In a dark room, a man in his early mid-twenties yawned as he stared at the monitor. His black hair was a mess of slick and messy strands, his brown eyes had purple bags underneath them, and his complexion was thin and sickly pale.
Isaya was at his job, working far past his normal work hours. His fingers moved quickly through the keyboard, and he tapped the keys with precision and haste.
His brown eyes didn't move from his monitor's screen, his face empty of emotion, as letters jumped on the screen.
He sighed. The work has been more tiresome than the norm these days, and he couldn't help but feel that the time passed slower.
To confirm his thoughts, he opened the digital clock. The man counted every second that passed.
Every time he went overtime felt like torture, now more than ever, and for that he awaited for time to pass.
'Ah, I just need to endure that for a little more, to buy an apartment and move out...' Isaya told himself every day that it would pass, just a little longer until he could better his life.
'Soon my overtime will end…' And he would be free to go home. 'Do I want to go home?' For a second the man had to ponder if that was what he wished.
Isaya felt crushed and tired, either at his work or at the place he called "home". 'It has been ages since that place felt like home.' His "home" had not been a home in a long time.
On the screen, he saw that the clock turned ten a.m. He sighed in relief and closed all applications on the computer.
Of course, it was before pressing ctrl+s compulsively, just an assurance that his work for the day was saved. 'I hate programming.' Yet he worked with that because it gave him money.
'I should be paid more for that.' He rubbed his eyes, and with a sigh, he got up and walked away. His limbs were weary and sore for an entire day spent on a chair before a computer.
The first thing his weary eyes looked at was the coffee machine. He picked up a plastic cup and tried to get some coffee, but there was nothing. He threw the plastic cup in the trash can.
'They hadn't left even a cup of coffee in this goddamned hell.' Sometimes he had to wonder why he worked where he did. 'Of course, the pay.' It was low, but a job was a job.
"Oh, you are here, Isaya?" A janitor called him, and Isaya's tired eyes rose to see the janitor. He was an older man who took care of the floor.
"Yeah, Aiden. Boss wanted the job done by tomorrow, so I did some overtime."
It was an understatement, Isaya's turn had been over for four hours now, but it was a fact better left unspoken.
Aiden, the janitor, nodded in understanding. "I already locked up the building for the night, the boss hadn't notified me you were where. Let's go. I will unlock it for you."
Aiden started to walk, dropping his cleaning duties, for now.
"Since we are here, let's go over to my office room. I have some hot coffee there." Isaya smiled with some relief. At least there was one good soul left in his life
"Thanks, Aiden. You are a lifesaver." Isaya followed after the janitor as they stopped by the Janitor's room, with Aiden offering the young man a cup of coffee.
"Don't sweat it. You are a hard-working young man. You deserve it." Isaya drank the coffee briefly, and a little energy returned to his body.
It was not nearly enough to keep him up throughout the night, but it would help him get to his "home" with some stamina and wakefulness to spare.
The black-haired young man threw the cup in the trash bin.
The middle-aged janitor escorted him out of the office building. "Take care, young man. You never know what lurks in the dark those days."
Aiden advised Isaya who nodded vacantly.
"I'll take care, Aiden. See you tomorrow." Isaya was sure he would have to work overtime again. 'I need that extra money on the paycheck.'
The young man suppressed a groan as he walked to a bus stop.
The bus was quick to come that day, and the ride home was not as bad as it could have been, as the bus was nearly empty.
'Gracious God.' Isaya thought, resting his head against the seat.
For a moment he pondered not going back home, but he quickly discarded the idea. 'I have nowhere to go either way.'
A crappy home or the streets. Sadly, the choice was easy to make.
(...)
Isaya expected the other residents of his home to have been sleeping, but he was greeted with a nasty surprise.
"Where you have been? No one took the trash out or cleaned the damn yard."
Isaya felt a part of his soul leave his body as his aunt stood before him when he entered the house, almost like an ambush predator waiting for its prey.
The faint glimmer of his eyes had disappeared. "I was working, Aunt. My boss wanted the job done by tomorrow, so I had to pull overtime." Isaya was glad it was not an all-nighter.
He wouldn't be able to complete one. His aunt stood before him, her face a mix of outrage and disbelief.
"All you do is stand before a computer all day. That is not a real job. You should stop playing those damn games you call a job and find a real job."
For a moment, Isaya's gaze hardened, his eyes transfixed on his aunt's neck. His hands twitched. "Alright." With a sigh, he stopped the thoughts flowing in his head about what he wanted to do.
"Good, take the trash out."
'It is the middle of the night, you dumb witch.' His aunt went to her room. He waited for a few seconds before going to his.
Isaya lay on his bed with his phone in hand, checking his social media for all its almost-dead activity. Of course, he used his "free hours" to play a game, a dumb mobile game to kill time.
[HEY! DO YOU WANT TO TEST THIS NEW GAME? IT IS AN EXCITING ACTION RPG SET IN SPACE! THE 1.0 VERSION IS ALREADY UP! COME TEST FOR YOURSELF!]
A pop-up appeared on the mobile game he was playing. Worse, it was an ad, but it didn't seem all that bad.
"Hm. Why not?" With those words, Isaya installed the game. Surprisingly, it was small, and with requirements that made it able to run on a potato.