⠀⠇ corridors

At this rate Gahyeon was just getting annoyed, she had just finished her early morning job, which took her longer than usual, and now she seemed apparently lost in the maze that is the corridors. "I swear if I do not find my room soon, I am just going to end up falling asleep on the ground angrily." with a sigh, she took a mouthful of her triple shot coffee and looked at her luggage behind her, carrying five rather large and heavy cases behind her was no easy feat either. "This map is not helpful either , it just shows the exits, where even am I?"

@jeon jiwoo The soft laugh that the other let out had almost killed him, why would she laugh? Chanhyuk tried not to look bewildered on his face but wasn’t able to hide his expressions that well, closer to her work? Chanhyuk shook his head, trying not to think too much into it, so much has changed since the two have seen each other last.

“I’m here for kind of the same reason, and it’s cheaper for the commute.” His voice was quiet, and almost defeated. He had wanted a fresh start but how could he ask for that when the one person that was his support system had left him after so long? Chanhyuk knew that it was his fault the couple wasn’t together any longer, and even at this moment he still couldn’t say that he would go back and change anything.

He was too focused on his work, that was true, but he wanted her to hold on just a bit longer? Although he wasn’t sure what good that would have done, he was still just as busy as he was before and if not busier than he normally had been. After a long silence Chanhyuk let out a brief sigh, “I guess I just didn’t think I would run into you here.” He finally admitted swallowing a lump in his throat as he looked back at the other. “It’s not quite… the way I expected this..” he gestured to the general area unsure of what words he wanted to get out “to go..”

@lee jieun /nods a bit at the others question/
Yeah, kind of? I own a bar just a few blocks down from here actually!
So I’m either sleeping or out during the evening!
Hey there’s nothing wrong with a little research and of course! It’s not good staying stuck in one mindset your entire life, I should definitely check some out.
/chuckles a bit and shakes my head/
No not at all actually! I was just heading home to do nothing so I can definitely help you out if you need it.
Let me, drop my stuff off and I come back out to help?

@bobby kim /looking up towards you and lifting a small smile when I heard your compliment, I nodded at your offer.
I will do that, thank you, Bobby.
Sounds like you are out quite often? What do you do for a living, if I may ask?
/giving another nod at your response, I have a light chuckle.
Non-fiction is mainly for research purposes while self help… well, the older you get, the more you’d want to improve yourself, is what I believe. Suspense is always fun to read, especially during stormy nights, it really sets the tone.
/I give a brief comment.
Am I holding you up? I mean, if you are free, I’d definitely like some help with these.
/I turned my attention to the piles of books before glancing back up at you.

@lee chanhyuk Jisoo cringed slightly when she felt his gaze, knowing he saw the tattoo. A heart that turns into a life line (heartbeat line). She'd gotten it the day before they broke up as a surprise for him. She never did get the chance to show him how proud she was of him. She ended up blowing up before she could... And she did regret it... Every day... The only men she talks to now are her regulars at the bar.

Jiwoo didn't question the stop because she did really want to talk to him. She was just terrified of the possible topics of conversation. She was more terrified that she'd admit something she wanted to bury.

Why is she here? That... That's how he's gonna start? She let out a soft laugh. "I could ask the same thing... But... I'm here because it's closer to where I work." She answered after a moment.

@jeon jiwoo One step at a time and you’ll get through this. At least that’s why he would tell his patients at the hospital, and himself on the days that he needed it. Now was one of those times. He observed Jiwoo, took in her sight, even the small tattoo on her ankle that she tried to hide.

Hearing the other slip up, brought a lot of memories rushing forward to the front of his mind. Chanhyuk nodded lightly at the others comment. When the elevator come to a stop, and the other didn’t even protest the actions he was unsure of what to do.

He stood there, staring for a moment, and then his eyes darting around the elevator while he contemplated just making the elevator go again and getting off as quickly as possible but his body wouldn’t let him. “I-I..” he shook his head and took a breath for a moment. “What are you doing here?”

@lee chanhyuk Her mind, and heart, were racing. Thoughts running wild. Questioning why she didn't run for the stairs before he could see her. Being so close to him in a small space after so long felt so weird. She may have been the one to end things but she didn't move on fast... Not at all. She thinks about him all the time. For weeks after she ended things she would stare at photos of them on her phone and cry. Eventually taking on the job of a bartender to take her mind off of what had happened. "Y-Yeah... I guess so..." She mumbled. Her hand gripping the handle of her cart so hard her knuckles turned white. Truthfully... He had done so much for her. He used to remind her to take her anxiety meds... After they broke up no one was there to do that for her and she often forgot them and would suffer for it during the day.

He sounds hesitant in his answer, she noted that. Betting life was a bit harder than he was letting on right now. "That's... Good to hear, Channi-hyuk..." Catching the way she almost let the nickname slip out.

What caught her off guard was when the elevator suddenly came to a stop, noticing his finger lingering on the emergency stop button. This made her heart pound in her chest. "O-Of course... What's... What's on your mind?"

@jeon jiwoo So many thoughts ran through the doctors mind as he waited for the other to step onto the elevator, one of which was questioning his decision to stay on. If he wanted to get back to his apartment that badly, he could have got off and up the stairs, but something... his heart? wanted him to stay. Even if it was for a small moment, he wanted to be in her presence once again. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself. "That's good." He forced some words out, but wasn't sure how to answer the question in response. The male had kept himself busy almost 24/7 to keep himself distracted. Was it weird that something like this had affected him for so long? He wasn't sure, a big chunk of his life came falling to pieces when they broke up, and for the longest time Chanhyuk struggled to put himself back together.

"I'm..." He hesitated, still unsure of what to say. "alright." Finally. The fifth floor? She was just two floors below his, he noted as he pressed the button to go up. Humming lightly, a nervous tick of his, as the elevator shut it's doors and began to slowly make it's way up the floor.

Without much thought, Chanhyuk pressed the emergency stop button on the elevator, his eyes widening a bit at himself, wondering why he would do such a thing. "Can we.. Can we talk?" He asked, wanting to express his words a bit more than what the short elevator ride would allow them.

@lee chanhyuk Hesitantly, Jiwoo moved onto the elevator. Each step she got closer to him made her stomach turn. She had no idea what to say or what to do. As much as she missed him, she'd never admit that to him. Not on purpose, at least. But she was known to let information slip in regular conversation. "Uh-I'm good... I'm good..." She answered. "How..." She paused. "How are you doing?" She kept her little rolling cart close, making sure to keep her ankle out of his view. "Yes... Please... Up... Um... Fifth floor, please..." God... How was she supposed to get used to running into him now? She, mainly her stupid heart, could've gone forever without knowing he was in the same building as she was.

@jeon jiwoo Unsure of what to do, to get off the elevator or stay on, and go through the experience of pain and turmoil again. His feet still stuck to the ground, and hearing the other say his name only made things worse. If he hadn't been so focused on his career and gave more time into the relationship... he wondered if they would still be together. "How are you?" He whispered, he didn't really wanna know, but nothing else wanted to come out of his mouth, and he for sure didn't want to go outside now, he knew he just looked like a ghost. Perhaps, he can go back to his apartment and hide for a bit after this. His arms, though weak and shaky, motioned for the other to get on the elevator. 'Might as well get used to running into her' he thought to himself. After a long silent pause he finally choked out some words. "Going up, I assume?"

@lee jieun Jieun, that's a pretty name.
Yep! So anytime you need to get rid of these books or anything, you know.. just come knocking at my door!
/chuckles a bit/
though i do have a roommate, so don't be surprised if i'm not the one who answers.
Oh? non fiction and self help? never read any of those per say, but who knows they might actually come in handy?
/looks at the books you gave me, nodding a bit taking note of the titles, some of them i have either started or heard of before
I more often read suspense books like Dean Koontz, but I read just about anything that catches my attention really.

@lee chanhyuk Jiwoo had no idea what to do or what exactly the feeling she felt was. It was a weird mix of different emotions she just couldn't pinpoint. In that moment she wished she could reverse time and completely avoid the elevator all together. But it was too late. He'd seen her. "Chanhyuk..." She whispered. She folded her arms over her chest protectively, as if hugging herself. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. And by the look of it, neither did he. As he hadn't moved since he noticed her. She did miss him, but she won't admit that out loud. Not to him, at least. She didn't think she'd ever run into him... Not after so long...

@jeon jiwoo Having the day off of work, Chanhyuk had decided to take this day to catch up on the tasks that he needed so heading down from his apartment, taking the elevator down as he checked the emails on his phone, responding to them as necessary. Even on his days off the male had plenty to attend to regarding his work, so he tried to respond to everything in a timely manner. It was a good distraction for him, to keep busy. Hearing the elevator ding, chanhyuk took a few steps forward putting his phone in his pocket, only to look up to see someone standing there. Someone he never expected to see as he did everything in his power to avoid her. "Jiwoo." he muttered out sounding a bit more shocked than he intended. Glancing at her and down to her little rolling cart, chanhyuk tried to do something, but it felt as if his feet were nailed to the ground in that moment.

@choi hansol "well, it would be rude of me not to come in after such a formal invitation, wouldn't it?” jeno said, a calculated ease laced his words but touched with intrigue.

the irony of the situation did not escape him: here he was, on the doorstep of a man he had been meticulously observing – testing the waters he'd been studying from a distance – invited inside under the veil of casual neighbourly interaction.

"but i only came for the wifi," jeno added with a shrug, "not for a dance with metaphorical monsters, unfortunately. although –" he paused, a smile unfurled on his lips as they stretched from one ear to another. one that was as unsettling as it was beguiling.

"it does make me wonder what exactly is lurking in here that's got you so poetic." those words were laced with layers of implications that both men were most probably aware of, yet chose to leave unspoken.

his grin stayed, widening just a fraction as its edges curled with a sense of unpredictability, tinged with a kind of reckless curiosity. serving as both a provocation and a challenge perhaps.

jeno's dark eyes glistened with an insatiable inquisitiveness as he took in hansol's demeanour – the intended casualness, the icy detachment, and that intangible something that suggested a world of secrets tucked neatly away.

a puzzle that refused to be solved, a code that rejected every attempted crack. for jeno, who prided himself on his ability to read people, to predict their moves and motives, hansol was a riddle that he found captivating.

and so, with a sense of undeterred audacity, jeno took a deliberate step closer, stopping just a foot or two away from the eerie man, not yet to cross the threshold into the room.

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@lee jeno To Hansol, the apartment complex is an empirical argument of gloom, rising like a totem where most of his ersions had been — /are/ executed. If you ask him, he wouldn’t let the past define his present self with its concurring echoes of previous lapses.

Now, he prefers to do them somewhere else, somewhere more hidden and private where mosquitoes can feed on unassuming, rotten flesh. The apartment isn’t exactly that: with one room connected to another, flimsy walls drumming to the beat of life. The corridors make up something greater, of something living, akin to an artery of a beating heart, pumping its blood to and fro. To and fro.

People as insignificant as Hansol pass through its walls every day without fail. Some days, the walls of these arteries stiffen, then on some days, dilate. And somehow, along the way, on some days, Hansol brushes shoulders with a faceless name, Jeno, as they call him.

And . . . standing in front of his room, an expectant stare punctuated with the rumble of his voice, Jeno. The click of his lock rings into place, resounding in the silence. Hansol stares back, a puzzled look and traces of a smile on his face, feigning surprise.

“Wifi? What for?”

It isn’t so hard to act normal, not so hard when nobody’s looking when he’s dragging the bodies under. Ventral, dorsal, and proximal; it doesn’t matter. As long as he gets to hide them. Nobody will start poking around soon, and nobody’s going to start now. He’s done it several times before. Hansol will have known about it soon enough.

The overcast of the fluorescence unfurls ghastly shadows, luminous on his features. A feigned smile still hanging, his eyes dart towards the door and back to his unexpected visitor. Hansol gestures, “Come inside, won’t you? Don’t want the monsters getting to you this time of night.”

And with that, the click of a latch, inviting. The vague outline of his door on the wall opens. And head cocked to the side, eyes still trained onto the other man’s face.

“Well?”

@choi hansol in the dim-lit corridor of their apartment building, jeno found himself strategically positioned against the wall, ostensibly engrossed in the digital universe of his smartphone. but such appearances were deceptive. years of keen observation and a predilection for discerning the unspoken had honed his ability to notice subtleties that most people overlooked. this talent for observation had him zeroed in on the door embossed with the number '4b’.

it all started when jeno stumbled upon an unprotected folder on the apartment building's shared network, curiosity naturally got the better of him. what he found were medical files – specific, complex, and unnervingly detailed – labelled in a coded language that he didn't immediately understand. but a little more digging, and it became apparent whom the files belonged to: hansol, the medical student from apartment 4b.

hansol seemed, at first glance, to be absorbed by the world of academia, a realm of rigidity and cold, hard facts. yet, it was the fractures in hansol's otherwise perfect façade that captured jeno's attention. his eyes, trained by long stretches of staring at people just to understand them, detected moments where hansol’s emotional armour seemed to momentarily fail him, revealing a cauldron of suppressed thoughts and emotions.

jeno had noticed that hansol kept to himself, disappearing into his apartment for long stretches of time. he'd also noted that hansol would sometimes leave late at night, only to return in the early morning.

fascinating.

jeno and hansol had a history of limited interaction, albeit in a peculiar way. neighbouring tenants of the same apartment complex who had never really crossed paths in any significant manner. their exchanges were sparse, verging on perfunctory: polite smiles while waiting for the elevator, nods of acknowledgment if they crossed paths in the hallway, and an occasional "hey, how's it going?" in the laundry room. these brief encounters were always devoid of depth, like the fleeting touch of a shadow.

but the plan to get closer was simple. a knock on the door, a friendly request to share wifi due to a 'temporary' malfunction with his own connection – ‘just for a few days, while i sort mine out.’

it was a basic, unassuming excuse to cross the threshold into hansol's world, even if just a little. they were neighbours after all.

just when jeno was about to question the wisdom of his waiting game, he heard the unmistakable sound of a lock disengaging. door 4b creaked open, and out stepped hansol, locking it behind him.

"oh hey, hansol," jeno called, masking his deep-seated intrigue behind a façade of casualness as he detached himself from the wall and took a step forward.

was he toying with danger? undoubtedly.

"is your wifi working by any chance?"

did it matter to him? not in the least.

@lee chanhyuk Jiwoo hummed softly as she waited for the elevator. Leaning against the wall. She'd just gotten home from the grocery store and had her little rolling cart next to her. Makes her life so much easier when it comes to hauling groceries. It's small but fits everything she needs, it's not an actual shopping cart or anything like that. The bartender inhaled softly, peeking down at the tattoo on her ankle, she'd never gotten rid of it, or told anyone the meaning behind it. But no one ever asked either. The elevator opened and an all too familiar face was inside of it. Making Jiwoo freeze. Almost forgetting to breathe, thinking he wouldn't see her when she was very obviously standing right there.

@bobby kim /dipping my head at the your introduction, I lifted up a smile.
Nice to meet you, Bobby. I’m Jieun. Ah, I see, we are neighbours.
/I let out a soft chuckle. Nodding when I hear you saying you read a bit, I responded to your question.
I usually read fiction. I have some genres here that is fantasy, mystery and thriller. There’s also some non-fiction and self-help books here.
/Picking out the pile that I think you might be interested in, I tilted my head to glance up at you to see if you will be interested to take some back to your apartment.

@lee jieun /gives a small bow back out of courtesy, examing the books a moment longer before looking at the person standing behind them/
Oh! An avid reader we have here then? Oh really? What kind of books do you read?
/i ask for a moment before clearing my throat giving you a wide smile/
I'm Bobby by the way! I live over there. /points at apartment D, before heading back/
I read a bit myself so i can take some off your hands or if you ever need help hauling those stacks then I wouldn't mind at all!

@bobby kim Oh! hello.
/putting my phone down and turning my head towards the direction of the voice, I glanced up at the other before dipping my head into a small bow in acknowledgement, watching as the other approached me. Looking back down at the pile of books, I gave a small chuckle, nodding.
It’s a seasonal spring cleaning with books. My shelf space is limited. I’m planning to donate them, would you be interested in bringing some of these books back?
/I asked with a smile, half expecting a ‘no’ for a reply so I didn’t elaborate on what types of books were in the piles.

@lee jieun /once done with what business i needed done during the day, i go up the elevator to the sixth floor to reach my apartment. phone in hand, messaging the workers at the bar letting them know that they should be there a bit early to help bring in the shipment of orders to restock the bar up a bit. once off the elevator, i look up to go to my apartment but see bundles of books by the apartment adjacent from his, stops and observes the person for a minute before approaching/ hey there! /i greet giving a small wave/ cleaning out the apartment of books or something? /jokes a bit observing the stack of books curious to what's in the pile/

@bobby kim /it was spring cleaning day, or rather clean the bookshelves day as there is no space for my newest book purchases. After spending hours debating which books to keep and being distracted by the plot of the stories, I managed to pack up six bundles of books for me to carry comfortably to a nearby bookstore or library as donation. Each bundle were categorised into children’s books, non-fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery/thriller and self-help books. Heaving the bundles out two by two, I aligned them at the entrance of my apartment door to take out my phone and check for the distance of the nearest place to donate my books. Scrolling the map on my phone, I stood by the entrance, silently debating the time and effort needed to transport the bundles.