He had a feeling that he wouldn't last long, anyway.  

That morning, he woke up enveloped in silence, which was a normal occurrence for him. His father often went to work early and came back from work late.

Taeyong snickered bitterly to himself. He knew his father was involved in numerous affairs outside, and never cared about his mother.

He soon got up from his bed and walked into the dark kitchen. He wondered if his dad had even paid the full electrical bill this month. He made a mental note to start looking for jobs, because he had a feeling that his father won't bother to pay all the bills.

As he made breakfast, he took a brief glance to his phone to see that he was running late. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and ran to the local bus stop in a record time of fifteen minutes.

He entered quickly into one of the numerous buses that lined the road, hoping with all his heart that the driver would stop his useless chatter and hurry the up.

The vehicle was soon on its way to Taeyong's school, managing to avoid the traffic gradually building up in the wide, busy streets of Seoul.

-

It was after he got off the bus and walked into the school compounds that he felt it.

That familiar dull but stinging pain behind his eyes, making him to connect and rub his fists harshly on his forehead to get rid of the annoying pain.

Taeyong felt himself leaning on the black pole next to the school parking lot as he gritted his teeth.

"..." he groaned when he saw that he was already late for the first period, which was Math. With Miss ing Kim, the strict teacher. ing fantastic.

Taeyong opened his eyes, only to shake his head when all he saw was a blur. He strolled towards Math class, knocking on the door and waiting for his usual scolding.

And he got it. Miss Kim was having none of it, as Taeyong had been late to her class numerous times to count and gave him a detention slip, saying other things that Taeyong had blocked out already.

She gave him a look of disapproval as he slipped to the back of the classroom, ignoring the stares of the other students as he made himself comfortable in his hoodie, knowing fully well that sweaters were not permitted in class unless it was cold.

"Taeyong." That was the raven haired male's Japanese acquaintance(who could also be referred to as a friend at this point), Yuta.

"Hey, Yuta."

"You're always late."

Taeyong considered Yuta to be a nice friend, but he could definitely do without the younger reprimanding Taeyong for everything that he did. Hell, Yuta would even scold him for breathing too loudly at times.

"Shut up."

"Stop talking. Miss Kim is eyeing you again."

"She can watch me whenever she damn pleases, I don't care."

"What's gotten into you today, Taeyong?" Yuta asked, copying down the notes from the black board. Forever the model student.

"Nothing." Taeyong then pauses, playing with the strings of his hoodie. "I'm hungry."

Yuta bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. "Taeyong, you just came."

"So?"

"Okay. I'll by you food when we're on break. Sounds good?" his friend suggested. Taeyong nodded, feeling incredibly tired and also feeling that dull pain behind his eyes.

-

Yuta and Taeyong were on break now, and as Yuta had promised, he was getting Taeyong's food for him as they entered the loud cafeteria.

Seated at his usual table, he started to do his favourite past time which was observing people. He didn't know why, but he liked watching how people behaved, and how one-dimensional they seemed. He scoffed at their two faced personalities and laughed at how they blatantly lied to one another. It was like one visious cycle. One that Taeyong couldn't get enough of.

To be able to watch others unseen, he had to be invisible, which he was good at all of his life. He was so good that others always thought of him as the ice cold prince who had no emotions whatsoever, when he was actually the opposite, begging for someone to notice his silent suffering. 

His mother never did, though.

He was so lost in his thoughts about his mother that when he looked up, he felt quite startled to meet someone's eyes.

The person was male, with sleek black hair which contrasted nicely with his porcelain-like skin. He looked tall and lean, yet his cheeks were slightly chubby with a pair of dimples adorning them. His clothes and his demeanor showed someone who was probably a good person who abided by the rules, but his eyes had a sort of playful mischievousness within them. This person was basically a walking contradiction.

Taeyong felt exposed as the person's eyes never strayed away from him, even though he was surrounded by numerous people who were busy chattering with each other.

Taeyong looked away, getting irritated when the person kept on watching him. Taeyong looked back, determined to make the other stop watching him by maintaining prolonged eye contact with a glare on his face, which only resulted in the other male raising his eyebrows, a smirk on his face as if he was enjoying this way too much.

Taeyong soon gave up and looked away, furious. He pulled out his phone and texted his friend.

Taeyong: Where r u? Some guy has been staring creepily at me for the past 15 min!

Yuta: I'll be back in just a minute 😁

Taeyong: hurry

Taeyong pulled his hoodie over his head, blacking out his surroundings, plus that creepy male that kept on watching him.

"I'm back," Yuta exclaimed as he took a seat next to Taeyong. He pushed Taeyong's order towards his friend, taking note of how troubled the teen looked.

"Thanks," the older muttered, munching quietly on his sandwich.

"So. You were saying something about a guy watching you?" Yuta commented.

Taeyong nudged his head quickly towards a group of students seating at the table close to theirs. "The one with the black hair."

"Oh," Yuta started. Taeyong knew that the younger was about to share some gossip on the male with Taeyong in a few seconds. "That's Jung Jaehyun. That's not his real name, but he prefers Jaehyun and no one knows his real name anyway. He's a year below us, so that's why you've never noticed him before. Also because you don't like people that much." This made Taeyong playfully hit him repeatedly, to which Yuta responded by grinning and laughing. "Ow. Also, legend has it that Jaehyun will have with you if you ask him on a Friday at 4 pm."

"Ew, gross," Taeyong spat, wrinkling up his face, causing Yuta to laugh more.

"Also, people say he has a thing for feminine looking guys, which probably explains why he was staring at you, coupled with some daddy issues--"

"Where you you get the information from?!" exclaimed Taeyong. Yuta just shrugged. They both missed the way a light frown was plastered on Jaehyun's face. "Also, I am not feminine."

"Sorry to break it to you, but you kind of are," Yuta answered.

"I am not feminine, you er."

"Yes you are."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not," Taeyong whined.

"You are," Yuta stresses. "You have soft doe eyes and long eyelashes, naturally shiny lips and you have curves. You sometimes look like you need someone to protect you. No homo though."

"Shut up," Taeyong answered, tired of Yuta's opinion on how he looks. "You don't look that masculine either."

"Um, excuse me," Yuta exclaimed as Taeyong burst out laughing, attracting the stares of others, including Jaehyun. "But I am masculine."

"What about Hansol?" Taeyong teased. He immediately knew that he shouldn't have went there when Yuta's eyes widened in disbelief, then in fury.

"I told you to never talk about him," Yuta spat, eyes furrowed together.

"Yuta, I'm really sorry," his friend answered. He felt guilty that he had brought up Hansol when he knew what kind of memories he brought to his Japanese friend. "I really am."

"Whatever, Lee Taeyong. You can have the rest of my food. I'm not hungry anymore." Normally, Taeyong would be happy when Yuta offered to share his beloved food with him, but now, Taeyong became more anxious.

Taeyong felt the deep, dark thoughts of his mind coming back to the surface. Thoughts of him not deserving of his friendship with Yuta and him only bringing his friend down. Thoughts of him sitting in his bathtub and feeling like pulling all his hair out because of the hopelessness that he felt. Thoughts about him standing at the edge of a bridge, frozen, and staring at the crashing waves below, while Yuta called out to him and pulled him back from falling into the water, because Yuta was such a good friend. Yuta was always there for him. And now, all Taeyong could think about was that he was a ed up friend who didn't deserve Yuta. He didn't deserve anyone.

The pain behind his eyes manifested at that moment, and this time, it was sharp, causing Taeyong to let out a startled shout.

He heard Yuta calling out to him, but all he could see was a certain black haired male's worried face, blurriness, and then black.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Sorry if it seems a bit cliche, but I promise that interesting things will happen soon. Adios!