Faulty Hearts (aka "Tara & Belle") [Dreamcatcher | SuYoo | Sua x Yoohyeon]

Chapter 10

Author's note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay. I've been busy but I've been writing everyday so I should be back on track now. I got stuck on this chapter because it's very narrative heavy and it reveals a lot of things but I'm trying not to reveal too much. Thanks for all the comments, some of you are catching on to things so I'm glad that I didn't write things too vaguely.

For a refresher, this chapter picks up after Chapter 8 when something triggers Yoohyeon to leave the hospital. Did you guess what it was? Someone already did after Chapter 9 was published. (Kudos to you Anon!) For those who haven't guessed, the real Jiu actually left a clue on the fancafe today on June 26th. *psst it's her current profile pic* It's crazy how things like that happen! There's a spy among us. lol

Anyway, thanks for 470+ hits & 76 votes! Enjoy!

06/06/2020 minor grammatical corrections

------------------------------------

The twenty-minute taxi ride took Yoohyeon toward the heart of Seoul. Her destination was a fancy high rise apartment building. She never thought she'd ever be back here. Here, where she used to call home. She had only lived in her dorm for a few months before Minji convinced her to move in with her, and there she would stay for almost two years. Her commute to the university would be a little farther but she no longer had to worry about any expenses.

She eyed the entrance, hoping it wouldn't be the same old doorman who used to greet her every day. But to her luck, it was a different man and she suddenly felt a little sad, wondering what happened to the previous man. But she straightened out her same old hoodie and jeans and tucked her tangled locks behind her ears. She slowly approached the entrance and the new doorman greeted her cordially, opening the tall glass door for her. Yoohyeon smiled tight-lipped, holding her breath as she walked through as if the sound of her breathing would give her away.

Once inside, she stalled around, remembering her old routine here of checking the mail before taking the elevator, but she had no key this time. Instead, she entered through the fire stairwell, her boots echoing loudly like thunder. She had never been to this part of the building, it was the least nice looking area with its cold and concrete appearance. She eventually tired out around the 3rd floor and took the elevator the rest of the way to the 8th floor. She was so grateful they didn't live on the higher floors, this particular building goes up to twenty though she had never gone beyond ten.

Every floor looked exactly the same, long corridors with the doors equally spaced out. It almost looked institutional, like the hospital. She had gotten herself lost the first few times she had been here. The only way to tell the difference between floors were the wall colors and Yoohyeon remembered that the 8th floor is a lilac color. Before, just for fun, she used to count the steps it took to walk from the elevator to their apartment. Then she would close her eyes and try to count her way.

The elevator doors finally opened and the color lilac appeared in her vision, almost brighter than the last time she saw it. She closed her eyes now and started walking, counting her steps as she went. She stopped at step twenty-two and turned to her immediate right. She opened her eyes and stood in front of the correct door, the bold numbers of apartment 810 greeted her. The big black metallic door looked so cold and uninviting now. She wondered if everything behind it will be the same or if it will be completely different aka her existence erased. Only one way to find out. But if she couldn't get past this first part then it's game over.

Her thin fingers reached toward the keypad and froze just before the numeric buttons. A little shock of static brought her back to her senses again and now she felt her chest pound with dread. She finally pressed the numbers on the keypad, carefully and slowly, as if she was trying to disarm a bomb.