Sunset

1: The perfect candidate

*Quick first chapter cause I'm just impatient to get this out!

*2,715 words

"Yeah... I think you need a roommate."

Jisung dropped his head onto the table, his black hair falling into his eyes to block the view of the kitchen around him. "I can't do that Felix."

"Okay. It's that or moving back into a little apartment that makes you hate life."

A soft groan. "No, I worked too hard to let this house slip out of my hands. I'm not abandoning it."

"So get a roommate. Or the cost of living there alone will force you to abandon the house. It really can't be that bad."

Jisung sat up, meeting Felix's eyes through the video call on his laptop. "Yeah, you say that as if you've had any other roommate aside from me." He rubbed his face. "Felix, I hate getting to know new people, let alone letting a stranger live with me. I can't- No, it's dumb, I'll just-"

"Jisung."

"I know it's a house, but it's still not very big, so I'd still probably have to interact with whoever decides to move in-"

"Han Jisung!" Felix called, making his friend go quiet. "Don't get so flustered about this. You don't have to just move in with anybody, you can have roommate interviews, something along those lines. Drop an ad for a roommate, I can help you do that, and then whoever contacts you can meet you first to be approved."

Jisung rubbed his face again and then sat back with a sigh. "Yeah, okay. I just... I hate that I have to do this."

"Teachers just need to be paid more, honestly. If you were paid decently, this wouldn't be a problem."

"Tell me about it." Jisung glanced at the bills sitting off to the side, the ones he was looking at earlier that caused him to call his best friend asking for advice. Technically, he could afford to pay all the bills, but that would leave him with basically nothing to eat and the inability to buy any other essentials like toiletries and clothes. Getting a roommate would make money less of a burden.

"So... should we work on that ad?"

"After I cry about it."

▪︎■▪︎

"Read chapter five this weekend, it's an exciting one, so you'll want to know what we're talking about during the discussion on Monday!" Jisung reminded as his class began packing up. "If you're all prepared, I'll be sure to bring treats."

Several of the kids perked up at that, their excitement for going home amplifying with the promise of future goodies. And Jisung let them do their thing in a frenzy. The frenzy always meant the weekend was here, and he wasn't one to dampen their spirits by telling them to calm down.

 Jisung dropped onto the chair at his desk and began organizing the sheets of homework he'd just gathered from his students, and within a minute, most of the kids had already run out of the classroom to walk home or find their parents. He was grateful that he no longer had to deal with hallway dismissal since the school had hired aides to be responsible for that. It gave him some extra time in his classroom before the cleaners came through. Not that the cleaners had much to do in his room, he liked to keep his space as neat as possible.

"Mr. Han?"

Jisung raised his head at the timid voice coming his way, and he smiled. "Hi Ryung, do you need something?"

The boy was always very quiet and shy, and Jisung most definitely had a soft spot for him. He rubbed the short brown fluff covering his head and nervously held up a little piece of paper. "Um, my mom needs you to have this? Mom and dad will be really busy this week."