Ok, so first of all, Author-nim is sooooo sorry TT.TT I wanted to post this and a little note before my departure, but I couldn’t. And since I spend two weeks without any internet at all, there was nothing I could do about it. So I was supposed to come back home last week, but my mom broke her shoulder, so I had to watch over her at the hospital until my brother came back from his vacation. Now I just got home, I haven’t slept in two days and I’ll go straight to bed, but I wanted to post this for three weeks now, so it’s the least I an do. Again, I’m sorry ;___;

Now – if there are still people reading – ENJOY! :D

***

“Are you still mad at me?”

Park Kyung didn’t move an inch. He didn’t look up from his math book and kept on pretending he didn’t know the person talking to him.

“It’s not my fault they decided to put me in another class on my second day of school.”

Still no response.

“Come on are you still mad at me for what I did in middle school? You know I didn’t even talk to that girl. Never. She was a dumb anyways. The fact that she dumped you should be proof enough.”

This time Jiho could finally observe a reaction on Kyung’s face. Since he joined him and his friends at lunch, his expression hadn’t changed from a deep frown and there was an angry aura hanging around the usually cheerful boy. Zico glanced down at Kyung’s desk.

“You’re studying math? You know we’re in history class right now, don’t you?”

“Shut up!” Jiho was startled when Kyung suddenly jumped from his seat and shouted at him. Okay, so he did except a form of acknowledgement from the boy sooner or later but this wasn’t exactly the form of acknowledgement he was hoping for.

“Excuse me?” their history teacher, Mr Yoo raised his brow suspiciously.

“I’m sorry. Sorry for shouting. But can I sit somewhere else please?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. Why don’t you sit on one of the many free seats on the floor? Because as you can see, this class is already full. Full of ungrateful children like you who don’t even pretend anymore to be interested in the lessons their teachers spend hours and sometimes sleepless nights to prepare. Instead they’re reading fashion and magazines, eating, doing their manicure, make-up, hair, anything but concentrating on the lesson! So yes, of course your little worries about sitting beside a person you currently do not want to sit beside because of your stupid teenager problems are currently my main focus!”

A very awkward and long silence followed the teacher’s declaration. Some students progressively let their diverse magazines disappear under their desks, others put their make-up and nail polish back in their bags. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyung even saw a guy removing a hand from his pants. Ew. He did not need to have the vision of Kim Himchan secretly (or not) getting it on to the thoughts of a girl. Or a boy for all he knew. He shuddered slightly before refocusing on his teacher.

“I was actually thinking if anyone wants to change seats with me.” But I understand if you don’t. Who would want to sit near that douchebag? He added bitterly in his mind.

“I would.” Oh really now?

“Then Kyung, change seats with Hwayoung if it makes you happy.” Mr Yoo sighed before looking at his book to regain focus.

While he was packing his things, Kyung heard Jiho whisper “So you really hate me that much?”

Since Jiho wasn’t looking in his direction when he glanced at him, Kyung ignored his statement and finally left his desk to Hwayoung, who was already waiting impatiently.

*

School was long over and Minhyuk and Yukwon had just finished their intensive three-hour dance practice.

Both were friends for four years already, and the dance room they were currently in was the place where they first met. They actually hadn’t been friends immediately because both had similar dance styles and were soon labelled as rivals but time had brought them together and they learned to work with each other instead of against each other. Over the time, their bond had become even stronger because of the hardships they had to overcome together. The last in date was Minhyuk being dumped by his girlfriend.

“So why don’t we two go at the club Friday night so you can find yourself a new one?” Yukwon suggested, lying on the floor breathless and covered in sweat. Minhyuk, who was in the same state at him laid a few inches away from him, sprawled on his back.

“Nice idea. But wouldn’t your girlfriend be nuts if we did? And if she comes, girls with get the wrong idea or wouldn’t know who she belongs with. Therefore, they wouldn’t approach me.”

“Point. Speaking of her, what time is it? I told her I’d pick her up at eight thirty.”

“Then you’ve got plenty of time.”

“Really?”

“Yep. It’s already nine fifteen, so you’re damn ing late anyways and you’re lucky if you survive until tomorrow.”

Yukwon groaned exasperatedly. Then he started rolling on the floor and hitting it with his hands and feet. Once he calmed down, he positioned himself on his back again, facing the ceiling.

“But you know, someone like you will find a girlfriend very soon, believe me. It’s a wonder girls aren’t lining up in front of you yet.”

Minhyuk chuckled, amused.

“You think so?”

“I’m sure! Guys too.”

“Guys too? Even you?” Minhyuk laughed loudly before adding in a girly voice “Would you date me, Yukwonnie?”

“But Minhuykie, aren’t we already married anyways?”

Both guys started laughing hysterically. When they finally calmed down, Yukwon got up and still a laugh in his voice said “Now if you excuse me, I have a very angry girlfriend to pick up.”

As he gathered the stuff, he heard Minhyuk fake crying while shouting “Cheater!” repeatedly.

With a new fit of laughter, he kneeled next to Minhyuk and pressed a quick kiss on his forehead.

Once Yukwon had left the room, Minhyuk’s laughter immediately died down and a serious expression appeared on his face and his hand reached up to touch his forehead.

*

Kyung exited yet another shop. All in all he had visited nine different places already and none of them were what he was looking for. Either impossible working hours that didn’t match with his school schedule, weird places or employers that didn’t seem pleasant to him. In one case, it was also the opposite. That glare the boss of that ramyun restaurant shot him left a deep impression on him.

While he was having a mental battle whether to give up or search further, he walked past a small supermarket, a “searching part-time worker” flyer on the window. He shrugged and decided to give it a try.

The inside of the shop was like that of any other supermarket he had seen in his life. Neat, organized and very clean. Not to mention bright. Since there was no one in sight that looked even close to an employee, he walked to the back, where a door with a “private” sign was. He walked in and there was a very small corridor with four doors. One was obviously the toilet, another the back exit, the one right to his left was open and he could see lockers inside, which only left the one to his right. He knocked twice and after hearing a surprised “Come in?” entered the small office.

He was faced with a middle-aged man sitting behind a desk that looked as if there were more documents on it than it could ever hold.

“Hello.” He bowed quickly before introducing himself. “My name is Park Kyung. I just saw the flyer and I was wondering if you were still looking for someone?” he asked hopefully.

The man nodded slowly before standing up and bowing as well.

“Yes, of course. We just fired someone an hour ago, so you’re the first one to ask for this job.”

“You fired someone?”

“The guy I fired used to harass female customers so after some plaints we eventually had no choice but to fire him.”

“I see…” Kyung nodded slowly. “Well, my luck then. When do I start…” he narrowed his eyes to look at the name tag he hadn’t seen until now. “…Mr. Cho?.”

“But…I didn’t say that you have the job yet.” Mr. Cho said nervously. He looked at Kyung who was doing his best at pouting cutely. “Aish, whatever. When can you start?”

“Uhm, today’s a bit late, so…tomorrow?” Kyung beamed happily.

 “Deal.” Mr. Cho extended his hand which Kyung quickly took.

They then sat down and while Mr. Cho handed Kyung some papers, he explained:

“You will be working from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on week days and from 5:00 p.m. to 11:p.m on weekends. You can choose your free day from Tuesday or Friday.”

“Friday.”

“Friday, then. There are three other employees. Most of them, you won’t meet because they work right before and after your shift. The only other person you’ll meet is the guy working on the same shift as you. He’s a high school student, like you. What year are you in?”

“First year.” Kyung answered. He put down his pen after singing the last document and handed them over to his new boss.

“He’s a second year if I remember correctly. His name is Lee Minhyuk.”

“Ok, I…wait. Second year high school student Lee Minhyuk?” a grin suddenly appeared on Kyung’s juvenile face.

“You want me to introduce you to him before you leave?”

“Why not. I’m sure we’ll get along well.”

They both left the office and Mr. Cho quickly (unnecessarily) explained the doors to Kyung. When they entered the shop, Mr. Cho looked around for his employee. Once he spotted him he grabbed a grinning Kyung and brought him over to where Minhyuk was currently sorting out the rotten apples. As soon as they got closer, the grin on Kyung’s face was replaced by a frown.

“You’re not Lee Minhyuk.”

“Excuse me?” the other guy asked amused. He was about the same height as Kyung and had short dark brown hair, which was slightly messy. Kyung wasn’t sure if he was smiling because the corners of his mouth looked like they were permanently up anyways.

“Minhyuk, this is our new co-worker, Park Kung. And I almost already regret hiring him. How can you tell someone they’re not themselves?”

“It’s Kyung. My name is Park Kyung. And sorry, I was just excepting someone else.”

“It’s okay. Nice to meet you, Park Kyung. And welcome. As you already know, I’m Lee Minhyuk.” Minhyuk chuckled pleasantly and bowed. Kyung followed.

“Well, I guess I’ll go remove the “searching part-time worker” flyer then.” He said before turning around.

Kyung smiled. He already liked that guy. Like he said, they would definitely get along very well.

*

Jiho slumped down on the living room couch as if he was about to die. Judging by the agonizing noises he made, it couldn’t be that far from the truth.

“Jihoon!” he shouted. “If you like me just a tiny little bit bring me a glass of water, please.”

Soon, his roommate’s face appeared in the doorframe that connected the living room with the kitchen.

“I think I’ll pass. I still love you, though.” He chuckled and threw a water bottle in Jiho’s direction. It landed directly on his head. But the older was too tired to even complain.

“God, what happened to you?” it’s been a really long time since you last looked that bad.” Jihoon commented while sitting down on the chair next to the couch.

“Work happened to me. Who would’ve known that Korean people love chicken so much? Fried chicken, chicken soup, fried chicken, chicken salad…oh and did I mention fried chicken?” Jihoon laughed loudly.

“Really, there was one guy who ordered enough chicken for ten people, but when he opened the door, he was alone. I swear, there even was this cat. You know, this cat only old and lonely people have. And in the background I could clearly hear the sound of an opera on TV. But the guy only looked a few years older than me!”

By now, Jihoon was laughing even harder and Jiho had to wait a few minutes before he could speak again.

“But seriously, this job is exhausting.”

“Then why don’t you quit? Why do you work so hard?”

Jiho playfully rolled his eyes at his friend’s comment.

“Well, maybe because I do not have rich parents who pay the rent for an apartment like this without even questioning their son’s activities. Mine pretty much disowned me the moment I left them in Japan to come back.” Jiho muttered.

“Another thing I don’t get. Why did you come back to Korea, even though your parents were so against it? Last month when I called you, everything was still alright and you sounded good.” Jihoon now was serious and turned to face Jiho, who had his back and was currently holding himself up with his elbows.

“Well, there is a reason. I do have a very good reason for this, you know?”

Jihoon looked at Jiho expectedly.

*~*

First

Thank you everyone for the positive comments, they really encouraged me to write even faster so I could publish this chapter J

And there is one thing I need your help for.

When I started writing this story, I knew for a while about U-Kwon’s girlfriend but he hadn’t announced his relationship yet and I didn’t want to spoil anyone, so I choose Suzy as his girlfriend. Now that’s it’s official, should I keep it Suzy or actually replace her with Kwonnie’s real girlfriend? Both would be fine with me, she doesn’t have that big of a role, so changing her name wouldn’t be a problem with me^^

Anyways, please tell me what you’d prefer^^