taehyung's work shift was as usual.

ten p.m. to three a.m.

odd schedule, one might think, but for a business well-known for being open primarily in the night hours, this was normal. the store itself, called insomnia cookies, only opened at 6 p.m. stayed open for only nine hours, closed at three in the morning, and yet it received excellent business.

namely from the insomniacs and college students in the area. some of which were both.

though he was a college student, taehyung didn't really consider himself an insomniac. not at all, in fact. he sort of just fell in to the a different pace. his photography classes were in the late afternoon, often going into the evening, so having a job where he could work late and still get in a decent amount of hours worked well for him. besides, he lived near insomnia cookies anyway.

that being said, the twenty-two-year-old man often got his sleep in between the hours of 5 a.m.-12 p.m. the following hours would be to catch up on homework or a variety of things, followed by classes, and finally work again.

he wouldn't deny it, at first, it was hell getting adjusted to the bizarre schedule, and taehyung honestly considered if it were worth it, or if he should find a different school where the classes were at more reasonable hours. but given time, again, taehyung fell into the pace. and he started not to mind it at all.

he loved his job. he met so many interesting people—his coworkers and customers alike, and all of them were so different and unique in their own ways. granted, not all of the customers were the most pleasant people, but taehyung gave them the benefit of the doubt by reminding himself it probably wasn't their choice that they were awake at these hours.

his co-workers, on the other hand, taehyung loved every one to bits and pieces like they were his own family.

jungkook and hoseok were the two he worked with and spoke to most frequently. like him, they were both college students who lived in the area and just needed a job that would fit in with their wonky schedules.

it truly felt like getting flipped upside down, being awake and active in the hours when most people were asleep or at least trying to be asleep. taehyung had never predicted riding a delivery bike on the near-empty streets of daegu at two in the morning would become a regular thing for him. but it did.

although taehyung couldn't wait till he could upgrade to a car. but perhaps that would have to wait a while.

he entered the shop at just a little before ten p.m. insomnia cookies, with its small, quaint interior, could only accommodate a few tables, but that wasn't really an issue, as most of their business was made from deliveries. tonight the tables were empty.

well, empty, except the one occupied by taehyung's co-worker hoseok, who was fast asleep with his legs propped up on a seat adjacent to his own.

"hobi-hyung!!"

the redhead jolted awake, slipping off his seat in the process and crashing to the floor. in the near distance, jungkook could clearly be heard roaring with laughter, along with their boss, who was in his sixties but had the heart of a five-year-old.

hoseok scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off.

"that was very uncool of you, taetae."

"your bedtime is 3:30 a.m., it's only ten p.m.," taehyung responded with a cheeky smile. upon noticing the deep frown on his friend's face, however, the younger apologized, patting hoseok on the back until the frown turned upside down. "there we go~"

at that moment jungkook happily stepped out from behind the counter to join the two. he combed back his dark locks, smiling at his friend.

"have you both been here long?" taehyung asked.

"since nine," jungkook answered. "we'll both be closing with you tonight still. even though it's been pretty quiet so far. then again, we usually pick up closer to midnight on weekends, don't we?"

"yeah. we had a ton of deliveries last saturday."

"you tired, tae?"

"absolutely not. i'm geared up and ready to go."

"did i hear that right?" their boss chimed from the back room. taehyung chuckled. "wanna take the first delivery, then?"

"i'd love to, boss."

*

surely enough, as midnight approached, the phones of insomnia cookies rang more frequently, with regulars as well as new customers calling to order from the shop's fairly wide selection of goods. it was a steady flow of business, but nothing overwhelming.

it was nearing two a.m. now. jungkook and hoseok were already out on deliveries, while their boss's wife had taken on the task of answering the phone. taehyung simply cleaned as he waited.

it had been some time. he was anxious to go out and make a delivery. he wasn't fond of the quiet nights unless the guys were here with him. besides, he loved driving at night.

luckily for him, the phone rang, and although he wasn't the one answering it, taehyung lifted his eyes and ears attentively.

"...mhm...alright, and can i have a name for your order? ...alright, thank you. your cookies will be in your hands before you know it. buh-bye."

a smile already on his face, taehyung waited as patiently as he could for his boss's wife—miss saeyeong, as the boys called her—to prepare the order, carefully placing into a box a dozen sugar cookies, beautifully decorated, and the box itself tied neatly with white string. she then handed the small package to taehyung.

"i attached a sticky note with the address on the box," she said. "and the customer's name."

the boy looked down at the sticky note, then read aloud the name softly to himself:

"min yoongi."

he smiled again, brightly, and bid miss saeyeong a brief farewell as he hurried out the shop door while at the same time taking care not to shake around the cookies too much.

he then placed them gently in the carrier basket of his motorbike, made one last look at the address, then took off.

the address written on the note wasn't too far away. just about a five or six minute drive from the shop, and taehyung was pulling over at the side of the road, hopping off his bike, and removing the package of fresh cookies from the basket. he checked the address again.

"this is the place," he said to himself, putting on his best, genuine, happy-to-serve-you smile as he made his way up to the door. and he rang the bell.

there was a long wait. taehyung rang the bell again. an even longer wait. he rang one more time. this time, there was an answer.

the door opened at a snail's pace.

and there in front of him stood a rather short man with catlike eyes, disheveled black hair, round, puffy cheeks that looked too soft to touch. he was dressed in a loose-fitting grey t-shirt that practically swallowed his small frame, whereas his shorts looked like they had been borrowed from a younger family member. his feet were bare. taehyung felt his cheeks grow warm.

"s-sugar cookies for a...min yoongi?"

*

*

a/n:
this gon' be cute y'all.

i love taegi.