I woke up by the sound of the door, someone was knocking. I glanced over at the clock to see it was only 7:00 AM, I wonder who in the world would be knocking at my door at this hour. I got out of bed and headed for the door, as I step closer and closer towards the front door, the sound of the knocking only got louder and louder.
I opened the door to see my landlord having a mean expression on his face. "Hey, what do you want?" I asked bluntly as if he was like everyone else, I didn't care if he is my landlord or not. He woke me up 7:00 in the morning just to give me a glare.
"Jung-Woo, I am here to pick up this month's rent and last month's as well." He told me bluntly, he treats me the same as I treats him, it was all mutual between us.
I rubbed my eyes as I spoke, "oh yeah, the rent. Hold on, let me get it for you." I told him as I started heading back into my apartment, "how much do I owe you?" I asked.
"Let see, the rents is usually $150 per month. So you owe me $300, hand it over now. I'm not letting you get away this month." He told me; I looked in my wallet only to see that I have only $200 instead of $300.
"Damn it," I said to myself. I quickly took the $200 and walked back to the front door. "Mr. Yee, I only have $200 with me right now, how about I get you the rest in a few days." I said trying to reason with him, it usually works when I'm in a situation like this.
Mr. Yee just sighed, "Jung-Woo, I can't keep doing this for you; once the other residents finds out that I'm letting you delay your payment, they are going to start asking for an extension." Mr. Yee walked into my apartment and closed the door. "I'm serious, Jung-Woo, my wife doesn't even like me giving you extensions; you have to start paying the full amount when I ask for the payment."
"Yeah, I know. You lecture me about this daily, it's not my fault my job doesn't give me enough cash to pay you." I told him; I had a feeling this day would come, he might even kick me out.
"When will you get enough money, Jung-Woo? This is constantly happening every time. Maybe you should just get a new job or ask your uncle for some money. I'm sure -" I cut him off right there.
"Mr. Yee, you know I have tried many times and you know what the outcome is. Ever since my cousin, Tae, decided to move in with her boyfriend, he blames me for that since he thinks it was I who made Tae dress up as a boy and go to my school." I told him once again. "Plus I know he doesn't even want to see me."
Mr. Yee sat down on my couch and sighed once more, "then I am afraid I have to let you go." Mr. Yee said to me, I was feeling so many different emotions right now confusion, anger, shock, and depression.
"You can't be serious; you know I don't have anywhere else to go!' I yelled at him, "So you are just going to kick me into the streets like how my uncle did?" I asked him. "I can't believe this."
"Look, I'm sorry but my wife is already mad at me for letting you have so much extensions, please try to understand." He told me, "I'm going to have you leave in a week, try to get everything packed and moved by then." With that, he just left my apartment.
I walked over to the phone and started dialing numbers. "Tae, it's Jung-Woo, can I ask you a favor?" I told her over the phone, she told me that she was going to meet me at the café in a few minutes, with that she hung up. I put the receiver down and started getting dressed.
As I arrived to the café, I saw Tae and Ga-Woon sitting together waiting for my arrival. "Oh, you're here! Come sit down, would you like some coffee?" Tae asked me.
"Sure; about that thing I needed to tell you…" I drifted off as Tae asked me if I would like some sugar. "No thanks; anyways, this morning I have been told that I'm going to have to move out of my apartment."
Tae looked up with surprise. "What? You can't be serious, did your landlord tell you why?" Tae asked me as she was almost leaning half across the table. "Tell me, Jung-Woo!"
"Tae, calm down and let him tell us, if you keep yapping your mouth off, he'll never get to tell us." Ga-Woon said to my cousin as he pulled her away from me.
"It seems that his wife didn't like the fact that he was giving me extensions. I mean, she did know that the job I'm working for doesn't give me enough money to pay the monthly payment." I told them as they listen to my every word. "Mr. Yee even suggested that I ask Uncle for help, can you believe that?" I said to them.
"That's so horrible; his wife is such a bitch! Mr. Yee must be crazy to marry that bitch!" Tae yelled out loud. "What are you going to do, Jung-Woo? When do you have to leave by?"
"He told me he wants me out by a week, I don't know what I'm going to do Tae! You have to help me out here; I have no clue where I'm going to live." I was definitely desperate for some guidance. "Can't I just stay with you two, at Ga-Woon's house?" I asked.
"No can do, Jung-Woo." I heard Ga-Woon tell me, "My parents opposed when Tae came to live with me, what are the chances they won't oppose to you living there too?" Ga-Woon asked me.
"Hmm, maybe you could stay with Ghoon-Hahm? I'm sure he won't mind that you stay at his house again." Tae said to me. "He's not living with his parents either, so how about it?"
When I was about to answer, I heard a voice that seemed strangely familiar. "I am not letting your cousin stay at my house again, he raised my electricity bill with all those games he played." Ghoon-Hahm said behind me.
"Ghoon-Hahm? Que-Min? Why are you here?" Tae asked the couple as they sat down near the table where Ga-Woon, Tae, and I were sitting. "Don't tell me you guys are on a date?"
"Of course not! I'm warning you, Tae. Don't be getting any ideas now." Que-Min told Tae. "Ghoon-Hahm and I were just grabbing a bite to eat when we overheard you telling Jung-Woo to stay at Ghoon-Hahm's house. I don't think we have enough room in the house for an extra person, I'm sorry, Jung-Woo." Que-Min said apologizing to me.
"Wait a damn minute!" Ga-Woon said out loud, "Since when did you two start living together?" I watched him point at Ghoon-Hahm and Que-Min. "Tell me, damn it!"
"Ga-Woon, calm down, people are starting to look at us." Tae said trying to calm Ga-Woon down, "So when did you two start living together and what about your family, Que-Min? Aren't they worried?" Tae asked.
"Well, I think we started living together a couple of months ago, probably three months." Que-Min told Tae, "My mom really didn't like the fact that I was moving in with Ghoon-Hahm but I guess I convinced her enough that she let me go, plus I don't have to deal with my younger brother anymore which is a good thing." Que-Min said in relief.
"You're so lucky that you have a mom that is so understanding, my dad was furious when I told him that I was moving in with Ga-Woon. He even started taking his anger out on Jung-Woo and now Jung-Woo only have a week to find a new place to stay." Tae told Ghoon-Hahm and Que-Min the whole story.
"I see, I would let Jung-Woo stay with us but it's really a cramped house. It's mainly filled with Ghoon-Hahm's video games." Que-Min said as Ghoon-Hahm made a face.
I just sighed I knew that I wasn't going to find a place to stay anytime soon, everybody was moving in with each other. "I guess I'll just look for a new apartment complex then." I told the group as I began to get up and start heading towards apartment complexes.
"Hold on a minute, would you?" Ga-Woon said to me. "Just let me think, I'm sure that I know someone who has enough money to support you. I just can't place my finger on that person. Lin Lee? Nah, she'll just annoy the shit out of you. Damn it, who it is?"
"Ga-Woon, are you talking about Kun?" Tae said bluntly. "Wait a minute; Kun has enough money to support you after all he is a model." Tae said as she was about to day dream about her old crush.
"Don't you dare start day dreaming about him, Tae." Ga-Woon warned her, "Anyways, how about it?" He asked me. "I'm sure Kun has some video games for you to play. Why don't I give him a call right now, I doubt he's busy. If he is, then he'll just stop what he's doing and talk to me. Ga-Woon said to me.
After a couple of minutes, Ga-Woon finally stopped talking on the phone. "Geez, Ga-Woon, you talk as long as a girl!" Ghoon-Hahm teased, "I think even more than Que-Min."
"Would you shut your trap, Ghoon-Hahm? I haven't talked to him for awhile so I was just catching up with things, sheesh!" Ga-Woon told Ghoon-Hahm, "Oh yeah, Kun says that he doesn't mind since he rarely at his house, so you can just start packing and moving in right now. He gave me his key when we were younger, I'll just make a copy for you and give it to you when it's done."
"All right, thanks a lot, Ga-Woon. You don't know how much you did for me." I told him. I got up and began heading back to my old apartment, "I'm going to start heading back, and I have a lot of things to pack." I said to the rest of the group. "See you guys."
Once I got into my apartment, Mr. Yee came and told me he wanted to talk to me. "Jung-Woo, I want to apologize to you about before. I talked to my wife and we decided that you can continue living here, but you have to start paying your rent on time." Mr. Yee told me.
'Great after I just found a new place, he comes and tells me that I can stay.' I thought to myself. 'All that worrying was for nothing.' "Mr. Yee, I'm glad that I am allowed to stay but I already found a place." I told him hoping that he will understand.
"Ah, I see. Well that's good news, where are you going to be staying from now on?" He asked me as he began to get up and leave.
"I'm going to be staying at a friend's house, no charge too, so I don't have to worry about making late payments." I told him. "I actually haven't talked to him for the longest time but yeah, he's letting me stay."
"Haha, that is good news for you. I won't have to bother you anymore about paying the rent. I hope you have a good future, you are a good kid." Mr. Yee said to me as he patted my back and left.
Once I was finally done packing, I looked at the time. "Shit, it's already this late? Where in the world is Ga-Woon? He's supposed to give me the key by now." I asked myself, just then I heard the door knock. I opened the door to find Ga-Woon holding onto the key to my new home. "Where the hell were you?" I asked him.
"Is this how you welcome someone that just found a place for you to stay?" He asked me. "Anyways, here you go. Let's get these boxes to the car." He handed me the key and began lifting up the boxes.
After all the boxes were in the car, I looked back into the empty apartment where I once lived. "Good bye." I said to the empty apartment and closed the door.
"Hurry up, Jung-Woo! I don't have all night to help you move in your things. Tae is waiting for me at home with dinner." Ga-Woon said to me, I rushed to the car and sat in the passenger seat.
"I think this was the best thing I did." I said to Ga-Woon as we drove on the long rode to Kun's house. I mean, my new home; and I never look back at that once mine apartment.
"What are you blabbing on about now? Just be quiet and take a nap or something, you must be tired from packing all day." Ga-woon said to me. He was right, I was definitely tired.