Hongbin woke up with a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyes harshly that a few eyelashes fell onto his cheeks. His light brown hair was tousled. His eyes were puffy from the amount of sleep he had lost. He rarely could sleep, which explained the dark shadows under his eyes. His dark brown irises darted towards the wall clock. 9.00 am. Sigh. He stretched his body, walking towards the window of his studio apartment. The road was still busy even at this hour. The morning sun was bright that he had squinted his eyes to look around. His phone rang, disrupting Hongbin’s morning thoughts.

            He picked up his phone, rolling his eyes after he saw the caller’s name. “Uh…here we go again.”

            Once the phone touched his ear, a female’s voice blared through the phone’s speaker. He distanced it from his ears a bit, regretting the fact that he had not done it earlier despite knowing what would happen. “Where are you?? You’re late again??”

            He massaged his temple, as if he’s trying to relieve himself from the non-existent headache. “Yeah, I’ve got a problem just now. Will be there in another 20 minutes.”

            “Oh, yeah? So you’ve been having problems for quite a while, I see? You’ve been late for more than 15 days this month, Lee Hongbin. What problems are you talking about? Mind telling me about it?”

            He wanted to tell her, but decided not to. He knew that she would not accept such reason which she would think of as stupid and nonsense and “should not be a reason”. “Nothing. It’s personal. I prefer not to tell anyone." He looked through the window. The road has started to clear up a bit. Maybe he would reach his office faster now.

            The female on the phone let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what’s your problem but I want you to get it solved. Please come to the office now. There’s a new case.”

            “Okay. 15 minutes.” He hung up, walking lazily towards the bathroom. His body felt so tired, as if he didn’t get any sleep last night. Maybe he needed to buy a new mattress. Or maybe he should stop sleeping at his desk. He didn’t mean to, but he often fell asleep while doing his work due to sleep deprivation. He rarely slept that he always pulled an all-nighter. He had troubles sleeping for years. Sometimes, even the pills prescribed by the doctors didn’t work that he decided to throw them all away. ‘Ah, when will this stop?’

            He stepped into the office slowly. People were rushing all around him that it almost seemed as if he’s moving slow-motion in a fast-paced world. Some pe