A few hours passed, and Namjoo was already at her new apartment twitching at the movers. Honestly, did they not have eyes?! They already nearly broke her TV, and now they were dragging her desk up the stairs like a dog on a leash. Moreover one of the bigger guys actually dared to flirt with her for some extra tips! He was lucky she needed the help, or she wouldn’t hesitate to scratch his face off!

And to think she actually paid cash for this! Both money and good mood wasted. She should’ve accepted SungJong’s help when he offered it.

Sungjong...

Finally the movers waved goodbye and drove off. Now it was Namjoo, the apartment, and a bunch of boxes filled with things she didn’t even need. It was too quiet for her busy-bee persona. Somehow she thought things would be different when she left her parents in Tokyo. She wanted freedom, adventure!

            Same , different pile… she thought and kicked a box out of her way.

            It would have been better if she just bought everything new, even if she hardly had the money. She felt sick just looking at the old electric kettle as she poured herself some tea. If was too familiar to be comfortable. And as she dunk the teabag into the mug, she watched the water quickly turn brown.

What if I just don’t pull it out? As silly as it sounds, the thought gave her the shivers.

What if I just decide to leave it in there, just because I can? Just to ruin it? No one will even know that I wasted it, right? The water was already getting too dark. A little more and…

Namjoo yanked the tea bag out in horror. What is wrong with her?! Scared by teabags. Wow. Even miles away from home she could feel something toxic crawling up and throwing her into a constant fear of regretting her actions.

            As she walked out with her tea, Namjoo noticed a figure wandering around below the apartment complex. It was too dark to make out anything, but he or she seemed lost. They first looked around, then at their paper, then back around, spinning around in circles.

For a moment Namjoo thought of calling out to help, but after the person turned their face into a street light her whole body grew numb.

Quick! Just sprint into the apartment, lock the door, barricade it with anything you see, and then hide under the bed; if they come in, say you were trying a new method of sleeping!

But SungJong already saw her. He went straight for the stairs up, and got to the 3^rd floor in no time.

“Namjoo—” he started.

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!” She yelped out, backing away.

He paused, noticing her reaction.

“Look, I’m not that mad at you anymore. You learned your lesson. I forgive you.” SungJong smiled at her and she felt a little safer. He drew her in for a hug.

“Even if you sometimes stray away, I’ll always be yours. I love you, you know that right?” he placed his chin on her head and they swayed back and forth as one. He was so warm.

“…I know…” Namjoo couldn’t hear her own voice “B-but Sungjong…I really didn’t cheat on you”

Sungjong stopped the swaying and suddenly she felt like she was hugging a block of granite.

“Namjoo, I really told you I forgive you. You don’t have to lie.”

“But I’m not lying.”

“Namjoo, we can argue more, or we can just forget about it.”

“But those were the people from my middle school! And my past neighbors—”

“Forget about it” The way he said it sounded more like an order.

But Namjoo wasn’t paying attention; his shirt seemed easier to talk to the more she pressed against it. “It was my old friend’s birthday! I didn’t tell you because they called me the same day—”

“Namjoo!” Suddenly Sungjong ripped Namjoo apart from him as shook her like a rag doll. “I can forgive cheating, but I won’t forgive lying!”

“There were girls there too though!” Namjoo tightly shut her eyes as she said it.

“I don’t believe you! I don't believe you, I don't believe you!!” Sungjong was reaching his limit. Somehow he imagined them making up a lot easier - she was supposed to apologize, cry and he would benevolently forgive her.

“Maybe you didn’t want to hurt me,” He stopped midway. The way her small vulnerable body shook in his hands made him feel like a monster. Was he the bad guy now? How unfair! “Open your eyes! OPEN YOUR EYES GODDAMIT AND LOOK ME IN THE EYE!”

Namjoo’s eyes mechanically flew open against her will and she looked at him, afraid to even blink.

Sungjong rummaged around his pocket in irritation. He finally took out a small box and brought it up to her face. She immediately looked away.

“You see this?! This is what I’ve been working for ALL THIS TIME. While YOU were fooling around, giving the eye to every single guy you saw!” He had a twisted smile as he said it.

 “What, you’re going to cry now? Little crybaby princess is going to cry?” Sungjong squeezed her cheeks and brought her sobbing face up. “Only people who feel sorry for themselves cry!”

Namjoo tried to struggled out of his grip but Sungjong was stronger “I don’t feel sorry for myself!” she whimpered.

“Yes you do! Don’t lie! DON’T LIE!”

Suddenly a splash of ice cold water hit him across the face, and Sungjong pushed Namjoo away in shock.

“WHAT THE—”

“Shut up. Go home.”

Namjoo instantly recognized the voice and turned in surprise. “Miss Son!”

Naeun stood in the doorway of the apartment across, with a big (now empty) metal bucket in her hands. Namjoo had to squint and cover her eyes with a hand to see against the illuminating light of the apartment. Naeun was probably sleeping just before. She wore an oversized grey sweatshirt over checkered pajama pants, but stood barefoot.  Her hair was a mess, and her bare face wore an extremely tired, irritated look.

"WHY...YOU..." Sungjong splat some water out of his mouth. Jacket, T-, jeans - everything was drenched.

“Seriously, it’s 1 o’clock in the morning. If you’re that bored, why don’t you just go drown yourself in the Han River?” Naeun’s tone was so monotonous that Namjoo couldn't quite tell if it was a joke or not.

It seemed like hours passed as SungJong and Naeun just stood there studying each other. Finally Sungjong shivered from his wet clothes and gave up the stare down. He mumbled something like “Good-night” in overly polite language and descended the stairs without a sound.

“Sorry—” Namjoo bent her back 90 degrees at Naeun.

Naeun sighed, scratching the back of her head.

“Jeez, why are you going out with him if you can’t handle him?”

Namjoo suddenly felt that she couldn’t unbend.

Naeun paused, looking at the girl’s back with curiosity. “You do like him, right?”

“I don’t know…” Namjoo whispered as she stared at the floor.

Naeun grew silent. Then, very cautiously, asked, “Did you…choose to be with him?”

“I DON’T KNOW! STOP ASKING ME!” Namjoo felt a clump in build up but she didn’t dare to unbend. “My friends encouraged me to go out with him when he asked me. I brought it upon myself.”

“I see.” Naeun disappeared in the doorway for a second and emerged with a towel. She threw it lightly over Namjoo’s shoulders, without touching her. “Then you’re both fools. Sweet dreams, noisy neighbor.”

Without another word Naeun walked back in and shut the apartment door, leaving Namjoo in complete darkness and, to an extent, comfort.

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Thank you so much for supporting! TT_TT I hope I don't dissapoint you. Namjoo isn't a main character, but I love her so much I just had to write her own character in more detail (the teabag part seems a little over the top now, but it seemed like a great sentimental idea t the time. I have similarly weird moments myself.) I hope she turns out well by the end. Thanks for reading and commenting, and tell me if there are typos! ^^