J H O P E
I had just been shown to my room, where I would be staying with another guard. When I walked in the room there was a small living room open to the kitchen and a small dinning room. Then there was three doors in the wall, leading to two rooms and a bathroom.
I didn't have any clothes or belongings, just the same clothes I had been wearing for the past month.
I decided to just walk straight to the bathroom, not caring about meeting my room mate, I didn't even know if he was there.
When I saw myself in the mirror I almost cringed. My eye was still bruised from when I had been punched in the face while I was sparing and my lip was still cracked. Even though I looked and felt like shit, I still won the fight.
I pulled my shirt over my head, grimacing at the pain in my side as I did so. There was a nasty bruise on my ribs and I think I cracked one, which would explain why it hurt when I tried to take a deep breath.
I ignored the other bruises and cuts littering my body as I stripped of my clothes and got in the shower, not really caring that it took almost ten minutes for the water to heat up. I found some body wash and shampoo in the shower and washed my hair and my body, loving the feeling of finally being able to wash away all the dirt and grime after being stuck in a concrete room or a gym for a month. Going through my training.
I was able to take showers, but some of the other men training to be guards would take forever and I was too impatient to wait so I only got about two showers that whole month.
The training was vigorous, pushing me physically to my limits and refreshing my memory on hand to hand combat. Shooting was something I didn't need a refresher on, it was the one thing I would definitely never forget.
The hardest part of the process was the mental training. They had to test where your loyalties lied, if it wasn't with the JEON family you were shot on the spot.
I turned off the warming water and dried off with the white towel hanging on the towel rack before wrapping it around my waist and walking in one of the other rooms, hoping my roommate wasn't in it.
Thankfully no one was in the room so I walked to the large dresser and opened the drawers to find boxers, shirts and pants in my size.
I dropped the towel and slid on a pair of boxers and pants, sliding on a shirt before walking into the small kitchen, surprised to find some food in the fridge and cabinets.
I took a apple from the counter and decided to sit on the couch. I knew I should have been asleep, I would have to wake up early to take a shift at the gate. But I was hungry and part of me at least wanted to see who my roommate was.
About halfway through my apple, a man walked in, looking blank faced and as if he was thinking about something.
He glaced up at me as if finally realizing I was there half way to his room.
He had light brown hair unlike my black hair, his skin was a light brown a little lighter than my own.
His cheeks were a bit hollow, his jaw line sharp. His face was clean of bruises unlike my own and I wondered how he could have managed that.
His eyes were something I didn't expect from his dark features. They were a captivating blue that I almost couldn't look away from. I studied the rest of him, he was thinner than me, like he didn't get a lot to eat but he was muscular, probably from the training.
I stopped staring and spoke up, "I'm Jhope."
"Namjoon." He introduced himself simply.
He seemed busy in his own mind, too busy to say anything else.
"Well I'm going to go to bed." I said as I threw the remains of my apple in the trash.
He seemed to fully come back as he stared at me, but he didn't say anything though it was almost like he wanted to.
Once he didn't say anything I disappeared into my room, my first shift started the next day really early so I needed to get some sleep.
* * *
I had gone through a few weeks of guarding the gate along with a few other beginners. I hadn't gotten a word out of my roommate, Namjoon.
He always seemed lost in his thoughts and he was gone a lot. I also woke up sometimes to the sound of his screaming or crying through the thin wall. I also noticed that he took pills, every morning.
I thought about asking him about it but he would have probably blown me off.
I wondered if I would ever find out what his problem was, but I would get an answer sooner than I thought.
I was moved to working guarding the house, there was only four people needed for that.
But I was standing by the door when JEON walked out and took me too his office, "I know your starting to question your roommate, Namjoon, am I right?"
I nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Well his story is not mine to tell but I will tell you that he didn't come from a very good place. He isn't well enough to guard yet but he is getting there. When you see him gone he is talking to his therapist." He informed me.
"His therapist actually wants to see you as well, so she knows how he's doing. He will lead you to her." Jeon said before getting back to work, finalizing a few things so every thing would be good for his son.
The man that Jeon had pointed to led me out of the house and back to the guards quarters, he took me to a room at the end of my hall where a woman was sitting at a desk reading a book.
"Dr. Williams, here is Jhope, as requested." The man said before walking out, leaving me with just her.
"Take a seat Jhope." She said motioning to the couch, bookmarking the page in her book and closing it, "I want you to tell me what Namjoon has been like, I've recently given him medicine and I'm curious to see if it is really helping, Namjoon doesn't seem to think so."
"Well, to be honest, I rarely see him and he doesn't talk at all. He seems lost in his thoughts a lot and I think he has some pretty bad dreams that keep him up." I said, sharing all that I knew about my silent roommate.
She nodded, writing everything down, "Was he always like he is now?" I found myself asking.
"Some what, he came from a bad past, I'm just here to help him get over it." She said, "Thank you, you can get back to work." She said and I did.
I went back to the house to stand guard and when I got home that night, Namjoon was in the living room, asleep on the couch.
I had never seen him when I got home and I was confused as to why he was on the couch.
I decided I would let him sleep while I made dinner for myself and a little for him if he woke up and he was hungry.
Halfway through making dinner I heard Namjoon's cries and screams. I couldn't just let him scream and cry until he woke himself up.
I walked over to the couch and instantly frowned at the pained expression on his face.
I lightly shook him to wake him up. His eyes shot open, looking panicked and scared as tears welled in them, his hand wrapped around my arm, squeezing me tight as he studied my face, when he saw that I wasn't a threat he did something I would have never expected him to do.
His arms wrapped around me, squeezing me as he seemed to fully wake up and process that his dream was not real.
It took me a minute before I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a comforting squeeze, not knowing what else to do.
"It's okay." I said for some reason, trying to comfort him.
He pulled away, "What's that smell?" He asked, it was the most I had heard him talk since I had been around him.
"Dinner." I said, getting off the couch and finishing dinner before putting it on plates, as if what had just happened never happened.
Namjoon sat for a minute before he grabbed his plate and began eating. We didn't talk as we ate, but for once it didn't feel so awkward to be around him.
I washed the dishes as Namjoon got ready to go to bed. He walked into the kitchen just before I was about to go into the bathroom.
"Thank you," he said lightly, "For waking me up."
"Your welcome." I said and when he didn't say anything else I took a shower and got ready for bed.
That night, Namjoon didn't scream or cry.