Later Never Comes | Lee Eun-Hyuk|

Friend Or Foe

As I'm sure you are aware, the people in Green Home Residence don't seem to be everything they appear. Especially since a few of them have been getting severe, heavy nosebleeds without warning. Like Hyun-Su's neighbour, for example. She talked very loudly on her phone any time that she passed Hyun-Su, so he ended up learning about parts of her life through no fault of his own. He found out that she was an aspiring actress that didn't seem to succeed in many of her auditions, she would always call her mother to complain about them and how exhausting they were. He also heard her mention, a few times, about how hungry she was. It seemed like she was starving herself to make herself look more 'appealing' to casting directors. Once, when she was passing Hyun-Su's apartment door, he could overhear her complaining about a nosebleed.

Besides her complaints over the phone, Hyun-Su hadn't noticed many strange things in the building. Unlike Ae-Cha, who still couldn't stop thinking about the weird nosebleed that the security guard had. It had been a week since the incident, and a week since she had offered to cook for Hyun-Su. After cooking for him once, it became a habit for her. She wanted to make sure he was eating properly, since all she could see in his apartment was packets of uncooked ramen. Hyun-Su thought he was being a bother and taking up her time but Ae-Cha persisted that she was okay with it and happy to help. She came to cook so frequently, that Hyun-Su ended up telling her the code to his door so she could let herself in.

One morning, Ae-Cha came over with food to cook for Hyun-Su's breakfast, having to push a delivery box full of ramen to the side just to open the door. She closed the door with a thud which woke Hyun-Su up, causing him to groan.

"Don't whine about anything, I'm making you something good today." She said, placing a bag on the counter and beginning to take out eggs, bacon and some seasoning that Hyun-Su didn't even bother raising his head to see what kind.

"I'm making you an omelette this morning. Oh, and my classes have started back up so after this, I have to go. But I'll be back for dinner." She said, turning on the stove and placing a pan on it before pouring some oil on it to heat up.

Hyun-Su was the first resident of Green Home to actually learn anything about her, he learned a lot actually. He learned that Ae-Cha was an art student, going to the university nearby, her favourite art form is painting, and that she wanted to travel the world to see every kind of art form there is. It was easy to tell that Ae-Cha became a lot more talkative once she got comfortable with people.

"Oh, and don't be eating any of that ramen whilst I'm out. It's not good for you." She said, the pan sizzling from the contact with the eggs. Hyun-Su looked at her with a slight bit of confusion.

"Ramen?" He said before looking at his phone. He had completely forgotten that he ordered a box full of ramen to be delivered to the front desk. He saw the text on his phone that read:

'THE SECURITY GUARD WASN'T IN. I LEFT YOUR PACKAGE AT THE DOOR.'

"Oh yeah.." He muttered, staring at his phone before hearing Ae-Cha place a plate on the counter. She dished up the omelette and cleaned up everything else.

"Okay, I gotta run. Eat that, okay? I'll be back later." She said, picking up her bag that Hyun-Su didn't even notice that she brought in. She opened the door and quickly left for the elevator.

"I should just die." Hyun-Su muttered to himself as he pulled his duvet cover over his head.

Back at the elevator, Ae-Cha finally reached it and pressed the button to call it to her floor. She waited for a few minutes before noticing some words above the button.

'UNDER MAINTENANCE'

She sighed loudly, knowing it would take a while to reach the bottom floor through the stairs, but it was her only way out. She groaned and slung her bag onto her back before beginning her long journey down the stairs.