Aron had a certain sort of routine set out for himself each and everyday.

A sort of dull, monotonous routine that would have bored anyone to death, but Aron diligently and strictly followed his routines. It was something that Aron was used to, and frankly, the boring routine gave him a sense of security. It assured Aron that there was something constant and unchanging in his life.

He couldn’t really remember when the routine started (probably middle school—or was it grade school?). Whenever it was, it stuck to Aron even when he was miles away from his family and home in Los Angeles, in the barely familiar territory of Seoul, South Korea.

Although he did remember his new routine started the first day he moved in into his apartment. He barely spoke any Korean, managing only to understand pre-school level conversations and only knowing how to introduce himself and say ‘I don’t understand’ in Korean.

Then came the godsend that was Professor Mun. Although they had met in less…conventional terms—Aron really didn’t want to know how Professor Mun managed to climb into his balcony—Professor Mun had become Aron’s first friend in Korea, mainly because he knew English and was more than happy to tutor Aron in Korean to keep his mouth shut about the balcony thing.

Needless to say, Aron’s Korean improved vastly with the help of a tutor. He was able to hold longer conversations, understand more, and was even able to order take-out by himself! Aron didn’t know how long he would have lasted eating his own failed dishes! He was eternally grateful to Professor Mun for being a good neighbor, as well as for being a good faculty professor.

A while later, Aron was introduced to Professor Mun’s friend one night when he just came home from grocery shopping. Well, apparently Professor Mun and his friend weren’t one for first impressions. If the fact that his friend didn’t care that Aron saw him growling out a string of curses in both Korean and English while dragging a passed out Professor Mun to his apartment. Aron, feeling the need to help, offered his assistance to the man, which the other gratefully accepted.

Jung Pilkyo, Professor Mun’s friend introduced himself curtly. He was a singer, and the idiot—who Aron assumed was Professor Mun—drank until he passed out at the bar where he was working and was forced to take him home. Aron noted that his new acquaintance was very good-looking and had this sort of princely aura. From the way he composed himself to the way he walked he oozed an aura of regality.

After Pilkyo unceremoniously dumped Professor Mun on his couch, he escorted Aron out and thanked him with a smile. He said Professor Mun had talked about Aron quite a bit, and Aron was more than welcome to knock on his door—which turned out to be next to Eric’s—if Aron ever needed anything. Aron bowed in thanks and Pilkyo went back inside Professor Mun’s house.

And suddenly Pilkyo started visiting Aron’s house every weekend. Perhaps it was just his way of being friendly, and Aron certainly wouldn’t deny anyone’s company, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly confused at first. Pilkyo mostly liked to talk about his singing career, his and Professor Mun’s other friends, and complain about Professor Mun. Occasionally, he would fret over Aron’s well being and scold him if he wasn’t taking good care of himself. Aron quickly learned that sometimes Pilkyo could be as annoying as a nagging mother.

Around a few months after he had settled in, he decided to go through his morning routine back in LA, which consisted of a morning jog every once in a while and breakfast at home. But since Aron’s cooking skills weren’t exactly the best, he decided he would have to have breakfast in a café. Or buy some from the supermarket.

Jogs around the neighborhood in the crisp morning air were definitely refreshing for Aron, it helped wake him up and build his appetite. When he was done, he found the task of finding a café open at the ungodly hour of 6 AM with cheap prices to be slightly difficult. He was so close to just giving up and buy something from the supermarket to satisfy his hunger.

Luckily for him, there was a café near his house that was open and was relatively cheap. It was more or less deserted, but that was fine with Aron. And when he first tasted the food, Aron knew he was going to frequent there. And he did, every morning when he decided to go on a morning jog, he would have his breakfast in that very café.

Then two years after he moved in, he was starting to have some financial difficulties. While the money his parents sent him were enough to pay for his tuition and everyday needs, it wasn’t enough to pay for his other needs such as new clothes and/or books and stationaries.

One day he decided to confide his woes to Pilkyo—after the latter finished his weekly rant about Professor Mun—and Pilkyo had suggested Aron get a job. He even said he would personally recommend Aron to a friend of his who was looking for someone to be a kindergarten teacher. It wasn’t a difficult job, and his friend wasn’t looking for someone with a degree. And besides, he’s good with kids, right? It’ll be easy!

Aron however wasn’t as optimistic, sure he was good with kids and he had babysat more than once before, but he would have to be dealing with more than ten kids at once

So there started a routine for Aron: wake up, have an early morning jog, eat breakfast at the nearby café, go to work with Jonghyun, take Jonghyun home, freshen up, go to classes if there were any, go home, do homework, sleep.

It was a simple routine, and Aron loved how everything in his life was in complete and perfect order. He felt safe, secure, and he was almost led to believe that everything will be like that for the rest of his life, or at least the duration of his stay in Korea.

Of course, that was before he met Dongho.

Aron admits the young man was charming in his own special way, and his little twins were an absolute pleasure to be with (albeit they were a little rebellious towards him). Aron’s first thought of Dongho was how fun it would be if they could be friends. Perhaps they could talk while waiting for the twins and Jonghyun to finish playing, and maybe if they have gotten to know each other more they could hang out sometimes.

But after that time they met in the supermarket, Aron found himself wanting to spend more time with Dongho. He even found himself asking Dongho if he wanted a free course on English sometimes (they decided to do so on Thursday afternoons where Aron had ample time before his class starts) and even talking to Dongho over the phone almost every night! He’s practically ruining the entire routine he had set up to accommodate to Dongho’s.

Aron wondered if there were any underlying feelings or thoughts other than the pure desire to have a friend around his age, but he quickly shook it off. It was preposterous, completely impossible…isn’t it? No use pondering over that, since Aron really just wanted to concentrate on finishing his bachelor’s degree and his work in the kindergarten.

He keeps telling himself that he couldn’t afford any distraction. But, perhaps a little distraction would do him some good.

It's short and not much of an update, but I've been busy. Like, really busy. And when I get busy, I get stressed. And when I get stressed, all I want to do is sleep. Thus the lack of updates. That and I kinda lost inspiration somewhere. I'm offering Aron's view point because...well since this story revolves around Baekho, Minhyun and Ren, character development for JR and Aron is little to none. Perhaps I'll make a chapter for JR someday...who knows. Right now, all I want to do is sleep, too many sleepless nights have been spent doing Econs/Physics/Chem/etc.