Minghao was 21 years old and he didn't bother applying to any college during his senior year of high school because on the last day, just before graduation he said “ school, I need a break.” and that was almost three years ago. Minghao knew he should go to college so he could pursue his dreams or at least live a decent life but the mere thought of going to school spoiled his mood. His parents didn’t take the news well and gave him one chance but when Minghao didn't apply for the next semester they gave him some money and kicked him out. That was the last time he talked to his parents and the money had been wasted on alcohol and food. Now Minghao lives in a rundown apartment and works at a pizza shop called Angelo's Modern Pizza as a delivery boy.

The alarm rang at exactly 6 A.M, just like it did every day. Minghao layed in bed wide awake, he always woke up an hour before his alarm but his body never wanted to start the day. With a loud groan he forced his legs over the side of his bed and sat up. The alarm was finally turned off and he stumbled like a zombie towards the bathroom to take his morning piss. After flushing the toilet he the shower and waited a few minutes before taking a deep breath then stepped under the lukewarm water, that was colder than usual due to it being winter. At least the pipes aren't frozen he thought “positively”. Minghao had long since gotten used to the cold showers and overall ty quality of his apartment because hey he had a roof, food, and a job. He towel dried his hair before wrapping the towel around his waist and stepped out into his kitchen/living room/bedroom area. Minghao walked to his closet and pulled out his work uniform, it was a deep royal purple shirt with the shop’s name and logo written in blinding neon green on the back and a small logo patch above his left . He wore a black long sleeve shirt under it to help fight off the cold winter air. Minghao thanked the heavens that the shop owner didn't care about what pants and shoes he wore because all his “nice” pants were dirty. He placed the matching logo hat on and left the apartment in ratty gray converse and bleached washed blue jeans. Minghao fumbled with his keys until the car unlocked and sat down in the driver’s seat. He waited for his baby to warm up before driving away to his job.

Minghao was pulling into the parking lot, praying that someone messed up an order so he could eat it for breakfast. It wasn’t something he was proud of but mooching food that would have been thrown away anyways was much better than going hungry. He walked into the shop through the employee backdoor and instantly his stomach was rumbling as the mouth watering pizza aroma surrounded him. He quickly greets the owner of Angelo's Modern Pizza, an old man named Angelo who started the business back in 19-something and goes into the kitchen where he’s greeted by the owner’s granddaughter, Angela. Minghao helps her with some of the early morning orders since he had nothing better to do.

“It always surprises me how many people order pizza in the morning.” Minghao says in a bored tone.

“Most of them are people who have the munchies because of last night’s high or don’t know how to cook.” Angela snorted and Minghao nodded in agreement. “Oh! Here, Grandma made a lot this morning so everyone took some to work with them.” Angela handed Minghao a plane cardboard box, it was filled to the brim with warm cinnamon buns.

“Are you sure I can have all of these?” Minghao asked hesitantly.

“I already ate 5 this morning, I’ll probably die if I eat anymore.” Angela said with a dramatic sigh.

“Thanks.” Minghao said before digging into the sweet gooey breakfast.

“Don’t thank me too soon, you have to make a delivery once you finish.” Minghao nodded his head and shoveled the food into his mouth faster. Once he was finished Angela handed him 2 large black carrier bags holding 5 orders and the paper with all the addresses on them. Minghao secured the bags in the passenger seat and placed the addresses into the GPS on the dash of his car. He took off to the first location which was an apartment building, the man who answered the door was very grumpy and didn’t tip Minghao anything but he was used to this by now. The second order was a woman who was trying to settle down a bunch of kids as she tried to pay Minghao. The third order was the normal “take my money,” and leave, while the fourth was a nice elderly woman who tipped Minghao a nice 28,000 ₩(~$25). The fifth order was canceled so Minghao enjoyed the medium pizza with everything on it for his lunch. The day passed like it did every day, it would start off calm and slow but suddenly peak at lunch hour then decrease before becoming busy at dinner time. Minghao thanked the heavens that Angelo’s Modern Pizza closed at 9:30pm during the weekdays. He usually got home around 10pm but today he decided to treat himself to some late night gas station food.

Before Minghao entered the 24 hour store he heard a light meow from the ally way. A three legged cat awkwardly limped towards him and Minghao let out a little coo at the tiny cat. He entered the gas station and bought himself a drink, some cheap food, and a can of cat food. The cat was still sitting outside and instantly walked up to Minghao to rub its head against his leg. Minghao’s heart melted and he crouched down to pet the purring cat. Remembering the cat food, he opened the lid and placed it down but the cat didn’t seem to notice, to busy trying to get the human to pet it again. Minghao giggled and placed the cat in front of the food and continued to run his hand down its back. Content with the petting the cat started to eat. Minghao loved cats but this one especially. It wasn’t the cutest of cats with it’s missing left front leg, missing right eye, torn up ears, docked tail, missing patches of fur and overall sickly look but Minghao knew for a fact this cat was the sweetest thing in the universe.

“I haven’t seen you in weeks, where have you been?” Minghao quietly talked to the cat as it rubbed up against him. “I should probably get going soon, don’t take so long to visit next time okay?” Minghao knew it was silly to talk to a cat but he did worry about his mostly furry friend, he knew most people didn’t like the cat, and there had been more stray dogs wandering around lately. One last pet and Minghao got back into his car and drove away when the cat returned to the alleyway.