Jongup got up, stretched, and looked around the room. He’d been putting off the task of cleaning for a while now but he had to get it done today. The amount of sheer stuff that had accumulated was starting to make his nerves bad.

Not bothering to put a shirt on, Jongup headed to his kitchen to grab a bite to eat. The sink was full of dishes that he already didn’t want to wash so he just had a bowlful of cereal. The kitchen of the tiny apartment seemed like as good a place as any to start, so he let the water fill up the sink before washing the two weeks’ worth of dishes he had.

Once the dishes were done, he swept and mopped, taking the trash bag and setting it by the door to take out later. He then moved on to the living room, picking up empty pizza boxes and take out containers. The place really was disgusting if he took the time to think about it. After the third or fourth empty drink can, Jongup was shaking his head at himself for letting things get this bad. There was no excuse, none at all.

The bathroom was scary. A dark ring was visible around the tub, along with a matching one in the toilet. He sprayed a can of chemicals on every surface before going to separate his clothes for the laundry. Once the first load of clothes was in the wash, he went back and wiped down everything in the bathroom.

Feeling tired but validated, Jongup retreated to his bedroom. After making his bed, his roving eyes quickly found a piece of brightly colored fabric that he couldn’t immediately place sticking out from under his bed. He got on his hands and knees to reach for it and stayed there once he identified the object as the underwear of his ex-girlfriend.

Suddenly, Jongup was pulled into a memory. He was on his back, sweating and grunting as a beautiful girl moved her body above him. He blinked rapidly, clearing his vision as he stood. He threw the underwear into the trash bin near his bed before taking the bag out and setting it near the one from the kitchen. He didn’t want to think of her.

A second inspection of the living room led to the discovery of the remote. Ever since she had left his life, Jongup hadn’t been able to find the device. He’d stopped putting effort into watching TV, opting instead to watch videos on his laptop in his room. At least when he was in his room he could escape the memories of being burned…

It was their anniversary. Jongup was excited, humming as he went up the stairs to his apartment. They’d made it a whole year despite his busy work schedule. There had been ups and downs, explosive fights and even wilder make ups, but today was special. He couldn’t wait to get home and spend some quality time with the woman he loved.

As he was unlocking the door, Jongup stopped humming. He wanted to be stealthy and surprise her by coming home early. He gently opened and shut the door behind him, taking his shoes off as quietly as possible. He was so wrapped up in not making noise that he didn’t notice the ones coming from the other side of the wall. When he did, however, he froze in his tracks. Not quite wanting to believe his ears, he crept to the divider and peeked around.

Jongup’s heart sank to his knees. His girlfriend was home but she was obviously busy. She was on the couch with some guy she’d sworn was ‘just a friend’ on top of her. Tears blurred his vision and despite the fact that he closed his eyes to block the scene out, the images were burned into his eyelids. With a heavy heart, he set down the gift he’d bought and left.

Hours later, Jongup was drunk…in a sense. He couldn’t stand unsupported but he was fully coherent. He was absolutely sure he’d seen his girlfriend cheating on him. The guy she was with must have had an unbelievable amount of stamina because it had taken her a long time to find Jongup’s gift and call him. There had been arguing and name calling and probably something else but Jongup’s alcohol riddled brain hadn’t been able to recall everything.

It had taken months before Jongup trusted her enough to touch her, but he eventually was able to forgive her. Of course, life wasn’t always as forgiving as people were. Jongup was genuinely a nice person but that didn’t warrant people to always be as nice to him as he was to them. Barely two months after they’d made up, he’d caught his girl cheating on him again. That was too much. He reluctantly let her go. It was obvious that the breakup was harder for him than it was for her. Less than a week later he’d heard rumors about her in the back room of a club with some guys who were notoriously up to no good.

Jongup shook his head like a dog clearing its ears of water. All this reminiscing wasn’t going to get his apartment clean. He went to exchange the loads of laundry, but found himself with nothing to do until the alarm on his phone went off. With a heavy sigh he reached over to his night stand and grabbed the lone pill bottle there, popped the cap, poured out a pill, and swallowed it without water. He’d taken so many of them by now it was second nature.

He had a doctor’s appointment in the morning. It had been half a year. Maybe he wouldn’t need to the pills anymore. Maybe he wouldn’t need to clean his living area just to be able to think straight. Maybe, just maybe, he could start moving on and get his life back on track.

He’d loved her, trusted her, and she’d repaid him by sleeping around and bringing something in his house that he was having a hell of a time shaking. Jongup had been burned…and he was still burning.