in between ?.? jo togame???

ix. apartment 132

"Anyway, Choji called your phone today."

He chuckled. "Did you answer it?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"What did he say?" His laugh deepened as he drew closer to my side.

"That he can't stop thinking about you and believes it's time to confess his undying love for you." I gave him a teasing grin.

"Call him again and tell him I feel the same way."

"WHAT!?" I studied Togame's expression to make sure whether he was kidding or not and I seriously can't tell with that smile of his. "Are you serious!?"

Well, Choji did mention he never saw him showing interest in girls.

After not replying, and acting all cheeky, I decided to be the same. So I pulled his phone from my pocket.

"Sure, sure lemme tell him just that," I said the last words in a sing-song.

I pressed open his contact app and scrolled down for Choji's contact.

"Wait, wait, I was joking." His eyes widened as his arm reached for me but I dodged it.

"Ah found him!" I giggle, staring at Choji's name on the list.

"Hey, don't you dare press that!" He arched another arm but I jumped back, completely missing me.

"Hmm...what should I tell him? That you have felt like this for a long time now?"

"[Name], stop it, it was a joke!" Another attempt to catch me and another successful avoidance from me.

"That your whole soul and body yearn for him!"

The following seconds consisted of me laughing at him while Togame tried grabbing me.

Until he became progressively so fast that he hooked his arm around my neck from behind, my back instantly collided with him while his left arm circled around my abdomen, finally stopping me.

"That's enough, [name], now give me back my phone." I was shocked at how he still spoke in such a soft tone.

I handed back the phone to his right hand, whose arm was still around my neck as he lazily entered the call log.

"Hmm, he did really call you..." Hot breath fanned on my neck

"Yes...and you're very close right now." I blushed, feeling conscious of his warmth over me.

He tore his gaze from his phone and to our awkwardly intimate position, especially his arm around my waist.

"Ah, sorry, sorry." He quickly let off me and stepped back.

Part of me regrets that I mentioned it.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "You really are going to be the end of me."

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

After twenty-minutes passed we finally made it to our destination. Before us, blocks of abandoned apartments spread before us. Even the shortest building was up to ten floors according to my counting. Under the moonlit night, the place screamed how much of a bad idea it was to enter at such timing.

Using our phone flashlight as a light source, we silently walked through streets filled with garbage, debris, and overgrown weeds. I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the eeriness that hung in the air.

"So which apartment?" Togame asked, making me jump.

"Wait, are you scared?" He teased me.

"No, and the apartment number is 123." Funny how I lied when I didn't even dare to raise my voice when in a normal setting, I would have.

After navigating through the dystopian-looking block, we finally found the building. Upon entering it, waves of musty scent and the smell of death (probably rats) entered our nostrils. Debris of bricks, beaten-up furniture and doors littered the corridor. We examined the straight parallels of doors that lined the walls.

"Did he mention which door?" Togame asked again as his flashlight dashed around the room.

"Third floor, room 310."

We began climbing the staircase.

"You know, I know this place..." Togame informed me. "There's been a lot of rumour of hearing strange noises, heavy footsteps and unexplainable figure-"

"Are you out of your mind?" I snapped. "Can't you see this isn't the right time to talk about that stuff!"

He shrugged. "I never said it was haunted."

"Stop trying to scare me."

"I wasn't trying to scare you." He said rather loudly with a laugh. "Calm down, there's no spirit around here."

"Shhh...please, bro, please lower your tone."

"Scared?" He said, still loud.

"No." I hissed.

"Yes, you are scared!"

"No, I'm not, please stop."

Then a loud sound boomed throughout the building. We both snapped our heads upward, where the sound came from, upstairs, on the third floor.

The sound of rhyming banging of drums continued. Judging from our place, it does not sound like a single but at least three.

A shiver went through my spine and I felt the colours draining off me.

A loud deep voice had started chanting in an unsettling language I failed to decipher.

"I don't know about you but that does not sound normal, let's get out."

But Togame stood in his place, eyes on me, still as nonchalant as ever.

"Pretty sure it's Ryo attempting to scare us off."

The sound upstairs had been growing more intensely.

"Look, they are having a ritual, it's rude to disturb, let's go!"

He did not move at all.

Then I heard the sound of a notification chiming from my phone.

"It's Ryo," I announced and Togame peered at my screen.

RYO:

It's already seven, what took you guys so long?

Me:

Stop making those ritual sounds!

Ryo:

What ritual sound? Where on earth are you?

Me:

123

Ryo:

The hell are you doing there? Reread my message.

My eyes scanned for the address again and my heart dropped.

The address was 132, not 123

Togame and I stared at each other for a while, and then we both bolted toward the exit.