Hakyeon walked inside homeroom as everyone was talking, coincidentally, about him. The silence as he entered and the eyes on him let Hakyeon know what he missed. As he sat in his desk in the middle of the classroom, he looked down, not wanting to make eye-contact with anyone.

The boy who sits in front of him, Wonshik, laughed. “Well would you look at that. He’s got a black eye and his lip’s all beaten. Poor little baby.”

Taekwoon’s eyebrows raised in curiosity, looking at Hakyeon.

“Got what he deserved if you ask me,” Hongbin, a kid in the back who sits next to Taekwoon, whispered.

“Hey! Cha Hakyeon,” A girl yelled, “Why’d you go and cheat? Are you really that stupid that you need the answer sheets? You could have worked and studied hard like the rest of us to pass!”

“And if you were going to cheat, why the hell did you tell someone? You could have at least not gotten caught. Bastard!”

Soon enough the class erupted, everyone yelled at Hakyeon liked lions attacking their prey.

“It’s unlikely that you will have to retake the exams!” The teacher tried to reason, yelling over everyone. “Hakyeon is being punished. He doesn’t get to retake it. He gets an automatic zero on all of them he took. He’s an all-zero.”

Everyone quieted down to process the information. They had less than a semester left of school. How was he going to pass the year?

Hongbin was the one to finally break the silence. “He’s not going to pass, right? It’s useless for him. He’s going to have to retake the year.”

“Why do you care…” Hakyeon suddenly whispered. “It’s not like any of you want to graduate with me anyways. And, honestly, I feel the same. I wouldn’t want to graduate with a group filled with whiny idiots.”

“Cha Hakyeon,” The teacher scolded.

“Shut up,” Hakyeon hissed in reply. “Hongbin was right. It’s useless for me now. What’s the point of even attending school?” He began to pick up his bags, a smug smile on his face.

“Cha Hakyeon, sit down. You were not expelled. It’s against the law to skip school.”

“I’m 18, I can do whatever I want.”

He began to walk to the door, and no one tried to stop him.

Why should he get to get away with this? Why does this bastard do whatever he wants, no matter the consequences?

Taekwoon stood up suddenly, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“How dare you call us idiots? We’re not the ones that needed the answers. If you’re going to have to retake next year, you might as well learn one thing right now. Sit down and deal with the mess you made.”

Hakyeon was obviously surprised. Taekwoon had never made any effort to talk to him, or talk at all. He stared at the taller boy across the room, unsure what to say. Loosening the grip of his backpack on his shoulder, he walked back towards his desk and set it down, sitting down in his chair silently.

Everyone watched the two intensely. Even the teacher made no means to speak.

It was only until Taekwoon was settled back into his desk that the teacher began to talk, and soon enough, everyone forgot that Jung Taekwoon had a voice.

The school day was normal other than that. Taekwoon made no other means to speak, having already spoken too much for one day. He found himself walking home with Jaehwan, which he rarely ever did - since Jaehwan always stayed behind because he needed extra tutoring.

“It was so cool what you did today,” Jaehwan admired. “You’re getting quite popular, don’t you think? First a guy likes you, and second Cha Hakyeon obeys you. Maybe in people’s eyes, you’re like a king. No--a God.”

Taekwoon scoffed.

“I still can’t believe you actually talked. I mean, I’ve heard you talk before. But not that much. It was amaz-”

Before Jaehwan could continue his sentence, he was interrupted by the sound of fist hitting flesh, more specifically, the cheek. Jaehwan put his arm out in front of Taekwoon, stopping him from going any closer. In front of them on the sidewalk was Cha Hakyeon, currently being beaten down by a man, black hair turning gray, short but strong, and in a business suit. Taekwoon’s eyes widened.

“You useless piece of . I do so much for you, do you not even care? Why must you ruin your life - no, my life like this?”

Hakyeon didn’t reply, just rubbed his cheek with his palm, not making eye-contact with the elder.

“You’re not going to apologize?” The old man raised his hand to seemingly slap Hakyeon, but his hand froze in the air as his glance moved towards the two boys.

Suddenly, Hakyeon started to laugh. It wasn’t those laughs that made you smile, but a cold spine-chilling laugh, filled of bitterness. The older man bit his lip, embarrassed to be caught and sighed, grabbing the younger boy by his collar and dragging him into the black car that was parked on the side of the road.

Once the car had driven away, although they could now continue to walk home, their feet felt frozen in place. Had they really just witnessed that?

“Wasn’t that his father?”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon answered quietly.

“He deserved it.” Jaehwan said, maybe to convince himself that Hakyeon did, indeed, deserve it. But by the look on Jaehwan’s face, Taekwoon knew he wasn’t being sincere. “Let’s go.”

And so they did, pretending to ignore the faint hint of blood that rested on the sidewalk, even though the sight of it both gave them chills.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. When people think of the word “reality” they think of pain. Heartbreak. Struggling. So why would anyone want to live in reality? Hakyeon sure did not.

“Why live in a world that constantly brings you down? What’s the point?”

The therapist, wearing bright yellow, (Hakyeon figured it was to make her seem like a “bright” person, but honestly it was just making his eyes hurt) nodded slowly, taking in the younger’s words. Finally, after an awkward period of silence, she spoke.

“We have to struggle to achieve happiness. You can’t just run away. You can’t escape reality.”

Hakyeon scoffed loudly.

“Tell that to every author in the universe. Aren’t therapists supposed to not be biased? You seem very against everything I say.”

“I’m trying to lead you in the right direction.”

“That’s biased,” Hakyeon tells her, his eyebrows furrowing. “Everyone has a different opinion on what is right and wrong. You haven’t been a shrink for long, have you? You’re not very good at this. I liked the other one better. I want her back.”

The therapist looked down at her paper, filled with years of endless notes about Hakyeon.

“It says here you told her to ‘Get out of my face, you’re extremely uneducated and a complete utter-’”

“I know what I said,” Hakyeon cut her off, the tips of ears turning red. “Ain’t the stuff I say to therapists confidential? How do you know so much about me?”

“Your father gave me this list. Kind of as a warning, I suppose. Whether I was up for the job or not for being your shrink. I told him I like a challenge.”

She was starting to get bold, a smug smile on her face. Hakyeon assumed this was her way of trying to become comfortable with him. He saw right through her, meanwhile he figured that she couldn’t pinpoint one thing about him. None of the others could. To him, she was just another shrink, trying to fix Hakyeon - a boy who was already too far broken to be fixed.

“Do you have any friends?” She suddenly changed the topic. “Anyone you talk to?”

Hakyeon grinned at the absurdity of the question. “Not everyone is as open to a challenge like you are. Sure, everyone knows me, but no one knows me or even wants to.”

“What about anyone you like? Any pretty girls out there?”

“Actually, there is one. But now I couldn’t want less to do with them.”

“How come?”

Hakyeon didn’t reply, thinking of the events that occurred that morning in homeroom. Remembering his humiliation, he stood up.

“It’s time to go, isn’t it?” Hakyeon looked at his watch. “Great chat! Let’s do it again...never.”

Surprised, the therapist looked at her watch. “We’ve still got an entire fifty minutes left. It’s only been ten minutes.”

“I’m done with this conversation.” Before she could protest, Hakyeon left the room, walking outside into the cold air.

Reality isn’t bliss. The reality of the situation is, he’s a challenge. And possibly one that can’t be beaten. No matter how hard anyone tries, there isn’t one person that can fix him. There isn’t one person that can lead him in the right direction.

He looked up at the gray sky as soon as he felt cold water droplets fall on him. And another. And another. Was the sky crying because he was hopeless? Putting his hoodie up, Hakyeon sighed.

When can he escape reality?

--

this is short, but i've been really busy with preparing for finals at school!! sorry!! ill ty to update asap!! - jay