Trigger warning for homophobia and bullying halfway through

It has already been one hell of a morning for Hyukjae and it is only eight thirty, with most of the commotion being hauling himself out of bed and getting ready for high school while only functioning on two hours of sleep.

This sleeping pattern has become the norm for him, get up at six, go to school, nap between classes, go to tutoring straight after school, get home at midnight, finish homework, and then go to sleep and start the cycle again. To put it plainly, his schedule is completely useless.

He is tired, he is almost collapsing under the weight of expectations, he is sick of being pushed around for not being the top of the class, he is fed up with hiding his homouality from this screwed up society, he just wants to sleep the pain away.

However, despite being already one-hundred and ten percent done with the world already today, he finds amusement with the brunet boy that plonks down at the desk beside him. He’s seen him a few times before but never really paid any attention, only caring about the miniscule amounts of sleep he can catch.

The boy is clearly around the same age as him, otherwise he wouldn’t be in his class, yet a striking projection of youth is present in the bruised orbs, the bitten lips, and the pink tinge to his cheeks from the cold.

Hyukjae watches with interest as the boy pulls out a tumbler, the liquid inside probably only reaching halfway up the insulated cup as he can’t see where it ends, though he can identify it as coffee from the smell that wafts towards him, something familiar that he has tasted far too often to stay alert or not fall off the face of the earth.

Although, Hyukjae’s interest is extremely perked when the boy follows by pulling a can of Red Bull out of his bag, opening it before letting out a sigh of hesitance. The boy catches his curious gaze, grimacing a little as he proceeds to tip the can of Red Bull into his coffee.

“I’m going to die,” He declares to Hyukjae before sculling the whole thing. Hyukjae’s eyes widen in disbelief as the boy almost chokes but carries on, desperate for the end. After a good thirty seconds of watching the boy clenching the side of the desk with his hand, Hyukjae is ready to tell him to stop drinking, though the boy must have read his mind because he stops almost immediately, the tumbler now empty of its contents and a relieved smile on the owner’s face.

“Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Hi, I’m Donghae,” The boy admits, introducing himself to a stunned Hyukjae who is staring at him like he grew another head (Donghae actually has to check he doesn’t have another head because of the extreme confusion present on Hyukjae’s face).

“How the hell did you do that? Oh, and I’m Hyukjae, by the way.”

Donghae takes a considering glance at Hyukjae which confuses the tired boy before responding, “I pulled an all-nighter, have to stay awake somehow and I read somewhere that this could help, or might just make me sick. That line isn’t too hard to cross either way.”

“Well I suppose it could work well, the coffee should make the effect last longer than just give you an hour of alertness before crashing,” Hyukjae reasons, trying to sound hopeful for the obviously dead-on-his-feet brunet.

No one usually talks to Hyukjae unless it is to bother him with something unimportant which more than enough leads to snide remarks about him not being the best in class, as most of the classroom’s inhabitants have already sided with the number one student, Kim Jinwoo, who happens to have something against the second ranked student.

Donghae, however, seems to not be part of that stupid reasoning, the brunet giving him a smile that is far too bright for this early in the morning before Hyukjae’s eyes give out and he’s blind to the world until the bell rings for the start of class.

“Again? Are you serious?” Hyukjae asks. A week later and Donghae is doing the same thing again, this time with a Monster Energy can on the desk beside his usual coffee.

“What? I’m experimenting. I need to stay alive somehow, Hyukjae,” Donghae responds with a degree of sass that he finds suitable.

“Alright, but I’m not planning your funeral,” Only finding enough energy to retort briefly, Hyukjae lets himself slump against the desk, glad that his stomach lining isn’t being pushed to the limit like Donghae’s. He wonders if he should bother his brunet classmate about the risks he is taking with such an unhealthy diet, but then he’d be a hypocrite.

Limits do not exist in the life of a student, Hyukjae only eats three times a day if lucky, which is probably what contributes to his lanky frame of limbs that are far too skinny. Donghae looks as though he’s more fortunate, he seems healthy apart from the forever present black underneath his eyes.

But that under eye darkness is present in every single face in the room, the strenuous hours taking their toll in one way on the student population. The girls cover it up with the makeup plastered over their skin, but the boys suffer through it, looking like zombies raised a second time from the dead (because zombies only raised once do not compare at all).

 “Does that even taste safe?” Hyukjae asks cautiously, Donghae taking small sips this time instead of gulping the whole thing in one go and forcing it down his throat.

“It’s alright, though I never liked the taste of energy drinks anyway so the coffee helps to fade that at least,” Donghae replies calmly, still tired and obviously running on fumes.

“I have an orange in my bag, do you want that? You look hungry,” Hyukjae comments, already reaching for the fruit before Donghae gives him an answer.

“I’m pretty sure everyone in this room is hungry, but sure. I forgot to wake up in time for breakfast this morning, like usual,” Donghae sighs, taking the orange with a small mutter of thanks before peeling off the thick layer of skin, taking a bite before allowing a further comment through his lips, “But don’t you need to eat? You’re so tiny.”

“Nah, I had breakfast and I won’t need anything until after school. I stop by at a café beside my English tutor before I go in, I manage to eat enough then and then have more food when I get home. It may be a stuffed up cycle but at least it works for me.”

“I guess you have a point there, it sounds a lot better than my schedule, though I don’t want to bore you with my trivial activities,” Donghae replies, taking another sip of his strange concoction.

“You could never bore me, Donghae,” Hyukjae admits far too boldly, leaving both boys fighting a hot flush when a girl in front gives them a strange look.

“You only got ninety-eight percent on yesterday’s test, Jinwoo got one-hundred. You must be such a disappointment to your parents,” Sekyung filthily sneers at Hyukjae a few mornings later, a group of their classmates gathering around Hyukjae’s desk to join in on the tormenting.

“You have no right to talk; you all received lower scores than me!” Hyukjae pipes up, sick of the verbal abuse from Jinwoo’s followers. Donghae silently cheers him along from the side, not wanting to get caught up in the unfairness.

“But you didn’t score higher than me, right? And that’s the only relevant point here,” Jinwoo smirks, his ‘friends’ parting for him to reach Hyukjae’s table. “Your father must curse you knowing how stupid you are, Lee Hyukjae.” The whole classroom falls silent, Hyukjae clenching his hands into fists beneath the desk.

“What? You’re just going to take it, not going to stand up to me? That’s wise, you’re too chicken to follow that up anyway,” Jinwoo taunts further. “