Out in the open

Going to school was almost pointless at this point. While he sat in class, most of what the teacher said flew right past him. Every time he reminded himself he had to pay attention, but after a few minutes his thoughts would wander off. He’d tried, but was now on his way home, skipping the last two hours. It was too draining and all he wanted to do was lay down and rest.

After taking the bus, he had to walk a short distance and then he would finally arrive home. At this point he was a bit more careless as he walked. Míngzé did this part almost daily and it was never very busy. With his backpack slung over one shoulder, he kept walking until he bumped into someone. Reflectively he lay a hand against whatever he walked into, both to steady himself and to provide a subtle reassurance.

“Shit, sorry.” There was nothing more embarrassing than colliding with someone while walking. However, a deep frown formed on his forehead at the naked skin under his hand. It was cold. He was wearing a sweather, jacket and scarf himself.

Realization dawned upon him. Did he just— no surely not. That would mean that she was naked, but— seconds went by as his head was trying to catch up, heat slowly spreading across his face. It took him way too long, but he pulled his hand back like he’d burned himself.

Míngzé took a few staggering steps back. He had not just grabbed some poor girl by her— no, definitely not.  “ Shit— I’m sorry— I didn’t mean to— I can’t— fuck— why are— surely not—” The words left his mouth like rapid fire, not even able to form a normal sentence. All while almost waving his cane in the air, pointing at it like that would explain everything. Fuck.

“Aren’t you cold?”

Míngzé could hit himself against the head for his stupid question, but he was panicking. Why did this happen to him of all people? If only he could disappear from existence.

Just what had he done… Míngzé still could not understand how he made a mistake this severe. Then again, why would anyone be— in this weather? No, no, no not even in this weather but like at all. He kept his hands close to him, not wanting to cause more unwanted situations. Hopefully no one had seen what happened, or was looking at them now. There was no way he could ever talk himself out of it.

Míngzé could hear his phone going off, the muffled voice of a woman telling him someone was texting him. What he had done already was bad enough, if he grabbed his phone now, that would make it worse.

“No clothes,” he repeated in an attempt to really understand. Without further thought he dropped his backpack on the ground, not caring where it landed. “Why are—” he panicked while removing his coat and pushing it into her arms. “Take this.” Míngzé did not stop there and also removed his scarf. It only got worse when it became evident that she was lost. A lump formed in his throat and he stopped in his tracks. Just what happened to her that she ended up like this?  

“I um— if you want— I live here, so you could come inside. Is there someone I can call?” His initial panic was still there, but he was more worried about her wellbeing. Maybe he should call the cops…

Fuck.

This was bad to say the least. A naked woman running around, not knowing where she was, was not good. Míngzé had listened to enough documentaries to know what could’ve happened. Hopefully that was not the case. Maybe she came from some wild party, drank a bit, mixed it with some drugs. Yet he couldn’t help but fear the worst.

“Yeah, uh— good.” There was an awkward smile on his lips as he used his cane to find his backpack again. There was a cold chill coming through his sweater, but he couldn’t care less. When his backpack was back on his shoulder, he sighed quietly. This was something for the police for sure, but until he could call them, it was best to go inside, gave her something to drink. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

Míngzé started walking again, expecting her to follow suit. “Oh, no, not at all. I rent one of the apartments here,” he tried his best to explain it casually. “Entrance is this way.” Cold sweat ran down his back as numerous scenarios flashed before his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to— you know— touch you.” Talking about it made his cheeks heat up again. Why was he such an idiot. “What I meant to say is sorry.”  There, that was better. For a moment he looked aside, vaguely seeing her smaller posture beside him. “Did you go to some party?” He hoped it was. It would explain so much. Maybe it was just a stupid, very irresponsible, prank.

The more the other talked, the stranger it got. Míngzé looked to the side with a soft frown. Surely she was on drugs? That or she had hit her head against something. Perhaps she also needed to see a doctor. “Eh, yeah, quite a few.” It was a large apartment complex, of course many people lived there.

A small smile formed on his lips and he sighed relieved. “Good, that’s good.” Míngzé expected her to be at least a bit angry for what happened, but luckily she also realized that it had not been his intention to touch her inappropriately.

Even the word party seemed to confuse her, but she told him that was not where she’d been. “No reason,” he answered and shook his head. This was too much for him. Something was clearly wrong with her and he had no idea what. As they reached the door, he held it open for the strange woman to enter first. Hopefully they did not meet someone along the way. Míngzé was not ready for all their questions.

“The elevator is still broken so we need to take the stairs on your left,” Míngzé informed her while he finally grabbed his phone. His plan was to text his sister and ask her for help, but he was interrupted by a text from Sāng. Multiple even. The plan was to ignore them all, but one small mistake and he could hear his phone starting to recite all the messages.



All color drained from Míngzé’s face. The voice always spoke fast and he had no trouble understanding what it said, but he silently prayed that this girl could not keep up.

His apartment was not much, but it was something. It had everything he needed, was in decent shape and not too expensive. There were however burn marks, which were not his doing but his sister. No matter how hard he tried, the black sticking to his floor and ceiling would not go away. He could only hope that the smell was not too bad and that this strange girl would not notice.

“Only the third floor, apartment 3C,” Míngzé told her. With one hand on the stair railing for support, he walked upstairs. By now he knew these stairs well enough that it would be no problem. The real problem however was the message that just filled the halls. WIth his hand on the railing, he stood as if frozen in place.

What if she’d hear everything that stupid idiot had sent him. Míngzé put his phone away again, completely forgotten about his plan. What was even his problem and why was he looking? Damned Sāng. Luckily for him, it seemed like she only heard one part of the messages. Hopefully. Míngzé cleared his throat and continued his ascent as if nothing happened. “I am, although there are certain things I can still see. Mostly lights.” Normally he would not really go into detail at all, but in this situation it was better than talking about the other things in those messages.

He really was going to hit Sāng.

Míngzé was all too happy she did not inquire about everything else. Not that he liked talking about himself, but in this case it could be worse. “It’s definitely not easy,” he started thinking about the best way to explain it. What made it hard was that he remembered a time where he could see, although he’d forgotten what most things really looked like. “There are things that make it difficult, but you get used to it if it is the same thing everyday.” Sometimes he even forgot other people could see.

When they arrived at the right floor, he grabbed his keys and upped the pace to his apartment. Míngzé really did not want other people to see them right now since by now he knew some of them. “Here it is,” he said when he found his door and opened it quickly so that she could enter. “Ignore the uh— charred scent. There was a small accident.” By now it was not as overwhelming as a few days ago, but it certainly was still there. Besides that, everything was neatly organized.

Míngzé raised an eyebrow when the other called his place ‘unique’. So far he had no idea where she was from, but maybe she came from somewhere well off. Not thT Míngzé had anything to complain about, it was simply that he did not accept the money his parents offered him. “It’s not much, but it is better than nothing,” he stated with a shrug. “Where do you live? We could call a cab to take you home, after I found you some clothes.” Míngzé did not even mind paying for it because seeing as she was naked, he doubted she had any money on her.

This whole situation was too strange, which was exactly why he completely forgot to introduce himself. There were more pressing matters than a name. But the girl thought of it. “Míngzé, or Ming if that’s easier.” A lot of people had problems pronouncing his name correctly and by now he was used to it.

“It’s nothing. This is the least I could do after— you know. I’ll get you some clothes now.” With those words Míngzé turned around and went to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He should have some sweatpants and a shirt he did not use somewhere. While he was alone, he took his time to reply to that stupid idiot and his stupid texts before continuing his search.

Míngzé looked troubled the moment she told him she had no place to go back to. Combine that with the fact that she had no one to contact and it showed something was clearly wrong. Did they throw her out or something? There was no way he could know if she did not tell him. “Right,” was all he said, not knowing what else he could say to make her feel comfortable. When he went to grab her clothes, it was more like he was running away from the situation for a moment.

This was all way too much for him. Perhaps it was time to move out again, because after he moved here, everything went to shit. This building might be cursed, or the room itself. Something was wrong and it was better to blame this room than anything else.

After sending some messages to his sister, Míngzé put away his phone and grabbed the clothes he found. In front of the door he stood still for a second to take a deep breath before joining his guest again. “I found some clothes. They are probably a bit too big but oversized is the new trend so you’ll be fine,” he says as he hands over the clothes to Lucina. “The bathroom is right there, if you want to get changed.” Minzge pointed at one of the few doors in his apartment. Even though it did not matter much to him, she would probably feel a bit more comfortable if she could get change behind closed doors.

She told him she would repay him when she could but Míngzé simply shook his head. “No need, it’s fine.” From the looks of it, she desperately needed everything she could get. If what she told him was true and she had nowhere to go and no one to rely on, he would not ask for anything in return. That was not fair.

Míngzé put his phone away the moment Lucina came back from the bathroom. WIth how his phone worked, she would be able to listen to all his conversation which was not something he wanted. A smile tugged on his lips when she gave his coat back. “Thanks.” Míngzé immediately hung it on one of the hooks near the door. “Are they good?” While he doubted everything would be too small, maybe some were too big. If that was the case, he could always try and find some other clothes.

“We are in the northern part of the city, near Silverton square,” he told her as he made his way to the kitchen to grab a glass and fill it with water. “Can you tell me anything that might help with all this?” Míngzé handed her the glass before he gestured to his couch and sat down himself with one leg underneath him.