↣ lounge area

@‘ beomgyu c. "if you look closely at my smile... you can see the pain in my eyes that i constantly live with." the mention of the teenage girl that tortured beomgyu made chaeyoung snort, "if i see her i'll teach her a real lesson..." she hummed. although there were plenty of rude customers, the teenagers were in a whole new category. some were real nice and understood ikea cafe was not starbucks and were actually pleasant to talk to, but there were some real entitled ones out there that grated on chaeyoung's nerves. huffing softly, chaeyoung's sleepy brain immediately rolled her body closer to beomgyu, a source of warmth and a comforting scent as she hummed and immediately felt herself starting to doze. "yeah yeah.... g'night..." she whispered out.

@‘ chaeyoung l. "i don't know how you do it... having to serve them with a smile when they come up with all those ridiculous orders-- that teenager with her berry iced tea and whatnot still has me waking up at night in cold sweat" beomgyu shuddered ever so slightly reminiscing about the time he had covered for chaeyoung. don't get him wrong, if she needed, he'd offer to do it again, but it wasn't exactly his favourite place in ikea to be alone. once beomgyu had made sure that the girl was properly situated on the couch, he'd gotten ready to allow her some quiet time until she spoke up again. beomgyu couldn't lie; the words she uttered, be it consciously or unconsciously, evoked a fond smile from him. hence, with a glance down at his watch to ensure he had some time, beomgyu gingerly settled down beside chaeyoung, trying as best as he could not to invade her personal space. "alright, i've got about 20 more minutes until the end of my break so don't worry i'll stay-- try to get some sleep, chae."

@‘ beomgyu c. shivering in beomgyu's arms at the mention of karens, she immediately empathized with his plight. the karens always liked to attack their ikea almost every single day and make all of the employees lives a bit worse. "at least you having to deal with them means that i don't... until they want their coffee fix with their fancy starbucks orders that we don't even carry here." chaeyoung replied, thumping her head against beomgyu's chest in mild frustration. the karens always got her in a mood. not really responding to beomgyu after that, as her eyelids were half closed. beomgyu's scent seemed to just calm her right down and make her all soft and ready for bed time. she just let herself be carried onto the couch before laughing softly. "thank you good sir, you have done me a very great deed." she mumbled, her hand reaching out for him again. "stay until i fall asleep, you smell really good..."

@‘ chaeyoung l. “good. you have no idea how relieved that makes me feel,” he beamed, briefly glancing down at her. faking a groan from the nudge before a chuckle slipped past his lips, beomgyu hummed in agreement. she was right; not only would she get in trouble for drooling but sleeping on the job too. for the most part, their boss (and managers) were incredibly understanding, but it was best not to risk it. “lord, karens scare me, and they always seem to end up in my department” he huffed, keeping his voice low as not to attract unwanted attention. adjusting the other slightly in his arms to better carry her, beomgyu was suddenly taken back by chaeyoung’s revelation, cheeks immediately adorning subtle red tints that he couldn’t hide. “i— um, i’m glad you like it— i mean, i’m glad it smells good” he finally managed to muster after a good minute. before he could make a fool of himself again, they had arrived at the lounge, and beomgyu wasted no time in finding the comfiest couch for chaeyoung to nap on. “here we are, your highness,” he grinned, slowly laying her down on it.

it was break time, the best time in chaeyoung's humble opinion of having a shift. slouched over, she shuffled in through the door, sat on a chair, and promptly face planted into the table after placing her half full coffee cup beside her. a soft groan escaped her lips as she sat there unmoving for at least a minute.