Chapter Text
Rumi spends the first half of her morning staring at her email, more specifically at the date and time of when she can move into her apartment and maybe a little bit at the two women in the emails profile.
It's not exactly her 'apartment' more so a space she's going to be sharing with two other women (who happen to be in a relationship) for an undefined amount of time.
What Rumi is hoping is that she'll be in and out of the apartment in a couple of months maybe a year, but with inflation and how much her job pays her which is below minimum wage, that is seeming more and more unlikely.
Then she spends the other half of the morning putting her very few boxes into her car, just as she places her last box into the car her phone starts to ring. Just hearing the ringtone makes her roll her eyes. With a sigh she pulls her phone out of her pocket and puts it up to her ear.
"What do you want?" Jinu makes a wounded noise at the very cold opening to the call.
"Ouch, why assume I need something? what if I just want to talk to my best friend? so rude..." Jinu tries to sound hurt, but Rumi can see his smug smile just from his voice.
A few moments of silence pass as Rumi puts her phone on speaker and gets into her car, setting down her phone with a small 'thump' "Because you're never awake this early so you must need something." Jinu whistles lowly, she can hear him tapping his finger.
"Man, I was hoping to compliment you a little before you figured it out, like 'wow Rumi you're the best' 'you're totally not a socially awkward weirdly buff nerd-'" "Jinu!" Rumi holds the bridge of her nose and interrupts him; she pretends to be annoyed by his antics but the small smile fighting to show on her lips say a different story.
Jinu lets out a nervous laugh "okay, okay. impatient today jeez..." Rumi can hear him take a deep breath; she mentality prepares herself for what he might say. "soo... I might've accidently adopted a blue, derpy looking cat in my drunken state last night..."
A second passes then another as she tries to fully take in what he's saying, but before she can he starts talking again, this time much faster and quieter. "And my roommate, Abby is allergic, soIneedyoutotakehim"
"...."
"...."
"No, absolutely not."
"Why not? please Rumi" Rumi lets out a sigh and runs her hands down her face, she accidently pulls on her eye, pulling back quickly, she blinks rapidly to try and ease the stringing in her eye now. "I don't know if my new roommates are allergic to cats or if the building even allows pets"
Jinus end is quiet for a second before Rumi hears a door slam open and a whole bunch of sneezing "I though you said you were going to be keeping the cat in your room?" The voice sounds stuffy and can't stop sneezing, which Rumi assumes the voice belongs to the allergic roommate. "What- how did he get out of my room?"
Rustling and a bunch more sneezing is heard from his end before the soft click of a door shutting and a sigh. Rumi rubs her forehead and lets out a sigh of her own.
"Okay, fine-" Jinu immediately interrupts her "You're the best Rumi" Rumi brings the phone closer to her face as she turns on her car
"Give me about three days to talk to Mira and Zoey about the cat though" The names are like a foreign language on her tongue.
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Rumi stands at the door, trying to psych herself up to knock but every time she goes to her body freezes, after about the fourth failed knock she debates going back to her car, maybe tell them she can't be their roommate anymore and just live in her car, perhaps run away to a different country, change her name and pretend to be a French mime? but before she can even think more about her amazing plan the door opens.
It startles Rumi slightly, the girl who opened the door doesn't look surprised in the slightest, the couple mentioned their names in the few emails Rumi, and they have exchanged but they never exactly specified which is which. "You looked a little lost at the door, so I thought I'd open it for you."
Rumi stares at her for a second before she feels her face get hot.
she saw me stand at the door like an idiot...
The thought itself makes Rumi want to self-implode.
The girl gives Rumi a goofy side smile. "I'm Zoey!" Zoey holds her hand out for Rumi to shake.
She shifts the box to rest on one of her arms instead of two and gently shakes Zoeys hand, Zoey eyes the box in Rumi's hand before looking behind her. "Is that it or are the other boxes still in your car?"
One of the first thing Rumi notices about Zoey in the very short interaction they are currently having is that she can't seem to sit still, Zoey rocks from her tip toes to the balls of her feet. The second thing she notices is Zoeys shorter than her, even when she's on her tiptoes.
"The rest are in my car" Rumi answers softly, she nervously shifts the box in her hands again. Her eyes drift to her sleeves, the fabric is pulled snugly over her wrists and slightly over her hands.
Her eyes snap up as Zoey holds out her hands again "want some help?" Zoey tilts her head. Her space buns shift slightly with the movement.
"Oh.. Sure- I mean yeah, that'd be nice" Zoey happily takes the box from Rumi's grasp, she practically bounces her way towards Rumi's new room. Rumi stays frozen.
She watches the cheerful girl disappear into the room, after a deep breath and some silent cursing to herself about being Awkard she makes her way back down to her car.
There are only four boxes left, Rumi stares at the sad empty sight. She got rid of a lot of things, things she didn't need, grew out of, and things she didn't want to think about or even see again.
Her hands find a box labeled heavy in neat almost perfect handwriting that isn't hers.
"This is a new start. it'll be good for you." Rumi shakes her head softly; she didn't have time to think about her.
Rumi tugs her sleeves further down.
Just in case.
With a small huff she picks the box up, it isn't very heavy, to her at least.
When she turns around, she finds herself face to face with Zoey, well almost face to face. Rumi has to look down to make eye contact. "Wow, your braid is so long!"
Zoey leans over to look at Rumi's braid. The purple braid goes down past her lower back, it's one of the things Rumi is quite proud about. The last time she cut her hair (aside from dead ends) she was eight.
She got gum stuck in her hair because she was playing with it, her aunt told her not to, but young Rumi being young Rumi didn't listen. She can still picture the exact face her aunt Celine made when young Rumi came to her crying, snot all over the place, Rumi was holding scissors and her hair on the left side was cut at an angle higher than her ear.
The third thing Rumi notices, Zoey has very short bangs, it doesn't look weird on her though, it fits her in a way.
Zoey moves past her to pick up two boxes, she frowns slightly when she sees how little Rumi has packed. "Is this it?" she tilts her head like she did at the door, asking Rumi the same question.
Rumi gives Zoey a soft smile and a shrug that she hopes looks natural
It does not.
"Yeah" Zoey nods and walks off towards the apartment, Rumi sighs and grabs the last box. She has to balance the heavy box and the very light box on one arm as she reaches up to close the trunk of her car.
She makes her way up to the apartment; Zoey left the door open for her. She walks into the apartment, slow and unsure. This is where she's going to be living for a while, with a short very bubble Zoey and Her girlfriend Mira.
Rumi's stomach makes a quiet rumble noise at the thought of meeting Mira, in their profile picture Mira had a very serious look on her face.
She takes a deep breath, it'll all be alright Rumi, keep it together.
She drags her feet as she slowly makes her way towards her new room, through the door she catches a glimpse of Zoey bending over to put down the boxes.
Zoeys oversized hoodie unfortunately blinds her, the hood goes across her face, effectively covering her vision and she makes a small huff. "Hey, who turned out the lights.."
She grumbles softly, placing down Rumi's boxes with the upmost care, instead of standing up and pushing down the hood Zoey wiggles out of the hoodie, leaving her in a green shirt with a huge turtle on the back.
with sunglasses.
Rumi watches the smaller girl's antic with a soft smile on her face; she leans over and places down her boxes. Zoey grabs the hoodie and folds it over her arm. "Mira should be back any minute now! she went to pick some stuff up for dinner" Zoey walks out of Rumi's room. "I'll be in my room if you need anything!"
Rumi waits for a second before shutting the door, she plops down onto her new mattress with a sigh. Zoey's something.
Not in a bad way, more like an energetic, talkative, sweet way.
She looks around, the walls are bare, white, not like the blinding white she's used to, the house smells... soft? it's hard to explain, she's never smelt anything like this.
Rumi reaches over; she grabs the box closet to her and opens it. it doesn't have much in it, some old journals from her teenage years, she can't bring herself to get rid of them, she also can't bring herself to open them, the stuff she worked so hard to get past, to forget.
Maybe one day she will.
The covers are dull, different shades of brown. She holds them gently, almost cautiously. She puts them to the side before leaning over and grabbing a bigger box.
This one is filled with clothes, hoodies and long sleeves. She has some shorts but mostly just pants and jeans. Rumi takes a quick look at the one she's wearing, it's a soft grey. Her mouth twitches slightly, she digs through her other clothes and eventually pulls out a different hoodie.
This one is a light purple; it has some small patterns on the sleeves; she takes off her current hoodie, she has on a black long sleeve underneath.
Her braid gets stuck when she tries to pull her purple hoodie over her head.
Rumi groans and yanks her braid free; she stands up and plops her old hoodie into the box.
She doesn't know what to do now, her boss made her take a few days off to get settled into her new apartment, she doesn't have any friends, besides Jinu of course but she rather saw off her own hand then talk to him right now.
She could start unpacking but she hasn't even put her dresser together, she puts her head in her hands as a thought dawns on her.
She doesn't know how to put it together.
"I'm doomed.." Rumi lays back on her bed, her hands fall over her chest and her legs scrunch up.
She sighs, she wants to relax here, this is her house too now, her room, but Rumi can't, she's never been able to relax anywhere.
The fourth thing Rumi notices, or more so assumes is that the walls must be thin.
She can hear the soft click of a door opening, followed by the creak of a door closer to her opening, most likely Zoey's room.
Then talking, it's muffled but Rumi can make out some of it.
"Hey, baby!" Zoey's most likely "I missed you" Yeah that's Zoeys voice.
"I was gone for literally 30 minutes." This voice is deeper, maybe a little rough? "I missed you two"
Rumi realizes she's listening in on the two girls' conversation, her cheeks go a little red.
With a small huff she rolls onto her side and tries to give the two some privacy "Don't listen to their conversations, weirdo..."
She makes a mental note to buy headphones soon.
The talking stops and she hears footsteps again, this time they sound a little quicker, they are also coming towards her room.
Rumi stiffens as she hears a soft knock on her door. "Rumi? Miras home!"
Rumi turns towards her door; she slowly gets up.
"Coming" With a soft sigh and a very anxious thought process running a mile per second she very slowly gets up.
Like extremely slow, by the time Rumi counts to ten in her head to try and calm herself down she still isn't fully up.
She wouldn't describe herself as socially awkward but everyone she's ever met would a 100% say different.
With a feeling she could only describe as dread and wishing she was Amish, Rumi opens her door.
Zoey gives her a bright smile that shows off all her teeth. "She brought home food" Zoey beckons Rumi towards the kitchen with a wave of her hand.
The two walk together towards the kitchen, Rumi is slightly behind Zoey, her eyes are glued to the floor, lost in thought.
Rumi finally looks up as Zoey stops, it takes her a few seconds to realize just how tall Mira is. She has to bend her neck to make eye contact with her.
Mira is...
intimidating, that's one of the words Rumi would use to describe her.
Yeah, Rumi saw her picture already, but no picture could've prepared Rumi for just how scary Mira looks in real life.
Mira gives her a small head nod. "Hey" Zoey looks between the two happily.
She leans into Rumi slightly and whispers, still loud enough for Mira to hear. "Shes been really excited to meet you"
Rumi sees Miras face go from bored maybe? to a slight red and wide eyes, "Zoey!" she says quickly.
Mira narrows her eyes and looks away from the two girls. "Don't say it like that, you're making me sound like a creep."
She grumbles, Rumi looks over at Zoey, she's laughing "I've just been interested to see what kind of person our roommate would be"
Mira straightens her posture, and her face goes semi back to normal; she still looks a little embarrassed.
Her eyes go from Zoey to Rumi, which in turn makes Rumi stiffen a little.
She extends her hand towards Rumi "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too" Rumi grabs onto Miras hand and gives it a soft shake, she's sure Mira can feel how shaky her hand is.
That's totally not embarrassing at all...
As Mira starts walking towards the counter she ruffles Zoeys hair, Zoey pouts and playfully swats the taller girl's hand away "You're gonna mess up my hair"
Mira quirks an eyebrow, a small smug grin fights its way onto her face "Oh, it's not already messed up?"
Rumi looks away as the two girl's banter with each other, she looks at the floor, she looks at the living room and kitchen, she even starts counting the cabinets just so she doesn't interrupt them.
She doesn't want her new roommates to think she's weird or think that she has a staring problem or that she's a bad person for staring at them while they have a moment, she doesn't want them to regret letting her live there.
Rumi starts to feel overwhelmed as the thoughts crowd her head, she quickly looks up when something gently bumps her.
it's Zoey.
"Do you see what I have to go through every day?" Zoey looks up at Rumi and pouts playfully. She points at Mira like she's personally offended her.
Mira chuckles, she crosses her arms and leans against the counter. "You're so dramatic"
Zoey gasps before leaning into Rumi slightly more, she pulls her hands up to her chest like she's been shot. "See, Rumi!" Rumi freezes.
Miras looking directly at her as Zoey leans against her and continues to pout, Rumi takes a deep breath. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out-
expect a laugh.
It's not a loud or long laugh, it's soft and quiet but still there.
Miras grin turns to a smile for a split second before she turns away and starts to put out plates. Zoey gives Rumi a small smile and nudge before walking over to Mira.
"Ooooo" Zoey leans over and starts pointing at everything she sees "I want that! and that! ooo and that!" Mira starts putting all of Zoeys food onto her plate.
Zoey grabs it from Mira with a soft kiss to the cheek before walking over to the table. Rumi stands there.
Awkwardly,
Like everything she does.
She tenses as Mira suddenly looks over at her, her eyebrow is raised, like she's waiting for something. "You want some? we got, kimchi, tteokbokki, and bibimbap"
As if on cue Rumi's stomach rumbles loud enough for Mira to hear, Mira laughs.
Rumi looks away and mentally curses at her stomach for embarrassing her. "I'll have some tteokbokki" Mira nods and before Rumi can get it for herself Mira starts to make her a plant.
Mira hands it to her without saying anything, Rumi stares at her confused for a few seconds before walking over to the table, she sits in front of Zoey and starts to quietly eat her food.
Zoey looks up as Mira sits down next to her, she looks over at Rumi "so, Rumi, why'd you move here?" She asks softly.
Rumi looks up and sees both Mira and Zoey staring at her, she clears her throat and looks back down at her food.
once again feeling awkward "I just needed a fresh start" It's not exactly a lie but it's not the truth.
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The rest of the dinner goes by quietly.
Quietly as in Zoey talks about everything and nothing for a whole 30 minutes with Mira just softly humming and nodding her head at every other thing, she says.
The girls walk down the hall together to their rooms; Rumi goes to open hers "Goodnight, Rumi!" She looks back to see Zoey waving at her.
"Night" Mira gives Rumi a head nod instead of a wave. She stares at them for a second before she gives them a soft wave back.
"goodnight"
Her door shuts with a soft click, she stares at her wall as she tries to take everything that happened today in.