▲▼▲ KANG UI SIK - TO YOU WHO HOPES FOR MY DESPAIR
EVERY SINGLE DAY - ECHO

“Hey, Sehun! Wanna come with us?” Baekhyun asked as he slung his arm over Kai’s shoulders, the two grinning.
Sehun blinked as he looked at his friends, “Where to?”
“Just going out for some fun, that’s all. School’s about to end soon, might as well get the parties started early,” Kai said.
“Hey, Kyungsoo, Suho. You comin’?” Chanyeol asked.
Suho looked up at his younger friends and shook his head, “No thanks,” he said as he zipped up his bag and exited the class.
They all turned to Kyungsoo who looked at them with wide eyes, “Huh?”
“Hyung, do you want to join us? We’re going to throw a small party at Baekhyun’s place,” Kai said. “Please?” he asked with a smile.
Kyungsoo sighed, and agreed, and the five boys left the school.

Sehun and Kyungsoo silently stalked behind the other three to Baekhyun’s house. The three in front laughed, making jokes, and whispered to each other, while the other two stayed quiet. Sehun sighed as he stuffed his hand in his pocket, only finding his phone in his pocket, and realizing that he had left without Minyoung. For the first time, he didn’t walk home with Minyoung. He realized that Baekhyun was standing beside him now and slung his arm over Sehun’s shoulders. “This is probably the first time you’re not walking with that girl Minyoung,” he said. “See how much better it is to be around with guys than girls? Especially her?” Baekhyun grinned and patted Sehun’s back as the group entered Baekhyun’s house.

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Minyoung sighed as she gave a customer their order. “Hey, Minyoung. Was Sehun absent from school? Why is he not here?” her manager asked when the line of endless customers finally ended at the counter.
Minyoung turned to her manager and shrugged, “He was at school. I didn’t see him after school so I thought he just left early. Maybe he’s not feeling well.”
Her manager exhaled sharply with his hands on his hips, “He better be.”
“Do you want me to do his shift too?” she asked.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll pay you for overtime-”
“No need to,” Minyoung said and smiled. The manager smiled and patted Minyoung on the back before walking back over to his other employees.

Two or three hours passed. Minyoung didn’t know how long to be exact, she just felt like two or three hours had passed by already. She huffed as she finished wiping down the last table of the café and glanced at the clock. Work was over, and it was time for her to go home. Quickly changing into her school uniform again, she rushed out of work and ran home as quickly as she could. Minyoung was panting by the time she reached to her house. She stood outside to catch her breath and looked at Sehun’s house, finding the place dark and quiet, which was unusual. “Is he not home yet?” Minyoung asked herself.

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Sehun stared at the ground, with a green bottle in his hand. “How’d you get these, Baekhyun?” Kai asked as he sipped his bottle of beer.
“My brother got them. He says I can take as much as I want. Didn’t want to drink these alone, so I asked you guys to come,” Baekhyun explained as he was typing on his phone.
Kyungsoo bit his lip, “Are you sure it’s alright to do this? I mean, we’re minors at the moment.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Chanyeol said as he flipped through the channels and sipped his beer.
Kyungsoo sighed as he looked at Sehun who just stared at the ground with a half empty bottle in his hand. Kyungsoo sighed and scooted closer towards Sehun. “Sehun...” he called out in a soft voice. Sehun just stared at the ground, not replying. He shook Sehun’s arm which made Sehun glance at the elder. “Yah, you okay? You’ve been really quiet...” Sehun nodded and got back to staring at the ground. The elder sighed and as he sat back in his seat, looking at the other three in their business. “I’m leaving,” Kyungsoo said to Sehun, walking away. Sehun just sat there and sighed.

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*Is this the house?* Minyoung looked around the unfamiliar neighborhood. She sighed as she stood against the gate, taking out her phone and dialed Sehun’s phone. The phone rang numerous times, yet no pick ups. Minyoung sighed once again and hung up, only to call him again. She heard the door of the house open and close and hung up. The gate opened, revealing a dizzy Sehun. “Sehun!” Minyoung called out, making Sehun look up. Minyoung ran up to him, finding his face full of guilt. “Are you okay?” she asked. Walking closer to him, smelling a strong stench of beer that made her stop a feet away from him. “So Baekhyun and them did get you into this mess...”

Sehun frowned, “Don’t blame them for this... I was the one who agreed to go without asking what was going on... I didn’t even want to go.”
“If you didn’t want to go, then why did you follow?” she asked.
“Because if I didn’t, they would still nag me to go.” He sighed, “I regret coming tonight. I did something that shouldn’t have been done. I don’t even like alcohol or beer.” Sehun shook his head in disapproval, “I’m just lucky that I came when there was beer. If I came when there were drugs, who knew what would happen...”
“You know, I always thought that children who don’t have very good guardians or guardians who are always away, would be on drugs and drink,” Minyoung said as the two started to walk home.
“Well, I’m not like that,” Sehun mumbled.
“Why not?”

Sehun exhaled sharply, “Because even though my parents are gone, my grandmother is hospitalized, and my uncle doesn’t care what happens to me, I’m not going to disappoint anyone with what I do with my life. I don’t want to drink and do drugs. Isn’t my life messed up enough?” He frowned as he kicked a pop can down the street. “I know my parents and grandfather are watching me from above, and I don’t want them to think that I’m the child who’s doing crap. Avoiding school was enough, I don’t want to disappoint them even more, even if they’re still not alive. I promised my parents that I’d do the best I could with my life when I was sitting at their funeral, crying. I broke that promise already with the whole blow off on education, now I want to fix that and become a better person. But there just had to be someone else who stopped me from that.” Sehun sighed as the two stopped at the bus stop, right when the bus was approaching. The two hurried onto the bus and settled onto the seats in the back. Sehun huffed as he looked out the window. “I feel so messed up at the moment...” He started to trail off and his head was pressed against Minyoung’s.

Minyoung looked at Sehun, realizing that he had fallen asleep. Sighing, she tilted her head the other way, letting Sehun’s head drop to her shoulder. She smiled to herself and looked out the window as she waited for their bus stop. “You’re not messed up,” Minyoung mumbled as Sehun slept. “You’re just not able to realize what life has for you...” She heard soft snoring come out from the tall boy beside her and she laughed quietly to herself. “The best feeling is knowing that you’re okay. Sehun, at this moment, your parents are probably proud of you, even though you did something you should not have done. Hearing those words that you said makes their hearts ache more than it hurts you.” The bus at last stopped at their final destination. Minyoung turned to Sehun and shook his arm, “Sehun, wake up.” Sehun stayed snoring on her shoulder. “Yah, do you expect me to carry you to your house?” Minyoung sighed and grabbed his arm, pulling it over her shoulders and her hand at his other side, dragging him off the bus.

Sehun landed on the sofa with a soft thud. Minyoung sighed as she straightened her back, “You’re pretty heavy for a high schooler,” she mumbled at Sehun who stirred in his sleep. Minyoung grabbed the blanket that was neatly folded at one end of the sofa, unfolding it and draped the blanket over Sehun’s long body. She exhaled tiredly as she sat on the floor beside Sehun who was on the sofa. “If your uncle hates you, I wonder who is accepting you as a family, besides your grandmother. There has to be someone from your family that accepts you for who you are,” she said as she sighed. Minyoung yawned and leaned her head against the sofa cushion and her eyelids started to lower. “Sehun, you’re going to be okay. Don’t think that you’re going to end up alone...” she mumbled before falling asleep.

Short update. Do you guys see what I’m trying to do here? Between this and Pandora 1? e u e No? Aight.
NOT HAPPY WITH THE UPDATE. ;;