Paint It Black [ ChanBaek ]

1

Chanyeol flickered his eyelids open to a barely lit room, the drapes were pulled blocking any daylight. He doesn’t even want to wake up, his nightmares never seem to leave their presence even after he is wide awake.

Stealing a glance at the alarm clock Chanyeol reaches out to turn off the annoyingly loud buzzer. Harshly rubbing at his eyes with bruised palms, he winces. He doesn’t even remember how he got the bruises not that it matters nothing does.

Rolling off the bed, he stumbles to the small bathroom in the corner. The coldness of the peeled-off vinyl flooring stings his feet, and the enamel has chipped in the sink, opening the faucet he splashes water on his face to get rid of the sleepiness, he twists the base of the tap once more to stop the leaking water but it doesn’t work.

Sighing Chanyeol watches his reflection in the tarnished mirror sparkling from the slight morning light. His sullen face stares back at him, his cheekbones are more prominent, and his hair probably needs trimming as it almost touches his once bright eyes which look lifeless now.

Freshening up he slips into a pair of jeans and a worn-out t-shirt. He opens his fridge in a vain attempt knowing he has no milk. Chanyeol is running late anyway he has no time to dwell on the idea of a healthy breakfast so he ends up eating cocoa puffs and washing them down with some stale orange juice. His almost empty kitchen begs him for a trip to the supermarket but right now he needs to leave for his job.

If arranging and stacking books on shelves in a dingy bookstore counts as a steady job then well that’s what he does for a living. Chanyeol doesn’t exactly hate the place, they never have many customers anyway the money is just enough for him to get by.

“Chanyeol you need to smile, the customers won’t buy books in a store if the seller looks so disinterested...it gives off a wrong vibe you know” the bookshop owner, his boss speaks up from the cash counter.

“Sure” Chanyeol mutters under his breath.

It’s not the first time he is told to look happy as if being chipper is going to sell the badly written romance books Chanyeol thinks. So he puts on his best fake smile, it’s more tiring than carrying around the heavy book cart along the store but he needs the job.

He wanted to be a writer and now he works in a bookstore - the irony.

He waits till Jongdae comes for his shift, he is one of those guys who are born to work in retail. He has a cheeky smile and a warm presence both of which Chanyeol lacks. He doesn’t even know why the owner had hired him in the first place. Handing over the work to Jongdae he leaves.

This is one of the reasons he likes his workplace it is close to his apartment, and Chanyeol trudges along the pavement at a sedate pace lighting up a cigarette with his zippo lighter. Taking a few long, slow draws he slowly blows the smoke out his mouth and nose. He doesn’t exactly enjoy the aftertaste, but the nicotine rush is a small high, a light-headed pleasant hazy feeling that he likes.