Stereotypes | Lee Minho

1

Everyone! This is your new classmate Choi Minseo." The teacher said in a monotone voice as if he couldn't care less who was standing there beside him.

Standing in front of a new class was one of the worst feelings for me. I could feel all the other student's eyes on me, see how their lips slowly formed into grins and how they turned to their friends and started whispering. Though they weren't whispering as silently as they thought they were.

"Oh man, why do we always have to get the ugly students to join our classes?" One of them said, making their seatmate laugh.

"Here we go again," I thought. By now I figured that ignoring these kinds of words was the best I could do. But sometimes I couldn't help but feel like a little kid in primary school again after I had to change schools for the first time. Starting that year, school felt like hell and I found out how mean children could actually be.

I slightly shook my head, trying to not get lost in these kinds of thoughts. My new teacher announced a few other things before he finally gave me permission to sit down. The only free seat was in the back of the classroom. A boy was sitting, or well lying on the table next to me. He had his arms crossed and his head resting on top of them.

>time skip<
As soon as the bell rang at the end of the day, all students hurried to pack their things. Not even ten minutes later, the room was almost empty. The only person left was the boy in the seat next to me. I had already figured out that he was asleep a while ago.

For a second I considered just leaving him there, but I eventually tapped his arm carefully.

"Hey, uhm excuse me. School is over. Wake up." He lifted his head and glared at me. There was a bit of confusion on his face. Well, seems like he really managed to sleep through the entire school day.

His eyes were dark brown. I could clearly see dark circles underneath them and felt kinda bad for waking him up. It seemed like he really needed this nap. Then again I remembered that we were at school.

For some reason, I couldn't look away from his eyes. I just stared back at him. Without saying a word he broke eye contact, took his bag and left the room. I was left behind, standing there dumbfounded. "Nice to meet you too," I mumbled.

The notification tone of my phone brought me back to reality, where I was the only student standing in the classroom.

I took my phone out of my pocket. The message was from my mother

Mum
Hey sweetie, you need to help me in the restaurant today. Come home right after school!

I groaned. Today was my only free day, where I didn't have to go to work. But it seemed like my parents wouldn't let me rest.

My parents owned a little restaurant near my new school. We moved into the apartment above recently. Since my old school was too far away now, I had to change again.

My mother was already waiting for me at the entrance when I arrived. Everyone always described my mother as such a kind and warm-hearted person. My siblings and I never really got to see that side of her often though.

"Finally! You are here." She glanced at her watch impatiently. Before I could even think of doing something, she took my hand and brought me to the kitchen.

"One of our employees couldn't come today, so you have to wash the dishes." With that said she left me alone and went back to the entrance, already welcoming the next customers. I sighed and looked at the pile of dirty plates and glasses. Washing dishes was one of my least favourite tasks at the restaurant.

Next to the door hung a piece of paper with the employee's shifts. I moved a bit closer, to see when I was going to be released from here. According to the paper, the next person's shift started in about one and a half hours. Yep, I definitely wouldn't get out of here any time soon.

By now I accepted the fact that my parents would use me as an employee every now and then. While washing dishes, I had enough time to think about my day. It actually wasn't that bad. During lunch, I was able to eat in peace. Sure, a few students gave me some weird looks and I could hear some making fun of me, but it didn't bother me much. Without realising my thoughts also went back to the boy from my class. I didn't know his name. Actually, I didn't know the name of anyone in my class.

I left the restaurant almost two hours later. The first thing I heard, when I closed the door of our apartment, behind me were my two younger siblings, yelling at each other. It was so normal to me at this point that I would be more concerned if there wouldn't be any noise.

I went straight to my room, took my headphones, and changed my clothes into something more comfortable. I was always listening to music while studying or doing my homework. But I wasn't in the mood to do either of these things right now. Instead, I took my sketchbook out of my bag. Recently, I started to work on a new drawing of my family. I wanted to give it to my parents for their 7th wedding anniversary. Right now it was all but finished.