Can You See This?

01 | i just got ur message

unknown | Hello?

unknown | Can you see this?

The steaming mug of oat-milk latte wafted in front of your eyes as you stared intensely at the laptop screen. You perched upright on your computer chair, twisting awkwardly in it with your legs tucked up to your chest, your headphones dangling around your neck with the faint noise of kpop sensations BTS playing from the speakers.

The word document only contained a single-worded title, a subtitle and nothing else. You were frazzled and beyond dumbfounded on how to begin your assignment page, full of ideas but not having the true motivation or willpower to actually start it.

However, the buzz of your phone stole your attention immediately. You craved a distraction from staring pointlessly at the laptop screen for more than an hour with zero progress. And this seemed like the perfect way to do so.

[name] | Hello. Yes, I can see this. Who are you?

You didn't recognise the number, or the contact name. It struck you as odd. You couldn't recall ever taking a strangers phone number before, or assigning their contact as "unknown". But you had a pretty awful memory at times, so if you had forgotten you weren't entirely surprised. Perhaps you did know this person, and you'd assigned them a joke name for their contact and forgot all about it.

unknown | ah ^_^ that's a relief! I found this phone on my travels, and I was hoping to return it to its owner. I searched through the phone, and I found your phone number and an address... nothing else though.

You untucked your legs and leaned back in the chair, listening to the familiar squeak that the hinges made from your movement.

[name] | That's weird. The owner of the phone doesn't have any other contact information? Does it say who the owner is at all?

You clicked away from the messaging app and onto the profile of the number. There was nothing that stood out to you as information regarding the owner. It was just a number, a blank profile photo and the contact information of "unknown". You'd had this phone for a year or so now, and you were starting to wonder if maybe it was an ex-coworker or someone you went to school with.

Weirdly enough, there wasn't any previous chat history between you. So you couldn't deduce who this "unknown" person was from rereading text messages.

unknown | No, nothing at all. But I do have an address. Looking at your phone number, it seems you'd be in the same area. I'm out of the country at the moment, and I'm not returning for a little while...

You stared suspiciously at your phone. You had a feeling you knew what this stranger was asking of you to do, and you weren't entirely sure you'd be comfortable accepting it.

unknown | I had a look at the area of the apartment, and it's fairly modern, very built up. It seems very safe. Would you be so kind as to travel there and let the owner of the phone know that it's safe?

Absolutely not.

You scoffed slightly at the suggestion. It would be idiotic to travel to an unknown location just because some stranger asked you to, for a good deed or not. You weren't about to let yourself be kidnapped just for the sake of good karma. You'd seen enough kdrama's to know how that ends!

[name] | I don't think so. I don't know who you are, and I don't know the owner of the phone. I don't know why my contact information is the only one stored into that device. Also, why couldn't you just post the phone to the address with a note explaining the situation?

There, that seemed logical enough for you. You nodded in approval at the message and returned your eyes to the laptop screen, where the empty document merely stared back in all its blank glory. You'd have to make a start on this at some point; you couldn't keep staring off into space and hoping it would write itself.