Work Text:
Jungwoo sat in front of his door, hugging his knees tightly as he felt the coldness of the night pierce through the thin cloth of his pajamas. He didn’t wear anything else when he went out to throw the trash because he thought he’d just go down to the first floor to throw it out. He didn’t even bother to bring his cellphone with him as he thought he’d be back quickly.
But he was wrong.
He forgot his keys. Just like this morning, when he almost arrived late at work because he had to find his keys, he almost forgot about it, and luckily, he remembered before closing the door; however, he misplaced them last night because he was busy taking a call from a colleague.
It didn’t just end there. He overslept and had to prepare quickly. He burnt his food for lunch and forgot to turn on the heater, so he almost froze to death when the water touched his body. To make up for it, he thought he should use his favorite tie, but he couldn’t find it.
On top of all the things that happened this morning, during his lunch, he decided to check on the website where he reads novels. It’s been a few months since the last time he checked his favorite author's account. But he was met with an announcement that was posted a couple of months ago, saying that author J will be on hiatus until further notice. Nothing followed thereafter.
He thought maybe because the author chose not to post anything, since either his stories wouldn’t have many engagements or sometimes would receive hate from bored people who hide behind their screens.
Now, sitting on the cold tiles of the apartment floor, Jungwoo was waiting for something to happen. He couldn’t call for a locksmith because he didn’t have his phone with him. He was freezing, rubbing his hands on his arms doesn’t work anymore, and so he decided to ask for help from the neighbor across.
He knocked. He barely sees the person living in this unit as he was always in the office, but other neighbors said that the person named Jaehyun was kind and approachable. So, Jungwoo didn’t need to worry if it would be okay to ask Jaehyun for help.
Jaehyun opened the door.
“Hi, good evening. Sorry to bother you, but may I ask if I can borrow your phone? I forgot my keys and phone, so I can’t call a locksmith.”
Jaehyun stared at him.
“Sure, come in.”
“No, I’m okay here.” Jungwoo smiled shyly.
“Let me get a blanket for you, too. Come in.” Jaehyun looked at the collar of Jungwoo’s clothes, which was a bit loose, so his collarbone was exposed.
Jungwoo walked in and sat where Jaehyun told him to sit. He handed him his phone and let Jungwoo contact a locksmith while he left Jungwoo in the living area. After he was done talking to the locksmith and mentioned his situation, he put down the phone on the table and scanned the area.
Jaehyun’s apartment was neat and organized; it barely had furniture, just what he needed every day. But at the corner was a table with dim light; a laptop was open, and crumpled papers were scattered all over the desk and down the floor. That was the only area that was not clean, but the rest was pleasant to the eye.
Jaehyun came back with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket on the other hand.
“Here, warm yourself while waiting.”
“Thank you.” Jungwoo accepted and wrapped the blanket around his body. “Sorry for bothering you. I was so careless as to forget my keys.”
“It happens,” Jaehyun replied and chuckled.
Jungwoo chuckled as well and looked somewhere else. “Were you busy?”
“Hm, not really. I’m in the middle of throwing papers here and there,” Jaehyun replied with a smile as he jerked his thumb towards the mess at the corner of his place.
“Oh, why?” Jungwoo looked curious; his hands wrapped around the cup to feel its warmth.
“When ideas don’t want me, they end up being crumpled.”
“Are you an artist?” Jungwoo asked excitedly.
“Ah, no. I write, for fun.”
“For fun?” Jungwoo asked excitedly. “That’s awesome of you!”
Jaehyun stared at him with a smile. “Really?”
“Yes! You know, I love reading. I have a favorite author. He’s J.” Jungwoo giggled. “Oh, by the way, to know that you write, I just feel happy. If it wasn’t because of you and the other writers, what are the readers going to read then?”
Jaehyun remained silent; he stared at Jungwoo as his smile widened.
“You’re right.”
unlocked
The cursor kept blinking on the blank document flashing on the laptop screen. It continued as if it was laughing at me, telling me that, ‘I guess you couldn’t write a word.’
Well, it was right. I couldn’t.
Crumpled papers were all over the place, my pen almost out of ink, but I still can’t write anything, no better ideas coming into my mind. I was so close to pulling my hair in frustration and just quit when a knock on my door suddenly filled the four corners of my apartment.
I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I was curious. And when I opened the door, someone in his pink pajamas was standing in front of me —the neighbor in front of my unit.
He asked me if he could borrow my phone since he forgot his keys. I let him in and wait for the locksmith, offering him a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. We talked and he told me how happy he was when he knew that I was writing.
‘If it wasn’t because of writers, what would the readers read?’
I smiled hearing that. For once, I felt seen and appreciated. Everyone told me I wouldn’t be successful if I continued to focus on my hobby—which is writing. They said it was a waste of time.
But I don’t think it is now.
This wasn’t a story that I usually post, but maybe a story after I have been in a writing slump for long.
Even if ideas don’t come easily as they did before, there’s still one that would pull me out from my writer’s block.
I remembered that person in pajamas, too much bad luck for a day but he kept smiling.
We didn’t just wait for his door to be unlocked, but I guess he unlocked what had locked me for long now, pulling me out from what’s holding me back. His presence didn’t just make me feel seen; he made me keep going.
“New story from J!” Jungwoo exclaimed when he saw a notification that his favorite author posted a story.
The title was ‘Unlocked.’
It was just a cute short story, something that J doesn’t usually post. It was very different from the mystery novels that he would post; it was light and most importantly, felt personal.
But what Jungwoo thought was that the scene seemed familiar that he had to take his laptop with him and knock on the door across his unit. Jaehyun, who seemed to just wake up, greeted him with a smile.
“You posted a new story, didn’t you?” Jungwoo was panting while he spoke. “You’re J?”
Jaehyun slowly widened his smile. “Oh, you’ve read it already?”
“Yes!” Jungwoo held back his emotions by pressing his lips together. “It’s so cute. Too different from what genre you usually write but I love it.”
“I’m glad. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Is it okay?”
“It’s always okay,” he replied and opened the door wide, stepping aside to let Jungwoo in.
Jungwoo started talking, holding a cup of hot chocolate tightly. He went from how he first discovered J’s work, which was when he accidentally clicked it instead of the book that really caught his attention. Jungwoo just gave it a chance by reading the synopsis until he found himself lost in the book.
Since then, he would always browse J’s works, not just finding what interests him but reading all his works and waiting for every update.
Jaehyun listened to him, smiling as he knew how a reader of his works felt reading his masterpieces. For the second time, Jaehyun felt seen and appreciated. Knowing that his hard work was appreciated like this was rewarding.
“As a reader, I felt so happy that I became a muse of my author’s story.” Jungwoo giggled. “Thank you.”
Jaehyun smiled sweetly. “No, thank you.”
#