Exactly one month ago, Hyukjae settled into his new occupation quite nicely; placing his solar powered toy on top of his desk and watching it sway side-to-side, motioning him to be happy just as well.

 

As he continued unpacking, he noticed items he had carried upon from his last job; a picture frame of the most vibrant sunset he had ever seen, a few mints, and a worn microwave that seemed to be just as old as it was used.

 

The brunette sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers as he placed his other hand on his hip.

 

It wasn’t that he didn’t like this new change, in fact, he really loved it considering he had never had his very own office space before. He recalled his old job briefly, the times in which he had to answer a phone call from the other desk due to one phone being shared between three employees and how people would reach across his space with their sweaty armpits laden with nothing but polyester cotton from not being able to afford anything more due to a low paying job.

 

Hyukjae cringed.

 

He decided to stop worrying, reassuring himself that everything was fine because God was watching him. How could he not be? In a sense, Hyukjae saw his blessings materialize in the form of an offering over here at Northern Alps.

 

As far as he knew, Northern Alps, NA for short, was this bustling thousand dollar boom that seemed to flow well in the confines of metro-Shanghai.. Here, the company hand picked certain interested graphic designers, public relations workers, multimedia artists and the likes in order to make themselves look, well, good.

 

Hyukjae just happened to me one of many.

 

“I’m really proud of you!” Hyukjae’s old office mate would say as the brunette began unplugging his desktop lamp, not failing to tangle the cords all in his fingers and look like an idiot while doing so. “I know you’ll do well!”

 

Smiling, Hyukjae got back to the present at hand and continued to unpack his many of a great deal of boxes.

 

It was already really late, and he had more than half the room of piled cartons to sort through, rearrange, unpack and clean before the end of the weekend. It was only the end of Saturday, but Hyukjae liked doing things early. It gave him a sense of control knowing he wouldn’t have to come back until the start of the work day on Monday if he were to get it all done tonight.

 

The window was bare and dust seemed to gather around the hinges and the stool, presumably from the fact that no one had occupied this office space in probably months before Hyukjae’s arrival.

 

It wasn’t tough to get into NA, not tough at all. From what Hyukjae had gathered, all you really needed was a level head, great attendance and a clean criminal record. Smarts and the works will do you some good, but none of that really matters when the interview literally lasts about 2.5 seconds.

 

Hyukjae knew because he’d done it just a few weeks before.

 

“Hello, what's your name?” The manager would greet, dressed in his primly pressed suit with a necktie that seemed to be ironed like no other.

 

“Lee Hyukjae.” Hyukjae managed shyly. “I was born in Korea, but I moved over to China because-”

 

“You’re hired!” The manager slammed the manila folder closed and stood up, shaking the younger’s hand.

 

“Don’t you need me to-” Hyukjae began but was interrupted once again.

 

“Nope!” Mr. Manager smiled. Squinting, the brunette noticed the professional business tag that latched itself onto the older man’s pocket. Mr. Cho. “I already got all I needed from your file.”

 

“I thought that this was-” Stopping himself just in time, Hyukjae knew what would follow next, so he didn’t even really try continue because Cho would interrupt him anyway.

 

“You start next Monday.” Mr. Cho said, grinning down at Hyukjae once again before checking his Rolex. “I have to go. See you around sir Hyukjae.”

 

And that was that.

 

Striding a few steps over to get to the dusty window, Hyukjae peered out into the black skies, noticing the lights of the corporate buildings covering the stars. There were cars down there; moving, accelerating, honking. Just an elevator ride down and a few blocks away was the apartment Hyukjae recently bought so he could work and go home in the same time frame without any hassle.

 

The apartment was small, but it was cute, and it was all he needed to live. Hyukjae didn’t need much of fancy condos and expensive amenities; those would be a given later. Right now, he enjoyed living by himself and the freedom of Shanghai at night. There was always this silver lining he walked when he was by himself in the evenings of the inner-city; China reminded him of home sometimes.

 

Hyukjae would walk around the metropolis, streets crowded with children and mothers, cars honking and pedestrians walking just to see the sights and smell everything he could. The paper lanterns seemed to give off this luminescent glow that wound its way to his heart; welcoming him to his home away from home. The older ladies manning the street food stands would smile up at him, “Try this!” they would exclaim, holding up a sample for Hyukjae to taste. Winding his fingers around the toothpick, the brunette would thank the woman before trying out her sample. Usually it was meat, sometimes vegetables.

 

Striding away from the window, Hyukjae again tried to focus his mind on what he was doing in the here and now. He sighed, mentally berating himself into even thinking that a job like this was possible for one man. Still, he had to try. So, Hyukjae picked up the slack and grabbed an X-Acto knife he had unpacked some time ago and began to slice through the cardboard, one by one unraveling something he would never have even guessed he would discover.

 

◊

 

“What’s Shanghai like?” Sungmin would ask through Hyukjae’s cellphone that Sunday as the former used his business phone to access the call. Sungmin knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing this, but Hyukjae was elsewhere and he didn’t seem to care what the boss thought. “Are you having fun? Are you okay?”

 

“Its nice here, Min.” Hyukjae mused, scrunching his eyebrows at a pink flamingo that sprouted its way out of one of the opened boxes. The brunette thought long and hard about when he had bought this pink flamingo. No results. Hyukjae tossed it to the side. “It’s a lot of fun, and I’m alright. The people are really nice.”

 

“How do you even live where you can’t understand anyone?” Sungmin remarked as he shoved the landline phone in between his legs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boss stroll right across the room. He thanked his lucky stars that his manager didn’t turn around. He picked up the phone and placed it against his ear once the coast was clear.

 

“I studied Cantonese in University along with public relations, you know.” Hyukjae asserted with much more edge than he had intended. Whenever he mentioned Shanghai to someone, it was always the same few questions over and over. “I can speak it conversationally, and you would be surprised at the number of Korean immigrants here.”

 

“I know right!” Sungmin almost shouted, garnering dirty looks from his colleagues in the room. He picked up his stale doughnut from the breakfast bar that might as well have been a public bathroom. Tapping on a few keys on the board, Sungmin was able to come across a webpage he had visited awhile back. “I’m reading now that the influx of foreign workers, including Koreans, opened up more job fields in China somehow, even though that whole notion seems counter-intuitive to the Chinese.”

 

“You can say that again, Min.” Hyukjae smiled, side-eyeing the pink flamingo from earlier and this new rotten marshmallow he found somehow at the bottom of one of the boxes. “I really miss you, you should come here.”

 

“I wish I can, Hyuk.” Sungmin whined, holding the keyboard mouse and clicking away from the landing page. “It’s too far away and I’m about to get an opening teaching English in Germany. I’ll send you packages so you’ll always remember me.”

 

“How can I ever forget the crazy guy that spilt water on himself my first day of training?” Hyukjae reminisced, going back to the days of training with Sungmin. His initial introduction into that ratty place consisted of electric fans and an event that had Min accidently soaking his shirt in water. It was funny, but sad at the same time as Sungmin had to stand in front of one of those noisy electric fans for half the day to air his doused shirt. “I’ll write to you a lot, Min.”

 

“Lee Sungmin!” Hyukjae could hear from the background of the call, he could already picture Min’s panicked face as he tries to scramble to hang up the phone. “I-I’m sorry boss! I was just- making a delivery!” Sungmin could be heard trying to cover his tracks as he picked up the phone again and spluttered out, “Yes! ImagineThat pictures are at your service sir!”

 

Sungmin hung up.

 

Hyukjae cracked a smile.

 

He missed Sungmin so much sometimes that it hurt. At his old occupation, Sungmin was trained to show him the ropes and strings before letting Hyukjae go off on his own. Min was around his age, and he happened to catch the job a little before the brunette could. Sungmin was clumsy and funny, highly intelligent when he wanted to be but still quite the goober.

 

Checking the digital clock that he had managed to unpack and plug in only moments before, Hyukjae read the time. It was already nearing evening again; he never would’ve thought that Sungmin could make time pass by so fast. Hyukjae knew he had to get these boxes done before the upcoming Monday; it was his first official task at hand. He wanted to give everything to these nice people who gave him a job, money, and air conditioning for all of his needs.

 

He rummaged through the boxes even faster this time finding all kinds of business notes and even more expired food, a video about chemistry, dirty socks, a calendar. Nimble fingers in motion, Hyukjae opened, re-opened, unpacked, rearranged and cleaned everything all within the next 5 hours. He amazed even himself for getting everything done faster than he thought he would have.

 

The streets of Shanghai seemed alive with the setting sun, and Hyukjae thought to himself he might never buy curtains because the skyline was just too beautiful.

 

Life was down there again; eating, playing, listening, more cars, more traffic jams, more food. Everything Hyukjae had ever dreamed of was just below his own two feet.

 

Contemplating everything that had happened the first month was a loop of its own; Hyukjae oftentimes wondered if he had made the right decision, or if maybe he should have waited it out until he was ready.

 

Whatever ready meant in its own sense.

 

But Hyukjae always managed to shake the thoughts away within minutes, convincing himself that he was going to do this and that he made no mistake in moving part-way across the country and finding a new home. His calling was God’s plan, and it all involved things that were supposed to happen; and so, he let the tides take their course and simply let the wind take him wherever he needed to go.

 

Standing up, Hyukjae closed his office door behind him, but not before admiring his cleaning skills and agility when pressed for time. The room was spotless; desk in its rightful place with books and magazines stacked neatly against the bookrack that came with the space. Hyukjae thought about Min and how he could probably never do something so neat in half the time. The rays of fading sun caught Hyukjae’s face just as his smile faded away and the door clicked shut.

 

Hyukaje walked toward the elevator, but he paused in his tracks at the occupied room directly across from him.

 

He thought the rest of the spaces on this floor were derelict; he was so far up and there were available spaces downstairs; surely someone wouldn’t have requested the inconvenience of the 72^nd storey when there was room below. It was harder to gather projects and things when you were this high up.

 

He gingerly stepped across the hallway, nothing but tiled space separating him and his assumed colleague.

 

Peeking inside, Hyukjae stuck his neck out just far enough to see the side-profile of a man with brown hair who seemed to be busily typing away a new assignment on his PC.

 

Hyukjae treaded backward, eyeing the sign on the door that faced him outside.

 

Lee Donghae

 

Graphic Designer.

 

Blushing to himself, Hyukjae thought that Lee Donghae was the cutest graphic designer he had ever seen. 

 

Donghae’s head snapped sideways, just in time for Hyukjae to turn his back and start carefully plodding his way through the open hallway. If Donghae saw him, he would be dead.

 

Hyukjae would be forever pegged the creepy guy that works at room F19 who likes to stare at graphic designers.

 

Oh my Lord, Hyukjae thought as he started walking faster in the direction of the elevator. Luckily his back was turned so he didn’t see Donghae step out into the hallway and glance in both directions, scrunching his eyebrows as to who could be up on this floor at this time.

 

“Hello?” Donghae called out, confused and hair disarrayed. He stretched his back, it finally dawned on him how long he had actually been sitting in that chair. Looking one way and then the other once again, Donghae shrugged his shoulders and began to step back into his office.

 

Hyukjae managed to turn a corner swiftly before jamming his fingers into the elevator button.

 

“Come on, let’s go..” The brunette whispered to himself, rolling his head toward Donghae’s office, only to see him step back into the hallway and yell a bewildered “Hello?” across the walkway. ing his fingers into the button, Hyukjae slammed his hand against the wall.

 

The elevator was the slowest thing ever, paired with the fact that Hyukjae was on the 72^nd floor and good grace someone was obviously riding it because the numbers displayed on the electronic screen were frozen; just like Hyukjae’s feet. He was planted, stuck on going back and shoving his fingers in the cracks of the elevator doors to get them to open.

 

Thinking of his options, Hyukjae garnered two responses. There was no way out of this without being caught by Donghae either way because he was already striding toward the elevator, albeit slowly but surely. Hyukjae can already hear Donghae’s footsteps approaching. Or option B, he can run in the other direction and hide out in the bathroom for a bit until he heard the elevator ding. There was always the stairs, but Hyukjae was tired and there was no way he was going to be able climb down 72 flights of stairs and manage not to be in the emergency room by the time the night was over.

 

Footsteps rapidly approaching, Hyukjae can by now hear Donghae turn the corner; but not before the brunette all but dashed in the opposite direction and opened the bathroom door, being careful not to slam it behind him.

 

“Hello?” Hyukjae can hear Donghae’s muffled calls, shaky but determined to find out who the heck else was up here at this hour of the day. “I’ve got pepper spray!” The tiles and wide ceilings of the bathroom magnified the younger’s voice, causing Hyukjae to think that he was actually coming en route to him.

 

“Do you hear me!” Donghae called out again, legs as stable as noodles as he looked around once more, the elevator had already dropped the passenger off on a floor below them; the dinging of the electric display commenced once more. It was then that Donghae noticed that someone had pressed the button on this floor that he was on right now. It couldn’t possibly have been him.

 

“Who’s there?” he bawled out, trembling. “I’m going to report whoever you are to Mr. Cho, I swear! Then you’ll get fired!”

 

Locking the stall, Hyukjae hid out in the bathroom, waiting for the mess he created out there to calm down a little. To be perfectly honest, the brunette giggled at how cute Lee Donghae was being at this moment. He was guilty for scaring him, but at the same time, it was funny to see the younger so scared he threatened of pepper spray and telling Mr. Cho.

 

What would Mr. Cho do anyway?

 

“Mhm, yes.” Manager Cho would say, probably filing his nails a little while wearing another one of those overly ironed neckties. “I’ll get to it very shortly.”

 

Mr. Cho would get to it very never.

 

Donghae stood out in the walkway, physically quivering as he watched the numbers on the screen pass one by one – 53^rd, 54^th, 55^th.... He knew he should probably get out of here, but there was no other option except for running down the stairs and even then it would be too late and the stalker would have already caught him. So, Donghae watched his inevitable doom flash by in the form of red blinking numbers as the floors got higher and higher up. He could hear his heart pounding.

 

All through this, Hyukjae was stuck in the cramped bathroom down the hallway; risking sanitation in order to not be caught by this Lee Donghae. Other than being discovered for stalking, Hyukjae also didn’t want to give up this game; it was too fun hearing Donghae lose his grip onto a scenario that didn’t even exist. This thought caused Hyukjae to smile.

 

The floors ringed continuously outside, causing Donghae to freak out even more. He considered the possibility of conceivably going crazy, but he thought against it. Ever since he started working here, strange incidents would happen at this hour in regards to peculiar sounds and mysterious apparitions. He chalked it up to the pipes and faulty wiring of the place; although that barely helped as he remembered watching a creepypasta on YouTube about faulty wiring one day at his apartment out of boredom. Living alone probably wasn’t the best choice for Donghae.

 

The elevator finally came to a stop on the 72^nd floor and Donghae held his pepper spray, stance ready as he would finally face the demon of the elevator. Feet planted on the ground, the brown-headed male held his pose, not daring to fidget any longer as he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

 

Once the doors opened up, however, Donghae was brought to his dismay by an empty platform space that held nothing but the lights and steel framework.

 

There was no one in the elevator.

 

Growing embarrassed and angry at himself for believing this nonsense, Donghae straightened himself out and dismissed his shameful king-fu posture. He rolled his eyes, equally embarrassed at the fact that no one was even in the elevator. Someone from one of the ground floors was probably trying to play a prank on him.

 

He disregarded all previous notions of faulty wiring and pipes and turned around, briskly walking back to his office space.

 

Hyukjae opened the door to the entrance of the bathroom and watched as Donghae strode away from him. He caught a good look of the younger for the first time. Other than his chestnut hair, Hyukjae noticed a slender build and an expensive suit; as Donghae placed a hand on the knob of his office space, Hyukjae noticed that the other wore glasses. They suited him rather nicely.

 

The brunette wished to the Heavens he could get the courage to speak to the man across the hallway, but he knew it was no use. Other than the fact that Hyukjae was shy with strangers to begin with, he was from Korea and could only come up with a simple “hello” whilst a polite nod when it came to socializing with the Chinese. That and the mere notion that he kind of, sort of scared the living heck out of Donghae today; maybe just a little.

 

Hyukjae decided that he was done for the day, grinning to himself as he moved over to the elevator platform and the doors closed behind him. He found himself thinking a little more about the man from room F16. What he was like, how funny he was, how nice his face looked with glasses on and his chestnut hair. He decided that one day he would talk to mister Donghae. He would get to know the man in the office much better, rather than just hiding from him inside bathrooms.

 

As the elevator’s notification ringer sounded with the star of the first floor highlighted, Hyukjae stepped out of the space and into the evening vicinity.

 

◊

 

“You don’t get it Min!” Hyukjae mused happily into his cellphone resting against his shoulder and pressed against his ear. “He was actually really scared and it was funny, but I wanted to talk to him at the same time.”

 

“That’s nice Hyuk.” Sungmin began, sitting at home and flipping through the channels on his television, finding nothing but the usual Monday night garbage and infomercial advertisements about a poncho you can wear six different ways or something. “At least you’re having fun.”

 

“Shut up.” Hyukjae rolled his eyes, steadily washing the dishes that had piled up over the weekend; he had been at NA for almost the entire three days. It might as well have been where he lived, considering he was barely home anymore. “You’re having fun too! I know the manager eased up now since I left.”

 

“You’re crazy!” Sungmin laughed into his device, smiling at his long-term friend and ex-colleague who always brightened his day. “The dude’s been on his man period for weeks now! He flipped out on me for using the phone.”

 

“That’s because it was an established rule that we were never supposed to do that.” Hyukjae sauntered on, wiping his hands on a paper towel and opening the fridge to take a break. “Didn’t they tell you that in the informational meeting they held for all the newbie trainees?

 

“Stop changing the subject!” Sungmin giggled once again, eyes growing wide at the endorsement on the screen about calling a number and getting a girl to speak ally to you. What in the world. “You have a crush on this little Donghae!”

 

“Do not!” Hyukjae spluttered into the receiver, almost choking on the orange juice he was sipping on. He rubbed off the excess with his forearm. Gaining sanity once again, the brunette spoke to the man on the other end of the line. “I-I just wanted to talk to him because we’re both on the same floor. T-that’s it!”

 

“Quit fibbing you jerk.” Rolling his eyes, Sungmin settled on turning the television off and lying upside down on his sofa. He really missed the days in which Hyukjae would come there sometimes and spend nights. The brunette was really good at knowing what food to order for take-out on evenings, Sungmin recalled. “I know you want in on his-”

 

“Nope! No!” Hyukjae all but shrieked into the line, readily covering his ears for anymore of Sungmin’s disgusting vices. “You’re gross.”

 

“You’re gay.” Sungmin countered back, stretching his arms and putting them behind his head. “That’s okay, because I am too.”

 

“I know that, stupid.” Putting the orange juice container back in the fridge and closing it, Hyukjae turned off the lights in the kitchen and started making his way toward the living room to watch television. “You were always after that Kyuhyun intern who blew in from the Nowon region.”

 

“He’s so adorable!” Sungmin whined, recalling the man who now sits behind him at work. Kyuhyun was younger than Sungmin, but only by a little bit. Still, age was nothing of consideration when it came to Kyuhyun. “He’s insanely intelligent, his arithmetic is everything!”

 

“Of course it is, darling.” Hyukjae mocked, changing the channel to something more suited for him. Remembering the days that he used to spend in Korea with Sungmin made him miss home even more, but he knew that staying here was the right decision. Besides, Min can contact him any time he wanted. “Go get him, tiger.”

 

“I will.” Sungmin huffed, opening a bag of cheese puffs and munching away at them. Hyukjae smiled, he could hear the bag crunching and Sungmin munching away. Min always had a thing with midnight and puffs of cheese. “What’s television like in China?”

 

“Controlled. Really sad. We worship the dictator.” Hyukjae teased once again, he enjoyed pulling Sungmin’s strings. “I’m going to die here alone, Min.”

 

“I’ll save you.” Munching on another cheese puff, Sungmin smiled. “Only if you come over here and be my friend again.”

 

“I am your friend.” Hyukjae said, stretching out across his couch and feeling the plush of the cushions overwhelm him. It’s been a long few weeks, and Hyukjae was happy he could actually get some sleep before tomorrow was up again. The days just passed by so fast. “I miss you a lot Min.”

 

“You too Hyuk.” Hyukjae can hear Sungmin yawn at the other end of the line. Rubbing his eyes, Sungmin looked out over his balcony window and took in the pale moonlight. It was oddly comforting and beautiful, knowing his best friend was somewhere in this world looking at the same moon. “Tell me more about Donghae when you get the chance.”

 

“I will.” Hyukjae promised before clicking the red end call button and casting his phone over to the side.

 

Pondering over the events of today, Hyukjae wondered when the next time he was ever going to see Sungmin would be; probably not in a very long time. He sighed, feeling the shadow of sleep overtake him just before he could mull over anything else from that day.

 

The last thing Hyukjae remembered was how happy Donghae made him and that he would speak to the man in the room across the hall one day. Hyukjae recalled Donghae and his pepper spray and kung-fu stance in front of the elevator.

 

For the first time in awhile, Hyukjae fell asleep with a smile on his face; completely blaring out the sounds of Shanghai right outside of his apartment. The skyline washed in from the window, drenched in moonlight. Some of it managed to fit its way inside of Hyukjae’s apartment, softly caressing him and reminding him that tomorrow would be another day with Donghae.