When the principle of Pledis University walked into his office you wanted to curl into a ball and roll away and out of the school. When you arrived earlier, the windows no longer looked shiny. Not even the wooden handles felt smooth in your grip. It was beautiful inside but you couldn’t even find the energy to be excited. You stared at the thousand silver keys that were looped together sitting on the mahogony table in front of you. Next to it were multiple matching dark blue janitor outfits. However, besides all the stuff you didn’t want to see, a silver shining nametag that had your name printed in black ink sat waiting to be pinned on your left chest. Pledis University was so cool that even the janitors had name badges.

“You’re 15 minutes late,” The principle stated firmly and you apologized. True, you were late…but you were sad…couldn’t he at least be empathetic?

You looked around his grand office, observing the books, the mahogany desk, and almost began to beg him to give you a better outfit when he spoke, “You will be here every day from 5-9pm. I will probably not be here but I expect you to be here. Our day janitors are gone so you will be the only one for the evening. Our students here are taught to not litter and dirty the school but that does not mean you are let off easy. Most students will be gone for the evening. Only those who are permitted will be here during the times that you are. Please do not disturb them. I will communicate with your Grandfather of any problems so do not think you can get off easily.”

“Yes…” You agreed while he continued talking. After a while you couldn’t hear a single word he was saying. His words became gibberish to your ears while you contemplated how to hide your face so no one would know who you were. Well he did say there should be no one at the school during these after hours, right? At least that’s what you heard from his long speech. When he collected his things and stated a goodbye you stood up to bid him farewell. Only when he left did you realize, you had no idea how to navigate the school. Yes, you were serving your sentence but could you at least get a tour of the school first?

Your suit was loose on you, baggy and unfit. You had your arms rolled up to prevent the sleeves from covering your hands. You couldn’t dress the janitor suit, but at least you could wear a cute headband. Above your head a white headband with pink flowers dressed your long black hair. You rolled up the legs multiple times in order for your white converses to show. Clearly, these suits were made for extremely tall people, or people who were not your height and weight. You looked at yourself in the mirror and then stared at your badge. It should have made you smile but the overall look made you frown. You then removed your name badge and shoved it into your pocket. The badge just didn’t belong to the janitor suit.

You cracked open the woman’s bathroom door and looked around. The hall was quiet without a single sound.

“Oh thank god!” You felt relieved; at least no one would witness you serving your unjustifiable crime. You stepped out and slowly roamed the long hallway trying to find a school map to direct yourself. When you found the janitor room on the first floor you opened it with a key that matched the door number. Not to mention it took 10 minutes to figure that out.

You rolled out the miniature garbage can already lined with a black bag and grabbed a trash picking pin from the corner of the closet. For a relaxed start, you decided picking trash would be the easiest. When you exited the janitor closet a body flew past you while the door shut behind you. Your loose strands of hair webbed in front of your face, while some caught in your mouth as you brushed and spit your loose hair away.

“I’m sorry, are you ok?”

You looked to see who it was and a man stood there; tall and handsome looking down at you. He held a basketball between his arm and his hip. His grey uniform tie etched with what looked like a diamond was loose against his white-collar shirt and serenity uniform jacket. The sweat on his face shimmered from the evening light that shone through the large windows across from you. When he shifted his feet his name badge blinged catching your eye. You read his name and looked back at his handsome face. When he gave you a friendly smile to break the awkward silence you froze and wished you could disappear. You just wanted to be a janitor in quietness, where there would be no witnesses…but now…someone had seen you. He had seen you.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” He quickly said then turned away and jogged off, dribbling the ball down the hall.

“Mingyu…” you repeated his name to yourself. “Do they all look that handsome? The students here sure are tall. No wonder I didn’t make it.” You spoke dejectedly to yourself as you stood there thinking of your height and trying to soak in what had just happened.

You looked back to the area he once occupied and reassured yourself, “Only he will see me. No one else will from here on out. No one else.”

It had only been the second room you entered since that encounter with Mingyu. You were tired already. This room though…was different from your last. It wasn’t locked. When you entered the room the smell of it was appealing like someone had just been lingering in it. The white board still had writing on it reminding you of your own scribbles in your journal. Although there was no one in the room you still looked around to check for a soul. When you picked up the eraser and touched the white board the door flung open jerking you back in fear.

Another man, much shorter than Mingyu walked in and took a seat in the middle of the class. His blonde hair had highlights of green shades confusing your color deception but his skin was flawless. When he looked up at you, your eyes darted away as you faced the white board to hide your face.

“Didn’t the principle say there would be no one?