Ding.

"Eunsook."

Ding.

"Oh, for Christ's sakes."

Dingdingdingdingding—

"Eunsook, if I have to slam my hand on this god damn bell one more fucking time, I'll shove it up your ass."

Brief silence.

DINGDINGDING DINGY DING DING—

"Jungkook, will you—?"

"Yeah."

Eunsook groggily feels a hand on her wrist, and suddenly the place where she is propping up her heavy head disappears beneath her cheek. The next surface it meets is the cool linoleum countertop with a soft thump. A drowsy groan gurgles from her pouting lips and she sits up, running a hand through her short, wavy black hair.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, sleepyhead!" Jungkook, her coworker, coos teasingly, ruffling her already messy hair. Eunsook scowls and slaps his hand away, stumbling to her feet, unstable on her rollerskates that all waiters and waitresses at the diner had to wear.

"Fuck off, Jungkook." She mutters, pushing Jungkook's chest hard enough that he starts to roll backwards on his own rollerskates, and snickering quietly to herself when he collides with Seokjin, the cook. Her smile fades quickly when Seokjin glares at her bitterly. Seokjin is like an older brother to her, but he's terrifying when even mildly annoyed.

"Are you aware of what time it is?" He asks, voice scarily quiet. Eunsook swallows nervously as Jungkook collects himself.

"T-Time to get a watch." Eunsook mumbles lamely, and Seokjin's glare only intensifies. Jungkook chuckles, but it morphs into a yelp when Seokjin slaps his shoulder.

"Incorrect. It is 2:57 AM, and you are on duty, so wake the fuck up, please. Someone's at your counter." Seokjin says, gesturing to the CCTV screens that show a lone man sitting at the counter. Eunsook groans once more, straightening the blue button up and black skirt that she has to wear. Her mascara is smudged and her cheek is red from leaning it on top of her hand as she slept.

"Why can't Jungkook do it?" She whines. Sleeping seems more tempting than ever, even though Eunsook works the night shift every Thursday, Friday, and Tuesday.

"Because I'm assigned to the booths, not the counter." Jungkook says smugly. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Sookie." He teases. His voice is sugar sweet, but all it does for Eunsook is give her cavities and make her want to punch him in the face.

"Unfortunately, no amount of beauty sleep could help her face at this point." Seokjin deadpans, and Eunsook gasps, resisting the urge to skate right over Seokjin's toes. "Run along." Jungkook is cackling maniacally in the corner at this point and Eunsook rolls her eyes, feet trudging as she skates out of the back to the diner counter. The man is reading the newspaper, his hunched, broad shoulders clad in a denim jacket, a blue baseball cap on his head. Eunsook gets a lot of weirdos coming to eat at the diner this late at night, but he appears to be one of the more normal ones.

"Hi, welcome to the Moonlight Diner. What can I get started for you tonight?" Eunsook says once she comes to a stop in front of the man, her well-rehearsed spiel spilling out of her mouth as she withdraws her pad and pen from the pocket of her apron.

"Is it even still considered night right now?" The man asks. Eunsook shoots a glance up from her notebook at the man, a small chuckle at him trying to be friendly escaping her lips. Her eyes meet his own, and her mouth goes dry when she gets a good look at his face. His brown eyes twinkle, despite the shadow cast over his face by his baseball cap. His tan skin is smooth, and his lips are full. He's handsome, Eunsook notices. Not in the normal way, either. His face is unique. He quirks his eyebrow at her, and Eunsook realizes that he expects her to answer.

"Well," Eunsook says softly, tapping the end of her pen on her lower lip. "If it's light out, it's considered daytime, and if it's dark, it's considered nighttime isn't it?" She says hesitantly. Maybe this man looks normal, but he could be one of the weirdos. Sure, maybe he doesn't seem to be inebriated past the point of coherence, and he hasn't ordered a slice of cherry pie and some chicken nuggets yet, but the sudden question gives Eunsook a sneaking suspicion that he might be.

"Maybe. But if there's 24 hours in a day, and if you split that evenly to allocate 12 hours to daytime and 12 hours to night time, and you don't start using PM until noon when it's still light out, 12 hours from that is midnight, and at midnight you start using AM, wouldn't right now be considered morning? Daytime?" The man says. The twinkle in his eye begins to look like mischief to Eunsook. She can't tell if he's unbelievably stoned or just on a higher plane of existence, but either way, she blinks at him blankly. She's too tired to process.

"Did you just come here for philosophical conversations, or can I get you something?" Eunsook asks bluntly, causing the man's lips to curve up, revealing slivers of his pearly white teeth and denting a dimple into his cheek.

"Hardly philosophical, but I'll take a coffee, please." He says, and Eunsook nods, skating back to a shelf on the wall, where a coffee machine sits vacantly. They don't brew coffee this late, as the most common customers they get are either intoxicated out of their minds or have a bad case of the munchies. The last thing those people want is coffee, and yet, here Eunsook is, grinding the the coffee, pouring the grounds into the filter, plopping it in the machine and pressing the button.

The silence in the almost empty diner makes Eunsook shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. The only sounds that are heard are the whirring of the coffee maker and Seokjin's faint windshield wiper laugh coming from the kitchen. No doubt he and Jungkook are watching this awkward interaction on the CCTV cameras and finding her suffering hilarious. She shoots a glare at the camera hanging from the ceiling, and the laughter in the back room doubles, confirming her theory. Unable to tolerate the silence any longer, Eunsook sighs softly.

"So...why coffee? This late at night?" She asks, though she isn't really super curious. "Or, this early in the morning, according to your logic." She says, and the man at the counter chuckles softly, a deep resonance in his chest.

"I like the taste." He says, and Eunsook can't help but squint at him in confusion. He sees her unabashed criticism and smiles a little bigger. "The caffeine is an added bonus." Eunsook nods slowly, the scent of black coffee filling her nostrils as the brown liquid begins to drizzle into the pot. "What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Why work? This early in the morning? Or, this late at night, according to your logic." The man sasses. Eunsook rolls her eyes, too tired to adhere to the policy of being overly nice to customers and smiling until her cheeks cramp.

"Have to pay off student loans somehow." She says, crossing her arms as she leans back against the wall. He hums in understanding, folding his hands on the countertop, long fingers intertwined with each other.

"So you were a student?"

"Am a student. If I don't start saving now, I'll be paying off loans until I'm dead." Eunsook states honestly, and the man nods in understanding.

"As opposed to starting now and paying the loans until you're right about to die." The man teases, and Eunsook manages half a smile.

"Exactly." She says quietly.

"You work the nightshift and have classes during the day, I presume?" He asks, and Eunsook pulls a face.

"Anyone who says the word 'presume' unironically is a pretentious asshole." Eunsook deadpans, and a startled laugh from the man echoes through the diner.

"Sorry, would it be less pretentious of me to say that I 'guess?'" He asks, and Eunsook shrugs, removing the full pot from the burner, grabbing a mug, and skating to stand in front of the man at the counter. She sets the mug down and pours the coffee to the brim, the steam drifting up and up and up until it has disappeared into thin air. "Thanks." The man says, long fingers curving around the handle as he brings the mug to his lips, without adding any cream or sugar.

"You're gonna burn yourself." Eunsook warns him, but he doesn't listen. To her surprise, he doesn't startle or wince, but calmly takes a few sips. Okay, maybe he is crazy. "Aren't your tastebuds fried now?"

"A little, but I like the temperature. Warms me up a little." He smiles. Eunsook rolls her eyes.

"If your concern is being warm, maybe you should wear something more than a denim jacket in November. An alternative solution that won't result in not being able to taste anything for two days. Just a thought." She bites sarcastically.

"Not that kind of warm. The cozy kind of warmth. The kind where you could be outside in the middle of a blizzard and still be warm at the core. Y'know?" He says, taking another drink. Eunsook raises her eyebrows.

"Can't say that I do." Eunsook admits honestly. She looks at the man a little longer, but she still can't read the expression on his face. Maybe he is crazy. Maybe he's high on some crazy drug. Maybe he's drunk, and just really good at hiding it. Or, maybe, he's a certified genius. Eunsook can't tell. There is a fine line between being insane and being extraordinarily intelligent, and this man who orders coffee at three in the morning for the sole purpose of feeling warm enough to burn his tongue and who debates the difference between night and day is walking it.

Suddenly, the man brings the mug to his mouth once more, and downs the rest of the coffee. He stands up, and before Eunsook can put her confusion into words, he's shrugging off his jacket. He tosses the denim clothing onto the counter, along with a ten dollar bill even though coffee is only a dollar and a quarter. "Keep the change. I'll prove it to you." He says.

"Wait, what—" Eunsook splutters, but before she can finish protesting, the door shuts after the man and he's disappearing into the night. There isn't laughter coming from the back anymore, and Eunsook stares blankly at the jacket and the money.

Sooner rather than later, Jungkook comes skating out from the back, Seokjin trailing behind him, no doubt curious. "That was weird. What did you say to him to get him to up and leave like that?" Jungkook asks, picking up the jacket.

"I don't know." Eunsook says, eyeing the door that the man left through.

She has a feeling it will no longer be hard to stay awake during night shifts.