AEONIAN

chapter 1

"Take care at the hospital, alright?", I questioned my older brother who was getting his valuable things and pocketing them.

"I will, Hyerin. Don't forget to do well at school", he reminded me. "I already told you about the company and my job. If they ever lay a hand on you, do not fret to walk out on the job"

"I for sure won't fret, I'll let their face meet my fist", I said with confidence. In response, Jungwoo chuckled at my statement and tapped my shoulder. "You shouldn't punch them, you should kick them in the balls"

"Alright, noted", I chuckled as I left the tiny apartment we had. I headed down and walked to school, which was a 20 minute walk away from our place. I couldn't spend my money on transportation, as it was important for us to save every penny. "I hope that his condition doesn't get any worse"

☼

I was walking to my classroom, the usual thing to do. As soon as I opened the door, I saw my two boy best friends chatting and laughing. I sat on my chair which was in front of the two.

"Hyerin! You're here, just in time!", Chenle exclaimed as he looked at me with his gleaming eyes. "Did you know that Jisung just lost to me three times in a row?"

"Chenle! Don't embarrass me!", Jisung said with a raise in his tone, trying to cover Chenle's mouth to prevent him from saying more. I just laughed at their cuteness.

Jisung and Chenle were the two friends I had in this school. I wasn't really interested in befriending girls because they would always hangout outside at the mall or some place after school and I couldn't afford it. Every time I try to make a female friend, they'd ask to go out and I would always decline their offer. They'd end up leaving me in the end.

The two boys, on the other hand, weren't the type to go hangout. They would always say that they were busy and had something to do after school and I didn't mind it. As long as they were good friends, it doesn't really matter.

"Did you do the essay for English?", Jisung asked Chenle and that's when I realized that I haven't done it yet.

I got my English notebook and opened it to a clean empty page and looked at the time. There was fifteen minutes before the first subject would start.

"Hyerin didn't do it!", Chenle teased and bursted into laughter and Jisung joined in. They watched me go through the stress of doing an essay last minute. "I did that for an hour! I hope you can finish it in fifteen minutes!"

"Shut up!", I exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"Anyways, do you guys have time later?", Jisung asked. "I want to have a call with you guys later tonight, maybe help each other with our homework?"

"Alri— Wait, I remember I have something to do", I said in reply, remembering that I had to take the shift of my brother. Chenle and Jisung raised an eyebrow at me.

"What do you have to do at night?", Chenle asked. "Wait, I sense it to be something not appropriate. Don't tell me anymore"

"It's not!", I slightly shouted. "I have a part-time job to attend to"

"Since when? This is the first time I'm hearing about this", Jisung asked.

"My brother is sick and he has a contract with his company. His contract says that he can't miss more than two shifts. It sounds absolutely crazy", I explained. "He missed two shifts already. He slept through one and he missed the other one because he was too sick. We also really need the money"

"If you need money, you can always ask us and you can pay it back", Chenle said.

I shook my head, not wanting to be a burden to them.

"I'd rather not, but thank you for offering"

After that, I paid my attention to the essay that I needed to finish soon.

☼

It was now dismissal and I needed to hurry home to finish my assignments and go straight to that company. I had skipped lunch so that I could finish the homework that was given to me during the morning classes. Chenle and Jisung were forcing me to eat lunch but I strongly denied.

"Hyerin, come on. You have to eat something", Jisung said as he pulled on the strap of my bag. "I'll treat you, alright?"

"I'll be fine", I assured them. "It's not like it's the first time I've done this"

"But still...", Chenle tried to come up with an excuse to make me eat something.

"No, I can't waste time", I said and looked at them. "I'll go first, I need to finish all my homework before I can work. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

I sprinted off and headed towards my apartment and started to work on all the assignments due tomorrow but I couldn't finish one of them, which was an essay. We had to write down a three page essay about a certain topic. I looked up at the wall clock we had and read the time.

"Eight o' clock", I muttered. I looked at my incomplete homework and shoved it in a side bag that I had along with other materials I needed. "I guess I'll work on it during my break"

That's when I left the apartment and walked all the way to the company which was almost an hour away from where we lived. As I arrived, I checked the time and I had enough time to change into the uniform.

I made my way to the place where the janitor's room was at. I slowly opened the door and turned on the lights, peaking in to see that no one was inside. I quickly made my way to look for the locker of my brother and spotted it immediately. I took out the outfit I needed to wear.

"I really need to adjust this to my height and body shape", I muttered to myself as I put it on, over the clothes I was wearing. "I already feel like sweating"

I adjusted it so that it wasn't so baggy but it still didn't work out. I looked at the other things that Jungwoo kept in his locker and saw a family picture taped on the back of the door.

"We were so happy", I smiled bitterly, getting too emotional.

I closed the locker and locked it and turned around to leave the room to meet eyes with a boy who was lying against the wall beside the door. He was staring right at me. He wore a janitor's outfit as well and had his arms crossed.

"I was going to ask if you were lost, but it seems like you're taking someone's shift", he said in a deep yet annoyed tone as he scanned me from head to toe. I wasn't the type to get intimidated but he was another case. "Answer me, what are you doing here? Before I drag you out of this place by force"

[a/n: what time do y'all sleep? i sleep at around 9-10pm but when i'm writing chapters or if i have school i sleep at around 1-2am :D i'll be prewriting chapters soon so that when school starts i'm not that stressed <3 and if y'all have school and i update, don't read it yet and always prioritize your studies first!]