March had come, but the cold air hadn’t left yet. People still let out steam from their mouth whenever they talked and breathed. Especially at night, when the sunlight had vanished and changed with the light from build and street’s lamp. It was already past 10p.m, but the street was still full with people holding their coat tightly and stopped at warm place. So did Hyesung.

He just finished his job at department store and felt extremely tired, physically and mentally. Recently, his sleep was disturbed by a strange dream. These past months he always had a particular object on it, a pair of big brown eyes. He was sure had seen that eyes before, but he couldn’t recall it. He only saw the eyes, but never the face. Somehow the eyes seemed his breath away. His heart beat fast whenever those eyes appear. The he would wake up panted heavily.

Well, hell the dream. He already imagined his soft mattress and warm blanket were waiting for him at his tidy and neat room. But the scent from restaurants was tickling his nose. He shook his head, he just spent his money for a plate of stirred-pork before he stepped out from his changing room.

He shoved his hand to his coat’s pocket and kept walking; ignoring the aroma. His gaze was stopped at a mini-market 50 meters ahead. Well, a pack of chips wouldn’t make him lost food-budget for this week right?

He stepped in and greeted the cashier. He had visited this mini-market for many times, so the cashier, a middle-aged friendly woman, was familiar with him.

“Ahjumma, you still keep my favorite right?” his soothing voice together with his wide smile invited a happy reaction from the woman.

“Aigoo, Hyesungie, of course,” Hyesung bowed a little as a grateful sign and walked to grab several packs of chips. He put them on the cashier’s table and opened his bag. His attention was distracted by a man who just entered the shop. A man, who was shorter than Hyesung, had a cute and shy impression, for Hyesung. He walked towards the cashier and asked two packs of cigarette. Hyesung’s eyes back to his bag, dig up searching his wallet. But his wallet was everywhere but inside his bag.

Suddenly, a ring from phone startled him. He glanced to his phone lying on the table, just saw a dark screen.

“Yes, hyung, i will back home in minutes,” ah, so the ring was coming from the man’s phone. Why he had a similar ringtone with me? Hyesung thought, felt irritated for nothing. He shrugged and looked all his stuffs on table, but no wallet, “I know. I already bought it. Beer? I still have it on my refrigerator. Okay then.”

The man hung up his conversation and put his phone on the table, beside Hyesung’s phone. He looked at Hyesung and let out a small smile, made Hyesung surprised before nodded a little.

Again, Hyesung examined his stuffs and carefully took them back inside his bag. Maybe that freaking wallet still at my locker, ah damn, Hyesung cursed inside his mind. He closed his eyes tightly, pitying his stupidity. When he opened his eyes again, the man already left the shop.

Hyesung cleared his throat and spoke carefully to the ahjumma, “Ahjumma-nim, I-i, umm, that…”

“You didn’t bring your wallet, right?” Bingo! Hyesung nodded awkwardly, “Naah, just bring these chips and you can pay it tomorrow.”

Hyesung’s eyes widened. He lifted his two big thumbs, “Really? Ahjummaaaaa, even i get married later, i will, absolutely visit this shop!” Hyesung’s bubbly reaction made the woman chuckled and nodded.

After left the shop, Hyesung decided to sit on a bench, relaxing his mind first. He was never been this careless, leaving wallet was something he never did for his 30 years life. Tiredness surely had knocked his mental down. He sighed and massaged his temple. Then, his phone screamed as a sign of incoming call. He hissed and answered the phone without seeing the caller.

“Hello…”

“Mun Junghyuk, where…” a deep and basses voice greeted his ear.

“Uh? This is Shin Hyesung’s phone. I think you called a wrong number, please try again,” he taped the red button roughly didn’t let the other line speak again. He, then looked at his phone and wondered since when he changed his wallpaper into a basic picture. He taped the contact button, planned to call Junjin and scrolled down. He sat up straight immediately. All the contacts weren’t familiar for his eyes.

He examined the phone at his hand. The type and color of the phone was indeed similar with his, but he didn’t know any name of the contacts list. His almost-death brain was forced to think. At the shop, the man, the ringtone, his stuffs scattered on the table… Aha! His phone and the man’s were exchanged! He slapped his forehead. Another clueless thing he did today.

Now, what he could do? He already tired like hell, he didn’t bring his wallet, and now the phone was not his. He scratched his not itchy scalp when a thought came to his mind. If he held the man’s phone, then the man had his phone right? He could call his own and asked the man to go to the shop and gave his phone. Brilliant.

Hyesung cursed his bad luck today. Something or someone had placed a curse on him. He was far from luck, today. He shook his head. Now, he stood up in front of a white door in this luxurious apartment building.

Flashback

“Hello, it’s me. The one that you met at the shop today. It seems our phone got exchanged,” Hyesung spoke immediately after he heard a pick up tone on his ear, “Can you go back to the shop and give my phone back?”

“Uh? Ah, wait,” then he heard a slow unclear sound before someone spoke again, “Hello?”

Hyesung sighed, his head almost exploded, “We got our phone exchanged. Can you please go back to the shop and get your phone back?”

“Oh, really?” Hyesung banged his head on the bench before rubbed it, the bench was too hard, “But i can’t go there now. I have an important thing to do. Can you please go to my apartment now?”

Hyesung regretted himself why he didn’t bring a gun today.

End of flashback.

Actually, Hyesung was more than confused why he agreed to the man’s word. Fortunately, he still kept spare money on his small bag’s pocket for the train’s ticket. But, holy God’s sake, he still had to walk to reach this apartment. The apartment was so so so far from his previously position or it was just because he already damn tired.

The door opened and a cute and shy face Hyesung saw before appeared. Hyesung didn’t care how he face looked but forced to create a vague smile.

“Hello, I’m Shin Hyesung. The one who called before,” he bowed slightly. The man greeted him with a smile and bowed too.

“I’m Andy. Please come in,” the man called Andy opened the door widely and signed Hyesung to step in.

Hyesung followed Andy’s step to the living room. If the door already amazed him, then the entire room was fascinating him. He rolled his eyes observed the very neat and well-organized layout and his eyes stopped at another man who back-facing him, talking on a phone.

“Stop yelling at me. The owner will arrive soon. I didn’t steal it!” Both Hyesung and Andy were surprised by the loud voice. Andy slowly approached the man who still cursing and yelling at the phone.

“Hyung,” he patted the man’s shoulder, “The phone owner is here.” But the man put the phone back to his ear.

“Ya! The owner is here, i told ya!” he then taped the red button roughly, same like what Hyesung did minutes ago and turned back to see Hyesung.

Hyesung looked at the man’s face and gasped. Those big eyes…

“Stop here. I live at that building,” Hyesung spoke cutting the conversation between the one who drove, Andy and a man at passenger’s seat, Eric, the big eyes owner. The two man (actually Eric dominated) had forced Hyesung to accept their offering to take his home. Hyesung opposed at first, but surrender when he realized he had no money left.

Eric turned his body slightly to see Hyesung.

“You live here? With Junjin?”

“I’m not. I live alone,” Hyesung head was filled by a fight between nervous and tiredness. He confused whether to answer Eric’s question with eagerness or flat. But his tiredness won, and he chose the second.

“Let’s go, Andy. We should accompany him until he reaches his bed,” Eric jumped down from the car, full of spirit. Andy sighed.

“Why should we, hyung? My case deadline is this morning.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to. I can walk by myself,” Hyesung took Andy’s side. But Eric shook his head.

“No no no, i know you so damn tired, Hyesung-ssi. I’m afraid you will faint out soon and no one see,” Andy chuckled a bit. There was no way he could ignore the older man whining.

“Come on, Hyesung-ssi. Just follow what he wants.”

Hyesung turned his door’s handle and opened the door. He felt a bit uncomfortable by the visiting of Eric and Andy. His apartment was nothing if compared to Andy’s. But, he could be proud by his sense of organizing his belongings. His apartment looked a bit wider than the other’s unit on same building.

“Please sit here. I will make a tea for you both,” he gestured a sign for his visitor to his brown couch. Eric and Andy sat and wandered their head around the small yet cozy apartment. Eric saw two doors adjacent at his right and a door beside the kitchen.

“How many bedrooms you have here, Hyesung-ssi?” Eric shouted his question for Hyesung who was still busy at kitchen.

“Two,” Hyesung appeared, holding two cups of tea, “Previously, i have a housemate. But he left to pursue his study abroad.”

Both Eric and Andy nodded, understandingly. Eric looked at Hyesung who immediately turned his eyes to everywhere but Eric while Andy just fixed his gaze at the cup, thinking about his case report.

“Why you didn’t live with Junjin? Aren’t you siblings?” Eric let out his curiosity. Andy just rolled his eyes.

“Literally, not. We aren’t. Junjin’s father and mine was a best friend. And when my father was dead, he took me as his son.”

Hyesung mind was going to a scene from 8 years ago. At his dead funeral, Junjin and his dead never left Hyesung alone. After that, Junjin’s father brought Hyesung at his home, before he finally decided to move out although got big opposition from them. He just didn’t want to be a burden, his father taught him like that. So he move to this apartment and shared the payment with his college friend. When his friend went to Japan after got a master degree scholarship, he had to work his off to pay the rent.

“Don’t you find it hard to pay your house alone?” Eric asked as he could read Hyesung’s mind.

“Eh? Uh, yeah. But i managed it, fortunately,” Eric couldn’t accept Hyesung word easily. He could see from the doe eyes, big hardship and sadness hiding inside it.

“Do you still need a housemate?” Andy lifted his gaze and looked at Eric in disbelief.

“Uh? If i can trust that person, of course i do,” Hyesung painted a perplexed look at his face and shifted his eyes to Eric then turned it to Andy then back to Eric.

“Can you trust an ex-prisoner?”

Andy was sure one thing, Eric would get rid anything to get what he wanted. Eric was consistent, but his consistence sometimes scary though. He knew immediately what Eric wanted from Hyesung even after both of them recognized each other. If Hyesung said ‘he can’t’ right now, Andy was perfectly sure Eric would make Hyesung said ‘he can’ next time.

And for Andy surprised, because it was over his expected, Hyesung nodded and said,

“I’m sure everyone will change as the time goes. So i can trust an ex-prisoner.”

Andy could see Hyesung said it with his eyes fixed to Eric, without any doubt.

A.N

Maybe some of you noticed it. Yup i get the inspiration of  RicSyungDy's meeting part from Indonesia novel "Summer in Seoul" (I'm sorry, Ms. Tan T.T) i thought it was the most suitable condition for this.

Until the next chapter, please leave your comment and maybe upvote too. ^^