Jongdae would never get up at six in the morning. NEVER. It was already a struggle for him to get his lazy out of bed at the reasonable time of 8:30, so he had made a pact to never leave the safety of his mattress before 8:00.

 Well, unless if there were free bagels involved. For bagels, Jongdae would have gladly made an exception.

 As he stomped through the apartment hallway, struggling to force his eyes open, the weary looking boy cursed Baekhyun.

 Screw you Baekhyun, he thought angrily. It was without a doubt that the reason that Jongdae had woken up today before the sun was even up, face down in a puddle of ice water was because his lovely roommate had orchestrated an elaborate wakeup call, consisting of several speakers blaring tuba noises, a row of LED flashlights, a bucket of water, and makeshift pot-lid cymbals that left the poor boy thrashing around in his room, smothering his ears with a pillow.

 “But Baek!” he protested. “You’re already up! The cafe is just a short trip downstairs! Can’t you go get the bagels yourself?”

 Baekhyun shook his head and crashed the pot-lids together again, causing Jongdae to flinch. “ARE YOU CRAZY?! I WOKE UP THIS EARLY JUST FOR YOU, AND THIS IS WHAT I GET BACK IN RETURN?!”

 “What?”

 “GET ME THE GOODS JONGDAE, OR I WILL HAVE TO RESORT TO EXTREME MEASURES!” His roommate wagged a menacing finger in front of his face, and Jongdae ignored him, rolling over in his bed and burying himself under his duvet.

 “You’re a total , you know that?” Jongdae groaned as Baekhyun yanked the bedding from under him with a loud, exaggerated shriek. Baekhyun ignored him and manhandled him onto the floor in a matter of seconds.

 Jongdae hit the ground with a loud thud, and groaned audibly, rubbing the back of his head and feeling for a welt that was beginning to rise up.

 “There,” Baekhyun said, pleased, “now that you’re up, you can go get the bagels. The cafe is opening in three minutes anyways.”

 So, that was how Kim Jongdae found himself being shoved out the door, coat and shoes still in hand by the ever-so deranged Byun Baekhyun. All in the name of bagels. He dragged his feet down the stairs, and towards the sparsely decorated lobby, praying that he wouldn’t trip.

 Through the windows, the sun shined halfway above the horizon, painting the sky in strips of pink, orange and blue. He tugged at his scarf one more time while inspecting the weather. It was mid-September, halfway where summer melts into fall and in Jongdae’s opinion, the epitome of gross weather. It was cold enough that you had to wear a jacket and scarf, but hot enough that you would feel stuffy if you had it on for more than thirty minutes at a time. Not to mention the dead leaves; giant eyesores with shades of rotting brown, and the dry wind that blew them everywhere.

 As he pulled open the lobby doors and stepped out onto the sidewalk, Jongdae felt a blast of cool air hit his face. The leaves crunched under his shoes as he trudged down the path leading to the cafe.

 Outside, it was eerily quiet. The apartment and cafe were located on the street right beside one of the busiest roads; the one that lead to city centre, and rush hour was nearly enough to make one’s ears ring for the next few hours, especially on weekdays.

 Wait, he thought, and he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. What day is it? He thought for a bit, probably looking like a weirdo or an idiot as he counted on his fingers. Baekhyun had forgotten to give him his phone as he was kicked out. Oh. Dammit. It’s Tuesday. Kill me.

 Well…….whatever. He could always worry about university later. For now, he was a man on a mission. As he reached the end of the winding sidewalk, he looked up.

 The sign outside of the cafe was painted a creamy white, with large wood block letters that proudly read EXODUS est. 2012. The well-worn blackboard sign was propped up by the door, declaring today’s special to be something very artisan and definitely expensive.

 The bell jingled when Jongdae forced the door open, and the barista stared blankly at him while he walked towards the ordering station.

 “Good morning, Jongdae.” She arched a perfect dark eyebrow and stared him up and down.

 “Morning, Irene.”

 “How can I help you today?” Her eyes were glazed over while she repeated the prescribed response.

 “I’ve come to collect my portion of the deal.” Jongdae tried his best to stand up straight and look assertive, but his stomach came protruding out instead. Irene rolled her eyes.

 “I really don’t understand why you want me to pick Yeri up and walk her home. I mean, she’s seventeen and perfectly capable of walking across the street by herself.”

 “I’m not a fool, Kim Jongdae. You and I can both see that she doesn’t use the crosswalk. You’re supposed to make sure I don’t end up scraping her brain off the side of a Toyota Prius.” Irene shook her head in annoyance. “You take the same bus to school anyways. I just need someone to look out for my baby sister.”

 “But-”

 “BUT WHAT?”

 “But-”

 “Look. I’ll give you and Baekhyun free bagels for a month if you do it.”

 “Is this a life-binding contract?”

 “Two months. And I’ll even throw in free butter.”

 “You know just how to get to me, don’t you.” Jongdae offered a sweet smile, and Irene turned away, feigning disgust.

 “I thought you forgot about that.” she muttered as she opened up a wax paper bag. Jongdae couldn’t help but drool a bit when Irene opened the bakery case and slid her hand in, pulling out two fresh, golden, fat looking bagels.

 The display case was at least two meters wide, and packed with a rainbow of freshly baked sweets, pastries and breads. The pies glistened with glaze from under the thick glass, and a blueberry tartlet winked shades of indigo and violet, glittering with rock sugar on top. The delicate macarons, more aesthetically pleasing than anything else practically begged to be eaten and Jongdae wanted to run off with the sandwiches, so he would never have to eat cheap, bland university food again.

 Irene popped two pats of butter into the paper bag and slid it across the till. “Enjoy,” she said in a dull voice, and went back to mopping the floors.

 Jongdae left with a nod of acknowledgement, and clutched the bagels to this chest, enjoying the warmth while he strode the half-block back to the apartments.

 Ever since he and Baekhyun were college freshmen, they had been coming to the same cafe, and it had grown to become a necessity in his daily schedule.

 Wake up, get breakfast at Exodus, take the bus to uni, take the bus back, supposedly pick up Yeri now, go to his job, pretend to study, and go to bed. Repeat. Repeat. And so on. It had basically been that way for two years, and if he was lucky, only two more. He couldn’t really imagine his life being any other way, no matter how boring university was, how bad a roommate Baekhyun seemed to be, and how many bagels he could weasel out of overprotective sisters.

 He took the elevator up this time; since he couldn’t be bothered to use the stairs, and retreated down the hall to his room.

 “Baek? It’s me.” Jongdae suspected that his roommate was either playing video games, fast asleep, or had gone to visit his boyfriend.

 “Baekhyun? Hello? Is anyone in there?” Jongdae pounded at the door, and patted down his pockets. Another thing that Baekhyun had forgotten to give him. KEYS. He groaned loudly, exasperated and tired.

 “I swear to god, if it’s you playing these tricks again-”

 The door swung open to reveal Baekhyun, hair sticking up in all directions, holding a video game controller. “You made me lose my last match,” he grumbled.

 Jongdae shoved past him and set the bagels down on the kitchen counter, reaching in to grab one out of the bag.

 “Mmfh,” he said, mouth full. “These are sooo good!”

 Baekhyun snatched the other bagel, opening his mouth wide, and ingested half of it in a single bite, nodding in approval. “They taste even better with butter,” Jongdae remarked.

 Within minutes, the boys had decided they had their fill of breakfast; and each went their separate ways; Jongdae to take a catnap, and Baekhyun to play some obscure mainstream game.

 Once in his room, Jongdae quickly changed back into his pajamas, and flopped down back into his bed. If he rushed, he figured he could squeeze in an hour and a half of sleep, provided he didn’t have a second breakfast or shower. It’s not like anyone will really notice if I don’t shower, was the last thing he thought before he drifted off to sleep.

🥖🥖🥖

 The alarm clock blared noisily when Jongdae reached over to shut it off, but it was infinitely better than Baekhyun’s “alarm”. The display read 8:00, and much to his dismay, Jongdae didn’t have any time to waste. He bounded out of bed, and brushed his teeth quickly, before splashing some water on his face and examining his reflection in the mirror. His charcoal colored hair stuck out in every direction like it had been fried, and Jongdae tried to smush it down to make it look presentable. After, he hopped into the living room to gather his backpack, packed to the brim with assignments. Of course, none of them were actually done, but rather procrastinated on. Jongdae yanked his phone and keys off the counter and swung a backpack strap lazily across his shoulder.

  8:10. Baekhyun had already left in his car, like he usually did. A while back, he had offered to give Jongdae a ride to the campus, but the latter refused.

 “Wait,” he asked skeptically. “You enjoy riding the bus?”

 “Yeah, sure. Also, I don’t want to be a burden.”

 “We go to the same university. Is this about your sleeping habits? You know, if you didn’t have the need to be a lazy-”

 “No, no. It’s fine. The bus is fine.” Jongdae interjected. And also I don’t want to spend anymore time with you than I have to because as much as I love you, you are the most draining person to be around.

 Jongdae sped walked down the stairs as fast as he could, throwing open the door and sprinting outside to the bus stop.

 8:15. Once he was outside, he started panting, more than he would have liked to admit. God, I’m really out of shape. I need to go to the gym more or something. The city bus pulled up to the curb seconds later, and Jongdae got on.

 “KIM JONGDAE!” The voice boomed from the back of the bus. “COME HERE!”

 “Hi. Sorry I almost missed the bus today…...oh, and thanks for saving me a seat…!” he quickly added. Jongdae adjusted his backpack as he sat down in the stiff plastic seat, and turned towards the one and only Chanyeol.

 Park Chanyeol was Baekhyun’s beloved boyfriend, and by default, Jongdae’s bus buddy, since he was too large to fit his lanky frame into Baekhyun’s tiny car. He was a tall, fair, modelesque man, with a rounded face and a toned body. Although he had won the genetics lottery, Jongdae seemed to think that his best friend’s boyfriend was little daft, and somewhat airheaded. Because you know….. if he wasn’t, why on earth would he be dating Baekhyun?

 “Baekhyun wanted me to tell you that he won’t be home tonight. He's staying over at my place. We’re going to have some one on one fun.” Chanyeol smirked.

 “Sounds...great. Did you do the assignment last week? I need to copy the notes off of someone, so the professor doesn’t yell at me.”

 “We don’t even have the same assignments though-”

 “Just hush!” Jongdae glared at him angrily. “Basically the same thing, then.”

 Chanyeol shook his head like a disapproving mother as he passed a stack of looseleafs to Jongdae. “You really need to start doing your work. If you keep on copying off of me, you’re going to fail uni. I think I bombed my last three assignments.”

 Jongdae didn’t look up from his rapid transcribing. “No problem. I’ll just borrow Junmyeon’s old work.” Chanyeol cleared his throat and struggled not to smile.

 “Maybe if you actually focused-”

 “Well, it’s hard to focus, isn't it, with all the loud- coming from Baekhyun’s bedroom at 10 pm on a weekday!”

 The bus rattled past the next few stops, and Chanyeol’s cheeks flushed pink. “Here’s your homework back.” Jongdae grumbled.

 The two climbed off the bus and onto campus, already crowded with masses of students.

 It took them a little while longer to get to class, since Jongdae kept on insisting that he needed a washroom break and somehow, another thirsty freshman had approached Chanyeol for the second time that week.

 “Excuse me, sir.” The girl shamelessly strut over to corner the panicked giant. “I was hoping you could do me a favor,” she said suggestively, while twirling a long strand of hair. Jongdae looked on with a disgusted expression in front of the washroom.

 “Soooo…..” she said, moving in closer. “Could I get your number?” Chanyeol sputtered incoherently and locked eyes with a very revolted looking Jongdae. The girl pushed her face even closer to meet with Chanyeol’s chest(her head only came up to there), forcing him to take an awkward shuffle back. In the distance, Jongdae shook his head with disapproval.

 Chanyeol cleared his throat and straightened his back. “Are you blushing, oppa?” the girl cooed, which earned a cringe from Jongdae.

 “We’re not in Korea. You don’t need to call me that,” he squeaked out.

 The girl ignored him. “I’m Vivi. What’s your name, oppa?” She batted her eyelashes and gazed up at him. Jongdae thought he was going to be sick. “Chanyeol.”

 “Since you won’t give me your number, do you think, do you think you maybe want mine? I’m free on Thursdays and Fridays. Call me?” She moved even closer and placed a manicured hand on Chanyeol's chest.

 “I’m not taking that. I have a boyfriend.” Vivi’s eyes grew wide as she quickly stammered out an apology. “I’m sorry, really, I am-I didn’t know, I’m really sorry…I’ll be going now, I hope you have a nice day-I’m really so sorry.” She scampered off into the distance, hiding her face in her pink hair.

 “What is wrong with that ?” Jongdae wailed, walking towards Chanyeol, “She nearly assaulted you!” “Calm down Jongdae. It wasn’t even that serious. I can handle it by myself.” Chanyeol said, shaking off his friend’s concern. “Besides, at least she apologized.”

 “But it’s not fair!” Jongdae complained. “How come you get so many offers? I haven’t gone on a date in almost three years!" “It’s tough being friends with a model,” he griped, and Chanyeol tried his best to brush off the compliment and reassure Jongdae.

 “I’m sure it’s not anything to do with you.”

 “Yeah, right.” Chanyeol gave one last hasty wave to Jongdae, before they split and walked opposite directions to their classes. After heading down to the Botany Department, Jongdae walked into the classroom half-heartedly, and took his place at one of the too-small, too-old, too-weak desks.

 The professor was already deep into a lecture about plant phylogenetics. He glanced at the clock on the wall, which was taking ages to tick, and sighed.

 It’s going to be a long class.

📚📚📚

 After what felt like years of sitting in the god-awful classroom, the professor dismissed everyone. Jongdae was nearly ecstatic as he ran out of the department and flew towards the bus stop. He couldn’t wait to get home, especially when he had the whole apartment to himself for the evening. He could do anything he wanted, which definitely included NOT listening to Baekhyun’s voice blare into his ear while he tried to get his beauty rest.

 This time, he took the bus home without Chanyeol(Baekhyun had picked him up and they were probably at Chanyeol’s place fiercely making out). After the bus pulled up to the stop, Jongdae crossed the street and stood there for what felt like ages, checking his watch.

 At last, the school bus pulled up from across the street. The doors closed and opened, revealing a young girl with light brown hair and twin tails. She couldn’t have been more than seventeen years old, although her doe eyes and soft features made her look much younger.

 “Jongdae!” Yeri nearly tripped on the bus stop curb as she rushed over to greet him. Her shoulder bag bounced on her hip, the many novelty pins clacking together as Yeri jaywalked towards him. “Don’t mind the hair.” She gestured to a matted clump of grey-brown in her left pigtail. “Can you believe they still make us take art class in high school?”

 “No.”

 “Me neither! We’re making clay pots now. What did you do at the university?”

 “I don’t know. I didn’t pay attention. Something to do with plant evolutionary relations. I think…”

 “Pfft!” Yeri cut him off, waving a hand dismissively. “BORING!”

 The two of them walked past the apartment sign, a faded, orange plaque stuck into the ground that proudly read Golden Groves apartments. It was all a scam. There was no gold; there wasn’t even a garden in the whole building. Jongdae’s green thumb was itching to plant anything, just something, but the landlord was allergic to flowers, and he couldn’t get around that.

 “Well, guess what Joy told me today,” Yeri mentioned, once they were both inside the elevator. Joy was Yeri and Irene’s roomate, a struggling young poet. Jongdae pretended to be interested as Yeri babbled on, her youthful energy never faltering.

 “You know the old couple downstairs…?”

 “How could I forget those two-” He caught himself on the last word. Yeri was just a kid, after all.

 “Joy says that the old man is moving out. I passed by his apartment today to get a closer look and I think it’s true. His stuff is all packed up into boxes.”

 The old woman and man were notorious in Golden Groves, and Jongdae hated them both equally. The woman, Ms. Yeh, really was a bitter person, with a sour, turned down mouth and box dyed black hair. Seulgi liked to joke that she looked like a miserly, Asian version of Mrs. Doubtfire. The sleazy old man, Mr. Lee, who lived next door wasn’t any better either. When he walked(usually to shout at the other poor residents), he shuffled forwards jerkily and bent almost double over, so you could get a less than pleasant view of the rolls of his sagging potbelly. Both of them had been living at the apartments before Jongdae, and unfortunately they occupied the only two other rooms on his floor.

Wendy and Junmyeon, the landlord, had been at the apartments longer than anyone and boy, they had a lot of stories to tell about the mad duo downstairs.

 “What do you think they are?” Yeri asked excitedly once. “Are they suffering through a lover’s quarrel? Are they siblings? Are they old rivals?”

 “They’re petty demons, that’s what,” Wendy chimed in.

 “Damn right. Once, she refused to pay rent for a month because she found a dead moth in the corner of her closet and it was my ReSpOnSiBiLiTy as a landlord to keep HER apartment in immaculate condition.” Junmyeon huffed and Wendy scowled passionately as she told the next story.

 “I saw the man call the cops on a trick-or-treater once. It turned chaotic after the police arrived to arrest a little kid in a pirate costume.

 “Really? I can’t wait. Who’s moving in?”

 Yeri shook her head. “I asked Junmyeon, and he said that someone will be buying the suite on the third floor. I really want to see who it is though! What if it’s a new friend?!” She squealed with childish naivety and the elevator pinged, coming to a stop.

 “I’ll see you tomorrow Yeri,” Jongdae said, before he left for his own apartment.

 “Goodnight!”

 Once he was back home, Jongdae set his bags down, without being bothered to actually take out the lab report and finish it for once. He rummaged through the fridge, and settled on eating a light dinner; a sandwich with a glass of juice since he was sleepy anyways, and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed. After, he took a quick shower and changed back into his pajamas.

 I’m so tired. The boy fell onto his mattress, letting himself be enveloped by the softness of his comforter.

 Great. I’ll have to repeat this garbage again tomorrow.

 Jongdae closed his eyes and laid down his head.

 I didn’t do my assignments, Baekhyun is out having a better time than me, Chanyeol gets more dates in a week than I do in five years. He tried to shake the thoughts from his mind, but he was exhausted.

 I’ll need to copy Junmyeon’s old homework. I’ll need to pick up Yeri every day now. I’ll need to wake up early to grab the bagels again.

 But for now though, he could just sleep.

🛏🛏🛏