Fatal Trouble | Y.Jw

| 2.1 |

The wind was wheezing in my ears as it blew past and bit my cheeks red. Once again I reached up and grabbed the door knocker and hammered it against the door. My fingers had already gone numb in my mittens.

"Roommate interview, get here on time. Sure thing! Where the hell are you?" I murmured quietly to myself and knocked once again, "Come on..."

Again I reached out and knocked on the door, finally seeing a shadow move through the blurry glass beside the door. Soon enough an elderly woman opened the door and looked out at me with wary eyes.

"I'm sorry. I don't think there's time for any more cases," the woman gently pointed out.

"Sorry?" I frowned in confusion, "Is this not... is this number nine? I was supposed to talk to a tenant here about moving in as a roommate."

"Oh..." she realised and immediately nodded, opening the door wider and letting me in, "I'm sorry, dear. He did mention he had some roommate interviews today. None of the others showed up, I'm sure he'd be happy to see one actually showed up."

"He?" I questioned and blinked a few times before following her up a slim staircase

"I'm Mrs. Mae, the landlady. I live in the back of the first floor. You'll rarely see me, don't you worry," she assured and knocked on the door at the top of the staircase, gently knocking on the mosaic window in the door before opening, "Jungwon! A nice lady is here for the roommate interview. She looks very nice this one."

"She?" a confused voice came from inside the apartment and soon enough a boy around my own age stood in the door with a deep frown on his face, "she?"

"He?" I repeated and looked to Mrs Mae .

"She's the only one who's shown up, behave," Mrs Mae warned the boy with a stern look before she edged her way past me and down the stairs again. This had left me alone with the boy in front of me.

"Jiyeon Young," I murmured and extended my hand towards him, deciding I did need accommodation before the next semester started. For a few good seconds he stared at me before glancing down at my hand.

"Jungwon..." he breathed out and shook my hand, "I uh... you're a girl?"

"Did you even read my application?" I questioned.

"The bad handwriting must've fooled me," he murmured to himself and glanced to his left into the apartment.

"Oi," I warned and he snapped his head back to me.

"Well... come on in," he stepped aside and seemed to glance down the stairs as I stepped in, "a bit empty still... but I suppose you can just add your own touch then. A few books then... about what? Four hundred?"

"Sorry?" I questioned and glanced over at him as I stepped into a mostly empty living room. Only a desk and a couch decorated the space. Aside from a built-in fireplace, which was stocked with stacks of papers.

"You're the last for the position of a roommate... only one actually," he casually remarked and cleaned the tongs in his hand, "automatically it is yours... if you want the room that is."

"I'm sorry. I thought you were..." I started and he nodded before letting out a small chuckle.

"I know. You thought I was a woman," he hummed and wandered over into the kitchen quite casually and stared shoving something about in a box that stood on the kitchen table.

"Yeah..." I breathed out and looked around the astonishingly empty apartment, "Not that I can complain... this is the only apartment I've been able to get if you'll let me move in."

"Oh yeah, no worries," he quickly waved it off, "I'll tell Mrs. Mae and she'll add you to the tenant information and everything. You wanna see your room?"

I quietly nodded and turned back to look at him. He quickly put down the tongs and waved for me to follow him down a hallway. There were only three doors in the slim hallway. One at the very end and two right across from each other. 

"That one down there is the bathroom," Jungwon murmured and pointed to the door at the end of the hallway, "a bit slim and tiny, but it has everything it needs and I'll clear out a shelf for you. This in here, this is your bedroom."

The door to the room was closed, but the one that led into his bedroom looked to be a bit ajar. Or I at least supposed it was his room. I could only faintly see a noticeboard plastered with pictures, most likely family and friends. I think maybe it was the corner of a cupboard I caught a glimpse of standing under the noticeboard, but I wasn't completely sure.

"So yeah... completely empty for now," Jungwon breathed out and I turned to look into the room. It truly was empty. It only had a small window out into a slim back alley. The walls were a depressive light grey and the floor needed a sweeping, that was for sure, "I don't actually use this room. It's just always closed. But I suppose you could easily fit in a bed, a desk... a few bookshelves. Maybe the typewriter could get a special stand somewhere."

"What typewriter?" I frowned and looked over at him. He blinked a few times before shaking his head and waving it off.

"I just... I'm sure you wrote something about a typewriter in your application," Jungwon waved it off, and I stared at him for a few seconds.

"I'm pretty sure I haven't. Are you sure I was the only applicant?" I questioned and he immediately nodded.

"Oh absolutely, my uhm... my name is kinda known around here. Few people want to live with me," Jungwon hummed, "which must... you're not from here, are you?"

"No," I shook my head and glanced around, "some small town down south. Had some trouble with a serial killer last year. Maybe you heard of it."

"Maybe I did," Jungwon hummed and glanced around the room, "Well... if you'd like to move in I can go tell mrs Mae about it and then she'll help you arrange for you to get furniture or pick up your things somewhere."

"I have a storage room half an hour away."

"Great... Then she'll help you get that emptied and get everything moved here."

"I'll move in in a few days if that's alright. I want my bed to be here before I move in. Maybe I can just... be here during the day and then check that you're not some weird psychopath that's going to rape or murder me," I commented, trying to keep a joking smile on my face as I wrung my hands behind my back.

"Easily," he hummed and glanced over towards my left side, "I don't work these days so I'll be here most time. You can of course just come and go as you please if you're going to live here anyway. I suppose Mrs Mae will have your key for you tomorrow."

"Great... thanks..."

We stood in silence for a good few awkward seconds. Eventually, I just nodded and had to excuse myself. A tiny headache crept up in the back of my head. Something about him seemed a bit familiar. Maybe it was just the way he talked.

Part two daily updates from January 20th, 2025