Chapter Text
Jisung sighed softly. He stared at the laptop screen in front of him, glancing at the time every few minutes, counting down the time till he had to get this essay in. He had exactly two hours to have at least a full page sent to his professor, and all he had was a small paragraph, which didn't even give a proper introduction to his essay. Not to mention he also had to fully edit the whole essay once he's done.
There's no way he'll finish this in two hours.
"I'm screwed." Jisung muttered to himself quietly. He looked up from his screen, and noticed how all his friends seem to be doing fine at a fast pace. But then again, his friends were smarter than him. They were more experienced with collage essay's that he was. He was still a freshman. A struggling freshman at that.
He glanced to Jaemin, who was typing quickly into the keyboards, his coffee ready at his side when he feels tired. He turned to his head to Jeno, who was reading through notes, probably studying for some test. He looked to Donghyuck, who was writing notes in a notebook. There was papers scattered everywhere around him, his laptop right in front of him as he read the information.
He let out another sigh. They were clearly way better at this collage stuff. He felt like dropping out already. It's only been a few months, and he's having a hard time.
Jisung was an English Major, because his parents wanted him to be. He doesn't really have a problem with that. But he would rather be working with the performing art students. He's passed by that building everyday, and it looks fun. The theatre students were always busy, the musicians he would see made him wish he was there. But the dancing team always made his heart skip a beat. He loved dance. He's been practicing dancing since he was a kid. He's joined dance teams when he was in middle school and throughout high school. But after collage came, his parents wanted him to become an English major. Jisung being the respect son he was, agreed.
Jisung got up from his spot from the table, and told the others he was going to get a coffee from the café across the street from the library they were studying at. No one said anything. All their focus was on their work, and only their work. Jisung grabbed his phone and left the area to go to the front door of the library.
When he left, the cold wind that blew past him made himself relax. He felt like he was going to suffocate in there.
He walked across the street, where the familiar Café was located. He opened the door, and the little bell rang from above the door, signalling a costumer has come in.
Jisung looked to the cashier, and saw Jungwoo, a person he sat next to in one of his morning classes. He was a tall guy, with soft features. He was really kinda to Jisung. When the others were busy, Jungwoo would hangout with him, or help him in anyway possible. He liked being around Jungwoo.
"Ah, Jisung! It's nice of you to come by and visit me." Jungwoo said with a teasing smile. Jisung only smiled back, walking closer to the cashier.
"I'm here to order an iced Americano, and a toasted bagel with strawberry cream cheese." Jisung said with a soft smile. Jungwoo clicked just tongue, but put the order in. The place wasn't busy today, which was great for Jisung. He didn't have time to wait. He needed to finish that essay. He can't afford to fail the class.
"You look stressed. Is everything alright?" Jungwoo asked, typing in the order as he speaks. The young boy let's out a dramatic sigh, rubbing his face with his hand as he thought about how much work still had to be done. After he finishes the essay, he would also have to write about the book he was reading for his literature class. The problem with that is that he hasn't even finished the book. He still had 6 chapters left, and the assignment was due on Thursday. Today is Sunday. He was doomed for sure.
"Collage is terrible. It's always work, and stress. Then back to work, then more stress! It's like there's no time for me to think. My life revolves around getting assignments done on time!" Jisung cried out. He honestly couldn't take this. He doesn't know how everyone else got used to it, but he's still not used to this crazy schedule.
"I also have a part time job to worry about! Life is just too stressful." Jisung muttered with a frown. He was tired. He sometimes regrets coming here. He should have taken a year break before coming here. He was not ready for this lifestyle.
"Take time to think for yourself once in awhile. Don't overthink about your job, or your assignments. Also, try to get the work done right when it's given to you. That way, you won't be stressing about getting it in on time." Jungwoo told him. He then quickly told Jisung the price of how much he would have to pay for his order.
Jisung fished out his wallet from his pocket, and took out a ten dollar bill, and handed it to Jungwoo, who grabbed it. "I'm just a shitty student to be honest. I might drop out, or convince my parents to allow me to switch majors. English is pressuring." Jisung said with a sigh. After his mini breakdown, he finally felt better. He glanced around the place making sure no one was listening. He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed all the other customers minding their own business.
"I think it's best you maybe talk to your parents about it. It's your life, and you're already living without them and making your own life decisions. They have to understand that they can't control you all the time." Jungwoo said softly. He handed Jisung his change. The boy grabbed it, and put it in his wallet.
"But they're scary. Especially when it comes to my education. If I'm not the best of the best, they'll come for my neck." Jisung muttered with a frown. He tries to understand his parents. He tries to look at it from their point of view. He really does. But sometimes he thinks they don't care about his passion.
"Anyway, I have to get back. I have an hour and half to get this essay done, or else I'll get a zero on the assignment." Jisung said to the elder. He grabbed his items, and quickly bid Jungwoo a goodbye, telling him he'll see him tomorrow morning.
When Jisung walked out, his phone rang. He reached in his pocket, and pulled it out. He looked at the caller id, which said 'hyuck' he picked up the phone, and pressed it to his ear.
"Yo, where the hell did you go?" Donghyuck asked with confusion in his voice. He could hear some papers being shuffled around in the back around, and some keys being smashed.
"I went to get coffee. I told you guys, but you weren't listening." Jisung said with a sigh. He continued to walk, being careful while crossing the street. Even though collage was hard, he didn't want to die yet.
"Well hurry back. We're gonna go to Jeno and Marks apartment to finish studying. The library is getting more crowded." Donghyuck said through the phone. Jisung hummed in agreement. He then hung up after telling the older male he would be there in a minute.
When he made it back to the table where everyone was sitting at, it looked like everyone was getting packed up to leave. He also noticed how loud it was getting in the library. He walked to where he was sitting and put his laptop in my backpack, and grabbed his notebook and other papers he had out and put them in his messy bag. After he was all packed, everyone else was ready to go. So they all made their way out of the library.
They decided to go study at Jeno's because he had a big apartment, and it was the only place that was walking distance. The time was 5pm, and he had till 6:30pm to get his work in. He was just going to have to wing it and write none stop and hope he doesn't have to edit so much. He made a mental note to write properly so he wouldn't have to edit.
After a 10 minute walk, they finally arrived at the apartment. Jeno let everyone in, telling them to get comfortable.
Mark was Jeno's roommate. Mark was on the basketball team, and he was most likely practicing with the other team members. Which is why he wasn't here. Jisung settled down at the coffee table, instantly grabbing his laptop. He needed to finish this dumb essay.
After what seemed like years, Jisung finally finished. He wrote a whole page, all in English. He thought it was good enough, considering he was only a freshman. He checked the time, which read 6:24pm. He smiled as he still had time to hand it in. He logged into his student account, then sent his essay to the professor. After that, he let out a sigh, and felt like sleeping. He looked around the room, and noticed how Jeno and Donghyuck were eating on the couch while watching some show on the tv, while Jaemin was sitting at the dining table, still typing away on his laptop.
Slowly, Jisung rested his head on his arms, telling himself he was only going to close his eyes, and not sleep. He still needed to read that book. But as time went on, the boy fell into a slumber, his body relaxing as sleep took over his body.
"Yo, kid!"
"Hey! Kid! Get up!"
"WAKE UP!" Jisung flinched awake. He looked up, and noticed he wasn't in Jeno's living room anymore. He was in a white room. No, not a room. It was more like... a place that was white. There was no walls, or ceiling. There was just endless white surrounding him. He seemed to be sitting on a black wooden chair, and there was a white table that he was resting his head on.
He looked in front of him and saw a boy. His skin was pale, his hair was a dark blonde colour, his clothes looked nice. Expensive. He kind of looked like someone who would be famous.
"Yo kid, can you hear me?" The guy asked with a smile. But Jisung couldn't understand. The guy wasn't speaking in korean. He was speaking in Chinese, which he did not understand a single word to.
"I can't understand Chinese." Jisung said in korean. The boys eyes lit up at that, he quickly grabbed onto Jisung's hands, and looked his straight in the eyes.
"You're korean!" The boy said in korean. Jisung looked at the boy in confusion. He slowly pulled his hands away from this random guy, not knowing who the hell this guy was. He's never seen him in his life.
"Uh, who are you?" Jisung asked with a frown. He was kind of getting creeped out. This place was already creepy as it was, but the boy made it even creeper. He's acted as if he's never seen a korean person before. Or a person in general.
"Oh, my name is Chenle! I'm from China. But not the the China your familiar with." That statement made Jisung furrowed his eyebrows together. This whole thing going on didn't make sense. It was like he was Dreaming.
"What do you mean by that?" Jisung asked with a frown. Chenle smiled, and leaned back in the chair he was sitting on.
"Whats your name?" Chenle asked, eyeing Jisung up and down, trying to figure out if this boy was real or not. Last time this happened, the person wasn't real, which made Chenle upset.
"My name is Jisung."
"Well Jisung, sit back and relax. I'll explain everything that's going on." Chenle said with a chuckle. He leaned forward and smirked to the boy who was for sure real. He was 100% sure this Jisung kid was real.