. A book, yes, but the book was short and burly. Analyzing further the color schemes looked familiar... perhaps too familiar...

"Is that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?" The words tumbled right out of before Sora was able to catch herself. Hand covering , all she could think is how idiotic her actions are.

His eyes meets hers.

"Yeah, it is actually." He spoke, as if completely unaffected by her question, "I've been reading the series little over a month ago and enjoyed it. So I thought to go ahead and finish the series."

"I see." Sora set his plate right in front of the young man. "Want another refill of coffee?" She asked him.

He nodded.

While pouring another cup of decaffeinated coffee Sora couldn't help but to inquire. "Where are your friends?" She always would see The One with Umber Eyes with his friends, so just to be by himself is very odd. "Busy." The young man simply replied and shrugged.

"Oh."

Silence.

Things were getting somewhat awkward and Sora bit her lip. "Can I... get you anything else?" He shakes his head, obviously content with himself.

"I'm good."

And so Sora went to the other tables to check up on her customers. Eventually overtime an hour passes then two... and she noticed The One with Umber Eyes is still sitting there next to the window quietly reading his book. He would occasionally request for another refill of coffee from time to time, but throughout the morning Sora observed him reading.

Sometime around noon, about a little after twelve o'clock, The One with Umber Eyes requests her again. "Thank you for waiting on me, Sora." He said while scooting out of the booth. Sora never really paid attention to their height differences until she found herself looking up at him. Thankfully she did not need to stretch all that much to look at him since he was no more than a couple inches taller. But still, it doesn't change the obvious fact that he's peering into her soul...

"No problem." Sora watched quietly as The One with Umber Eyes collects his book and leaves the booth. A hand pressed against the glassed doorframe, The One with Umber Eyes gives her one final look and a gentle smile, and he finally exited the restaurant. Strangely enough, something about that smile of his felt infectious as Sora finds herself smiling as well. A sincere one.

And that's good enough for her.

I sit on the edge waiting for the sun to rise,

Finally after some time appears The One with Umber Eyes,

Bold, deep, darker than the green earth,

Brighter than the billions of stars to formulate the Sirius or sun,

I allow myself to lie across the field into nature's warmth.

I close my eyes and breathe the clear air as his lips blows oxygen into the atmosphere,

The clarity I seek is the clarity I feel,

Clarity I ask for and clarity soon reveals.

Please, give me more to write about.

     "Is it okay if I ask for Sora today?"

"Um, sure, I guess?" About two weeks had passed when The One with Umber Eyes appears again at the Pancake House on one Sunday night accompanied by all six of his friends. Sora was attending to another table when the hostess, Irene, walked up to her. "Hey, uh, so... Jimin and his friends want you to serve them." At first Sora was perplexed by the statement until Irene motioned her head towards the gentlemen behind her, and that's when everything clicks.

For starters The One with Umber Eyes has a name. An actual name. Second, he wants her, Byun Sora, to serve him and his friends.

"Uh..." Her first instinct was to immediately reject the idea. Just flat out say NO and request the other waitresses like Soojin to handle them. Perhaps it's the fear, or perhaps it is the haunting idea of serving a large crowd who generally may or may not tip her due to the Korean customs or unamused by her being boring.

"Where is Soojin? Doesn't she usually serve them?"

"She won't be here until the next two hours. The others are busy."

Overall Sora curses, feeling more uncertain of herself as Irene went back to the group. She happened to take over the larger sections of the restaurant for today filled with five to eight table tops. There was a huge rounded table in the back of room and enough to fit the young men in. 

The One with Umber Eyes is the first to greet her.

"Hi." He smiles with a heap of interest.

"Hi." She replies with a hint of caution.

Eventually strolled in the others and she'll just call them by their erratic hair colors: Minty, Ruby, Ash, Coco, Ebony, and Shadow...- The One with Umber Eyes still has blond hair, luckily. Though, suppose it isn't appropiate to constantly name things or people beyond their true names, but it makes situations much easier for her to comprehend.

"So are you Sora, right?" The one with fire crimson hair, Ruby, suddenly speaks. He moves closer towards her in order to get a better look, "Wow, you really do look like-" whatever Ruby was about to say is immediately cut short with an cry as The One with Umber Eyes pinches his arm. The blonde then gives Sora an apologetic smile, "Sorry," he said, "Taehyung can be a bit blunt at times." Oh... so this Ruby-looking guy is actually Taehyung, huh? The waitress shakes her head. "It's okay. No hard feelings taken." She can feel her heartrate increase with speed when each member sat at the table.

Clearing Sora began her introduction. "Welcome to the Pancake House, guys. My name is Byun Sora and I am going to be your server for the day. So, can I start anyone off with coffee, hot chocolate or tea?"

"I believe for Jimin's sake, we should introduce ourselves as well." Ash said as he then pointed to himself. "I'm Namjoon, this is Jungkook," Shadow? Meet Jungkook. "Yoongi," that's Minty, "Hoseok," Coco, "And Seokjin." And finally Ebony. "We've been hanging around this place for two months now and usually the other waitresses would serve us, but I think you'll be our first." Namjoon (Ash) finishes with a cheeky grin.

"I want hot chocolate please!"

"Tea, hot."

"Water."

"Tea."

"Hot chocolate with some extra marshmellows!"

"Coke, please."

"And I would like decaffeinated hazelnut coffee." Sora writes all the drink orders on her notepad and repeats them. "Okay, so Jungkook has hot chocolate, Namjoon wants hot regular tea, Seokjin wants water, Yoongi wants tea and then Hoseok wants hot chocolate with some marshmellows-" "extra!" She pauses, blinking a few times before nodding. "And finally we have Taehyung wanting a coke and Jimin wants a decaffeinated coffee with some hazelnut creamer. Is everything correct?"

"Yup." Jungkook nodded.

So Sora went to gather the drinks while the boy continued to chat happily among themselves. Her mind ran through the concept of finally giving The One with Umber Eyes a name. A physically understandable name, that is...

About no more than five minutes later Sora came out with everyone's drinks and laid them on the table. She made sure each member had their drink by writing down the seat number and by the looks of it the boys were pleased. "Alright, I can go ahead and take everyone's orders?" Everyone listed their order which wasn't really complicated to begin with and again, she repeats them. She always does it to ensure total accuracy of orders and to reduce any potential mistakes.

"Wow, you're really good, Sora!" A blush forms across her face. One of the boys, Taehyung, had complimented her over something basic. "Uh, it's really nothing..." It's the absolute truth. There's nothing really special about anything she does. 

"Usually the girls would be too busy flirting with us, but it's kind of hard when starving. Or generally make frequent mistakes to stall our time..." Well, Namjoon is not wrong. Seems like whenever the boys drop by the waitresses would deliberately take time to make their drinks, or be too busy chatting than working. Still, Sora doesn't see much difference between her and them.

"Thank you? I mean," what does she mean, actually? "I appreciate the compliment." It is only when The One with Umber Eyes, Jimin, finally speaks. "You are good at what you do. You may not notice it but others do."

Sometime later everyone orders and eats their food, chatting merrily while Sora takes the time to refill drinks and slowly clear the table. Eventually, the boys finished their meal and stood. "Thanks for the service, Sora." Seokjin said with a smile, "You really go out of your way to make us feel comfortable."

"It is no problem. Glad to serve you." Slowly, but surely, each member of the group leaves the table. However, Sora noticed The One with Umber Eyes is still present at the table. "Oh, I'm sorry. Can I get you anything?" When he looks at her all the breath is completely evaporated from her lungs. Something about his gaze is intrancing her, lulling her into this void of intensity and serenity and uttermost serendipity and- damn it, Sora absolutely detests it.

"No, not really. I thought to leave a tip... if that's okay?" He seemed hesistant at the end, almost as if he wasn't sure she'd accept it. Sora opens , then closes it. "Um, yeah, sure. I definitely don't mind it." She now understands the hesitancy in his voice. Some individuals might interpret as rude but as for herself? There is certainly no issue. His right hand held a couple of dollar bills and allowed her to easily take it.

"Have a nice night, Sora."

A few seconds later and he was out the door.

     "Uh, excuse me?" Sora paused in her movements when Soojin marched in front of her. Arms folded, chest and cheeks puffed and eyebrows scrunched far deeper than any old man, the young woman was definitely displeased. "Uh..." It was another afternoon day and Sora had reached the point of comfortability serving her beloved sun, Jimin. Yes, she had finally titled him a proper name now. Furthermore, Sora now gets the chance to see Jimin much closer compared to before. "Is there... something wrong?" The young woman askes tentatively, curious to see what brought about the reasons behind Soojin's ferocious anger.

"Yes there is. You."

Sora blinks.

"Me?"

"Who else? Yes, you! You're getting in the way." 

"I don't... understand?" This only seems to rile up the woman further as Soojin stomps her foot with a growl. "That's my table! You took my table without permission!" That... that can't be true. Last time Sora checked Jimin was seated in her section... "Irene seated Jimin in my section-" "then she should've told me instead! You must hand him over, now." Very rarely does Sora feel anything. Excitement, bliss, sadness, fear, anger... majority of her emotions have been numbed over the countless of years.

But... something... something about Soojin's demand doesn't settle well with her.

"Why?"

"What the hell do you mean 'why'? Because I'm his favorite and I always served him everytime he visits and Jimin would rather have something to look at that isn't such an eyesore." Sora couldn't help but to flinch at the comment. Soojin turns up her nose and unfolds her arms, instead point at bony finger at her, "You better turn it over to me, understood? Don't go stealing tables that aren't yours!" The girl walks past Sora in this unseen flurry, nearly shoving Sora out the way. 

Within the distance Sora can see the owner, one whom she often sees in the kitchen since he runs it, standing at Jimin's table talking. She heard a few words here and there as most of it followed the lines of Soojin taking over...

"Yeah, I'm really sorry for Sora. Had a bit of a mix up with tables..."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is actually Soojin's table and Sora stole it from her. I've been informed about the situation and I'm going to look into it. I know Soojin is your favorite so we're going to go ahead and swap them out."

And that's when it becomes hard to breathe.

Her chest grew tight, constricting the airflow as Sora heaves. She backs away...- staggers, really, and her vision grows blurry. 

It hurts. Everything just hurts.

It feels painful. Painful as drowning in an endless of sea of salt watered tears. Burning and tearing and clawing her way to the light, only to sink deeper in the bottom of hurt and soon Sora finds herself crying. Big disgusting tears slopping down her cheeks and dampening her uniform and she chokes out a short gasp, quickly turning away to leave.  

Soojin lied. Lied, lied, lied.

Why does it hurts so much? She stands outside the restaurant trying to ease her unstable emotions. She feels its rush coursing through her body like the harsh waves of cold water plunging her deep into the depths of darkness.

This has been the third time Sora ever grieved in her life after father died. And why? Over something as minor and petty as this? It made little sense, but guess nothing of her emotions ever did. Nothing about her ever made sense... though, what do you expect from someone as plain as herself? Sora chokes out another sob, uncaring if curious bystanders were staring at her as if she lost her mind. 

Maybe she did lose it. Maybe not. She couldn't tell.

"Sora?" The voice pulls Sora out of her broken state. She looks over her shoulders to see Jimin standing near her, but not to close to overwhelm. His wide eyes spoke many things at once but most importantly conveyed sorrow. No, no the kind most give in pity but concern. "Are you-"

"N-no." She utters, looking away.

"I-... I know it's bull. Soojin made it up. I know." "H-how? She c-could be telling the t-truth..." Why should he constantly look at someone plain and boring and ugly and flat and all the things that ends in nothing? Her eyes speaks no emotion. Her face is not carved from a gifted sculpturer. Her body is anything but delicate and careful and precious. Her hair is bland along with her interests and she holds no value to the emotional stock market.

"I know it's bull because I overheard those girls talking about you. I'm not stupid, Sora, so I can easily tell. It's not like you to do something like that." His voice sounded much closer than before although Sora paid it no attention. "You work hard, You are sincere and really care for people. A caring person wouldn't lie for their own selfish needs. And... and you are meticulous, too! You give a about your job and there is nothing wrong with that."

Finally, Sora turns around.

Jimin was in full view. His expression was angry, or moreso frustrated it seems. At her or the situation? Suddenly Sora felt embarrassed. Here she is crying over something like this and the sun, of all people, had to be a witness of it. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled. He shakes his head, "Don't be." He said. "Never apologize for who you are. In fact, screw this hole. Wanna hang out at my place instead?"

Sora freezes.

"I-I mean," Jimin quickly says, "Only if you want to. Of course. I would never force you to... I mean... I don't know what I mean..." He was losing confidence by the seconds, uncertain and doubtful of his words as Sora had to make a quick decision.

"No. It's okay. I... I never been invited to hang out with anyone before, so... I don't know what to say." Jimin responds with a gentle smile. The most gentlest she has ever seen, and he told words that would change something inside of her desolate heart. "I know how it feels. Allow me to bring some light into your life. Please?"

She couldn't refuse.

"Okay."