Tao's Point of View-

I woke up in a rather comfortable place. I felt warm, but my head was pounding. I opened my eyes and found an unfamiliar ceiling above me. Sitting up quickly, I found myself in an unfamiliar room and bed. Trying to remember what happened, I looked down to see that my leg and abdomen had bandages wrapped around them. I then heard a knock on the door and a man came in.

“Oh, are you awake?” The man asked.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“You’re at my house. I found you passed out by the side of the road. I called over a friend of mine who is a doctor and he checked you out to see if you were okay. He wasn’t sure what happened but you have some serious bruises and scrapes on your leg and side. No broken bones though.” He explained as he came over to me and sat down beside me on the bed.

“Who are you?” I asked curious of who this man was.

“My name is Kim Jongin, but everyone calls me Kai. What is your name?”

“Zitao, Huang Zitao. You can call me Tao.” I said introducing myself.

“Oh, are you chinese?” He asked surprised.

“Yes.” I answered.

“My best friend is chinese too. Do you live here in Seoul?” Kai asked.

“Yes, I live by myself near Seoul University.”

“Are you a student there?”

“Yes, I’m studying to become a teacher.” I said.

“Are you in any clubs?” I was starting to get tired of all the sudden questions he was asking, but I didn’t want to be rude.

“Yes, I’m in Kung Fu and track.” I said.

“So, you’re an athlete?” He asked and I nodded my head as an answer. “I’m sorry for asking all those questions when you just woke up. I just got a little bit over-excited. I just like meeting new people. You must be hungry. I’ll let the chef know we have an extra person to cook for. You can go take a shower if you like. It’s right through that room. When you’re done if you go down the stairs outside of the room and then turn left, you will see the dining room in front of you. I’ll be there along with my boss.” He said then left the room.

I sighed after he closed the door, exhausted by all the questions. My head hurt so much and that didn’t help any, but he seemed like a bad guy. If my head wasn’t pounding I probably would have gotten along better with him. I wasn’t one to be around if I had a headache. I got out of the bed and went to the bathroom as Kai had suggested.

When I opened the door to the bathroom, I was quite surprised by it’s size. It was about the size of my apartment. Even though my apartment is really small, seeing a bathroom that size was rather astonishing. I had never seen such a large bathroom before in my life. How much money did that have to cost. Thinking back to the size of the bedroom I was in had to have cost a lot also. How rich was this guy? I started to feel a little uncomfortable. The shower was large and had the shower head built into the ceiling. The tile around the shower walls and floor were so shiny that I could see my reflection.

I decided to take a shower later at my apartment so I didn’t have to take one in such an expensive shower. I walked out of the room and went down the stairs that were down the hall a little. I could smell something good coming from somewhere. I turned around the corner to see a long table with two people sitting at it down the hallway. I headed in the direction and a man I didn’t recognize, looked up at me and then looked back down. Kai looked up and then stood up.

“Come over here.” He said and pulled out a chair from the table.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

“Of course. You should eat breakfast everyday though. You are rather thin but you don’t seem underweight.” Kai said as I sat down in the chair.

I looked up at the man sitting in front of me. He was eating his food and looking through what seemed like business documents. They seemed really important but the man didn’t seem to care about them. Who was this man?

“Tao. This is Wu Yifan, my boss, and my best friend I mentioned about earlier who was chinese.” Kai said introducing the man.

“Um, hello. My name is Huang Zitao. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I said bowing my head to him.

“Jongin, time.” He said completely ignoring me and my presence. I lifted my head and went to take a drink of the water in front of me.

“Almost 9, why?” Kai asked looking at his watch.

I choked on the water, hearing what time it was.

“Are you alright?” Kai asked patting my back.

“I’m late!” I said and jumped out of the chair.

“Late for what?” Kai also got out of his chair and showed me out of the room.

“For class.” I answered.

“I’ll take you there.” Kai said and showed me to the front door.

I kept telling him that I could go alone, but he kept insisting that he could take me. I followed him to a black car parked outside of the house and he opened the door for me. After about a thirty minute drive, we pulled up to the school. Before I got out of the car, Kai asked me for my phone number. I didn’t have a phone because I couldn’t afford it. He then asked if I needed a ride home, but my best friend and I always walked to the cafe, where I worked, after school together. I said goodbye to Kai and made my way into the school.

I had math for my first class and it was going to be over in another hour or less. I walked into the classroom and everyone looked over at me. The teacher came over and looked at me. My arm was still bandaged and I had scrapes all over my arms. I tried hiding my arms behind me but I knew that didn’t do anything.

“Why are you late?” The teacher asked.

“I fell down some stairs.” I lied because I couldn’t exactly remember what happened.

“Well, be careful next time, and do not be late to my class again. Do I make myself clear?” He asked in a harsh tone.

“Yes sir.” I said and went to my seat.

“What happened to you?” My friend, Baekhyun, asked when I sat down and he then handed me my bag.I was known to forget my backpack so Baekhyun keeps it with him.

“I’m not exactly sure, either.” I said and pulled out my notebook from my bag.

“Tell me what happened. Come on.” He begged.

“I’ll tell you later. Now give me your notes so I can copy them down.” I said and he handed me his notebook.

An hour later, Baekhyun and I left the class to go to our next classes. I go to Chemistry, while Baekhyun goes to History. We both want to become high school teachers but we want to teach different subjects. We are both taking Math and English together though. I am also taking an extra physical education class. I love running and working out. When I got to my Chemistry class, I was greeted by another one of my friends, Lay.

“Hey, my little baby panda. How are you today?” He asked and then noticed my arm. “What happened?”

“Lay, I’m fine don’t worry. Just some scrapes and bruises. I’m not going to die.” I said and sat down next to him.

“I know that. I am a Medical student.” He said then took ahold of my arm. “Does it hurt anywhere?”  

“Nope.” I answered.

“Were you checked out?” He asked.

“Yes.” I said assuming what Kai said was true.

“Alright then. Put some medicine on it at least.” He said and released my arm.

“I will.”

I went through the rest of my classes peacefully and exited the school after my last class. I went to my regular meeting spot and waited for my best friend to finish his class. After about five minutes, I heard him call out to me. I ran up to him and hugged him.

“Kyungsoo, how was your day? My day was pretty good.” I said happy to see him.

“It was good. Should we get to the cafe? I don’t want you to be late.” He said and we made our way to the cafe.

Kyungsoo always stays and has a cup of tea before leaving to go to his job. He works as a daycare helper because he is so good with kids. It was only 3 when he had to leave so I said goodbye to him and went back to work. I loved my job so much. I had to work part-time since my first year of high school, after my parents died. I worked hard to support myself and luckily my parents left me enough money to go through school, but I’ve been struggling to live on my own. I was okay on my own until about a year later when I was kicked out of my house and was forced to find my way to live alone.

I lived on the streets for a while until I found a lover and decided to live with him. Then a few months later, I had graduated, we decided to move to Seoul together, and not even a week later he broke up with me and kicked me out, saying I was boring because I wouldn’t sleep with him. I lived out on the streets yet again until I found my apartment three years ago. I made enough money from working to pay for college, but I barely have enough after that form rent and bills.  

I was getting ready to close up when another customer walked in. I turned around to see my ex-boyfriend from high school standing in the doorway. The cup I was holding crashed onto the floor as I stared at the man before me.

“Luhan. What are you doing here?”