The alarm sounded at six in the morning. I hardly noticed at first, lost in my worries, but when I heard a knocking through the wall, I knew I had woken my mother with my thoughtlessness. I should be more careful. She worked long and hard to pay for the house and my tuition. The least I could do was stay quiet when she needed her rest. I shut the alarm off and continued my daily routine as usual.

Life was still moving even after being paused for a couple minutes. I had school to go to. I also had homework that I forgot to do, but that I could finish on the bus ride. Time wasn't going to wait a second time; I already tried several times to copy what I had done yesterday, to no avail. Maybe it was a one time thing that I could never do again. If so, then I really wasted this wish.

I had a small mental breakdown yesterday, where I suddenly wondered what I was going to do with my life and why I didn't have any friends. I felt crushed by all the happy people chatting away about the park, enjoying this rare day of sunshine. It seemed like I'd never get the chance to enjoy that kind of simple pleasure in life. For whatever reason, people avoided me like I had some kind of contagious disease. It was hard to make friends when people never even gave me a chance. I could never understand why it was like this. I used to approach people and try to make friends before I gave up, hopeless. Every school project, I did on my own. Even when I was placed into a group by the teachers, the other members of the group would communicate without me and tack my name onto whatever it was they made.

What was wrong with me? I wish I knew.

That day at the park, I looked at all those happy students and wandering couples and realized that my entire high school life had passed by so quickly and there was a high chance that I'd never get to spend any of it going out with friends. I'd be graduating this year, and first semester was nearing it's end in July. I just wanted time to stop churning out my high school years so bad. Everything had to stop so I could figure out what was wrong before it was too late.

And then it did stop.

The image wouldn't leave me, distracting me as I stared at my unfinished homework while waiting for the bus. I was looking at my assignment without ever processing any of it's contents. I didn't even notice when another student, with fairly prominent ears, sat down next to me on the bench, until the bus reached us and we both stood up.

“Forget about your homework?” he asked, before heading towards the bus entrance. He even turned around at the door, expecting an answer.

I was so used to being ignored, that I couldn't think of anything to say. Any words I might have used clung to the back of my throat, so I simply nodded.

He chuckled. Chuckled. “Honestly, I forgot about mine too.” he admitted, sitting down in the back of the bus.

I settled into my usual seat on the left side, near the emergency exit. No one ever liked that seat because it was slightly tilted, so no one ever tried to sit next to me. I discovered this secret about two years ago, when I had started to give up trying to make friends. It made me feel better about being ignored when I was the one pushing them away.

I placed the assignment on my lap and continued staring at it. All the words meshed and blurred on the page. Maybe I should have stayed home and tried to sleep.

“Do you need help?” came a voice right by my ear.

I jumped. That student from my bus stop had gotten up while the bus was moving and moved to my seat without me knowing.

“I'm just too tired to focus.” I managed to croak, clearing my throat in case I needed to talk again.

“I'll wake you up when we get to the school if you want.” he offered, his face the absolute definition of sincere.

What was going on these days?

I nodded once and settled against the window to sleep, when I felt his hands pulling me against his shoulder instead. Alarmed, I looked up to his still smiling face. “The road is bumpy. It'll hurt your head to sleep like that.” he stated simply, as if he let a stranger sleep on his shoulder every day.

I pulled myself away from him. “I don't even really know you.”

“You will, in time. Just get some sleep. Today is going to be a tiring one.” He put his arm around my shoulder and kept me to him firmly. “You can trust me.” he added.

But how could I possibly trust him? I just talked to him for the first time today, a couple minutes ago.

“My name is Chanyeol, by the way.” A further reminder that I just met him. Why did he even start talking to me?

I was so tired, but how could I just sleep like this, wrapped up in a stranger's arms? But even as I protested, Chanyeol gripped me tighter. With the rocking of the bus, I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. This is so wrong, I thought, as I drifted to sleep.