2.09 ARTIFICIAL LOVE: Hyung

What happens next is a whirlwind and Beomseok's life is promptly thrown into disorder.

It all unravels so quickly he doesn't even have the time to understand what in the world is happening with his life.

First of all, he gets laid off.

This is expected. Queenie has been warning him for weeks now, and it isn't long before he decides to close shop. It's inevitable. They do it for security reasons because they want no trouble with the law.

"I'll let you know if I find a new place," Queenie tells him, apologetic. Beomseok nods stiffly before parting ways. He's not hopeful.

And it's not like he's been sitting idle since being unemployed either. Beomseok's been diligent with job hunting but things aren't going his way. His resume is pathetic at best, the kind of schooling he ever finished barely even counts as a minimum. He'd worked odd jobs in the past but aside from tattooing, there's nothing stable. Coupled with his looks, with ink on his skin and rows of piercings in his ears, no one wants him. Not even a shitty cafe down the street or a packaging company on the edge of the city want him.

Beomseok' is left on the fringes and he spends his days freaking out on social media and counting his savings.

There's not a lot.

He needs a new job, or maybe a cheaper place to live. He even considers communal living even if it's the last thing that he wants. The problem with the big city is that it's expensive, everything's expensive and Beomseok has nowhere to turn to or go.

It's past midnight and he's still up on his old laptop, half-propped up in bed and he's got about a million tabs open for a million job postings. He's confident in none of them.

Beomseok grimaces, his head throbs. His rent looms ominously in the future and he hates just about everything. There's a beer can that sits on the countertop next to the bed, but it's sadly empty. So Beomseok reaches for the one next to it. That one is empty too. If he remembers correctly, he left some on the floor, next to his bed.

But no, those are also empty.

Frustrated, he shuts his offending laptop and stumbles out of bed. His headache makes him sway and the nausea in his gut is sharp. Fuck.

He pinballs his way into the kitchen and fuck, a headache makes itself at home between his temples. Beomseok decides he needs more alcohol because that's how life problems are solved.

There's a Jack Daniels in the fridge and he doesn't remember when he bought the bottle but it doesn't matter.

The shot burns down his throat. Surrounding him is his apartment and it's a mess. He's been neglecting it. You'd think Beomseok would have more time being unemployed and all and yet his living space is rapidly spirally out of control. There's laundry in the living room and he doesn't even know how that got there. A takeout box sits on the coffee table, next to three-day-old coffee that's begun to smell a bit wonky, and yeah, they belong in the trash.

It's terrible and unsuited for human habitation but Beomseok sticks it out anyways.

The Jack Daniels bottle comes down heavily on the kitchen counter and Beomseok isn't sure when he decided to forgo the cup for directly drinking out of the bottle but it is what it is. He shrugs, saunters back into his bedrooms, and collapses on his mattress after kicking away at least three empty beer cans.

His laptop rests next to his pillow but he cannot remember what it was he was doing.

So Beomseok, unthinking, turns to his phone instead.

He's been drowning in Oasis lately. There had been a sudden release of bonus content that happened about a week ago. It had come out of nowhere and people started to speculate that it had been a mistake on the marketing team's part because a lot of the material doesn't even fit the theme of the current promotion.

Of course, fans aren't complaining. If there's anything they're talking about, it's the security within Oasis's company and worrying for the idol's safety. But nothing alarming pops up and the company seems to roll with it in the end, and feeds the hungry fans even more content; from variety show announcements to busking events, VLive specials and backstage footage from the last tour.

It's Beomseok's only light in his bleak life. 'Thank you Kang Siwoo,' he thinks inwardly, 'even if you're a total weirdo, you're hot so I forgive you.'

But just as Beomseok's about to open up Vlive, there's a message that pops up and he ends up clicking it instead.

[ I hope you received the care pack from last time! I haven't heard from you so I just wanted to check in to make sure everything's okay <3 ]

Beomseok stares at it blankly. He sees 'Unknown Number' at the top of the chat, and the strange chat history. There's something that clicks in his mind but the epiphany's muddled behind all the beer and Jack Daniel's that saturate his bloodstream.

Stupidly, Beomseok writes a long-overdue message:

[ wrong number bro sorry was drunk last time forgot to tell you that I dont know you ]

"…" He stares and waits on the conversation.

But there's no response after a whole minute and Beomseok shrugs it off, returning to his precious Vlive time. Except before he gets a chance to scroll through Oasis's page, a reply finally comes. It's a complete accident that Beomseok clicks it because he's way more interested in his Kang Siwoo than he is in this one wayward stranger.

[ um, did my care package never arrive? Oh no… D: I swear I'll make it up to you! ]

Beomseok didn't receive no care package. He rolls his eyes at the poor idiot on the other end of the conversation—

Only to remember a curious thing that happened to him just last week when he was having that spat with Queenie. A curious bag appeared at his doorsteps with instant noodles and his favorite beer.

The thing is, he's seen his neighbor's girlfriend leave things at his doorstep before and Beomseok had assumed it to be her making a mistake.

However, a day passed and no one else picked it up so Beomseok had just decided fuck it and took the bag in.

"…" Surely, it's just a coincidence right?

He hadn't seen his neighbor around back then either. So it was probably the girlfriend leaving something and the neighbor being out at the time.

That makes sense in Beomseok's mind.

He blinks, his alcohol-muddled mind is internally cringing at all these confusing thoughts. He doesn't have the mental capacity to make sense of. So he returns his attention to his phone screen, holding the device over his face while he lies in his bed.

[ what part of wrong number do u not understand? I don't know who this is ]

Again, it takes a moment for a response to come but this time Beomseok is oddly invested so he waits.

Eventually, it comes:

[ is this not mihi? ]

The girl's name makes Beomseok scowl even more. He responds right away.

[ no. ]

[ …omg. I'm so sorry. I didn't bother you or anything, right? I can't believe I've been messaging the wrong person this entire time. Hope I haven't been annoying! ]

Beomseok smirks at his phone, feeling oddly amused by this person's frantic messages to a stranger. He's clearly not thinking straight when he continues the conversation.

[ nah im good. U caught me a good time, im bored and depressed so I got nothing better to do than entertain weirdos that message unknown numbers ]

He thinks himself as witty, even though Beomseok knows that his sober self will likely throw his phone into the river if he sees what drunk Beomseok writes.

This time, the reply is immediate:

[ omg, why are you depressed??? what's wrong? How can I help? ]

Beomseok isn't weirded out by the prying questions. He's drunk and lonely and his lips, or rather his fingers, are loose. Without anyone else to complain to, this opportunity is perfect.

It doesn't occur to him that it might be his karma acting up again.

Before he knows it he's giving the poor guy (or girl?) on the other end of the number the longest infodump about his life from start to finish. Beomseok thinks he's doing a good job protecting his privacy because he leaves out his name and the names of places.

And before he knows it, dawn is creeping over the horizon and Beomseok is still on his phone because Unknown Number Guy (it's a guy, Beomseok asked and made sure) is an amazing listener and doesn't judge him like Dayoung does.

[ ure a pretty cool dude ] Beomseok's fighting sleep even though his eyes sting and the light that slips through his curtains offend him.

[ you're not bad yourself hehe ]

It's funny now they're already chatting like they're friends. But Beomseok doesn't even know the guy's name.

[ what should I call you? ] he types as his eyes close.

He only sees the response when he wakes up, [ Um, just call me Hyung ;) ]