Seungyoon awoke five minutes before his alarm did the honour, shivering and shaking in the cold.

The radiators in his room didn't work very well, but the bed here was more comfortable than the lumpy couch in the living room.

The house that he lived in was largely empty and run down, but it was warm (sometimes) and quiet and most importantly, provided a roof over his head. It belonged to his aunt and uncle, but they had moved to Seoul a few years ago, eager for a promotion and a change in pace. They had let him stay there instead, provided he would take care of electricity and gas bills and do the occasional repair.

He could have easily stayed with his mother in their tiny flat above the shop, but the commute was long and tiring and quite honestly, Seungyoon was sick of the noise and the cramped space.

His alarm triggered as he stumbled out of bed, a disembodied voice that echoed around the hollow walls - 'Wake up. 5:15 am. Wake up. 5:15 am. Wake up.' He sighed as he switched it off and made his way towards the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

He thought about all the assignments he had yet to complete while brushing his teeth, then remembered the report he had started yesterday at the lab. He had meant to finish it last night but he had been too tired and exhausted to do anything besides change his clothes and sleep.

Damn. He had to hand it in today, which meant he had to complete it now before heading to university for early morning classes.

Seungyoon finished washing up and changed into a fresh set of clothes, a pair of jeans with faded dye stains that he had worked hard to remove with bleach and an oversized linen shirt that managed to obscure his somewhat thin and lanky frame and the fact that he was losing weight.

The kitchen was a small area with linoleum tiles, a granite countertop and built in cupboards, decorated in a simple theme of black and white. The fridge was filled with a meagre range of fruit and vegetables, boxes of his mother's kimchi and cartons of milk that he used to make homemade yoghurt. The side shelf were stocked with various antibiotics and culture ingredients that he needed to make substrates, as well as several chemicals that required to be kept in cold storage.

In the corner was an industrial sink with a deep basin and draining board that he used to clean and prepare samples. His light micro