‘Sleep? What’s sleep?’

To Jinyoung, sleep was like a poisonous feverish dream, something he hated and then secretly wish for under his breath, like a snake who kept chasing his tale, killing himself in one tail bite.

It was hard to ignore the hard knocks banging on his door, snatching him from his two hours’ sleep full of torture. His feet touched the floor, and a drumbeat echoed in his head from the night before.

While taking a deep breath, he held his heavy head with his left hand and rubbed his eyes with the other. The harsher knocks and his best friend’s yelling behind the door didn’t give him a chance to wake up, yet he couldn’t wait for a second longer without opening the door.

“Good morning to you too, Jaebum,” Jinyoung said sarcastically as he went back into his room, ignoring his friend’s burning glare.

“What the hell, Jinyoung? You party every night and did you drink all of this?!” Jaebum fumed with panic, pointing at the empty bottles on the floor. Jinyoung rolled his eyes, taking a sip of water with the belief it would wake him up.

“How many times should I tell you that doing this won’t solve your ? You can’t run away from your problems forever.” Jaebum scolded in frustration but was ignored by his friend again.

Taking a moment to pick up the trash off the floor, he sighed, overwhelmed by the messy room. “I hope your roommate makes you suffer because no one will accept to share a room reeking of alcohol with you.”

“My future roommate is welcome to join me,” Jinyoung said sarcastically, gaining a hit on the shoulder from Jaebum.

“I’m serious, Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung closed his eyes to recollect himself, done with Jaebum’s nagging. “Look Jaebum, I don’t care, and I can do as I please, and whoever gets annoyed with my behavior can leave. I’m not stopping anyone,” Jinyoung replied.

“What you are doing is dangerous and disgusting! Can’t you at least stop for my sake?” Jaebum pleaded and Jinyoung sighed again. He put his hands on Jaebum’s shoulder, then their eyes met.

“Okay, Jaebum I’m sorry. I will try, but I can’t promise you.” Jinyoung faked a smile, hoping it would end the conversation.

“I hope to live a normal college student life without parties or dinks. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could enjoy doing sports or something like that? How about finding a girlfriend to have a lovely relationship with?

Jinyoung laughed in disbelief. “You and your fantasies. Leave me alone.” He grabbed his towel thrown on the messy bed, left to the bathroom, and ran away from his pal.

Jinyoung took a long shower, trying to relax a little under the warm drops. Unable to sleep, as he had had in the past weeks, his headaches became unbearable.

‘Another day with painkillers,’

He avoided the mirror stares, going back to his clean room thanks to Jaebum. “Thank you for cleaning my room, Jaebum! “He cooed, passing him to the wardrobe.

“Like you appreciate the action, brat.” Jaebum snorted, making his friend’s bed.

Jinyoung opened his small closet, his mind choosing leather and half-wet hair. The black leather jacket matched his tight jeans along with an orange T-shirt for contrast.

“It’s 9 AM and we are going to college,” his friend sighed for the millionth time, judging by his flashy outfit. “And I’m going to a party after,” Jinyoung’s reason made Jaebum speechless.

“You really can’t even think about keeping your promise for a second. I’m done with you,” Jaebum fumed, leaving him alone after.

Jinyoung tried to catch his friend but was hit by a door slam on his face. In his defense, Jaebum was making a fuss over nothing.

Jinyoung had nothing else to do besides partying and tricking girls into doing his work. He was smart but lazy enough to submit assignments, presentations, and reports. It wasn’t his thing. And why bother when he could get his things done with a wink, flirtatious killing smile, little dance, or a light touch?

Parties were his savior, the perfect distraction full of crowded people, all trying to forget how life while getting drunk enjoying the blurry world with incoherent music till the sun came back to hit them with the ugly reality.

The sun was burning his soul directly above him as he made his way to college. It was their second week of junior year, yet it felt like the thousands. At that early hour, he was bewildered by people’s energy and hope, how they could smile cheerfully at each other, especially when all he wanted was to graduate in a flash.

Before entering the main gate for his building, loud laughs hammered his head, making him grunt. Upon looking up with squinted eyes, he saw three unfamiliar faces; a silver-haired guy who was not BamBam, an otter in a yellow blazer with an annoying smile, and a girl almost matching his outfit.

‘Who are these people?’ He passed by them, taking quick steps to the hall.

“Hey, Jinyoung! Here…” He was welcomed by Yugyeom, pointing at the empty seat next to him.

“Hey!” He waved going up. “Oh, BamBam, I almost didn’t recognize you. What’s up with the normal hair?” He teased his friend next to Yugyeom.

“Don’t even talk when you come to a university like this,” He brushed off his friend’s comment and judgmental look with a laugh. “I miss your pink hair. It made us popular… Oh right, I saw a crazy guy like you earlier with silver