"Hey, SoMi, why didn't you order a moving truck?" Lee Hyun grumbled indignantly as she carried two boxes of her friend's belongings to her new home.
"I'm sorry, Lee Hyun. I paid the first month's rent on the apartment, so now I'm broke. I have to save money," SoMi apologized, also holding two boxes.
"You could have warned me that we'd have to carry so much! I would have ordered one."
"I'm sorry again. We don't have much left. Two more trips, and we're done."
"Two trips with four boxes each? I didn't sign up for this!" Lee Hyun grumbled.
"After the move, I'll throw a party. I'll order pork and drinks."
"You're broke!" Lee Hyun interrupted her.
"I have enough for that, I promise."
"How lucky MinJi is that she's at work today..."
"If you were working, you wouldn't be here either."
"Excuse me for having my dad support me!"
"Oh, I wish I had that kind of luck. I wouldn't have to worry about where to get money every day."
"Is everything really that bad?"
"It's tolerable for now. But next week, I'll be assigned a new project. They pay in advance. The director said the author of the book wants to work only with me."
"That's great! Have you thought about a promotion? Do you want to hide away in your office and remain unknown for the rest of your life?" Lee Hyun teased her again.
"Well..." SoMi bit her lip, hesitating. "I'm writing now. I've already finished two chapters."
"Oh, you've started writing?" Lee Hyun stopped at the entrance, surprised.
"Yes, I want to finish the project and present my work to the director."
"That's great, SoMi!" Keep it up!" Lee Hyun encouraged her. "So, where are you taking all that stuff?"
"Let's go to the elevator."
"Oh, thank goodness! There's an elevator here!" Lee Hyun almost jumped after her. But as soon as SoMi pressed the call button, Lee Hyun's phone rang.
"Hello. Yes. Oh, really! I'm so happy. No, I'm not too busy," she said, looking at SoMi with puppy dog eyes. "Okay, I'll wait." Putting down the phone, she turned to her friend. "SoMi... I have to go. He's waiting for me."
"Fourth or fifth?" SoMi asked, referring to the boyfriends Lee Hyun was counting.
"What day is it today?" Lee Hyun quickly counted. "Friday? Then the fifth."
"Aren't you tired of it yet? Having so many boyfriends isn't healthy."
"Come on! They're all great! I can't choose just one. The first one gives me gifts. The second one takes me to restaurants. The third one is fun. I love the fourth one like a brother. The fifth one is the one I'm in love with."
"Lee Hyun, all these qualities should be found in one man."
"You had one man, and what happened? No gifts, no restaurants, no fun," Lee Hyun teased, remembering her ex.
"That is why now I have neither him nor anyone else" SoMi replied calmly.
"That's a shame. My advice is to either find the one or enjoy life and take advantage of everything it has to offer."
"Fortunately, I'm not like you. I won't date several people at once. I'm not going to look for 'the one.' Work and books are enough for me. They will never betray me."
"Books also age and deteriorate. Nothing in this world is eternal, including you. Live now and don't put it off. I've been following this rule for a long time, and look—no wrinkles, no tears. Just enjoyment of life."
"You don't have wrinkles because you regularly go to beauty salons where they polish you up so you can look good in photos without filters," SoMi joked.
"Okay, okay," Lee Hyun waved her hand. "But I'm serious. Enjoy life. One day, you'll be old with a cat on your lap, remembering how you could have been a queen."
"I'm just learning to live for myself. But I don't want any more relationships."
"Come on!" Lee Hyun laughed. "Mark my words, fate will find you even at the end of the world. There won't be anywhere to run. Well, that's it. He's waiting for me."
"But we're not done!" SoMi pointed helplessly at the boxes.
"There's nothing left there! We'll finish tomorrow!" Her friend shouted as she ran off.
"I have to return the keys tomorrow..." SoMi whispered, but Lee Hyun had already disappeared into the hallway. SoMi was left alone with the boxes, which seemed heavier than all the decisions she had ever made in her life.
The elevator dinged.
"You can leave some of the boxes here. I'll keep an eye on them," a man's voice said. SoMi looked up and saw that it was the same security guard who had helped her earlier.
"Oh, really? Thank you so much!" she sighed with relief as she loaded several boxes into the elevator. "I'm SoMi, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. SoMi. I'm Seok Cheoul. Congratulations on your new home."
"Thank you!" she exclaimed through the closed elevator door.
Second floor... third... fourth... fifth... sixth... seventh... Ding!
SoMi stepped out, carefully balancing the boxes like an acrobat on a tightrope. She was just a few steps away from her apartment door. She tried to enter the code, but the boxes swayed.
Suddenly...
The door to the neighboring apartment opened. A man wearing a black tracksuit, a cap pulled down over his head, and a black mask that hid almost his entire face came out. He nodded briefly in greeting and pressed the elevator button.
SoMi almost dropped the boxes but managed to catch them, though only temporarily. They tilted again, and this time, the fall seemed inevitable.
Until...
"I've got it," a calm, low voice said from somewhere behind the boxes.
A black sport suit, a black cap, and a black mask appeared, along with strong hands that held her treasure tightly.
SoMi cautiously peeked out from behind the boxes. Her gaze met deep, warm, attentive, and slightly sad eyes. Her breath caught in her chest.
"Oh, thank you..." she whispered, unconsciously biting her lower lip.
"It's okay," the guy said again, his voice sounding deep, like an old record quietly spinning in the silence. "It's good that I haven't left yet."
The moment seemed endless.
Just as their eyes met, a melody from an old drama she used to watch at night while dreaming of great love suddenly rang in her memory.
🎵 You're my destiny 그댄
You're my destiny 그댄
You're my everything
그대만 보면서... 🎵
The sound of the record was suddenly interrupted by the screech of reality.
"Your phone," the guy holding the boxes calmly reminded her.
SoMi blinked, momentarily stuck somewhere between heaven and earth. The gentle soundtrack was still playing in her head, and she thought it was part of their magical encounter.
"What?" she whispered, blinking in confusion. Only a second later, she realized the melody was coming from her pocket, not her imagination. This was not a romantic moment from a drama; it was reality. Such things do not happen in life. The phone, blaring a song about fate, vibrated as if trying to crawl out.
"Oh, God, how embarrassing," she muttered, blushing and turning away.
The guy smiled slightly under his mask.
"What's the door code?" he asked calmly as SoMi struggled unsuccessfully with her pockets.
"Oh, it's still the standard one. I didn't have time to change it," she muttered, trying to find her phone while also trying not to drop the boxes.
He quickly typed in the code and opened the door.
"I advise you to change it as soon as possible. For your own safety," he added with a nod as he stepped aside.
"Yes, Thank you!" SoMi said hurriedly as she shuffled into the apartment.
The guy instantly moved toward the elevator. The door slammed behind him with a barely audible thud.
The apartment fell silent.
SoMi put the boxes on the floor and stared at them as if they were a mirror of her failures.
"So that's how my first encounter with my neighbor went. What was that all about?" she muttered, biting her lip in embarrassment. "He'll probably think I'm some kind of crazy drama queen."
She sighed heavily.
"Oh well, I'll have to change my ringtone. And my phone. Maybe even my country," she muttered to herself, feeling her inner shame begin to boil over.
Evening descended on the city like a soft, lilac-colored blanket. The air smelled of cherry blossoms, as if spring were reminding everyone of itself with every breath.
SoMi was slowly finishing her moving odyssey. The last box was all that remained. New home. New life. New mistakes—hopefully more pleasant ones.
She opened the refrigerator and took out a can of beer and a package of chicken. You have to celebrate properly.
"Here's to moving!" she proclaimed to the kitchen, raising the can like a champagne flute.
The only thing missing was music.
SoMi connected the speaker to her phone and turned on her favorite playlist. With the first bursts of bass, the room came to life.
🎵 Bang Bang Bang!
🎵 Bad Boy!
🎵 Run!
🎵 Fire!
Song after song. SoMi danced around the apartment, twirling, jumping, and singing at the top of her lungs. With every movement, she threw off her fatigue and stress. It was a celebration of loneliness in all its glory.
But in the neighboring apartment, it was a slightly different story.
The neighbor, the same guy in black, sat on the floor by the wall, staring wearily into space. The music pounded against the wall as if SoMi were dancing in his living room.
A family with two children used to live there. It was quieter then.
The guy sighed, looked at the ceiling, and quietly muttered:
"What a gift for spring..."
He reached for his headphones, but something told him this was only the beginning.