Gay Rat
As the weeks passed, Junhee got closer to her due date, and her appointments became more frequent as the doctor kept a close watch on her condition. Semi and Junhee hopped off of the bus, on their way home from her appointment.
“Are you scared?” Semi asked as they walked towards the apartment.
Junhee hummed. “A little, but the doctors will make sure that everything is okay.” She smiled. “Thank you for coming with me to my appointments; it’s comforting to have a friend by my side.”
Semi nodded because that’s what they were, friends. “Just know, you can call me whenever. Don’t try to do everything on your own.”
Junhee nodded. “Thank you. You’ve done so much for me.” Her eyes watered. “I really appreciate you a lot.”
Semi smiled.”Yeah, no problem.”
As they approached the apartment, they could hear people yelling inside and the sound of furniture scraping against the floor.
Semi furrowed her brow as she unlocked the door.
Junhee held onto Semi’s arm. “Is everything okay in there?”
Semi pushed the door open. “Minsu should be home; I’m sure everything’s fine.”
The couch had been pushed off the wall and the table was vertical and leaning against the wall. Namgyu was wearing gloves and throwing things into a box while yelling, and Subong was pulling things out of the box, yelling about something being broken. Minsu was standing in the corner, holding a broom.
Semi stared at them as she and Junhee removed their shoes and coats. “What are you idiots up to now?” She asked.
“There was a rat.” Minsu squeaked.
Junhee stared at him. “A rat?”
Subong looked over at them and motioned for them to come over. “Come help, señorita.”
Semi patted Junhee. “Just take a seat, we’ll figure this out.” She walked over to Subong. “What are you doing?”
Namgyu kicked Semi as he threw more things into the box. “Cleaning.”
Subong held up his hands. “No fighting.”
Namgyu grumbled and went back to the room with a plastic bag.
“Where did you find a rat?” Junhee asked from her seat.
“In this shithole room.” Namgyu shouted from inside the room.
Semi gave Subong a look. “Was it alive?”
Subong shook his head and held up a deck of cards. “Poker or magic tricks?”
Semi raised her eyebrows. “Do you know how to do either?”
Junhee stood up and walked over to them. “I can help sort things, that won’t be strenuous.”
Semi waved her away. “It’s fine, just sit.”
Minsu walked over, broom still in hand, and peered into the room. “Do you think there are more?” He asked.
“Who knows.” Semi replied to Minsu. She stood up and took Junhee’s arm and guided her to the askew couch. “Sitting on the floor won’t be good for the baby, and there’s enough of us here that it’ll be fine.”
Junhee sighed. “Okay.”
Semi went back to Subong and Minsu who had huddled around the pile of stuff they were sorting. Subong moved out of the way for Semi to crouch down next to Minsu. They were dividing the stuff into a couple of groups, by color.
“What’s this?” Semi asked.
Subong held up a purple CD in a clear case with something illegible written on it and smirked. “The first. Thanos world origins.” He handed it to Minsu who orderly put it into the purple pile.
Semi chuckled. “Shouldn’t you keep stuff like that in a safer spot than your bedroom floor?”
Subong shrugged. “I dunno where it came from, señorita.”
Something hit Semi in the back. She turned to see a dead rat. She stared at Namgyu who was giggling. She picked it up. “Cute, what should we name it?”
Namgyu glared at her.
She walked over and dropped it into the plastic bag he was holding that already contained a few small empty bags and two beer cans. “That’s not as much trash as I thought.”
Namgyu tugged the bag away. “The room’s not dirty. There’s just a ton of shit.”
Semi peeked inside the room. The floor had been cleared, leaving just the bare mattress in the center of the room. It looked weird without the stuff surrounding it. All the laundry had been shoved into a bin in the corner. She looked at Namgyu. “You should get furniture.”
Namgyu clicked his tongue. “There’s a dresser in the closet.”
Semi shrugged and walked back to Minsu and Subong’s sorting, well, Minsu’s sorting. Subong was sitting next to Junhee and showing her whatever weird object he had rediscovered.
“Where will all of this go?” Minsu asked.
Semi shrugged as she stared at the rainbow of items. “Namgyu probably has something planned.”