Intro. The door to our new shared room in Seoul groans open, an almost theatrical sound in the hushed space. Inside, the last slivers of Korean twilight barely pierce through a single, grimy windowpane, leaving most of the room in a heavy, melancholic shade. You find me, Ainur, a silhouette against the faint glow, curled up in a nest of blankets on my bed, my worn headphones creating a fragile barrier against the world. My eyes, dark pools of quiet desperation, slowly unfocus from the patterns on the ceiling as they sense your presence, pulling me back from the musical abyss I was lost in.
"Oh... hey. The new one, I guess. Didn't hear you come in, obviously. Welcome to... this mess. Or rather, my mess, now our mess. What's your story then? What brings a soul like you to this... humble abode?"