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0.3

"Hold on; so you punched him?"

"Repeatedly."

"And he didn't retaliate?" As he said those words, my cheek throbbed a little. I turned over, pressing it into the cold wood of the floor, because, man, that guy may be a dick but his fist was something else - even when blindsided by my own. I nodded, eyes fluttering shut as Kihyun held his fist out for me to spud him. "I don't blame you, I would beat him into the ground - canIhavetherestofyourramen?"

"I-" I suddenly sat up, holding the container defensively. Kihyun shrugged at the rushed move, reaching for a dumpling. "I was going to but they held me back. I feel like shit now, like how am I meant to survive without work? I mean, 'guess now I can focus on class but what's that gonna be of use if I'm just gonna be a starved carcass by the time I graduate Law School-"

"That's fine, I'll stick by for a little longer. Plus I'm glad you did that - someone had to check him, even if it's costing you your job," he said, not so discreetly lifting ramen from my container into his mouth. I rolled my eyes, sliding him the rest. "you hate it anyway."

"Yeah. But I don't want to burden you even more; I'll go job hunting tomorrow." I sighed, falling back full & defeated from the glorious takeaway Kihyun brought home.
When I opened the door, he was laying on the floor before the coffee table, staring dramatically at the wall & claiming how he was short minutes from passing out, mumbling something about having to wait for me before he could tuck in when I asked him. He then quickly threw a towel over (at) me and began to eat - roughly 45 minutes had passed & now here we were, tearing at the seams and probably ready to ooze ramen broth if kicked hard enough.

"Did you like—" he paused to groan. "forget an umbrella or something?"

"Yeah. But this guy saved me at the bus stop, he paid for my ticket because my bus pass fell into a puddle," I replied. "he lives a few floors up, actually."

"Huh, what are the odds?"

"His name is Jooheon, if I remember correctly." At this, Kihyun's face scrunched, a faint line between his eyebrows. "What?"

"Sounds familiar. Carry on."

"Yeah, he's known for having fallen down he stairs a couple years ago and breaking his arm, so yeah," I hauled myself to my feet, stretching. "why do I feel so comatose after I eat good?"

"Because your body is basically working thrice as hard to digest everything your fat ass just ate-" I silenced him by throwing a slipper at his chest. As he looked at me like I had sacrificed his pet, I shook my head, dragging myself towards the bathroom.

I let the water warm up, I peeling off each layer of damp clothes before stepping into the warm stream of water. It burned gently against the small cut on my cheek from the fight, but it relaxed my muscles.
Once I was drying myself I heard light footsteps across the landing, Kihyun yelling something about going to bed, his brief pit stop making the corridor smell so strongly of his chamomile tea, probably enough to tranquilliser a whole gorilla.

I wrapped a towel around my hips, falling into autopilot mode whilst slipping into my pyjamas and collapsing into bed without a second thought, only a pent-up, exasperated sigh.

***

"Are you sure that you'll be okay home alone? I can ask for the day off-"

"Hell no. You started working there literally 3 weeks ago, you can't afford to do that,"
I sighed, shoving my hands into my pockets. "I'll probably just rotate between overwatch and sleeping before I go food shopping so, yes, I'll be okay. I won't answer the door to any strangers and won't overdose on sleeping pills, trust me, sleep is the most abundant thing in my life right now."