Simmering Heat Chapter 1.1 - Prologue

The sky falling doesn’t mean there’s no way out. Lee Taeun mentally corrected the old proverb he learned as a child. After three weeks of desperately searching for a way out, he finally admitted defeat. Like dominoes, once things started going wrong, they just kept getting worse. At least, that’s how his life worked. As proof of this, Taeun stood frozen in the middle of his messy living room.

“What are you doing?”

“Ack!”

Suddenly, a man’s hand clamped down on his shoulder from behind. Taeun, who had been swallowing tears while ruminating on the hardships of life, yelped. His startled heart pounded in his chest. The plastic bag he was holding slipped from his grasp and tumbled to the floor. The man who had startled him picked it up with a nonchalant air.

“Garbage, right?”

“Uh? …Yeah.”

“Give it here. I’ll throw it out on my way out.”

“Uh… Okay.”

Taeun wordlessly handed over the remaining plastic bag.

“Anything you need?”

“Uh…”

The man scoffed at Taeun, who kept repeating the same word like a parrot. Taeun’s heart crumbled at the fleeting smirk.

“I’ll be back. Just tidy up the living room.”

“Uh…”

The same, clumsy answer slipped out from between his parted lips. The man turned without a word and walked towards the front door. Taeun’s gaze, which had been wandering aimlessly, finally settled on the man’s back. His legs swung back and forth beneath his broad shoulders. Perhaps because of the pale stripes running vertically down the sides, the man’s legs looked particularly long in his black sweatpants. Beep. The lock on the front door chirped cheerfully, and the door closed. At that moment, Taeun’s knees buckled and he collapsed onto the floor.

“This… This isn’t right.”

A steady pulse throbbed from his clenched fist. Taeun slowly raised his hand and ran it through his tangled hair. Three hours into living with his roommate. He, who had declared defeat, finding no way out, changed his mind once more. If there was no way out, he at least needed to find a way to breathe.

The reason was simple. His roommate was the worst. That was all. Really….

He slowly raised his head and looked around. His gaze drifted towards the square ceiling. The newly cleaned studio apartment was impeccably neat. Taeun straightened up and threw himself onto the recently delivered sofa.

I wonder if the sky will fall…. The absurd thought crossed his mind.

“Ah, seriously, Mom….”

A self-deprecating sigh escaped his lips. The annoying face of his mother, who was probably happily heading to the airport right now, filled his mind. Taeun lay prone, kicking his feet in the air despondently.

‘Even if it meant sleeping on the streets, I shouldn’t have let that slide….’

Belated regret washed over his slumped body. The naive thought that things might be okay had vanished the moment he arrived at the apartment. Or, to be more precise… when he saw the man at the entrance. The moment he saw that unchangingly handsome face, Taeun knew.

‘I’m screwed.’

Warning sirens wailed in his head, but it was too late to turn back. Trying to ignore the chaos in his mind, Taeun pulled himself together. This is the independent life I’ve always wanted! I can do this! That was his mindset, anyway. However, his determined resolve crumbled after a mere three hours.

“Shiiit….”

A whimper that sounded like a sob filled the living room pathetically. It sounded as pitiful as a whimpering animal. He swung a fist of resentment into the air, but nothing changed.

How did this happen?

As he muttered to himself, his jumbled thoughts naturally drifted back to the beginning of it all. The tape of his memory slowly rewound, and time went back to the not-so-distant past.

Three weeks ago.

It was a perfectly peaceful and uneventful day. Until he saw the shabby real estate flyer stuck to the telephone pole in the alley, that is.