▬ ❝THE APARTMENTS ❞
The Linchpin
▬▬ JIEUN┊
The wind blew rain onto her window, waking the poor girl up. Almond shaped eyes fluttered open. They looked around her plain room, in search of something. The teen really didn’t know what she was looking for. Brown, moving boxes littered her floor, some partially open, their contents somewhat visible. Outside, trees bended side to side, knocking on walls and windows. Jieun rolled around in bed, bundling the blankets a-top of her somewhat small body. Her legs pebbled with goose-bumps from being exposed to the cold air. The rain pounded on her window mercilessly in a fast paced gust of wind. Tick. Tick. Tick. A small alarm clock resting on the nightstand displayed it to be 4:O5am, earlier than Jieun wanted to wake up. She had decided to go back to sleep when her stomach had protested with a loud roar. The teen moaned as she sat up, ruffling her already messy hair. She yawned, covering with the back of her hand, and stretched.
“Mmm.” Jieun stood up and shuffled across her hard-wood floor, with the sudden urge to pee. She rubbed her arms in hopes of bringing some heat to the exposed skin. The need to use the restroom was now more urgent. Blowing the bangs from her face, Jieun was debating whether or not to make something for breakfast. “Bathroom now. Breakfast later.”
--
It was roughly 6:3Oam when Jieun was no-longer in her “I want to go back to sleep” stage. She was up and ready to go out for the day. Dressed in a warm cream-colored sweater and skinny jeans, she skid along her floor in her socks, pretending she was ice-skating. She was celebrating the fact she was able to unpack her first three boxes. Pictures, miniature paintings, and shelves hung on her one-bare-walls, making her home look more…flattering. Jieun danced along to the music, shaking her here-and-there. The bun at the top of her head began to fray, little wisps of hair floating around.
The rain outside didn’t seem to let-up. In-fact it was pouring outside. There was no sun to be seen, just dark clouds. Jieun walked over to her curtained window and looked out side. She pressed her forehead to the cold glass, her heavy breath leaving steam trails. The feel and sound of the rain sent chills down her back. Pulling away, she sighed. Her hopes for going to the newly opened café had diminished. Backing up into her couch, Jieun grabbed her book off the small coffee table and read where she had left off. It took her fifteen, or more, pages before grabbing a warm blanket to cuddle with. She sat comfortably, with her legs crossed to the side.
Everything seemed so relaxing. Her book, the rain outside, and the light music her iPod was playing made Jieun drowsy. Her head occasionally bobbed to the side. Only when she realized she falling-asleep, did Jieun make an effort waking herself with a whip of her head.
“A little more sleep wouldn’t hurt…” Jieun yawned, patting with her hand. She stretched her arms over her head and let Luka’s voice send her to dreamland.
▬▬ ELLY┊
She had her blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail that waved in the cool breeze. The rain outside ceased to stop. Elly’s cigarette dangled from , the smell of smoke wafting around. The stench clung to her denim jacket. She occasionally flicked the fallen ash off of her pants, then resumed to watching the rain fall down from the canopy into little puddle on the ground. The door to their apartment opened. Elly turned her head to the side and saw Yongguk in the door way, bags of grocery in his hands.
He was with her. Again.
There was only a glass door separating the two, and Elly hoped it would stay that way. But her hopes were ignored. Yongguk came out to the balcony and sat beside her.
“So..” she said, puffing out a white cloud of smoke. She tried her best to keep her voice even. “What did you buy?”
Yongguk paused a-bit before answering.
“Just cereal, milk, and some different flavored vitamin water. Nothing special.”
Silence. Elly smelled her scent all over him. It burned her nostrils. She huffed out another cloud of smoke, not daring to look at him. Ever since she moved in, Yongguk had been, somewhat, distant. She stared at the grey sky, thinking of all the good times they had together.
“Babe, why do you smoke?”
Babe. Elly cringed at the word. She bit the inside of her lip. Hard.
“I smoke because..” I know your sleeping with our neighbor, “I’m stressed. That’s all.”
Elly threw the cigarette down, embers dying in the puddle of water. She brushed off some ash from her pants before getting up to go inside. Yongguk stood up too, blocking her way. He pulled Elly into a tight hug, rubbing her back in a circular motion. She went tense, linking her arms behind his back, closing the already little space between them. Please. Don’t let go to soon. I want to treasure this moment.
▬▬ DASOM┊
Toying with her sweater, Dasom was going over the previous incident.
First the greeting. Then the kiss. And finally--
She leaned on the backboard of her bed and sighed. What the hell am I doing? This is all wrong. I should stop. No, I need to stop. She sighed, a wave of guilt washing down on her. Dasom reached for her journal that laid beside her feet. She brushed her fingers over the cover, outlining the little animals printed there. Dasom opened the journal to a fresh page. She grabbed the nearest pen and began to write.
January 14, 2013.
Doing these things doesn’t feel right. Well, because it isn’t right at all. I want the heaviness I feel in my stomach to go away. But, I want to forget her. When Elly and Yongguk moved in, she brought back memories. Painful memories. To her I was nothing, we weren’t anything. Aish, I’m such a fool. I don’t think she remembers anyway, so its ok. Right?
Dasom ruffled her hair in frustration.
“If only I could talk to someone about this.”
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