In the two years that Jiung has lived in his 30 pyeong apartment, he had kept it so sparsely furnished that his friends hailed him as Marie Kondo's champion homeowner.
'Only the essentials' was his motto.
But in a period of less than a month, the two-bedroom unit has seen striking additions that were noticeable to everyone except to its owner.
It started with a wooden coat rack that Jiung salvaged outside of Mr. Changshik's hardware store. He saw the worn down wood as he was passing by and the memory of a white baseball cap hidden inside one of his closets flashed in his mind.
It needed a home.
Jiung placed his new furniture by the entrance of his house for he liked the idea that there is something there that would not only welcome the people who enter and temporarily ease them from the burden of their coats and hats but would also remind them not to leave anything behind.
The sudden appearance of the worn down rack by the entryway earned good reviews: Ung called it "essential" and discarded his coat casually on one of its pegs, Eunho praised its rustic charm and said that it was "ig-worthy", Ung's parents were delighted for it added warmth to the bareness of his house, and Mr. Changshik was simply happy that he was able to buy a new coat rack with the money Jiung insisted to pay in exchange for his old one.
Most days, only the poor baseball cap would hang alone on one of the stand's wooden arm praying for its owner to remember and return.
"Where's your hat? It's blazing out here"
"It flew"
"You let it fly away?"
"The wind was too strong. I couldn't hold on to it" she looked up at him and he couldn't help but notice how her face was flushed from the heat of the unforgiving sun.
He knew that she expected him to leave after that explanation, but he stayed.
"Seriously, I'm okay sunbae. It's windy today so I can bear the heat "
He didn't move. He wanted to assert his seniority.
Maybe.
"Sunbae, we need to finish this shoot fast so get back in there "
"You let go of things so easily," he grumbled but followed her instructions for he remembered that he chose her to be his assistant because she was hardworking. Too hardworking.
Like him.
Not an hour has passed when the intern ran hurriedly to where she was still huddled over her laptop under the open sky and pushed a paper bag to her unwilling hands.
"Sunbae, please just wear it" he heard the kid plead wearily.
He could almost hear her sigh as she opened the bag and waved it's lone content in his direction, a white baseball cap.
A few weeks later, that same cap was unceremoniously left on his couch. And for some reason, his stubborn ass refused to give it back to its ungrateful owner.
"She was the one who forgot it here so she should learn to get it on her own"
Omake
The words that were left to die:
"You let go of things so easily"
I don't. I'm just like you, sunbae.
YOU ARE READING
The Process of Nesting
Fanfiction"Why does your house feel so empty?" Ung pointed out. Everyone who had been inside his house said the same thing, "It's empty". "You know I live here right?" Jiung replied almost sadly for he has never lived inside a house that felt remotely close t...
