Chapter 18: {My Mind Is Racing!}

(Still Jugyeong)

After class, Kiara wanted to talk to me for whatever reason.

"How's it going with you and Hyun?" she asked me.

"Pretty good to be honest." I reply.

"Oh man Euntae is acting weird, the guy I used to be friends with, not my favorite ToonWeb character."

"Oh him? Yeah I was stuck with him in Physics for an assignment. He smelled like he hadn't showered in days plus alcohol! Ugh!"

"Did you spray him?"

"To live."

"He was acting weird as hell around me today during PE and Lunch, looking at me weird, doing weird tongue things, stuff creepier than the stuff you do around Hyun, he really creeps me out."

"He still calls you his friend too ugh!"

"Eeeeew! Help me! I walk home and he walks the same route as me! Will you drive me home?"

"He was asking about your type and advice, I said essentially not him and told him to take care of himself just to keep him off my hair! Today I was planning on going to Ferrari's to study for a couple hours and get some tea, wanna do that to avoid him looking into your house and stuff?"

"That sounds good, do they have weapons over there just in case?"

"Hyun has access to the wine, if possible he'll smash a bottle over his head if he SOMEHOW finds out you'll be there."

"I'll need one too."

"Forks."

"That's good enough."

"Why does he smell so bad?"

"We stopped being friends when he started drinking with his dad 4 years ago."

"Alcohol at 14 (13 in normal)? What the hell?"

"Yeah it's bad. Did y'all finish the assignment?"

"Yes thankfully. I don't wanna work with him again! Do any of your friends have the same first period as me?"

"Yeah, Jisu."

"Which one? Kim or Keum."

"Keum."

"Can you ask her to work with me next time?"

"Oh yeah girl! No one should deal with working with Euntae!"

"Thank you! Okay I'll drive you right now. I gotta take Hyun too l, he'll meet us outside."

We start walking down the halls.

"Not to be rude, but what did you see in Hyun?"

"In terms of looks?"

"No just in general."

"His personality matches mine. He's tolerant of my crazy. He also takes care of himself. I find that more attractive than looks. He works hard, and he's not afraid to go down the iceberg of things. He's also currently trying to better himself. That's why I love him."

"For someone as crazy as you, it's cool than you found someone to have a healthy relationship with."

"Yeah, as friends, we were always healthy friendship wise. We're not that much different now than then, we just added more to it. Hope you find a guy that's right for you."

"Thank you. You do give good advice."

We make it to the car and meet Hyun.

"WHAT'S WITH THIS CRAP!" Kiara said.

"Get used to it. She plays crazy stuff like this all the time." Hyun replies.

"It's just filtered distorted noise!"

"Do you want me to drive bad?" I said.

"Okay I won't complain."

I start thinking about what happened today, my test, and a bunch of other stuff while on the road.

"Jugyeong, you're shaking!"

I just heard a muffle. Like "Jgyon yr skin." or something.

"YOU'RE SHAKING! YOU'RE HAVING A TREMOR!" It was Hyun.

My mind is going crazy. I can't pay attention to the road. I have no idea how I lasted this long.

"Park! I'll put the hazard lights on!" he said.

I did what he said with the last bit of attention I had using my head, I couldn't move my arms.

"I'll drive!" Kiara said.

"Can you take me to Walred's?" I ask.

"Need us to pick up your refill?" Hyun asks.

(Back to Hyun's perspective)

{Dude what's happening?}

"Jugyeong needs Adderall or caffeine right now. She has so much energy right now that it made her break down." I say in my mind.

{Has this happened before?}

"Maybe, if it has, never in front of me."

"Hey babe, can you sit with me in the back?" she says.

"You okay?"

"No."

{How the hell.}

"Remember what my highest stat is." I tell DPHM in my head.

{FAT. Huh, it does come in handy here. Take this FAT point just for impressing me for the first time in your life}

"This isn't you bro."

{Wow I was actually going to give you props. Minus 2 FAT.}

"That's more like you."

Jugyeong is still shaking.

We get to Walred's and pick up her prescription.

"W-will you feed it to me?" Jugyeong asks.

I shove the Adderall down her throat and give her some water.

"Thanks." she says.

"You okay now Jugyeong?" Kiara asks.

"No. It takes a while for the pill to work."

"Oh okay."

I give Kiara directions to my work.

"Thanks for letting me hang here." Kiara says.

"It's a restaurant. It's not like it's a doctor's office. Just buy a soda or something and you can stay for however long." I tell her.

"Oh yeah duh."

"I'll buy you a diet peach iced tea, extra caffeine for you Jugyeong."

"How did you know I need caffeine?" Jugyeong said.

"I looked it up. It's because you need endorphins or dopamine or whatever right?"

"Yep."

<Author's Note: As an ADHD person myself, I just wanted to emphasize how it's like to have it. Mine's not as bad as Jugyeong's, I don't need Adderall. But I wanted to bring awareness that it's a lot more than "I can't pay attention and shake a bit">

{Today is pretty wild. I won't torture you today. You just gotta WORK OUT. Okay?}

"Yeah of course DPHM." I tell it.

Jugyeong and Kiara hang out for a bit longer around here.

After like 2 hours they leave.

I got a decent number of tables.

Then around the last hour of my shift...

Jun and his girlfriend come AGAIN. LIKE DO YOU NOT HAVE ANOTHER RESTAURANT Y'ALL LIKE TO GO TO?

Whatever let's get this over with. They've gotten pretty much the same thing the 3 times they've come on a date. This is just the first time it has been consecutive weeks.

"The usual?" I ask.

"You memorized my favorite thing from here? Thanks piggy!" Jun is a lot more cheery with his girlfriend, I forgot her name, it's like Doja or something.

"You too?" I ask.

"Nah, this time I want the grossest looking thing you have." she said.

"The pork intestine with gnocchi and alfredo is the least aesthetically pleasing dish." I reply.

"I love intestines, I'll take that."

"Alright."

She gives off an evil grin.

"What do y'all wanna drink?"

"Grape juice." They both say.

"Y'all want candles with that or too romantic?"

"Is it extra?" Jun asked.

"It's like a thousand Won, we bring the candles, light them. Turn off your headlight. When you're done we get em back and turn it back on."

"For the good idea, I won't beat you up tomorrow."

"I'll get it ready."

{Did you learn how to tame him? How the hell...}

"No idea." I say to DPHM.

I get them their food.

They leave. I leave and my dad drives me home.

When I get home, I call Jugyeong.

"Hey, how are you doing?" ask her.

"I'm doing better, the Adderall kicked in. Watched an Arizona Muricaball game with my dad. Kicked the tree in my backyard, you know, normal stuff." she replies.

"That's good."

"I miss you, I wish you were here with me."

"What are you implying?"

"Oh come on I'm supposed to be the dirty-minded one!"

"Exactly why I asked."

"Oh. Ugh, I just want to hang with you. Kiara is sleeping over at my house but she conks out at 9 pm. I'm up so I'm bored."

"Dang that SUCKS. You don't even get to hang with your friend."

"She's so lazy."

"Another Suho?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna play a game online or something?"

"THANKS OH MY GOODNESS I'M BORED OUT OF MY MIND!"

"No problem."

{Prepare for a refueling of pain tomorrow.}

"The hell DPHM!" I say...

I forgot to hang up...

"He keeps talking to this DPHM person. Is that like a coping mechanism as like a person he talks to or what?" Jugyeong thought out loud...

{Main Mission 9: Don't Lie Nor Tell Her I'm A System. Reward: +25 skill points, +20 INT. Time Limit: 1 minute. Punishment for Failure: Lose DPHM System}

"The hell is this mission?" I say to it in my head.

{You want me to be terminated?}

"Fair point."

I tell Jugyeong, "DPHM stands for Dumb Pathetic Helpless Moron. It's basically just me, but meaner. Just a voice in my head I talk to. It encourages me to workout and be ballsier, but it sometimes backfires and gets me into weird situations if I listen to all of it's advice. But I listen to about 60% of what it says."

"As long as it doesn't tell you to do sus stuff."

"Psshhhh nah, the worst thing it told me to do was figure out a way to shake Jun's hand."

"Huh."

"Let's get playing."

"Yeah."

{You dodged a bullet and a half. Take that huge reward.}