Dull and lonely.

Another boring day at work made Hansol to slump his back on his swivel chair while massaging the bridge of his nose. Auditing a financial statement was always stressing him. It only made his wrinkles to show up at a very young age of 24.

He felt relieve once he heard the alarm that ends their working hours. Hansol immediately shut down his laptop and clean up his messy desk. Papers were scattering around making his working cubicle to look more like a dump site.

He took his way to the elevator slinging his bag on his shoulder. He pressed the button hardly. He couldn't wait to get out of this lonely and boring workplace of his. The elevator doors flung open and before Hansol could secure himself in a corner where he usually stand alone, people suddenly rushed inside the elevator like it was the last one. Hansol could only sigh in silence as he held the strap of his bag that was slung on his shoulder.

The ride down to the ground floor wasn't that interesting at all. Hansol thought he could enjoy it peacefully but instead chattering noise bombarded his ears. All he was hearing were work frustrations and etc. Hansol couldn't believe how he survived this kind of environment for three years.

Being an accounting associate in a certain company wasn't that easy at all. But working in a place full of arrogant people was a lot harder than what Hansol thinks about his job. If it weren't for the benefits that the company was providing him probably Hansol was enjoying his work right now on the other side.

The bell rang and Hansol didn't notice the doors opening leaving him startled when the people inside with him were slowly gone disappearing. When he stepped out, the cold breeze of the evening greeted him making him to shiver. He wrapped his hand on himself trying to gain some warmth. He regretted not bringing his jacket which he forgot to put on his bag this morning.

As he was walking down the street, silently observing the people around him he suddenly felt lonely. He happened to stand beside a couple when the light suddenly turned red. He glanced at them and he saw how the couple being lovey-dovey. He scrunched his nose while looking away from them and he directed his sight at the traffic light wishing it would turn green now.

Why do couples nowadays should be affectionate to each other? And in public? How ridiculous.

There was no exciting feeling at all the moment Hansol stepped inside his apartment. It was like the usual always. He left his apartment this morning empty and when he came home it was still empty. Shutting the door behind, he leaned his back before he let his bag slid down from his shoulder. He slowly slid his back on the door until he was sat on the floor.

He felt exhausted as he leaned his head. He stared at the ceiling before shutting his eyes. He wished he was at Busan where his family was. Giving him goodbyes when he left for work and welcoming him with hugs once he got home. He opened his eyes only to meet the white ceiling again.

Seoul was far different from Busan. Seoul may look lively with the city lights around but if it weren't for those lights the city was actually dull and lonely. Just like Hansol's life.

---

"You know, I've just been here for two months but you were the only one I didn't get to know."

Hansol looked up and he saw a boy standing at the entranceof his working cubicle totally blocking the way. It quite startled Hansol who was silently working on his desk.

"I'm Ten by the way, in case you forgot", he said while offering a hand to Hansol. Hansol's eyes traveled from Ten's palm then back to the latter's eyes.

It felt weird to be honest. How could someone like Ten be so cheerful in this kind of environment? And he said Hansol was the only one he didn't get to know yet? So that means Ten already knows their officemates around? Wow. Hansol thought Ten was an amazing guy. He couldn't believe how Ten was able to be friendly with the people around them. Wherein, Hansol didn't know them all except for his boss though he was already working here for three years unlike to Ten which was only two months.

"Are you just gonna give me that cold stare with your big eyes?" Ten said which made Hansol to realize he was already staring at the latter for too long. He cleared his throat before he took Ten's hand.

"I'm Hansol. Ji Hansol."

Ten's smile grew wider. "There. You're not deaf nor mute at all", he said. "I'm sorry for saying you have big eyes-"

"No need to apologize", Hansol cut him off. "It's true anyway."

Ten was speechless. Hansol, on the other hand suddenly felt awkward. He wasn't really good at conversations like this. He shrugged off the thought of Ten before going back to his work. It felt like air on how Ten suddenly disappeared and Hansol felt sorry for being an awkward person.

---

Hansol couldn't remember how he and Ten became close. Hansol wasn't really good at socializing but when Ten kept on sticking on him. Ten was like a leech that was very hard for Hansol to remove. But he was thankful though, for Ten was able to light up his dull and lonely life in Seoul.

He found out the cheerful boy was actually from Thailand and was living in Seoul for almost five years already. No wonder he was very fluent in Korean. He also found out that Ten was two younger than him. He somehow felt a little jealous on the younger. He didn't know how Ten was able to put smiles on his face even if he was too far away from his family.

"Well, I've been seeing someone lately", Ten mentioned once they went out for a drink. The already drunk boy smiled at Hansol before drinking up another bottle of soju. "You think I don't feel lonely?" He laughed. "I do. But ever since I met him my loneliness suddenly fade away like dust in the air." Ten stared blankly. His eyes were full of joy as Hansol could see how Ten was remeniscing some moments. "He gave me reasons to be happy. He gave me reasons to smile." He laughed again before raising his half consumed bottle of suju to Hansol. "You should go get someone too if you feel lonely, Hansol-hyung!"

A small smile was curved on Hansol's lips. He was surprised to hear Ten calling him 'Hyung'. The younger never called him that way. He clanked his bottle of soju to Ten before they yelled 'cheers' together.

---

Hansol couldn't fathom how he end up in a hotel room waiting for someone whom he didn't know. If it wasn't because of Ten's stupid suggestion he would probably be lying at his bed right now watching his favorite drama.

Actually, he wasn't interested at all but since Ten's words were so encouraging he end up signing up on a dating site- it was a gay dating site to be honest. Ten told him that was where he met the person who gave him happiness, Taeyong. He wasn't really aware that such thing like that could exist. Too ignorant of today's latest social trend.

At first, Hansol was hesitating. He wasn't really into guys at all. But this won't be a problem anyway. To him, this will be a new experience and it kind of made him feel excited.

He met a lot of men through that site. They all came from different countries. Some were younger than him and some were at his age. Hansol enjoyed talking to them through the chat box. Others preferred to talk to him through video chats. There were also some that wanted to meet him personally and would asked him out for a date but Hansol himself wasn't interested at all. He could say he was lucky enough to the people he met because aside from they were very friendly and approachable, they were also very understandable every time Hansol would reject them on dates. But there was this certain user whom Hansol really enjoyed talking to and he wanted to meet him personally instead of inviting him through a video chat.

He was so confident to meet this guy in person where in fact, he was too awkward to talk to and very dumb on agreeing on meeting up in a hotel. They could've meet up in a mall or in a park. Now, he felt anxious and