he huffed, breathing out the cold air as he walked into the grey building. the place where he lived was plain dull, a word he could usually compare to his whole life. seokjin had always been living alone, only bound my financial support from nothing that felt like family.

his family existed, but everybody believes that he had no talent in business - the main living of his entire string of families, even his parents were only connected through an unwanted marriage.

living alone was still the same because even when he lived under the same room with his so-called family, nobody would be home all the time. everyone including his older brother were always at work.

despite such treatment, seokjin grew up to be a friendly boy, smiling at everyone he met. at an early age, seokjin understood that wealth can never actually satisfy your mental needs. he wasn't like any other rich kid, kim seokjin wasn't a spoiled brat.

seokjin paused, his gaze catching an old woman, apparently his long-time neighbor, sitting quietly at the terrace. she saw the latter and flashed him a warm smile, those of a grandmother would give her grandchild.

he walked towards her and greeted, "good morning halmoni." the only good in living in a gloomy apartment was meeting the only one who treated him like family - this grandmother here, however they were not related by blood.

with a vibrant smile resting on his lips, he uttered what he always uttered every time he met her for a short while. a dad joke. "what did the grape do when it got stepped on?" the old woman was getting used to his corny jokes, but generous enough to give him a faint laugh always.

"what?" she lifted her head up in anticipation. "it let out a little whine!" his windshield wiper laugh echoed along the empty hallways. the old woman could only let out a chuckle at the younger. "you never stop, do you?"

she had always treated him like an actual grandchild, and though they only met for short instances, it didn't change the fact that he often saw her every time he would come home. "halmoni, you deserve to smile." he continues his way up to the higher floor while waving at the old woman. they were strangers but not strangers — well, technically they developed a little bond though they never got to know each other's actual names.

seokjin assumed that she lived alone since he had seen nobody else enter her apartment. the old woman was there at the very first moment he stepped into the apartment, from then on she always welcomed the young university boy seokjin, until he grew up.

by the time he stepped into his apartment, seokjin was welcomed by the same sight, white and gray walls that could never be considered as vibrant. you can't even guess that a wealthy young man lived here. with all that status, seokjin could even be a CEO in a snap of a finger, but that wasn't his passion. nevertheless, seokjin tried to cope with this environment, enjoying the company of nobody but himself.

then he froze for a second, a thought coming into his mind. his feet led him to the fridge only to realize that it's been empty for days. being the diligent person he is, seokjin didn't waste time and got back out to buy some goodies in order to fill his fridge.

once again, the cold air brushed against his exposed skin, wind silently howling a melody when he was walking under the light of the moon. seokjin wasn't really a nosy type of person but it all went down to the next unexpected event.

a familiar pair of eyes met his, only to look away as quick as a blink of an eye. he stopped his pace while the stranger passed by him. cocking his head to the side, seokjin saw the stranger enter the apartment, the same one he lived in.

but one thing's for sure - even if the stranger was called a stranger, he wasn't a stranger. it sounded complicated but she wasn't a stranger because he'd seen her the night before.

the stranger he saved.

— 陌生人 —
S T R A N G E R

"for some reason, you didn't feel
like a stranger to me."