𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐅𝐄 | 𝗌𝗑𝖿

[01] The Cafe

[8:45 AM — APARTMENT COMPLEX]

"As expected, you're early for this month's rent," The landlord said, going through the envelope that contained the woman's pay for that month's rent. He didn't even know why he was doing such a thing when he knew well that the woman's cash would be exact. As it always had been.

Said woman idly stood in front of him, almost unmoving as her eyes followed her landlord's movement, checking the envelope she just handed over. She was quiet through the whole ordeal as she found it to be taxing to talk to people in the morning.

As the woman blinked at her landlord, the man sensed that she wasn't there for idle chit chat, and so, all he could do was place the envelope inside one of the drawers of his desk. "If you have no inquiries, you may go now, Miss y/n." He said, nodding to the door.

y/n gave him a curt nod of appreciation. "Thank you for your time. I'll be back again at the end of the month." She finished just before she turned her back to the landlord before opening the door so she could go out.

The sound of the door lightly clicking was all that y/n and the landlord could hear after their short conversation and while the man could only think of y/n's rather uptight personality, the woman could only heave a sigh once she was outside.

Her tense muscles relaxed as she finally didn't feel like she was being suffocated. It always had been that way ever since her earlier years. She always felt like she was gasping for air whenever she was talking to someone she wasn't well-acquainted with, though that was ironic considering what she did for a living and for fun.

Maybe she wasn't gasping for air whenever she talked to people because they were unfamiliar, maybe she was only that way because they were such a boring bunch.

Getting over the earlier conversation, she finally decided to go back to her apartment. Her eyes were set on where she was going all while her right hand was fishing for her keys inside the pockets of her pants. While doing so, it was only then that her eyes glossed over a blonde man that seemed to be in his late twenties — though she wasn't exactly sure.

The blonde man looked like he knew where he was going as he also had his eyes straight to wherever he was going and yet, he decided to stop y/n in her tracks. 

"Excuse me?" He said, trying to earn y/n's attention. Of course, he did so. "Do you know where the landlord's office is? I'm trying to inquire about the apartments in this complex." He explained.

There was something odd about him but y/n couldn't put a finger down on what it was.

She decided to shake the weary feeling off. "His office is just down the hall. It seemed like you already knew where you were going though," She confronted the blonde.

The man's eyes narrowed for a split second and before y/n could notice it, he returned it to its cheery state. "You caught me haha," He laughed, raising both his hands in comedic defense. "I was actually trying to see if I could fish out some answers of how it's like to live here. You look like you've lived here for quite the while." He continued.