Chapter Text
Living alone in theory shouldn’t be hard. You do everything you did before, take on a few more tasks, extra chores and spend some more money. With a good job and a cheap place it sounds fairly easy. Of course it all heavily depends on the work ethic and the ability to manage time of the person who lives alone.
Matthew was good at managing time, he was hardworking and he even landed a good part time job while he was on his way to finishing college. He had the perfect conditions to live by himself after moving out of his parents house where he spent his first twenty-something years of his life. It wasn’t like the home he had before was bad or anything but it just wasn’t enough for him at his current age. The main reason for moving out was that he wanted to be closer to his college and waste as little time as possible when it came to transportation which to him was the most exhausting part. Another reason he wanted a place of his own was the fact that he might want to date. While Matthew did mostly prefer and enjoy his own company above others’ he still liked the idea of settling down with one person. And bringing people over to your parents house to be romantic and to indulge in anything intimate was a big red no in his head. People in his dating pool probably liked it if the person they dated was at least somewhat independent. It made the person seem more responsible and adult in general. Of course it wasn’t possible for everyone to be independent like he was and having your own place wasn’t the only sign of maturity but you know… it certainly said something about the individual.
He was lucky enough to find an apartment in good condition, with the rent that was not too expensive but at the same time not suspiciously cheap. It was in an older apartment complex that was renovated not too long ago. Mostly students or young families lived there but the lower stories were occupied by older residents. The apartment which Matthew was renting was meant for at least two people. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom in the one Matthew was renting. Of course he was seeking out an apartment with only one bedroom because why would he need two - however this was an opportunity too good to pass up so he just went with it.
The conditions were perfect for a young adult to start his fully independent life. However there was one big problem that he found after no more than a month in his new home.
The unused bedroom was really unsettling. Having that bedroom there began to bother him greatly and even when he closed the door so he couldn’t see the inside room, void of any personality, he could still feel the emptiness of it. He knew there was a big unused space there and if he could he’d ask the landlord to rent the room to someone else but move the entrance elsewhere somewhere where the occupant wouldn’t have to intrude on Matthew’s privacy… but of course this task was nothing short of impossible.
Another less terrible thing that Matthew noticed shortly after starting his independent life was how much more obvious everything became. Every noise made after the sun started setting was louder and more conspicuous than it would be if there were other people sharing the place with him. He always blamed it on the neighbours because that was the easiest blame to pick. His second choice was the fact that the complex was a few decades old and was already showing its age through small noises such as those that Matthew heard. When he made this particular argument to himself he chose to ignore the fact that it was renovated not too long ago. But renovation can only do so much right? Right? They can’t replace the foundations it was built on which were probably old already and that must have been the reason the building was making such noises.
Whatever the reason was, Matthew realised the only thing that could solve this was if he got a roommate. Someone he could quietly blame the sneaky sounds on and someone who would fill that eerie empty room with some sort of personality. It didn’t really matter to him who it was - the most he expected from them was some sense of order and respect for their respective spaces. Someone who cleaned after themselves and stayed out of Matthew’s way. That was the bare minimum that he expected from someone who would share the space with him.
When the sun went down and he got back from the gym, which he frequented three to four times a week, he looked up a forum, one of those popular ones with mostly college students. If he posted his ad there it was guaranteed that he’ll get a call soon.
Slowly typing out the words Matthew was wondering if this was actually a good idea. Perhaps he could instead fill the room up with some stuff? Make it into a storage room? But then again… The idea of splitting the rent in half was quite appealing. His eyes wandered over to the doors that contained the unsettling void of that room. There was faint buzzing in the background. The fridge, Matthew thought. Then there was a creak. The building. Another creak, this one lasted less time and it repeated twice. The neighbours. The tap that sounded like it was outside in front of the entrance. He had no explanation for that one. The need for another human presence increased.
Male college student, 24. Looking for a roommate. Cleans after themselves, respects our separate spaces. Contact me at the number below for more info.
Matthew kept looking at the words on his screen. Was that enough for an ad? It didn’t seem too shady right? Should he write the address or only should he let the caller know once he made sure they were actually interested? The general area of the building should be enough, right? Stating the number of the apartment complex might be a bit much… Would it? After all, people want to know the location of the place they’re seeking to move into. Maybe he should just write the name of the park that was right in front of it.
Next to the XYZ park.
“That should do it,” Matthew said to himself and then hovered above the big green “PUBLISH” button at the bottom of the page with his cursor thinking over his decision for one last time. It was risky, but on the other hand, what’s the worst thing that could happen?
Finally gathering the courage to go through with it, Matthew pressed the button and closed his laptop as soon as he did. With nothing more to do he decided to call it a day and take a shower. It’s been a long day after all and there was nothing that would help him relax more than a cool shower. He locked the door after stepping in and then began taking off his clothes. Halfway through he checked the handle to make sure it was actually locked. He unlocked the door and locked it again just to be extra sure it was locked. Was this always a habit of his? he’d sometimes stop and wonder. To press down on the handle, seconds after locking it then unlocking and locking it again? If not, when did he develop it? Living in a house with other people makes you develop all sorts of subconscious habits to make sure your privacy is really private.
He was drying himself when he heard his phone ringing. Who would be calling at such an hour?
When he looked at his phone Matthew didn’t expect to have five missed calls from the same number which he did not recognize. It could’ve been from an angry person who typed out the wrong number. But at some point they would probably realise that the number they were calling was not correct. Right?
Matthew had no intention of calling it back so he found himself debating whether to answer or not when the number called him for the sixth time. “Hello?” he spoke and tried to sound confident. “What do -” “Hi, have you found a roommate yet?” Matthew needed a few seconds to remember the ad he posted - he looked at the time - ten minutes ago. “Well no,” he said because no one could find a roommate in ten minutes. “Great so I can come check it out? The place of course.” The voice on the other end was kind of annoying and Matthew felt like he should come up with some sort of excuse. But then his eyes wandered to the closed room and he felt uncomfortable remembering the lack of human touch that room had. “... What time did you have in mind?” Matthew answered slowly. He might as well meet this guy. He might just sound mildly annoying.
…
Or he might be fun.