Bang Bang Bang

Sunggyu jerks up from the bed, hand instinctively went for the gun underneath his pillow, before rolling himself off the bed and hides behind the door. He grabs the small packed haversack tugged in the corner while listening intently on movements outside his room. There is only one thing in his mind; he needs to run; he is never ever going back to that place again.

Bang Bang Bang

The banging continues. Something is amiss. They have never come so noisily, always stealth in their movement. He listens again but doesn’t pick up anything outside his door. The banging seems to be coming from further away. Sunggyu finally realises someone is banging on his front door. It can’t be those people, there’s no chance they will knock politely before entering. The clock on the bedside table blinks two-fifty, he wonders who could be knocking this late. Putting down his haversack but still carrying the gun, he slowly approaches the front door.

He knows the man he sees in the peephole. The guy stays opposite his apartment but they are only nodding acquaintance. Sunggyu keeps to himself most of the time, and doesn’t leave the house unless absolutely necessary, like dumping the trash which he has purposely chosen early morning or late night to do it. But somehow, he stills bump into his neighbour at these odd hours. He has been wary at first but nothing happened and he has been staying in this apartment for six months, the longest since his escape. Sunggyu stows his gun behind his back, arranging his pullover to keep the gun out of sight, before opening the door.

“What took you so long? I have been knocking for five minutes. Is it because sleeping beauty needs his beauty sleep?”

Sunggyu decides to ignore the last comment and the wink from his neighbour. He seriously has no idea how he is supposed to react. The guy couldn’t be flirting with him, right? He probably thinks he is being funny, Sunggyu concludes. Although at this very moment, Sunggyu only feels irritation, being frightened awake in the middle of the night. He just wants to crawl back in bed and hopefully get some sleep before the sun is up again. However, his neighbour seems to be in no hurry to inform his intention of knocking in the middle of the night. Instead, the guy is just looking at him with gleaming eyes. Sunggyu begins to fidget, feeling uncomfortable from the stare. He hates being watched, it reminds him of that dreadful place. He has every intention of slamming the door shut if his neighbour doesn’t speak up in the next few seconds.

“Don’t you hear that?” His neighbour finally asks as if sensing Sunggyu’s displeasure.

Sunggyu concentrates but all he hears now are the loud pattering sound of the rain and the breathing of his neighbour. He moves away instinctively after realising his neighbour has leaned in, and even though there is a gate between them, he feels threaten by the sudden invasion of his personal space. He takes a step backward.

“What am I supposed to hear?” He questions his smirking neighbour, who seems to be enjoying his discomfort.

“The water gushing on the rooftop?” His neighbour hints.

“What is so special about raining that you need to come banging my door in the middle of the night?” Sunggyu asks indignantly.

“It’s not raining. The water tank burst and if we don’t do something about it, the water bill is going to burn a big hole in my pocket and yours too. Check outside if you don’t believe me.” His neighbour adds after seeing his doubtful face.

Sunggyu tugs the closed curtains slightly apart and sure enough, it isn’t raining outside. “Did you call the landlord? Ash him to send someone to fix it?”

“He didn’t answer my call. And knowing how stingy that man is, it’s going to be a problem asking him to foot the water bill.”

Sad to say, he has to agree with his neighbour assumption, having a few encounters with the old man over defective appliances in his apartment. The only solution is to call a plumber themselves but he wonders if any plumber works in the middle of the night.

“If you let me in, I can take a look at the water tank and maybe fix it temporary till morning when we can have a better look at the problem.” His neighbour offers, smiling a bit too happily at him.

Sunggyu has only chosen this apartment because it has access to the rooftop which provides him with an additional escape route when needed. There’s an emergency stairway at the rooftop that exits to the back of the building. Now he knows why his neighbour is at his door. His apartment is the only way up the rooftop without help from the landlord. But he still feels conflicted letting a stranger into his apartment.

“You can fix it? You a plumber?” Sunggyu enquiries tentatively. Although they have been neighbours for half a year, he seriously has no idea about his neighbour’s occupation. Though the guy seems to be in tank tops most of the times they met, like now. And Sunggyu has to admit it shows off his arms and collarbone perfectly. But isn’t the weather a bit too cold to dress so scarcely, Sunggyu wonders as himself is fully cover up in a pullover and track pants.

“I’m a jack of all trades but I can’t guarantee anything before assessing the problem. I must go up and have a look first.” His neighbour smiles disarmingly at him as he explains the situation.

Sunggyu wants to reject the offer but the water gushing noise is getting to his nerves. It sounds too similar to the fateful night he escaped. The despair he felt when he thought he wasn’t making it out of that place haunts him on rainy days while nightmares frequents him on rainy nights.

“See, I brought my tools. Trust me, I’m sure I can help.” His neighbour flashes a toolbox as if he knows Sunggyu’s dilemma.

Sunggyu snorts at his neighbour’s words. He doesn’t think he will ever be able to trust again since he only has his once naïve self to blame for all his torment. But tonight, blame it on the moon or his mind not functioning from the lack of sleep, Sunggyu wants to believe just this one time. He slowly unlocks the gate and hopes it isn’t going to be a regretful decision just because he wants to spare himself a sleepless night.

The neighbour’s smile brightens as he steps into Sunggyu’s apartment immediately when the gate opens, making the owner move a few steps backward and watching him in a guarded manner. He looks around with interest, noting the sparsely furnished living room. The room doesn’t look live in with only a sofa and an old television set. Nothing decorative, nothing memorial.

“Ahem, Mr… the stair to the rooftop is next to the kitchen.” The owner of the apartment points out quietly, still standing a distance away from him.

“It’s Mr Nam, but I prefer you call me Woohyun. I thought I did introduce myself when we met the previous times, you know, at the rubbish dump. But you never told me your name. So how should I address you? Sleeping beauty?”

After a long silence, where Woohyun thinks he is just not getting any answer like previous encounters or more likely, being kick out of the apartment due to his teasing, the owner finally mumbles.

“Kim. Just call me Kim.”

Woohyun is happy with the improvement, compared with the curt nods he receives previously from his neighbour. “Well Kim, shall we solve our water problem?”

Guess what? I was adding my my first chapter and I discovered this story already has 3 subscribers!!! Then I found out I have selected "Subscriber Only" hahaha. Pardon my mistake.

@nanawawa, querolsfiorin & sunggyu_chingyu: Thank you so much for subscribing (even it is because of the "Subscriber Only" criteria). I sincerely hope you like this first chapter :)

I have to frankly tell everyone because of my part time study and new job, update for this story will not be prompt. But I do promise to finish the story.

Like I said in the forward, Sunggyu and Woohyun are just so happy to be near each other. I frankly think they do miss each other a lot, having stayed together for many years.

Enjoy reading and I hope you leave me lots of comments! Thanks and bye for now ^^