It was strange, the way we became friends.

I never thought that you and I would ever get along.

We are so different and yet I was exposed to your true nature and fell into a complete abyss of happiness and surprises. You attitude was a setback that I had to face first before we could even talk about what we would like to eat.

Just the thought of us being friends just makes me smile in embarrassment for all the things that we faced when we were younger. Yet, here we are: now sitting together in the same entertainment company.

You have been working on the same paperwork for a while now, biting down on the pen that I lent you just twenty minutes ago. A bad habit of yours that you haven’t grown out of. Your face is contorted in concentration at whatever you were reading. Just like two minutes ago, your eyes lit up in excitement when you finally understood what you were reading. You wrote something down on the notepad that you always carry around.

You looked at me all of a sudden and smiled when you noticed that I was staring. You laughed under your breath, making sure not to catch the attention of the people walking outside of the office space.

“You keep staring,” you said smiling. You placed the pen down and rested your head on your arm. “Why?”

“Do you remember when we first met?” I asked you. You raised an eyebrow at the question but your smile was still there.

“Of course I do,” you stated. I smiled when the warmth in your eyes was directed at me. You were acting cute, that much I could tell but for some reason I couldn’t force myself to stop acting in such a way, instead I just kept smiling and stood up, picking up my cup of coffee and my own paperwork.

“Are you done with your work?” I changed the subject.

“Hmm, almost. I just have a few more things to memorize and I’ll be done,” you explained. I just nodded before patting your arm and making my way out of the office. “Are you leaving?”

“For a bit, yes. I have an appointment that I need to go to but it won’t take long. Maybe like an hour: you think you’ll be done by then?”

“I think so. I’ll see you in the lobby then?” you turned around to show me your puppy eyes. There was no need for them since you always had your way with these types of thing.

“Sure. See you in an hour, Hakyeon,” I waved, leaving the room with a “Bye, Leo-ah,” following behind.

“Our first meeting, huh?” Hakyeon asked himself, resting his head on the table. “What a childish fool,” Hakyeon giggled to himself think of the past.

It was the middle of the spring semester: the sun was trying to kill every citizen walking on the street to work, school, or even home. Everyone was sweating to the point that you thought someone was bound to get heat . Especially the children making their way to school.

The uniforms making it hard for any of them to be excited of seeing their classmates again. Most of them were suffering from lack of sleep and the sun was just making it worse. For Leo, this was the main reason has why he wished they never moved back to Seoul.

He was starting the semester in a new district school where he would know no one. He was against the idea of moving to Seoul since the begging of his third year of high school, objecting it with all his might. Yet, his parents had the support of his older sisters so he had no choice.

Now here he was, slowing making his way down the narrowed hallways filled with students of every age. His class couldn’t be any farther from the main entrance of the school and he was now regretting taking the art class as an easy way out. The kids in the hallways were talking and laughing loudly even though they were all suffering just minutes ago in the middle of the heat. He tried his best not to catch the attention of anyone for now, since he didn’t know if the kids here treated outsiders nicely or not.

When he could finally catch sight of ‘Room 2-4’ in the distance, he let out a sigh of relief and sped up his pace. He opened the room door and was met with a bunch of rowdy kids laughing and chatting their asses off. He made his way to the back of the room and noticed a couple of seats that were not claimed by colorful bags. He sat down on the desk that was located near the door and placed his bag on it.

He looked around and noticed that some people were staring at him for a brief moment before choosing to ignore him and keep talking. It was normal behavior, he noticed. When people would look at him, they would notice his resting face before they could notice the shifting hand movement he was doing under the desk.

“Okay everyone, settle down,” came the voice of an older man as he placed his books in the teacher’s desk. “Okay, everyone, welcome back to another year of ‘fun’ learning,” the teacher faked cheered in front of everyone in the class. “I would like to congratulate you all for making it to the second year of you high school life, but I would also like to remind all of you that your college entrance exams are just around the corner.”

There were groans around the room from soulless students. The teacher looked like he could care less and continued explaining the course.

“Okay, as you already know, my name is Professor Kim,” some of you already had me for Art 1 and are just continuing to Art 2 because you found out that I don’t really care about the grading system when it comes to this course. My main study when I became a teacher is math, so for some of you, I will also be your math teacher, so yes. You will be able to see the lazy and outgoing bipolarity of my teaching methods.”

The students acknowledged the information and continued to listen to the professor. Some were already asleep just four minutes into the class and Leo wished he was one of them.

“On exciting news, we all have a new classmate, so please make him feel welcome,” the professor read from a paper in his desk before looking up again. “Jung Taekwoon, please stand up.” Leo did as he was told and stood up from his desk, he bowed slightly at the teacher and his classmate before sitting down. “Nice, okay kids. That is all the news I have for today. As you guys know, starting from today you have to finish for basic paints, two essays, one group painting, and two final presentations before the end of the semester, so don’t slack off. Please don’t make my job difficult.”

The students just agreed with him and he nodded at them.

“Good. Now everyone please start drawing or painting or whatever. I’ll be sitting on my desk if you guys need everything okay?”

“Yes, sir,” the class said in unison before a flock of kids stood up and starting moving desks around. Leo was shocked to see that they were moving the desks just to be able to sit next to each other and keep talking. Some of the kids were already chatting before the professor could even finish his speech.

Leo noticed that some students were actually drawing at the moment, others were even painting. Leo on the other hand had no idea what to do. He was only taking this course because he heard rumors that the class was super easy. He didn’t even know how to draw.

He just took out a notepad and a pencil and started doodling on it. There was no point in socializing if people were not even attempting to even acknowledge his existence. He was drawing, what he presumed was a flower, when he noticed a desk was being placed in front of his, when he looked up he noticed a guy smiling at him.

He was dumbstruck as to why someone was sitting in front of him, especially a foreign looking kid. Before he could even voice out his confusion there was more desks being placed around him by even more boys. Baffled, Leo could only stare at them before they all sat down and were greeting him with ‘hellos.’

“Taekwoon, right?” the foreign looking dude asked him. Leo nodded in return and the guy smiled. “Nice to meet you. My name is Jaehwan but all my friends call me Ken.”

“Hello,” Leo bowed his head. “My name is Taekwoon but most of my old friends used to call me Leo.”

“Well then, I’ll call you Leo then and you can call me Ken. It is easier to remember. Right, Ravi?” Ken smiled at the boy sitting directly next to him. The guy nodded but Leo didn’t hear him talk. “Leo this is Wonshik, aka Ravi. He doesn’t allow for anyone to call him Wonshik except for hyung.”

“Hey,” Ravi nodded but kept looking at his phone.

“Oh and this is Hyuk!” Ken patted at the boy sitting on his left. “He’s the only freshmen in this class. The nerd.”

“Okay, first of all, I got into this class by luck,” Hyuk crossed his arms and pouted. “Second of all, it’s not my fault I’m smarter than you.”

“What grade level are you, Leo?” Ken chose to ignore Hyuk’s comment to get some information out of Leo.

“I’m a third year,” Leo answered, still feeling a little awkward around the kids sitting with him.

“That’s kind of late to move to a different school, don’t you think?” Hyuk asked, moving to get into art supplies out of his bag.

“Tell that to my family,” Leo murmured but Ken and Hyuk still laughed at his remark.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re here now,” Ken voiced. “So, why did you chose art class? Are you the same as Ravi?”

“What?”

“Easy pass.”

“Ah, sort of. I really at art, so I wanted to at least learn a bit,” Leo confessed. Ravi nodded in agreement before placing his sketch pad and a pouch of pencils.

“Well, you should know that this class is an advanced class, so is free for all. Everyone here is from all different grade levels. Hyuk being the youngest as a freshman. Ravi is a second year and I’m a third year like you.”

“There is two people missing from our group,” Ravi pointed out. His voice caught Leo by surprise, it was deeper than he thought it would be. “Hakyeon hyung and Hongbin haven’t arrived.”

“You know they’re always late because of club activities,” Ken assured him. “Oh yeah, Hongbin and Hakyeon hyung are friends of ours, you should get to know them if you want to be good at art.”

“Why is that?” Leo asked.

“Hongbin is an art photographer and Hakyeon is really good at painting and sketching designs,” Hyuk stated, already drawing something out in his pad. “They taught me how to draw when I was in middle school.”

“Professor Kim! Good morning!” Leo jumped in shock at the intrusion of a loud voice. He looked up and noticed two kids enter the class at the same time. Both of them bowed at the teacher and made their way towards them. Hakyeon noticed that some of the girls in the class were staring at them both when they walked next to them.

Ken waved at them before standing up and hugging the shorter one of the two. Ravi was talking to the other one before he sat next to him. Leo noticed that Hyuk was trying to get the attention of the kid talking to Ken but the other was staring directly at Leo.

Leo was surprised but bowed his head when the other smiled and bowed at him first.

“Who’s this?” the guy asked Ken and the other smiled at him before sitting down.

“This is Leo. He’s the new transfer student. He’s a third year like you and me.”

“Ah~, hello Leo. My name is Cha Hakyeon but you can call me N,” the boy bowed again before placing his bag down and sitting on the desk next to him and Ravi. “What’s your name?”

“Jung Taekwoon,” Leo bowed his head lightly at him before looking at Ken. Leo thought that the trio were good looking, but Hakyeon and the other boy, whom Leo presumed was Hongbin were stunning. They almost looked like models.

“Well Leo, nice to meet you,” N smiled again before looking at Hongbin. “Sorry, I almost forgot. This is Hongbin. He’s a little shy so he comes off as rude, but don’t worry, he’s a nice guy.”

Leo looked at the boy who was looking at N with such a face, but when he noticed that Leo was giving him his attention, he bowed at him and smiled slightly before turning to talk to Ravi.

“Nice to meet you,” Leo reciprocated.

After their meeting, Leo was included into every conversation that the group of boys had. He even exchanged numbers with all of them and found out that Hakyeon was the class president for the third years.

Apart from art class, Leo had class with Ken and N at different times. He had Ken for P.E. and science class while having math and English with N. He learned quickly that Ken just looked smart but needed extra classes when it came to English and science. N on the other hand was a different story.

Leo could only describe N as born genius. He was first in all of his classes. Ace every math exam and science experiment. He was also first place for essay competitions and was chosen as class president because he was nice to everyone and was respected by all the teachers.

Leo for some reason couldn’t get over the fact that there was something about N that he just didn’t like. For some reason, N just seemed completely fake to Leo. He was always smiling and showing off when it came to art projects. He would also get clingy when it came to his closes friends. He would usually hang out only with girls instead of hanging out with his friends.

Leo just didn’t voice out his discomfort for the way that N would act.

It was almost as if N wasn’t himself.

And then Leo had an opportunity to talk to N about his discomfort about his attitude.

~

Leo was in his second semester on his new school. He had been able to socialize more than in his previous school. He even was able to make friends with fourth year students, something that he was not able to do in the past. If he was going to thank someone for being able to do so, he would have to thank N.

Hakyeon was the one that introduced him to the soccer caption Choi Minho, got him to go to tryouts and was even able to get a recommendation for Professor Kim so that he could join that soccer team. Hakyeon was also the one that was able to get him to join the choir and music club after catching him singing on his way home.

Leo was kind of stupefied of how many times N was able to catch him doing any of his favorite hobbies. N was the one that caught him staring that the soccer team playing, he was the one that caught him playing with a soccer ball in an empty soccer field.

Leo was getting a little annoyed at how nosy N was. Yet, he didn’t want to destroy a friendship over something pitiful as that. It’s just that for Leo, N still seemed completely fake to him.

There was one time that Leo was passing by Hongbin and N’s P.E class. He was able to hear their conversation but what he heard was just N praising himself and sassing Hongbin.

“Did you see that jump? I was pretty amazing, right? Did you see me? Huh?” N was circling around Hongbin who in return was just looking at him with a resting face. Hongbin sighed and moved to walk away but N grabbed his sleeve and pouted at him.

Hongbin was trying to shake him off, even placing a hand on N’s face to forcefully remove him. But N was still pouting at him, once in a while kissing the hand on his face to make Hongbin remove it from his face.

Leo was completely disgusted by N’s self-centered attitude and his overly affectionate way of showing his love for people. Those were just some of the things that he didn’t like about the other but he still kept to himself.

That was until one day Leo was trying to be alone to play the piano that he started to hear the high pitched laugh of the other. Leo was already in a bad mood, he failed his math exam only to have N shove his perfectly scored test on his face and making fun of the other.

Leo just kept playing the piano even louder. Banging on the keys even faster. He was trying to fade out that annoying laugh but it was only getting louder. Leo was trying to keep his composure, breathing in and out slowly while trying to keep his cool about the whole situation.

After a while, Leo noticed that the laugh had disappeared and it was silent outside of the practice room that he was located in. Leo let out a breath of relief and focused once more on the piano. He chose to play Nocturne to help keep him calm. He was able to get half way through the piece before the door of the practice room was opened with such brute force that it made a loud sound ricochet through the room.

“Leo-ah!” N smiled at him, jumping around the room and sitting next to the other, getting to close for Leo’s comfort. Leo was able to provide the other with a small smile of his own but moved away from the other.

N noticed the movement but chose not to say anything about it. Instead, he opt to wrap his arm around the other and placed his head on the broad shoulder. N really liked Leo’s body, wishing he had a body like his: Leo on the other hand felt completely uncomfortable with the whole situation.

He was still mad at the other for being so self-centered and egoistic. Ken and Hyuk always said that N was always selfless and polite to everyone that he met, but Leo was not been able to see that side of him since they met during the first semester.

“Hey,” Leo replied. They stayed silent for a while before N moved away and let go of his arm, noticing the tense muscles under his touch. He let it go and chose to make conversation with him instead.

“What are you up to?” N asked, touching the piano keys gently, the noise barely audible.

“Practice,” Leo stated.

“Hmm,” N nodded, turning to look at the other. “You know, when I was younger I used to play the piano as well. My mom said that it was important for all people to learn art so she wanted me to play the piano.”

“That’s nice,” Leo quipped.

“I bet I can play just as good as you can if I practiced for a few months. You know, Leo, I always thought you would be a pretty quiet guy but most of the seniors are telling me that you are quiet the vocal guy.”

“N.”

“You should thank me for presenting you to them. If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have been friends with them.

“Hakyeon.”

“Ah, did I tell you? I came in on first for the English exam. You want to compare your score to mine? Don’t be shocked to notice that my grade is better than yours, I have to do good to be able to afford-“

“Just shut up already!” Leo banged the piano keys with his fist, the action itself made Hakyeon jump in surprise. “God, why the hell are you so annoying? I can’t believe I became friends with someone so loud and obnoxious. Don’t you ever shut up?” Leo was glaring at him by now, letting out his frustrations on N.

N was just looking at him: his eyes went from saucers out of shock to its normal size after hearing Leo. He looked down at his hand that was still on the piano and lowered it down to place it on his leg. “I didn’t think you thought of me that way.”

“Well, I do. You are so annoying sometimes. Always seeking for attention and getting clingy with everyone. It’s getting on everyone’s nerve. I can’t believe you never noticed how frustrated everyone feels when they are around you.”

N was still looking down at his lap, not once looking up to see the look of disgust in Leo’s face. N knew that what Leo just said was true. He was clingy and sometime he would seek attention a bit too much. But, that’s just the way that he was. There was nothing special about the way he acted, it was just a part of his life. Yet, he knew that some people felt that way about him.

They would smile at him, asking him for favors, but he would still help them out, knowing full well that they were just using him. But he thought different of the boys that he hanged around with. Hongbin and Ravi were the first to talk to him first during elementary school. Then he met Ken and Hyuk later on whom were always glad to joke around with him and play pranks with each other.

He thought that Leo was also like them, so that’s why he acted like he normally did with the others. Yet, here is was, listening to Leo tell him how much he didn’t like him.

He felt himself be in the brink of tears, so instead of listening to Leo’s discomfort, he stood up, apologized, bowed, and left the room. He ran as fast as he could to the dormitories located just two blocks away from the school. As soon as he reached his room, he locked his room and threw himself to his bedroom. He cried harder than he ever did before. He cried even harder than he did when his mother left him behind in Korea so she could remarry to a man back in Japan.

He cried as his own frustrations out all throughout the night in the middle of a solitary dorm.

~

The next day, when Leo made his way towards art class he was greeted by Ken and Ravi whom seemed out of it. He noticed that Hyuk wasn’t in class and he turned to ask Ken about it.

“Hyuk was voted a vice-president for the freshmen class. He’s going to start his duties today, so he’s with Hongbin and N,” Ken stated. “N must be really proud of him.”

“What do you mean?” Leo asked.

“N stayed up for two days straight to help Hyuk with all the promotional posters and his candidate speech,” Ravi pointed out. “The guy must be tired beyond his mind but he always finishes his homework and projects all the time.”

“Yeah, it must be tiring to work so hard just to be able to keep a scholarship,” Ken added.

“Scholarship?” Leo was confused. “N is in a scholarship?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you know?” Ken asked him. “N is one of the five kids in this school that are in a scholarship. He really is working hard to be able to get a full scholarship for his last year.”

“It must be tough to have to work and come to school at the same time,” Ravi nodded, looking at his phone before frowning. “Hongbin sent a message through the group chat,” he stated.

“Hm, what about it?” Ken asked. Leo grabbed his phone to look at the chat and he frowned at the message.

N-hyung isn’t coming to school for a couple of days - Bean

He has a family issue and is going to take off for two weeks - Bean

Does anyone know anything? – Hyuk

“What the hell?” Ken was reading the messages through Ravi’s phone and stands up. “Do you know anything?” He looked at Ravi who in return shook his head.

“He didn’t mention anything.”

“Damn it,” Ken pouted. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall, contemplating if he should just skip class and go see what N was up to.

“He would really hate it if you skip class, you know?” Ravi pointed out, knowing full well what the other was thinking.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ll just go after class,” Ken murmured. Leo just stayed quiet and looked down at his phone to notice that Ravi was sending messages through the chat group.

Does this have anything to do with his mom? – Ravi

He didn’t mention anything – Bean

I’m going to his room after the meeting to see if he is still there – Bean

I’m going too – Hyuk

N is going to kill you if you skip class - Bean

Ken, please make sure that Hyuk does arrive to class. - Bean

You know that N hates it when Hyuk skips class. – Bean

Roger that – Ken

If you do get in touch with him, tell him to answer his phone – Ravi

Okay – Bean

Taekwoon looked at the message and thought to himself if this was his fault. His parents always said that honesty was the best policy but that he would sometimes said some hurtful things. He was able to notice his own mistakes, but he still felt frustrated every time he thought about N’s attitude and the way that he carried himself.

He closed his phone and placed it inside of his bag, picking up his pencil and canvas, starting to draw the first project of the semester. He was a bit weird how Ken and Ravi looked concerned about N playing hooky. It wasn’t like he was the first student to skip class like this. Leo raised the volume of his music player and chose to ignore to continuous vibrating of his phone.

Ken whispered something to Ravi, the other only shaking his head before looking at the front door. Ken was pouting, his leg shaking as he was impatiently waiting for first period to finish. Leo just closed his eyes for a while before starting to draw his landscape. He still so much at it but he got better thanks to the help of Hongbin and N.

Now the teacher was able to tell if he was drawing a dog or a tree. He groaned and took off his earpiece, shoving his hand into his bag and taking his phone out.

Are you meeting N after your meeting? - Leo

Yeah. Do you need something from him? – Bean

No. Just, can you let me know as well if he is okay? – Leo

Sure. I’ll keep everyone posted on the group chat. – Bean

Thanks – Leo

Leo shut his phone and looked up to see that Hyuk was already on his desk and was passing notes to Ken. Hyuk had a stank face on but was still doing his work quietly, once in a while looking at his phone but soon after placing it back down. Leo didn’t even want to know who he was texting at the moment.

All he knew is that he needed to find out if it was his fault for N not coming to class.

~

School ended pretty fast for everyone that day. Leo felt that the day was faster today due to the silence that N used to fill in before. People were asking every single one of them as to where N was and when he would return, if he was sick or if he was just playing hooky.

Leo would just reply that he didn’t know, that N was someone that was quiet about his personal life. When he told the girls that excuse, they just laughed as if Leo was telling the funniest joke of his life.

“N is anything but reserved,” a girl named Hani told him. “He is the easiest book to read. Always so open-minded and nice to everyone.”

“True,” her friend Suzy stated. “N was the one that helped me out when I almost didn’t make it to the swim team. He even went out of his way to teach my how to swim the backstroke.”

“N would just like his privacy in this matter,” Leo lied. “I think he deserves this much.” The girls just stared at him for a while before agreeing with him and leaving him standing at the front entrance. Leo grimaced at the thought of knowing that all those girls were usually the ones that N would prefer to hang out with during lunch instead of them.

Leo made his way back home, music playing loudly from his earphones and fiddling with the phone on his hand. He was waiting for the update from Hongbin or at least from Ken. Yet no one was posting anything about the situation. Ravi was the last to post, asking if any had been able to get I contact with the other yet no one replied.

Leo stopped in the middle of the road, noticing that he was almost home, only two more blocks to go and he would arrive. Leo was afraid to know that he was the reason for N’s absence. He didn’t want to know that he was at fault for stating how he felt about the other.

“It’s not like I hate him,” Leo murmured to himself. He stopped again, this time completely annoyed that he was still thinking of the other. He scratched his head in frustration before looking up and checking his surroundings. It has almost been a year since his family moved to Seoul but he hadn’t been able to explore the town he lived in due to school and being the antisocial butterfly he was. He noticed a couple of stores and cafés were still open, people bustling around, shopping or finally getting out of work.

Leo took a glimpse around a notice a café that was being filled by students dressed in different uniforms. Leo decided to have a change of habit and made his way to the café. He stood behind a group of giggling girls that were wearing an expensive uniform.

“Hello, welcome to Starlight Café, may I take your order?” Asked a very familiar sultry voice, Leo almost got whiplashed with how fast he looked up from his phone. And he couldn’t believe his sight: right in front of him, smiling from ear to ear, was the very same person that everyone was worried about.

Leo took a picture of the other and posted it on the group chat.

I found him, guys – Leo

N didn’t even wait for a reply, instead he removed his earphone and placed it inside of his bag with his phone. He watched N as he waited for his turn: the fake smile was there again, this time a bit more obvious than before. He was attending each customer with so much care but the way that he was caring himself seemed almost uncaring. Leo was just two customers away from being able to order when Hakyeon made eye contact with him.

There was a subtle paused before he smiled at the girls in front of him and took their orders. Never once did his smile flatter when he spoke to the customer, always keeping things professional, even when two of the girls asked for his number. He rejected them with so much patience and politeness that the girls didn’t even get mad about being rejected.

When they moved to wait for their order, Leo moved to the counter and was met face to face with a very tired looking N.

“Hey,” Leo waved his hand at him before placing back awkwardly next to him. N looked at him for a while before he showed him a small smile.

“Hey,” N greeted as well. “Welcome to Starlight Café, may I take your order?”

“Coffee, black with three sugars,” Leo ordered.

“Okay. Anything else?” N input the order of the kiosk before looking at Leo again.

“That’s it. How much is it?”

“It’s okay, I got it,” N just said, handing his receipt. “Go ahead and sit down, I’ll bring it to you. N turned around and whispered to another worker before they both nodded. Leo sat down at a table next to one of the windows. He noticed that N was making all the coffee orders before placing them in trays and waiters taking them to the customer.

Leo waited for only a couple of minutes when a tray was placed in front of him. He looked up to see N standing there. N placed Leo’s coffee in front of him and also a piece of chocolate cake.

“I didn’t order this.”

“It’s on the house.” N smiled. Leo thanked him, noticing N’s strawberry frappe soon after. Leo took a bit of the cake and nodded, surprised at how good it tasted. N smiled at the reaction before clearing his throat. “So, what exactly brings you here?”

Leo looked up and noticed that N was still smiling but he seemed annoyed at the idea that Leo was there.

“I actually just came for coffee, you being here is a total surprise.” N nodded and took a sip of his own drink. Leo took another bit of cake before clearing his throat to get N’s attention again. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something, you don’t need to answer if you don’t want to, but I’m actually really curious.”

“Okay,” N warily answered.

“Why aren’t you skipping school? And why are you working here instead of being in class?” Leo asked. N looked at him for a split seconds before he nodded.

“I don’t wish to answer any of those questions,” N replied. “But the reason I’m skipping school is because I’m working and the reason I’m working is the same reason people that work do it, for money.”

“Why would a seventeen year old skip school just to work?” Leo asked him. “Can’t you do both at the same time? It’s not like you have to work to maintain yourself, you can always ask your parents to help you out.”

This time, Leo was faced with a completely dead look from the other. N was literally grabbing his drink so hard that the whip cream was slowly escaping from the open cover. N was looking at him like he has lost his mind before closing his eyes and holding his forehead with his left hand.

“You know,” N sighed, the migraine that he has from two days ago finally trying to kill him, “I really don’t have time for this. And I really don’t have to explain anything at all. I’m going back to work. Take your time to eat, when you’re done, please leave.” N stood up, grabbing his drink and picking up the tray. “Also,” N looked down at him, “tell the others that I’m fine and that the reason I haven’t been answering my phone is because it’s disconnected.”

N left Leo sitting there, multiple questions still in the tip of his tongue. N noticed that some of N’s coworkers were patting his back when he returned behind the counter. N just shook his head, whispered a couple of words and they just gave him a look of concern.

Leo only stayed they there until he finished the cake, he picked up his cup of coffee and got out of the café soon after. N noticed when the other left but decided to keep taking orders and ignore the thought that if Leo tells the group where he was, he was never going to hear the end of it. N looked up when a customer tapped the counter twice causing the other to immediately smile at them.

“Welcome to Starlight Café, may I take your order?”

~

Two days have past and N had not gone back to school yet. N was still working fifteen hour shifts and making sure he wasn’t behind on school work at the end of the night. It was eleven at night now and instead of sleeping he was making sure that three of his essay were done and turned in.

His teachers were nice enough to respond to his emails at such hours, even telling him that he can turn in his projects when he returns back to school. Some, like Professor Kim, even asking him if he was okay and if he was eating properly.

N responded to all the emails and took four hours to be able to finish the projects that were due the next day on time. It struck two in the morning when he was finally done. He stretched out on his desk chair before looking at the time again. He only had four hours of sleep if he wanted to make it on time to work tomorrow.

He closed his laptop and books and placed them neatly on one side of his desk. He hadn’t even that day, only eating a chocolate bar that was given to him by one of his coworkers. He turned to grab his toiletries bag and his towel and made his way to the shower. He also grabbed his phone to be able to listen to some music as he took care of his needs.

He showered as fast as he could, hoping that he scrub well enough to smell clean the next day. Dressing up quickly, he started brushing his teeth when his phone vibrated. He looked down to see that it was the group chat that had stopped his music momentarily, thanks to the free Wi-Fi of the dorms, he could at least be able to use the i