#ahhhh library job heck yeah!!

[riseofmoonxchild]

b i t t e r ⬴ ʇ ǝ ǝ ʍ s // chapter four

➴pairing – jimin x reader – taehyung x reader – [ft. namjoon]

➴genre – fluff // angst

➴theme – college!au // jimin!barista // taehyung!artist

You developed a little crush on the barista at your local coffee shop, Jimin. While you start going to the cafe regularly, thinking it as harmless and innocent, you don’t realize that your interest in him will catch the attention of Taehyung, the most-liked boy in school. As the two of them stir up an almost espresso-and-milk-kind-of element to your school life and study load, you find yourself involved in a more complicated situation than you were prepared for.

»listen to the bittersweet playlist titled “coffee shop boy” here.

« m e l t i n g »

✰

You stared out the window, chin resting on your hand. How would Jimin and Taehyung know each other? Let alone, how could they be friends? 

Just the thought almost made your stomach churn again. Like you had swallowed something bitter. They just don’t seem like two people whose worlds would ever overlap.. you contemplated. 

Strangely, unknowingly, you had never been at the coffee shop at the right times, in which Taehyung would frequently visit Jimin, keeping him company by checking in on him, or just hanging in the cafe to study or do homework. Even though the two were roommates and Tae saw Jimin basically every day. 

I’m here to support my friend, Taehyung would always make as an excuse, jokingly, I have to show that you’re brining in customers. That the business is profiting just by having you as their employee. Of course I’m not the only one coming in for Park Jimin, but I’m here to represent your case.

Nevertheless, you couldn’t imagine such a thing. Even though you didn’t really know Taehyung that well. But you did know of him, for sure. The whole school did, you had to admit. 

Very abruptly breaking your daze, Namjoon popped himself right in your field of view, in the chair on the other side of the table. You could only look at him startled, delayed enough that Namjoon picked right up on it. “Daydreaming?” He gently accused. Without waiting for you to respond, “You didn’t get anything for me?” He paused, confusedly, “Or for yourself, I see…?”

“Wait- how’d you- when-” After stuttering for a few moments, you gave up. 

“Oh come on, Y/N. You’re always here. If I really need to find you, I don’t have to try that hard. Besides, considering the way you were acting last night, and the fact that you haven’t been responding to my texts, I knew you’d be here.” He informed you matter-of-factly. “But you usually do have coffee on you at all times.”

Before you had a chance to deny any of it or offer a salty retort, Jimin had quietly approached your table. He placed a beautifully layered cappuccino in front of you, the cream and espresso and foam forming three distinct layers, topped with caramel drizzle- and you had to stop your brief gawking to smile, bubbles forming in your chest. The caramel was in the shape of a smiley face—childish but not cringy, coming from Jimin. 

Jimin just laughed, a little embarrassed, and left rather quickly. But not before you saw him quickly catch a glimpse of Namjoon. 

You didn’t even have time to process, and Joon teased, “I also know that it doesn’t hurt when barista boy is here.” He wiggled his eyebrows a little, shamelessly giving you a knowing look. “Is that him?” He took a moment, glaring at Jimin intensely. “Wait!” You could tell he was becoming more and more intrigued, “Wasn’t he there last night? At Club Avenue? Is that why-”

Before Joon could finish his sentence, and he started picking out the clues and hounding you with questions, slightly embarrassed and slightly annoyed, you tried diverting the conversation, “Barista boy has a name.”

Namjoon just raised his eyebrows, anticipating.

You whispered, exasperated, “Jimin.” You just leaned back in your chair, arms crossed. As soon as you felt your cheeks warming, you turned your head to look back out at the window, avoiding any obligation to continue the conversation. 

Namjoon also leaned back, smirking in amusement. He didn’t bask too long in the moment, though he would have if his eyes hadn’t caught the scribbles on the napkin Jimin had left with your coffee. 

Hope this helps you start off your new day :)

You caught Namjoon in the act, and you followed his line of vision. You picked up the napkin, dumbfounded, and brought it closer to your face. A bit too enthusiastic and confused, you exclaimed, “Huh?” Much more quietly, you tried to contain the mix of excitement and fluster that was melting your heart. When you realized what it said, and who wrote it, you brought it to your chest to conceal it, as if it would erase the memory from Namjoon’s mind. 

After your sudden burst of elation faded, the realization brought you back to reality almost immediately. Now every other emotion was overburdened by your recurring feeling of embarrassment. Whether Joon had been there or not, your face wouldn’t have been an any lighter shade of red. 

“A love note?” He teased, mocking your look of swoon, or at least his interpretation of it.

“Yah! Hajima, stop that.” But this time, you didn’t hide the shy smile that started to give itself away, or the giddiness glowing all over your face, or your bubbles of light laughter.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Jimin nervously bit his lower lip. Why am I so nervous about one little note?

Before he could see you discover what he had shyly tried to hide under your plate and cup, Jimin had sprinted and hid, excusing himself to wash a few dishes in the back and “check inventory.” He had stayed there for about the past ten minutes, driving himself crazy with over-thinking everything. 

He ran his hand through his hair, deep in contemplation, eyebrows furrowed, and then suddenly let out an exasperated scream “Ahhhh- wae! Why’d I do that?” 

After a moment or two for him to calm himself down, one of his coworkers peaked his head in the back, “Um.. Is everything okay back here?”

Jimin scrambled to make himself look busy, “Ah- everything’s fine-” his slight panic, mixed with a sudden clumsiness, had him knocking over a box from the shelf. “Oh!” He quickly recovered it, laughing nervously in the process, looking back at his coworker. “I’ll be out right away!”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You could still feel your face burning. You could feel the pink on your face. I know this doesn’t mean anything. But.. it’s still really nice. He actually noticed you, and you could feel the sweetness in the coffee he made you. You didn’t know why this mattered so much to you but—it meant you had made at least a small connection, and Jimin must have acknowledged that too. 

After a few more minutes spent deep in thought, you turned back to Joon, more seriously. “Hey.. Joon..” You approached him with your words hesitantly, eyes shifting to look at the napkin your fingers were absentmindedly folding.

There was something at your core. It was bothering you, but you couldn’t give it a name. It was bothering you so much, that the barista boy’s kind gesture made you feel even more anxious. 

“Eo, wae? Museun il-iya? Hmm, what is it?” Even though he seemed relaxed, Joon was wavering just a bit inside, anxious as to why you had been extra stressed and somewhat distant this past semester. Usually the both of you would relieve the others’ stress, watching movies together and laughing about stupid things, taking late night walks to get a break from never-ending term papers, anything to help each other put on those we don’t care that we’re failing classes even though they kinda mean everything right now or we don’t know what we’re gonna do after we graduate but we’re just here to live life one day at a time attitudes, to brave it all as the others’ partner-in-crime through life. But you wouldn’t let him in as openly as you had before, when you used to talk about everything.

When you had gathered yourself again, you quickly scanned your surroundings, noticing students from your school. Though they were wrapped up in their own worlds and own concerns, something like paranoia squeezed at your chest. 

You looked Joon in the eyes, “Do you wanna go, like, to the library.. or something?” 

He didn’t even question the fact that it was already winter break, and that there wasn’t really a reason to be there. He knew you needed the quiet and to be lost in a maze of bookshelves, and a friend to keep you more company than the books could offer.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You weren’t doing anything for winter break. And you didn’t want to stay in your dorm room to feel yourself slowly going insane, or bathing in self-loathe—over how lame it was to not be spending your vacation with family or friends. So, you decided the most productive thing you could do was work on finding a job. You couldn’t afford the time or the finances to take a break. 

You were FaceTiming Joon, because—heck—going from seeing him everyday to not at all made you feel lonely, and, you admitted, you missed him (just a little). 

“Yeah! So you know that one bookstore—the one on the corner by you and Hobi’s apartment?”

“You mean the one that I’ve been going to since freshman year.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you nodded your head enthusiastically, wanting to continue with your announcement. “Well I-”

“You mean the one-” he interrupted, “that you were so excited to find last semester. The one we pass like all the time to go to 7/11. And you felt so proud to discover for the first time.” He started laughing, but he kept going, as he could see your face falling into a scowl. “And you were all like ‘Joon-ie! I discovered the best place to study, you won’t believe it.’ And you kept going on, ‘They have new books, like really crisp and fresh. But then they also have like classic used ones- like you know the ones with that old book smell and-’” 

He was having way too much fun imitating you.

“Hey!” You interrupted, half-heartedly trying to defend yourself, “..I never call you.. Joonie.” 

But he wasn’t listening to you, still cackling over the memory as it resurfaced in his memory, “‘It’s just so cute.’” He mimicked you. And at this point all you could do was fume at his fun-making in silence. “And then you were so upset at me, when I wasn’t excited to hear about something I had already found like months ago. And you were mad at me for not sharing the place with you, but I had literally told you it was there, or mentioned it, when we passed by it. Like more than once, Y/N.” 

Namjoon’s eyes scrunched up, and he put his hand over his eyes as he continued giggling.

The whole time you scoffed, or tried to interject, but you knew it was pointless. You secretly loved it, but on the outside you were as indifferent and annoyed as you could feign. “Okay, I get it. I’m totally oblivious.”

“Now-” You started again, determinedly, as if Namjoon had not just made you recount the mortifying moment. “As I was saying, I talked to the owner—you know the really cute haraboji—and he was happy to hire someone to help around the store.”

As Namjoon was still collecting himself, you frowned, waiting for him to start listening to you again. “Okay, okay, I’m listening. Yes, really cute grandpa. That’s definitely a perk.”

You continued, “Yeah, and you know how it’s really hard to get in the smaller spaces or maneuver around some of the piles of books.”

“Mhmmm.”

“Yeah, well.. I guess I can be somewhat useful..”

Namjoon laughed, this time in an endearing way, “Yeah. That’s great, Y/N.”

“And alsooooo,” you batted your lashes, “You’ll probably get to see more of me. Since I’ll be so close.”

He pretended to be confused, waiting for more information. 

“Okay, well, is that not interesting enough for you?” 

“It’s great, I’m just thinking about how to keep you from coming over and eating all my snacks.”

You tried to hit him through the screen and he laughed. And then you just started laughing, only half-attempting to pretend to be mad, “Well fine then. I guess I’ll just come over to see Hobi.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

A week’s worth of winter break had already passed, and you had settled into a comfortable routine: waking up late—or what was late for not having 8AM classes—working the afternoon shift, and hanging at the coffee shop in the evenings—even though a certain barista hadn’t been there—and alternating between reading and writing. 

And you’d usually make up an excuse to call Namjoon everyday, usually at the same time. Eventually he caught on, and even called you when you didn’t stick to your normal pattern. “Did something happen to you? You usually call by now. I have to make sure you’re not dead. It’s not like you have a next door neighbor or something to check on you.”

But, lately, you had been busy writing about a main character who was an artist, and so you had spent what free time you had reading about different methods of art and famous art pieces. Luckily, you worked in the perfect place to find resources with that kind of information.

You would admit it, that you took advantage your position a little. But in all honestly, the store haraboji didn’t mind at all. You knew he had already caught you a couple of times perusing some of the aisles when it was slow. 

You walked back to one of the far corners of the store to return one of the painting books you had been scanning. But, along with your feet, your heart stopped dead in their tracks. You were paralyzed. “Kim T-T-Taehyung,” you whispered to yourself, in partial stun and partial fear. 

He was standing, head down and eyes intensely attentive to the page he was studying. His fingers, long and slender, moved along the text of the page, and his eyes followed. Like his features, the movement was precise and delicate. As you unknowingly concentrated on him, the ends of his hair brushing against his eyelashes, his lips relaxed and slightly parted, totally enveloped by what he was reading—your heart started racing in a different way. Not out of fear. Something about his presence, when you took a moment to take it in, was relaxing. No wonder people found him pleasant.. pleasant to talk to, pleasant to look at.. 

“Um, excuse me-” You jumped a little, squeaking at the brisk voice slicing through your reverie. 

When you turned around, you saw another very familiar face. Lee Mina. She had been in one of your classes last year. She was the same year as you. Before you could recoil from the nasty memories she brought back, she asked, “Could you put this back?” As she shoved it in your hands, she looked you up and down and then commented, displeased, “I don’t want it anymore.” 

You scowled, mouth half-open about respond to her rude remark, but she walked right past you, “Oh- Taehyung-oppa.” 

You just cringed. For more than one reason, but mostly because of how fake Mina’s surprised act was, and how her voice suddenly became a pitch or two higher. 

You couldn’t resist, to turn your head and watch Taehyung’s reaction. And for the first time in a year, you and Taehyung made eye contact.  

☾——————————————————————————————————☽

A/N: so the question is--did tae go to the bookshop intentionally, or was it just “fate”? ;))

i was actually planning on posting this at the end of summer, but things got really crazy. I was actually studying abroad in Korea this past semester--it was amazing~~ If you’re still here--whether you’re coming back for more, or if you’ve just stumbled upon this little guy--thank you for reading!! this is my precious bb, because i actually have a lot of plans, ideas for plot direction. and some later content already prepared, ayeeee. but it has been a bit neglected, ahhh ㅠㅠ 

but! i’m excited to come back, so please stay with me~ much love♥ 

—moonie☾✧

☽

→ preview // prev. // chapter four // next (coming)

→ “coffee shop boy” playlist

⋆

taglist: @monvieesdaebak @karissassirak @litchinu 💕

[evenstevensranked]

#32: Season 1, Episode 7 - “Foodzilla”

Louis convinces Ren to let him do a live news segment on the school lunch lady for the Wombat Report. Unfortunately, his inability to be serious turns the story into a fiasco -- ultimately causing the lunch lady to quit her job.

The episode opens with Louis and Ren walking home from school. He’s nagging her and asking “please?!” over and over. This is obviously setting us up to wonder what the heck he’s asking for. Side note: I love how even though I know they filmed the interior shots of the house on a set, I STILL like to think they used the real house from time to time, lol. This is another one of those instances. They’re walking out and about in the real world, up until they reach their front door. You can’t tell if they’re still outside or if they’ve captured great artificial “natural” light. Gahhh. You can also hear legitimate sounding wind and cars driving by, which is either great sound editing or... ya know, they were actually at the house. In which case.. IT TOTALLY IS THE SAME INSIDE! 

Yeah, this is definitely (probably) my wishful thinking talking tbh. The more I stare at these images the more it looks like a set with bright lights... But still. 

Anyway, nerd analyzation aside... Turns out Louis desperately wants to host a segment on the premiere installment of the Wombat Report, which Ren is in charge of. He says that he could make her a comic masterpiece, which is where Ren immediately shuts any prospect down. Naturally, she absolutely will not allow it because she thinks Louis is incapable of taking anything seriously. I don’t blame her. If only she could lighten up, though.. Louis probably could’ve delivered something great, hilarious and take it seriously. I would’ve loved to see that, tbh. 

Literally a million scenes/lines from this episode were used in Disney Channel promos for the show. Including “You think I need to shave my pits?” “I rest my case.” which happens around this point of the episode. 

Louis heads out to the backyard, where Eileen is attempting to do Tai-Chi. The only problem is that she can’t find the right music to help her relax. Louis confides in her about the Wombat Report situation, and she tells him if he really wants to do it, the only option is to take it seriously and present Ren with a professional idea. She invites Louis to try exercising with her “Do this with me! It’s called: Golden Chicken Stands on One Leg.” Louis gives up right away and says:

So freaking good. Louis Stevens is all of us. 

Eileen eventually looks though Ren’s CD collection for better relaxation tunes and chooses Limp Bizkit. Oh my god. “The Limp Biscuits. That sounds relaxing” she says. bahaha I can’t. 

The next day at school, Louis tries to figure out a good idea for a story and goes to Twitty and Tawny for help at lunch. Twitty suggests that he do a behind the scenes look at his band, The Alan Twitty Project! Ahhhh! This is the first ever hint at the band arc! :D He also says that his lead singer has mono. The number one sickness mentioned on teen shows that literally no one I’ve ever known in real life has contracted. We get another one of those lines used in promos here: Louis: “You think I’m just some goofball who can’t be serious?” Twitty and Tawny: “...........yeah.” 

Right about now is when Louis gets the bright idea to do his story on the school lunch lady.. played by Wendy Worthington who’s been in a zillion things you’ve probably seen. Including “Tower of Terror” -- the single most horrifying movie to ever air on Disney Channel. (Well, except for “Don’t Look Under The Bed.”) There’s a decapitated corpse and doll in the film. Just sayin. 

She’s honestly really good at playing a creepy lady, I guess. Also, the little girl is Morgan from Boy Meets World... which instead of a direct parallel, you could consider a 6 degrees of separation deal between this show and BMW. I mean, that’s kinda reaching... but.

Just for the laughs, here’s me on the ride at Disney World. I was... well, terrified of it, but oddly obsessed at the same time. Also, that is my uncle laughing at me to my right. 

Louis presents Ren with a rough draft of his report “The Lunch Lady: Life Behind The Hairnet” which seems extremely promising. Ren thinks so too, and allows him to do the segment. We sort of get mirror talk that night... but not really. It’s just Louis practicing various ways to act on air -- another bit used in promos. 

Okay, we’ve finally reached the debut of The Wombat Report! For some reason Ren can’t correctly pronounce “Wombat Report” and says “Wombat Waport” I never understood this until I asked my mother for confirmation today. Louis refers to her as “Bawa” (a.k.a Barbara Walters) at one point, so I always assumed this was a reference to her or something... turns out my assumption was correct. I apologize for being an uncultured swine.

They start off with a “Coming up...” intro that features a character named DaNica Henderson (played by Alexis Lopez from The Luck Of the Irish, whose sister is Bianca Lopez a.k.a Mandy “Always Gets Her Man” Sanchez! Holy crap!) To quote Season 3 Louis:

DaNica says “Ever wonder what happens to the fines you pay on overdue library books? I have a shocking report.” And the camera zooms out to reveal a fancy sports car in the librarian’s parking spot: 

Like, wth?! lol. Imagine if the librarian saved up enough piddly overdue fines to buy a freaking lambo or something?! omg. What’s funnier is that I’m picturing the stereotypical, old lady librarian driving around in that car. 

They segue to a sports report by the underused Artie Ryan. Yesssss. He’s interviewing Twitty about a recent basketball game. This scene cuts to Louis, who’s on next, telling Tom (who of course is the AV guy/cameraman) that he’s just gonna wing the interview with the lunch lady. Not good. When it cuts back to Artie’s segment, we get another one of those backends to a random sentence from Twitty: “...Let’s just say it’s the last time I played without a cup.” Oh my god. Chill, Disney. Twitty takes this on-air opportunity to say that his band is looking for a bassist. Artie leans in like “Hey! I play bass!” lol. This is so great because Artie goes on to join The Alan Twitty Project/Twitty-Stevens Connection! Again, very cool to see the band arc starting to form. Gotta love solid continuity. 

It’s time for Louis’ report and, well... this is just one of those absolutely iconic scenes ya gotta embed: 

“It’s FOODZILLA! Tokyo is dooooomed!” (At least, I think that’s what he’s saying.) 

..........as you can see, Louis started off his live-streamed interview sort of okay? And then it all just went down in flames pretty quickly. Only Louis Stevens could take an interview from a simple question, to a full out food war between the news crew and the Lunch Lady. It’s actually pretty hilarious, but you just cannot help but cringe at the fact Louis f’d up… again -- Much like his meltdown in Wild Child. But, I’m ranking this disaster higher because I find it less horrible than tarnishing the name of his own family and jeopardizing Eileen’s campaign on television. It’s a lil less cringy than that, which makes it funnier. I love how he shouts “MAN DOWN! I’ll try to get’cha out! I’ll try to get’cha!” as if they’re literally at war, which is too much lol.. and also predicted Shia’s future...? (Again, I’m reaching, but STILL.) That ending shot scene of Ren fuming with anger was also used for promos. Actually, you can just check out this promo video I posted recently to see every moment I’ve mentioned so far and then some.

To Ren’s surprise, everyone (including Principal Wexler for whatever reason) loved Louis’ segment and thought it was hilarious. DaNica refers to it as “phat” which definitely dates the show, lol. Just like that, Ren switches gears and tells Louis to prepare another segment. Wow. Unfortunately, at lunch that day.. all the kids start taunting the lunch lady by screaming “FOODZILLA!” at her. This one kid was the first one to shout it, and I always thought he was Khleo Thomas (Zero from Holes) lol:

The lunch lady is obviously mortified and runs away into the kitchen. :( Louis and Ren feel incredibly remorseful. When they get home from school, they tell Eileen everything and she forces them to go to the lunch lady’s house and apologize. (This is also the “You are a horrible little person” bit. As seen in that darn promo I linked.)

They go to her house later that night, and she reluctantly invites them in. We learn that her name is Elsa Schotz, and she “shows them who she really is” by yodeling for them. I don’t know how that’s supposed to reveal her true colors, but ok. We find out that she came over on a boat from Europe to become a professional yodeler, but sadly no one cares about yodeling in America — which is most definitely extremely factual. Have you ever heard a Top 40 yodeling hit? Honestly, why would ANYONE travel to America of all countries to pursue a yodeling career? She was already in Europe! That seems like something you’d go to Germany or Switzerland for??? I feel like this is a career endeavor you’d research where it’s most lucrative before moving to another country? Anyway, once she found out that yodeling work literally does not exist in the US, she started cooking at the school for money. But, now she’s depressed because she’s being made fun of.

This information somehow leads to Louis and Ren giving her a makeover??? I never realized it before, but that almost makes no sense? The kids at school weren’t making fun of her for the way she looks, but rather, because of her crazy outburst. I’d be so insulted and confused if I were Elsa. Is the makeover just a way to... somehow distract from the Foodzilla thing? Idk. She forgives them in the end though and her new-look gives her a confidence boost.

Where’d they get that outfit? Did she just happen to have something snazzy like that in the back of her closet? or did they seriously glamify her uniform?

They were pumped for the kids at school to see the “new and improved” Elsa Schotz, but she doesn’t show up the next day. Turns out she struck up a relationship with the school janitor and they eloped to Las Vegas to get married. Still a better love story than Twilight. 

And that’s pretty much it! The short return after the last commercial break is Louis yodeling for Eileen while she does her Tai-Chi. 

This episode remains super memorable. Probably because how many freaking scenes they used on commercials! It also aired a lot as well. Like, wow. But other than the actual Foodzilla scene, the rest of the episode is just a little bland and slightly random at times haha. It’s still good though. It’s nice to see Louis and Ren work together to help Elsa in the end. 

Thoughts?

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