The buzzing of his alarm woke him up the next morning at 5:30AM.  He had a couple hours to get ready before his first class at 7:50: calculus. Today was Tuesday, so he only had a couple classes today. That meant he could spend the rest of his time catching up on some work he’d put off while interning at the hospital.

    Hongbin pushes himself up from bed for a quick shower. He is out by six, dressed in a comfy pair of boxers, and approaches the closet to decide on what to wear for the day. I don’t have to go to the hospital, so I can dress pretty casually today… The handsome boy grabs a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeve sweater adorned with navy stripes. He slips on some plain old sneakers and grabs his messenger bag along with a jacket and fluffy scarf on his way out the door.

    He walks to school on his usual thirty minute trek and arrives to class at around 7:30. Class goes by without much trouble and he soon finds himself in the library. Aside from a couple of papers, Hongbin was not all that behind in his studies. It only took a couple hours to finish both papers and now he finds himself staring at people as they walk by the university’s café. He sighs and sips at his coffee absently. It was now quarter past twelve. Any other Tuesday he would be getting ready to head to the hospital for his shift at two and then he wouldn’t get home until after ten. Not today though. He sighs again and sets his head down on the table. The boy’s head was still pounding, probably from a combination of sedative, lack of sleep, and two hours of advanced calculus. 

    He gets up from his booth and leaves the student center. Right now, all that sounded appealing to him was his bed in his apartment and the only thing standing in his way is a thirty minute walk. On his way out the door he bumps into another student, knocking everything out of his hands, mostly papers and a huge textbook titled An In-depth Look Into the Human Psyche. A psychology major, how appropriate. Out of all the students, I bump into one of the few that could figure out I’m crazy.

    Hongbin picks up the papers, attempting to straighten them out as he mutters an apology, not even sparing the boy a glance. As he attempts to slip out the door, the boy grabs him by the arm. Hongbin panics and rips his arm from the boy’s grasp before taking off out of the building and down the sidewalk. He can hear the hurried footsteps of someone behind him, most likely the psychology student. As he turns a corner he bumps into somebody else, the impact enough to knock him down onto the ground. He looks up this time, particularly frustrated because now the psych major has caught up with him and this guy he just ran into doesn’t look all that amused. He gives the guy an apology, who just scoffs in return and carries on his way, before turning to the psych student. He can tell by appearance that he’s older, but not by much. Surprisingly, this guy is actually very pretty. His hair is a light blonde and falls very gracefully around his face. His features are understated and soft and he could pass off for an extremely convincing woman if he tried. 

    “Are you okay?”

    Was he? He probably looks like hell right now. He was breathing heavily, a side-effect from the running but also from the panic attack he’d just had when the boy grabbed him, not that the boy would be able to tell. Hongbin sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. 

    “I-I’m alright.”

    “If you were alright, I don’t think you would have ran earlier. You’re breathing really heavy too, but you didn’t run very far, unless you’re just that out of shape.” Why did it have to be a smart one? Now everyone will know…

    “You just scared me, it’s not hard to do.” Not entirely a lie. Not entirely the truth either. “Do you want something from me?”

    “Just…I just wanted to see if you were okay. I’m Luhan, by the way.” The pretty boy flashes Hongbin a small smile.

    “Hongbin.” He exhales slowly and shoves his hands in his pockets. Luhan mimics him.

    “Well I just wanted to make sure that you are okay. If you ever need anything just come find me. I think we have calculus together.” He smiles again.

    Hongbin nods. “Sure.” He starts to walk off, but stops in his tracks. He looks back at Luhan, with a glare. “Don’t tell anyone about this.” With that he leaves, not even sparing a look at the other student. He arrives back at his apartment and drops down on his bed. The handsome boy doesn’t care that it’s only mid-afternoon, he pulls of his shoes and rolls over to sleep.

 ~

    “Don’t tell anyone about this.” Something about the boy’s demeanor had completely changed from the slightly awkward and frightened boy he’d just encountered moments earlier. This attitude was a little unsettling to the older boy, but it did prove one thing for him: this Hongbin was definitely the kid everyone’s been talking about. 

    Everyone in the psych department has been talking about rumors of a kid with multiple personality disorder that went to the university. Apparently some kid that worked in admissions was organizing files when he came across the file of one Lee Hongbin. To Luhan,  he seemed like any other kid with an anxiety issue—until that last statement.

    The other personality must be some sort of defense mechanism. I have to know more about this kid.

    Luhan made his way back to the café, all the while thinking about the intriguing Lee Hongbin.

~

Look at me, making progress in a story that I have no idea what to do with. I kind of have a plot in mind now, but it’s not set in stone. I am still working on Light up the Darkness. I’m having a hard time getting the first couple of chapters to flow just how I want them to, so in the mean time I’m working on this.