𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 | CHANGLIX

ONE.

Changbin laid in his bed. Face stuffed into his pillow as he shoved himself around the mattress, pushing his legs around in an attempt to control his frustration. He had to stand up, but wished to ignore the need to do so for as long as he could stand. He went through another exhausting day of college yesterday anyway— so why would he even feel a single urge to start another day when his body hadn't even processed the previous?

Several rather loud knocks were to be heard on his studio's front door. Sighing in annoyance, he shot his head up, eyes firmly closed.

'Not again,' the raven haired male mumbled under his breath in a rather self-pity indulged tone. He stood up from his bed, expectant of a person he had seen a few times too many as of recent.

He trudged— barely tilting his lazy feet from the floor as he rubbed his face while heading up to his front door. He took ahold of the doorknob, let out a final sigh, before opening the door to be hit with the confirmation of his expectations.

"Seo Changbin, you have not paid your rent for yet another week," the woman in front of him announced with an irritated tone to her voice, not even bothering to take the time to greet him after these weeks of continuously repeating the same words over and over again.

The woman standing in front of Changbin was the apartment complex's landlord, Miss Kim. She was standing there with an expression that could be described as a boiling pot ready to scold the young student for what felt like the hundredth time— to her, at least.

However, do not misunderstand. Miss Kim hadn't taken a disliking for the occupant of this particular living space after those hundreds— and still counting— warnings. In fact, she did wish the best for him. Though, after months of having declined her request to pay the studio's rent, she couldn't resist starting to feel irritated with him.

"Miss Kim, I had promised to pay rent right away— if I were to find a job— every since, like, last week already," Changbin answered as he rubbed his squinted eyes with the back of his hand.

"Yes, I understood that very well. Though, I doubt you've been doing any job hunting at all, am I correct?" she fired back, both hands placed on her hips, as the younger awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, avoiding eye-contact.

She had made a fair point; he didn't.

Miss Kim sighed, "I'm disappointed, Changbin. I very well understand that you aren't able pay off all the rent within a single week, but you could've at least tried to find something, even if it's not much."

It went silent. The impatient woman cocked her head to the side and spoke up. "Why don't you just move back in with your parents if you cannot afford a place for yourself?" She then asked as the raven heard boy shook his head in annoyance.

"Impossible," he blurted out. This same conversation again. How many times had it been? Certainly enough for him to wish he could pull his hair out from annoyance. Though, if he was honest, he had no reason to be annoyed by her, because he had been the cause of both their problems, thus should he be the one to fix it.

"... Look. I'll start searching for a job in the upcoming week, and then pay up as soon as I can. Is that acceptable?" Changbin offered, finally meeting eyes with the stern woman, she nodded her head in agreement.

"Very well. And this time around, I'll really have to kick you out of this place if you won't. It's time to stop wishing for everything to solve on it's own, though, I'm quite sure I shouldn't have to be teaching you such things at your age," she then lastly warned him as she walked off, making Changbin sigh in relief as he closed the door with a thud. 'Thank God, that's over.'

. . .

"You mentioned you don't have any prior catering experience, no?" the man tried to confirmed as he leaned back into his dusty leather chair, grabbing ahold of his pen as he held it underneath his chin in thought.

He sighed as he come forward. "I'm sorry, Changbin. You seem like a good kid, but, this restaurant is a place that holds it's own pride, and I can't afford to have anyone making any mistakes while in the busiest time of the season," said the owner of the restaurant Changbin had decided to apply at.

"I understand, Sir. Then, I'll take this as my que to leave," the latter said as he bowed before leaving the small office, walking outside with annoyance plastered on his face as this was the last restaurant he knew that was taking applies for new employees.

"And?" his best friend, Hwang Hyunjin, who was waiting outside asked him with an anticipating tone, "Did you get hired?" He had hoped for him to get accepted, so he would quit becoming so frustrated over literally any minuscule, possibly irritating thing that passed by them.

"Nope," Changbin answered as he walked right past him. "God, how is it possible for someone to be this bad at finding a job? Not to mention, i'm this economy," Hyunjin whined as he hurried after his friend, wrapping his arm around the smaller's shoulder as he squeezed him into his side.

"God may know. Even so, you're certainly not helping with your so-on-point commentating of my not-so-on-point job hunting quest, you know that?" Changbin glared. "Anyways, back to the real problem I'm facing is right now. What will I do now that my plan has failed again?" Changbin halted his steps as he turned to his friend, trying to at least sound a little less annoyed, for his so-called "poor friend's sake".

"Hmm..." The taller thought as he looked across the street they were walking on, trying to gain any inspiration for his oh-so sad friend's sake.

He then caught sight of a small day-care on the opposite side of the street as an idea popped straight into his head. As if Cupido had just struck an arrow of well-defined wisdom right into his mind. Though that's exactly not what Cupido is supposed to do, is it? "A friend of mine told me that small day-care over there has some folders lying about that babysitters use to look for new children to babysit," Hyunjin started explaining as he grabbed the raven haired boy by his right arm and pulled him across the street, stepping right into the building.

Changbin mumbled some complaints as he got dragged along by the taller's ideas. "I refuse to work with chil—," he started. "Oh stop complaining and trust me on this one. I bet it'll be easy money once you get used to it," Hyunjin cut him off as they stormed into the crèche.

...