I woke up and saw the exact same thing everyday for the last 17 years of my life. A piece of stale bread and a glass of milk that’s on the verge of expiring were the first things I saw the moment I walked out of my room. That’s usually the staple food in our household every morning. If you look at it, it's not enough for a growing kid like me who is trying to study and get at least a scholarship to go to a public college, but it’s more than enough for me.As someone who is not worth much, I can’t complain. I can’t. But with that kind of food greeting you everyday for almost your entire life, you’re bound to get sick of it someday. And that day arrived a long time ago. Sadly, I can’t do anything about it.“Meat” Oh! How I hope to wake up at least once in my life and see meat being served on the table. It can happen if I just focus on working and stop shooting for a scholarship. But even that’s hard if you are sitting at the bottom of the food chain. Unranked individuals like me can o

“Aiyo! Morning, Ren. What a great day, huh? Say, what are you planning to do on your birthday?” Asking me something like that out of nowhere, there’s no way I can think of something on the spot. “My birthday, huh? I don’t know. Since it’s the same day as the college entrance exam, I guess I’ll be studying?” Right after I said those words, Ivan looked at me with a disappointed look on his face. “Hey, Ren. I know I should be saying such things, but it's your birthday. Shouldn’t you at least enjoy yourself even for just a day?” What’s this guy saying? I just told him that it’s the same day as my entrance exam. I can’t just skip it. “Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since you got to celebrate your birthday. And for a few years now, I’m the only one who gets to receive a gift from you. That eats my conscience away every year, you know?” “If it troubles you that much, then just a gift is fine. There’s no need to celebrate, is there?” It’s true that I gave presents to Ivan

“Let me guess, you don’t have bills?” I shook my head. I got so used to the cashless life back in Sector B that the idea of bills went out of the window.“It’s fine. It can’t be helped since you don’t have any cash. The meal, just think of it as my treat.” He said with a smile. “Follow me, it would be dangerous for you to go through the entrance. You should take the backdoor instead, it’s much safer and the people outside will not notice anything since its in the same direction of the restroom,”He led the way, and the owner noticed us and gave us a confused look.“Something came up, Mr. Kim. Please deduct her meal from my paycheck.”The owner just gave him a thumbs up.“I don’t know if you’re just visiting Sector D but make sure not to do that again. You're fortunate that you did that here in our shop otherwise things would have turned ugly. Do you know how to get home?”“Of course, I’m not a kid you know?”Th

This really came to me as a surprise. I did not expect to see her hang around in the same place where she nearly got harmed. I can’t tell if she’s plain foolish or brave at all. I sat on the seat right across from her and looked at her. Our gazes met but for some reason, she quickly averted her gaze from mine. It caught me off guard. A few moments ago, she had no problem locking eyes with me. Did I do something wrong perhaps? “Hello, we meet again,” I said, greeting her with a smile like I usually do. When I did, she turned to look at me again. This time, she did not avert her gaze away and greeted me back. “W-We meet again. How are you?” It just came to me at that moment. The reason why she averted her gaze from mine earlier might be because of the band aids. She must have felt responsible for what happened to me and could not help but turn away in guilt. I quickly tried to remove the band aids from my face, but she immediately threw me a remark, stopping me from removing them o

A few days have passed and I haven’t asked Ivan about his meeting with a shady man in the dead of the night. I tried to bring that topic up, but I couldn’t muster up the courage to do so. Despite us always walking up to school every morning, I find it hard to ask him something personal.Just like today. I’m walking alongside him, but I can’t bring that topic up. It’s just too heavy and the prospect of it being a mistake and ending up straining our friendship scares me.He is one of the few friends I have in school. If I were to lose him because of my curiosity, I’d greatly regret it for the rest of my life. I know it.I let out a frustrated sigh. I saw him looking at me with a serious expression on his face. It wasn’t his usual cheery and enthusiastic face. I seldom see him being serious. And once he shows that face, it will take a while till he reverts back to his usual self.“What? Is there something wrong?” I asked.I can’t be too obvious that something is bothering me. Otherwise,