I pulled my black hair back into a ponytail as I grabbed the rag off the marble kitchen counter, wiping down the tables of the cafe. The wooden clock hanging by the kitchen counter read 10 p.m. and I bit my lip as I wiped down a table.

"Min Jung, I can do the rest." Soo Young lightly touched my shoulder and smiled. "Just go home for today. I trust you have a lot of school work to do, am I right?"

"Cleaning isn't going to take up much of my time." I sent her a smile back as Soo Young sighed and my stubborness and touched her aching back.

"Trust me, a few minutes will do wonders for you." She took a small white envelope from the front pocket of her light green apron and held it out towards me. "Your pay for this week."

"Thank you." I accepted the envelope and realized how thick it was. I took a quick peek in the envelope and bit my lip. "You know I'm proficient in math. You've given me twenty dollars extra." I slid five 1 dollar bills and three 5 dollar bills back towards her on the table and she sighed.

"It must be my eyes. Or that I'm just terrible at math." She fibbed and when she saw the look on my face, she sighed. "You've been doing so well these past few weeks. And these past fews days, you've been working overtime as well. Just take it." She slid the money across the table. "Go home for the day. Study or get some more sleep. College students need more sleep these days, don't they?"

"Alright. Thank you. Have a good night!" I took my matching light green apron off and left it behind the kitchen counter. "I'll be taking my leave then."

"Mmh. Be safe now." Soo Young answered.

I left the cafe and took a deep breath smiling. Tonight was beautiful. The sky was the nicest dark blue possible and a few stars dotted the sky. The fall breeze caused me to shiver a bit, but it felt nice. I walked through the quiet neighborhood. Afterall, most people flocked to Hongdae to get drunk and play at the crowded arcades after school or work. The brown and orange leaves crackled as I made my way to my apartment.

Crack. Crackle. Crackle. Crack.

I saw the run down apartment building and smiled. I was so close to home. Finally. After a long day, I could retreat to my wooden desk (I've had it since fifth grade) and solve some math problems before heading off to bed. 

As I approached the building, I walked past the security guard's tiny wooden office and saw him barely keeping himself awake. Smiling, I headed up the stairs and placed my bag aside before brewing a cup of coffee. Sure, it wasn't Starbucks coffee, but it was good enough to keep him awake. Throwing on a light sweater, I headed down the stairs to the security guard's office.

I knocked at the fragile wooden door and the security guard, Kang Dae shot up, knocking over a few items on his messy and small table. When he saw me by the door, he kicked the fallen items underneath the table and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh... Min Jung! What brings you here?" Kang Dae asked, fixing his uniform to make himself a bit more presentable. Nevertheless, it looked as if he hadn't slept for days and he really- need to shave. He fixed his tattered black security cap.

"I saw you dozing off and thought you might enjoy some coffee. It's not high quality coffee, but at least it's coffee." I handed him the warm paper cup filled with coffee and he took it carefully, but gratefully.

"Thank you!" Kang Dae took a tiny sip of the coffee and sighed.

"What about my coffee?" I let out an exasperated sigh as I felt an arm hang around my shoulder.

"Kibum, tell me why you would need coffee. Kang Dae needs coffee to stay awake and perform his job well. What's your excuse?" Kibum shot a glare at me and frowned.

"I keep you safe and I care about you. Whenever it's raining hard, I keep you company to make sure that you don't get scared by the thunder." Kibum protested as I sighed and Kand Dae snickered and shook his head, setting the cup of coffee aside.

"Thank you for being so considerate and for hiding behind my sofa for hours and refusing to leave until the thunder stops." I replied sarcastically before bowing and excusing myself from Kang Dae. Kibum flushed red and followed me as I headed back to my apartment.

"Ahem, treating me to coffee every now and then would be nice, you know?" Kibum mumbled as he followed me out of the old, creaky elevator. As I opened my apartment door, I could still feel his presence and gaze around me.

"Aren't you going to your own apartment?" I tossed a look at his self painted orange door as my apartment door clicked open. I raised an eyebrow at him and he frowned.

"Can't I come in?" It wasn't the first time he's asked. But I sensed something from him that told me he had to tell me something. The tension in the air was obvious and I sighed.

"Fine. But only for a bit. I won't stay up all night to talk to you." I pushed my butter yellow apartment door opened and took my shoes off and moved around my living room in my white socks. I turned the lights on to reveal a horrifyingly messy apartment. Paper was left all over the place and books were stacked on top of one another. I headed into my room and sat at my wooden desk and pulled a math book onto my table as Kibum followed me. He looked at the stack of books next to my closet and shuddered.

"Have you ever considered tidying up this place a bit?" He stepped over some loose papers on the floor and kicked a small stack of books in disgust. "Can't you get rid of all this knowledge? Seriously, it's like a nightmare."

"I didn't ask for you to come here. You can leave if you want to." I replied heartlessly as I struggled to pull my hair tie off of my hair and fastened my black hair into a bun. He frowned and sat on my messy bed as he watched me work without paying any attention to him.

"Can't you make me a cup of coffee before I leave Seoul?" I dropped my pencil on my desk and let the sentence process through my tired mind. I turned around in the wooden chair to look at him, cautiously.

"What do you mean by 'leaving Seoul'?" I eyed him to see if he was scheming something, but he stared at the white tiles of my bedroom floor. "You mean for vacation right? I mean- it's the beginning of the school year, but some people do take some time off in the beginning. Travelling is cheaper in the beginning of the school year anyhow. Where are you going?" I gave him all my attention as he refused to make eye contact with me.

"Busan. I'm moving to Busan." He mumbled and bit his lip. "Not for vacation. My parents want me to learn what it means to be responsible. I've tried my best, Min Jung. If you haven't noticed... I haven't been out with the guys recently. I also haven't downed a single drop of alcohol for the past four months." He looked up, searching my face for any type of reaction.

I turned around in my chair, trying to conceal any type of emotion that would show. I would miss that idiot. Sure, he was annoying and I disliked him at times... but he was a good friend that would cheer me up despite any problems I was having. He was one of the only people who could make me smile even though I was mad. Not that he would ever know that he makes me smile. I always manage to get away from him before I break out into a smile. 

"Well, can I at least get a cup of coffee made by you?" Kibum's voice broke me free from my idiotic thoughts and I nodded.

"Just this once. Since after this, you won't be back to bother me every night." I got up from my chair and shuffled through my messy cabinets to find some coffee packets to put in the barely working coffee machine I had (Soo Young gave me her old one when she got a new one a year ago). "When are you leaving?"

"After this Friday." Today was Monday. That meant that he was to stay for another four days before he left for good. "My father isn't letting me keep the apartment next door. Which means I probably won't get to come back and visit you as much as I'd like." He leaned on wall next to the coffee machine and I refused to show any emotion, which caused him to frown.

"At least you won't be able to bother me all the time." I joked, trying to create a positive atmosphere. Honestly, I shouldn't be a comedian. I'd make people cry rather than laugh. I turned away to get some sugar and mentally face palmed myself for saying such a thing. I felt his arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me into a back hug.

"Am I really a bother to you? You say it like it's a joke and I really, really want to think of it like a joke. But is it really? Am I just a burden to you?" I had to admit, he could be a handful at times. Acting cool and tough in front of others and then acting like a baby in front of me and his closest friends, the three idiots, Xander, Soohyun, and Dong Ho. But... he was the one that helped me get over the fact that I was poor. The one who got me to forget who I really was. A poor girl.

"Kibum, you know-"

"You don't have to say anything. I know I'm a burden. For god's sake, my parents think I'm a burden and I live across the world from them. You live right next to me. How could you not think of me as a burden?" He buried his head into the back of my neck and shook his head in shame.

"Kibum, you know how I am. I don't know how to express my feelings all too well. I see you as an important someone in my life." I tried to comfort him as his arms tightened around my waist.

"I see you as an important someone too." He muttered. "You... mean everything to mean, Min Jung."

"Coffee's ready!" I tried to get rid of the awkward atmosphere as I stuggled out of Kibum's grip. I handed him the cup of coffee and retreated back to the wooden desk before heading off to bed. Kibum followed and sat back down on my bed, watching me.

"So how's school? I mean with the rich kids. Isn't it hard mingling with snobby, rich kids in your university?" He took a sip of the scalding hot coffee and spit out, fanning his tongue a bit.

"None of them know about my background. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a nobody. And I hope it stays that way for the rest of senior year. Just one more year of undergrad college and I'll be off to grad." I said hopefully. Going to an Ivy League college or at least a reputable college in America was my dream. Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, and NYU. However, there was no way I'd be able to study at those colleges if I didn't get a scholarship. I wasn't the top student of my school nor my grade, but I ranked somewhere in the top ten. Of course, I'll be picking some of the top colleges in South Korea as well, but I didn't have my heart set out for those colleges.

"Don't you have a friend named... Jae... Hwa? How did she not figure it out yet? Is she really your friend?" He set the cup aside and waited for my response. "How do you deal with the snobs?"

"Jae Hee. That's because I've avoided talking about myself and she's got a lot on her mind. It's not that she doesn't care." I finished two pages of math problems and put my math book aside. "Not all rich people are snobs, you know."

"Fine, but most of them aren't sociable with people that don't belong in their class. Right?" Kibum asked and that's when I turned around to look at him.

"You know, those dramas on T.V. are very stereotypical right? Rich people aren't necessarily like that. What drama have you been watching? Or have you been watching 'Boys Over Flowers' again?" I raised an eyebrow at him and he turned red.

The truth was, yes. Rich people were snobs. If they had known about my existance and my background... I'd be bullied. In all honesty, I found it hard to get close to them. One friend from the university was all I needed. Jae Hee. She was so oblivious to others and lost in her own troubles that she never asked me more than I would like her to ask about. I was lucky to have seen how the rich treat the poor or anyone with even a cent less than them. I I wish my sister was as lucky.

"No, I haven't. I only watched 'Boys Over Flowers' because I failed at Xander's dare. Do you have to bring that up every time?" Kibum muttered.

"Well, if you hadn't lost that dare then, I wouldn't have something to hold against you." I crossed my arms and sighed. "It's late now. Shouldn't you be heading... home? I have to do something called, sleep."

"Since I'll be leaving in four days..." He shot me a childish smile. "I might as well make good use of my time and bother you while I still can, right?" He laid down on my bed and pulled my simple yellow blanket over his body and snuggled up.

"Get off my bed!" I protested, trying to push him off my bed. After a few attempts and him dozing off, I let out a huff. "At least you should change your clothes. You're going to get my bed sheets dirty."

"Mm. I'll wash them tomorrow if you want." Kibum mumbled as he drifted off to sleep. I watched as his chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern and envied him.

His parents... I wasn't too sure about them. But they seemed to be well- off, or rather, better off than my parents were and are. He didn't seem to have any heavy burden on his shoulders. He seemed to be free of worry and lived as he pleased. Though his relationship with his parents weren't "the best" according to him, he seemed to be happy with his life. Will I ever be able to live like he does?

I broke away from my thoughts when I heard soft snores and looked at Kibum, who had messy light brown hair, all over his face. The blanket was kicked to the side of my bed, threatening to fall off as I shook my head at Kibum, letting out another exasperated sigh. I pulled my yellow blanket over him and tucked him in as he let out another snore. My face scrunched up and and I flicked his forehead, causing him to flinch in his sleep. A smile etched my face before I realized I had nowhere else to sleep. I groaned and muttered incoherent words before, tossing a look at the snoring pig.

This idiot.

*This is my first chapter! Yay and in this story, I have decided to change up my writing a bit. I thought my previous stories were... lacking in writing. But upon finding this site, I've read great stories and realized how silly my stories were compared to them. Anyhow, enjoy~*