Try-Hard, Sin Harder

15. Gone

Night had fallen upon the city when I returned to my apartment. 

 Stepping out from the shadowed sidewalk, I hopped up the stairs to my apartment, glancing at midnight's ghostly eye as it hovered in a ring of clouds in the sky. Street lights flickered off in the distance, the one before my apartment having been dead for weeks. If I hadn't gone through it hundreds of times these past few months, I would have walked into the metal fence surrounding the building. From the cries and grunts of frustration I heard during the night, it seemed like I wasn't the only one. Seriously, did people not remember that most cell phones come with a built-in flashlight? 

 Sighing, I turned at the top of the stairwell and moved towards my apartment. I was tired. My eyes were still swollen from crying so much earlier, my heart heavy from sharing my past and hearing Yoongi's. After he finished telling me everything he could bring himself to, we just sat on the bench holding each other for what could have been an hour. Every so often one of us would start crying again, and the other would proceed calming them down with gentle strokes and a soft voice. To someone outside, it may seem sad or concerning, but in all honesty, opening up to him like that was a relief I hadn't felt in a long time. It was like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. I only hoped he felt the same way. 

 After a while, we went back to his apartment. By the time we stepped through the door, his eyelids were barely slit open. I knew he must have been exhausted; it had been a long day for both of us. Leading him to his bedroom, I sat him down on his bed and told him to get some sleep. He refused at first, insisting that I needed someone to walk me home and Jin would have his head if he didn't. As the minutes stretched on, I watched as his eyes strained to stay open. When I told him I would call once I made it back to my apartment, he finally gave in and slipped under the cover of his blankets. I had shut off all of the lights on my way out, locked the door behind me, and slid the keys under his door.

 I had no trouble walking from their apartment to mine. Sticking to the shadows of the park trail, I had kept my steps quick and light, and made myself as invisible as I possibly could. After the incident with Taehyung and the drunk, I had known better than to let my guard down. I shivered at the memory, glancing over at the river and grove of trees where Taehyung had fought the drunk off and held me for what felt like an eternity. Smiling at the boat vendor as I passed him, we had bowed our heads to each other, and I pressed forward. Away from the studio, the library and their apartments. Past Lexie's bench, the piano, the picnic spot, convenience store and café. Towards my apartment, my home and its terrace. 

 The front door was open. 

 Addled, I took a cautious step towards it. I distinctly remembered locking the door on my way to meet Namjoon, my house key still tied to my shoe lace. When I reached for it, the door handle turned without any resistance, and swung back and forth on its hinges. I took a closer look at the lock. It was completely shattered. The chain lock was in pieces on the ground. A chill rolled down my spine; someone had broken into my apartment. 

 Panicking, I rushed through the doorway and began searching around for what may have been stolen. Working at a café, I didn't have very much to steal. That didn't mean there wasn't anything worth stealing, however. Tucked away in the drawers of my wardrobe was a small box containing silver jewelry passed down from my grandmother to me. I almost started crying again when I found they were still there. I couldn't lose the last thing I had from her; from them. But, if they hadn't stolen my jewelry, then why had someone broken into my apartment? Had they stolen something else? 

 Searching around for an answer, I made my way into the kitchen, and tried flicking on the light. The bulb was gone. Glancing around the den, I found all the bulbs gone from their posts. Odd, was it a lightbulb thief? Moving back to the kitchen, I found my flower vase had been knocked over. Water dripped from my counter, but the azaleas had not dried out. They must have been knocked over recently, a day or two at most. I stiffened. Completely focused on making sure that nothing had been stolen, I had forgotten to consider the culprit might not have left. I counted everything I had discovered. My belongings remained in my apartment. All of the lights had been taken out, casting my apartment in dark shadows. The vase had been knocked over recently, so recently that the water was still dripping to the floor and my flowers were still alive. I shivered; I wasn't alone in my apartment.