Six months later…

Minghao rolled over and squinted in the sunlight. The afternoon sun streaming in the living room window was blinding and he’d had a rough night last night. He ran his fingers over his aching face and dreaded looking in the mirror.

Rejection after rejection had taken their toll on Minghao over the last six months and he was reduced to sleeping on Chenle’s couch. It was no good for his body, especially his back, and he tried to stretch and warm his aching bones up when he stood.

His face hurt really badly and when he went to the mirror he cursed the black eye and dark bruise on his jawline. Yanan’s gang had really gone to town on his face even though he begged them not to. He had an audition the day after, it was a long shot, but it was kind of his last hope.

He knew he never should have started selling. But he needed the money and a regular job wasn’t going to leave him any time for auditions and practicing. It wasn’t long before he was skimming a little off the top. Just a few pills here and there, something to take the edge off, something to help him get through his life.

Every day was another pit of misery and rejection. He had been so jubilant when Renjun left. He had been accepted to SM just as he dreamed and Minghao was happy for his friend. It was proof that dreams could come true. If Renjun could make it, with his heavily accented Korean and his jacked teeth, then anyone could. But the drugs had become more and more important, a bigger part of his life every day, and soon he was skipping auditions to get wasted and missing appointments because he was hungover or still drunk.

As he stared at himself in the mirror he wondered when his life had taken such a wrong turn. He came here to make his dreams come true and now he was just a step above a common junkie. He should have gone home but would he have been better off? Minghao wasn’t sure.

“What happened to you?” Chenle asked from the doorway. They had become close, closer after Renjun had left, and the younger boy wasn’t reticent about expressing his views on Minghao’s increasingly downward spiral. “They got you didn’t they?” Chenle just shook his head. “I told you. You can’t outsmart Yanan. He’s got guys everywhere. Next time they’ll break your legs and then what are you going to do?”

Minghao sighed. Chenle was right. He looked at his watch and was thankful it was still on his wrist. It had been a gift for his fifteenth birthday from his grandparents and Yanan’s guys hadn’t taken it from him.

He went back to the couch and lay down. “I’ve got study group and then vocal lessons. Then I’m going to hang out at the park. You coming tonight?” Chenle asked as he walked across the room. He had changed out of his school uniform into one of his m