Amelioration || Choi Jiung

10

I found my way to the location Jiung sent me. I ended up at a residential building, which is I believe where he lives. Double checking that I'm at the right floor, I got out of the elevator and headed to his apartment.

Honestly, I didn't know why I agreed to come, but I only knew that I have nowhere else to go.

Arriving at the correct flat number, I pressed the doorbell and waited for him to come. Soon, someone opened the door. But instead of Jiung, it was a boy with platinum blonde hair. He looked calm and expressionless.

Fuck, did I go to the wrong place?

Panicking, I mumbled a sorry and bowed before leaving. But before I could do so, the boy grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Wait," he spoke, making me look at him, "you're at the right place..."

"Jiung is here... technically."

... technically?

The boy let out a sigh and let go of my arm, "come in first."

After entering the apartment, I sat down on the sofa with my bag next to me. The boy passed me a cup of tea before sitting down on the other side of the sofa, a distance away from me.

"My name is Theo," he introduced himself, "I'm Jiung's roommate."

"Well, um, my name is Chaerin," I responded.

"Yeah, I know. I actually followed you on instagram for uh, I don't know, a few weeks?"

"Huh?! Really?" I gasped, taking out my phone and checking for recent followers.

It shouldn't be that many so it's recognisable. I'm not popular or sociable after all.

"Keeho tagged you in his instagram stories so..." Theo shrugged.

Oh, so he's friends with Keeho as well.

"Is this you?" I clicked into an account, showing it to him, earning a nod from him.

I immediately followed back, "sorry, I didn't really check my new followers during that time. A lot of Keeho's followers followed me after I hung out with him."

"It's fine, Keeho didn't tag me as much because I was too busy to hang out with him," he smiled a bit. "And I assume you didn't stalk his profile?"

"Oh, yeah," I laughed awkwardly before searching up Keeho's account.

Theo did appear in some of the posts and story highlights along with Jiung. Right! I should've stalked Keeho earlier so I could see more photos of Jiung.

"By the way... where is Jiung?" I spoke, changing the topic.

"He's in his room," Theo answered, "but he's not in a good condition so... he probably won't be coming out for today."

I couldn't help but feel worried about him.

"But then, Jiung said that he's worried about you. He wanted you to come here to keep you safe, and he apologises for not being able to be present when you're having a hard time."

Jiung... he cares about me. Even if he can't be here right now, the idea of him wanting to keep me safe still makes my heart feel warm.

And oh yeah... I almost forgot about what made me come here.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Theo," I smiled a bit, "sorry that I'll have to bother you for a while though."

He shook his head, "no problem, your instagram story was certainly... concerning. I was worried about your safety too."