Inexplicable Dream Team one-shots

Closeted // KarlNotFound

| platonic |

[3269 words]

**content warning: mild horror elements**

***

Placing the first full cardboard box of his belongings on the hallway's concrete floor, Karl fumbles for his key ring. Luckily the metal ring only possesses two keys so far: his car key and the key to his new apartment.

Unlocking a brown-painted door, Karl inhales deeply until dust tickles his nostrils. He reminds himself that the new apartment is completely unfurnished, so he cannot expect much. Actually Karl is just thankful that he has an apartment at all.

Karl pushes open the apartment's door to reveal an empty room with a carpeted floor and white-painted walls. The entire living area offers only a small kitchen, a tiny restroom interrupting the otherwise square interior, and a single closet nestled into the far corner.

Without taking another moment to absorb the view, Karl lifts the cardboard box of his belongings into the apartment and places it in a random spot upon the floor. His move-in day will be hectic and it will create a mess, but luckily he does not need to impress anyone.

Karl has no roommates. He will live alone, and he wants to believe that it will be okay. I'll get used to it, he reminds himself sternly as he locks the apartment's door again and returns to his car.

Retrieving the next box, Karl repeats his process seventeen times. Twelve of the items he moves into the apartment are boxes full of kitchen supplies, toiletries, and other assorted items. The thirteenth item is his laptop in its case. The fourteenth item is a folding chair. The fifteenth item is a small wooden desk. The sixteenth item is an oven-style toaster. Finally, the seventeenth item is a mattress.

Sweat soaks Karl's neck and underarms by the time he finishes dragging his twin-size mattress up the stairs to the apartment. Once inside, he stands in the unit's doorway, wondering where he should sleep. Shuffling between a mess of boxes and cords, he drops the mattress near the apartment's corner, close to the closet. He decorates the mattress by draping bed sheets, a blanket, and a pillow over it. Beside him, the apartment's single closet remains locked; he will probably not need it until later.

By the time that Karl finishes transferring his belongings into the studio apartment and removing items from boxes, the sun has already drifted below the horizon. Stepping back into the doorway again, he observes the newly "furnished" apartment, which now contains small personal touches that remind him of home... and remind him of how homesick he feels.

"Alright, we're good," Karl reassures himself aloud, keeping his voice low although there is no one else here who he might disturb. "You know what? Let's just... go eat dinner. Yeah, that's what we'll do."

Turning off the lights and hiding his laptop beneath his pillow, Karl gathers a jacket, his smartphone, his wallet, and his key ring. Heaving a sigh, he exits the apartment as hunger burns in his stomach.

After eating dinner alone at a local restaurant, Karl returns to his apartment, where he answers a video call from his parents. They ask how the move-in process went, and Karl shrugs that everything went smoothly. They ask if he feels lonely; Karl lies, "Only a little bit."

"Is everything unpacked yet?" His mother's eyes sparkle with excitement.

"Yeah, see?" Turning his smartphone in his hand, Karl gestures behind himself to demonstrate the living area's size to his parents.

"Oh, wow, Karl, it looks big for a studio apartment!" His father is impressed.

"Are you sure you'll feel okay with all of that space to yourself?" Karl's mother asks sympathetically. When Karl does not respond immediately, she adds, "I can see that most of your lights are off behind you. It's unhealthy for a young person - including you, Karl - to be alone for too long. I know you said you couldn't find a roommate, but are you sure that you've looked hard enough? If you look, then you might find someone in the area who might be willing to -"