rookie mistake || j.hn

pity party for 1, please

TW: implied abuse

Being an extra means that nobody cares about tour home life. You could live in a dumpster and never take a shower and neither you nor your pungent smell would be relevant at the end of the day. Because only main characters get the privilege of pity.

If you couldn't guess by now, I was one of the people with a worse home life. My dad drank his life away, and let's just say that when he was drunk, people got hurt. Yet, no matter how many bruises I've ever gone to school with, they were never mentioned in the plot.

I mean, I'm just an extra, after all. I remember going home with Eric one day.

—

Chanhee couldn't come with us to get ice cream. Yeah, he and Changmin had to have a little talk about Eric, then about boy problems with both of their love lives.

Eric sighed, turning to face me as he walked backwards. "You know, you could spend the night at my house. My parents love you."

I rolled my eyes. "Your parents wouldn't even remember my face, not after that scene you had with them a few days ago."

"That doesn't change that you're like their second son that they forgot about–"

"Hey. I'm fine, I swear. If I sneak in quietly enough, he won't even notice that I came in. And if I'm lucky, he'll be passed out on the couch by now! I'll be okay, okay?"

Eric's bottom lip stuck out in a slight pout, but he nodded. "Text me when you get home."

I walked off, my smile fading as I pulled up my hood and put in my headphones. Music always made the walk home easier. But, no matter how much I dragged my feet and slowed my pace, I always ended up in front of the faded blue house that was mine.

Climbing onto the roof was easy enough, since there was a ladder at the side of the house. I took a deep breath once I got onto the roof, opening the window and slipping into the room.

I let out a sigh of relief when I successfully landed on the ground without a sound. I crawled into my bed and sent Eric a quick text before shutting my eyes.

That night, I dreamt of a paradise where us non-protagonists could be free.

—

That was a good night! Sometimes, my dad would leave the downstairs curtains open, and he'd see me climb up. Other nights, I'd accidentally lose my balance and fall. When he was really mad, he'd wait in my room for me.

Those nights were the bad ones.

I'm not usually one to complain about my home life, but it kinda pisses me off whenever Juyeon gets monologues of how "difficult" his life has been. He was raised with maids, riches, good looks, basically everything good. The only trouble he's ever encountered has been his homophobic rich dad and his own feelings for Changmin.

And you know what, I even feel bad for Changmin. The boy's been poor, his family's died, and he's working so many part-time jobs to keep his little sister in the hospital. Throughout all that, he's managed to remain a fucking angel, and then gets stuck with the ever-so privileged Lee Juyeon? Talk about bad luck.

Eric has a surprisingly okay home life, which is great because he needs something good in his life with the author always giving him sadness like it's candy. His parents are super loving, and they're just concerned about him.

Chanhee's home life is... complicated. I'll explain. Parents are kinda rare in this world. Since the world can only consist of characters who have been in scenes before, many parents have been background characters in streets. Chanhee's parent's have been mentioned in scenes before, but they're not exactly there. Thus, Chanhee's parents have no physical appearance, but you can hear them, and they can move things around. Like ghosts!

That's actually how Chanhee descended into self-awareness. He began to realize that he couldn't draw his parents when he tried to, because he couldn't figure out their physical appearance. I wish my dad was a ghost too.

So home situation are pretty different for everyone. Not that anyone cares, though. At the end of the day, we're all just useless characters there to support the main couple.

Being an extra is basically a job. I should get paid
~your overworked extra