“Gukkie, wake up.”

Yongguk opened his eyes, glancing up at the face of his best friend’s younger sister. He hadn’t actually been asleep, but he’d had his eyes closed in the hopes that he could fool his body into thinking it was resting. It hadn’t worked. He was still dead tired, and that nagging feeling hadn’t gone away. Sighing, he sat up, rubbing his eyes before looking back at the girl.

“Areum, what did I tell you about coming in my room without knocking?” he asked, though his words had no bite.

She stuck out her tongue in response. “You were asleep, so you wouldn’t have heard it. And how many times do I have to tell you, it’s Shannon now! Shannon!”

Yongguk shook his head in amusement. Ever since Shannon had moved in with her brother, who happened to also be Yongguk’s best friend and roommate, she’d demanded that she be called Shannon instead of her Korean name, Areum. Yongguk supposed it had something to do with her finally starting college.

Shannon eyed him, before bouncing on the bed to give him a side hug which turned into her pulling him up off of the bed. “Come on, Seunghyunnie made ramen. It’ll get soggy soon,” she said as she pulled back.

It was strange. He felt his tiredness disappear, and that nagging feeling that he’d had for the last week dissipated just like that. He felt better than he had in a while.

He allowed Shannon to drag him to the kitchen, where his best friend was indeed making ramen.

“Yo, she actually managed to get you up? Damn Shannon, what’d you do?” Seunghyun commented glibly. He knew that when Yongguk was in a funk during the evening, it was near impossible to get the man to leave his room until the next morning.

Yongguk and Seunghyun had been friends for over six years. They met in university, and remained fast friends long after they graduated.

Ramen was a lively affair, in that Shannon wouldn’t stop talking. Ever since she’d moved in, the apartment had been livelier. Granted, with Seunghyun around, life was already lively enough. The man went to enough parties and clubs to make anyone tired, and yet, boundless energy seemed to run in the family.

Yongguk retired soon after, and for the first time in a week he fell asleep almost immediately, and wasn’t plagued by dreams.

A few days later, however, that nagging feeling was back, even stronger than before. He had a constant migraine, and that left him in a constantly annoyed mood, easily angered.

He had decided to take a day off from work aft