Kyungsoo lied there in the bed rummaging through his mind for a few moments before his phone buzzed. He flung his arm from beneath the warm sheets into the empty air to retrieve his phone from the bedside table. When his arm returned to safety he crawled up on his knees, but remained under the covers. Kyungsoo clicked on his phone and let the violent beams of light sting his pupils. When his eyes did adjust, he looked at the number and answered the phone.

“This is Kyungsoo,” he mumbled wearily.

“Hello, is this the author of Wrecked,” a young voice asked boldly.

“This is he,” Kyungsoo said leaning up and fixing his posture.

“Hi, my name is Kim Jongin. I’m an artist. I’m going to be doing your book cover. I was curious to know if you wanted to meet up sometime and we could talk about what your ideas are for the design." His voice was gentle and eager, but still professional.

“Oh, um,” Kyungsoo hesitated. He hasn’t left the house in months and he wasn’t exactly ready to leave just yet. “Well, I guess we can tomorrow.”

“Oh, I have meetings tomorrow but what if we have lunch today,” Jongin attempted to negotiate.

“I guess I can. We can meet at The Coffee Shop on Second Avenue. They have sandwiches and things,” Kyungsoo offered already exhausted with the idea.

“Perfect,” Jongin exclaimed more excited than he should be. “I’ll see you around one then?”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo stated a little more coldly than he anticipated.

After responding tiredly, he placed his phone under the pillow and rolled back over onto his back. Deciding he should get ready, he flung the covers off of his body and crawled out of bed.

Kyungsoo stood up tugging at his purple boxers to make them more comfortable and continued on his way to the bathroom. He placed his hands on either side of the sink and starred into the mirror.  He hung his head low and looked at his arms.

“It must’ve been at least a month,” He thought to himself.

Growing weary of remembering, he dismissed those thoughts and returned to the present days. Kyungsoo reached over to the bath and the faucet. He felt the water to ensure that it was hot before removing his clothes and stepping in.

He sunk down in the water and allowed it to pull him under. He closed his eyes just before the water embraced them. The water was warm, but instead of feeling good, it made Kyungsoo feel nauseous. It reminded him of the blood that ran down his cheek when his dad beat him and it reminded him of the blood on his hands after the car accident. Feeling overwhelmed with memory, Kyungsoo jumped up and gasped for air. After he calmed down, he sighed and leaned up to unplug the drain. He stood and grabbed the white towel hanging up next to him. After drying off, he wrapped the towel around his waist and walked to his bedroom to grab some clothes.

Kyungsoo walked over to his closet and swung the door open. He pushed all of the hangers over to expose a single outfit. One of the only nice outfits he had. It was a button up white shirt, a black tie, an olive cardigan, and a black suit jacket to pull it all together. He slipped the clothes off their hangers and laid them on the bed. He removed the towel and slipped into the uniform.

As Kyungsoo prepared to leave the apartment he padded down his pockets to ensure that he had everything. He walked out the front door, locked it, and left. When Kyungsoo got outside he immediately felt the blast of the cool, crisp fall air. Last time he’d been outside was spring. Last time he’d been out was with Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo walked over to the car and hopped in. The strong scent of stale coffee filled his lungs causing a kind of calm, serenity to fill him. Kyungsoo started the car and drove off to the shop. He gripped the steering wheel tight and kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. The music was off, the air was low, he could afford no distractions. Distractions cause accidents and frankly, he couldn’t last through another accident.

 After entering The Coffee Shop, Kyungsoo walked over to the bar and looked up at the large chalkboard menu overhead. The strong scent of burnt coffee beans and stale bread embraced him in a tight overwhelming hug. Not knowing what it was exactly that he wanted to order and seeing the long line of people waiting, Kyungsoo stepped aside to allow for the next person to order. After deciding on what it was he wanted, he looked back to find that the line had shortened. Kyungsoo walked to the back of the line and waited.

When his time came to order, he stood for a few seconds more feeling a little more overwhelmed by the fact that he was actually speaking to a human being and not himself.

After he got his drink, Kyungsoo sat down in one of the open booths. He sat silently trying to organize his thoughts and create a mental list of points he wanted to address as it relates to the cover of his novel. He knew what he wanted done and could see the image in his head, but because he had absolutely no artistic talent he had to settle for someone else’s work.

Kyungsoo cupped his hands around the hot mug slowly rubbing his thumb on the edge of the lid. He tapped his foot on the floor nervously. Why did there have to be so many people?

Just as he was getting ready to call the artist asking if he was lost, a man in a nice, fitted white button up and a long black tie approached him with a small blue notebook.

“Hi, I’m Jongin,” the man said sticking out his arm to shake Kyungsoo’s hand. “I’m the artist,” he said with a knowing smile.

Kyungsoo looked up at him feeling slightly intimidated and stood to his feet to shake the gentleman’s hand.

“Hi, I’m Kyungsoo.”