Reflections ⋈ Jaehyun

8 ⨝ Concern

⋉ 8 ⋊

Han quietly cleared his throat as he used his pants to wipe the sweat off his palms. Before him stood nothing but a wooden door. 

Just a plain, boring wooden door and yet poor Han was a nervous wreck. 

Why was he so anxious again? Ah, right because of-  

Bok-hee. 

He repeated the name over and over again in his head. Just so he wouldn't forget. Just so he could pretend that he knew this girl beyond only having seen her around campus every now and then. He took a deep breath before he knocked on the door to her apartment.  

Han prepared the most sincere-looking artificial smile he could offer just so that, a moment later when the door opened, he could pretend like he wouldn't rather be anywhere else. 

"Hey!" Han said almost a little too enthusiastically when he came face to face with one of Bok-hee's flatmates. 

The girl frowned, a bit taken aback. "Hi," she replied, sounding polite nonetheless. "Can I help you?" 

"I hope you can," he said awkwardly, his shy demeanour causing the girl to feel a little at ease. "I'm Bok-hee's classmate. I lent her my book a while ago. I've been trying to reach her because I really need it back but she won't answer my texts." 

The girl hummed, contemplating whether or not to believe him for a second. However, she didn't have much reason to distrust him. 

"Bok-hee hasn't been home in days," she let him know eventually. "What's your name?" 

"Jisung," he replied quickly. "Han Jisung." 

"What class do you have together?" 

"Forensic Criminology." Another swift reply. 

"Lecturer?" Followed by another swift question. 

"Mrs Gyo." 

With a nod, she took a step back and opened the door wider for him to enter. "Her room's pretty messy," she told him. "I don't have the time to look for it so help yourself." 

Han nodded quickly and stepped inside. The entrance corridor led to a number of rooms, most of which had their doors open. He took off his shoes and looked back at the girl. 

"It's that room," she said and pointed at the second door to her right. "Be quick - and fingers off anything that's not yours, Han Jisung," she warned, stressing his name. 

The boy was quick to get away from Bok-hee's flatmate. She wasn't particularly intimidating but the fact that Han was already relatively stressed from pretending to be close to Bok-hee was making him feel way too on edge. 

He soon disappeared into the girl's room. He quietly closed the door so that the flatmate wouldn't notice and then, before even turning on the lights, he went ahead and opened the window. It was stuffy inside. The room had been untouched and empty for a while. 

Han waited in front of the window for a moment before, all of a sudden, the light inside the room was switched on. He turned around hastily just to see Jungwoo's calm eyes gaze back at him. 

"Well done," was all the older one said before he walked up to one corner of the room and started looking through her belongings. Han, though nervous, quickly did the same. He looked around for any clues as to where Bok-hee could be, meanwhile grabbing the next best textbook that he could find to support his story. 

He stepped through the small room with caution, wary of the piles of books and occasional papers spread across the floor. His eyes travelled through all her belongings, up and down as if they traced a humble city's skyline.