I had to learn so much Korean because of you. I will never forgive you, and I will become a better doctor than you. Wait... will he even get into SNU? Dad says it’s ridiculously hard, and he’s one of the top surgeons in the US, so he would know. How do I find him if he doesn’t get into SNU? I can announce it on national television, right?
Mom says he lives rent-free in my head. Whatever. This is the last page of this stupid anger-management diary. Starting tomorrow, I’m free! No more diary! What was his name again? Kim Suho. Hmph.
— Elizabeth Martin’s anger management diary, Page No. 812.
.....
A few minutes later, Jihwan’s silver Hyundai Avante slowed down in front of a tall modern apartment building. It wasn’t some crazy luxury tower, but it was clearly much nicer than the cheap places Suho had seen earlier.
The building had a clean stone entrance, glass doors with keypad access, CCTV cameras near the gate, a small underground parking entrance, and neatly trimmed plants along the front. From the outside alone, Suho could already tell that the apartments inside were probably much bigger.
"Come. This is where I have the four-bedroom apartment. The master bedroom is up for rent. It’s ₩700,000 ($490) a month with a ₩3,000,000 ($2,100) deposit. It’s actually one of the cheaper places on my list considering the building."
Jihwan led Suho toward the front entrance and stopped in front of the large glass doors. Instead of using a key, he punched a six-digit code into the keypad beside the entrance. A soft beep sounded, followed by a click as the doors unlocked.
The moment they stepped inside, the noise from the street disappeared. The lobby was clean and quiet, with polished floors, CCTV cameras in the corners, parcel lockers along one wall, and a security monitor near the entrance. Jihwan walked straight toward the elevator, pressed the button, and a few seconds later, the silver doors slid open in front of them.
"This place looks fancy..."
Suho muttered as he looked around, slightly stunned by how clean, secure, and expensive the building felt. For someone who had grown up in an orphanage, even the quiet lobby, polished floor, cameras, and elevator felt strangely luxurious.
A small smile slowly appeared on his face when he thought about bringing Mina here someday. She would probably be more excited about riding the elevator than the apartment itself. Neither of them had ever ridden one before, and Suho could already imagine her pressing the buttons with both hands and wanting to go all the way to the top just to see how high the building was.
"We’re here. This is the seventh floor. The largest apartment on this floor is right over there, and that’s the one we’re going to see."
Suho followed a few steps behind Jihwan as they walked down the quiet hallway. One entire side was covered by huge glass windows, giving him a clear view of the city outside. Buildings stretched far into the distance, roads were filled with tiny moving cars, and people looked like dots from the seventh floor. The sun was hanging weakly above the huge metropolis, its light pale and dim under the cold weather. Suho couldn’t help slowing down slightly to look at everything before quickly catching up with Jihwan.
Jihwan entered the apartment, and Suho followed him inside. The place was huge, but it was also a complete mess. Shoes were scattered near the entrance, clothes were thrown over the sofa, and empty bottles and snack packets covered the living room table.
"Each tenant has their own room access,"
Jihwan explained. Four bedroom doors stood along the hallway, and beside every door was a small fingerprint scanner. Since the other three rooms were occupied, he couldn’t open them, so he simply walked toward the only available master bedroom.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Before they could even reach it, extremely loud music suddenly exploded from one of the closed rooms, making the floor almost vibrate beneath Suho’s feet. Jihwan immediately covered both ears, turned around, and hurried straight back toward the entrance without saying a word. Suho stared at him for half a second before quickly following right behind him, leaving the apartment almost as fast as they had entered.
After locking the door behind them, Jihwan took a deep breath. Sweat was already forming on his forehead after running barely twenty feet, while Suho simply looked back at the apartment door. The place itself was nice, but living there felt like it would be nothing but chaos.
"See? I’m raising their rent by ten percent because of all that noise, so if you take the empty room, I’ll reduce the price I gave you by thirty percent. Trust me, for a building like this, you won’t find anything cheaper. The only reason it’s this cheap is because of those three."
"I am not taking it. Next."
"I figured. Let’s go, and be mentally prepared."
Prepared for what?
Suho followed the agent downstairs but didn’t bother asking what exactly he was supposed to be prepared for. He simply followed the fat agent around and got back into the car. Soon, they left the newer neighborhood behind and entered a much older residential area, where the buildings were shorter, more tightly packed together, and most of them barely reached seven floors.
The car finally stopped in front of an old residential building. Its faded concrete walls and small balconies made its age obvious, but the security was surprisingly decent. Suho noticed a CCTV camera watching the entrance, a keypad-controlled glass door blocking outsiders from entering, and another camera pointed toward the small parking area beside the building. It looked old-fashioned, but at least it didn’t look unsafe.