Life Improvement Services

Chapter three

It had been 80 hours and 30 minutes since Nick last saw Colin, but it’s not like anyone’s counting. He had promised to “catch up later" and never did. Nick wondered if he should be worried, and if he had to file a report for a missing person. However, there was always the possibility that he had just been plain “ghosted.” Maybe he was too boring? Too awkward? Too… something.

“At least you weren’t conned, right?” Nick bitterly muttered to himself as he opened the door to the apartment building. He had just come from a long day in the clinic. He rushed home because the sky was looking especially dark that afternoon.

Nick stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the 4th floor. It had been three days. Exactly 80 hours and 32 minutes. He knew Colin for less than a day but it felt like such a long time. It was such a shame. He had found him to be excitingly different, and he could have learned so much. Truth be told, he was actually excited for the Life Improvement Service plan, no matter how silly and ridiculous it sounded.

Nick stepped out of the elevator and started to look for his keys in the bag. “Such a shame,” he muttered as he stopped in front of his door.

“What’s a shame?” Nick almost jumped as he finally noticed that someone was sitting on the floor beside him.

“Holy– what the hell, man?!” Nick exclaimed as he brushed his hair back. He looked annoyed for getting surprised, but relief washed over him when he saw a familiar face. Colin stood up from the floor, laughing unapologetically.

“How did you not notice me? Oh my god, your face! I’m sorry but that was priceless!” He managed to let out, banging his hands to his thighs in laughter. “I’ve been waving at you since you got out the elevator!” Nick’s face was red with embarrassment.

“What are you doing here? It’s been more than three days.” He tried to appear nonchalant as he opened the door and stepped inside. Colin was finally able to control himself. He took a deep breath and leaned on the doorway as Nick headed straight to the kitchen.

“So sorry about disappearing like that. Trust me, I wanted to give you a heads up, but… It’s a long, boring, complicated story. I’d like to catch up with you in a while, but first, what can I do with these?”

Nick–who was pouring himself some water from the kitchen–looked up to see what Colin meant. Beside Colin were two large duffle bags.

“Please tell me those aren’t bodies.” Nick flatly said.

Colin looked at him sheepishly. “That would’ve been exciting, but no. These are my things.”

Nick’s eyes went large. “You–”

Colin closed the door behind him and walked up to Nick, who instinctively handed him a glass of water. “I need a place to stay, and you have a huge apartment,” Colin stated. Nick leaned his shoulder against the fridge. His arms were crossed as he faced him, obviously unconvinced.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, so here’s a little something for you.” Excitement was written all over Colin’s face as he struggled to take something out of his backpack. He put it in front of Nick’s face: a wad of large bills.

Nick did a double take. “What the–”

Colin looked proud of himself as he shoved the money into Nick’s arms. “See? I swear I’m not a bum trying to leech off you. I feel like this would be enough to pay for a few months' rent in advance. It’s all yours, just tell me if you need more. Ah! By the way, that is legal money, so don’t freak out.”

Obviously, Nick was freaking out. Colin had sounded like he just handed over meaningless paper.

“Also, if you let me live here, I’ll do the Life Improvement Service free of charge, I’ll regularly pay rent, I’ll clean the house, I’ll feed your cat, Cal, and I’ll even cook–although, I can only cook simple meals without a lot of knife work. Oh, and I won’t ever go into your room, I’ll totally respect your privacy. It’s going to be like I’m not even here.” Colin put his hands together and looked up at Nick, trying to look like a pitiful angel.

Nick was caught off guard when Colin suddenly clasped his hands and stepped closer. “Please, help me out, will you, Nick? Promise, I’ll be good, I’ll–.”

The thing with Nick was that he can be very indecisive at times. He thought that every decision should be well thought of or at least slept on for a night. That’s why even during middle school, he had already planned out what job he was going to have, and what city he was going to live in. When pushed into a corner, he only had either one of two responses: completely shut down, or jump with both eyes closed. In this instance, his instinct made him choose the latter.

“Alright, alright! First, give me space!” Nick exclaimed. Colin raised his hands and took a quick step back, confused.

“D-did you mean–?”

Nick tried to collect himself. He opened the fridge so its door would act as a barrier between them. “Yes. Okay,” was all he said as he let himself cool down.

Colin was incredulous. “Are you serious?!” He moved to Nick’s other side, with his hand on the small of Nick's back. Nick helplessly looked at him, and with a sigh, nodded. Colin couldn’t contain his excitement. He put his arms around Nick’s shoulders and gave him a big hug, causing some of the bills to fall on the floor. To his credit, he immediately recognized his mistake and stepped back. Flashing an apologetic smile, he said “Right, sorry, space,” and picked up the fallen money.

“Ah, Nicholas Shin, I could hug you right now! Well, I already did, but I could hug you more!” Colin exclaimed. The difficulty he was having in restraining himself clearly showed. Nick’s face was red as he turned his face away. He quickly closed the fridge and took another step away.

Did he really just agree to let another person live with him? He still couldn’t process everything.

“Let’s… let’s talk about the rules over dinner.” He said as he put the bills on the counter.

“I’ll cook dinner!” Colin suggested. He took a step closer and Nick immediately put one hand up.

“No, I’ll fix up dinner, you take all the money first and– and get settled. The vacant room is–.”

“Door on the right at the end of the hall, right? Got it! I’ll see you for dinner, then.” With that, Colin collected his wad of cash and duffle bags, and happily sped towards his new room.

“Do you have any allergies?” Nick called out.

“None!”

As soon as Nick heard the door close, his knees almost gave out. With a deep breath, he leaned on the counter. “What the hell did I just agree to?”