/məˈmenˌtō/

noun

an object that you keep to remember a person, place or event.

I

Jinyoung

He finally plops his body down on the couch which he's thankful is soft enough to break his fall. Finally, Jinyoung allows himself to rest after breathing in the new environment he's now in.

Today is his first day in his new home if he may call it. He finally moved in after a series of insisting and convincing his bestfriend- Jaebeom, that he can handle living alone. They've known each other since forever; okay, maybe not since forever but since grade school but hey, it's more than twenty years of their life already. So as he was saying, It had taken a full week before Jinyoung was successfully able to convince Jaebeom that he could live alone, instead of staying with the older at his place. It's not that bad of an idea, and it could've been an okay one if not for the fact that Jaebeom shares his space with his boyfriend for five years- Jackson. It's not because he doesn't want to live with the couple. It's just that he doesn't think it would be right? A twenty-eight-year-old guy sharing an apartment with a couple. Although, Jaebeom is his bestfriend.. still.

Just then, he received a text message from the very said guy. After helping him out with moving his stuffs, he had sent Jaebeom back home already. It's almost dinner time and unlike him, someone will be waiting for his bestfriend. He clicked the message open.

Jaebeom: I just got back home. See? I told you Jackson would be home late. He's still at the office. I should've stayed there longer.

Him: Well at least you'll have time to cook dinner for you and your boyfriend.. wouldn't that be nice?

Jaebeom: Well, I guess..
Jaebeom: Anyway, what are you doing right now? I hope you're taking a rest

Him: I will.. a bit later

Jaebeom: Wdym later?

He took a picture of the boxes still sitting next to his empty shelf and sent it to Jaebeom.

Him: still have a few more boxes to unbox..

Jaebeom: I thought we already unboxed everything?

Him: Except my books... I kinda forgot, hehe
Him: But this will be easy as pie! You don't need to worry too much okay, beom-ah?

Jaebeom: How will I not worry? The doctor said you need rest. It's not even two weeks since you got discharged, jinyoung

Him: I know... but I'm being careful! :)

Jaebeom: No. You know what.. stop what you're doing and just rest okay? 
Jaebeom: Don't you dare fill up those shelves without my help. I'll go there this weekend. Your books could wait. Alright?

His over protective bestfriend had spoken. With a defeated sigh, Jinyoung just replied with a short okay with a sad face. He glanced at his empty shelves and the box he hadn't opened yet. Pushing them beside the shelf, Jinyoung says in a small voice... "I guess you could wait."

II

Jinyoung

He wakes up in a jolt.

The first thing he did is to take as much air as he can. He feels his cold sweat, and his hands were almost shaking. His hand flew to his chest. It's as if something inside it is aching but he doesn't know for sure.. and he isn't sure why.

He reaches for his phone which is on the bedside table. He checked the time. It's ten past pm. He glanced ta the glass window and saw the dark night sky. Why is this happening to him again? He clicked his inbox open and searched for Jaebeom's name. But in the middle of composing a text message to the latter, Jinyoung stopped.

Should he bother him again for this same thing? Jinyoung shakes his head and long pressed the back space. Why am I crying over something I couldn't even remember? When will I overcome this? He thinks to himself, hoping these could be answered.

He tried to get back to sleep again. But it's of no use. Fifteen minutes after and he's still lying awake.  So he gets up from bed. No matter how many times he toss and turn,he can't shut his eyes back to sleep. His heart is still aching for a reason not known to him. It's probably because of what he's dreamt but it 'cause he can't even remember what it was.

He walks towards the bathroom where his medicine cabinet was. He scanned the plastic bottles and grabbed the one he needs. This isn't prescribed by his doctor and Jaebeom has always been against this but what could he do? He needs this.

He shook the bottle until one pill drops on his palm. He put it inside his mouth and swallowed it. Glancing at his own reflection and doubting that a single pill could do the work, Jinyoung thought of taking a few more. But right as he was about to, he heard consecutive knocks on his door. He wondered who that could be and put the bottle back inside the cabinet before walking towards the main door to see who it was.

"Excuse me but... could I use your bathroom?"

A guy with blonde hair, wearing a white baggy shirt and black sweatpants is standing outside his door asking him this. Jinyoung stared in pure surprise at the guy's question, and next comes the confusion as to who this guy is and why of all rooms here in this floor, did he decide to knock on his door at this hour.

"Uhm-"

"You see I live next door and my toilet there is clogged. I really need to do some important business and it'll be really bad if I can't use the toilet right now, so...?"

Jinyoung blinked, still in confusion but understood how in need this guy is. "Uh, well.. o-okay." He was just opening the door a bit wider to let the guy in when the blonde did walk inside with urgency and was almost running past him along the entry way, saying a quick thanks.

"The bathroom is on your-" Jinyoung says aloud so the blonde could hear but the guy was already heading to the right direction. "-left."

Well, okay. Jinyoung thought. He just let a stranger inside his place. A good way to end his first night at his nex place, isn't it?

While he was waiting for the blonde to get back from his bathroom, Jinyoung thought of texting Jaebeom, so he did. 

Hey Jaebeom? Quick question...
How safe is it to let a complete stranger (although he claims to live right next-door) inside your place at this hour of the night?
Because I just did...
And I would like to know if I'm in probable danger or... something...?

But he didn't receive any reply. Maybe the guy is already sleeping. Jinyoung contemplated on what is best to do. Should he arm himself? Lock the blonde inside the bathroom and call for the staff downstairs?

But isn't he over reacting here? Who even plans murder or theft while in the toilet?

When he heard the flushing of the toilet, and the sound of the water from the faucet, Jinyoung still got a little tensed up. A few seconds more, the blonde did emerge from the bathroom, looking a lot more relieved than how he initially looked when he was standing outside his door a couple of minutes ago.

Jinyoung was sitting on one of the stools by the kitchen counter. "So... you're all good now?" he opted to ask.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. How about you?" Jinyoung creased his brows at the unexpected question. Why is the blonde even asking this? "Uhm... I mean... you must be surprised having a stranger knock on your door at this hour of the night, asking if he could use your bathroom."

Jinyoung almost nodded in agreement but thank god he didn't. He doesn't want the blonde to know how much he got weird out by him just a few moments ago. Erasing all hus suspicions, Jinyoung decides that the blonde seem to be a nice guy.

"By the way... thank you for letting me in. I hope I didn't disturb your sleep or something.."

Jinyoung decides to just shake his head. In a way, he's not even lying. He's having trouble sleeping before the stranger knocked on his door, right?

"Nah! I was just about to sleep, actually."

The blonde nods. "Okay. Thanks again. I'll go out now."

Jinyoung walks him to the door and when the blonde stepped out, only then did he say something again. "You should report this to the staff downstairs." The blonde gave him a puzzled look so Jinyoung continued. "They should do something about your clogged toilet."

That's when Jinyoung saw him smile. "Will do. Have a good night sleep."

"You too." and Jinyoung watched as the blonde turned to a corner where his unit is.

III

Jinyoung

The next morning, Jinyoung woke up to a bunch of text messages all from Jaebeom.

As expected, since he had texted his bestfriend last night when his blonde neighbor asked if he could use his bathroom, Jaebeom had reacted, although late, but still greatly. Jaebeom was almost panicking when Jinyoung didn't answer his phone but in his defense, his phone died after Jaebeom's last missed call. After charging, only then was Jinyoung able to respond to his bestfriend's messages.

After scolding him for letting a stranger inside his unit, Jaebeom did calm down, but still making Jinyoung promise that he'd never do that again. As usual, Jaebeom gave him reminders, ending his long list with call me if anything happens. Jinyoung loves his bestfriend. How could he not? He only ordered a buddy but also got a protective mom for free! 

For the rest of the day, Jinyoung decided to just read some books which he got from the box he has still yet to unbox, given that Jaebeom is there to help him out.

He wakes up again, breathing hard. 

Cold sweat and shaking hands. Jinyoung sat up, hand flying to his aching chest as tears formed in his eyes.

It's the same dream again. The same dream he keeps on forgetting the moment he wakes up.

The pain is much more clearer now, much more definite. yet, the reason behind it is still unknown. He reached for his phone and saw that it's almost 9:30 pm. His heart is still not calming down. He can't deal with this anymore. This needs to stop.

Wearing his slippers, Jinyoung gets up and was about to head to the bathroom when he passed by the entry way and heard consecutive knocks on his door. This again?

Jinyoung walks towards his door, hoping he's wrong but only confirmed his assumption when he was faced with the blonde yet again, standing outside. Jinyoung's brows are probably furrowed as he stared at his neighbor. 

"I was wondering what coffee you're drinking..?"

Okay. This is seriously strange. Jinyoung thinks. "Pardon?"

He watched the blonde rub his thumb over his wrist as he answers. "I ran out of coffee. And I'm in desperate need of it."

Jinyoung stands there, utterly confused as to why this blonde guy had an idea that he could be a helping hand in times of need. Just... why? But the blonde didn't leave and just stood there. And for a stranger reason, Jinyoung can't find it in himself to shoo the blonde away and send him back to his unit. He could still very well remember Jaebeom's reminder of not letting a stranger inside his unit again but... isn't this the second time he encountered the guy? So technically, the blonde isn't a stranger anymore... right?

Heaving a sigh, Jinyoung responds. "Dark roast coffee." He says, catching the blonde's attention. This time, he's being stared at by surprised eyes. Jinyoung continues. "That's the only coffee I have. If it isn't your type then-"

"No! I actually like dark roast coffee. Can I have some?"

Jinyoung finds this absurd. But heck, he still opens his door wide enough to let the blonde in again.. for the second time.

When they walked towards the kitchen, Jinyoung noticed that the blonde doesn't have any mug with him. This guy... he went here to ask for some coffee but didn't bring his own mug? This guy's really strange. Yet.. Jinyoung is still making him coffee. Well self, you're even stranger.

"This is exactly how I like my coffee." The blonde says as he sips on the coffee he just made. "Are you a barista or something?"

"You don's need to flatter me. You already got what you came here for." Jinyoung tells the guy.

They're seated on the stools by the kitchen counter. There hasn't been anything close to a conversation from the time the blonde has entered his unit. The guy just sat on the stool and waited for the coffee he's making, patiently. Now that they're facing each other, Jinyoung had the chance to stare longer at the blonde.

"You just moved in here recently, right?" The blonde asked, looking around, eyes lingering on the boxes near the shelves, the ones Jinyoung hasn't unboxed yet since Jaebeom was firm with telling him not to to stock his books by himself. 

"Only yesterday." He responds.

The blonde then turned back to him. "Alone or...?"

"You do realize that the way you're asking me that is bound to creep me out, considering that I don't even know you?" Jinyoung says.

Although he finds it stupid, saying that this is the only thing weirding or creeping him out and not the fact that this blonde has bothered him for two consecutive nights already. First with the bathroom and now with the coffee.

This guy is extremely weird.

But what's weirder is... if he'll be honest, he's not really weirded out by him. Curious, definitely. But not afraid, not even the slightest.

"Oh, right." The blonde says, drinking more of his coffee. "I'm Mark."

Now he finally has a name to call him.

"I'm Jinyoung." He says, not sure if he should lend his hand out since Mark didn't. In the end, he chose not to and just drank his coffee. He remembers Mark's question so he answered to that. "I do live alone but my bestfriend said he'll drop by every weekend."

"Only every weekend?"

"He has work. And a boyfriend. I can't expect him to live with me. And... to be honest, I'd rather not." Jinyoung stopped himself from sharing too much and just decided to ask the question back. "How about you? You live alone? No... someone?"

He saw a faint smile as Mark glanced at his coffee and stirred it,. When he stared back up, Mark shook his head. "Alone." He briefly answered.

By the time they had finished their coffees, it was already 10:30. Mark said he'll go ahead but before going out the door, asked if he could come back around same time. Jinyoung makes a face as a response but didn't say no. When he closed the door after Mark left, Jinyoung finds himself smiling while shaking his head.

IV

Jinyoung

The rest of the week passed quickly. 

Each night, as Mark has asked and since Jinyoung failed to say no... the blonde made it a habit to drop by his unit at around 9:30 in the evening. They just drink coffee but instead of staying inside his unit, Mark had brought him to somewhere at the back of the building. They used the fire exit stairs to get there and as Mark promised, it was even better to stare at the night sky at this part of the building.

Jinyoung came to love the same view every night. Jaebeom knew about this because he has talked about it to his bestfriend