“Damn it.”

Jinyoung grumbled as he rummaged through the pile of dirty laundry littered on his bedroom floor. An abundance of curses left his mouth as he went on, not sure who or what he was particularly angry about. Maybe it was because his school ID wouldn’t reveal itself under the mountain of clothes, or because his alarm clock didn’t go off loud enough, causing him to wake up late on the day of his midterm exams.

Maybe it was because of Lee Daehwi, the boy who flooded his thoughts and conquered his dreams, the culprit to his sleepless nights.

Jinyoung never presumed that seeing Daehwi kiss someone other than himself would hurt this bad. It was as if someone had dropped a light fixture on his chest, the same way he did yesterday when he saw Daehwi’s lips press onto Mina’s. They were rehearsing for their school’s winter play “101 Christmas Kisses” when it happened. Daehwi is the lead actor, writer, and producer of the whole show, while Jinyoung is just a mere light technician, not even a supporting role. Heck, not even an understudy or Tree #2. The play’s last scene included a kiss between the two main characters, and as soon as Daehwi and Mina’s lips touched, Jinyoung felt a stab in his chest, causing him to lose grip on the 10 lb-light fixture he was holding.

Embarrassment envelops Jinyoung as he shudders at the memory. He glances at his wall clock and realizes he’s been daydreaming for way too long. “Six twenty”, it says. Jinyoung darts across his room to look for his ID. He finds it in the pair of jeans he wore yesterday.

“You’re such a stupid .” he mutters to himself.

Jinyoung rushes outside where the last bus going to school just passed by. The next one doesn’t arrive for another hour and a half, and his exam starts in an hour. It takes a forty-five minute bus ride to get from his house to school, and in no way was he going to miss his midterm exam.

As Jinyoung looks back at his house, he sighs regrettably when he sees his bike. It’s been two years since he last did this, and he vowed that he would never do it again.

“Well hello, my old friend.”, he utters sarcastically.

Jinyoung chases the sunlight.