"T-This is the place, sir..."
"Oh wow~!"
The leasing agent presented the apartment room to the blonde young man before him... but the former could not hide the apparent shaking of his body.
On the other hand, the young man just casually strolled into the somewhat clean and neat living room that was, while simple, still fully furnished with the bare necessities.
It had a kitchen section that was quite barebones at best, but a lone old white refrigerator sat tucked between the counter and the wall.
His inspection wasn't over though—he went further into the apartment, leaving behind the trembling leasing agent.
"Pretty clean bathroom..."
A bathroom that not only provided both a shower and a water closet, but even an old beat-up washing machine.
Then the bedroom itself... was really simple as well, providing a lone single bed with a study desk and a wardrobe for clothes.
"Whistle~, not bad, not bad at all," he judged cheerfully, "I could definitely see myself living in this place for years to come~."
"...I doubt you will..."
"Hmm? What was that?"
"A-ah! It's nothing, sir, just me talking to myself. A-ahaha, ahaha..."
The young man raised an eyebrow at the leasing agent's awkward excuse, but the agent quickly cleared his throat.
"A-anyhow, if you're satisfied with the accommodation, Mr. Winters—"
He frantically pulled out a document—the rental agreement for the young man's tenancy.
"P-please sign at the bottom here, sir!"
The leasing agent urged with desperation painted clearly on his face, which the young man noticed with amused curiosity.
"What's the hurry, Mr. Agent...? Afraid that a ghost would actually pop out~?"
"P-please do not joke about 'it'...!"
"Haha~, sorry, sorry."
The young man promptly received the form from the shaking hand of the agent, seeing the terms and monthly rent that was very, very strangely cheap, before then signing his name along with his signature—
'Noah Winters'
"Alright, done—"
The agent quickly and frantically snatched the form from Noah's hand!
"T-thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Winters!"
The agent bowed his head quickly, a mix between pity and fear evident on his face, before he rushed out of the apartment room—! Leaving behind Noah alone with his now-rented apartment room...
A pause... before a chuckle escaped his mouth.
"Heh. 'Haunted,'" he scoffed at the idea.
Noah remembered quite amusingly when he first saw the advertisement for the dirt-cheap apartment, and especially the shocked faces of the agency staff when he came about renting the place.
They had vehemently warned him that the whole complex was haunted... which didn't really bother him much.
"Yeah, right—as if ghosts are even real," he had shrugged it off back then, "only an idiot would actually believe that crap."
He then stepped out onto the balcony of the apartment—his vision met the concrete jungle that he'd just arrived into... and he was still in awe over the sight of countless skyscrapers in the distance.
"This is city life, huh..."
Noah was still adjusting to his new environment, after having spent most of his life in a small town...
A part of him couldn't help but feel out of place.
"...Better get used to it."
He steeled his resolve, before heading back into his apartment...
But... what he didn't realize...
That someone had been standing beside him all along.
< | X | >
In the next few days, strange occurrences began happening in Noah's life inside the apartment...
And yet...
He had been ignoring them all.
Lights flickering on and off?
"Hmm, looks like I need to change the bulbs, huh."
A sudden chill on his neck?
"Did I forget to close the balcony door?"
Objects subtly shifting out of place on their own?
"...Wait, didn't I leave my keys right here? Hmm... maybe I put it in the drawer or something..."
Strange footsteps echoing through his apartment?
"Was that the neighbor? Man... the walls in this place are really thin."
Doors opening by themselves?
"Ugh... faulty hinges? Guess I need to find some oil for them later..."
Water from the faucet suddenly turning murky?
"What the—? Is the plumbing in this place already busted?! For fuck's sake..."
...Or better yet, he was starting to get annoyed by them.
"Sigh... no wonder this damn apartment's so fucking cheap," Noah complained as he sat on the somewhat lumpy sofa, "everything here needs to be fixed..."
He was starting to wonder if the cheap rent was really worth the hassle, but...
"...I'll stick around for a month—at least until a week or two after orientation."
The first day of college would be in just a few more days, so... he would just have to suck it up.
For now, to at least ease his stress and curiosity, he surfed through the old, classic box TV the apartment just so happened to provide.
"Never thought I'd see one of these still kicking," he mused as he flipped through the local channels one by one. "Makes me wonder if this complex was built back in the late 90s or something..."
But then suddenly—
"What the...?"
The screen of the box TV began to distort, flickering with strange static images between channels...!
But that wasn't all...!
Amid the static, a face was starting to form along with an eerie voice crackling out from the speaker...!
"BZZT—get—BZZT—out—"
"Fucking hell—! Even the damn TV's acting up?!"
But Noah noticed neither the 'face' nor the distorted voice, and instead... he walked up to the TV—
Bam—! Bam—!
"Don't crap out on me now, damnit!" he groaned, continuing to bang the poor, old TV.
Bam—! Bam—!Bam—!
The static image wavered with each hit of his... before eventually—
"—BZZT—This just in! Reports of mysterious robed figures spotted at midnight, harassing local residents—"
It returned to normal again, showing the evening news.
"Finally!"
Satisfied that the beat-up old TV was back to normal, he plopped himself back onto the sofa and continued flipping through the channels once more...
Not realizing that there was a figure standing silently behind his sofa... frowning down at him.
< | X | >
"Sigh... So tired..."
After days upon days of just trying to keep this seemingly broken-down apartment livable, Noah finally hit the hay.
He laid his tired body on the mattress, which fortunately, was not falling apart like the rest of the place.
But before he got some shut-eye, he checked back on his smartphone, seeing if there was any interesting news or messages.
"Hmm... nothing, huh..."
No new emails from his university, no replies from the part-time job applications he'd sent... and not even a text from his family back in the old town.
And remembering about his family back home... brought melancholy.
"...No, Noah, it's only been a week since you left—you can't be feeling fucking homesick."
He let out a sigh, steeling his resolve.
All of this new city stuff while fixing his shabby apartment were really stressing him out...
Thus... he finally put down his phone, covering himself with a warm blanket, and got his well-deserved shut-eye...
But...
'Something' was shifting on his bed...!
That 'something' began to sneak under his blanket... crawling from his legs... slowly up to his torso...!
And Noah... finally noticed 'it.'
"Uhm... what the...?"
A heavy pressure pressed down on his torso, forcing him out of his slumber.
The 'thing' felt heavy... yet...
Soft?
"...What in the world...?"
When he opened his eyes, he saw a strange lump bulging on the blanket across his chest...!
A mix of dread—and curiosity—welled up inside him, making him hesitate on whether to reveal the mystery sitting on his chest...
But in the end, curiosity got the better of him... and he finally lifted the blanket—
"...Huh?"
And there... a face stared back at his.
A face... of a woman.
"So... you finally noticed me, mortal" the 'woman' muttered coldly, an annoyed frown etched on her face.
"...Huh???"