STORIES BY YOUTH 𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬

" ᴛᴡᴏ "

It took a while for Yukhei to finally snap out of his daze and realise his afternoon class was over, and letting out an internal groan when seeing he was the only left in the classroom, too.

"Yukhei!" A voice calls out and when he looks up, he sees his cousin, Wong Kunhang. Both go to the same university, but unlike the male himself, Yukhei didn't live in the city and instead only came by every once in a while for a class. "I saved you notes." He gently shoved a notepad onto the boy's chest.

The latter sighs in relief and grins. "What would I be without you? I don't know."

"Lost." They joke.

   The cousins walked out of the large classroom, strolling down the now fairly empty halls of the university. It would always take a month for them to see each other, after all, those were the only times Yukhei would come to Seoul. He would come by once a month, just like Jaemin and Mark.

   If not, Kunhang would go back to their town to visit them briefly, like his mother would always ask of him.

   By the time they finally walked out of the large building, the sun was setting.

"By the way, hows Doyeon?" Asked the cousin enthusiastically, nudging Yukhei with a knowing grin. "It's been a while since I've seen her with you, what's going on?"

"Ah, it's — uh..." Yukhei trailed off awkwardly before trying his best to make his smile not look wry. "Well, we've been talking."

"Just talking?" Frowned Kunhang.

   Yukhei shrugs. "She and I have both been busy."

"With what?"

"Life, Kunhang, life." Yukhei tries to get him to move on from the topic. "Life makes you busy."

   The male eventually gave up on trying to get further information, as much as they were close, he knew how his cousin was always stuck up when it came to talking about his relationships. Almost like something he was trying to hide.

   But Kunhang was no fool, he knew Yukhei like the back of his hand, they were raised together and he'd seen it all. He could already tell something was wrong but didn't want to be negative about it.

   After all, Doyeon and Yukhei have been dating for the past 8 months, he knew how they were both fond of each other. Or so he thinks.

"Oh god, look at the time, I need to run!" Suddenly exclaimed Yukhei while patting his cousin on the shoulder. "I'll catch up with you later, call me if anything you know I'm always available."

"Of course, you run to catch that train." Chuckles Kunhang as he watched the male start to run. "And don't forget to send your mum my greetings!"

"I never do!"

______

   Train rides from Seoul to home are always exhausting, Yukhei would always arrive late when coming back from the city, and as much as he knew his mother would want him to pass by, he wouldn't want to bother her at such a late time.

   The tall male sighs out loud, but barely anyone paid attention, there was barely anyone around. What to do, what to eat, he hums while walking down to the store area of his district. He felt guilty, he could already hear his mother scolding him not to eat ramyun, especially as it is his last meal of the day and so he needed to eat properly.

   Unknowingly, he whined. He didn't know what to do.

"The heck..." He walked into a convenience store, he wasn't going to buy ramyun, his mother's imaginary voice was already starting to give him a headache, he was going to buy at least a sandwich or even better, something that he could use to make food at home.

   Walking through the aisle, he pulls his lips into a tight line. Something easy and quick to make, all he knew what to do cook properly and that didn't take much time to do was eggs with rice, cook some chicken to go with it and a beer and it's a whole five-star meal.

   Just at the thought of it, his mouth waters, and he nodded to himself, agreeing and accepting the idea.

   When he walked into the refrigerator aisle to buy for himself at least five cans of beer, he found himself standing in place when seeing a girl.

   No, he hadn't been frozen on his tracks because of how he saw a girl, he'd seen many throughout the day, and not only how it was late and that she was out now, he thinks it's normal. Look at him, he's out in the convenience store and it's past bed time as his mother would say, almost midnight.

   Yukhei had been more shocked with the fact that she was crying.

   She was tall, wearing a baggy jean jacket and a white cropped top beneath it, her hair was up in a ponytail and her bangs styled curly. She looked like model with her outfit and appearance.

   But she was crying.

   The stains that her tears left with blank ink from her makeup trailed down her cheeks and it was clear how she was trying to wipe them away, but they kept coming.

   Yukhei pondered whether to help or not. As he carefully got closer, he felt his nose almost block up with the smell of alcohol that reeked from her.

"... Miss?" The boy called out hesitantly while also, at the same time reaching for the fridge door. He still wanted to get his cans of beer. "Are you... um, okay?"

   Slowly, the girl looked up at him. Sniffing as she furiously tried to wipe more of the tears. "Do I look like I'm okay?" She retorted angrily. "I'm crying, I'm a mess, everything is fucking fine, thank you very much."

"Clearly," snorted Yukhei. "crying in a convenience store at what — two minutes past midnight? You must be feeling over the rainbow." He made eye contact with her, and in his own mind, he was already killed and dug ten feet under ground.

   He went silent before looking away again. "... Sorry..." He pulls out the five cans of beer he had been wishing for. "Was it a tough day?"

   The girl also went silent, he looked her way over his shoulder to see that only her shoulders were trembling and she then crouched to the ground, having the boy's heart drop to the pit of his stomach thinking she passed out until he saw that she was just sat down and now hugging herself.

"I'm sorry." She silently cries. "It's been a tough couple of months." So not just a day, days, added Yukhei mentally. He nods with a hum. "Everything's been so hard lately and I just don't know what I'm doing, you know?"

"Right — do you want a beer?" He offered her. She looked up at him and she starts to cry even more. He can pay it all later.