sweet home | meanie

2

mingyu sat with his phone on his lap, a cigarette in his mouth, and a guitar filling up the space in between his chest and arms.

he played on his guitar loudly, not considering the neighbors who complained endlessly about how loud it was.

whenever he finally came to an end, he inhaled the cigarette and puffed back out the smoke that left a bittersweet taste on his tongue. "so? how was it?"

"that was ass." jeonghan responded on the other side, the clacking of a keyboard could be heard.

"as if you could do any better." mingyu pouted, putting the guitar on his bed as he examined the messy bedroom. an unfinished soju and many unfinished cup shin ramyuns sat on the coffee table. and the mess didn't end there, the floor was unseen, and the walls were covered. his bed was a mess and hadn't been made in forever.

"are you really going to perform that? don't you have any self respect?"

"hey, my self respect doesn't make me any money. and plus, they're paying me a lot to play this." mingyu stated, putting the cigarette back into his mouth."some people would sell their soul for this kind of money."

"the only money you're making is whenever they turn you into a meme." jeonghan snorted. mingyu rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to argue, but before he could he noticed the time on his phone.

"i have to go to work. talk to you later." mingyu hung up the phone as he put out the cigarette and set down the guitar in its case.

he ran up to the elevator and stood in front of the doors waiting for them to open. he looked to his left and saw mrs. lee walking up to him with a stroller. he smiled and gave her a polite bow before turning back to the elevator.

"did you just move here?"

"yes ma'am. i just moved here two weeks ago. my name is kim mingyu! how are you?" mingyu introduced himself loudly.

mrs. lee smiled and leaned her head slightly, "i'm good. i'm taking out my daughter." mingyu looked down at the stroller and bent down,

"oh.. how old is she?"

"my little princess just turned one."

"aw, hello!-" he began, cutting himself short as he saw the stroller was empty. confused, he looked back up at mrs. lee, who was smiling happily as if nothing was wrong.

"isn't she beautiful?"

"y..yes, she is.." mingyu answered, wanting to be polite despite not understanding. he felt his heart puff up as the doors opened, "bye mrs. lee! see you around." he stepped into the doors, his guitar weighing him down ever so slightly.

the doors were about to close before mrs. lee put her hand in between, stepping in with a man. the man, who was holding a bible and wearing a very fancy suit, positioned himself beside mingyu, whereas mrs. lee stood in front of the elevator doors.

"don't be nervous around her. mrs. lee lost her daughter last year.. this is her way of coping. god gives the sweetest people challenges to overcome." the man whispered, causing mingyu's mouth to fall agape and nod. "so, you play guitar?"

"i play bass."

"oh." the elevator fell back in silence as the man lost things to talk about. "i'm not a missionary, by the way."

mingyu turned his entire body to look at the man and laughed awkwardly before looking back at the doors, leaving an tension in the air that is more suffocating than stuffing your face into a pillow.

-

wonwoo's fingers moved rapidly on the keyboard and mouse as he played his video game. everybody in the chat were talking about nose bleeds and weird headaches that caused them to hear things.