Ctl + Alt + Del.

Ctl + Alt + Del.

Ctl + Alt + Del.

Donghae sighed with exasperation. His screen had been frozen for exactly eighteen minutes.  To make matters worse, he saved none of his opened files. Setting his eyeglasses on the table, he rubbed his eyes. What else can go wrong?  

He stood up from his study table and ambled toward the tiny kitchenette of his college dorm room. Turning his body from left to right, he let out a satisfying groan as he heard his spine crack. He had been sitting in front of his computer for days, putting the finishing touches on his thesis. Tomorrow was the deadline for all graduate theses to be submitted. Donghae, just like many of his friends, was raring to get out of college. Two more weeks and he’d have his Business degree in his hands.  

He took a can of soda from his mini fridge. As the rim of the can neared his mouth, a whirring sound caught his ear. This is not happening, he thought. Oh, but it was. The blue screen of death was flashing on his screen as though taunting him. He half stumbled, half-ran back to his computer. No. NO! He quickly shut down the machine and unplugged the power cord from the wall socket. Maybe rebooting would spur the 13-year-old desktop back to life? Donghae prided himself as an eternal optimist.  However, after the repeated failed reboots, he was sweating from frustration and sprawled on the floor, ready to cede.

His phone started blaring Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time from his back pants pocket.

“Ryeowook, stop changing my ringtone for ’s sake,” He muttered, one hand covering his eyes. He felt the start of a migraine.

“A polite ‘yeoboseyo’ would have been fine, Hae,” Ryeowook replied. “How’s the paper going?”

The back of Donghae’s head throbbed as he told Ryeowook, his college friend since freshman year, his dilemma.

“I’ll be stuck in this school for another year!” Donghae complained over the phone.

“You are totally blowing this out of proportion. Your problem is still fixable:  get your and that ancient computer of yours to a computer repair shop, babo.” Ryeowook impishly answered.

Donghae sat up and looked at his phone for a second. Ryeowook actually gave him sound advice for a change. “You’re absolutely right. Thanks, Ryeo.”

...

C’mon, Donghae, you can do this. His legs were burning from pedaling uphill for the last 10 minutes. After a quick search on his phone, he discovered that the closest computer repair shop was sitting atop a steep hill half an hour away off campus. Since he didn’t have a car, he had no recourse but to tie down his gigantic CPU case to his bike’s rear basket.  When he caught a glimpse of the little store, he felt as if he found the Holy Grail. Yes, this is how desperate he was to get his computer fixed.

***

Carrying the CPU with both of his hands, Donghae’s heart dropped down to his flip flops when he saw the closed sign hanging on the door. Calm down, he told himself. After a couple of deep breaths, he put the CPU on the ground and peered inside the store. A man was sweeping inside. Donghae rapped on the door.  No response. He knocked frantically.

***

Kyuhyun looked up to see someone outside. He mouthed ‘we are closed’ to the man. This made the man become more agitated than he already was. Setting his broom aside, Kyuhyun wiped his hands down the sides of his jeans and headed to the door.

***

“We are closed.”Kyuhyun said through the slight crack of the door.

“Please. I realize it’s almost midnight, but my thesis is due tomorrow and all my files are in the hard drive…” Donghae choked.  Khyuhyun sighed and against his better judgment opened the door wider.  

“Come in. Hurry up before I change my mind.”

***

“What’s your operating system?”

“Windows Me.”

Kyuhyun looked up at Donghae incredulously.

“Look, I know my computer’s old and incompatible to a lot of new software, but my dad left it to me when I was in middle school….” Donghae mumbled his explanation, but eventually trailed off. He caught himself from revealing too much.

Kyuhyun continued to work on the computer.

***

5.29 AM

Donghae was drooling from one side of his mouth when he was shaken awake.

“All files are backed up. I reinstalled your OS. You’re lucky I still have a copy of Windows Me. Your hard drive is a mess. Get a new computer. Please.” Kyuhyun said.

Donghae paid the man and was surprised at the low service charge. “Are you sure this is the right price?” he clarified.

“Yup. I know the struggles of a college student since I’m also one.” He gave Donghae a slight smile, while raking a hand through his dark brown hair. This was the first time Donghae saw the repair guy smile all throughout the night.

“Thank you very much…?”

“Kyuhyun.”

“Thank you very much, Kyuhyun-ssi.” Donghae bent down and gathered the CPU up in his arms, which caused his eyeglasses to fall slightly from the bridge of his nose.

Without thinking, Kyuhyun reached out and pushed the glasses back up Donghae’s face.  Their eyes met for a moment.

Kyuhyun turned and held the door wide open. Donghae’s eyes were bright with wonder as he gave a slight nod to the repair guy as he passed through the door.

***

Two weeks later

His mother beamed with pride as he turned the tassel of his cap during his graduation ceremony. Wearing his best dress shirt and pants under his toga, Donghae looked every inch of the proud graduate.

***

Two weeks and one day later

I hate hills, Donghae thought. The sun was annoyingly bright and warm. The clothes he had put on completely drenched with sweat. A complete opposite to the dapper image he had projected at graduation day. The last time he rode his bicycle up this hill it was at night. His muscles were sore then but he wasn’t sweating like a horse in training for the Kentucky Derby. Reaching his destination, he got off and flicked the kickstand of his bicycle.

***

Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes… I’m almost in…missed! He dropped his head down in surrender. Why couldn’t he put the thread through the needle's eye? He looked down at the big gaping hole on his shirt and groaned. Somehow, he snagged the front of his shirt on a nail jutting from the wall of the store.

His eyes settled on the stapler sitting on the counter.

Ah, Kyuhyun, you are a genius. He patted himself on the back.

***

“Excuse me?”

“Eh?” Kyuhyun looked up just as he affixed the last staple on his shirt.

“This is for you,” Donghae held up a small cake with ‘Thank You’ scrawled in blue icing. He was staring the repair guy’s embellished shirt.  He lifted his gaze to Kyuhyun’s slightly embarrassed face.

Donghae chuckled, his eyes full of laughter. “You’re a genius in my book, Kyuhyun-ssi. By the way, I didn’t tell you my name before, I’m Donghae.”

The End