UNRAVEL

ROOM MATE

Inhale. Exhale. I kept telling myself to calm down but the situation is getting out of hand. I am seated on a single couch, inside the house that I was supposed to rent, and accross me is a lady settled on a sofa, beside her is the landlady or the owner of this house.

"So you mean, we both have deposited money at the same time, and you didn't give us a call ahead of time and decided to get this settled just now?" I asked the landlady in disbelief. The landlady just held her head low. "I'm sorry." She whispered and I sighed.

Well, I've come all the way from Jeju this night, only to find out that there is this girl, who is the one sitting beside the landlady, have rented the same house as me. So now, we are inside that house, trying to settle the problem all at once.

The girl looked at me without saying a word. "Won't you say a thing?" I asked her but she shrugged. "Is there anything we can do?" She asked while still having her eyes on me. I sighed and tightly closed my eyes. "Look, I need this house, will you please step aside and let me have it?" I politely asked but she shook her head. "I need this house too." I growled in annoyance. "There are so many houses out there, even more spacious and beautiful than this one, you can find one that will suit your taste as a girl." I grumbled but she stood her ground shaking her head.

This house is in the perfect area and is not the kind of house that attracts a lot of attention. If I were to live in here, people won't suspect me on doing anything. And it has two doors, the one in front and the other on the back. If something might happen, it is easy to runaway.

"Uh, how about this, I'll give you two half of your payment back, and you both will have this house, uh, just consider each other as housemates or even more, roommates." The landlady suggested and I quickly disagreed. "That's impossible, this house only has one room, and she's a lady!" I pointed out but the girl glared at me.

Is she seriously considering the fact that we might live together under the same roof?

"I assume you wouldn't let me have this house and I wouldn't let you either, so let's just agree on what did she say." She mumbled still having those dead eyes. "Then it's settled." The landlady clapped, she then stood up, and gave us both a bow with a sly smile before dashing out of the house.

My mouth is agape all the while, until the landlady disappeared and there were only me and her inside the house. "I'll take the left side of the bed." She mumbled out of nowhere, pulling her luggage with her, I watched her as she gets inside the room. My mind is still processing the words that she said and when I finally had a full grasp on it, my eyes went wide and my mouth flew open.

"Are you saying that we will be sharing bed?!" I was taken aback with her cold gaze but the fact that we will be sleeping beside each other made me restless. I followed her inside the room with both hands on my hips. "Look, not because I'm handsome and I look nice, does it give you the right to feel safe and all around me. Aren't you afraid? I'm still a guy for fuck's sake." She shrugged, "I know how to protect myself. Pull something punky and you'll end up dead." She then gestured me to get out. "Leave. I'm going to get change."

I was about to say something again to protest but she pushed me out and threw the door close right at my face. "Unbelievable." I grumbled. "Aish!" I shouted in annoyance kicking the door. My phone rang, after seeing the caller's ID, I tried calming myself before swiping the green one to answer the call.

"Chief?!" Bobby enthusiastically called out from the other line. "Chief, have you found your house? Are you home now?" He queried and I can't help but chuckle. These punks might be a pain in the ass but they are my brothers. "Of course. So, how's Jeju?" I diverted the topic away from me, because I might spout my annoyance and it will lead into misunderstanding.