It was an extraordinary day to the residents of that suburban district. The coffee shop was much noisier than it usually was. In fact, it was so crowded there was hardly space for walking around. That day was going to be a very hardworking one.

The enormous coffee shop had never been this busy, with such large groups of people sitting on each table. The waiters were running here and there endlessly, taking one order after another. It was very difficult for them to have to assist such a huge number of customers in a fast pace.

This was exactly how the young boy felt. He had to do his job satisfactorily for he would be fired otherwise, and he could not find any other way to survive whilst living on his own in that unknown area. For the moment, his only choice was stay there, working as a waiter in that coffee shop to make a living.

He rushed to the smallest table by the entrance, where an old woman was sitting alone. He ignored the pretentious look the woman was sending him and quickly took out a small notebook though he was already holding a tray simultaneously.

“Good morning,” he said, trying to keep his politeness, “what would you like?”

“Bring me a cup of coffee.” There was pure rudeness in the old woman’s voice, but he ignored it too anyway.

He jotted down the order and immediately rushed to serve the customers at another nearby table. This time, it was a couple of adolescents around his age, and they were laughing and talking so much it took them a minute before noticing how he was standing right above them.

However, like always, all he could do about the couple’s ignorant attitude was remain neutral. Eventually, the girl merely turned to look at him whereas the boy made room for him to serve their beverages.

As soon as the tray he was holding had emptied, he started running around the café until he spotted the only free table, where he left the tray roughly. After that, he ran towards a corner and stood there still, hoping he would be able to take a break.

He suddenly found himself recalling all his painful memories. No matter how many weeks had passed since he ran away, he could never forget his school. He could not stop wondering if there was at least one person who was worried about him. His phone was permanently off and he had not touched it for weeks, yet he was still curious as to who could have given him a call. He actually wondered what could possibly be going on in his school while he was missing, and what his classmates thought about him.

But then again, he could not allow himself to miss that place. After all, it was his own choice to run away, and he could not predict if things would be any better if he returned.

After a few minutes had passed, he resumed. He ran as fast as he could towards the entrance, where he was given a cup of coffee.

He walked to the table where the old woman was sitting, but just as he was about to serve it to her, he tripped on the foot of a chair left next to him. The cup crashed on the floor and broke into pieces and the coffee poured.

He stared at the sight with wide eyes, then looked at the woman in panic. She was shooting him a death glare, which made him even more panicked.

“I’m so sorry, madam…!” he said. “Please wait, I’ll bring you another cup.”

The woman did not speak, but he immediately understood she was upset. In an attempt not to be fired, he rushed to serve another cup of coffee to the old woman.

A minute later, he was back with a new cup of coffee. He slowly walked towards the old woman and tried to lay the cup on the table as carefully as he could. His hands were shaking with anxiety knowing she would be upset if he did something wrong again.

This time, however, before he could leave the cup on the table, he accidentally spilled all the coffee on the woman’s shirt. His eyes widened even more than before as he was staring at the stain on her shirt in shock. Crap!

He kept apologizing to the woman, insisting to bring her a third cup, but this time, she refused. She got up and headed to the exit, making him more panicked than ever. He was now sure he would be fired for the café had just lost a customer.

The cleaner then quickly went there and picked up all the pieces of glass on the floor while wiping the coffee away. Shortly afterwards, someone else also came, making Jimin nervous about what he would be told. It was the owner of the café, who did not look happy at all.

“What did you do?”

The anger in the owner’s voice sent shivers down Jimin’s spine. If he were fired, he would not have any other way to get by. He would probably have to return to his neighbourhood, and the thought of going back to his school made him nervous. He feared his parents’ reaction and the thought of facing his schoolmates again. In fact, it was not so simple for him to go back.

“It was an accident!” he exclaimed awkwardly.

But obviously, the owner did not want to hear any words. “You’re fired!”

Jimin rolled his eyes and stared at the owner speechlessly. He opened his mouth to complain, but he could not speak any more words. All he could do was hide his disappointment.

“Which word didn’t you understand?” the owner yelled seeing how Jimin was not moving.

“But…” Jimin tried to speak, but he stopped knowing nothing would change that way.

“I’ll repeat myself: you’re fired!”

Jimin shut his mouth and exited from the coffee shop.

☼

After he had arrived back at the hotel he was staying at, Jimin entered his hotel room with quick steps and slammed the door behind him. He instantly undid his jacket, took it off and carelessly threw it on his bed. After that, all he did was blankly stare at his surroundings.

He had no idea what he should do now that things had become harder. It was not easy for him to stay there, as the only way would probably be to look for another job. But deep inside, there was something that was telling him not to stay there any longer.

His demons wanted to go back to the school. Though there was a voice in his head telling him it was not the best thing to do, there was also another voice telling him everything would be much better than he thought if he did. He could not overcome his curiosity about what his classmates’ reaction would be like if he went back. Would they welcome him with open arms, or would they simply make him regret it?

To his surprise, he knew the answer to all these questions. He knew what would be the best for him and everyone around him. Within seconds, he had already made the right decision.

Without further reflection, he found himself packing all his stuff. He had not taken many things with him besides his phone – which was still off – and some clothes he had bought there. With quick moves, he had already packed all his things in his schoolbag in minutes.

After checking to make sure he had packed everything, he realized that the only thing left was his phone. From the beginning, he had left it on his bedside table, and it had remained off for weeks. He had never bothered to turn it on to see if there were any missed calls. But then, it was no use anyway.

After a moment of thinking, he took his phone and slipped it in the front pocket of his schoolbag. Lastly, he put on his jacket, put on his schoolbag and got out of the hotel room.

Locking the door behind him, he went down the stairway leading to the reception. Then, he gave back the keys to his hotel room and exited from the hotel.

The streets of that small area just outside of Seoul were quite busy that day. They were full of cars and taxis, but without many people walking on the pavements. Jimin looked at the view for a moment, and was about to take a taxi to the bus station before eventually deciding to go on foot.

The bus station was not far from the hotel. It was only a good fifteen minutes’ walk, but for some reason, Jimin could not enjoy the walk. Though he was not looking forward to going back to Seoul, he was also in a hurry to arrive at the bus station. It was a feeling he himself could not explain.

He walked onto the pavement and started walking quite fast. Whilst walking, he was looking at the view of the busy roads when all of a sudden, the view changed.

On the pavement at the opposite side of the road, there were several students about the same age as him walking to school. Unlike him, they were happy. Some of them were talking and smiling, while others, though they were alone, did not look sad at all.

Jimin stopped for a moment to observe them all. If he went back to his plain school life, would he be happy, just like them? At the very least, would he be loved there? He kept wondering whether things would be different with him there, and if his classmates were waiting for him. But he would never get the answers to his puzzles unless he went back to the school.

Several minutes later, he finally arrived at the bus station. However, for a moment, he stood still and found himself subconsciously staring at his surroundings while thinking.

Before buying a ticket, he thought of checking his phone strangely enough. It would be good for him to know who had called him all that time. It even surprised him how he wondered if any friend or schoolmate of his had given him a call.

The first thing he spotted after looking at his surroundings once again was a pillar beside him. He walked towards there and left his schoolbag on the floor, against the pillar. Then, he opened the front pocket and took out his phone.

Zipping his schoolbag, he pressed the button to turn on his phone, though he barely knew if the battery had died or not. The screen of the phone flashed a minute later.

He had a hasty look at his missed calls, only to figure out that it was not a big deal. There were a lot of calls from his parents, but absolutely no calls from his friends or anyone else from his school.

That was until a few seconds later, he saw a name that made him stare at it in surprise. A name he hardly expected to see, as he did not communicate with that classmate of his very often, nor did he expect her to be the only one from his class to call him. Blinking a couple of times, he tried to make sure what he had just seen was true, but he still could not get over his surprise.

“Park… Miyeon?” he whispered to himself in disbelief.

Jimin knew Miyeon as the girl with the perfect life. She was good friends with the most popular students in their class and no one dared treat her badly. However, she hardly ever talked to him. Why would she suddenly decide to call him, let alone so many times?

He shook his head and turned his phone back off, putting it back into his schoolbag. Straight after that, he put on his schoolbag again and rushed to buy a ticket, this time with no doubts.

Finally, he handed his money to the ticket clerk and grabbed his ticket.

“To Seoul.”