If things went my way, I wanted nothing but to be able to unload everything I had piled up to HImchan. I knew well he would allow me time to lay out my stress, but found my courage unable to follow through with my wanted actions.

And in the end, I found myself waving goodbye to Himchan again for the rest of the semester without having been able to tell him a single thing.

He still didn’t know I was on this awkward, nonexisting relationship with Jaebum. But maybe it was better off that he didn’t know.

I don’t know what had come over me, but after Himchan’s departure back to his roommate, I found myself hanging more and more around Daehyun, just as Himchan had told me to – just as Jaebum told me specially, not to do.

In a sense, it was childish, but it was a sort of rebellion against the man who had broken me.

The day Himchan returned to leave on his broken down car, I sought Daehyun out again at his work, deciding that he deserved the company for providing me with the same just years earlier. (If I wasn’t being a bother instead)

“How long have you worked here?”

Today, instead of lounging around behind the counter, I was helping Daehyun sort the merchandise. It was a fairly easy enough job that not even I couldn't screw up. All I had to do was check the expiration date on the food items; the closer to the due date, the further back I would push it on the counter - so Daehyun could come pick it up later in the evening. (Though, technically we weren't supposed to be allowed to do this.)

I think I did a fairly good job, if you ask me anyways.

“Since middle school,” he replied, tossing me an out of date chocolate bar before returning to his seat behind the register. “It’s a nice job, compared to some of the other I’ve done before.”

“The overnight shift?”

“It’s not as bad as you’d think. I get all the food I want,” so long as it was expired, “plus, not as much customers as in the evening. Double plus, it makes good money.”

It made plenty of sense now – years late – why Daehyun always slept during class, always doing his homework minutes before the teacher took it up. I felt bad, almost, for thinking badly about him for it.

Maybe Jung Daehyun wasn’t as stupid as I always thought he had been.