A Soft Place to land

24

As per usual, Wolf decided to walk home. It wasn't that far from the diner, but it was still enough to get some decent exercise - much needed exercise for his beer belly and his cramping legs.

He could've easily taken the bus home, but he wasn't too keen on wasting money, especially after having an overpriced meal at the diner that cost him just over his daily budget.

Hella expensive for a sandwich and waffles, Wolf snickered from under his muffler.

Plus, he also wanted to possibly stop by the nearby park for a well-earned smoke break. Since he hasn't taken one in awhile, Wolf's been feeling pretty shitty for the past couple of days - Well, shittier than normal; and he didn't even know why.

His life's been a consistent routine of ins and outs, and he wasn't struggling financially; the only thing he could think of that'd stress him out would probably be preparing for his parents to pay him a visit and trying not to freak out over it a month in advance.

He was already more than halfway through his journey home and his hands were freezing. Feeling the pain settling into his fingertips, Wolf immediately shoved them into the pockets of his padded jacket, and murmured a few curse words into the cold air.

Shifting around in his coat pocket, his fingers found the edge of his cigarette pack and grasped at it in an attempt to ease it out.

It worked - sort of. The box tilted over the mouth of his pocket, and he had to be quick to catch it before it fell onto the snowy sidewalk. His old man instincts failed him once again, and the pack bounced off his palm, falling right into a deep patch of snow that was just oh-so conveniently placed right beside his foot.

"Ah fuck,,"

So much for a smoke break, he thought to himself with a permanent scowl.

Yeah, he was doing just fine.

Not wanting to stay in the cold much longer, Wolf begrudgingly gave up on his snow-drenched cigarette pack, and turned away from the park. He gave into the weather, sacrificed 1000 won, and decided to take the bus for the rest of the way home.

Wolf just wasn't feeling it today, understandably so. Awkwardly squeezing through the bus aisle, staring at the ground to avoid the other passengers' eyes, he found his seat at the back of the bus. All while his elbow neighbors were staring at him with cautious eyes - probably wondering what an angry man like him was doing on a bus like this.

To his right was coincidentally the mother-son duo he saw outside the diner, and to his left was an old woman with a wool coat dyed dark purple. Both sides began to squirm uncomfortably in their seats when he sat down.

When he finally got to his stop, he let out a sigh of relief and moved to shuffle his way off.

The bus stop was just a walk away from his destination. As soon as he stepped off the bus, his apartment building stood tall in front of him. The building was pretty big, had about 12 floors and was practically covered with windows. It was a pretty good place to live in, considering that he was well off when it came to money and had no trouble paying the rent (If not for that it would be way too expensive)- and that was more than he could ever ask for.

His apartment was big enough to fit four residents, but he lived there all by himself. He preferred it like that after all, he never really liked the idea of having to share a place with someone else. All it'd be is a pain in the ass. His ass was already in pain, so he absolutely did not need that in his life.

But of course, life hated him.

So as he traveled up the elevator going to the 10th floor, the doors opened and he was faced with a truly aggravating sight in front of his apartment door.