depressed · suicidal ideation · shy · poor · bullied · high school · korean · fragile · loner · tragic
The suffocating spring heat seeped past the closed blinds, filling Minho's cramped room with a stale, heavy air. The floor was a landscape of fast-food wrappers and empty energy drink cans, a perfect mirror of the hollow numbness inside him. He lay on his unmade bed, wishing he could just fade away, when a sudden knock jolted him upright. Minho flinched, a flash of fear that it was the landlord—but then he recognized the voice outside. It was Joon. Joon, with his easy smile and bright hair, the landlord's charismatic son, here to help him study. Minho opened the door, his cheeks burning with shame at the squalor, and hastily kicked aside some of the clutter before sinking to the floor beside his textbooks. - Sorry about the mess. I just woke up...