4:00 am.

 

“Kyungsoo-ah, wake up. It’s time for you to go to work.”

“Let me sleep Chanyeol…”

“But you have to go don’t you, you will get your salary plus, if you don’t go, he might scold you again, worse, might even fire you.”

Kyungsoo groaned, but opened his tired eyes.

The cracked ceiling, a little too low, stared down at him in the dark room, having only an orange light bulb at the small dining table, and the fogged window at the end of the room as their only source of light.

It was drizzling, and the unpleasant nauseating smell of drainage behind their apartment took over the delicious savour of doughnuts and coffee.

The sound of the train blaring passed through the thin scraped wallpapers.

The stench of last nights spoiled milk was still swaying under his nose.

Kyungsoo ran his rough hands through his greasy hair, further disheveling it and got up, slowly placing down his feet on the creaky fractured board of their studio apartment. Cold.

Underneath his eyes were circles, darker than Chanyeols and his eye lids were heavy, making his toes appear wrinkled.

A tune played in his ears, vague lyrics, and sometimes a bit too high. It was Chanyeol singing.

“I will be going now. Be sure to eat your breakfast before you leave okay?”

Kyungsoo habitually nodded.

Chanyeol wore his black worn-out jacket, slipped a cap with the post-office company’s name on his head and with an abused brown case he left the room.

Kyungsoo’s breakfast everyday was canned food, since it stays longer and costs less. A bottle of water, and a sticky note stuck by Chanyeol before leaving was beside it, “Eat well Kyungsoo-ah!” Perhaps to make Kyungsoo at-least nibble on it.

 

 

It always drizzles. The damp, muddy roads digs under Kyungsoo heels. The sunless sky mocks him every second of the day, and the dark clouds hide its beauty from his sight.

Under the flickering streetlamps, a group of flies played around spherically.

Abandoned houses lay dead, albeit it rains, the sun never shines and sadly, the wetted flowers bow down.

The rocky road stretched far until his office, and looking at his second-hand watch, 4:10 A.M, he only had five minutes to reach his destination, otherwise like Chanyeol said, his grumpy boss might fire him even if he’s a minute late.

So he ran, anxiously and fast but slipped.

Cursing himself for sleeping for even a minute, he got up and ran again.

 

4:16 am.

 

“You think that you can slack off all day, do nothing and I would just give you your pay?”

“I’m sorry sir…”

“Sorry? This is the second time you’re damn late!”

“I’m re-really sorry sir…it won’t happen aga-.”

“I’m cutting off half of your pay! This is the last and final warning Do Kyungsoo.”

“Yes…Sir.”

“Clean up the front and the bathrooms, take out the trash and set the files under my desk. I have to leave early but if I see any work undone, you’re fired for good, understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“And don’t you sleep in my office again. I don’t want to smell your filthy stench when I get back in the morning.”

“Yes sir.”

“Man why do I always get people like you!” The boss clicked his tongue and left with his brand new briefcase.

For seconds, Kyungsoo looked down, momentarily, droplets of water blotted the pale floor and sniffs from time to time could be heard by the few workers outside.

 

“I hate my life…” He once said to Chanyeol.

“Huh? Why?”

“Because this is not the life I want to live. I don’t want to clean the bathrooms, or broom the wet leaves. I want to work in an office, maybe be a bank employer and drink coffee with freshly baked doughnuts. I want to give my mom the life she wanted. Give her money every month, feed her nice food, and take her out on vacations.”

“Then can’t you do that now?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t. I can’t figure out how.”

 

3:50 am.

 

Kyungsoo walked back to his apartment after a tiring day.

With his spare key he opened the door and switched on the lights, but saw Chanyeol in a deep sleep as usual.

Quietly closing the door and switching the lights back off, he tossed himself on his untidy bed.

The ceiling appeared in waves like the ocean, his eyes burned and hurt and he knew that closing them now would only make him fall into oblivion.

So, he opened the drawer from his bedside and took out a bundle of sticky notes and a pen.

“Wake me up at 4:00.” He scribbled and stuck it on the table, hoping that Chanyeol would see it.