Together in the lockdown

DH´s pov

It´s not that I couldn´t understand his feelings. We were all on the same boat at this point with the lockdown. But it was unexpected for someone like Hyukjae to break down, I was sure that from the two of us, I would be the one who needs the support first.

The phone rang again. Hyukjae calling.

“Donghae?” He was speaking in whispers again.

“I´m here,” my voice croaked, I was just about to go to bed. This was the fifth call today, the twentieth since Monday.

“You were already sleeping, weren´t you?” He asked apologetically. When he asks like that, I can´t even get mad.

“No, no I wasn´t. Watching TV, that´s all,” I answered, walking in my pajamas through the flat, stepping quietly to not wake up my roommate. I was rooming with my colleague from the police academy, a little sensitive fellow but not a bad person.

“Donghae, the monsters are back,” here we go again, “I don´t think I can handle it this time, I really can´t.” A long sigh and a sob.

Hyukjae lost his job early in the spring due to lockdown and his workplace closing. At first it was alright, but he failed to find a job and later spent some time in the quarantine also. In summer his mother fell sick and he had to use up most of his savings for medical treatment.

During this time his psyche suffered unexpectedly, and he began telling me about monsters in his house. He lived in a tiny one room plus bathroom studio on the top floor of a block of flats. But he felt extremely paranoid in the closed space. They watched him in his sleep, would spread dust on his table or purposely wrinkle his clothes while he was gone.

I´ve tried calming him down somehow, even suggested some professional help but so far it was only getting worse. Yet, I was the one still working and very busy, with less time for Hyukjae, I felt at least the duty to be by his side when he needed me.

“It´