Chapter Text
“Hyung, I’m leaving!” Jeno’s voice drifted from the door.
Doyoung cracked an eye open and had a minute-long internal debate before gathering the resolve to drag himself from his warm cocoon of blankets. Doyoung blearily stumbled through the living room to the door, and was greeted by his half-brother, Jeno’s iconic eye smile. He ruffled Jeno’s soft black hair and raised a brow at the two metal baseball bats sticking out of Jeno’s bags.
“Joining a new sport this semester?”
“Yeah, Jaemin’s trying out for the baseball team. I’m his practice.”
“Well, good luck. Call me for dinner when you’re free.”
Doyoung pulled Jeno in for a tight hug and watched as Jeno fished for his Land Rover ignition key before wrestling his bags out the door. The door closed with a muffled click as the automatic locks clicked into place. Doyoung sighed and launched himself onto the sofa for round two of sleep. Nothing, he decided, nothing, shall stand between him and sleep. He had just sealed an acquisition deal on a blockchain company, and it was, for heaven’s sake, too many sleepless nights poring over documents and contracts for what it’s worth. He deserved his two-days leave from work.
Doyoung had barely a moment of peace before there were fast, consecutive bangs on the door. The unwelcome visitor then hesitated for a moment, as if to recall the existence of a doorbell, and proceeded to press the bell with such ferocity that the bell peals resonated through the living room. Doyoung pressed his face into the throw pillows and groaned. It was clear Doyoung would not be having his peace until he entertained the visitor.
“If it is you, Lee Jeno, you will never hear the end of it.” Doyoung mumbled darkly under his breath. Then again, Jeno has better manners than whoever’s at the door. With the way the person was abusing his doorbell, it was highly likely to be a desperate colleague. Perhaps one he could ignore. Doyoung, therefore, resisted the urge to swing the door open with a dramatic flourish and looked at the display of the door intercom instead. Much to his surprise, it was his neighbour, Ms Lee, who lived in the far-right unit of the corridor. She claimed to be an actress and was skinny to the point of fragility. Doyoung could not imagine her stick-thin arms being capable of such loud bangs.
Doyoung suppressed his irritation before speaking into the microphone, “How can I help you?” He watched with slight discomfort as Lee’s head jerked rapidly upward, seeking the speaker mounted on the top of his door. Her delicate face spread into a grin impossibly wide, stretching her blood-red lips to reveal sharp canines. She soon snapped her head back into place, with the eerie smile still plastered across her face. Doyoung thought he saw little drops of blood at the corner of her lips, but it was gone with a swift swipe of her tongue before Doyoung could get a closer look.
Lee schooled her features one by one: drooped her eyes which had danced with elation, relaxed her cheeks which were prominent from smiling, and the corners of her mouth turned downwards in an almost abrupt motion. Her voice was raspy when she spoke into the microphone: “Can I borrow some sugar?”
“Of course.” Doyoung was eager to get rid of the visitor at the door. There was something off about Lee which Doyoung could not quite put his finger on, but he didn’t intend to keep her long enough to figure it out. He grabbed a small spare bag of sugar from the kitchen cabinet. Doyoung hesitated as he rested his hand on the door handle, and eventually decided to engage the door latch before opening the door.
With the door latch engaged, Doyoung squeezed the bag of sugar through the narrow opening. “Here you go.” Lee, however, did not reach for the sugar, and it landed outside his door with a small thud. Her knobbly fingers reached through the door opening, and with difficulty, her entire palm, and her forearm. Ugly blue-black veins and liver spots littered the back of her hand and forearm. It was only then Doyoung noticed the caked blood between her fingers, in the lines of her palm, and under her long, manicured nails. Her arm swung at him, and he intuitively stepped back with a light gasp.
Lee flung herself at the door repeatedly, and the door latch clanged at the impact of her weight. Her arm swept upwards, feeling for the door latch. Doyoung sprang forward, his heart throbbing in his ears. Without further thought, he gave the door a hard push. Lee barely withdrew her arm before the door slammed down on where her arm had previously been. She gave an anguished screech and continued pounding at his door.
Doyoung felt a little weak-kneed as he stared at Lee through the intercom. Each of her punches left a shallow dent on the door’s metallic surface, and did greater damage to her fists. Blood streamed down her arms in rivulets and her fist became increasingly misshapen. Not long after, her forehead joined her bid in ramming the door down, human flesh and bone to metal. It was a picture of pure insanity.
Lee continued for a good minute before giving a shriek so shrill the intercom squealed. She spasmed, and collapsed into a heap on the ground. The sudden quiet was welcomed and Doyoung gradually regained his composure. The surreal experience was still beyond his comprehension but he had more sense than to open the door to investigate what befell on Lee. A homebody by nature, Doyoung barely hits the gym and if Lee decides to attack him with as much viciousness as she did, he was certain he would last in her hands for as long as a bread-stick. Compassion be damned. Doyoung shakily reached for the landline. A madwoman sounds like a job for paramedics and the police.
Doyoung first dialled for the police. There was no operator on the line and only an automated female voice explaining, “All police officers are currently dispatched and your emergency will be attended to as soon as possible”. Strange, Doyoung thought. There was no major national event or emergency to his knowledge. He tried the ambulance next, and it simply rang. Doyoung dropped the phone in frustration. He spared a glance at the intercom screen. Much to his surprise, Lee was gone, and Doyoung would have thought he was hallucinating if not for the small dents and blood on the door.
It was a weird, weird day.
Doyoung dropped himself on the sofa. He was too shaken for sleep. The wild, feral look in Lee’s eyes haunted him, and he was convinced he was nothing but prey to Lee from the moment he had responded to her knocks. “No, this is no way to spend a free day.” Doyoung tried to shake the image of Lee from his head. Perhaps a little alcohol would help. He was halfway through his first glass when his phone rang. His work phone. Doyoung sighed, and once again contemplated ignoring the world.