Second Chapter

She had inspected her room, and much to her relief it was still in pristine condition. The sorry state of the rest of the apartment wasn’t in fact due to an act of God, but rather that of man.

“The bed is much more comfier than I expected, and there’s already a desk here too.” Her room sported the basic necessities. It was enough for someone starting out, but she was already planning on reorganizing, and some things were still missing. [The closet should be good enough, but I might run out of space quickly if I don't keep myself in check. Maybe I should get more storage down the line...] She unpacked her belongings while thinking about other benign things that should go in her temporary residence.

Back to the rest of the apartment, where her real battle was, she could hardly contain herself. The idea of living in that sort of confine, let alone with a person who accepts it, horrified her. While most of the mess was promptly removed, particularly the lounge area, the battle still continued.

“Hey, can you also do the dishes soon? I brought my own set of utensils that I want to wash.” She asked hurriedly.

Whilst wiping off the dust from the TV screen, he looked at her and noticed her annoyed face. He knew that himself, and decided to yield. “Sure, I’ll do it right after this.”

[Is he upset? I shouldn’t even be helping him in the first place. But I’m here reorganizing. Ugh…]

To her, he had quite the way with words. Not in a positive manner; not at all, quite the opposite in fact. That didn’t help her impression of him.

“Just sit down. I’ll do the rest.”

[At least he has the decency to say that.]

[But…]

“Well, I’d like to, but where?” She said in an irate tone whilst pointing at the living-room couch, still overcrowded with junk.

When he realized this, he slowly turned towards her and gave a simple reaction. “Oh.”

Without hesitation, he dropped what he was doing and walked towards the windows, still obscured by a curtain that looked like it hadn't been touched since time immemorial. The boy grabbed one end of the curtain and pulled it to one side.

[..!] The intense daylight flooded the apartment and caught the girl off guard. Eventually her eyes adjusted to the brightened room. and stood in front of her was the boy, his face more visible now that room was brighter.

“You can sit there.” He gestured to the window behind him, where there was a small balcony. The girl looked beyond to find that there were two seats and a side table outside.

[…] The girl made her way to the balcony, her own utensils still in her hand. She never said a word, and simply stared at the disheveled individual as she opened the sliding door to the balcony.

[I didn’t even know that this apartment had a balcony. I didn’t even notice it when I was looking from outside.] The girl sat on one of the chairs on the balcony. [At least this part is clean.] The girl started to bask under the clear weather, taking in the cityscape vista that the balcony provided as well. [So many tall buildings. Is that the campus over there?] Her eyes wandered, from left to right.

Eventually, her eyes wandered over her shoulder, through the window and back to the apartment. The boy was still in the midst of cleaning. The lounge area was now clear of the boy’s belongings, and black bags congregated at the hallway. The girl looked to the kitchen area, where her eyes met the back of the boy. He was preoccupied with clearing the kitchen sink of unwashed plates.

[He looked annoyed, but.] She clutched the utensils still in her hands. [Why did his face say, ‘I’m sorry?’]