Part 1

A Chapter by A. Khairunnisa

A World Without You

It’s the last book you need to key-in into the system, before the end of the day. You closed the door after you finished taking care of things. What a day! You locked the bookstore’s entrance before walked down the usual path that you have always used to go home. It’s the same routine for you every day. Wake up at 7, do same stretching or yoga for about 30 minutes, have some breakfast, wash up and prepare for work, walk to work and opened the store at 9 am. Get some lunch at 12 pm, work, grab dinner at 9 am and get ready to go home at 11 pm. Every day is almost the same, except for your off day. For your off day, you’ll wander off alone at the nearest shopping mall, while shopping for groceries, walking around looking at beautiful lights while watching people surrounding.

Being an introvert as you are, you are comfortable being alone and you only got few friends. You are the type that always keep in yourself, mostly. And you choose to work at the bookstore, as it suited you the most, being in quiet and peaceful environment. You enjoyed your times with reading books, mostly non-fiction, horror, well, literally all of them. Silently, you appreciated on how writers got the idea to wrap a mixture of emotions in texts of books.

As you have worked here for almost two years, the bookstore owner, Mr. Kim mostly believe in you, entrust you to handle the bookstore by yourself. He only came once a week, to update stocks, as he is busy to take care of his cafe.

As you walked, you stopped as soon as you arrived at the pet shop, few blocks from the bookstore. As usual, tame light gray Munchkin 2-months old is sitting there, sleeping, while waiting to be adopted. She blinked when heard someone near the window. She rolled over onto her back as soon as she saw you.

“Why did you still here, you cutie?” You tapped the window slowly, even when “Please Do Not Tap on Glass” sign is clearly dangled near the window.

“Just wait for another two months, I will adopt you as soon as I got my pay,” You smiled, and waved to the kitten. I’ve got debt to settle down. Just wait for me, Simba. She meowed weakly, with those twinkling eyes, she seems to understand you.

You continued to walk back home.

“Hi Y/N-shi,” your neighbor greeted as she came in through the main entrance with you.

“Hi Mrs. Hong,” you replied, smiled.

“I saw the mailman come earlier at morning and leave a lot of mail in your box. You must be one popular girl,” she giggled. “I haven’t got mail for a while.”

“Oh, really? They’re most likely money calls, Mrs. Hong, all money calls.” You continued to open your lock of mailbox.

“Anyway, rest well tonight sweety, okay? See you later.” She patted your back and slowly headed to the stairs, probably going back to her home.You nodded and thanked her politely.

When you stuck your hands into your mailbox, surprisingly, you got an unusually large amount of letters today. You tried your best to gather them all in one handful and pulled the thick stack out.

Money, money, work, Im Jaebum? The unknown name on a bunch of letters was in your hands. You looked at the address printed on the mail.

They got it wrong again. You sighed. How could they, like always, get it wrong? 205�™s mailbox is only 2 boxes below yours. You bowed down to 205�™s mailbox to put all the letters there.

You heard main entrance door squeak, indicated someone enters through it. You struggled to put all those letters, the mail itself are thick and space made for the mailbox is too small. You bowed down for a while, before hearing someone knocked the mailbox near you. You stand up straight and faced the guy that knocked before.

He is looking down at you and at your hands.

“Yes?” You asked him.

He looked down at your hands, handful of 205�™s mails. He looked pissed off.

You blinked your eyes for a while, what is wrong with this guy? He showed you the key of 205, dangling in his right hand.

“Hmm, I believed this is yours,” you handed him his letters. He took it from you, nodded a little and silently, without even giving you a single glance, he headed his way. leaving you dumbfounded. What’s wrong with this guy? Have I done anything wrong? God.

An old man came through the main entrance, asked you, “What’s wrong, dear?” He is one of the folks that has been living in the same building for years.

“Nothing, Mr. Lee” you denied.

“Did he do something to you?”

“Nope, nothing, Mr. Lee,” you smiled to him.

“If he hurts you, please forgive him. He is muted, he probably doesn’t mean anything. He is a good guy, I believe.” Well, that’s explained everything.