Roommates || han jisung ✓

1

If there's anything that I learned from today, it's to never try and prove a statement that you know you can't prove.  An example: "I can live by myself".

To put it into context, I need to backtrack to about three hours ago.  Location: My parent's home.

"Ara, you need to wake up!" My mom yelled, hitting my shoulder with a pillow.  Her voice pierced through the calmness of my room, stirring me up from my doze.  "It's past noon and your lazy ass is still in bed!"

"Okay, okay I'm awake," I muttered into my pillow.

I was fresh out of college and had big aspirations to become a fashion journalist, right here in Seoul.  Since the school was extremely close to my parent's house, I never found the need to move out into an apartment or anything.  I was deeply regretting that decision.  One could say I never lived out my college life to the fullest and I'd be the first to agree.

I trudged downstairs, my eyes only half open.  My ultimate goal in life was to become a fashion journalist for Vogue Korea.  In the meantime, I've been landing small one time job opportunities in other, not so well known companies.  It was enough to give me a substantial amount of money.  That paired with my blog that I regularly update, I'd say I was in a good place in life.  For now.

"Oh look who finally decided to show up," my mom said, clearly filled with sarcasm.  "Ara, when you're out in the real world, you can't be waking up at 1 in the afternoon."

"I'm sure I can Mom," I protested, grabbing myself a cup of coffee.  "At least then I'll be alone."

"This isn't going to work anymore," my mom said, shaking her head disapprovingly.  "You rely on us too much."

"No I don't!"

"Ara, face it.  Once you go out there into the world, you're going to be eaten alive.  You won't survive."

"Yes I can!" I was practically shouting by this point, my blood boiling.  "Are you saying I'm not capable of living without you?!"

The silence was all I needed to get the answer I was looking for.

"You know what? I'll show you.  I'll prove to you that I can live by myself and I don't need your help."  I didn't even know what I was doing anymore.  The words were coming out of my mouth faster than my brain was processing them.  Before I knew it, I was up on my feet, going back into my room to pack up my belongings.

She doesn't think I can live alone?  I'm 20 years old, I sure as hell can support myself.

I emerged from my room with a large duffel bag hanging from my shoulder.  My mom stood by the counter, unfazed.

"Ara, it's not going to work."

"Yes it will Mom!" I shouted.  "I'll prove to you that I'm a grown woman and I don't need to live in my parent's house anymore!"

"Alright fine, go," my mom sighed.  "You'll come back by tonight where I'll be waiting to tell you I told you so."

"Well then I'm going to make sure that won't happen," I huffed, making my way out the door.

***

Now, three hours later, I was sitting outside a small café, contemplating my life decisions.  I needed a place to stay, and I needed one fast.  Going back home would just be a major hit to my ego and I'm not willing to take the chance.  To put it shortly, I'm desperate.  Desperate for a place to stay and desperate to avoid home at all costs.

Logically, the option that made the most sense would be to try and find an apartment I could rent out asap and stay there until I figure out what the heck I was doing.  I opened my phone and searched for studio apartments near me.  A list of options popped up and I sorted it from lowest price to highest.

"500,000 won?!" I exclaimed as I read the first apartment option.  Defeated, I decided to keep scrolling through different websites and offerings before giving up.  In order to take a break, I got up from my seat outside the coffee shop and decided to take a walk in the nearby park.

It wasn't long before someone from behind bumped into me.

"Ow!" I yelped.  "Watch where you're going!"  I turned around to see who crashed into me with so much force.

It was a man who seemed to be around my age.  He had sleek black hair that matched his large, dark eyes.  The man took out the earphones he had on before speaking up.  "I'm so sorry about that.  I wasn't looking straight ahead and I was going out for a run so I crashed into you."

I was stunned to say the least.  For starters, the guy was extremely attractive and seemed to be a kind hearted person.  Sweat was dripping down his forehead and you could see his muscular arms from the tank he was wearing.  "O-Oh it's okay," I stuttered.  How embarrassing.

"Are you okay though?  That was a pretty brutal impact," his eyes looked down on me with genuine worry.

"Oh, yeah I'm great.  I mean, I'm fine.  Yeah, I'm okay.  Not hurt," I rapidly answered before inwardly cringing at myself.  I needed to end this now.  "Well I need to get going, have a nice run!"

He chuckled to himself, knowing that I was a bit flustered.  "Thank you!" he waved as he began jogging again.

I quickly turned around to avoid staring at him and made my way back to the coffee shop.  It was time to start hunting for apartments again.  This time, I went inside the shop and sat on a barstool to charge my phone while I was using it.

However, as I entered, I noticed a small bulletin board off to the side.  On there were a bunch of pinned papers with lots of different ads.  They were all bright and different colors but one neon pink paper caught my attention.  Specifically, two words in all caps.

ROOMATE NEEDED

This was my chance! I excitedly got up from my chair to take a closer look at the paper.  I tore it down and brought it back to the barstool so I could properly read it.  The flyer was basically advertising a 2 bedroom apartment that was actually not far from here.  I looked at the price to see if I could actually pay to live there.

350,000 won per month.  "Yes!" I exclaimed.  "That's actually very doable!"

There was a number listed at the bottom along with a name.  Han Jisung.  So far, the flyer didn't seem sketchy whatsoever.

I quickly called the number listed on the paper to see if all of this was real.  My heart was racing, I was finally going to live away from my parents and become an independent woman for once!

"Hello?" a man picked up the phone.  His voice was low and raspy.  Just the greeting alone sent chills throughout my body.

"Hi, I'm calling after I saw your flyer for a new roommate."

"Ah yes, I still need one."

"I can be your roommate."

"Just like that?  What if I turn out to be a murderer or something?"

"Guess I'll have to just hope you're not one then."

I could hear him chuckle over the phone.  "You don't sound like a guy."

"That's because I'm not."

"Wow, you're willing to be a roommate with a guy stranger?"

"Yes, I really need this," I pleaded.  This was my one opportunity to prove my mom wrong.

"If you say so.  Can you meet me today at the address on the flyer?"

"I most certainly can," I beamed.  "Right now?"

"I'll need some time to get ready, just got back from a run.  30 minutes sounds good?"

"Yep," I replied.  "See you then!"

I ended the call, extremely happy with my luck.  Frankly, I didn't care if I had to live with a guy for now.  As long as he didn't turn out to be perverted, I was fine.  Besides, this arrangement was temporary.  As soon as I landed a stable job and had enough money, I was going to find another apartment for just me.

The next half hour was the longest 30 minutes of my life.  I couldn't sit still the entire time.  Finally when 30 minutes was up, I quickly made my way to the address on my flyer.  I was able to locate the room and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.