FEAR | MARKJIN

IV

jinyoung awoke to the metal banging on his apartment door. he ruffled his hair and squinted. he had somehow fallen asleep on the couch the night before. the floor was covered in bottles and snack bags like someone had completely wasted the house. jinyoung had no memory of the night before. he faintly remembered his friends pushing him around and having him take shots, but it was so vague that he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't.

the banging on the door was getting so loud by then jinyoung was getting a headache. "i'm coming, i'm coming, jesus christ." he stumbled off the couch and made his way to the door, kicking empty cans out of his way. he lazily opened the door and saw his landlord, bam bam, standing there. he did not look pleased.

"just what do you think this is?" he had his hands on his hips and was pointing at overflowing bags of trash throw around his door. "the apartment floor is not a place to throw your trash around. the janitor quit so everyone has to throw out their own trash now. deal with this. now." jinyoung pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "you're telling me, you woke me up, for this shit?" jinyoung was about ready to lose it and throw bam bam down the stairs, but he didn't want a lawsuit. but he was pretty close to that already.

"you know what, fine. i'll do what i shouldn't have to do for a person who already charges too much for too little. that's fine! totally fine!" bam bam smiled, satisfied, and left to go to his office. jinyoung looked at the amount of trash there was. there were at least three overflowing bags, and scattered miscellaneous items all over the floor. he silently cursed his friends for even deciding to come over in the first place, let alone deciding that they could eat all his food and trash his apartment with a ravenous need for alcohol. he had really shitty friends.

he sighed and looked at the mess scattered outside the door. he really didn't feel like cleaning up all of that, so he grabbed two trash bags and all of the trash layings on the floor and stuffed it into a supply closet. no one ever went in there and it wasn't like anyone cared besides bam bam, but he didn't want to "deal with pedestrian jobs." and well, jinyoung was pretty lazy when it came to these things.

jinyoung had one bag left. he figured the least he could do would be to throw out one bag, do bam bam a favor, so maybe he'd roll over and stop being a piece of shit. just jinyoung thoughts, you know...

jinyoung picked up the final bag and sling it over his shoulder, and started heading outside. it was only about 10 degrees outside, but jinyoung didn't get cold easily, so his thick hoodie and sweatpants were good enough for him. pushing the heavy door open and making his way outside, he wasn't sure as to where to leave his trash. it was honestly just too cold to make up a whole plan, so jinyoung just figured whatever was closest would be fine. looking around at the busy street, he saw next to the apartment there was a dark alley.

he headed towards the alley, but as he headed closer, he had a bit of fear approaching him. something wasn't right... jinyoung took a deep breath and headed in, but as he stepped into the darkness he saw a body. he let out a silent scream, before thinking, jinyoung you idiot. it's just another homeless person, why the fuck are you scared of a garbage alley?

even though he had tried to reassure himself that it was nothing, he couldn't resist kneeling down to look at the person on the ground. the person was wearing a simple grey hoodie with black sweatpants, nothing fancy. but as jinyoung pulled the hood off of the boy, he didn't look like a homeless person at all. he looked a few years younger than jinyoung, maybe 20? he was unhealthily pale, with a very soft complexion. but he seemed sick like he hadn't eaten in days. jinyoung felt worried. what if he was sick? he didn't look good.

jinyoung but his hand under the boy's nose, trying to test his breathing. it was very weak and soft, and even though jinyoung was no expert on health, he knew something was very, very wrong here. he threw the trash bag across the alley, and even though he hesitated, he picked the frail boy up and prepared to carry him into his apartment. though he knew nothing about the boy, he wasn't going to let someone die right in front of his eyes.