Class went on for what felt like forever. The teacher handed out a mock test. "A test on the first day back... ha." You heard Tao mumble under his breath. 

"There is no talking and absolutely NO cheating, unless you want a zero and cleaning duty." The teacher said adding, "Now, you may begin."

The test wasn't too difficult for you. You remembered a lot of the stuff from last year. "Hey..Hey..." someone was whispering but you ignored it. "Ya!" someone whispered again but harsher. You looked to the corner of your eye and saw Tao trying to get your attention. "Tell me the answers." he whispered. You shook your head gently. And tried to focus on your test. "Ya!" he said again this time pulling your hair, "tell me the answers!" 

"No!" you whispered back. 

"Excuse me! In the back!" The teacher yelled walking swiftly to you and Tao. "Papers, please now."

"But, sir, I wasn't.. its not..." You tried to say, everyone's eyes on you. The teacher snatched the paper out your hands. "You both now have zeros and you also have cleaning duty." You turned back at Tao and glared at him. He just gave you a smirk. 

"See you after school." he said. 

***

You went to the cleaning closet and got the mop and broom out. "Where is Tao..? He should be here soon.." You couldn't stop thinking about how Tao had gotten you into this. And how the very first grade going into the grade book for you was going to be a zero. You had never gotten a zero before, nothing less than an 80 to be exact. You sweeped the entire classroom, mopped, cleared off the blackboard and wiped down the desks but still, Tao never showed up. It was getting dark and you needed to head home. "Aishh! I can't believe he didn't show up!" You said outloud. But then you thought about what you just said, in fact, you weren't surprised at all. It was obviously something he would do. You put away the cleaning supplies and headed home.

***

"I'm home!" You yelled when you opened up the door and took your shoes off. You never got a response - not anymore anyway. But you still shouted that anyway, like old times. You saw your dad in his normal spot, at the table, idly look out the window. "Did you eat yet?" You asked pouring him a glass of water and setting it by him. You didn't see any dirty dishes so you started making him ramen. "Ramen again!" You always talked to your dad, hoping for a response. It had been around 10 years now since you had last heard his voice. Your dad had got fired from work 2 years ago and you had a job at a small convience shop. The pay wasn't much at all, but  it was enough for you to buy instant ramen and water, which was food that would keep you and your father alive. You went up stairs to your room to start changing into your work clothes. You had to work until 1AM tonight and it was 7:00 now. You had to be at work in 15 minutes, luckily the store was just down the street. You jogged back down stairs, finished making ramen and gave to your dad. "Bye! I will be back soon, don't stay up too late and get some rest!" you said leaving. 

***

You arrived at work, the manager was rather chilled and laidback. "Hey ____! How was your day?" he asked sitting in front of a fan reading a gaming magazine. Your manager, Jo, was a middle-aged man. Probably around his late 30's. He had a bowl cut;  he was medium height and a little plump. He was really nice and kind to everyone and lived life carefree. 

"My day has been going pretty good. Except there was this kid who got me into trouble. I have cleaning duty all week now." You told him, playing with the cash register. 

"Ouch." Jo said, flipping to the next page of his magazine. Buisness was slow today so you just put on your ipod and listened to music for a while. "You ready to take over the shift by yourself for the night?" he said getting ready to leave. 

"You know it." you replied. It got lonely in the store sometimes waiting for customers but that's why you had music. It never failed to make you feel better. 

"Neomu banjakk banjakk nuni bushyeo~ no no no no~ Neomu kkamjakk kkamjakk neolan nanun oh oh oh oh~ Neomu charit charit momi ttaliya~ gee gee gee gee~" All of a sudden you heard clapping and someone say, "Ah, so you're dream is becoming an idol?"

You jumped and saw it was Tao. "What... What are you doing here?!" You asked startled.

"Woah.. calm down. I just wanted to come buy some cigarettes. He through the box out onto the counter and got took out his wallet.

"Um no, you're underage. I can't sell you these." You said, reaching your hand out to take them. Tao grabbed your wrist and said, "but I insist."

"Well I don't." You said getting loose of his grip. Your wrist was red. "If you want these go them some place else. Its a dirty thing to do anyway." You took the box of cigarettes and put them at the back of the counter. 

"Who are you to judge whats dirty and whats not?" he said leaning over the counter looking at you. 

"Well I know its smells horrible and can kill you. That's pretty dirty if you ask me." Tao was silent now. "Oh, and now that we're talking who do you think you are skipping cleaning duty? If it wasnt for you I would have even gotten it! And then you decide you don't even have to show up. Listen, Tao, I have a life too. I have things I have to do too, but I didn't just skip out.."

"Calm down mom." Tao interrupted. "How can you talk to me so easily like that? You don't even know me."

"Well I know enough. Like I didn't deserve what happened to me today." You started to boil with anger which wasn't good. You knew you couldn't get like this but you couldn't help it, this boy just urked you. Tao just stayed silent. Then he got up and left. Just like that. No words, no anything.

"Aiiiiish. This year is going to be harder than I thought if I keep meeting him like this." You said falling back into the chair and turning up your music.