“Han Sanghyuk you better get off your lazy bum and work, or I’m cutting off all future financial aid!” the shrill voice of my mother echoed into my ear before she abruptly cut the line. Wincing, I pulled my cell phone away from my ear and looked down at the now black screen. Contrary to popular belief, I was not lazy. I merely understood the simpler moments in life, such as watching anime or visiting internet cafes, which is why I couldn’t fathom why my mother deemed me a couch potato.

                Actually, maybe I could, considering I never really did much before entering Haepari University and that really hasn’t changed, but that was beside the point! You couldn’t force someone to work... right? Although technically I did turn 19 in July meaning I was an adult which usually results in having to support myself financially... Okay, I do understand why my mother had just threatened to practically throw me onto the streets of Seoul but still, she didn’t have to be so harsh.

                Pouting grumpily, I slipped my cell phone back into the pocket of my pants and leaned back in my chair. I had been watching some video about this band my friend had sent me but that seemed pretty unimportant right now. Sulking, I closed my laptop and got out of my chair. Looking around the room in a daze, I exited my bedroom and entered the kitchen (which was connected to the living room).

                “Hey Hyuk,” one of my housemates greeted, he was sitting on a stool near the kitchen island and was reading what appeared to be a celebrity magazine. Jung Ilhoon, age 20, was a year older than I was. I had run into him on my first day and according to him, “looked like an adorable puppy who had lost its owner”. Ever since he’s been helping me (mostly by giving me the dirt on my professors, this guy knew everything about everyone) and he was the one who helped me find this house in the first place.

                “Hyuuuung,” I whined, walking up to the island. I pouted and pushed air into my cheeks. Ilhoon looked up from his magazine and cringed at my facial expression. He glanced down at his magazine for a second before pushing it away from him slightly. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to me and gave me his full attention.

                “A-are you doing aegyo?” he asked, on edge. “This is weird, are you sick or something?” Ilhoon reached over the island to put his hand on my forehand. I rolled my eyes and batted his hand away lightly. De-puffing my cheeks, I crossed my arms over my chest.

                “I’m perfectly fine hyung, other than the fact I might be penniless soon,” I replied. Ilhoon gave me a skeptical look before flipping the page of his magazine. “Seriously, my mom just called and said that if I didn’t find a job soon, she’d stop paying my university fees.”

                “Well you are kind of lazy,” Ilhoon responded. “I mean, I come home from school and you’re always playing video games or something.”

                “I am not! I study a lot too! And to be fair Sungjae plays with me!” I shot back.

                “Yes but Sungjae has a rich daddy.” Ilhoon stated, and to my annoyance I could only agree. Yook Sungjae, our third and last housemate, didn’t need to even think about money. His family was so rich that they probably could have bought him a house if he couldn’t find one. “Anyways,” Ilhoon continued, “you should start looking. You’re not the only one who needs some extra cash.”

                “Ugh, fine.” I growled, standing up from the island. “Just keep on reading your Apink articles,” I muttered under my breath as I stalked into my room.

                “Hey! I heard that! And this one’s about 4MINUTE!” Ilhoon shouted at me from the kitchen. I sneered at his indignation before closing the door. Jumping onto my bed, I stared up at the ceiling. Never before had I had to think about getting a job. I mean, I wasn’t spoiled; I had a couple part time jobs in high school so I definitely had some working experience, but I only applied for those jobs for fun. Everyone else had been working so I decided to jump on the bandwagon as well. Not the best motive for sure, but I got some extra pocket money so I wouldn’t complain.

                Coming back to the present, I tried to make a mental list of what types of jobs I could take. The workplace couldn’t be too far away from my house considering I still needed to attend class. I definitely couldn’t be an intern or work in a business office, those hours were too demanding from what classmates have told me. My best bet was to work in a local restaurant or store but this was a residential district. There were barely any shopping malls on this side of town and nearest supermarket was twenty minutes away.

Sighing, I got off of my bed and walked out of my room. Ilhoon had presumably retreated back his room so there was no one in the kitchen. I was pretty sure that Sungjae had class and after a quick investigation of whose shoes were in the walkway, my theory was proven correct. I grabbed my tan coat from the jacket closet and put it on while walking to the end of the hallway. The hallway from the door connected directly to the living room and kitchen area. Off to the right from this place were a hallway and then a staircase that led upstairs to the bedrooms. My room was across from Sungjae’s while Ilhoon’s was beside mine. There was an empty room across from Ilhoon’s but we hadn’t been able to find another tenant.

“Ilhoon-hyung?” I called, knocking on his door. “I’m going out,” I said through the closed door and Ilhoon let out a grunt in response. Walking back towards my room, I grabbed my book bag and supplies just in case I couldn’t get home in time for my next class, and left the house. Remembering to lock the door behind me, I walked down the street to the nearest bus stop.

The bus came quickly, public transportation here was a lot better than in my hometown, and I was able to make it to the nearest shopping mall within thirty minutes. I entered the mall and began to look around at the stores. There were a number of different services, from a dental office to a convenience store to clothing chains. I even spotted a tattoo parlour near the south end of the mall. Unfortunately, there were next to no stores in need for a new employee. The ones that did have a sign out front were either unfit for my abilities (I do not have the skills required to ink someone’s arm, nor do I want to learn) or had already hired students.

Sighing in a defeated manner, I sat down at the food court with a small latte in my hand. I had never been fond of coffee before but one of my ex-girlfriends had loved the drink. She practically forced me to drink it with her on dates so now I had an affinity for the drink, although I still drank mine with loads of sugar dumped inside.

Checking my phone, I saw that I one unread text message from Sungjae. Opening it, I sipped my drink and read its contents.

From: Yook Sungjae

Hey hyuk heard from ilhoon hyung that u were looking for a job?

                I wiped my damp hands (the drink was cold alright) on a napkin before sending out a reply.

To: Yook Sungjae

Yea. Mom said i had to find one or id be penniless

                I sent the message and sat back in my chair. Looking around, I spotted a couple students from my classes at a nearby table. I didn’t really feel like talking to them though so I stood up. It’s not like I was friendless or anything, I just wasn’t in a social mood and besides, the woman with a baby standing near the fountain had been eyeing my seat anyways. With a buzz, my phone vibrated and I looked down.

From: Yook Sungjae

. Need a hand? Minah said she knows a place that needs hiring. Come see me at uni for the details. Our next class is together anyways

                With a frustrated grunt I finished my drink and threw it into the nearest garbage can. Leave it to Sungjae to make things complicated. Why couldn’t he just tell me over text anyways? Sure we had class together but giving me false hope was annoying. Shaking my head, I walked to the bus stop and bused to Haepari within an hour. Upon entering the campus, I walked towards the nearest building. It didn’t really matter which building I entered seeing as most of the departments were linked by covered hallways and even though it was March, it could still get pretty chilly.

                Seeing as I only had a couple of minutes before my next class, I walked into the lecture hall and scanned the room. I spotted a couple familiar faces before finding Sungjae in the middle near the left. Making my way over, I plopped down beside him and pulled out my supplies. He nodded in greeting before going back to his phone. Sungjae tapped the phone quickly before slipping it back into his pocket.

                “So,” I said, watching him carefully, “what’s with the suspense?”

                “What are you talking about?” Sungjae asked innocently, he looked at me and smiled but my face remained emotionless.

                “Why couldn’t you have just told me over text?” I responded, drumming my fingers on the desk. Sungjae grinned cheekily before pulling his phone out. He entered his password and clicked on a couple of icons before shoving it in my face. Looking down, I saw a conversation between him and Bang Minah. Scanning over the text, I quickly grasped the situation before handing the device back. “So now I have to go talk to Sojin noona?” I inquired.

                “Well, no, not if Minah will stop being cheeky,” Sungjae replied.

                “You’re one to talk,” I muttered, “You have no right calling other people cheeky.”

                “But we’ll see after class,” Sungjae ignored my jab and motioned to the front of the room. I looked up and saw that the professor had arrived and was setting up the projector. Sighing, I grabbed a couple more things from my bag before tuning in on the professor’s lesson. Sure money was important, but if I missed out on another lesson from this class, I’d have bigger problems to worry about - like failing a course and getting kicked out of university.

Hey there.

Pardon the random text changes; I have a thing for different fonts so I wanted to use a bunch of different ones. I’ll probably incorporate some handwritten notes too and have everyone have a different handwriting font but those little details will probably only matter to me. T^T

Also idk what kind of program Hyuk and the others should be in so I’m gonna keep that vague until someone helps me come up with a good idea.

Anyways, that's all for now! Thanks to juanamoose for proof-reading and letting me bother her with random details (although your ideas are almost as bad as mine). Once again, I do not own anything in this story other than the idea and plot, any similarities to other works of fiction are purely coincidental or have been used as sources of inspiration. Please do not repost this anywhere without my permission; plagiarism isn’t nice!

Hope you're smiling!

~ Alateni