MCND One-shots

[Huijun] A Return Letter

To Mr. Noh Huijun,

Hi. I understand it could be weird to receive a letter from someone you barely know. But I'm writing because I want to return your umbrella which I found at the waiting shed near the apartment building yesterday. I know it's yours because I've seen it with you countless times already. It looks like something you treasure dearly so I was actually surprised you left it there.

I don't remember us talking a decent conversation so I know this will be awkward. I promise you I'm not a creep and I'm sure you remember me. From the elevator every morning? Yes, that's me. You always have that blank, sleepy stare and a cup of coffee in one hand. You would look at me once when the elevator dings open to my floor. I would greet you a good morning, and you would only nod and move one step to your right as I enter. You'd glance up at me again as the door closes and when I glance back at you, you'd pretend to study your shoes. I find the gesture very cute and funny. And that's how I always notice the black compact umbrella in the side pocket of your bag, with your initials embroidered to it.

I'm sure you might be wondering how I know your initials. Well, you can blame that on the apartment custodian. He always asks me if I'm getting friendly with you since we come out of the building together all the time. At one point he even asked me if we're living together. Weird, I know. But then he remembered that he had helped you out with your things when you moved here a few months ago.

It's also his fault that I'm writing this to you now. You see, that's a funny story. I would've just ring your doorbell and return the umbrella or put it in the lost and found. But he convinced me to do this because he thinks it is more appropriate and will open to a lot of opportunities. Not sure what he intended by that. Oh, and don't ask why we're close. He decided to act like a dad figure since I'm living here alone.

You know, we've been talking a lot about you. We're not stalkers or conspirators, or anything. It's just that we've become interested in you. Or at least, I did. Okay, this is getting really weird. The truth is, I've been meaning to ask you a lot of questions in case I got the wrong idea about your actions.

Remember when we ran into each other while taking out the trash? That's when I was clumsily rummaging through the trash bags because I'd accidentally thrown an envelope sent from home, and my mom would kill me if I lost it. Anyways, I'm sure I looked really funny, but you nonchalantly asked what I was doing while holding a trash bag in each of your hands. I still recall the way I looked up at you with hope and relief. I might have also called you my savior or something like that.

I had forced you to help me, of course (sorry about that). We didn't say much, just dug out paper scraps like two overgrown puppies for at least half an hour without a word. When we finally found it, I thanked you at least a gazillion times. You nodded with a small smile as we went back up the elevator.