Chapter Text
Fixing his gaze on the sky above his head, Taeil wondered why in the world was the weather so chilly and why the dark clouds never moved an inch from their places to allow the sunlight to pass through, Taeyong tilted his head to the question, forming his lips into a curious pout and admitted that it did make the atmosphere depressing. Something about the way the hair on the back of Taeil's neck stood up whispered to him that depressing is the wrong word for the atmospheres description. He pushed the thought away and continued moving his belongings to the house, always almost missing a step because of the ground that was wet for a reason Taeil didn't want to know.
Thinking about it now, it has been almost three weeks since they moved in, nothing particularly odd had took place in the past weeks so Taeil brushed it off and thought it wasn't necessary to inform Taeyong about it, who appeared to be pleased with the environment. Taeil, however, had mixed feelings. Even though, most would've been too embarrassed to do so, Taeil asked Taeyong if he could sleep in his room instead of his own. of course, Taeyong, a huge fan of accepting any type of subtle affection from Taeil, agreed, without even questioning it. The younger already knew Taeil was having trouble settling in. last night, during dinner (which was basically lunch for Taeyong because of his unhealthy sleeping habits), Taeil announced that hes going to return to work before they start cutting his salary from the break he took, Taeyong nodded before his eyes light up as if he just remembered something, "Taeil, can you, like, cook something? for the neighbours? you know I can't cook for shit and I'm not even awake during the day, so, uh," he took a pause, "will you give it to them tomorrow morning on your way to work? its rude to not at least greet your neighbours, you know? what if someone breaks in while I'm sleeping and decapitates me, youll only have the neighbours to ask for help! who knows, what if one of them is a doctor or a cop?" With his chin resting on the palm of his hand, a sigh escaped Taeil's mouth as he nodded his head, as a way to inform Taeyong that he gets it.
Taeyong shot him a small smile and Taeil noticed that he looks homeless, maybe a stay at home job isn't healthy for Taeyong. the thought made Taeil sigh again, he was concerned about Taeyong's health, he'd stay up late until 7am just for work and didn't even eat proper meals. Taeil didn't want to discuss about it with him because he already knows he'll get the same old im perfectly fine! if some woman can survive on chicken nuggets only then so can i!
Thoughts clouded Taeil's mind, he wondered what kind of neighbours they have. So far, nobody has come to their house to welcome them, almost as if nobody knew they have even moved in or not. Every time he peeked out of the window from his room, there was no sign of life, the thought of nobody living in the enormous houses sent a shiver down Taeil's spine, making him gulp. The houses looked abandoned and there were no cars standing outside, but then again, Taeyong mentioned that theres a train station nearby so cars aren't needed and most people use bicycles to go grocery shopping. It was like a ghost town.
He went to sleep that night with the light seeping through the curtains of his window blurring his vision.
Morning arrived with with no sounds of the birds chirping at the ears of the disturbed ones. Taeil wondered why, but soon brushed it off. He didn't get up immediately, feeling strangely weak, almost like the bed wanted to swallow him whole. He almost felt warm. Almost. Wide eyed, his limbs quickly moved as he removed the several layered blankets off of his body. Biting get on the inside of his cheek with so much pressure, he could taste blood, his hand shifted, but stayed in the same place. His stare burning into the fabric of the blanket that was now spread out on the wooden floor. He remembered. He never took the blankets out of his closet, he has been sleeping in Taeyong's room for the past weeks. He was too exhausted to take them out and just passed out instead.
Oh.
His muscles slowly relaxed, the realisation hit him like a bucket of freezing water. Taeyong must've put them on him. It has to be Taeyong. Taeil rubbed at his eyes, cursing at his paranoia, besides, what sort of intruder or ghost cares for a human enough to stop them from catching a fever. Huffing at his state of mind, Taeil blamed the house and environment.
Taeil took a look at the clock and grimaced. He's going to be late for work. another thing that affected him from the house is that he has forgotten the sense of time, he misses the sun terribly. After finishing dressing up and making him look presentable, he grabbed a glass of pomegranate juice which he doesn't recall ever purchasing, it was probably Taeyong. he paused, Taeyong doesn't even like juice. The floor creaked as Taeil put the weight of his foot on it, there was absolutely no time to spend on feeding his paranoia, it was a horrible decision, really, but Taeil convinced himself to investigate on the weekends if he doesn't get carried away, that is. The sound of his own breathing didn't create such a great feeling on Taeil's entire body, the house was always too quiet in the morning when Taeyong was too busy counting sheeps that leaped over the fence on their way to escape from slaughter. The only noises that could reach the human ears in the house was the tree branch, that belonged to their neighbour(s) on the right side, constantly hitting the balcony door, the rought wind from outside clashing against the window glass, trying to break through and the creaks of the wooden floor. It made Taeil uneasy. He knew the creaks and squeaks can only be created if someone was putting pressure on the ground, but Taeyong brushed it off as the wind being too strong.
Placing his free hand on the rusty door handle that desperately needed repairing, his intestines felt as though they were about to explode, he couldn't understand where this sudden rush of nervousness and timidity came from. His grip on his bag tightened, fingernails digging into the leather, destroying its simple beauty. With a turn of his wrist, Taeil slightly pushed the door open and exhaled in ease, the scent of the soaked dirt and leaves registering into his brain. The fact that the door was already unlocked went completely unnoticed. Taking a look around, eyes searching for something or someone, to be more specific. His grip on the bag loosened as he removed his other hand from the doorknob, closing the door behind him, he took one last glance on the inside just to make sure. Pulling the key out of his bags pocket, his eyes narrowed as he scratched his right cheek, his movement coming to a halt. The terror came rushing back to him, making a home instead the hole in his brain called paranoia.
"Excuse me?" A voice with a thick, what Taeil assumed was American, accent called out from behind his back, forcing him to unfreeze and snap back the world. He shook his head as a way of dismissal, deciding to deal with it later. With a painfully slow turn, Taeil took in the owner of the voice's full appearance, oddly and satisfying enough, he looked just like the way he sounded. Tall, raven hair with a gap in the middle, a high nose bridge and eyes of a typical optimist, his fingers were twirling the fabric of the coat he was adorned in, Taeil noticed he was wearing all black. Taeyong would like him, Taeil smiled at the thought. overall, he seemed like one of those guys who had high schools skater prince stamped all over his friendly grin. He didn't look like he lived in this sort of place. A cough bubbled up in Taeil's throat which made him look like he was grimacing, the all black man mustve noticed because his grin became a little off and his eyebrow raised a bit, expecting a response.
"Ah, me? are you speaking to m-me?" Stuttered Taeil, his mind was a bit hazy.
The unknown man chuckled, it was a pleasant sound, Taeil had to admit, "Yes, im talking to you. I was wondering if you're new around here? or just visiting, because I haven't seen you before,"
"Oh, um, we moved in, uh, three weeks ago? I think, so, yeah, we're new around here." The man's expression changed into a curious one, "We?" he questioned.
"Me and my friend, I meant." Taeil pointed towards the door with his pinky as he spoke. The man nodded, taking in the information, he shoved his hands in his pockets and tapped his foot on the wet ground which created an unnerving sound that Taeil wanted to block out very badly.
"Oh, i see, i live with my fiancee, but she's never really home because of business stuff, so, I'm pretty much living alone at this point," He chuckled once again, probably to stop Taeil from feeling pity for him, "My name is Johnny, by the way. Johnny Seo, at your service, sir," he dramatically bowed, a goofy grin covering his face. Taeil politely returned the gesture and introduced himself.
"Moon Taeil, huh? its cute, I like it, really suits you," Johnny nodded, impressed. "Uh, thanks, Johnny suits you too. I'm assuming you're from america or something?"
Johnny nodded again, seemed like a habit, as he was about to open his mouth to answer, a crow, resting on the roof of taeils neighbours house, harshly cawed, its voice rattled inside Taeil's bones. Taeil turned his gaze back to Johnny who leaned back, for a split second, he looked expressionless, as if dead. His smile returned and he raised his head to look at Taeil, the smile was almost deceiving, "Sorry for keeping you here, I sometimes forget people aren't unemployed like me, hah, anyways, if you ever need anything, stop by my house, its right there," He stuck his tongue and pointed his arm towards a house that was two houses away from the end of the street, the house gave off a different vibe than the rest, seemed like the candy house from hansel and gretel. Taeil nodded at Johnny, his hand clutching the key tightly, he thanked him quietly as he locked the door in a hurry, he could feel Johnny's smile burning into his back.
Johnny waved him goodbye, taking steps backwards, a gigantic grin on his face. Taeil tried his best to smile back, but failed miserably, it didn't discourage Johnny though. He kept waving and smiling. It was unnerving. No matter whenever Taeil glanced back from the corner of his eye, Johnny would still be there. waving and smiling. Trying not to feed into his curiosity Taeil stopped looking back and instead picked up his pace, making his way towards the train station, passing by houses that made him feel like the protagonist of the animation, monster house. He hoped to god that the directions Taeyong forced him to remember were accurate.
After passing by billions of houses, Taeil could finally spot the train station, he couldn't help, but feel satisfied. As he walked, tiny wet spots on the ground came to view until he realised that it's starting to rain, it was slow, but lord knows when it'll start pouring down heavily. He cursed himself for not playing it safe and bringing an umbrella, today was a bad day and Taeil accepted that, he couldn't care less about the rain and Johnny and the door, he worried about Taeyong who all alone in the house.