SUBURBIA ━ hyunbinlix ✓

三

Tuesday, October 1st

Changbin winced as the shrill call of his alarm cut through the thick silence that constantly hung over both himself and his bedroom. He silenced it quickly, already feeling a headache beginning to set in behind his hooded lids.

He had spent yet another night void of sleep, feeling paranoid that he was missing out while all the while doing nothing but laying in his bed with his cat.

Said pet shot him an almost scolding look, as if she were saying it's your fault for staying up all night, a headache is your punishment for being so foolish.

Changbin only shrugged, rising from the stiff appliance that he called his bed. His stomach ached with the burden of food deprivation, and he made a mental note to grab some form of snack before heading off to school.

He didn't pay any mind to his outfit of the day, throwing the first hoodie and a pair of jeans that he spotted. He peered at himself through his mirror, eyeing his untidy hair and swollen cheeks.

Deciding that putting his hood up was an effective way to cover up how tired he felt, the boy made his way down the hall to the kitchen.

His father was gone, having left to go god knows where to do something with a stranger, in either the late hours of the night or in the early morning.

Changbin, however, didn't mind the fact that he had the house to himself, gratefully grabbing a protein bar as he pulled on his shoes.

Stepping outside, the crisp air cut against his cheeks as he stepped onto his skateboard, beginning to make his way towards his school. If he could have things his way, he would have headed in the direction of the skate park, avoiding the prison that was school at all costs.

The real world, however, held a different reality, education being a necessity if he ever wanted to move out of his house.

Cringing as he hit a few rocks throughout his travels, Changbin hopped off of the board and hugged it into his chest as he entered the building.

The halls were loud and full of mindless zombies that he called his classmates, and he hugged his skateboard to his chest tighter as if to make a barrier between himself and the hormonal teenagers filling the narrow hallway.

He felt intimidated by the amount of senior students that were gathered around, predators searching for unsuspecting prey to pick on. Even as a junior, not too much younger than them, he could only hope it wasn't him that they chose to target.

Changbin knew that would be unlikely; it wasn't often that someone would even spare a glance in his direction. A part of him definitely didn't mind the lack of attention, however he still felt like he was missing out on the average experiences that a high schooler was ​supposed ​to experience.

Although, he wasn't exactly average to begin with.

His lack of speech was a starter, getting in his way each day that passed. Making friends was difficult for the boy; most people weren't too fond of becoming close with ​the mute kid.

Avoiding contact with everyone he passed by, he made his way to his first class of the day. He could only hope that everyone he avoided would do the same in return.

Chemistry was a bother, unnecessary and something he would never have to use beyond the classroom. The teacher, Mrs.Yoon, often spoke words that went in one ear and out the other.

She was a tolerable woman, in terms of personality, however strictly speaking she moved far too fast for Changbin to keep up with her, and it wasn't like he could exactly voice any words of protest.

He had slept through his free period that he had first thing in the morning, which was proving to be a mistake as he realized that he'd forgotten to do his homework.

Mrs.Yoon tsked in disapproval as Changbin simply shook his head when approached for his homework. This wasn't an uncommon situation they found themselves in, so he wasn't sure why Mrs.Yoon bothered to even check for his homework.

Changbin zoned out afterward, staring down at his desk, tracing the carvings that it had been littered with. He never paid attention to Chemistry very often, which was why he didn't notice when someone came in late, and didn't notice the boy he sat beside, the two speaking in low whispers.

His mind was simply trained on the fact that he couldn't wait for lunch, which he intended to spend sitting under the stairs with his thoughts and a nice sandwich.

. . .

Changbins head was still pounding from his sleepless night, even after the first few periods of the school day. As much as he despised his own home, he wanted nothing more than to leave the stressful day behind with a nice nap, to at least spend an hour making up the sleep he had missed.

He craved a hot shower and cuddles from his cat, and a nice walk through the surrounding woods by the skate park sounded almost godly.

After enjoying a stale, grease filled sandwich from the cafeteria, sitting alone beneath the staircase, his main focus was on finding a bathroom. To put it simply, school lunch didn't exactly agree with his stomach, especially the false chocolate milk.

Most likely because he was lactose intolerant.

The boy made his way towards the back of the building, knowing it would be less crowded and most likely less filled with couples inhaling each other's faces.

Just narrowly avoiding hitting his skateboard into the body of a classmate, his shoulder uncomfortably slammed into the strangers, Changbin wincing as he walked faster. He felt guilty for being unable to mutter out a simple ​i'm sorry, but he hoped that by simply removing himself from the situation he would feel at least the slightest bit better.

He entered the bathroom quickly, placing his skateboard down carefully before entering the handicapped stall.

Changbin momentarily paused, stopping to stare at the marker that littered the white bathroom stall.

In bold, black lettering, the words ​SAVE ME​ s​tared back at him, however that wasn't what caught his eye initially. On either side of the words, someone had drawn angel wings in purple ink.

Cute, but completely missing the point of the original message.

Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was simply by coincidence that Changbin held a red sharpie in his backpack, but his body began to act on its own accord.

He stood on his toes to reach the drawing, scribbling a messy arrow on the white tile towards the two words that someone had scrawled. Maybe they had been hoping for a savior, or maybe they simply wanted to let their thoughts out into the open.

me too.

a/n: Merry Christmas guys :)