In my groggy state, I stirred in my subconsciousness as I groaned. The door bell had been ringing incessantly for the past 5 minutes and I was deeply annoyed by it. Who could be here at such an early morning? 

"Hello?" A voice called out from outside.

"Coming!" I yelled impatiently as I threw my blanket aside and gave a loud rude yawn.

"Who the hell-" I cursed and seeing the person, I was surprised.

"Hey princess." Daehyun drawled as he leant against the wall next to my door. 

"What are you doing?" I walked into the living room, frustrated. 

“I was going to bring you for breakfast then to school. I noticed that your kitchen barely has any proper food, just instant noodles and all those unhealthy stuff.” Daehyun shrugged. 

“You could have given me a call, right?” I grumbled. 

“You wouldn’t have agreed anyway.”Daehyun replied.

“Damn you.” I muttered under my breath as I walked to the toilet to wash up. 

“Hurry and change!” Daehyun called out before I slammed the door of my toilet. 

—————

“Two egg benedicts along with one bottled water and a glass of orange juice.” Daehyun ordered as I stared outside the window, observing the streets of London. It was sunny today, easing the cold that we had experienced for weeks. It was a Friday and I was deeply exhausted from the heavy week. 

“Why did you want to join psychology?” Daehyun asked, clasping his hands together on the table. 

“I wanted to help others. I didn’t want them to feel like an outcast if they ever had a mental condition. I wanted them to feel loved. Even if the world hated them, I still wanted to be there for them.” I stared awkwardly at the ground. 

“How about you?” I asked, after moments of silence. 

“My mother wanted me to be a psychologist though I don’t know for what reason.” Daehyun answered quietly. 

“Two egg benedicts here?” The waited asked, interrupting our conversation. 

“Yes. Thanks.” Daehyun said before continuing,” Did anyone bully you in school or something?” 

“Nope. They were afraid of me because I was rich so I guess I was excluded from their games and everything. My family, even, I felt lonely whenever my brother got admitted into the hospitals so I used to go to the hospital to visit him whenever he underwent chemo. However, my mother would always be there and as time passed, my mother and I would fight every time we saw each other so I stopped going there.” I explained with a forlorn expression. 

“Oh well, life is never perfect and think about it, your experience help others. You saved lives.” Daehyun grinned as he took a bite of his egg benedict. 

“That’s true. But sometimes, when you go through so many ordeals, you feel like you lost your hope in the world. I mean, who would have wanted a life like that. Why couldn’t I have a happy family like the others had? Why couldn't I lead a perfectly normal life? But as I thought about it, I felt selfish and immature. However, at the same time, I felt like crumbling.” I sighed. 

“Think about it. You wouldn’t have met me if you didn’t go through all of this, right?” Daehyun smirked. 

“Oh shut up. I was better off without you.” I scoffed. 

“Are you done with you food?” Daehyun asked before standing up to foot the bill.

I nodded,” Take this money along with you too.” 

“You can treat me next time.” Daehyun replied. 

“No, just take it.” I insisted, leaving Daehyun with no choice but to take my money. 

“You can go wait outside first.” Daehyun said as I slung my bag over my shoulder and trudged out of the cafe. 

Just as the cool winter breeze hit me, I spotted Heejun who was flipping through the menu just outside the shop and froze in my tracks. 

“JungAh?” Heejun said as he looked up from the menu.
“Oh hey.” I awkwardly greeted, before walking down the few steps of the cafe that led to the dark grey pavement. 

“I was just planning to order some breakfast for you.”
“Oh, I ate at home already.” I fibbed, not wanting Heejun to be overly concerned about me going out with Daehyun. 

“Then why are you here?”Heejun aasked, bewildered. 

“I… I collected something from a friend.” I chuckled uneasily. 

“JungAh! I forgot my-” Daehyun suddenly burst out of the door and stopped in his tracks when he saw Heejun and me. 

“Oh hi Daehyun.” I faked a greeting, hoping to cover up the situation. 

“Hey JungAh! I was meaning to say I forgot my wallet so could you pay for me first?” Daehyun muttered sheepishly. 

“Here. Is thirty enough?” Heejun immediately volunteered then added,” I guess it is, for one person.” 

I could tell that Heejun was emphasising on “one person” and right now, I was befuddled. His expression exhibited a form of nonchalance that was hard to read and by the way he reacted, he seemed totally fine.

“Oh umm thanks. I will be sure to pay you back when I find my wallet.” Daehyun uneasily said before rushing back into the cafe. 

“I guess since you have tried the food here, why don’t you tell me what’s good?” Heejun asked in a little note of sarcasm as he flipped through the menu again and I noticed that rather than concentrating on the menu, he was looking for my explanation. 

Heejun was not dumb indeed and i knew that he had found out what had happened but I wanted to test him some more, just in case. 

“What do you mean? I ate at home.” I replied testily.

“I can be sure that people don’t forget what they eat on the day itself, hmm?” Heejun said. 

“Ramen? They don’t have it here.” I feigned ignorance. 

“Oh please, stop lying to me. I am not stupid, all right?” Heejun slammed the menu shut and raised one of his eyebrows up, wanting to hear my explanation.