On the second day of the new year, Jiyong opened his eyes. A brilliant flash of white light blinded his vision, but all he did was turn his back against the sunlight coming through the window. As he looked away, his eyes trailed all over his room. He found his apartment to be a total mess: shattered bottles of alcohol scattered all over the floor; the scent of cigarettes burning wafted throughout the room; and splashes of blood decorated the dirtied walls.

He slowly rose from the ground, but collapsed back to the floor when something throbbed in his head. He groaned and clenched his fist, putting one hand on his forehead while the other hand tried to push his body back up. He coughed, and he knew from the empty pack of cigarette that he had smoked way too much last night. The strong, bitter taste still lingered on the tip of his tongue as he his chapped lips.

Fragments of memories came into his mind. He remembered that yesterday, he had no work, which clearly meant trouble for him. He could only remember taking one bottle of alcohol because that's what he always did when he had no work. Then he remembered bringing another bottle up for his lips to celebrate the new year… then the third to celebrate the adoption of the kitten. It was a habit for Jiyong to take out a cigarette after he drank, and he wasn't in control of the number of cigarettes he smoked when he was drunk. Jiyong forgot how many cigarettes he had left in the pack, but he was pretty sure that he had at least half of the sticks in the box.

He remembered feeling anxious, and he recalled seeing his hands trembling when he attempted to bring the fourth bottle up to his lips. He kept smoking and drinking that night, but the anxious feeling wouldn't go away. The next thing Jiyong could remember was trying to get rid of the guilt in his chest. All he wanted was to flush out his feelings, but the alcohol and smoke wouldn't do anything. So—as he remembered—Jiyong had punched some sort of glass (he assumed that he was punching the empty bottles) until his fist pounded with pain, blood flooding down the deep cuts he made with the glass bottles…

Jiyong coughed and rose up from his seat. His knees buckled for a few minutes until he found himself leaning against the wall, struggling to open the window to air out the room. He groaned again when the light reached his eyes, but he managed to quickly escape it after successfully opening the small window. He walked across the room to grab his broom stick and a dust pan. As he carefully walked on the floor, he cleaned up his mess, watching the dark liquid from his hand trickle down again.

Damn, he thought. I better bandage this up.

He coughed, and continued to sweep the floor, collecting the broken glasses with his hands, ignoring the agonizing marks he made on the palm of his bloody hands.

* * *

"…But then I told her that I wasn't interested in him, but she still doesn't believe me! But, according to this other guy, the guy she likes actually likes me. Of course, I don't believe him, but if that's true, then—oh gosh, I don't even want to think about that! But isn't it still her fault? Seriously, she deserves to be shunned by us. I mean, come on! How shallow is she? But what annoys me the most is that she still doesn't trust me! Like, what the heck? What do you think, huh? Don't you think she's being like a snob?"

"Minah, to me, it just sounds like high school drama. Plus, it sounds like you're being mean to her," Jiyong said, yawning as he was hearing Minah's complaint.

"But still! It's her fault for being stupid!" Minah cried out. 

"I prefer the term 'naive'. Use it some day," Jiyong said, taking a customer. "Hello! Will this be all?"

"But she's not using her head. It's like she doesn't trust me!" Minah whined.

"So? Does everyone have to trust you?" Jiyong stuffed the items in the bag. "Here you go. Have a nice day!"

"Well, yeah! I mean, no, but it'd be nice if everyone trusts me," Minah muttered. "Oh, forget it. You wouldn't understand."

"Yeah, I don't," Jiyong said, leaning against the counter. "So how's school?"

"Terrible," she retorted. "Gosh, I seriously want to graduate as soon as I can."

"Oh, right. You had all that high school drama. I almost forgot," Jiyong said, rubbing his head. "I hate hangovers…"

"You drink?" the little girl asked, frowning.

"It was a new year. I drank to celebrate."

"Alone?"

"Yep." Before she could continue the conversation, Jiyong moved on. "So how's Jiho and his friends? I haven't seen Jieun in a while."

"Oh, that's some other crazy drama. Chanyeol caught Jiho talking to Jieun alone at the library, and he was getting so mad at him. Then for some wacky reason, Jieun decided to stand up for herself and now Chanyeol's deciding her punishment," Minah said, waving her hand.

Jiyong frowned. "Punishment?"

"Yep. Last time, her punishment was having garbage stuffed in her shoe locker. Ugh, it was gross! I had to stuff garbage in there and it was revolting—"

"Wait a minute." Jiyong scowled at her. "You did it?"

"Well, of course. I'm one of Chanyeol's close friends. I have to back up with him. Plus, he's really popular and all."

"You did it? You put garbage in her shoe locker?"

"Yep! Every Tuesday! I did it with this other guy."

"So you bullied her?"

"It's not bullying. I didn't decide on her punishment. I only did as I was instructed to do. If this is bullying, then Chanyeol would be the one bullying, and that's ridiculous cause everyone in the school knows that he's the sweetest boyfriend any girl can have. Even I dream of dating him," Minah said.

"What else did you do to her?" Jiyong asked.

"Nothing much. Chanyeol made us write some rude comments on her desk with marker. It was washable, though. Of course, I participated at first, but then I stopped later cause I found out that Jiho was cleaning it up before Jieun arrived. We also had to scribble on her textbook. I did it with a pencil, but everyone else did it with paint or ink," she explained casually.

"What the heck, Minah? Why would you do that?" Jiyong questioned her, raising his voice. He glared at her. "That's bullying! You're tormenting someone who didn't do anything to you!"

Minah glared back. "It's not! It's not bullying! It's just punishment!"

"Punishment? Are you freaking kidding me?"

"No, I'm not kidding."

"Why would you ever do that, huh? This is ridiculous!" Jiyong exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Because if I don't do this…" Minah's eyes softened and she looked away, her expression filled with shame as if she knew that she was wrong. "If I don't do this…then I'll be alone."

* * *

"You never told me that you were bullied."

Jieun widened her eyes and turned her head around.

It was almost an hour before midnight, and Jieun made it a habit to come to the store late at night. She came almost every day, either working on her homework or chatting with Jiyong. She always made sure to buy something, whether it was cheap or not, so Jiyong didn't have much of a problem having her hang around. Besides, it seemed as if she liked to avoid people in the day and come when it was only Jiyong working.

She looked down at the table and continued finishing a math problem. "You didn't need to know."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jiyong asked. He pulled out a chair across from her. "This is almost insane. You're abused by your boyfriend and you're bullied at school?" He paused, staring at her for a long time. "You're a pariah, aren't you?"

Jieun shot her head up. "What?"

"You're excluded from your peers. You're a social pariah, huh? An outcast?"

"This is none of your business," Jieun responded, looking back down.

"How is this not my business?"

"You have no relation to anything that's happening to me."

"Yes I do!" Jiyong leaned close to her. "I just talked to Minah earlier this afternoon, and she told me everything. If you didn't know, she's part of it. She's part of your mess, and I'm responsible for her as long as she works in this store."

"So?" Jieun continued to refuse to look up. "You found out that Minah's taking part of it. Congratulations."

"Did you know?"

"Now I do."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing!" Jieun shouted. She lifted her head, her eyes watering. "Why are you so nosy? You found out about me and Chanyeol, and now you're finding about my situation at school? This is none of your business! Just leave me alone. I know what I'm doing."

Jiyong kept quiet, and looked away. She was right. This was none of his business, and all he was doing was being nosy. He had to tell himself that this was just like any other high school drama that he shouldn't get himself involved in. After all, it was just something else to think about. What could he do? He couldn't simply enter school property and inform the teachers that some bullying was going around at school. Who cared about that anymore?

The doors opened. Jiyong was about to get up, but he stopped when he saw Jiho enter the room. By now, it seemed as if Jiho did a good job recovering quickly from the kitten's scratches. The scars faded from his cheeks and was replaced with a new coating of skin. 

Jiho looked around, as if he was trying to find someone. When his eyes landed on Jiyong and Jieun, he was surprised. His eyes slightly widened, but they returned to their normal state as he approached to two.

"What are you doing here?" Jiho asked Jieun, completely ignoring Jiyong's existence.

"Homework," Jieun replied.

"Here?"

"It's not like I would do it at home."

"I'm not saying that you should do your homework at home. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't be doing your homework here. After all, there's this guy," Jiho muttered, rudely gesturing his finger at Jiyong.

Jiyong slightly pouted. "What? What's wrong with me?"

"He's the only one who can chase Chanyeol away. I don't see any problems from him," Jieun said.

"But he's an adult—a strange one."

"Hey," Jiyong snapped, glaring at him. "Watch it. I'm not a strange guy."

"You're always a strange guy in my eye," Jiho retorted, finally acknowledging his existence. "Anyway, come on. Let's just study at the library. It's close to your home anyway, right?"

"But the library is far from your house. I'd rather study here. I mean, there's a sauna a few blocks down. We could just study here, sleep there, and walk back up to school. This place is closer to the school, anyway," Jieun said.

"Wouldn't Chanyeol get mad? You know how he feels when you don't return home. Remember what happened last time?" Jiho asked.

Jiyong frowned. He raised his hands, grabbing both of the child's attention. He had always wondered about Jieun's situation at home, and he thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to ask.

"Can I ask you something?" Jiyong asked Jieun. She nodded her head. "Do you live with Chanyeol by any chance?"

Jieun kept quiet, pressing her lip together. "Yes."

"Your parents?"

"Well…" Jieun bit her tongue. "When Chanyeol and I had a really good relationship, we decided to run away. The thing was, when we did, we were easily caught. My parents were furious and told me to do whatever I want. It's like they were disowning me, but they didn't say that. So, I got Chanyeol, and the two of us actually ran away again, but this time without having our parents try to search for us. We came here, and using the money I brought with me, we settled at a cheap, decent apartment and enrolled in this school. It was fun living with him, and I was sure that things would go well for us, but…" She looked away with difficulty. "Well, he changed. He adapted easily to the new world, and I struggled. I guess he got tired of waiting for me. Maybe protective, too, since he won't let me talk to anyone."

"So you live alone with Chanyeol, huh?" Jiyong repeated.

"Mhm," Jieun replied, nodding her head. She took a deep breath, and got up from her seat. "I should go. I'll just go back home for today."

"I'll walk you there," Jiho offered her.

"Thanks, but I rather go alone," Jieun said.

"But—"

"Just let him take you home," Jiyong said. He glanced outside, where there was a dark figure looming in the shadows. "Besides, it's dark. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Jieun frowned. "But—"

"I got your bag," Jiho said, scooping up her bag with one hand. "Come on, let's go."

Jieun sighed, but she followed anyway. Just before the two left the building, Jieun turned around. She looked down at Jiyong's hand, which was wrapped with a white bandage.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jieun asked.

Jiyong followed her eyes and saw that she noticed her injury. He quickly hid his hand behind his back. Not wanting to remember what happened last night, he forced a fake smile and shook his head, denying her the ability to ask. 

Jieun seemed to notice his response, and slightly frowned. Still, the two teenagers bid Jiyong a "goodbye" and walked out of the store, leaving him alone to tend the shop. He walked behind the counter, checking the clock and glancing at the door. The black figure he noticed earlier walked towards the light, and entered the store.

"So what are you doing here, Bang Minah?" Jiyong asked. He was still disappointed in her for not admitting that she was bullying Jieun, but he decided not to push the topic.

"I left something," Minah said. She paused, and stared at his hand. "So can I ask you what happened to your hand?"

He look at his wounded hand. "I accidentally burned it."

Minah glowered at him. "Burned it? Come on, that's a lie."

"No. I really did burn it," Jiyong lied. "It looks ugly so I wanted to bandage it up." He glanced back at Minah, who continued to stare at him. "Anyway, what did you lose?"

"My phone," Minah answered.

"Oh, here," Jiyong said. He pulled out her pink phone, which caused her to be delighted. Just when he was about to hand it to her, he stopped himself and stared at the phone. "I know it's rude to look at other people's phone, but I couldn't help but open a message Chanyeol sent you."

"It's probably just—"

"Minah, do you really have to do this?" Jiyong asked. "I really don't want to see you do this."

Minah narrowed her eyes. "Do you understand what I'm going through? I doubt it. In my case, I do have to do this. You won't see me do it, either. You're just going to hear about it from me."

"But—"

"Now, please give me my phone, and I'll be on my way," Minah said, sticking out her hand. Jiyong hesitantly gave her the phone, which she swiped away. Raising her nose, she marched out of the store, clearly annoyed at Jiyong's nagging words.

When he was alone, he checked the clock. He had only fifteen more minutes until his shift ended. He pulled out a pack of cigarette from his pocket and took one out. He was just about to think whether or not he should smoke today, especially since he had smoked quite a lot last night when he was drunk.

But he was irritated at everyone. He was mad at Minah for being an idiot, upset at Jiho for not respecting him, and he was immensely infuriated at Jieun for not doing anything but just accepting the harsh blows given to her. He just needed to cool down with something, and his only option was to light a cigarette.

He slowly pulled out a white stick, then took a lighter from his other pocket. He anxiously lit the end of the drug, watching it light up until a line of gray smoke lifted into the air. He inhaled the smoke, eventually letting out a ring of smoke from his lips. He closed his eyes, listening to the clock tick in rhythm of his calming heart: Tick, tock, tick, tock…