The Hideout I Need

Chapter 1: I'm ready for yet another uneventful year

Beep beep! The sound of an alarm clock woke up a very tired Tae-young. Though he was tired, he woke up gracefully, almost like a princess out of a fairy tale movie. He turned off the alarm and laid there with open eyes for maybe a minute, staring at the ceiling. He was a little nervous, but that's alright, most people would be in his situation. Starting at a new school has never been easy, but he was sure that it would be okay. At least, he kept telling himself that.

It was amazing, his optimism. Or maybe it was confidence? There was just something about him, and everybody saw it. Some kind of aura that just exuded "I have my shit together" energy.

He got up and looked in the full-length mirror on his wall. He ruffled his hair for a moment, trying to make it look a little less messy. He made his bed quickly and swiftly and left his room so he could brush his teeth and wash his face.

It was weird to live alone now. He definitely enjoyed it, no doubt about that. He enjoyed living in a smaller place with no parents to nag at him. Of course, they were paying, so he could never say that to them. But being in a peaceful environment without his father audibly expressing his high expectations was a nice change from what it used to be like. He remembered the day he asked his father if he could live on his own. He also remembered being very surprised when he agreed. So they agreed on a little apartment at the other end of Seoul, which also meant switching schools. That's where Tae-young's worries came in.

It wasn't like he ever had trouble making friends in the past. In fact, he had tons. One could even say he was popular. He was smart, athletic and somehow was good at everything. Of course, he never admitted any of his skills himself which also made him incredibly humble. It was hard to find any flaw in him.

Most of his friends would joke about him being the main character of life. He would always have to awkwardly laugh and shrug it off. Because honestly, deep down he didn't agree with any of the praise he got.

His entire life was a competition with himself. Being good at things wasn't a skill but a necessity. He couldn't fail, because that would bring dishonor to himself, not to mention to his family. At least that's what his father always hinted at. He would never say it, but it always felt like a discipline if he wasn't good at something. Not everyone has an interest in instruments, sports, or even school; but Tae-young couldn't afford to not be interested in these things. He had to be good at them. Being good at things was a burden for him at times. But saying that his life was hard would only make other people feel worse — not to mention he'd sound like a douche — so he kept it to himself.

Tae-young washed his face with a foam cleanser his mother got for him as a farewell present. It smelled nice, kind of like lavender. He was momentarily entranced in a nice memory while washing it off his face, inhaling the scent. He patted his face dry with a towel and looked at himself in the mirror for a prolonged amount of time. He found himself nitpicking at himself, so he broke eye contact and left the room. No need to bring yourself down when you're already nervous.

Tae-young went into his kitchen and opened the fridge to see if there were any leftovers he could eat for breakfast. He had some leftover kimchi stew and decided to heat it in his microwave. While it heated up, he went in to change from his pajamas to his uniform, almost routinely. He fumbled a little with his tie because the uniform felt so new. It was a weird feeling. He was used to having used the same uniform for his previous two years of high school, so the fit was just completely different. His old uniform used to consist of gray pants, a black vest and tie, and a burgundy blazer. It was a weird change from that to the new navy-colored blazer and pants. The tie was even a mix of blue and yellow stripes, which just felt... odd. Surely he would get used to it, though. As he stared in the mirror, he heard the microwave beep. He came back to his senses and went out into the kitchen.