Chapter Text
A soft knock echoed through the small apartment, startling the young man who had been leaning on the kitchen counter next to the still dripping coffee machine. Finally peering his eyes away from the machine, Jongwoo turns to look at the nearby window noting the lack of light coming in from outside. “Who decides to bother people this early in the morning…,” Jongwoo mumbles to himself in annoyance while pushing himself away from the counter and towards the door before turning the handle and peeking out into the hallway.
“Oh Seokyoon, did you need something?” He looks at the younger boy in front of him, his annoyance ever so slightly fading. Kang Seokyoon had moved into one of the very few apartments within their small building only a few weeks ago, Jongwoo hadn’t minded the new addition, he had even slightly enjoyed the freshness that came with Seokyoon’s more bubbly personality, though the boy could be naive and too trusting at times from what Jongwoo had seen of him. The younger seems to fidget nervously, wringing his hands before finally responding “Uh I think my window got stuck? This is a really lame reason to bother you but I didn’t know who else to ask.” Jongwoo furrows his eyebrows at this, who bothers someone this early in the morning for a window of all things? Trying to hide his reappearing annoyance he nods and waits for Seokyoon to lead the way.
After ending up in Seokyoon's bedroom and closing a window that had shut far more easily than the boy had made it seem like it would—at least Seokyoon had the sensibility to look guilty afterwards, Jongwoo trudged back through the hallway and into his apartment before freezing at the entrance way. The door had been left open those few minutes he was with Seokyoon, but what does it matter? It’s too early in the morning for anyone else to be out and a few minutes isn’t a lot of time for someone to even do anything. Jongwoo’s ex-girlfriend, Jieun, always did say he was too paranoid…but would he notice if the door was slightly more open then when he left it or if the notebook sitting on his pathetic excuse of a dining table was shifted just a little to the right? No use thinking like that, it’s illogical, this is a small town with a very select number of people and a low crime rate—Jongwoo, again because of his paranoia, made sure of this when he was deciding where to move to get away from his negligent mother and overbearing brother, nobody could’ve gotten inside and done anything to his living space in such a short amount of time anyways. Finally snapping out of it, Jongwoo shut the door behind him and grabbed the still steaming cup of coffee, almost hotter than when he left it, from under the machine. Sighing, he downed the contents of the cup in a few large gulps, letting the liquid burn his throat and savouring the slight sting before slamming the cup down on the counter and heading into his bedroom to get himself somewhat presentable for the job interview he had scheduled for the next hour.
The woman across from Jongwoo pushed back her glasses as she continued to shuffle through the few papers he had brought with him, “a strong writer truly, yet why the fascination with crime Mr. Yoon?” the woman peers at him from over the papers she’s currently holding. Jongwoo blinks at the sudden question, trying to form the least off putting response he could, “Well uh I guess it's more so being intrigued with the criminal rather than the crime? I mean part of observing violent cases is understanding the motive…right?. He internally winces at his lack of confidence and the vague response as the interviewer hums in thought, “a person who is willing to look into the rougher parts of life....that might just be what this team needs, the next time the other journalists meet will be in two days at this hour, I expect you to attend if you really want this job, have a good day Mr. Yoon.” Jongwoo turns to the women hoping for some further clarification or details about the supposed meeting but is instead met with a slammed door and an empty room. Gritting his teeth in an attempt to hide his irritation at the interviewer's lack of care, Jongwoo begins to collect his things before stepping back into the quiet street.
Pulling out his phone from his pocket and putting the meeting date into his calendar, Jungwoo began the short walk back to his apartment building. Luckily the very few people who found themselves out and about at the same time would only watch him, as creepy as it was Jongwoo could only be thankful that no one decided to attempt to actually interact with him, he didn’t think he could deal with anyone else bothering him today.
As he approached the corner of his small apartment building an almost angry mumbling became audible from in front of him, looking up Jungwoo recognized the source of the noise as his landlady, Miss Eom. Maybe he could continue looking down, make himself invisible in order to finally make it back to the quiet of his home. Unfortunately for Jungwoo the short woman had already locked eyes with him, her anger fading away almost too quickly for it to be described as anything short of whiplash. “Ah! Young man, I haven’t seen you since you first moved in. Looked at you dressed up all nicely, a job interview I’d guess? Everyone needs money don’t they? I’m sure it went well.” Jongwoo nodded with a slight bow of his head, trying to be polite so she didn’t see the clear glances he was making towards the entrance of the building let alone the fact that his body language conveyed clear impatience.“It went well, I was just going to get some rest so, Thank you.” A couple more nods of fake gratitude for the others friendliness are given from the boy before he shifts to finally remove himself from the conversation, “Ah of course, of course, young people like you shouldn’t stress so much,” Miss Eom intercepts his attempt at escape to his dismay, “You know, you should get outside more, the others in the community have been saying how they want to know everything about you, ah I’m just taking up more of your time, go, go!” The woman waves him off with a grin and a piercing laugh. Not wanting to give her any more time to speak, Jongwoo does as she had said and hurriedly makes his way back to his apartment, not feeling the pair of eyes following him from down the hallway as he closes the door behind him.
Running a hand down his face, Jongwoo frowns as he recalls the woman's last words, who phrases people wanting to be friendly as them wanting to know everything about him? What a strange lady—with a fake smile and laugh, that’s the exact type of person who has no respect for others let alone themselves, Jongwoo decides that it would be best to avoid the landlady lest her bold personality drive him insane.