Oh Sae Ri’s life had just taken a new turn; a turn which was unprecedented. She was not sure about her feelings. Was she happy? Not sure. Was she sad? Not sure. Had they promoted her because of her skills or because of the shortage of game developers at the other branch? She could never know. That was the problem with her. She could not put an end to this chain of thoughts. She never lived in the moment. She was either in the past or the present or neither of them. She had created her world, aloof in the room, where the walls were impenetrable.

“Congratulations!” Suho wished her. Sae Ri never talked to her colleagues well, except when work needed to be done. Suho was the only one she used the language with. He got this privilege since he was her cousin. She was the ‘ice queen’ of the software department. Her face was always impassive and no one dared to approach her. There were rumors that she was a ghost or an evil spirit which made her laugh at the stupid people at her workplace. The girls had an undefined abomination for her, which she never understood. The males were frightened of her.

“Thanks.” Her expression didn’t match her words as she continued concentrating on her work. “When are you throwing a party?” Suho immediately regretted his question knowing that Sae Ri wasn’t a party person. “I am not.” She nonchalantly replied and was internally screaming for being rude to the person who is a nice man. Suho pouted and was going to leave when his eyes fell on the newspaper kept on her desk. “You need to look for a place now that you’re moving.” She nodded her head. She had no idea where to go. Till now, Suho’s tutelage was the only home she knew. “I’m going to miss living with you.” She ruffled Suho’s hair making him glare at her.

“I hope you find a good place to live.”

That was the twenty-third time someone told her that. This promotion was a curse. How can sending a person on the other side of the country be helpful? Sae Ri was just an inch close to quitting her job. How could she not find a single empty apartment for herself? The apartments were sometimes too far from her workplace and some had unrealistically high rents and some had creepy neighbors. The odds were absolutely against her. Her dear cousin had offered to look for houses but being the idiot she was, she declined. She never could find out why she liked to be sadistic with her self. Finally giving up, she contacted the person she should have in the first place.

“Do you like it?”

Sae Ri didn’t answer; her expression said it all. For a person who rarely showed how she felt, her opinions were too visible. The apartment was what she had always dreamt about. The bedrooms were huge and the bathroom was twice her studio apartment. It was just at the right location. The room had a huge window which gave her the view of nature. Also, there was a piano begging to be played in the hall. It was luxurious. The rent was just what she could afford. She loved the place. Everything seemed heaven-sent. The only problem she was going to face was dealing with her roommate. He, yes he, was Suho’s friend. He was some sort of writer but Sae Ri had never heard of him. A man with beautiful gleaming eyes and the most cheerful smile she had ever seen. Judging from his clothes, he seemed quite successful which made her question him sharing his apartment with a stranger.

Was she ready to sacrifice the bedroom of her dreams for her privacy? Was she ready to sacrifice this perfect plan of God for her insecurities? Should she? “I don’t know.” She whispered so that her words were audible to only Suho. “I think you should take it. I mean, where you could find a perfect place like this. I know you don’t like having people around you but I can assure you that Baekhyun is a gentleman. He won’t cause discomfort to you.” Sae Ri’s eyes fell on the said man who was already looking at her which made her flustered. She averted her gaze and looked at her reflection on the windows of the bedroom that could be potentially hers. What if this Baekhyun guy is a creepy stalker? But he doesn’t seem like one. Writers are good people, right? I am so confused. Several thoughts ran through her head. She fisted her hands and chewed on her bottom lip. Why can’t I make a single decision? She mentally cursed at herself and then turned towards the owner of the apartment.

“I like it.”

Those three words made her the roommate of Baekhyun and a part of his plan.

Oh Sae Ri clearly remembers the day when she first played a video game in her life. Those days were among the worst in her life. Let’s say that her parents were not nice people. She hated them. They were the last people she wanted to share her pain with. Nobody shares their pain with the person who has caused the pain. She was nine when she stole a PSP from her cousin’s drawer. The tool fascinated her. Initially, it was difficult for her still young brain to comprehend the use of the buttons and the mechanism of the PSP. Pressing all the buttons at the same time didn’t help her but she didn’t give up and finally found the way to operate it.

The first game she played was a car race. She was addicted to it. A new world where the cars just race was extremely intriguing for the little girl. But she lost interest in it. The cars racing on an endless road lost the tinge of fascination as her brain exploded with different ideas. She started drawing figures in her drawing book, thinking about how she could alter the game and make it catchier. Some would say that it was abnormal behavior while some would say that it was an escape from the heart-breaking reality she wanted to getaway. It started as a distraction but became a passion. Sae Ri often found herself in-game zones of the malls or going to game hubs. She could vent out all her anger and frustration by killing people in games and getting away with it.

Zambora, the company where she worked, offered her an ocean of opportunities. In her adolescent years, she would often slow down and stop to look at its headquarters and then walk away. She would prefer to stay there rather than staying at her home, amongst a ruined family. A home usually means the presence of your family and people you care about at a place, but for her, it meant a place where she could think clearly, a place where she could say what she felt, where she didn’t have to kill her emotions and breathe slowly. Her office was her haven. People did hurt her at her workplace, called her by different names, bully her for being different and stay away from her. She didn’t want people to be scared of her. She was a human, after all, she has feelings. But the moment she lets her guard down, people walked all over her. Nobody could blame her for being a ‘tin robot’.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, buttoning her coat properly for the first day at a new yet familiar place. Her face looked drained of excitement and nervousness for a person at a new office, but she knew that she was nervous. Her legs were limp, her hands were shaky and her heartbeat was abnormal. New place, new people and new problems she had to put up with scared her. Shrugging off her feelings, she decided to clean her new bedroom before leaving the room. The aroma of a delicious meal reached her senses making her hungry. Her eyes met the man who was busy cooking something. His hair was disheveled and his occasional yawns showed how sleepy he was. Her faint footsteps made him conscious of another presence in the kitchen. “Good morning.” Baekhyun sleepily greeted the lady who didn’t respond to his words. “Suho told me that today is your first day at your new workplace so I decided to make breakfast for you.” His words made her speechless. They just met yesterday and now he is making breakfast for her.

“Thank you but I-”

“Nope. You have to eat it. No excuses. Being a good cook runs in my family. I know that I am too handsome to be a cook and my generosity must have shocked you but-”

“I already had breakfast half an hour ago. I’ll be going then.” Sae Ri cut him off and left for work leaving a dumbfounded Baekhyun in the kitchen.

“She is not much of a talker, is she? If it counts, I am a good chef.”

“This will be your office.” Sae Ri nodded her head and examined her own office. This was the first time she got her own office. The interior was just her taste, a mix of grey with black and yellow. She couldn’t be more ecstatic but she had no one she could share this news with. She had no one who would be glad to share this happiness with her, someone who would congratulate her. Sure, Suho was there but except for him, nobody cared. At the same time, she knew she was to be blamed. She never let anyone in; she never got over her past. This obstinate girl rejected her need to lean on someone; it made her feel vulnerable and fragile. She checked her phone finding five missed calls from her mom and ten messages from her dad. Without wasting any time, she got down to work, ignoring the trail of tears that sang melancholic tunes.

The first day at her office wasn’t half as bad as she expected it to be. New faces here were finding it difficult to adjust with her but they weren’t bad. They seemed helpful and human, better than the people at her previous place. The current game that Sae Ri was developing was allowed the gamers to develop their characters and create their allies. They could select the place where they wanted to challenge their enemies. She was trying to create the layout for the places. She was so immersed in her world that she didn’t even realize that it was already time to go home. She reached home late where she was greeted by Baekhyun who was holding a cake in his hands. “I hope your day was good. This is a surprise I prepared for you.” Sae Ri had no idea how to respond to this man. It was like her brain was trying to choose from a given set of statements to say something to him. He grabbed her hand and dragged her in. He made her sit on the couch and sat beside her.

“Cut the cake. It’s for you.” Sae Ri soon found a knife in her hand still trying to comprehend the situation. Had she made the wrong decision to stay with Baekhyun? Are writers this weird? She had no idea to deal with the situation. Before she could say anything, he took her hand and made her cut the cake. No one had ever been so close, up close in her personal space before. She was scary for other people but it seemed that Baekhyun wasn’t ‘other people’. She had observed that Baekhyun liked being physically and emotionally close to others and she was a mirror Baekhyun was looking into. They did not match well at all. They were like an unevenly cut square which does form perfect triangles when folded in half.

That night her strange roommate persuaded her to eat two slices of a cake and made her question his sanity.