Reality is a prison.

Luhan was now at the front door of his apartment. He stared at the doorknob and then to the keys on his palm. Lucky the owner had an extra key for his room and decided to let Luhan use it. Luhan had a week before it’s finally another month of the year and he will have to pay his monthly rent. Unfortunately, when he went to the bank to check if the thief touched his savings in the debit card, Luhan's world just collapsed. There was nothing in there. Zero balance.

So he thought to himself reality is a prison. Every second, he feels like drowning in the darkest part of the ocean.

Luhan is just back to this again. Being alone, hopeless and trapped. It's Luhan's own prison, in his very own world. He slowly looked down upon noticing something on the ground in front of his door. It was a box of kimchi; he assumed that his friend next door made it for him. Luhan smiled a bit, but there was a hint of pain behind his smile. Breathe in breathe out, Luhan advises himself mentally. He grabs the food with him and quickly opened the door and shutting it closed after. Luhan shook his head in dismay, leaning his back against the door as tears began to flow down his pale cheeks. Not only because his years of saving came to a waste but also because Sehun had wished he would never show up in front of him again.

No cash no phone. What's he gonna do now? Luhan didn't know what to do. Luhan felt his legs tremble so hard for some reason and this makes him envelope his knees with his arms.  Luhan closed his eyes and whispers to himself, "It's just a bad day." It's not a bad life. Luhan was repeating the same thoughts, assuring himself that it's okay to cry and feel small again. He wished that he would be given more strength to fight the pain and to be able to know how to deal with it. After a short while, Luhan drifted off into sleep. His tears soon dried and stained his cheeks.

He wakes up the next day but goes back to sleep again as if he was tired of living. This happens in every few minutes that he wakes up from a nightmare: go back to sleep.  It had only been a day but he wasn't moving to fix what needed to be fixed: life. Luhan hadn't even eaten anything. Not even the kimchi in front of him. It smelled bad after the next day. Of course, Luhan was hungry but he was tired physically and emotionally. The exhaustion completely took over him for almost two days.

Until someone knocked on his door.

"Luhan?" Luhan flinched. He recognized Xiumin's voice right away. He was gonna reply despite his sore throat but instead he just stood up and reach for the door knob. "Hey Luhan, talk to me. I don't know what really happened between you and the boss and what made you do that but I don't care." Luhan's eyes widened in horror. How did Xiumin know about the boss and him? Wait, nothing really happened. The boss was just drunk the other day and he was almost but he escaped. So, what is Xiumin talking about? Luhan wondered. "I'm just worried about you." Xiumin added with a sigh. Luhan just froze on the other side of the door, unable to speak up or defend himself. "Did you eat Luhan? Do you wanna eat dinner with me? Come on, Luhan. Come out already... Hey, don't be mad at me too. I know you had your reasons why you stole something from the boss..."

...What? Luhan questioned in his mind, his jaw dropped in disbelief. Stole something? He didn't steal anything from the boss or from anyone! He was the one attacked by a thief and he's the unlucky boy who doesn't have anything else but his job! Was Xiumin fooling him around or something? Luhan could feel every part of him burning with anger.

"If you needed money, you could've told me... You know I am always here if you need-" Xiumin stopped, his small eyes turned wide when Luhan briskly opened the door. Xiumin noticed the dark circles underneath his bloodshot eyes. It was obvious that Luhan had been crying. His lips were also pale and dry, he looked dehydrated. "L-Luhan? You look-"

"Did he tell you that?" Luhan croaked, his hands bawled in fists. "I-It's not true!" Luhan cried. "He's lying!"

"Luhan..." Xiumin attempted to wipe his tears with his thumb but Luhan pushed him to the side with a loud thud.

"Get out of the way!" Luhan yelled before running down the stairs. "Luhan wait!" Xiumin called out and followed him. "Luhaaaaan!"

Sehun received a reply from his manager Suho in the middle of afternoon. Sehun frowned at the text.

Almost. Patience.

Of course, Suho had been saying the same thing since the other day. Sehun kept asking him the same question too. 

Did you find anything about that Luhan?

Almost two days. Sehun had always been an impatient child and he had been spoiled by the family who adopted him that he doesn't like to do anything by himself anymore, except acting and singing because to him that's the reason of living. So basically, when he wants something so bad, he would ask someone else to do it for him. If he wants pizza for dinner, he would order on the phone. Or if he feels like eating homemade kimchi, he would call his mom to bring it for him. And then there's this background search for Luhan and he makes his manager do it for him.

Sehun closed the message and put his phone back to his pocket. He looked at the mirror for a moment before going out to meet his girlfriend for dinner. On his way out, he meets Tao who also stays in the same building with him. Tao had stayed there longer than Sehun though, and they had long known that their apartments are just next to each other.  Sehun used to be a fan of Tao for his dramatic roles but living in the same building with an actor like him is offending his feelings now that he'd become famous and knowing that Tao is actually better in acting makes him feel so little. Sehun had tried to convince Suho to get him another apartment but Suho said it's too much work which leaves Sehun no other choice. Bear with it.

Soon Tao and Sehun just stood next to each other in the elevator. They always encounter each other like this but they don't really talk to each other, just a small smile or hand gesture for hello. The awkward atmosphere broke when Tao started the conversation. "So, how's script reading?" Sehun looked at Tao, his eyes narrowing. "Are you learning to love your character so far?" Tao had asked him, nicely. Sehun didn't really dislike Tao, but it was kind of weird to actually hear the boy talk to him so innocently and girly in personal just like how the boy acts on screen. It's just the same, as if Tao's acting is so natural he doesn't have to force himself to do it. And well, Sehun thinks he still has way more practice to go (and his tears on screen are always fake).

"Sure," Sehun replied looking on the ground. "My character's just perfect. It's always nice to play different roles. How about you?" Sehun wishes that he doesn't have to cry so much for the show though, it's too much work.

"It's nice, but it doesn't interest me as much." Tao sounded so disappointed with his role but his expression didn't change much from the moment he talked with Sehun, still wearing that same cold expression colder than Sehun's. He doesn't usually look that cold, but his tired eyes made him look like that. Sehun guessed that maybe the boy didn't sleep well or maybe the boy had been sleeping since morning and just woke up now. "Anyway, I'm glad I'll be working with you soon." Tao said before the elevator bolted and he stepped out in as fast as two seconds. "See you around."

Sehun drove to the restaurant afterwards. He usually drives for himself when it's his day off from work and manager. And most of the time he spends his free day eating out with Jiyeon in a private restaurant or go to her apartment to make out. Well they had only overdone it once since according to Jiyeon, she doesn't like being saying that it affects her career and she always end up ing when she's alone. Sehun didn't want to trouble her any longer, and besides he can always wait. And that's for sure. He was never really eager to touch her again after the first time. Although Jiyeon has a nice figure, Sehun just want a best friend and family-like relationship that doesn't involve touching or any private parts. He feels awkward, though his girlfriend doesn't need