Suspicious Apartment
Episode 5
I spoke confidently, even flashing a smile. My aunt shrugged, seemingly surprised. Did she know I'd be whining?
My aunt sat in front of the computer late into the night, staring at it as if she was about to dive in at any moment, typing away at the keyboard.
I fell asleep to the sound of typing on the keyboard as a lullaby.
I heard a rustling sound in my sleep, but perhaps because I'd fallen asleep too late, I couldn't open my eyes. The noise soon died down, and then a thud! Silence returned. I fell back into a deep sleep.
When I opened my eyes, my aunt was nowhere to be seen.
07:20 AM
7:20! I jumped up. There was money on the dresser.
After removing the eye booger, I rubbed the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand to remove any saliva stains. It was the first day my mom wouldn't interfere, so I started by not washing my face.
I took the money and headed out. I wanted to show my aunt I was doing well. I wanted to get her to let me stay with her, not just during the vacation, but all the time. To do that, I figured I'd need to have some freshly baked bread for breakfast.
The elevator was coming down from the 24th floor. Having passed the 23rd floor, it stopped on the 22nd.
My heart started pounding. The elevator stopped at the 19th, 17th, and 13th floors, then came straight down.
Ding.
The elevator door opened. I cautiously stepped inside. Everyone in the elevator was standing facing the wall.
An old man with white hair, a young man wearing a hat pulled down low, a man who looked to be in his forties, a young woman with long hair and wearing a short skirt, and a fat middle-aged woman.
The five of them stood like a painting facing the mirrorless elevator wall. Not a single movement.
I carefully observed the backs of the five people. Who could be living on the 22nd floor?
The elevator stopped on the sixth floor. A man with mousse-like hair stood on end like a porcupine's. The moment he stepped on, the elevator filled with the strong scent of perfume.
The man also stood facing the wall. Is there some kind of rule in this apartment that says you have to face the wall when riding the elevator?
It was a very different scene from the elevator in the apartment I used to live in.
When I got on the elevator with the people in the apartment I lived in, they greeted me first. If they were close friends, they'd say hello out loud, and if they'd only seen each other's faces, they'd at least nod.
Well, that's not so bad. I looked at the backs of people's heads and thought of the woman who lived downstairs in the apartment I used to live in.
The lady downstairs never closed her mouth. Even in the elevator, she kept talking.
아래층 아줌마
Dahyun, did you fight with your mom and dad again yesterday? What were you throwing around? I thought the ceiling was going to collapse, haha.
The lady downstairs always knew when my parents had a fight, and when she saw me in the elevator, she would ask me this.
Regardless of whether there are other people or not. It hurts my pride.
아래층 아줌마
Dahyun, aren't you and your dad fighting these days? They're strangely quiet, aren't they? Hahaha.
When Mom and Dad are quiet for a few days, the lady downstairs asks this.
김다현
What does that have to do with you, ma'am? It's not a good habit to meddle too much in other people's business.
One day, I couldn't stand it any longer, so I opened my eyes and confronted the lady downstairs. Her face turned red and she didn't know what to do.
After that, I often walked up the stairs because I didn't want to meet the lady downstairs.
On the 17th floor. It's obvious that the woman's personality made her go around telling the neighbors that Yeojin, who lived on the 17th floor, was a spoiled brat who talked back to adults.
Yeah, it's much better to stand there staring at the wall than to meddle in other people's business like that.