A Dangerous Friend - Nachaeng

Into the closet

"So, here it is," Chaeyoung said, kicking open the door. "Welcome to The Closet."

"The what?"

"That's what I call it. The Closet."

"You call your apartment 'The Closet'?"

"Yeah," the blonde said, slightly disconcerted. "Why?"

"No reason."

"It's because it's small, you see?" She explained. "And kind of cramped."

"Right."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you smirking?"

"I'm not," Nayeon shrugged. "It's just... Boy, this box is heavy." She shouldered her way past Chaeyoung and into the apartment.

It was, as Chaeyoung had meant to imply, not big, but that wasn't what struck the brunette. She'd assumed that Chaeyoung would be either recklessly untidy, or obsessively neat, but this place was neither. It was rather like standing on the deck of the Mary Celeste - The Korean girl hadn't been expecting her to come here, and everything was just as it had been when she'd picked up her bag and headed out of the door.

The unwashed coffee cup on the table, lipstick still on the rim, an open notebook, the calendar recording the minutiae of her life. A single sock that had begun its journey to cleanliness with its partner, but had somehow fallen by the wayside like a wounded soldier.

It had a kind of ordinariness to it, a melancholy, the ticking of the clock in the silence, the grocery list made out for one, that startled her. All their friendship had been by necessity on the Korean girl's terms - when she could get away, where they could go - and it had never occurred to her to think about Chaeyoung's solitary existence. Chaeyoung had said she had no friends, but she'd never really appreciated what that might mean.

And Chaeyoung mistook her silence for disappointment. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, kicking the errant sock under the table. "I'll clean up a little."

"No." Nayeon turned to her. "It's lovely."

Chaeyoung looked around the tiny apartment, skeptically. "Is it?"

"Yes." Nayeon took her hands. "Thank you for this," she said. "It means a lot."

"Yeah, well," Chaeyoung shrugged uncomfortably. "It's the least I could do. Well," she frowned. "Not the least, obviously, but-"

"It's fine."

"Right."

They stood, awkwardly holding hands for a moment. "Anyway," the blonde said briskly, breaking away. "Bring your clothes through. I'll find you some space."

Nayeon followed her into the bedroom, and again felt a small thrill of intrusiveness at seeing the clothes strewn on the bed, evidence of Chaeyoung's packing, deciding what to wear to come and visit her.

Chaeyoung crossed to the wardrobe in the corner, opened it up, and after a moment's deliberation, grabbed half the clothes and flung them into a corner. "There you go," she said. "Space."

"Thanks." Nayeon looked around. "What's this?" she asked. She was stood by a desk, on which lay Chaeyoung's 'Nayeon timetable'.

"It's nothing," the blonde said, making a grab for it, but Nayeon was too quick for her, and she stood, squirming, while taller girl held it up to the light. "It's just a... thing."