Chapter Text
A lamp sits on the bedside table, illuminating the otherwise dark room. The fan serves as white noise as it ruffles Euijoo’s hair.
He just layed down, an arm flung around to cover the top half of his face as he thinks. He’ll have another stressful, exhausting day at work tomorrow, and he just wants to relax a bit before he drifts off to sleep, catching barely enough before his alarm goes off and he’s stumbling out of bed to take a quick shower he’ll barely be conscious during. A sigh escapes his mouth as tears start to prick at his eyes, nose already starting to tingle with unpleasant tickles.
He sits up, quickly wiping away the tears before they fall. It’s times like these he wished he could’ve stayed a kid, or even in high school.
Anything but the scary world ahead.
He pulls open the drawer on his bedside table, reaching inside as he retrieves a leather notebook.
Euijoo has been writing in this notebook, tales of him and his friends as children. Not his actual friends. Well, maybe one. His close friend Jo was also written in the confines of these pages. He’s really the only friend Euijoo has now. The only one who didn’t stop talking to him after they all graduated and move on. The only one who didn’t leave Euijoo.
Jo did tons of digital art, always shared new pieces with Euijoo, who enthusiastically received the messages. Art was Jo’s comfort, something to look forward to. Something to maybe even turn into a career.
Euijoo wished he could look into the future like Jo can. Jo even did things outside of his comfort level, and Euijoo was so scared to step out of his own.
This was his comfort. Writing about himself as a child, playing with characters he doesn't even really know. A story with no ending, different adventures, different places, different creatures. A place where loss and fear aren’t a thing.
Euijoo turns the pages, the soft smell of the leather wafting into his face as he searches the page he left off on. He writes a bit before his hand begins to cramp and his eyelids get heavy.
The pen makes a small thud when he tosses it on the notebook, putting them both in the drawer before he switches off the lamp and attempts to fall asleep.
As soon as he closes his eyes though, his heart beats fast. He opens his eyes and sits up immediately to take breaths, hopefully normalizing the seemingly abnormal rate of his heart. This doesn’t seem to help, in fact, it just feels like it begins to beat faster.
With a shaky hand, he reaches for his phone, unplugging it from the charger before he opens up youtube to play a few quick videos to distract himself. The light from the device lights up his face, and he squints for a second before his eyes adjust.
Around 30 minutes later, that drowsy feeling comes back and he realizes he spent too much time on the app. This time, he puts on a video so he doesn’t hear the distracting sound of his heart. It’s just a video of someone reading aloud a book that he likely won't be paying attention to.
Eventually, he musters up the courage, closes his eyes, and drifts off to sleep.
Behind his eyelids are a combination of fluffy clouds, golden stars, and unfamiliar faces. He feels safe for just a moment before the blaring sound of his alarm goes off, signaling the start of a new day.
Sitting up, Euijoo rubs his hands against his face, blinking as he combs his bedhead with his fingers languidly. He stretches slowly before he stands, grabbing a fresh pile of clothes and heading to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth.
He makes sure he has everything before he heads out the door to the car that had already been warming up, and he sets out to work.
It’s a nearly 40 minute long drive to the restaurant when he pulls into a parking spot behind the building. He pulls out his phone and plugs his ears with his airpods, preferring to work with music blasting.
When he walks in through the backdoor, he sees Jo mixing some batter that smells slightly like cinnamon. Upon seeing Euijoo, Jo takes a gloved hand, grabbing a tasting stick from the counter before he dips it into the batter and shoves it in Euijoo’s direction.
“Good morning,” he greets after Euijoo takes the stick from him and pops it into his mouth. He smacks his lips for a few seconds to taste the batter, and then nods approvingly at the large bowl in Jo’s hands.
“Tastes good,” he replies. He feels himself moving easier now, happy to see a friend as he clocks in.
Rounding the corner, a coworker yells out “corner, hot” as he quickly dodges a chef with a searing hot pan in hand. He hides himself in the dishwashing pit, pulling on a black rubber apron and some gloves as he takes a look at what he’s starting with.
Since it’s a day Jo is working, his friend had washed some of the stuff he had been using, along with a bucket of hot water sitting on the floor to soak the tools while Euijoo wasn’t on the clock yet. Euijoo smiles. He really appreciates when Jo does that, seeing as he’s taking time to make Euijoo’s work easier.
He sighs in preparation before dipping his hands in the now lukewarm water to clean the utensils.
It’s been 4 hours since he has been washing dishes, and his stomach started growling around an hour ago. He clocks out for lunch, taking off the apron and throwing the gloves away. He sits in the back, at the bakers station, a plate filled with a burger and fries one of his coworkers– the chef earlier – had taught him to make.
Movement catches Euijoo’s eye, and he looks over just as Jo slides a cinnamon roll over to him with a coy smile. He utters a small ‘thank you’ before he digs his face into his burger to take a bite.
After that, time passed quickly. With Jo having left and said goodbye a couple hours before, he cleaned up as fast as possible and headed back home.
Maybe he worked a bit harder today, maybe it was something else, but tonight, sleep drug him down faster than he expected.
Suddenly, he hears the sounds of thousands of twinkling stars.