- SEQUEL TO NAIR IN THE UNDERWORLD-
"I felt like I wanted to live every time I was with you."
...
In which Raphael, who dreams of a quiet life, tutors Junya Park for a recommendation letter.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"One year and you get a recommendation letter to any place you want. All you have to do is hang out with this kid as part of the Bleeding Hearts program."
... "Why do they call them bleeding hearts? Did anyone even research into what that means?"
"What the fuck does it mean?"
"That you feel sorry for poor people or... that you're a liber-"
"Agh," Raphael yelled covering his ears, "keep all that on Twitter. Don't even wanna hear it."
"It's not called Twitter anymore," Brielle sulked after Raphael cut her off.
She had opinions on the university calling a volunteering program 'Bleeding Hearts'. Very strong opinions. And as a politics major, she wanted to talk about it.
It just happened that the people she hung out with never wanted to hear anything remotely political.
"I'm with Raphael," Sabrina added still chewing her food. "The momma called it Twitter so it's still Twitter. X just sounds like a nefarious name or an Onlyfans thing."
"Nefarious," Yohan repeated with a raised eyebrow, "that's a big word for Elmo."
"I'm learning bitch bitch," Sabrina smiled. "This is why my dad pays these folks all this money."
Raphael raised his eyebrow drinking his water.
Shouldn't you already know these things before making it to college?
"Anyways, thoughts on the program Ael?"
"I need the recommendation so, it is what it is," Raphael smiled shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I'll be besties with this kid and dip."
Raphael was the perfect person by anyone's standard.
He was tall, gorgeous, had the perfect smile, brains, friendly, fun- he was everyone's crush. Girls made it their life mission to be in his space.
What most didn't know was that Raphael was just going through the motions.
His athletic prowess started and ended at him being a normal gym goer. He was tone deaf and couldn't follow a beat to save his life.
As a kid raised in the Bronx with five other siblings, his only option was to be smart. And it had to be exceptionally smart, not smart for a kid raised in the Bronx.
Raphael was tired of sharing a room back at home. And he was too grown and tall for that now.
The only thing his father had given him were his good looks and his talent with machines. People who had workshop classes with Raphael often thought he was a magician with machines.
They just listened to him.
Raphael wanted to make money so he could spend his retirement doing nothing. Or maybe if he was lucky, he could retire early and do nothing.
