Hongki POV

I got up and stretched fully rested, and looked around. I didn't hear the alarm...did I beat it waking up? My eyes flickered over to the clock that read '11:19'. . I'm almost 2 and a half hours late for work. Joon-hwan and Wonbin are going to kill me. I sat up immediately and got out of bed, throwing on my clothes and running to work, not even thinking of checking my face and hair. I ran out the front door, earning a few confused looks from the rest of my family, but I didn't care. I was already late enough. After 8 minutes of solid sprinting I got there, not slowing down when I neared the shop and ran right into the glass door, attracting the attention and laughs of Wonbin before he walked over and opened it. "Woah there, Speedy Gonzales, don't kill yourself in a rush. Why so late?" I walked into the now-open door and gripped my knees, trying to catch my breath before explaining why I was late. After a minute, I finally caught my breath and started to speak. "I set my alarm, I don't know what happened. I guess I slept through it? Sorry for causing trouble!" I bowed quickly almost bumping into Wonbin, causing him to back up slightly. Joon-hwan came out as soon as I started explaining, and jokingly retorted "So you finally decided to show up, sleeping beauty." All 3 of us started laughing. Neither of them seemed mad, luckily. I guess that was one of the plusses of working with your friends. After our laughter died down, Wonbin asked the inevitable. "So anything new happen since yesterday? Did the paparazzi like chase you home?"

I grimaced. It was meant to be a harmless question but saying the answer meant I had to admit to someone besides myself where I'd be going starting on Monday. Wonbin looked at me funny and Joon-hwan gave me an arm gesture telling me to go on. "Ah, no. They didn't really go much further than the shop door once I got past them. And as far as anything new happening..." I hesitated, not wanting to say it. I didn't want to accept it, nevermind admit it out loud. "Well...?" Wonbin looked at me, waiting for me to say it. "Well...I'll be going there starting on Monda-" "Oh that's great!" Joon-hwan cut me off happily, earning a quick glare from Wonbin. I immediately negated, "Nonono. That's not great. If they tried to drive a normal student to jump off the roof, what do you think they'd do to a poor boy like me? I wouldn't fit in. I won't fit in!" "Hongki, you're being ridiculous. You're strong; just do what you did at our school and make them be nice to you. Who knows, you might leave a positive impression. I mean who's to say you won't find some cute boy there to befriend?" Wonbin said, earning a playful punch to the arm from me. "Wonbinnn~. You're sounding like my mom." I laughed and continued. "Besides, I'm not going there to look for a boyfriend. I'm going there because I don't want to be beheaded by my parents for passing up on," I made air quotes with my fingers at the last three words, with a mocking tone in my voice, "this wonderful opportunity."

The work day went by quickly as the lunch rush never really ended until closing today at 6. This was one of the most crowded days we had, but it was good because it got my mind off the hell I'd have to face on Monday. At 6, I helped Wonbin and Joon-hwan clean up, and we all clocked out, locking up the place and leaving. My stomach growled and I went to grab a bite to eat before heading home. I stopped at a 7/11 and had a cup ramen, taking the opportunity to look at the little tv in the corner as I ate. I almost immediately regretted it. People were still reporting about Sangdan and the incident, as well as boycotts and riots. I ate the ramen as quickly as I could, not wanting to hear it. Throwing my little cup away, I left. Between cleaning up the shop and getting food, I'd taken an hour and a half. It was 7:30 now and it was starting to get dark. I looked around for my bike for a moment before remembering I ran to work, and then proceeded to walk home. My parents still seemed overjoyed about my surprise scholarship at the academy and I still was not thrilled in the very least. I went to bed early despite not being tired. I wanted to sleep this all away. I wanted to wake up and have this be just some weird dream.

Sunday was a haze. I woke up feeling like a zombie and did the usual routine at work, staying for an extra hour to clean, mainly to avoid mom's antics which I knew were going to be at least ten times worse since tomorrow I'd be starting my school life at Sangdan Academy. Maybe Wonbin was right and I'd make a couple of friends, I hope he's right, but I can't help but doubt it. There's one thing rich people love more than being able to do what ever they want: being able to brag about their money. And since I had no money, I figured right off I'd be excluded. At least the school had a swimming pool; I could swim whenever and enjoy that as much as I wanted. Eventually the day was done, and I was already anxious. I really did not want to go tomorrow. I reached the house and as expected, mom approached me right away going on some sort of rant about needing to watch my weight as I walked off to the kitchen to get some rice from the cooker. I ignored her as best I could, because I knew my weight wasn't a problem. I was skinny, even with my athletic lifestyle. I just hoped tomorrow would be okay and I could just be invisible. With a yawn, I finished my rice and put my plate away, heading to my room while my mom was still going on about what sounded like my attitude. It didn't matter. I'm not changing for a school I don't even want to go to in the first place. I crawled into bed, falling asleep quickly, and my dreams took me weird places with all sorts of scenarios. I guess I was a bit overtired, most of them didn't make any sense at all. But hey, I was asleep. why does sense matter.

A/N: Sorry for the late update, I was trying to get back to the updating on Saturday routine, and I had to go back and check up on a few things from the show. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Chapter 4 will start on Monday morning (in the story at least). Oh, and one other thing. There might be either an early update, or a double update coming soon because I'll be out of state again for a week at Dollywood. Lastly, please subscribe, comment, and upvote. They really inspire me to keep going with my fics.~ Baozi