Room 203 // March 1st (1/2)

On an usually hazy sunny day in the middle of a small college town was a square white building reflecting way too much light that its inhabitants had taken to wearing sunglasses while fetching the mail...

Sooyoung stood feet planted in front of the door closes to the steps leading to the front entrance and ground floor. She swallowed hard and tentatively took a step forward, bracing her weight on her spread out palms... took a slow, not-quite-as-steady as she wished breath and pressed her ear against the door.

'Nothing...' she reflected, 'wait?! What's *that*?! Oh, that's the beating of my own heart... false alarm.'

Not that she thought she'd hear anything, it was in fact an empty room, the small complicated looking silver and black padlock could detest to that.

Sooyoung smoothed down the sides of her white shorts and caused the slightest of slight crinkle sound from the piece of paper with the padlock's code.

'You can do this!' she tried to pump herself up, 'and it's worth the asking price!' she tacked on in an effort to awaken her more logical side but to little avail.

She breathed out and took a step back towards the balcony railing, she was slightly too tall to rest her elbows directly on it in.

'... this complex was built for midgets, I swear.'

She slumped a little further but felt awkward and instead let gravity do its course and sunk right down, the back of her teeshirt sticking due to the friction so she received a slight chill down her spine from direct contact with the cool cement.

She wasn't much of a 'thinker' type and was more prone to action, even if it was at time dangerous. Like the time she had leaped of the same balcony in an effort to beat everyone to the watermelon slices.

She looked glumly at the door and sighed again.

'... What am I going to do? Karate chop my way in there? Does that even work on ghosts?'

She had to fix the room though, not just because she promised she would - but also because it'd allow for her to get a break on the month's rent.

Her living situation was a little different from the rest of the girls:

Taeyeon was from around town but with a rowdy younger brother and her family's business directly below her home, she found it hard to concentrate on her school work - so she was allowed to move into the Shidae apartments.

This worked out great for everyone, her parents moving extra stock into her bedroom and Taeyeon, having lived in the city for her entire life, knew all the places and attractions to visit.

Also as a former middle school student of Haesbich, Taeyeon also knew all the rumors and legends about the school and apartment block.

And there were a few.

Jessica came from the states and in a way, her parents had followed after her, all of them finding their own niche in a foreign-land - much to theirs and everyone else's surprise.

Jessica was determined and when she wanted to live away from home, her parts conceded defeat at their strong-willed daughter and allowed her room 102 of Shidae.

Sunny's situation might have been the exact reverse of Sica's - her parents and siblings moving *to* the US in an effort to be close to their elders. Sooyoung wasn't 100% sure and she wasn't one to ask, she got the feeling Sunny would've taken to living anywhere except moving to the states.

'Seeing your elderly grandparents slowly waste away might have something to do with that,' Sooyoung thought sadly, her fingers making small circles on the cool unpainted cement.

And her situation?

'Uh...'

It hadn't gone well but it was her decision and her parents would come around eventually - and maybe even respect her for it, until then she had other family members supporting her, albeit in secret.

'There's no point dwelling on this though,' she thought glummy, 'not when you have the problem right in front of you, ever present.'

The door seemed to loom even gloomier then and Sooyoung looked skyward for a second to see if the day had grown overcast while she was stuck in her thoughts.

"Sooyoung?" A voice called out and Sooyoung swiveled her head to see her Sunny poking her head out from unit.

From what Sooyoung could see, shoulders up, Sunny didn't look to be particularly dressed up: A tattered white shirt with an anchor in the middle and a row of strips down the hemmed sleeve.

"Are you locked out?" the second year inquired, "you can wait in my room until Jessica gets back - if you're waiting for your spare key."

The offer was kind and Sooyoung couldn't help but smile, "no, I'm not locked out. I'm meant to be cleaning out room 203 but..."

Sunny let out a squawk of laughter, "Taeyeon's story got to you?"

"Sica's actually," she replied sheepishly, "though Taeyeon's was just as scary. I can't even leave my windows open at night, I think I hear sharpen claws on the glass..."

"That could just be a cat though..."

She couldn't help th knee-jerk reaction and smacked her hand into her forehead, "now that you mention it... it probably is a cat. I've been leaving cat food by the gardening shed for that stray that likes to use the crossing."

"There's a cat that uses the crossing?" Sunny asked confusedly, "it obeys the rules of the road and everything?"

Sooyoung thought for a moment, "I think so... I mean, it waits patiently at the sidewalk."

Sunny shook her head at that and then stepped out of her unit fully, she gently shut her door and walked to where Sooyoung was sat, and then she held her hands out.

"Come on," she said, "the apartment has to get cleared out at some point, otherwise the new girl will have to do it all on her own. That would be a terrible first impression for all of us."

Sooyoung hefted herself up with the help of Sunny, her calves bumping into the smaller girl's knees - she sometimes forgot just how strong the girl was.

Looking down on her now, it seemed a wonder they were the same species at times. Sunny was all petite and small, her body didn't at all weak - but at the same time Sooyoung would never label the girl "sturdy" either, that seemed very out of place.

She was a mix of contradictions except somehow, with all the good qualities and none of the bad ones.

'How exactly does that happen?' Sooyoung wondered.

Sunny was inspecting the padlock, her nimble fingers flipping through the numbers distractedly, "I don't know the code, the padlock was a pinkish-red last time - actually, I don't think I remember that code either."

"Oh!" Sooyoung remembered, "I have the code," and she fished out the crumpled paper and handed it to Sunny.

"Is this a coffee stain?" Sunny asked, holding it closer to her face and then sniffing it. She wrinkled her nose and peered over her shoulder at Sooyoung, "is this toothpaste?"

"Close," Sooyoung grinned, "it's the peppermint chocolate candies the landlady gave us for Christmas."

Sunny laughed, "that's no where near toothpaste, Sooyoung."

"It's still minty fresh," Sooyoung teased and she licked her lips and attempted a 'wolfish' look... and it worked.

Sunny flushed red and then coughed, "uh, I better get to this," she said and she waved the small piece of paper.