"Well, here's my payment for three months' rent."

Sooyoung had a wide smile on her face as she gave the money to the landlady, Mrs. Yoon. The two stood outside a small, two-storey apartment building situated a few kilometers away from the outskirts of the city. Sooyoung already had her luggage with her and was ready to move in.

"I didn't expect you to pay in advance," the old lady had a confused look on her face, albeit being very happy for her new tenant's eagerness to pay.

Sooyoung responded with a nod, "I really like the apartment here. And it's very spacious too," she remarked as her eyes looked around the area. For an incoming university student like her, her parents made sure that she chose the apartment near her school. Good thing she was able to find Seodama Heights, an apartment run by Mrs. Yoon.

"I had lots of tenants who were students at Myungdon too," Mrs. Yoon smiled, "Although most of them already left after their graduation. They were the nicest kids."

Sooyoung couldn't help but feel like her landlady was trying to warn her to be as nice as her former tenants, "Don't worry, ma'am, I'll never let you and Myungdon University down," she beamed which was followed by a nervous laugh.

"Well, here's the key to the main door, and to your room," Mrs. Yoon held out two small keys in front of Sooyoung, both tied together by a thick, worn-out black string. Seeing the keys baffled the younger woman.

"I'm sorry but why are there two keys?" Sooyoung asked as she took the keys from Mrs. Yoon.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Mrs. Yoon suddenly had a surprised look on her face, "You'll be sharing the apartment with another tenant, but don't worry, you two will have different bedrooms," she forced a smile.

"What?"

"Remember when you first inquired here about the apartments, you said your budget is only seven hundred thousand won. Individual apartments here cost nine hundred thousand, so I gave you a shared one," Mrs. Yoon flailed her arms as she explained why Sooyoung had to share an apartment with someone else. And the latter didn't seem satisfied.

"You should've told me earlier about that!" Sooyoung creased her forehead in annoyance, "Mrs. Yoon, I don't want to live in a shared apartment!"

"Don't worry too much about it," Mrs. Yoon grinned, "You have separate rooms so it's fine. All you need to share is the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room, and the laundry area."

Sooyoung felt her whole world stop. She wanted to take back her payment and leave, but then, tomorrow will be her first day in school and she wouldn't have more time to look for a place to stay. It was do-or-die in the streets homeless.

"Okay, who would be my roommate, then?"

-

It was just an ordinary Sunday morning for Kim Taehyung. And just like how he spent his days off from school, he sat in front of the computer screen, finishing another quest for an online game he was playing.

Call him an antisocial, but he would rather stay inside his room than go outside and get some fresh air.

"Damn you, big boss," he hummed under his breath while continuously hitting the mouse with his index finger.

He was about to exterminate the online game enemy he had, until he heard a knock in his door.

"Who's there?!" he called out without removing his sight from the computer screen.

"Mr. Lee, it's me!" a muffled voice answered from the other side, and Taehyung already knew who it was. Mrs. Yoon was the only person who would mistook his surname Kim to Lee. Based on the old woman's story, she used to have a tenant named Mr. Lee who looked exactly like him. And that story dated back in the 1980's.

Yes, Mrs. Yoon had been running an apartment for 30 years and counting.

"Mr. Lee?!"

"I'm coming!" Taehyung sighed as he hit the pause button of his game and walked towards the door. In the back of his mind, he was trying to remember if he paid rent for that month or if he segregated his garbage properly before leaving it in the garbage can in front of the apartment building.

He slowly twisted the door knob to open, and outside his door, he saw his landlady with a young woman with an orange-dyed hair behind her.

"What, Mrs. Yoon?" Taehyung asked as he shifted his eyes from Sooyoung to Mrs. Yoon.

"Ah, Mr. Lee," Mrs. Yoon grinned, "This is Choi Sooyo--"

"Park," Sooyoung quickly interrupted, "Park Sooyoung, ma'am," she chuckled nervously. She never expected the old landlady to be a Girls' Generation fan or something.

"Ah, yes, Park Sooyoung. She's from Gangwon and from now on, she'll be your new roommate," Mrs. Yoon patted Sooyoung's shoulder as she spoke.

Taehyung just wore a straight face as he examined Sooyoung from head to toe, and yes, it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Dang, is this a ert?!" Sooyoung thought to herself.

Taehyung cleared his throat before starting to speak, "Hey, Park Sooyoung."

"Ye--yes?"

"Do you know how to cook?"

Sooyoung gulped, "Cook? Um, no but I can--"

"Then I won't be needing a roommate like you," Taehyung sputtered the words and the look on his face showed how he was displeased with his supposed roommate. He immediately closed the door in front of him, leaving Mrs. Yoon and Sooyoung in shock.

"Wh--what was that?" Sooyoung mumbled.

Mrs. Yoon only responded with a laugh, "Ah, don't mind him. Mr. Lee is just like that, always grumpy. But he is a nice person," she held Sooyoung's arm and pulled her towards her bedroom, "You'll get along with him soon. So, you might want to check your room right now."

"Mrs. Yoon," Sooyoung let out a deep sigh, "I couldn't stay in an apartment with someone who doesn't like human beings."

Sooyoung heard the landlady chuckle without looking at her, "Don't worry, I have the town police on speed dial, so no need to worry."

The words sounded quite different to Sooyoung, who immediately froze after hearing 'town police'.

She had never expected that her next room neighbor was a serial killer or a spawn of the devil. No wonder he looked at her as if she was his next target.

Various images of Taehyung looking creepy entered Sooyoung's head.

"Make me paella or I'll cut your arms and feed them to the crows!" Taehyung laughed with a sinister look on his face while holding a chainsaw.

Sooyoung gulped. She had felt that if she wanted to stay alive until her college graduation while staying in Seodama Heights, she needed to learn how to cook.

"...and you also have a small heater here," an oblivious Mrs. Yoon just continued explaining things about Sooyoung's room, not noticing the nervous look Sooyoung had on her face. The young woman just stood outside her room, already figuring out how to survive her seemingly unpleasant stay in the apartment.

"...you can put whatever you want in the walls, just don't paint it to a different color," Mrs. Yoon patted the light yellow-colored wall, which already had some small holes in it, possibly from the previous tenants who attached nails to it to hang picture frames, "Ah, please put your bags inside already; this room is yours now!" Mrs. Yoon laughed, "So, do you have any question, Miss Park?"

Sooyoung lowered her head. The bedroom looked comfortable and cozy, and it was already enough for her. Her landlady was a nice old woman too, someone who didn't seem prickly and demanding. Seodama's location was also very accessible to her school and to the shopping center. Basically, it was the apartment she had been looking for.

But then she remembered about her suspicious roommate next door.

"Ah, Miss Park?" Mrs. Yoon repeated, "Do you have any question?"

Sooyoung clenched her fists and let out a deep sigh before starting to speak.

"Do you have a cookbook?"

___

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Yay! First chapter done. Please let me know your thoughts at the comment section below. ^u^ Also, #HappyMiaDay!