Jin looked solemnly at Yoongi, eyes narrowed a little in consideration. Yoongi swallowed rather hard. Please, please hire me… I really need this job…

There was a small sigh, then Jin said, “All right. You’ve proved yourself to be a good waiter and a good barista. You’re hired. I’ll see you back here tomorrow for the dinner shift. Whether you pull breakfast shift or not will depend on your performance then.”

Yoongi gave a relieved, grateful smile and bowed. “Thank you! I won’t disappoint you.”

Jin nodded sternly, the slight pleased smile belying his strict manner. “See that you don’t.”

Yoongi smiled genuinely to himself as he left the café. He had a job!

***

It was Min Yoongi that unlocked the door to his small studio, flipping on the lights and sighing a little from exhaustion. It was Min Yoongi that stared at the clock, noting that it was about 11:45. Perfect.

It was still Min Yoongi that took a quick shower, washing away the knots and soreness that came with being a waiter and being on his feet all day.

But it was Suga that stepped out of the bathroom and got dressed, applying just a touch of eyeliner to his eyes, pulling a dark beanie over his slightly damp hair.

It wasn’t exactly split personalities or anything like that. It was just… a different side of Yoongi. Anything to do with music, with the club, made him passionate, outgoing, while his laziness and indifference towards anything not music-related had garnered him the name Motionless Min.

Thank goodness he didn’t have morning shift tomorrow, he thought briefly as he exited his place again. He didn’t know how he was going to manage working at a late-night club and at a morning café at the same time, but he’d work something out. He always would.

There was a loud beep from his phone as he locked the door, and he glanced at the message as he headed off.

RapMon: Yo where u at ppl r waiting

Suga winced a little and texted back quickly.

Suga: OMW sorry had work

RapMon: Work??? The

Suga: Not all of us can live w parents ok

RapMon: …right. When u gonna get here

Suga: ETA 5 min, dont get ur in a twist

RapMon: who the hell still says that

Suga: STFU

Just the slightest bit annoyed (and embarrassed) Suga shoved the phone into his pocket and walked quickly towards The Club.

It didn’t have an official name, but the people that knew about it always referred to it as The Club. Suga and RapMonster (RapMon to Suga) owned the place, had saved up for it and bought it out and made it theirs, and brought in friends that loved the indie scene as much as they did.

Word had spread slowly on the streets, and now The Club was well known for having great music, amazing dance-offs, and the best indie rappers around.

Suga headed down the street, turned a corner into an alleyway, ducked through the hole in the chain-link fence separating properties, and ended up in front of a plain staircase leading down to a plain grey door. It wouldn’t have been noticeable at all except for the colourful tag on the front that said “The Club”. Smiling, Suga went down and tugged the door open.

In order to get by, they’d made the club a pay-to-enter place. Of course, regulars had it cheaper and stuff, but generally the entry fee was $5 for a night. Not too much, but enough that they could maintain the condition of the place and upgrade equipment when needed.

Nodding at the bouncer, Suga bypassed the line and quickly headed over to the DJ booth, where RapMon was busy with the music. His newly bleached silver-white hair (Suga had spent hours with him trying to get the colour right, and the fumes and chemicals had given RapMon a horrible headache for several days, but he claimed it was worth it for the “swag” image he got) practically shone in the dim lighting of the club, making it easy to spot him. “Sorry I’m late,” he muttered quickly, pitching his voice higher to be heard over the booming base of the current track.

RapMon glanced up, giant black glasses covering his eyes. “Finally,” he muttered in annoyance. “You ready to go up?”

Suga smirked confidently. “I’m always ready. Just gimme a good beat and I’m good to go.”

Rolling his eyes, RapMon gave him a shove. “Whatever you say, Suga. You better not mess up tonight.”

“Speak for yourself.” RapMon gave him the finger as he turned back to the mixing board, and Suga stepped back onto the dance floor, making his way over to the small stage they had. It was mostly used for when he and RapMon did live performances, or on the few occasions they asked another indie artist in to perform. There was a drum set on it, but that was almost never used unless some kid decided trying it out would be fun.

As he stepped onto the stage, a small cheer went up from the few people that noticed. Suga wasn’t extremely tall (to put it nicely), and he was pretty unassuming normally. Besides, the stage was pretty small, and mostly blended into the dance floor. Suga just waited, a small smirk still on his face, the mic he’d grabbed on his way over.

While Suga’s presence on the stage had gone mostly unnoticed, the change from a fast, upbeat song to a stronger, slightly slower beat didn’t. People started to cheer in earnest now, knowing that this was the start of a performance.

It was really the start of an unofficial rap battle. Suga always started it off, but after him came all the other aspiring rappers that wanted to try to freestyle. After RapMon got fed up with their horrible rhymes (well, mostly horrible. There were a few talented kids in the crowd) he would then take to the stage and finish things off.

Smirking and waving a little to the crowd, Suga counted the beats in his head, letting the rhythm flow through him. His body moved naturally, his head bobbing a little from side to side. He wasn’t the best dancer around, but music always made him want to move, even just a little. 5, 6, 7, 8.

Words, lyrics dropped easily from his lips, freestyle rap about life, about dreams. About working, suffering, striving for that one goal that was always bright in your mind.

Suga and RapMon prided themselves on not being “mainstream” rappers, the ones that only spoke of and money and fame. Their pieces always had meaning behind them, sometimes ones that didn’t seem to fit with the hard hip-hop style they had but beautiful words anyways.

It was liberating, being able to say what was on his mind so freely. Maybe that was one of the reasons he loved rapping, he thought, a bitter smirk on his face. After all, he’d never had the chance to let loose at home.

He didn’t let his bitterness show, instead channelling it into more words about pursuing your dreams, ignoring the haters. If there were just a few more insults towards those haters, it seemed to go unnoticed.  

The beat ended, and Suga jumped easily off the stage to the loud cheers of the audience, passing the mic quickly to the first random kid that reached for it. Making his way back to the DJ booth, he rolled his eyes to find RapMon leaning back in his chair, half asleep.

“Yah, what’s with you? Was my rap so boring?” The words were informal, teasing, but there was a hint of real worry in them. RapMon never really seemed to sleep much, always able to balance school, work, writing music, The Club, all with minimal sleep and still managing to find time to relax. Suga would never know how he managed it.

It was rare that he fell asleep during the rap battles too, since RapMon was always keeping an eye out for new talent. They’d picked up on JHope that way, Suga remembered fondly, although the kid didn’t come around too often.

RapMon jerked upright at Suga’s words, blinking a little in disorientation before glancing up at Suga’s concerned face. “Oh… You’re done already?” He didn’t seem to have heard Suga’s earlier comment, otherwise he would certainly have had a witty reply for it. Suga raised an eyebrow.

“You ok man?” Suga frowned heavily at RapMon. “You’re never this tired.”

“Oh… yeah it’s nothing. Just stayed up a little late working on a song.”

Suga amended his earlier thought: RapMon usually managed to balance all his activities. Suga sighed a little. “Don’t overdo it,” was all he said, even though he knew RapMon would ignore his advice.

RapMon just nodded a little and turned his attention back to the dance floor. “No new talent these days… Wish JHope was around more. I’m getting sick of these wannabes.”

“Yeah… He needs some work too but at least he’s got the passion.” Suga muttered, a little disappointed with the kids on the stage. Emotion and passion were such a big part of rapping, but none of these guys seemed to have any. They spat lyrics out, some had pretty good rhymes, but there was nothing substantial in their voices, nothing that made them feel.

Lazily hitting a few buttons and twisting a few dials, RapMon skilfully changed up the beat as the mic switched hands, and the next kid looked a little lost for a while before finally picking up on the new rhythm. “Too slow,” RapMon shook his head disparagingly.

“We should have a battle some time, I feel like my disses have gotten weak these days.” Suga suggested playfully, nudging RapMon and raising an eyebrow in challenge.

There was a glint in RapMon’s eyes, but then he sighed and it faded. “I would, but we need someone to mix for us, and I don’t trust any of those kids with that. Unless we came out with a prepared mix or took time to switch beats in between people.”

“Mm.” Suga said noncommittally. “Whatever, it was just a suggestion.”

Tilting his head from side to side, RapMon cracked his neck loudly and let out a quiet groan. “Well, maybe in the future. I’m gonna go take a nap, take over for a bit?” He nodded vaguely at the sound system, and Suga just rolled his eyes.

He forcibly shoved RapMon out of his seat and towards the back room, which was really just a small room with a bed set up, partially soundproofed with as much makeshift padding they could find. “Go sleep, I got your back.”

RapMon shuffled off, and Suga raised an eyebrow even as he reclined in the now vacant seat, mindlessly reaching out to tweak a couple of dials once in a while when he got bored of the current beat. RapMon seemed a lot more tired than usual, even considering that he had lost sleep writing again. In the past, when he was writing, RapMon would seem more passionate than ever, his exhaustion only showing in the dark bags under his eyes that were usually covered with his sunglasses. This was the first time Suga had seen RapMon yawning.

Well, whatever it was, RapMon seemed content to keep it hidden for now, and Suga really didn’t have the right to pry. Hopefully whatever the problem was, RapMon would sort it out soon. Suga just sighed a little and settled in for a long night at the DJ booth.

Two hours later, RapMon finally emerged from the back room, scratching at his still perfectly styled hair (Suga swore he used up a full bottle of hair products each night getting it that way) and stretching sore muscles. As he re-entered the DJ booth, he rolled his neck and complained, “Did you have to make the place so small? I was so cramped in there.”

Suga shrugged, grinning. “Hey, I fit perfectly in there.”

RapMon glared. “Yeah, ‘cause you’re short. And you still look like a bloody high school kid.”

“Shut up!” Suga shoved at him playfully as he got up from the seat. “Anyways, you pretty much slept until closing time. It’s already past 3.”

“Gah, seriously?” RapMon glanced around, frowning. “Ugh. I guess I’ll go check up on the entrance fees and , you close off the dance floor in a bit?”

“Got it.”

It was 4:30AM before they finished up everything with the club, and Suga was exhausted. This was definitely going to take some getting used to. “We need another person to man the club,” Suga muttered, swaying slightly on his feet.

RapMon just nodded tiredly. “Yeah. Ugh. It’s getting a bit much, isn’t it.”

“Still wish JHope hadn’t decided to go to that label company. He could’ve done well in the underground.” There was a hint of bitterness in Suga’s voice. “Kid doesn’t even come ‘round here anymore.”

“I hear you.” RapMon sighed. “I’m sure we’ll find someone. Worst comes to worst we start making playlists and .” The two were just getting way too tired to deal with the club on a regular basis the way they had been.

Suga made a face, and RapMon sighed again. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Last resort.” He ran a hand through his hair again. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah. We will.” The way they always had. The way they always would. “Get some more sleep man. See you tomorrow?”

“See you. Yo, I might need your help with the new song, you have time tomorrow?” RapMon mentioned suddenly, eyes lighting up as he mentioned music.

Suga sighed dejectedly, already thinking of the exhaustion he would face. “I got work. If you want we can meet up for lunch? I start work at 4.”

RapMon sighed a little. “That won’t work, I finish class at 3:30.” He groaned. “Ugh Did you have to work at such a weird time? Where are you even working at anyways?”

“It’s a café restaurant kinda thing. I have dinner shifts, since the owner doesn’t trust my coffee.” Both of them snorted a little at that, having practically lived off Suga’s coffee for a while back when they were both in high school. “But I kind of need this job. It’s been getting hard to pay rent lately.”

RapMon frowned again. “You know, my offer’s still open.”

Suga shook his head tiredly. “We both know how your parents would react to that.”

A resigned sigh. “Yeah. I guess. Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow then? We’ll figure out another time for the song.”

Suga nodded briefly. “Sounds good. Night, Namjoon.”

There was a little smile on Namjoon’s as he waved, already walking away. “Night, Yoongi.”

It signified the end of their underground life, the return to a boring, normal life of a student and an employee. Yoongi took a deep breath of the cool air, eyes starting to itch from the small amount of makeup he’d applied, forehead sweaty from the beanie and the warm atmosphere inside the club.

Time to go home.

And it was Yoongi that returned to the small studio, fumbled at the lock, and flopped into bed, not bothering to change or shower before falling into an exhausted, dreamless slumber.

*** 

Sorry the story's kind of moving slowly... still need to introduce all the people and some more background before I can really start moving. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed this chapter~