You can read other people’s minds.

It just happened one day. You left the house for work in the morning and managed to hijack the lift door before it closes.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you!” your neighbor apologized as she belatedly pressed on the button allowing you entry.

You breathed a sigh of relief. A low humming came to you. You instinctively glanced at your neighbor but her lips weren’t moving. And then it came again. A static murmur where you make out a single syllable- breakfast.

You concentrated on the droning this time. And then more syllables- maybe. coffee.

You startled as the lift engaged the lobby and your neighbor stifled a yawn as she dragged her feet out of the lift. Staring at her back, you followed almost hypnotically until the humming started all of a sudden to buzz more furiously.

Taking so long. Hurry. Where did. Last night. Go…

The rapid onslaught of voices hit you left and right as the morning crowd shuffled past you on the sidewalk. 

What the h— ?

You reflexively cupped both hands over your ears as you try to shut down the buzzing which had jacked into a head-splitting roar within seconds.

What is going on?

Forcing yourself to calm down, the aggression slowly eased to the same low humming again as you take deep breaths.

In. Out. In. Out.

______________

You weren’t imagining things. The low humming continued as you focused on the next syllable seemingly coming from the person sitting next to you in the bus.

Stupid guy. Do better. Maybe if. Were. Expensive. Paid so much. 

He was reading the newspaper.

You sneaked a peek. Some article on a sports mogul.

The man’s eyebrows furrowed into a scowl as you hear the next syllables- Poor .

_______________

Kyungsoo can read people’s minds.

It just happened one day. He walked briskly to his car, chucking his camera equipment slightly more roughly than he intended into the passenger seat because he was already late for the 9 am meeting and his alarm clock hadn’t been trusty enough to wake him at the usual timing.

When he cruised down the street, winding his car window down just a tad for some breeze, he heard a low droning coming from the side.

On. On.

He checked his handphone. Nothing. It didn’t seem to emanate from the car either. It came from outside his window.

And then he saw the driver pulled up next to him drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He looked flustered and impatient.

Come on. Come on.

For a split second Kyungsoo thought the guy was talking. But he wasn’t. His lips were stretched tense as he continued drumming his fingers in unison with the voice that droned on in Kyungsoo’s head.

His concentration broke when the cars behind him horned angrily as the light turned green.

When he reached the office building, the furious attack of buzzing momentarily knocked him over as he entered the automatic doors.

He froze, eyes wide open as he concentrated on making sense of the rush of voices pulverizing his senses.

Meet the boss. Seven times. Hope. Case.

He realized if he concentrates, he could make out certain words coming from a single person. Breaking his stationary stance, he walked closer to the receptionist he recognizes but hadn’t seen for quite a while.

“Hello Mr Do!” She smiled cordially.

Him! Gosh! So… cute! Hair!

Reflectively, Kyungsoo reached up his hair and asked: “There something wrong with my hair?”

The receptionist stared as if she was caught in some deed.

“N-Nothing… it looks nice.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Kyungsoo smiled numbly as he walked off with the strangest notion tumbling in his mind.