Alright, chapter two is finally here. I've been mainly focusing on artwork and other projects like iceberg videos (I'm on my last installment).
This is coming from a Wattpad series I'm working on currently, so I'll have a link to the original source cause the description has some useful info.
I'll take feedback from anyone if there's something that needs improvement or just doesn't make any sense. But please refrain from saying stuff like "I don't like this" or "this sucks" cause that's not actual criticism in my eyes.
Three days left. Three days left until Ryu’s final decision to meet up with Alex. For the most part, he just sorta existed. He didn’t contribute much to the world, besides working and socializing with his coworkers. But Ryu did care about other people’s well being, and Alex was no exception.
Ryu didn’t really have any preferences when it came to dating people. He did have a few crushes throughout his school years. Nearly all of them were the shy, awkward, nerdy type. So, there was something about them that drew Ryu in close.
Ryu having these types of shower thoughts wasn’t anything new, but it left Ryu in the bathroom for a while. But it also led to his water bill increasing by a few dollars which made him die inside. So when Ryu caught himself thinking very deeply about his life, he immediately turned off the water and got out and ready for the day.
When Ryu finished getting dressed and walked out into the kitchen, he spotted the dining table’s chair laid on the floor. Ryu froze, he always locked his doors, made sure everything was nice and neat, and would’ve known what caused the chair to fall. But no gusts of wind could’ve done it, and Ryu probably would’ve noticed something was off before going to bed. And the sound of a chair falling just a door away would have woken Ryu up.
He walked over and picked up the chair, setting it back in its original place. It was like he was in the middle of a stage, having just screwed up his performance and was left to deal with all eyes on him, before going back to acting like nothing happened. But something really did happen. Ryu’s brain was trying to rationalize what he had seen, but of course he knew someone had gotten in.
Ryu then did a vigorous search of the place to make sure nothing wasn’t misplaced or stolen. It seemed like everything was in order, it was just that one chair that had fallen.
Ryu couldn’t eat, so he just went to work without having breakfast, a decision that he would later come to regret. But he was too anxious to even touch food in fear he would throw it up. Before Ryu left, he went around the house to make sure all the windows were closed and locked. And did the same thing with the doors right before he left, and tested them too.
Arriving at work Ryu walked in to see Lisa and Mia, greeting him with friendly smiles. Then he saw Alex, yikes…
Ryu felt a bit awkward as he went to clock himself in for work. He didn’t want to make that obvious on top of his possible date plans and paranoia.
Ryu looked over and caught Alex staring at him, he quickly turned his head around and acted like he wasn’t looking at Ryu in the first place. Ryu could feel butterflies suddenly. He also then caught Mia staring as well, over by the register, making kissy faces at Ryu like a teenager.
Ryu could feel his fears dissipating, being replaced by awkward fluff. He hadn’t realized how interested he had been in Alex. Which just made him mad that he was so open with his coworkers about childhood crushes and what he liked in people.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there, or are you gonna actually do something?” Mia snickered.
Ryu enjoyed the company of his coworkers, but sometimes they just acted like a bunch of babysitters.
“You have yet to tell me where I could be working…” said Ryu, slightly irritated.
At some point during his shift, Ryu had to use the restroom. Behind the curtain, and halfway down a long, concrete hallway was the bathroom. Continuing down the hallway, just to the left lead into the cafe. In a rather trashed city, of course the public bathroom smelt terrible, with uncleaned mold growing on the walls and tile. It was a fly’s paradise, which just made it worse for Ryu since he hated insects.
The hallway was only lit up by the neon bathroom sign that hung over the bathroom entrance. It was a small room with no stalls, just a toilet and a sink with a busted mirror. Ryu was able to power through the awful smell, he would only be in there for a few minutes at max.
When he went to wash his hands, he turned on the rusted faucet as he looked at himself. Himself that had more than one face from the broken pieces clinging to its frame. He wasn’t bothering to look down as he washed his hands. But when he went to get soap, he saw the crimson tint of the water. Either something died and somehow had gotten into the water supply, or something was terribly wrong.
Ryu recoiled, turning off the water before quickly unlocking and leaving through the slim bathroom door. He could just wash his hands in the dish-pit. Ryu peered down the hallway towards the coffee shop, and someone was standing there. Nothing was of much detail to Ryu’s naked eye, since it was such a dingy, sketchy hallway. They just stood there, unmoving. Ryu didn’t know where they came from or why they were just there, but it frightened him. So he hastily made his way back to the diner. He couldn’t help but make a quicker dash while he was halfway there, afraid that whoever was there was following him.
A sudden relief washed over the man as he blew past the curtain to enter the restaurant. None of his coworkers seemed to notice that he was in such a hurry to get back.
“Welcome back.” Lisa smiled, “Didn’t notice you there.”
As Ryu was washing his hands over the other sink, he tried to rationalize the previous situation he was in. It could’ve been another crackhead or a person who was spooked by the sudden appearance of Ryu leaving. But it all felt wrong, a person couldn’t have been just there for no reason.
“Ryu?”
“Ryuuu…”
Ryu’s gaze snapped over to the redhead trying to get his attention, “Mia…?”
“Are you ok? You’re zoning out.” Mia tilted her head.
“Ya, why are you so worried…?” Ryu spoke jokingly, nearly chuckling.
“Because you’re usually busy with something.”
“Sorry… I guess I just didn’t get enough sleep last night…” Ryu muttered, making up an excuse for what happened around an hour ago.
“It be like that sometimes.” Mia sighed, beginning to clean a section of counter with an old, damp rag.
After a few moments of silence between the two, Ryu finally spoke up once more, “How… many crackheads do you see on the streets usually…?” he asked softly.
Mia hummed, “Well, they’re everywhere. It’s really not that hard to find them lurking around in an alleyway.”
“What about in buildings…?”
Mia paused, “It’s hard to say… either shooting up in their apartments or getting kicked out of establishments. Can’t say I’ve seen them get booted outside.”
Another few moments of silence pass by, “Why do you ask?” Mia suddenly questioned, glancing over at her soft friend.
“Well… when I came out of the bathroom, I saw this dude standing at the other end… Y’know, where that coffee shop is…” Ryu confessed, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because of the lack of sleep I got, and because of how dark it is down that hall…”
“Maybe, that’s why I carry pepper spray with me everywhere I go.” Mia smiled softly over at Ryu, pulling a small red and black cylinder out of her front pocket to show the man, “It’s dangerous being a girl in this type of city. Not that I’m saying you are one, just appearance wise.”
“Ya, I’ll consider it…” Ryu smiled softly back at the redhead.
After Ryu’s shift ended, he stopped at a small convenience store to look for some pepper spray. It was one of those trips where if he couldn’t get it now, he had all the time in the world to look for it later. Bless his luck because Ryu actually found the same kind of pepper gel Mia had.
Ryu was able to catch one of the last subways going home, it was a bit empty. Emptier than usual. As the train made its rounds, the few people that shared the carrier Ryu soon departed. And very soon Ryu was left alone with the sounds of the speeding subway on the rails echoing in his ears.
The visual of the silhouette at the end of the hallway was stuck in Ryu’s mind. He felt lucky that nothing bad happened while in that hall, but it was frightening to think if the person began to run after him. Ryu was beginning to think that maybe using a restroom in another establishment was the best option.