Waking up inside an open closet, just beside a pool of your own vomit, is not much of a good way to start a new day.

Add a set of make-up stricken face that made you look like a villain in the DC universe that just went diving into the sea, and that pouncing headache from too much alcohol.  Ren already loved this day, to the point that he just wants to rest for forever. However, as much as he wants to agree with his lazy bones, he values hygiene more, so up he went and did his morning rituals.

“To hell with this.”

There come the first words he blurted out after realizing that his supposedly ‘normal friends’, actually took time to design their own ombre on his hair by sticking several rainbow colored gums on its tips. He felt sorry for his pocket after spending quite an amount just to fix his hair after changing to too many colors through the years, just for it to be murdered by a bunch of lunatics.

Which sadly are also the people he’s willing to spend time and get crazy with.

As he cut parts of his hair which could not be saved, internally screaming and cursing at them, he realized that his roommate hasn’t arrived home yet, or perhaps had went to school too early, since the bed was fixed as if no one used it at all. For today, he’s got the day off from his part-time work in a café and his class doesn’t start until three in the afternoon so he decided to do nothing but sleep again after solving his dilemma.

Another good way to start his morning - the heater won’t turn on. Another good news after a bunch of nice ones. And it hasn’t even been an hour since he woke up feeling like his skull’s about to split open.

“ this. Cold shower it is then.”

And he thought it wouldn’t go from bad to worse, but worst is just around the corner.

 

--

 

First, it was simply the heater.

Then the television.

His less than a year-old laptop.

And even his (ing) phone.

“What the hell is wrong today?”

Being a man of technology, making him look and sound like a geek in front of his closest friends, Ren felt the opposite of wonderful after realizing that no gadget is working, and he knows how to fix such things but even after prying on his own phone open to check on the circuitry, he just can’t pinpoint what was wrong to no avail. Who would expect that such ‘energy deficiencies’ and ‘malfunctions’ will happen on the day after wasting his self hours before the breakdown of things happened.

And he thought taking a shower would have already refreshed his sleepy soul, but he’s starting to feel more irritated than ever. Deciding it wouldn’t do anything good to just sit around waiting for a miracle to arrive he took his gadgets and used his courage to approach the guys next door who are under the college of electrical engineering. For today, and just for today, he’ll not think of such concepts as boundaries or pride.

Just a few minutes of embarrassment in exchange of blissful days back to his technology zone.

But it felt more wrong than usual.

No, it wasn’t because the longest words he had exchanged with those guys were simple greeting of good mornings and good nights. Nor was it the silence filling the corridors despite of the bright day visible from the clear windows.

It simply felt unusual, as if all his senses were telling him to just stay silent wherever he is standing and not even move a single muscle. It made him too uncomfortable that he stood still, watching for someone, or something, to approach him and make him realize that he was just being more paranoid than usual. Perhaps, it is still the after-effect of drinking too much last night followed by being passed out cold.

Perhaps it’s his senses that are working well and trying to guide him to avoid doing anything foolish and would lead to ‘accidental’ injuries, which of course he hopes to never occur to him.

Being the impatient person that he is due to the presence of his close friends who tend to treat him like a child at times, he ignored the feeling of warnings and proceeded to knock the door beside theirs, crossing his fingers for the owners of the room to approach him with a bright smile, minus the smell of cigarettes that he had always noticed when he reads his favorite novels in their unit’s balcony.

Another knock.

Nothing but silence was the answer behind the door, and thinking that they might have schedule of classes in the morning and he’s actually calling out to an empty room, he decided to return to his own room, took his bag and with determination, and would go to school just to resolve this situation.

It’s better than staying there for longer.

 

--

 

Having all this sense of quiet makes him want to go mad and just break something, anything to slice this silence that is starting to get on his nerves. After all, he tends to be the life of the party most of the time due to his playful character.

No one is even being awfully talking while walking on the streets, or giving out fliers with information he doesn’t care about even for one bit. It’s only a short walk from the dorms to the school’s main building, but it is far from usual to not see a single soul wandering around such a busy part of the city. Rather than it seems to be abandoned, it feels like everyone just disappeared.

“If I’m actually still dreaming, I won’t get too shocked. But I’m quite sure I’m too awake to even be daydreaming. So where the hell is everyone?”

Going towards her goal, he did not even looked back, trying to think of the time he would lose in vain or action he would do out of foolishness by letting his sense of fear and paranoia take over. Shouting would be nonsense as well now, since he doesn’t have any idea what has really happened when he was far in dreamland. One thing that makes him keep on still hanging on a string of sanity is the fact that there are no traces of blood splattered or guts scattered on the pavement yet.

That’s one good sign enough to walk, but still with caution. After all, absence doesn’t definitely mean not existing at all.

And all of a sudden, without a warning, it rained, like a wave suddenly hitting the shore.

Running in fear of his bag with the gadgets being soaked in rainwater, he dashed like a madman and reached the nearest bench which is the bus stop. Yet no one was still around, even the typical animals you could see wandering around the city sidewalks.

And he felt more frustrated than ever.

In this kind of moments, he wishes that his best friends are around. JR is that gamer friend who would not care for his surroundings including you and most likely would not notice the world ending, an unusual character that he is fond of, and seems to be aloof or weird in front of most people during their first encounter, but he’s a presence that calms them down, and his logical way of thinking, being a medical student as well, is such a helpful guide in this situation. Aron might be too talkative and playful (which is surely the reason why she woke up in that state) but that positive spirit of him pushes them to go even if the day was too tiring or the hateful comments were too harsh.

Now remembering that they were nowhere to be found without any way of contacting them makes him feel worse.

Then there came the shadow.

 

--

 

“Are you ing kidding me?”

Just across the road is a tall man, taller than usual model-like guys he sees at school, wearing black from head to toe, formal tuxedo and dress shoes that looks so much used. His face can’t be seen due to the black umbrella obscuring his view. The sound of his steps echoes on the walls of silent houses but it wasn’t the snapping that took most of hia attention, but the way he walked, like a puppet on a tightrope show, joints creaking as it does so. He is curious but his sense of fear is taking over his mind at the moment, and he’s never been that thankful of being late for many times that it turned out as running sessions he had done just to avoid getting any red mark on his record.

Without thinking twice, he ran away as fast as he could, not looking back at least once and not asking help from anyone; might as well avoid calling more of persons like that guy. If it was really a human.

However, he can’t avoid almost slipping, fear starting to make him more alert but nervous.

“What the … what the is happening…for the love of the human race, I need to get out of here alive…”

 

--

 

“What? Say that again?”

“You’re here to have fun right? Why else would you get stuck in a party like this? I’m sure your friends are having fun somewhere here, so can’t you just stop being hard to get?”

“I’ll ing kill you…. so you, in that bright red, hideous dress shirt of yours, is actually trying to pick me up here? Wow. Can’t you please move out of my sight before you kiss my hand?”

With his warning, Ren showed his fist, clenching both hands in the process of throwing a punch, awfully irritated that after wearing an oversized black hoodie and baggy pants, someone still tried to flirt with him. He’s not sure if the other party is just a fearless playboy or a total idiot.

“Oooh, feisty, just my type.”

And before he knew it, the stranger had wrapped an arm around his shoulder and even tried kissing him without any warning, which just lead to him head-slamming and punching him in the guts, making the man fall on his knees, clutching his abdomen in agony..

“Guys like you dirties the image of even the good guys like my brother. Don’t you dare show yourself to me again!”

And with that he punched the lights out of him, but before Ren could crush his hands by stepping on it using the leather boots he received from his brother who’s currently working abroad, two pairs of arms pulled him away from the scene.

That’s when he felt all eyes on him, looking shocked and scared, but he doesn’t really care. Letting instinct give an answer to a problem is really not the best option, but he has done it again. He did not wish to look pretty, and he’s trying to be as masculine as much as possible due to the bullying he experienced when he was much younger. Since the world’s definition of normal is you trying to fit in, and not it trying to accept and understand you despite of the differences..

“Choi Ren! Calm down! Do you want your brother to know that you’re in a fight again?!”

“He started it!”

“You two, let’s just get out of here first before we discuss anything, or we won’t be able to actually talk properly.”

“Tsk. Fine, just stop hanging on to me you two, I was just teaching him a lesson anyways.”

“I know, but you grew up with a father who’s a boxer and brother who’s member of a rugby team, I doubt that guy could handle your lesson.”

“I hate and admire it at the same time when you’re being smart with us JR. You really grew up with a doctor and a lawyer.”

“Wait, I grew up with a gourmet and pastry chef, why can’t I cook well?”

“Aron, stop looking like you’re about to cry or they’ll think that I also punched you.”

“Aron, you know how according to Mandelian’s theory on genetics that there is a set of-”

“Stop it JR, I’m not in the mood to talk anymore, that guy’s gang are looking at us you know.”

“…what?”

“On my count, 3, 2, 1, run!”

 

--

 

“What happened to you guys?”

Without looking back, he kept on moving forward, not minding the wetness of the road and his limbs shaking from fear.