Justine

Justine is a hardworker whose work sometimes gets unappreciated, because of the rumors surrounding him. Justine always made sure not to get himself into large social groups as he simply wanted to be seen as just a regular employee, but when he slept with a coworker, that coworker gossiped about him and he soon had a reputation of being a "slut". While the rumors in the workplace weren't huge, some coworkers don't hide the fact that they're avoiding Justine. Justine hated how much he was being disrespected, but he also felt hopeless. Because of the disrespect he's received, when people talk to Justine, Justine comes off as nonchalant and distant, but still stayed respectful. It's just that he didn't want to develop a close relationship so fast.

Justine had a solid friend group since middle school, and everyone had a big passion for music. They ended up forming a band in grade 10 and even though they didn't get big, they had a lot of support from their classmates. Justine had his first love during that school year, and it was a 12th grader who supported his band. Even though Justine enjoyed his friends' company, he also couldn't stand to hear their opinions unrelated to music, so when he talked to this 12th grader, he felt safe with him. In the 6th month of his school year, Justine's life changed for the worst.

The 12th graders started gossiping about Justine and rumors were formed. Justine's crush found out Justine's feelings for him just judging by his body language, and the conversation somehow turned into Justine possibly being a "slut", even though Justine never was intimate with someone. Students would sexually harass Justine, both verbally and physically, and Justine realized that none of his friends were defending him. When the 10th graders were scheduled to have a field trip, Justine wasn't looking forward to it as his friends and crush were being distant. However, he still went as he didn't want his parents to suspect anything, since he always joined field trips.

When Justine went on the trip, as expected, his friends didn't ask him to join them and they went off on their own. Other schools were also in the trip, but Justine wasn't interested in them. When he went to an exhibition, he bumped into a boy from a different school. The first thing Justine thought when he saw him was that "he's a rich kid" judging by the fancy school uniform. When Justine looked around, he realized he was the only student of his school in this exhibition, so he felt embarrassed, but then the boy he bumped into asked him to hang out. The boy explained to him that his friends pretty much abandoned him and he didn't want to be on his own. Justine found this endearing and agreed to hang out with him.

The boy's name is Mark and surprisingly to Justine, he was easy to talk to. They came from different backgrounds, yet they had a lot of similar interests, one of them being music. The two of them would even listen to music on Mark's MP3 player while walking or taking breaks. Justine then suggested they go to a souvenir shop, and they bought each other matching bracelets. Even though it was such a simple design, Justine felt happy with their matching bracelets. When it was time for students to leave, Justine was disappointed to say goodbye to Mark. They gave each other a warm hug, and waved at each other goodbye when Mark got in his bus. After the trip, Justine realized he didn't ask for Mark's contact info, so he searched him up on social media. However, he couldn't find anything and eventually gave up.

Justine was back to his painful school life. The harassment was too much and the teachers brushed it off as students lightheartedly joking with each other, and Justine could only distract himself by studying. With his high grades, he convinced his parents to be transferred to another school for grade 11 and 12, and Justine left behind his school. He never talked to his now former friend group ever again, and it was no doubt he wasn't part of the band anymore. Justine still had his passion for music, so he studied media production and landed himself a job. When Justine became an adult, he got himself nipple piercings and developed a bit of a promiscuous life. Whenever he was stressed with work, he would hook up with a random man. He also promised himself to never hook up with coworkers ever again, since the first coworker he hooked up with gossiped, and Justine didn't want to relieve what he went through in high school.

Justine worked in his company for a long time, then he was told there would be new people in his team. Justine of course looked forward to having new members on the team, and when they were introduced the next day, Justine immediately recognized one of them. One of the new employees is Mark, and Justine was shocked but happy to see him. However, he didn't come up to him and asked him if he remembers him, because seeing him again made Justine feel somewhat ashamed of his current self. When it was break time, Mark approached Justine by himself and told him he recognizes him. They started catching up again and before Justine knew it, he developed a much closer bond with Mark.