Rotten Luck

Appearances: Jongdae, Unknown Guy, Jongin, Sehun and Tao
Mention: Yifan

Today is one of those ty days for Kim Jongdae where everything that happens to him is nothing but pure bad luck.

It turns out that his decision to entertain Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo last night is not the best thing he has ever done because he ends up with a splitting headache the next morning. It turns out that all of the soda cans that they brought were spiked and so they ended up drunk. It was three in the morning when Jongdae finally decided to kick them out.

He groans out loud as soon as he wakes up because his head just hurts from the hangover that he is having at the moment. He scrunches up his nose when he remembers that none of them bothered to tell him that the drinks were spiked. A warning would be nice, truth to be told.

However, since Jongdae cannot do anything about it now, he decides to let it go and focus on getting rid of his massive headache. It is then everything hits him hard. Today is Sunday which means he should be working from morning until late at night at the café. He sits up when he realises that and squints his eyes to look at his clock.

.

It is twelve in the afternoon and he is supposed to be at the said café two hours ago. He curses the three idiots who came over last night in his head and quickly rushes to the bathroom to get ready despite his head still hurting after charging his phone. He does not bother to check it because he knows that the manager has probably called him millions of times. He is not in the mood to get yelled at right now. He can just deal with it when he has reached the café.

After quickly putting on his clothes when he is done showering, he grabs his phone and just as he is about to switch the charger off, he realises that it has not even been , after all. A bitter chuckle leaves his lips but seeing that he is helpless to do anything about it, he just tucks his phone inside his pocket and takes his car keys.

He leaves his apartment and chooses to rush down the stairs because he figures that the elevator will most probably take a long time to get to the twelfth floor. As he is running down the stairs, he accidentally bumps into a stranger who is going up the stairs on the seventh floor. Due to the shock of colliding with someone, Jongdae ends up falling with his landing on the ground unmercifully.

For a moment, he just sits there, feeling dazed, as he tries to process what has just happened. The stranger who turns out to be luckier than him does not even stumble when they collided which Jongdae finds really unfair.

“Are you okay?” the stranger asks softly with concern lacing in his soft, angelic voice while waving his hand right in front of Jongdae’s face and it is then he snaps back to reality.

Laughter slips out of his mouth and he quickly scrambles up because he is in a hurry, after all. He looks at the stranger’s face and wow, this guy looks like an angel.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” the stranger says as he chuckles in amusement.

Jongdae’s face turns red as he realises that he has said that out loud. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” he decides to say after a moment of silence, pointedly ignoring the angel-like guy’s statement. With that, he quickly leaves the scene because he really needs to get to work right now and he has no time to ponder over why in the world would that stranger take the stairs to go up when he clearly does not live on the second or third floor.

Maybe taking the elevator might be faster, a voice inside his head says but Jongdae tells it to shut the hell up.

When he reaches downstairs, he walks to his car as fast as his two legs are able to carry him. He fumbles with his car keys before he is able to get inside. He puts the key in the ignition and switches on the engine.

Nothing happens.

At first, he thinks that he has made a mistake or something so he just tries to switch the engine on again but then, nothing happens. Panic washes over him because he is late and his car is not starting. He bangs his head on the steering wheel in frustration because there is nothing left for him to do.

Jongdae whips his phone out of his pocket and opens the latest message that he has just received from the manager of the café.

Don’t bother coming to work today. You’re fired.

Jongdae really wants to cry at this moment because everything has gone wrong. His usually kind manager is pissed off and he is the cause of it. His manager is usually a warm and nice person but for the first time ever, he is furious. How does Jongdae know that? Well, it is simple, really. First, he is fired from his job. Second, his manager has never used punctuations while texting! Lastly, his manager did not put in any emoticons in his text.

He always uses emoticons.

A small sob escapes Jongdae’s lips and he curses his luck for this misfortune. He keeps his phone back in his pocket. He wonders why he agreed to the welcome party that Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo held for him last night. He wonders why he accepted the spiked soda that they brought with them. Didn’t his mother tell him not to trust strangers?

He bangs his head against the steering wheel again. And again.

He does it for quite some time before he finally stops and just lays his head against the steering wheel, feeling absolutely hopeless. He feels like buying a tub of ice cream and just eats it at his new apartment while sulking and watching reruns of The Walking Dead on his television. There is only one problem, though.

He really does not feel like going out of his car.

So Jongdae just stays in his position for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do with his life from now onwards because he has just lost his precious job and his mother will kill him because the owner of the café is his mother’s friend and that was how he got the job in the first place.

It is then when someone knocks on the window of his car. He lets out a sigh because he really does not feel like talking to anyone no matter how attractive the person is. And God, the person who is knocking is certainly very attractive.

The guy is tall with handsome features. His skin is tanned but perfect and his eyes are deep. His clothes are casual but that is what makes him look cool. Jongdae presses a button on his car and the window rolls down. “Yes?” he says, sounding very tired despite the fact that it is only afternoon.

“Is there a problem?” the guy asks. “I mean, you’ve been knocking your head against the steering wheel and you look so sad and I just-”

“If there is a problem, are you able to help me?” he interrupts curtly.

The guy flushes but he maintains his cool. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe there is something I can do…” he trails off uncertainly.

Jongdae takes in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, trying to hold in his temper. He does not want to deal with an idiot right now. Just as he opens his mouth to tell the stranger to get the away from him, he decides that maybe, the guy can help him with something. “What’s your name?” he questions, instead.

The guy looks genuinely surprised by his sudden question and Jongdae briefly wonders if what he has just said is abnormal before he shakes it off. “Kim Jongin,” he answers, at last. “I live on the twelfth floor of this building too.”

“Too?” Jongdae echoes before he can stop himself. He arches an eyebrow at Jongin.

Jongin flushes once again. “Well, I saw you move in yesterday at Apartment 116,” he explains.

Well, Jongdae certainly did not see him. He pauses for a moment. Wow. This guy saw how much difficulty he was having with moving in but did not bother to help him? A sigh is emitted from his lips because he does not want to have bad thoughts about his supposed neighbour.

“Okay, whatever,” he brushes his explanation off. “You want to help me, right?” Jongin nods eagerly and he reminds Jongdae of a puppy. A cute puppy, of course, because this guy is attractive. “You can help me by buying me a tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and a plastic spoon. Pay for me first, will you? I’ll pay you back later.”

“Okay,” Jongin agrees immediately. Then, he walks off to do as he is told.

Jongdae lets out a small sigh. Honestly, he feels slightly relieved that the guy is gone because he needs his alone time right now. He wants to get away from everything at the moment but since his car is not starting, he is not able to do that. Instead, he just sits there and drowns himself in misery because his life is officially ruined and he has a few hours before his mother will visit him in his new apartment and kill him.

That is too bad, really, because he actually likes his new apartment because it is cosy and the neighbours seem nice unlike his previous neighbours who were absolutely unfriendly. Not that he has ever told them, of course, because he does not like to offend people unless he is in a bad mood.

He does not know how long he just sits there, lost in his own thoughts, when Jongin finally comes back. The guy hands him a plastic bag and Jongdae takes it from him. He peers inside and raises his eyebrow when he sees the packet of plastic spoons on top of the ice cream. “I thought I told you to buy one plastic spoon?” he asks.

For the third time that day, Jongin flushes and Jongdae is beginning to think that this guy gets embarrassed easily. Cute, he thinks to himself.

“The store only sells plastic spoons in packets,” Jongin replies and Jongdae’s mouth makes an ‘o’ shape.

Jongdae reaches inside his pocket to take his wallet out so that he can pay Jongin back. “Damn,” he curses out loud when he realises that his pocket is empty except for his phone because he has forgotten to take it just now due to the fact that he was in a rush. “Hey, I don’t have my wallet with me right now so I can’t pay you back but feel free to ring my doorbell anytime to claim your money, okay? And, oh, thanks, by the way.”

Jongin nods and flashes a bright smile. “You’re welcome,” he responds.

Just as the guy is about to walk away, Jongdae calls out, “Hey, do you want to eat the ice cream with me in my car?”

Jongin pauses and for a moment, Jongdae thinks that he is going to say yes. However, the guy just shakes his head and smiles to soothe the rejection. “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he says mysteriously. Jongdae raises an eyebrow sceptically and a small chuckle escapes Jongin’s lips. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I were to be in the same car with an attractive neighbour like you.”

Jongdae freezes at his words but Jongin just smiles and winks before leaving. He feels dumbfounded because did that guy just flirt with him? And wow, turns out that Jongin is not that shy, after all. To be completely honest, he is starting to think that his neighbours are all eccentric.

Shrugging it off, he decides to devour the ice cream. He refuses to think about how he lost his job and how his mother is going to murder him. He tries his best not to resent Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo for being part of the reason why he got fired. He also does not want to remember the fact that an attractive guy has just flirted with him and the fact that he has practically embarrassed himself in front of the angelic guy earlier at the staircase.

Eating ice cream turns out to be the best medicine to forget. Well, at least, in his case. The deliciousness of the ice cream makes him crave for more even though he is practically eating a tub of ice cream by himself. He does not worry about getting fat because he has a high metabolism and eating a tub of ice cream does not make you fat in one day.

Besides, food is life. He can eat what he wants to eat, when he wants to eat and nobody can stop him because he is a stubborn person and will do whatever he wants to do. Nobody can force him to do anything. If he does something, it is because he wants to, not because he is obligated to do so. This is why it’s not the three idiots’ fault for me getting fired, he thinks to himself firmly.

It is around three in the afternoon when Jongdae finally decides to get out of his car because he feels lonely, sitting there by himself. He makes a note to himself to call his cousin to fix his precious car by tonight so that he is able to go to his college the next day.

He locks his car and throws away the finished tub of ice cream and used spoon. He decides to save the rest of the plastic spoons in case he needs them one day. He doubts that he will need those spoons but who knows?

After that, he makes his way to the elevator and gets on it with two other guys. One of them has a scary face and Jongdae avoids eye contact with him while the other guy is wearing his headphones and mouthing along to the lyrics of the song that he is listening to. Jongdae presses the button that says ‘12’ and waits for the other two to press the buttons of their floor too.

Much to his surprise, they do not which means only one thing; they live on the same floor as him.

He feels a little bit horrified by that fact but he tries to assure himself that they might not be as bad as they look. The elevator door closes and it begins moving upwards. Jongdae tries his best not to fidget but he does, anyway. He just wants to get out of this elevator as soon as possible but the elevator seems to be taking forever to reach the twelfth floor.

Jongdae lets out a sigh of relief when they finally reach their destination. Maybe, it is too early for that because the elevator door does not open. Instead, it remains shut. Jongdae’s eyes widen in panic and he starts pressing random buttons but the elevator does not move. He lets out a sigh before finally giving up.

“Looks like we’re stuck here for a little while,” the guy with the headphones comments nonchalantly as he takes off his headphones.

“Yeah,” Scary Guy replies before taking out his phone. Then, he starts taking pictures of himself while making different expressions each time.

Jongdae just stares at him blankly, not knowing what to say or do. It is the first time he has ever seen someone who takes selfies when he is stuck in the elevator. Well, maybe that is because this is the first time he has ever been trapped in an elevator before. He jabs the alarm button and hopes that rescue will come soon because he badly wants to get out of here.

“Take one with me?” Scary Guy requests and Jongdae assumes that he is talking to Headphones guy so he does not reply.

Awkward silence fills the air as nobody replies and Jongdae turns to face Scary Guy. He points to himself. “You’re talking to me?” he asks, feeling like an idiot, all of a sudden.

Scary Guy nods innocently. “Well, yeah. We all should take a selfie together and then I’m going to post this on my Instagram and Weibo,” he responds.

Jongdae blinks blankly at him. Well, who in the right mind takes selfies when they are stuck in the elevator only to post them on social media?

“No, thank you,” Headphones declines.

For a moment, Jongdae feels horrified because he does not know what Scary Guy will do because Headphones has just rejected his request. Scary Guy looks like someone who will do anything to get what he wants. Which is why it is a total surprise for him when the guy pouts.

“Oh, come on,” Scary Guy whines childishly and suddenly he does not seem as scary as he did before.

Headphones lets out a sigh before he gives in. They take a selfie together and Jongdae heaves a sigh of relief because they only take one picture. Then, silence ensues again and he shifts uncomfortably and wonders how much longer he has to stay here.

Five minutes pass by in complete silence before he finally decides that he cannot take it anymore. “Care to introduce yourselves? I mean, we’re neighbours, after all,” he speaks up.

Headphones and Scary Guy exchange looks but Jongdae is not able to figure out what that look means.

“Unless you want me to continue calling the two of you ‘Headphones’ and ‘Scary Guy’ respectively inside my head for the rest of my life,” he adds.

Headphones bursts into laughter as soon as he hears what Jongdae has said while Scary Guy just looks mortified. “I’m Oh Sehun,” Headphones says when he has calmed down. “That ‘scary guy’ over there is Huang Zitao.”

“I’m not scary!” Zitao exclaims.

“He’s harmless,” Sehun agrees.

Jongdae just makes a face at them because he does not think so. Just as he is about to open his mouth to say something, the lights inside the elevator flicker.

Oh no.

When the lights flicker, Zitao immediately grabs Sehun’s arm tightly. “Oh my God, it’s a ghost. A ghost is doing this, oh my God. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry, I’ll be good, from now on. Please don’t hurt me, I promise I won’t force Yifan to buy me Gucci anymore. Anything as long as you don’t harm me, please,” he rambles.

Jongdae blinks blankly again.

Being stuck in an elevator is one thing.

Being stuck in an elevator with idiots is even worse.

Zitao begins crying and Sehun seems to be at loss as to what to do. It is obvious that he wants to get away from this situation as much as Jongdae does but he does not have the heart to wrench his arm away from Zitao.

“First of all,” Jongdae says matter-of-factly, “it’s in the afternoon right now so this is most probably because of some technical difficulties. Secondly, ghosts don’t exist, so don’t worry.”

Zitao shoots him a judging look while Sehun just stares at him with emotionless eyes. “Ghosts do exist!” Zitao insists stubbornly as more tears begin to form in his eyes.

Jongdae decides that today is his unlucky day.