Chapter Text
Mornings these days are cold. The wind howls past you and makes shivers go down your spine. The wet, soppy snow clings to your boots as you make your way through the mess on the sidewalks. The freezing cold invades even your gloves and freezes your fingers if you don’t watch out. Chaewon just kept rubbing them together.
They were old leather, black. A set of her father, most likely. She’d grabbed it when she walked out this morning. It laid on the bottom of the box with winter gear. She’s sure he doesn’t use them anymore. Chaewon remembers her fathers hands being bigger than this. Bigger than her tiny, freezing hands that are trying to not let go of the suitcase she’s carrying. It’s a fairly small one for a student moving out. Not that Chaewon needed much, of course. You don’t need a lot to survive, hell, even to have fun.
The world doesn’t seem bigger than the grey and yellow walls of the city buildings and the tiled pavements. There are neon signs, displaying funny shop names and billboards advertising very yummy-looking soups and other sorts of food and drinks. People walk past, some pacing way too fast through the snow while others are struggling to set one foot in front of the other. Chaewon was neither of them.
She looked up, letting her gaze drift to the stark blue-greyish sky above. There were no clouds and the sun shone, for once in a while. Honestly, it was a beautiful day, and as long as Chaewon kept staring at the glossy blue sky, she believed it.
People walked past in her periphery and for just a few moments, she didn’t care. She needed these little moments, telling her she’s free to do whatever she wants, free to be whoever she is and free to say whatever she thinks.
She knows it’s not true.
Who wouldn’t judge. Who would even listen. Who wouldn’t amortise her with filthy judgements about her appearance or her parents? Because people always do, it doesn’t matter where she meets them. ‘Oh, you’re the daughter of mister Cho. . .’ they’ll go. Usually they add a biting remark about her right after.
She knows her parents expect her to do better than she does right now. She knows they don’t want her to like this, to walk like this, to talk like this. They don’t want her to be here, right now, on the doorstep to a new life, a new world. They also know they left their mark. They all know Chaewon won’t escape the family tree. They all know she’s going to pretend anyway.
So staring at the blue sky is the only way to forget that. To forget the world she left behind in exchange for one that isn’t even more promising. She can let the winds blow past her and let the sharp sounds polish her face. She lets the chatter of random people fill her ears. That’s why she needs these moments. Just to simply forget. Like there wasn’t someone waiting for her.
The phone in her pocket buzzed, indicating her to take a right turn. She looked down. Her gaze glided over the grey and yellow walls, down the windows who’s glass shines in the early morning sun, almost blinding her. On the top of the world, were no people. Chaewon couldn’t see anyone. Like the only living mess was down here, and up there was empty.
She knows she was mistaken when she saw a lady open a window far above her. The skies weren’t reserved for people like her. The woman didn’t spot her and Chaewon finally levelled herself with the street. It’s then that she realised she’s standing still and she starts, almost running into a sidestreet in a hurry.
Immediately she crashes into someone who’s standing still, pushing them both over the trolley they got standing next to them. All sorts of stuff rolls over the ground. Chaewon curses loudly as the ground approaches quickly.
A hand grabs the back of her jacket, effectively keeping her from crashing into the ground. She hears a grumpy voice speaking up: ‘’God, kids these days-’’
She doesn’t dare to look up, knowing her face turned all red today. And she’s in a hurry too– She doesn’t think about that and tries to politely get the items of the ground that had fallen. With one look forward she ascertains the situation: trolley opened, on the ground, half of the contents piling out on the snow mixed with dirt street– Chaewons heart stills. That’s so bad. Chaewon feels so bad about that. God, she should apologise as quick as–
Another hand taps on her shoulder and Chaewon tentatively looks up. ‘’Looks like you’ve run into me quite badly.’’ The eyes behind the words light up. The corners of the stranger's mouth are lifted, resulting in a more than beautiful smile from a person that Chaewon definitely thought to be angry. ‘’It’s fine.’’ He states as he starts to pick up stuff as well. He puts it neatly back into the suitcase and accepts Chaewons help.
‘’You should watch out more, girl.’’ A stern voice comments from somewhere behind them. Chaewon freezes. There was no way this guy had caught her, he’d been on the ground too. This other person must’ve caught her then… Chaewon doesn’t turn around, eyes fixing on the ground, mumbling a soft ‘yeah.’
‘’C’mon Arden, be nice~’’ The guy with the pretty smile says. Arden definitely shook his head to signal a no. The guy leans closer, whispering something. ‘’I swear, I met this guy on the train and apparently he needs to go to the same place as me…’’
Chaewon smiles slightly, looking up. The stranger rolls his eyes. ‘’I won’t survive any more minutes with him.’’
‘’Dump him.’’ Chaewon giggles before quickly putting a hand before her mouth, muffling the sounds. ‘’Where do you need to go?’’
‘’We– euh were looking at the map–’’ The stranger drew out the last vowel. ‘’But I can’t find my phone…’’ He pats his jacket, pants and then looks back at Chaewon. ‘’Have you seen it?’’
Chaewon tries to remember. Phone… she didn’t pick it up off the ground and she didn’t see it lying down somewhere either. She stands up from her kneeled position and starts scanning the area. A phone would be very outstanding in this white brown surface, right?
‘’Arden! Have you seen my phone?’’ The guy not so kindly yells at the taller stranger Chaewon gets to observe now. They’re rather looking lean, and Chaewon would’ve almost said they were a woman by appearance if it wasn’t for the very obvious text on the hat of the guy, reading: I AM A FUCKING MAN. Okay, whatever you say. Chaewon just shrugs.
Arden shrugs too. ‘’I don’t know. Keep watch on your stuff more, son.’’
‘Son?’ Chaewon choked on nothing. These two are related? Looking between them, they didn’t look much like each other. A rather short man with pitch black hair kneeled in the dirty snow next to a bright red-pinkish trolley stares at a tall, blonde man in basketball shorts, who’s crossing his arms and definitely could tower over the both of them if he wanted. No, they’re definitely not related. They’re not even friends. Chaewon shakes her head.
God, she needs to hurry up. ‘’Uh sorry, I actually got to go?’’ She hated how that came out as a question.
The stranger with the pretty smile nodded understandingly. ‘’Of course! Can I ask you a favour before you leave?’’
Chaewon nods.
‘’Can you please lend us your phone for a minute?’’ The guy scratches the back of his neck. ‘’We need to look up directions for the place we’re going. We won’t bother you after.’’
Chaewon didn’t answer and wordlessy handed the guy her phone. It’s the least she could do after stumbling over him and making him lose his phone. Google maps is still open and Chaewon doesn’t bother to delete the route she was following earlier. The younger of the two seemed smart enough to handle a fucking phone, in contrast to his less brightly humoured companion.
The eyes of the short guy widen slightly as he stares at her phone. Chaewon worries. What is wrong? Did she leave something else than google maps open? Ah shut up Chae, you’re spiraling, she told herself.
But what if the guys looked at her angry texts she had last night with her dad? What if he saw her contact name? That wouldn’t be good. She didn’t want another remark about how she must be a brat because she’s an only child of a very rich man. Aw god, please.
Chaewon can’t handle it if this stranger turns out to be evil too. One evil complaining stranger is enough. Honestly, Chaewon can’t wait to get away from this situation. Finally, after what felt like minutes too long but probably was just a few seconds of awkward silence, she mustered up the confidence to ask: ‘’What is it?’’
‘’This adress you’re going to! That’s exactly the one we need to go to too!’’ The guy looks delighted in her eyes. Chaewon can’t help herself and feels her own face lighting up too.
‘’That’s– awesome!’’ She smiled. Then it faltered. She whispers: ‘’I need to sit a whole week and more with that guy?’’ She doesn’t gesture, but she’s sure Arden has definitely heard her. He coughs lighty in the background and Chaewon straightens. Oh, right.
‘’Ah, don’t worry about it too much! If I survived a whole train ride from Tokyo to here with him, then it’ll be fine!’’ He puts out his hand. Chaewon grasps it and politely shakes it, just like she learned. People in the West shake hands. You politely grab their hand, not too softly, not too hard and shake it once or twice and you… ‘’My name is Chihiro Tsunoda. You can call me Chihiro.’’
‘’Very nice to meet you!’’ Chaewon chirped back. She let go of his hand and sought for the handle of her suitcase. ‘’I’m Cho Chaewon.’’ She fiddled with the handle before adding: ‘’Chaewon is my first name, you can call me Chaewon!’’
The guy laughs. It’s a delight to Chaewons ears. ‘’I got that!’’
‘’Great, now let’s get moving. We’re running horrendously late!’’ Arden joined in on the conversation. He gestured down the street and started walking. Chaewon and Chihiro started walking too, looking at the directions the Google Maps route gave them.
‘’Left on this street and then we’re there!’’ Chihiro cheered. And a ‘’Ah god my feet hurt so bad.’’ follows right after.
Arden just stiffly nods. He hadn’t been talking to them, only walking slightly in front of them, as if he were leading the way. He wasn’t, because Chihiro was still holding the phone and there is no way this guy knew the route beforehand. Chaewon found it weirdly bemusing but didn’t pay him much mind, only having talked with Chihiro on the way. They’d only just walked for fifteen minutes but they’d been able to exchange a few things, like age, job and dreams.
Chihiro is a 23 year old boy from Japan. Chaewon already guessed that last part, but it didn’t hurt to have it confirmed. He’s a singer and by his own sayings ‘not that popular but popular enough to have a fanbase.’ He promised her to let her listen to a few of his songs when they’d get to the apartment and Chaewon eagerly nodded yes. He’s here to try and get a better understanding of different cultures. He also loves pancakes.
And that’s all she remembers talking about. Of course, she’d share her bit of the story too. Her age, yes 21, her dreams, and no, she’s jobless. She didn’t tell him her favorite food though. She doesn’t remember why she even asked him, but it’s unimportant anyway.
Just a few minutes ago Chaewon mentioned she’s actually from South Korea, which Chihiro had already guessed apparently, and then out of nowhere Chihiro started to talk to her in slightly broken Korean and Chaewon was just a little bit shocked. They talked a bit forth and back and Chaewon found comfort in speaking her native tongue for the first time in such a while.
They turned the corner and Chihiro had stopped talking in Korean, probably taking pity on Arden, who looks like he doesn’t understand a bit of what they're saying.
What Arden is doing however, is furiously pointing at an old building with stones that look like they’re literally from the middle ages. Moss has grown between most of them and the colour of the stones look faded, some starkly contrasting against the light ones with dark dark liquid running over it. Chaewon followed the stream up, discovering a broken water pipe. Aha.
Chihiro reads the apartment number out loud and it’s a ridiculously high number. He points a bit up. ‘’I think we are on the second floor.’’ He nods at Arden. ‘’Can you open the door?’’
Arden shakes his head. ‘’I haven’t got any keys.’’
‘’Well, then knock on the door.’’
‘’Okay.’’ Arden walks up the steps to the large door and lets the beater fall down on the dark wood. It sounds dull and heavy and Chaewon waits, not daring to breathe, like something immensely scary could be behind that door.
The door swung open and immediately a camera crew walked out, all dressed in black, a few actually carrying a big camera carefully lining up around them. Chaewon steps closer to Arden and Chihiro, who both look puzzled at the sight of so many cameras. Chaewon knew it was a big show but this seemed so unnecessary.
Another person, this time dressed in a blinding white, almost whiter than the snow (which actually wasn’t that hard), detailed costume. He yells something Chaewon doesn’t understand and then starts to talk to the camera’s.
‘’Well, fellow watchers at home! As you can see the third, fourth and fifth contestants arrived! Let’s give them a round of applause!’’ The on-scene crew started to loudly clap and whistle, some looking like they were already so bored of it and others smiling genuinely at them. Chaewon waved hesitantly back, because what was expected from her? She didn’t know.
Chihiro on the other hand began waving and smiling widely at one of the camera’s, throwing cute signs at them or just a simple wink. He doesn’t say anything though, just movement. He turns around the circle, turning his back to the person in white for a brief moment. Chaewon stares at the smiling face. They looked so happy.
Arden stands stiffly, with his arms crossed, with his back to both Chihiro and Chaewon, almost against the wall of the old building. He scoffs at the words and the applause of the crew members and stares rudely over their heads. For a moment Chaewon wished that he didn’t.
Chihiro comes back to stand next to her, having circled the big round of camera and crew. He nudges her a bit, excitedly smiling at her as she turns her head. She smiles back, awkwardly nodding her head and looking back at the guy in the white costume.
The guy in the white costume trots down the stairs, jumping over the last pair of steps and landing gracefully before them.
‘’Your friend up there doesn’t look like he wants to talk!’’ He laughs, showing off his teeth. Chaewon couldn’t help but think about how pointy they seemed. ‘’But~! I’m so happy you’re here! Let’s get inside, won’t we? It’s cold here and the people inside are eager to meet you!’’
‘’Of course, m’sir!’’ Chihiro says, bowing in an elegant way, like a true showman. ‘’Let’s get inside.’’ He turns around, grabs his trolley and haus it up the steps. He claps Arden on the shoulder, smiling brightly. ‘’Lighten up, heathen!’’
Arden grumbles something to Chihiro and he laughs. Chaewon doesn’t quite catch it, but it’s fine. It didn’t seem important. She just shrugs, trying to pay the camera’s no mind and begins to lift her suitcase up the steps, following Chihiro inside. She looks back and Arden follows right behind her. She turns red with embarrassment of even trying to look behind her, like he wouldn’t follow them. Of course he would, how could she think that?
She smiles to herself. She’s such a silly someone sometimes.
They walk through the door, entering a small, narrow hallway. It’s lit with two torches, after which the tunnel ends. They pass another pair of large doors and step out into some sort of hall. Or maybe a common room, she guesses.
The hall behind the large doors is enormous, walls painted a dark red, floor paved with solid, white stones, and the roof at least 8 metres above them. There are plants climbing up the pillars supporting the roof. The roof has big windows in it, making the hall light up very nicely. There is a green carpet leading to the elevator and the stairs. Stairs which are curling up gracefully, leading up to another level. When she looks up even further, she sees more gallery’s. Their bannisters look beautifully carved with different figures.
There are several couches, only just a few occupied with people who pay them no mind. The cushions on the couches look quite soft and Chaewon nods approvingly. That’s good, she’ll meet some of the people there later on. The sitting area is littered with all kinds of decorative plants and tables. There are even a few lit candles.
It looks heavenly.
Chaewon, although grown up in a rich family, never saw such a nice, clean and honestly calming hall. It was nothing like they got at home. She prefers to not think about home.
Camerapersonell moves past her and the heavenly feeling is gone. It’s just as busy as at home, people in black suits moving around all the time, usually almost crushing her. Chaewon doesn’t care anymore now that she's grown used to it and sets her pace higher, trying to stick closely with Chihiro. Arden speeds up too, angry footsteps getting more rapid.
‘’Your rooms are upstairs! You guys own the second floor. That’s up two stairs. The right side of the building is yours, the left side is from another group. In total there are 4 floors and 4 groups! But~! There still live people here too, so half of the building is occupied by actual students here at the school! Please respect them!’’
They all nod, but their heads are somewhere else. Chihiro looks amazed by the bannisters and the figures on it. It’s like he’s trying to make sense of them, with a head askew and eyes slightly narrowed.
Arden is angrily walking, passing Chaewon and pushing past to the guy in the white costume. He’s gripping the guys’ right shoulder, stopping him from walking. He puts out his hand and the guy in white, who Chaewon knows to be the presenter of the program, she just can’t remember his name, smiles cheekily and he shakes it. Arden’s face remains neutral.
‘’Renaud.’’ He tells him. ‘’Arden Renaud.’’
The presenter's smile gets slightly bigger and his eyes barrow. They don’t look as cold anymore, maybe he’d warmed up. Maybe it was just the cold outside. ‘’Good, I’m the presenter, you can call me~... hm…’’ The presenter turns around. ‘’Give me a good name, girl.’’
Chaewon is taken aback. ‘’Wait, who? Me?’’
The presenter nods eagerly. He looks expectantly at her, mouth slightly opened, like he is on the point before trying to eat something or to say something. The corners of his eyes are still lifted, but his eyes remain lifeless.
Chaewon tries to come up with the most basic name she knows. What name does this guy fit? Oh god, Chaewon was never the best at names– quick, a name– ah fuck, why the fuck cna’t she think of a name? Just a stupid name–
The guy blinks once with his eyes, before sneezing into his elbow. The movement makes her unwillingly think of her mothers assistant, who on good days barely greeted her. She had this same weird cold warmth to her being. What was her name… Jorrit? Probably, whatever.
‘’Euh– let’s say… Jorrit?’’
The guy snaps his fingers. ‘’Perfect, call me Jorrit from now on.’’ He walks a few steps up the stairs. ‘’I can’t go with you upstairs, but please go and meet your already seated teammates.’’ A big toothed smile follows the command.
Chaewon nods and hauls her suitcase up the stairs, following the furious tapping of Arden’s pointy shoes and the soft stomps of Chihiro’s winter boots.
By the time they got upstairs, Chaewon had alredy lost her breath. Walking stairs wasn’t her profession and even though the suitcase wasn’t heavy, her feet sure as hell were. She had walked most of the afternoon, wandering through the city and now that the call of rest lures her in, she feels incredibly tired.
The carpets are a soft red now, instead of an almost neon green and Chaewon likes this better. They are walking onto the gallery on the right right now. An amazingly delicious smell meets them halfway. A couple of doors are closed, but the one in the middle of the hallway is opened. A soft humming is heard with someone singing.
Chihiro turns his head, makes a face and puts one of his hands to his ears. Chaewon laughs at that, quickly putting a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.
They reach the middle of the hallway and step inside the apartment. They’re met with a kitchen that is very, very, very small to Chaewons standards, but she doesn’t let her bother that. The kitchen is still big, big enough to live in with a group of over ten people for two weeks.
The kitchen tiles are happily decorated with all kinds of colours and the cabinets are a soft wooden colour. In the middle there is a little bar, disconnected from the rest of the countertops. There are some brightly coloured stools standing by it and Chihiro plops down on one of them. On the side is a long table, safely situated away from the cooking area. There are a lot of chairs on one side of the table and on the other side, against the wall, are a couple of benches.
Chihiro speaks up, extensively greeting the people standing in the kitchen. There is a rather old looking lady, or that’s by Chaewons standards. She looks like she’s nearing the 30’s. The lady is standing at the counter next to the hob. There is a big pan sizzling on the little fire underneath it. ‘’Ah, m’lady! Is that what smells so good here?!’’
The lady turns around slowly, smiling when she sees the two of them standing. ‘’Ahh! So good to see you!’’ She walks up to Chaewon to give her a hug and Chaewon lays her hands firmly on the lady’s back. The lady chatters on, but Chaewon just nods, staring at the food that she’s preparing. God, she’s so hungry.
She briefly wonders where Arden might be when you need him. She would’ve wanted to see his face if this lady would have hugged him. Not like she’s very comfortable either, but whatever the lady wants. It’s not the lady that’s the problem anyways. Her chin lays stiffly on her shoulder and god, when would she let go?
‘’--Ah no, this what you are smelling is the apple pie!’’ The lady had let go of Chaewon and is now talking with Chihiro, who she probably also met with a hug. ‘’The soup is for tonight. I saw we didn’t have no food tonight and I thought, let’s cook something up. And then this gentleman joined me and he suggested we also make an apple pie. Don’t tell the others, but we didn’t have ingredients for any other cake!’’
She laughs, and despite the volume of it, it sounds quite soft. Then she turns around, to the timid figure standing at the other end of the countertop, at the oven. ‘’ ‘Ey, Uhuru, c’mon son! Let’s get that pie!’’ She walked over to him and looked into the oven, where the pie laid. ‘’I think it’s good to go. Can you get it out or d’you need my help?’’
‘’ I ‘ll do it myself. ‘’ The boy mumbles.
‘’Oh good Lord, i haven’t introduced myself yet!’’ she lightly pushes Uhuru to get going. ‘’I’m Jewell, I’m a cook and activist around here. I’ve actually lived in this city for quite a while. Not in this part, but in the more civilian part, you know?’’
Chihiro nodded, like he knew exactly what she was talking about. ‘’How long did you live there?’’
‘’I’ll say for at least 25 years of my life. My age is 27, quite old, don’t ‘cha think? But my spirit is still as young as yours anyways and–’’ Jewell was making big gestures and pointing to different directions when she talked. Chihiro listened attentively, but Chaewon tuned her out. Instead opting to observe the young boy taking the apple pie out of the oven.
He moved almost like he was invisible, with true stealth even though it really wasn’t needed. Chaewon recognised the silent steps. She used to sneak around her house too for… various reasons.
With a swift move he places the aluminium tin on the countertop and closes the oven door slightly with one foot. Hot air escapes almost unnoticed. Chaewon can feel the slight heat from where she’s standing. It’s not even that cold in the kitchen, it’s a bit of a cosy temperature.
The boy removes the tin, putting the pie carefully on a big plate. It fits perfectly and the boy slightly smiles to himself. He opens one of the drawers and picks a knife. Then he lightly makes a few lines through the pie, probably marking where he’ll need to cut if he wants to create thirteen pieces. Then he puts more pressure on the blade, cutting the cake in 14 neat pieces.
They look really clean, almost no pieces fall out and the pieces are divided so equally that Chaewon is genuinely impressed. Which sounds absolutely stupid, the boy just cut a pie. That’s so stupid.
At cue, the boy sharply turns his head, like he takes notice of her just now. Chaewon waves awkwardly, like she’s a deer caught in headlights. Is it invading privacy if you’re observing your new housemate getting a pie out of the oven? Probably not, but Chaewon feels bad.
She opens her mouth to say something, but the boy narrows his eyes, scrutinising her. She closes her mouth, snapping it shut with quite a long sound. The boy looks away.
Chihiro turns her way, hopping off the stool and taking her gently by the arm. ‘’Jewell said that there are three free rooms left. She suggested we’d sleep together because she said that ‘we know each other.’ Seems like an okay plan to me, better than rooming with a complete stranger. What about you? What do you think of it?’’
They begin to walk out of the door, waving at Jewell and Uhuru, taking their suitcases with them. When they’re over the threshold they enter a big living room with a few doors and an opening that’s not a door to a hallway.
‘’Sleeping together as in rooming?’’ Chaewon asks, raising her eyebrow teasingly.
Chihiro's cheeks heat up, tinting red. ‘’Of course I didn’t mean it like that, you know that!’’ He laughs, patting her elbow. ‘’But really, are you okay with that?’’
Chaewon shrugs. ‘’I suppose not? There is no one better to room with.’’
Chihiro fake gasps like he’s offended, pulling a borderline angry look on his face. Chaewon can see the tiny dimples on his face and the slightly lifted corners of his mouth. ‘’Really? That’s all you say when you get to room with me? Why do you just insult me?’’ He dramatically lets go of her arm and staggers back, holding a hand protectively curled over his heart. ‘’How could you, Chaewon!’’
She smiles back. ‘’I’m so sorry sir, but you’re the best out of this bin. The rest of them are either old or trash.’’ She was sure Jewell could take a joke. Or she wished she didn’t hear this and that she was too busy giving Uhuru orders.
They crossed the living room, walking past the couches and the coffee tables in the lounge and they walked into the hallway. As soon as Chihiro set foot in the hallway, the lights flicked on. Left and right were doors, the hallway turning to left on the left side of the hallway. In the middle between two doors, opposite the entrance hung a list with numbers on it. There were a few names scribbled behind several numbers.
Chaewon scanned it quickly and it explained that they’d plan the room division on the paper. It also listed how many beds there were in each room.
‘’Do you got a preference?’’ Chihiro asks her, having already taken a pen in his hand. ‘’Three or four? I don’t really care.’’
Chaewon hesitated. Could she say this? Probably. She shrugged internally. Whatever. ‘’Let’s take three. I actually don’t want to end up with two strangers!’’ She joked, adding a fleeting laugh to it.
He nodded. ‘’Okay, we’ll take room five then? The only one left with three.’’ he winked, before writing it down. ‘’Arden is on room three, that other boy, I think his name is Uhulu?’’ He looks at Chaewon for confirmation.
She nods. ‘’Uhuru.’’
‘’He’s on room two, and Jewell on room one!’’ Chihiro tells her in a way too excited tone.
‘’Good to know. It seems like a hotel here!’’ She comments as she starts walking down the hallway, to the right. She falters in her steps as she approaches the door of room five. Chihiro passes her, smiling as he gently swings the door open and bows before she gets inside. ‘’Enter your room, your grace!’’
She steps inside confidently, dragging her suitcase with her. She drops her suitcase in one of the corners. The inside of the room looks like a hotel room like one you’d find in France on the side of the highways, but bigger. The reason why they look like those hotel rooms is because there is a double bed with a sort of bunk bed placed over it. It’s right next to the door. The beds look nice and soft though. The sheets are homely, a light green combined with a light red one. The pillows are a clean white and Chaewon fears for their pure state. She’ll definitely get stains onto them one way of the other.
There are a few beanbags in the corner and there is a big desk with two chairs in the other corner. In the middle there is a window and on the wall right to the door, behind the bed, there is a big bookshelf with a lot of big and heavy-looking books on the shelves. There are a few flowers, both on the desk, in the window and even on the bookshelves. There is a closed off part by the bookshelves and when Chaewon looks into it, it reveals empty shelves and a couple of hangers.
A closet, she decides.
She turns to Chihiro, who’s standing at the threshold, observing the room and its contents.
‘’I have a plan: if a guy joins us, you’ll sleep with him on the double bed and if a woman joins us I’ll sleep on the double bed.’’
‘’Seems like a fair enough deal to me.’’ Chihiro walks further in the room. He looks up to the shelves and then almost yells in surprise: ‘’Oh! There is a stereo! I can let you listen to my song!!’’
>_<
After they’ve settled for a bit, putting their stuff away and organising the closet, dividing it in threes, they sit down on the bed. Chihiro is messing with the speakers of the stereo. He connected Chaewon's phone to it, which he borrowed, but no sound is coming out of it.
Chaewon doesn’t know anything about technological stuff like that and doesn’t dare to help, afraid of messing it up.
Her companion taps away on her phone. ‘’I guess I’ll just have to– hm… let you listen to it without the stereo– hold on, just a second.’’ he rambles, tapping again and immediately Chaewons eardrums are busted by music shooting out of the speakers like lightning bolts.
‘’I mean, you make good music! Probably! But this is a bit loud!’’ She yells, trying to be louder than the sudden music, laughing at the face Chihiro makes at the loud volume. They both clamp their hands over their ears, before Chihiro takesher phone and desperately tries to lower the volume.
The music drops down to a bearable level, just as an angry Arden storms into the room, yelling something at them that Chaewon doesn’t get at first.
‘’Are you out of your mind?! You have neighbours, mind you!’’ He shrieks ungracefully, eyes blazing with fury.
Chihiro puts up his hands, palms angled towards Arden. ‘’I’m sorry man, I didn’t expect the music to get that loud.’’
‘’You’re making excuses! Get your shit together, son!’’ He turns around on his heels, wiggling his finger dangerously. ‘’Don’t try that another time, boy.’’
He walks into the hallway and Chaewon can loudly hear: ‘’Youth these days. Unbelievable.’’
Chihiro looks at her apologetically, hand resting on the back of his neck. ‘’That was… uhm– something? I’m sorry, I hope your eardrums are okay!’’
‘’You couldn't have anticipated that. My ears are okay though. I hope?’’ She laughs nervously.
‘’Okay, well that’s great! You ready to listen to it for real?’’ He smiles and his white teeth are blinding. Chaewon might get jealous of those teeth but resists the thought. Ain’t no one talking down anymore today.
‘’I ‘d love to!’’ She eagerly nods, gesturing for Chihiro to continue.
Chihiro crosses his legs, like Chaewon, and leans forward over his phone, pushing a few buttons and the music starts playing, this time a lot softer and more silent. Not that the music was anything calm. Far from it.
Apparently the guy made rock music, because this sure as hell sounded like it. The beat was very fast paced and Chaewon found herself head bobbing along with the song. It’s a really nice tune. She barely understood the words, quick Japanese slipping past her ears. She could vaguely make out a few words, like 友達* and 兄弟**. Or 楽しい, what she believed to mean ‘having fun’ or something like that.
Actually she’d skipped out of her Japanese language classes quite a few times, finding other things too much fun.
The song ends and another one comes up. Chihiro speaks up. ‘’I’m actually in a band with these guys you hear singing too. I uh– do a lot of the singing and they usually play the instruments, but this time we did the opposite. So it probably won’t sound like the first one but– yeah, just so you know!’’
Chaewon nods. ‘’What was the last song about? I understood something about fun or something?’’
Chihiro’s face lights up. ‘’You speak Japanese?! wonderful! The last song was about. . . just loving everyone I suppose. It’s about having fun with your friends and it’s teaching you that there is more to life than romance.’’
‘’You dislike romance?’’
‘’Not quite. I just think other things are more important. Like friends and family for example.’’
She nods, getting what he means. ‘’So– did you write the song? Is this your testimony?’’ She smirks at Chihiro.
Chihiro huffs out a soft laugh. It’s silent. ‘’Yes, I wrote the song. You could say this is my perception of how life should be, yes.’’ He rests his hand on his chin and looks like he ponders for a moment, eyes closed, face eerily relaxed. ‘’I wish it was.’’
‘’It isn’t?’’ Chaewon asks. Not that she couldn’t relate. She could. She’d bet everyone could, because life is not perfect and loads of shit happen.
‘’You see– life’s not always going the way you want it to go.’’ He sighs. ‘’And that’s difficult sometimes.’’ He shuts his mouth slowly. His earlier cheery personality had fallen more back, instead making him a person just bathing in the moment, thinking about something far away in the distance.
He sighs, and then flops back on the covers. ‘’God, I’m so hungry. I hope those other people come soon enough, that pie of Jewell’s smelled delicious!’’ On cue his stomach growls, leaving them both laughing at the most stupid thing in the world.
Chaewon clenches her fist and pokes Chihiro lightly with a finger. He only laughs harder, almost doubling over. ‘’It’s– it’s so, so, so stupid!’’ He chokes out, chest heaving from laughter.
Chaewon nods, trying to hold back more laughter at Chihiro’s face and laugh.
In the end, maybe that’s all that they needed at the moment (and not apple pie :P).