Joel Hokka / Blind Channel - ENEMIES WITH BENEFITS (English)

25 - it all comes back to me in the end

content warning⚠️: This chapter contains contents of violence and also touches on sensitive topics like mental health or suicide so if that may be triggering for you, feel free to skip this chapter <3. It's nothing too graphic or too heavy but I still wanted to place a warning before the chapter starts.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm sorry that I'm a little late, my phone somehow kept leading me in the wrong direction." I was completely out of breath when I shook hands with the two unfamiliar men that were standing next to Joel.

The younger one with the brown, curly hair had to be Joel's friend Jarmo, the current tenant of the apartment I was about to take a look at. That meant other man, that was well dressed and seemed to be in his late forties, was most likely the owner of the apartment complex.

I was really grateful that the two men immediately agreed to give me a tour when Joel called them yesterday. It was just about time that after about a month of living with Aleksi, I found another place to stay at. I had caused enough trouble, enough hurt and enough heartbreak in the younger one's life already. Now that we finally were getting along again, I couldn't risk to lose him.

"It's nice to meet you too. Don't worry, even I get lost around here sometimes. The streets of Oulu can be really confusing, especially if you didn't grow up here. If I remember correctly, Joel told me that you moved here from Germany, right?" Jarmo asked interested as the four of us entered the apartment complex.

"Yes, that's right I moved here from Germany about two months ago." I gave the man with the brown, curly hair a friendly smile and almost fell backwards onto the slippery floor if Joel hadn't been there to catch me with the help of his big hands. "Careful there." He helped me to get back on my feet. This man just spared me a lot of embarassment.

"Here we are. Let me lock up this door for you. Feel free to walk around and if you have any questions, don't be shy, just go ahead and ask." The slightly older man swung the front door open and invited me to step inside.

The apartment looked just like I had imagined it when Joel had described to me on the phone. Beautiful bright walls, wooden floors and big windows that made the rooms look welcoming and friendly. The bathroom was really modern and the apartment even had a little balcony to sit on. I was amazed. This place was perfect. It wasn't the biggest place, but it was perfect.

"Wow this place is beautiful, really amazing." I uttered in astonishment and looked up towards the high ceiling. "How much rent would this place cost?" I asked and turned around to the smaller old man that was standing on the other side of the room. He was staring at the screen of his phone and seemed a little distracted. "Roughly 550." He answered and put his phone away. "550 sounds good, amazing. I don't think I'll need any more time to consider. I'll take this place." I said euphorically and already imagined in my head how exactly I would decorate all the rooms. I already had a whole vision planned out for this apartment.

"Great that's good to hear! I am going to draw up the papers and send them to you. Mr. Hokka already gave me your contact info. If everything goes as planned, you can move in at the end of the week." That were some great news. I could barely contain my excitement at this point, so I waited to show just how excited I actually was until I had formally said good bye to the two men and Joel and I set off because we planned to spend some more time at his place on this lovely day.

"I can't believe it! I finally found a new apartment!" I started to jump up and down like a little kid and threw my hands up in the air. Joel was looking at me with happy eyes and started to grin, he was celebrating this moment along with me. "Thank you for your help." I put my arms around Joel's neck and pulled him closer until our lips connected. I had been wanting to kiss him from the moment I arrived but the whole situation hadn't really allowed it. His soft lips moved so perfectly on mine, it was almost magical.