“Ding.” The familiar sound of an arriving elevator. I lived in a big and tall apartment so for me the elevator was everyday life. It would be a good day. I just knew it. It was the day where I, Jung Hoseok or J-Hope as I was called by some, had to sign the contract. The contract that would make me a part of the established music industry for good and God I was excited. With a wide smile and my hands in the pockets, I strolled into the elevator. 21th floor.. 20th floor. The elevator stopped and a pretty girl  around the same age got in. We shortly exchanged glances and smiled. I noticed her fine attire, so of course I wondered what she was up to.

“Hi.” I said with a polite voice as I smiled. She looked cute. She was fiddling with the edge of her summery dress and she looked just as nervous as excited.

“Hey.” She answered me back in all politeness. The mood wasn’t to be mistaken. By her look and her way to greet, she seemed just as happy as me. The elevator closed and my personal countdown started once again.

19th floor.. 18th floor. Creak. The elevator stopped abruptly which resulted in me stumbling, bumping into the handrail made of steel. Fortunately, it was no worse than I could recover my balance. However, it didn’t went as smooth for the pretty girl who bumped into me. Immediately she fell to the ground and I tried to catch her beforehand, but that didn’t succeed. She was lying on the floor, supporting the elbow she had landed on.

“AISH! Argh!” She sat up and pouted and I did the first thing that came to my mind.

“Kwenchana???” I rushed to her as soon as she fell and bent down to her, trying to find out if the situation was more serious than I was assuming. I supported her with a hand placed on her back, smiling as soothing in full measure. The only answer she could give me was a simple nod. I thought that she was just too hurt to answer properly right away due to the pain I assumed she went through.

“Are you sure?” Once again she nodded and so did I. I just wanted to make sure. She seemed like a person who didn’t want to lose face to anyone.

“The pain is going away slowly. I’ll be alright. I don’t think I can get help anyway.. Not when we’re trapped inside this ty elevator.” She made a surprised noise before looking away in what looked like embarrassment to me. Then it hit me. ty elevator? Trapped? Oh, . The missing pieces were now in place and then it struck me.

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?” I  stood up and looked down at her in disbelief. Did she really just say what I thought she’d say? No way. You gotta be kidding me, right? It couldn’t be true. Not now. In anger and frustration I ruffled my hair, turning my attention away from her.

“I know.. I know.. Cursing is BAD. It’ll never happen again, I swear!” I shook my head at her in confusion? What the f* was she talking about? Cursing. Ha, what a cute reaction. However, I had no time to study her innocent features. I was too busy panicking. We we're ing trapped!

“Aniiyo, not that part.. or wait. No! No cursing is bad! But uhm.. Are we like.. uhmm.. trapped??? Don’t you think we’ll move again anytime soon? I mean, this is not a movie. It can’t be true. We can’t be stuck like this.. We just can’t”  No we just couldn’t. I walked around in circles frustrated about her words. I must’ve looked like a lion in a cage because I was more confused than ever. Firstly, I hated small places! Small rooms and space made me want to vomit so bad and that would just be too awkward.  I couldn’t throw up in front of a girl, right? She would  just think I was some sort of coward who was afraid of stupid little things. And coward was the last thing I wanted to be. Especially in front of her. The reason is still unknown that day today.

Instinctively, I looked towards her direction wanting to see whether she was okay as I pushed my panicking thought away. She was sitting  planted to the ground with her back against the elevator. To me, she still seemed to be recovering from the bad fall. I gritted my teeth, continuing to walk around in circles. I had to get out of there. It felt as if the air disappeared little by little and it was just a matter of time before I would go completely nuts. Unfortunately, my mental breakdown happened faster than I had suggested. Jung Hoseok was afraid, I had to admit that. It clicked inside my head and I know it didn’t show the best side of me, but for once I had to.

“YA! ANYONE! HEELLOOOOOOOOO. WE’RE IN HERE! ANYONE! I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!...... Freaking elevator.” I kicked and hit the closed elevator door in the hope that just one single soul would hear my desperate shouts for help. I had to get out now! I had to sign that damn contract. With those thoughts I  continued to hit, yell and kick in what looked like an endless routine but I started to lose power and strength and that slowly made me stop.

I turned around and breathed out heavily when no one responded to my cries for help and then I looked at her. She was still sitting down and looked at me as if I was some sort of freak. Yeah, I kind of was. Which man with his honors in custody would do such thing? To stop and give up? Not cool man, not cool and I was aware of that fact. I tried to avoid her eyes  due to my embarrassment. I sat down in the complete opposite direction of her on purpose in the hope that she wouldn’t be able to spot my current condition. But I guess you didn’t have to be blind to see how big a coward I was or how disappointed I was about myself. And the fact that she didn’t say or do anything made me crazy. How could she just sit and act as if nothing had happened? We were trapped after all, right?  

“Your turn. Maybe they’ll hear your voice.” I slapped my own cheek quickly. What was I thinking? Demanding her to scream and yell just because I couldn’t do it on my own. Smart move, Hoseok, smart