Despite the fact that his day was going horrible, Kibum knew that it was about to get a lot worse. Fourth hour was over, he’d successfully managed to make his way through A.P Calculus, Physics, Economics, and P.E (which he adamantly refused to change into his gym clothes or participate in class; resulting in a long lecture from his teacher who unseemly brought Dayeun into the situation) without bailing out and going home early with a refusal to ever come back again. The day was halfway over, only two classes left. Of course, he still had to make it through lunch first.

After his gym teacher had finally let him go, Kibum sauntered through the hallways keeping his eyes glued to the dirty, white tiles of the floor. While the students began to predominately head to their respective classrooms, a large group of students headed towards the cafeteria, eager to see their friends and eat lunch, Kibum’s heart was pounding nervously at the mere thought of going anywhere near the cafeteria. It felt like the first day of high school where you didn’t know anyone and didn’t know where or who to sit with at lunch; completely terrifying. But it was even worse than that, because Kibum knew that no matter who he sat with, he was going to get something cruel said to him and be told to sit somewhere else. But even so, he was determined to go to the cafeteria anyways.

He was hungry.

Kibum thanked the high heavens that his school was charitable and were in favor to those who needed financial aid, allowing them to have free lunches. Of course, anyone could get one of the free lunches since they were nothing more than a cheese sandwich, an apple, and a carton of milk. But it was food and Kibum hadn’t had anything to eat in days, so he wasn’t going to complain. If anything, despite how everyone was treating him, his stomach was grumbling so painfully that he decided he’d come to school if only to get something to eat.

He kept his head low as he walked through the doors and went over to stand in line, trying to ignore the whispers around him that included his names and some not so friendly words. He bit the inside of his lip as he slowly moved forward in line, eagerly awaiting his meal. His mouth watered slightly as the delicious aroma of the hot meals floated through his nose, making his stomach cramp up even more, if at all possible. But he shook his head to rid himself of the craving, knowing that a sandwich and apple was better than nothing, even if he did want the tasty looking lasagna.

“Next!”

The burly voice of the lunch lady broke through his reverie and Kibum quickly stepped forward to the counter, eagerly reaching out to retrieve one of the trays of food. However, before he could place his hands, shaking from the weak feeling brought from not eating in a few days, on the tray, the food was pulled back out of his reach. Kibum looked up at the lady with confusion in his eyes.

 “Next!” She called out again, purposely turning her head away from Kibum.

“But I want –“ Kibum tried again, his voice dripping with desperation.

“I’m not giving food to you, you monster,” The lady spat disgustedly at him.

Kibum lowered his head, his ears burning in shame and embarrassment as the other students around began to snigger at him. Knowing that it was futile to try and beg for something to eat, Kibum turned and walked dejectedly out of the cafeteria.

He bit his lip to keep the tears in his eyes from spilling over as he walked in the direction of the boy’s bathroom once again. He entered the room and went back to the stall in the far corner, locking himself in and once again sinking to the floor as he wrapped his arms around his torso, hugging himself miserably as his stomach rolled painfully. He lowered his head against his arms and took deep breaths to calm himself rather than start crying again, and a few minutes later he sighed softly and stared at the tan, metal door beside him covered in messages.

For some reason, he had a feeling that this stall was going to become very familiar to him.

The last ten minutes of class were always the longest.

Tiffany sighed impatiently as she tapped her blue ink pen against her notebook, which was full of doodles rather than the lab notes she was supposed to be taking. She glanced at the empty spot next to her, a sinking feeling filling the pits of her stomach and annoyance clouding her eyes. Kibum was not in class and she hadn’t seen him all day. Even though they only had this one class together, she’d looked for him in the hallways betw