*just read in context, I'm sure you can figure out what are thoughts, enunciations and such without me typing it out.*

                It was exactly 9AM when someone approached me. It was dark; the air seemed murky and humid. This guy’s face was shaded by the shadows, and the moonlight shone only on his shoes and legs. It wasn’t him. He was probably with his girlfriend today, I thought bitter sweetly- they must be having a good time. Well of course, why would he spend time with a e when he could spend time with his beloved goddess girlfriend- who wasn’t tainted by strangers’ seminal fluids, a little voice in my head told me as it laughed bitterly. He was shook out of self hating thoughts by this man’s rough voice. “You seem a little dumb, huh? But it’s okay, I’ve always preferred ‘em a little dumb,” you could hear the smirk in his voice, ‘Wow how sweet,’ I thought sarcastically. “Okay, let’s go- my wife might get suspicious if I stay out too late, sweetie,” the man added, I already hated him- how he already has love but is throwing it away for with someone whose probably half his age and how he crooned out sweetie degradingly, which made me want to punch his face in, but he’s a customer, and the customer is always right.

                Before I knew it approximately an hour had passed, and that man had left. Whenever I had with someone on the job,I always zoned out- it seemed like it was a persona I had to keep me from going crazy from this job. Whenever I hooked, I would go into this trance; after the job ended I would snap out of it- it was a defense mechanism, so to speak. I was glad for it because I don’t want to remember any of the dirty deeds I had done. When I moved, I had a feeling of soreness near my nether regions, and I felt disgusted. I looked at the little table near my bed, there was a ripped up package, four 50,000 won notes, two 10,000 won notes, and a little paper with ‘You were good’ written messily on it along with a smiley face. I clenched my jaw and ripped up the note. I ing hated that guy but at least with the money from today’s job, I met this month’s rent. I pulled out my bag from underneath the bed and from the right side pocket I pulled out an envelope.  I put the money in the envelope, put the envelope back into the bag, and pushed the bag underneath the bed. I look at the clock, 10:15PM. I’m done with my homework and Hyosung noona wouldn’t want to see me like this, should I try to get started on next month’s rent? Maybe I should. I go to the bathroom, take a quick shower to clean up, put on my attire and head to the alley again.

               This time I see someone familiar- “CK!” a slim brunette turns around and gives me a big smile, complete with crescent shaped eyes. “You!” he replies. CK is another… worker in the same field as I. I met him a couple of times when I worked and we chatted a few times but we were usually too busy working to talk much. “You know, you should really tell me your name,” he says, “You should tell me your real name then,” I say back teasingly. “Awwww,” he pouts, “That’s unfair- at least give me a nickname,” “Ummm….,” I try to think of one but I come up with nothing. “Okay, I call you Um then,” He says and flashes me a smile, I laugh. “Are you done?” I ask, “Yeah,” he asks, “Then why are you still here?” He laughs but it has a bitter and sad undertone, “Oh, I’m waiting for someone,” he laughs again, and for a second I think his eyes are wet but he smiles a fake smile and I can barely see his eyes, then he opens them up again and they are gone. “I guess he isn’t coming, huh?” then he laughs again- but it is so hollow. “It’s ok,” I say, and I think he looks at me weirdly, I give him a big, fake smile and a forced giggle, “I wait for someone every night.” I hug him and he hugs me back, “Hmmm…” he answers, I feel the vibrations and I giggle, he chuckles softly and we just stand there, enveloped by the shadows, staring at the moon. I guess something good did come out of this… CK.

                “Awww, looks how late it is,” he says as he pouts and points to his watch- 12AM, I smile- he’s cute, like a little kid. “Byeeee~ Um, I’ll see you whenever,” he chirps and we detangle from our hug. I smile at him, “Ok, goodbye.” He pinches my cheek, and I watch him skip off. I walked up to the room and for the first time ever, I slept peacefully after a job session.

                The alarm rings- the nozzle slamming into the bells continuously, creating a high pitched noise that causes Jongup to break from his serene slumber. He gets up and stretches, before he goes and does his daily routine. Except this time, when he looks in the mirror, he smiles.

                Today is Friday, he reminds himself, the last Friday of the month (November) - rent time, he cheers sarcastically in his head. Even normally, people dislike handing money over for their house/bill dues, however he has to visit that apartment that he doesn’t even live in- and pay for that apartment, in which he doesn’t live in. See a problem with that? HE has to pay for an apartment that houses a drunkard, and he’ll have to give that drunkard money, he sighs- ‘Hopefully he’ll be passed out so I don’t have to deal with him.’ he thinks to himself. Anyway, he thinks, time for school, yay!~ He grabs his belongings, and skips down to the front desk. Jongup and Hyosung greet each other, chat a little bit, make a ruckus, get screamed at by Koyeon, run out cackling like morons, put on their colorful helmets, and ride to school as they creep people out and cause grumpy elders to call them hooligans. You know, the usual.

                The rest of the day goes by normally, except Jongup is a bit less nervous and a tiny bit happier. But when the last school bell rings and he drives Hyosung back to the motel, he remembers that he has to visit the apartment- and that puts a damper on his mood. He sighs and says goodbye to his noona before he makes his way to the apartment. When he gets there, he rings his landlady’s doorbell and greets the gray-haired, kind old lady with a gentle smile. “Ayo, Eopie-ah, I haven’t seen you since last month, you got bigger- or maybe this old lady just shrunk again,” she says with a kind, mild toned voice as she chuckles, “Ah, what are you talking about, you’re not old at all ahjumma- or should I say, noona.” he says with a big grin, “Oh, you sweet talker you,” she says with more chuckles, and she tip toes to squeeze his cheeks. He pulls out the envelope with the money, “Ah, here’s the rent,” She frowns, “You work too hard, at this age you should be fooling around,” she sighs, “That man doesn’t deserve a sweet , kind boy like you,” “It’s okay, I get to see you every month- so it makes it all better,” he’s not as close to her as he is to Koyeon-ahjumma or Hyosung-noona, but he still deems her an important person. She chuckles again, “Okay, you’ll need to get in the apartment right?” He nods, “Okay, I think he’s still asleep,” she scowls suddenly, what kind of man would make his son work super hard while he lazes around and does nothing? She gives him the keys and makes way to follow him, “It’s okay ahjumma, your hip is bad right? I’ll just give it to you after,” he says, and she smiles, what a sweet young man, she thinks. She nods to show that she gives him permission, and he makes his way up the stairs to the apartment.

                When he gets up there, he opens the door with the key, takes off his shoes and tip toes in, trying not to make any noise that could cause his father to wake from his slumber. When he places the money on the table, he could see his father’s figure from the corner of his eye. He turns and observes his father- his father is a bit short (like himself, he muses, he must’ve gotten his height from his father) and stocky- having a good amount of muscle but fat as well, which he probably accumulated from his lifestyle. He has dirty, scruffy hair unlike his own- probably from his lack of bathing and whatnot, a bulbous nose, and bug eyes. Overall, he doesn’t look like his father at all- maybe he got his looks from his mother, he concluded and he’s relieved and happy with that fact. He tip toes out, but not before looking back at his father- then he sees the beer bottles in his limp hand and many others surrounding the mattress on the floor- and the ones on the table, next to the chairs, on the couch, and he closes the door. What a sad man.

               When he gets back to the motel, it is 4:17PM, and he starts his homework alongside his noona. When it hits 8:30PM, he starts his job.  Two hours pass, and yet no one has approached him. Jongup sighs, and slumps against the brick wall of the motel. Seconds later he hear a loud voice, “UMMMM~” Jongup realizes that CK is right behind him when he puts his arm over his shoulder. “CK,” he says back, and CK’s grin grows bigger. “What’s up?” CK asks, “Nothing- the business is slow today,” Jongup frowns- he might hate his job, but he really needs the money. CK nods and whines, “Yeah, ughhhhhhhh- no customers~~~.” And then, there’s a comfortable silence between the two of them before it’s broken by CK’s smooth (with a tiny hint of scratchiness, Jongup thought it was cute) voice in the form of a thoughtfully asked question, “How’d you get this job anyway, you look too young,” Jongup rolls his eyes jokingly, “The same can be said for you, you know?” CK grins, “I’ll explain mine, if you explain yours, deal?” Jongup thinks about it before he replies, “Okay, deal.”

                CK opens his mouth to explain after taking a deep breath, “My father-” and CK takes another deep breath, “My father died when I was twelve. My mother and I were devastated but over time we got used to it, and life continued as usual. We weren’t rich but we weren’t tight on money either since my mother worked as a music teacher. But then she met this really-,” and he spat out the next word accompanied with a snort, “nice, kind, generous, man. She began to fawn over him, and she became more like a teenage girl who worried about their looks all the time around their crush- I got mad, it had only been half a year since father’s death, and I couldn’t believe that my mother forgot about him. But I accepted it later on; my father wouldn’t have wanted my mother to be caged by his death. Then they began dating, I was happy for her, she was always so happy. And soon their one year anniversary passed. I never really met him until then- but I got the chills when I did. It wasn’t that he looked ugly, or that he was mean- or had anything physically wrong with him- it was just that whenever he smiled, it was so plastic and fake. His eyes sparkled, but it seemed to be sparkling from contempt rather than happiness.” CK sighed, “I thought he just hated kids or something, so I didn’t want to make my mother upset by telling her he scared me. Then, soon we moved in with him, I avoided going home every chance I could get. Then he started convincing my mother to stop working, he started saying how she was too much like a delicate flower to work so hard, or how the job made her too tired. She was reluctant to agree with him this time; she was always raised to be independent. But she did because she believed that maybe she would find a different job, one with lower pay but with easier hours and less stress since he was supporting us now too. Then a week later, he asked her to marry him- my mother even happier. They got married and for the first two weeks everything was fine and they were lovey-dovey, I was happy too since my mother smiled all the time, but-” then his voice started to shake, “but, then everything about him changed. When my mother went to hang out with her friends he started to get angry and he didn’t allow her to get a job. When she managed to get one, he would always go over there and get her fired. I started to get scared for my mother. Then one day, my m-mother burst and complained, she was truly an independent woman, even after she forced herself to listen to him. I was proud of her-,” his lips shook and his eyes watered, “But then he hit her. I was watching, and he just slapped her across the face. I was so shocked I couldn’t do anything- my mother was too. After that she never complained, but even then he continued to hit her and then me, and over the smallest things too. How the eggs were too runny, or how the meat was overcooked. Every time he hit her, I always wanted to step in but I couldn’t. Every time he hit me, I wanted to punch back, but-” tears started to trail down his face, “I couldn’t, not two years ago, not today,” and he started to sob in earnest as he hugged Jongup.

                “Sorry,” CK said, his voice raspier than usual, he said with a small sheepish smile as he looked at the slightly dampened spot on Jongup’s shirt. Jongup smiled back, “It’s okay.” CK opened his mouth again, “And the rest is pretty simple, my mother can’t work, and my step-father” he spit out the word step father with distaste, “won’t spend more money than necessary on us, and that includes only groceries and water. So I have to work to sneak in more food and clothes for my mother and I, and I also have to pay for my tuition fees,” “You have tuition fees?” CK grins, “Yeah,” Jongup stares at him with awe, “Woahh~ so you’re super smart?” CK chuckles, “Nah,” Jongup grins, “I bet you’re just being modest.” CK scoffs before he speaks again, “But,” he pauses with a smirk, “That stupid bastard thinks my mother’s spirit is broken. He doesn’t realize that she’s still strong, so I think that even though we get bruises from him, we are still stronger than him,” CK has a gentle smile etched on his face, “And when we raise enough money, we’ll runaway and we’ll be able to live more happily.” And Jongup smiles too.

AN: OMG, it's been soo long, I'm sorrry D;. I have no excuse, but I was busy with my friends for the whooooolllllle week. Plus my cousins recently came to America BUT OMG, it's so awkward- I couldn't even look them in the eye when we had dinner. T_________T

This chapter is the longest so far, i'll try to make the next chapter longer but no promises. 

afhauifisudhsuidhasuidhauisd. I had to copy and paste this from Word 24734673462734624 times (OKAY, just three- BUT STILL), because I pressed backspace for too long and it went back a page D;, and then it erased. And I hate indenting, because I can't use the tab button on here, ARGGGHHHHHH. pisses me off D<.

OMG  reviews, they make me happpy ;D. OH and soo much Daejong shippers- I can't say I'm not one though, -wink, wink- BUT MAYBE, it'll be Daehyun, maybe guys. 

For the people who want to figure out who CK really is, look at UM and Jongup's name really closely, and you'll realize something, then look at CK, and it might help you- just a tiny bit. PLUS, I'd like to think my descriptions of CK is accurate and sufficient enough but IDKK~~~. With these clues try to figure it out~. I think he'll remain a mystery for a while. HAPPY HUNTING :).

AND I'm adding characters to the story as we speak,  (in my mind) so~ I'll edit the tags and foreword soon.

Subcribers, thank you guys sooooooo muchy ;'). 

HAPPY READING GUYS. ;D

Title edited, 5/31/2012. From Donna Summer's song.