To whom it may concern,
Description
Minseok receives a letter. And another letter, and another.
Not a romantic piece!
Foreword
Sometimes, people stay in one spot their entire lives, never gravitating far from their original homes. And this could be because they don't want change in their lives, that they love the consistency. It could be because they're afraid to take risks, or maybe they just feel uncomfortable exploring new places.
But for Minseok, home is just a place to sleep. It's a place to keep warm or cool when the weather is uncooperative. It's a place of comfort, when he's feeling lazy to socialize or be productive. Of course, houses are built upon layers of foundation and wood and concrete, but that doesn't mean that homes are necessarily immobile.
After all, what's most important is the people that make an impact in life, rather than the walls and corners and windows and doors it occurred at. Minseok's important memories are always with him; the reminders of his past successes, failures and even young love float with him at every couch, dorm and hostel he's ever had to sleep on. The memorabilia all fit in a single box labeled (with a black sharpie pen) "THINGS", and every person he's had to share living space with question why he never took said things out. (To which Minseok would never reply and they would say he was haughty or something just as dumb.)
But this is the first time he's had a whole room to himself, and as he unlocks the door of his new home for the next who knows how long, Minseok takes a moment to reaffirm that this is really happening. He's worked ty retail, cleaning and "miscellaneous" jobs to finally save up enough money to rent out a room in the better part of a town he's never been at before.
The first time he had ever moved, Minseok was able to stuff all of his belongings in a single cardboard box. Today, beyond the painted wood door lies boxes among boxes of trinkets and clothing and utensils that has gathered up along the way to this exact point of Minseok's life at age 26.
It's here, Minseok thinks to himself as he looks out of his window to the city scape below him. Here is where life truly begins.
--
The next day Minseok walks into an office space where the walls are painted orange and green for...some reason, and framed drawings of round creatures with stick legs are scattered across the walls. For a moment he wonders why he actually dropped everything in his life to open a business up with Yifan. But then Minseok soon wonders why he gave Yifan permission to be the one to design their workplace.
"Minseok!" A voice calls out to him from across the room and Minseok looks up with slight confusion as to who could be calling out his name. He sees a few of the staff members glance up at him before averting their glances and Minseok's smile slightly falters at the attention. Yifan throws an arm over Minseok's shoulder when he rushes over and they start walking toward a desk in the corner that is just like any of the other cubicles around. But when they get closer, Minseok sees suitcases and clothing splayed throughout the office and he raises an eyebrow.
"Are you living here or something?" Minseok snorts as he lifts a box up to see clean suits.
Yifan rolls his eyes and lightly pushes Minseok on his shoulder. "Hey, you're one to to talk, mister. You were so living in the office before I found you that room."
Minseok sticks his tongue out. "And I'm totally entirely grateful for your selflessness, oh great Wu Yifan."
"I bet you didn't even take anything out yet." Yifan says, plopping into his seat and pulling up some windows from his computer.
"Moving on." Minseok says instead and Yifan chuckles.
"Alright, let's go over the designs."
And it's here, Minseok decides as Yifan pulls up the templates for future buildings and future rooms. Here is where his future begins.
--
It's not until a few days later, when Minseok finally places his cooking utensils in his kitchen, when he notices a blue envelope sitting on the counter top. He's not sure when or how it even got there, but the fact that he didn't see it before probably shows the lack of home cooking he prepares everyday. Minseok side eyes the barren refrigerator that is occupied with a couple of water bottles, ham, cheese and condiments before shrugging and opening the envelope that is probably from the previous owner.
Inside there is a letter that reads:
To whom it may concern,
But for Minseok, home is just a place to sleep. It's a place to keep warm or cool when the weather is uncooperative. It's a place of comfort, when he's feeling lazy to socialize or be productive. Of course, houses are built upon layers of foundation and wood and concrete, but that doesn't mean that homes are necessarily immobile.
After all, what's most important is the people that make an impact in life, rather than the walls and corners and windows and doors it occurred at. Minseok's important memories are always with him; the reminders of his past successes, failures and even young love float with him at every couch, dorm and hostel he's ever had to sleep on. The memorabilia all fit in a single box labeled (with a black sharpie pen) "THINGS", and every person he's had to share living space with question why he never took said things out. (To which Minseok would never reply and they would say he was haughty or something just as dumb.)
But this is the first time he's had a whole room to himself, and as he unlocks the door of his new home for the next who knows how long, Minseok takes a moment to reaffirm that this is really happening. He's worked ty retail, cleaning and "miscellaneous" jobs to finally save up enough money to rent out a room in the better part of a town he's never been at before.
The first time he had ever moved, Minseok was able to stuff all of his belongings in a single cardboard box. Today, beyond the painted wood door lies boxes among boxes of trinkets and clothing and utensils that has gathered up along the way to this exact point of Minseok's life at age 26.
It's here, Minseok thinks to himself as he looks out of his window to the city scape below him. Here is where life truly begins.
--
The next day Minseok walks into an office space where the walls are painted orange and green for...some reason, and framed drawings of round creatures with stick legs are scattered across the walls. For a moment he wonders why he actually dropped everything in his life to open a business up with Yifan. But then Minseok soon wonders why he gave Yifan permission to be the one to design their workplace.
"Minseok!" A voice calls out to him from across the room and Minseok looks up with slight confusion as to who could be calling out his name. He sees a few of the staff members glance up at him before averting their glances and Minseok's smile slightly falters at the attention. Yifan throws an arm over Minseok's shoulder when he rushes over and they start walking toward a desk in the corner that is just like any of the other cubicles around. But when they get closer, Minseok sees suitcases and clothing splayed throughout the office and he raises an eyebrow.
"Are you living here or something?" Minseok snorts as he lifts a box up to see clean suits.
Yifan rolls his eyes and lightly pushes Minseok on his shoulder. "Hey, you're one to to talk, mister. You were so living in the office before I found you that room."
Minseok sticks his tongue out. "And I'm totally entirely grateful for your selflessness, oh great Wu Yifan."
"I bet you didn't even take anything out yet." Yifan says, plopping into his seat and pulling up some windows from his computer.
"Moving on." Minseok says instead and Yifan chuckles.
"Alright, let's go over the designs."
And it's here, Minseok decides as Yifan pulls up the templates for future buildings and future rooms. Here is where his future begins.
--
It's not until a few days later, when Minseok finally places his cooking utensils in his kitchen, when he notices a blue envelope sitting on the counter top. He's not sure when or how it even got there, but the fact that he didn't see it before probably shows the lack of home cooking he prepares everyday. Minseok side eyes the barren refrigerator that is occupied with a couple of water bottles, ham, cheese and condiments before shrugging and opening the envelope that is probably from the previous owner.
Inside there is a letter that reads:
To whom it may concern,
This apartment has been my home for many years, and I hope that you'll love it as much as I did. It's held my most important memories, happy and sad, and all I ask is for you to take care of it with all your heart.
-Yi
Minseok rereads the brief note a few times and stares at the signature. He raises an eyebrow at the straight lines and the perfect curls at the end of each character of each word. There's no way that this would be a practical joke from Yifan (who writes like a three year old, for the record) but Minseok doesn't really know how to react because if this person really cared for the apartment, then why leave? The letter only gives him a vague and ambiguous understanding of the scenario, and it's honestly strange to him.
For now, he folds the paper back in the envelope, throwing it in a drawer he hasn't dedicated to anything yet.
But the blue envelopes continue to find their way into his mailbox, or slide under his door, and the drawer that wasn't dedicated to anything quickly became filled with unopen blue envelopes.
And it's time, Minseok thinks to himself after two weeks of this. It's time for him to probably do something about this because it's getting kinda creepy and it's sort of ridiculous and maybe it's Minseok's fault for not actually responding to the person earlier, but he just--It's not like he wanted these letters. It's not like Minseok really cares about the history of the apartment or the prior owners, but he can't help but be curious as to why this person is so desperate to keep things the way they were. It's just...almost insidious the way that the letters build up and almost invade his mind. He should be having sirens blaring in his ears by now, but he can't be apathetic about the situation.
--
Despite working together everyday, Minseok and Yifan has rarely had the time to have a housewarming celebration, and it's at the mark of his first month anniversary of being at the apartment when Minseok finally gets the chance to bring up his mysterious letters. The housewarming celebration takes place in his apartment, of course, and the attendees only really include him and Yifan, but Minseok prefers the company of a few people than compared to a huge lavish one.
"You live a couple floors down from me, right?" Minseok asks and Yifan halfheartedly nods.
"Did you ever meet any of the people in the apartment?"
"Not really." Yifan replies as he chews his food with his mouth wide open and Minseok inwardly cringes at the sight.
"Have you ever gone to my floor before?"
Yifan ponders for a moment and starts to shake his head before he has an aha! moment and snaps his fingers together.
"No, but I mean Jongdae told me about someone kicked out..."
Minseok looks at him with his full attention, waiting for Yifan to continue
"What?" Yifan says, gnawing on the chicken leg in his hand. Minseok's pretty sure that the chicken was his order, but details.
"What about him?" Minseok says, shaking his head and waving his palm forward.
"Oh, that's it. That's all I know." Yifan says and Minseok rolls his eyes. Utterly useless. He almost wants to adhort Yifan to get inside information from the landlords.
Minseok rereads the brief note a few times and stares at the signature. He raises an eyebrow at the straight lines and the perfect curls at the end of each character of each word. There's no way that this would be a practical joke from Yifan (who writes like a three year old, for the record) but Minseok doesn't really know how to react because if this person really cared for the apartment, then why leave? The letter only gives him a vague and ambiguous understanding of the scenario, and it's honestly strange to him.
For now, he folds the paper back in the envelope, throwing it in a drawer he hasn't dedicated to anything yet.
But the blue envelopes continue to find their way into his mailbox, or slide under his door, and the drawer that wasn't dedicated to anything quickly became filled with unopen blue envelopes.
And it's time, Minseok thinks to himself after two weeks of this. It's time for him to probably do something about this because it's getting kinda creepy and it's sort of ridiculous and maybe it's Minseok's fault for not actually responding to the person earlier, but he just--It's not like he wanted these letters. It's not like Minseok really cares about the history of the apartment or the prior owners, but he can't help but be curious as to why this person is so desperate to keep things the way they were. It's just...almost insidious the way that the letters build up and almost invade his mind. He should be having sirens blaring in his ears by now, but he can't be apathetic about the situation.
--
It's the first time that Minseok actually takes the time to look around the house, and he finds that the previous owner was right. He, or she, had left plenty of reminders behind, plenty of marks to show that there have been people who used to live here, that this place was just as much of any other place to be leaving a mark in the world. There's a hole in the wall behind a framed picture of a photo that Minseok's not entirely sure he wants to know the story about (but at least there is a story behind it). There's old wallpaper of clouds and blue skies that hasn't been completely covered by the plain white one that spans over the rest of the house (It's almost tempting to pull away at all of the white wallpaper and somehow blame a tempestuous gust at fault.) He finds old guitar picks lying around here and there, and sheet music that flutters beneath the bed.
When he walks back to the kitchen, he finds fountain pens that don't belong to him, and he wonders how blind he could have been when he was unpacking. But he finally looks at the drawer next to his refrigerator filled with quite an amount of blue envelope and comes to a realization. He's not sure when receiving letters has been such an episodic thing, and how his mystery letter sender always manages to prognosticate when he isn't at home (and it's slightly creepy), but here is where the situation stands.
--
When he walks back to the kitchen, he finds fountain pens that don't belong to him, and he wonders how blind he could have been when he was unpacking. But he finally looks at the drawer next to his refrigerator filled with quite an amount of blue envelope and comes to a realization. He's not sure when receiving letters has been such an episodic thing, and how his mystery letter sender always manages to prognosticate when he isn't at home (and it's slightly creepy), but here is where the situation stands.
--
Despite working together everyday, Minseok and Yifan has rarely had the time to have a housewarming celebration, and it's at the mark of his first month anniversary of being at the apartment when Minseok finally gets the chance to bring up his mysterious letters. The housewarming celebration takes place in his apartment, of course, and the attendees only really include him and Yifan, but Minseok prefers the company of a few people than compared to a huge lavish one.
"You live a couple floors down from me, right?" Minseok asks and Yifan halfheartedly nods.
"Did you ever meet any of the people in the apartment?"
"Not really." Yifan replies as he chews his food with his mouth wide open and Minseok inwardly cringes at the sight.
"Have you ever gone to my floor before?"
Yifan ponders for a moment and starts to shake his head before he has an aha! moment and snaps his fingers together.
"No, but I mean Jongdae told me about someone kicked out..."
Minseok looks at him with his full attention, waiting for Yifan to continue
"What?" Yifan says, gnawing on the chicken leg in his hand. Minseok's pretty sure that the chicken was his order, but details.
"What about him?" Minseok says, shaking his head and waving his palm forward.
"Oh, that's it. That's all I know." Yifan says and Minseok rolls his eyes. Utterly useless. He almost wants to adhort Yifan to get inside information from the landlords.
--
But, the most logical place to start a montage of informational digging is the library, and soon makes his way there. Did the previous owner experience any deaths in the home? Did they get forced out? He's so distracted by his thoughts that he doesn't even register that someone is walking in front of him until he bumps into said person's back. Fruits and other ingredients fall out of the brown paper bag and Minseok immediately gets on his knees to help the man out.
"I'm so sorry about that." Minseok says as he picks up the really random assortment of food and questionable snacks. (Then again, Minseok feels he can't necessarily judge considering he always eats instant ramen)
"...It's fine." The young man in front of him says in a slightly baffled voice and Minseok looks up to see a slightly disheveled man before him. It's someone he hasn't ran into before (save for the fact that he's only really been around for a couple weeks anyway but nonetheless)
"Hey, do you live on this floor? I haven't had the chance to meet all my neighbors yet, so." Minseok rubs his lips together, looking at him with curious eyes.
"Hey, do you live on this floor? I haven't had the chance to meet all my neighbors yet, so." Minseok rubs his lips together, looking at him with curious eyes.
"Oh, no." The man responds with a polite smile before patting down his jeans and adjusting his jacket. "Sorry for the trouble."
Minseok turns to see that he's only walked a couple of steps away from his apartment, and when he whisks his head back, the stranger is already gone.
Beyond the fact that the man could have possibly been a thief, Minseok's inner gut tells him that it's his mystery letter sender--but decides to wait on it before acting.
--
Minseok doesn't receive letters for a full two weeks after that encounter and he wishes that Yifan wasn't so useless in finding out information about this guy. But he had called Jongdae up to get this over with and has confirmed that a certain Zhang Yixing used to live in his room. He now has a name with a face, but he still has no idea what Zhang Yixing is like. He has no idea if Yixing is guile or easy going or serious. And it's not that it really matters...but if the guy's going to keep sending him notes, Minseok would rather have the chance to get to know the previous tenant and find a way for him to stop sending the letters.
But that's when he receives another:
To whom it may concern,
But that's when he receives another:
To whom it may concern,
I'm so sorry for the really weird letters. I'll be attenuating them.
Minseok blinks blankly at the content of this letter, and wonders why Yixing is using big letters like "attenuate". He briefly wonders when he would have even learned that in any Korean class, but shrugs it off for more important matters.
--
In the next few weeks, Minseok is able to find out about Zhang Yixing and how he's a struggling musician who is only trying to find his start. How he got kicked out of his apartment for not being able to keep up with rent, and how it's been his abode ever since he moved to Korea at the age of thirteen. He's not sure why he bothered to rely on Yifan at all when Jongdae's actually known Yixing, but alas. Minseok briefly wonders if Yixing is the druery type, the one who would throw stones at windows and blast the radio from the front of the house. If Yixing left letters around for other purposes as well. He's not entirely sure why he's so curious about Yixing, but it makes life interesting.
--
Minseok has always been the type to talk with others about what they want and what they see. It's how he envisions things at work. Everyone has their own sense of what home is, and essentially what it means to them. After seeing Yixing's raggedy home, it makes Minseok wonder what kind of other places he called home. What other things he did before moving to Korea. And so, he starts to leave things in his mailbox and just outside his door labeled with Zhang Yixing, hoping that he or anyone would see it. Sure their "meetings" have been really strange, and everything's going out of order and is weird, but Minseok has experienced weirder things in life.
To whom it may concern,
Please feel free to meet with me any time if you want to see the house.
For the first few days Minseok goes home with anticipation, hoping that Yixing would leave a message about his day.
But then, nothing happens. And Minseok starts to give up hope. It finally happens when Minseok least expects it. Minseok is reading the book that Yixing left behind when another letter slides through under the door.
Minseok rushes up from his seat to open the door because he's spent the past few months literally just waiting for these letters, waiting to find anything back home, and Minseok has never really returned home to anything but empty boxes, and his things. And even though their circumstances are strange, Minseok feels the homeliness in Yixing, and the fact that they have differing opinions on what "home" is makes him want to have a deep conversation with the other man.
A shocked Yixing is standing there, eyes slightly widened.
"Hi." Yixing says, voice hitched with uncertainty.
A forced smile rests upon his lips and with a million different expressions going on at once, Minseok wonders how anyone could describe him as demure (as Jongdae had described). Minseok flashes an easy smile back as he stays in his position of opening the door.
"Hi." Minseok says in his most casual voice. "I'm Minseok, it's nice to meet you."
Minseok looks back into his home before looking back to Yixing, who still looks like a deer caught in the headlights. "For the record, I've read through your notes."
A lot of them consisted of random musings, sometimes lyrics and other times music suggestions.
"Sorry I kind of went overboard." Yixing says as he scratches the back of his head, and Minseok wonders what is going through Yixing's mind right now. If Yixing's sticking around for nostalgic reasons, or if he left something important behind.
"Would you like to come in?" Minseok says, making room for Yixing to be able to come in.
"Is it really okay?" Yixing asks in surprise, and the smile that he sees on Yixing's face makes him wish he had a camera ready to snap the memory to throw in his box of things. Although they've really only just met, Yixing is nomadic but doesn't want to be. Although Minseok always tells himself that he doesn't necessarily need a place to belong, he can sympathize with Yixing because in reality...doesn't everyone just want to belong somewhere?
Minseok chuckles. There's a million questions he wants to ask Yixing, from his aspirations to be a musician to the chipped wallpaper, but the first thing Minseok requests is: "Come on, you have to tell me the story behind the hole in the wall."
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