As he stepped in, Seungcheol just kept staring at him, smiling at his adorable posture and more than slightly flustered demeanor, definitely Seungcheol’s type. “This day keeps getting better and better,” he thought to himself. Not only was he moving into a better place that was closer to his school, but he had found a cute boy just sitting there, basically waiting for him at his doorstep. The second he saw Jihoon, Seungcheol stopped in his tracks when he noticed his fluffy, pink hair and oddly attractive hands. What hid behind them was even more pleasant. Seungcheol couldn’t wipe that shocked look on Jihoon’s face out of his head and those dimples that showed up when he subtly smiled. It made his chest leap and his lips tingle, even if on the outside he just stood and laughed. It was times like these that Seungcheol thanked the universe for gifting him with the incredible talent of flawless icebreaking. Not only did it snag him the opportunity to talk to this charming boy-next-door, but it gave him the courage to invite him in.

And as Jihoon made it to the center of the room, Seungcheol watched as he scanned his surroundings, looking up and around. Seungcheol closed the door behind him as Jihoon said, “Nice place.”

Turning his attention back to the now-more-comfortable-looking boy, Seungcheol wiped his hands on his jeans as he moved closer. “Yeah, it’s a huge step up from where I was staying before. My friend, Jeonghan, and I found it a few weeks ago and he fell in love with the space.” Stopping right next to him, Seungcheol shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “But to be honest, what sold me was the apartment number.”

Jihoon, noticing how close they were, stepped back a little, blushing ever so slightly, which made Seungcheol smile even more. He looked away and asked, “What? 917?”

“17,” Seungcheol clarified, getting a good look at Jihoon’s nice physique. That oversized sweatshirt he was wearing made him look sweeter than any teddy bear you would ever find. But for some strange reason, Seungcheol could sense there was something hidden behind all this cuteness, something...tougher? More rigid? Scarier? He had no idea what that feeling was, but it made Jihoon even more intriguing. “It’s my lucky number.”

“Really?” Jihoon chimed, spinning back around. He chuckled and crossed his arms. “Funny, that’s my lucky number, too.”

Seungcheol beamed at him and slowly walked backwards. “Then I guess it was meant to be.”

Expecting the boy to get all flustered, Seungcheol was surprised when Jihoon just choked on his laughs and he buried his hands into his pockets. “You’re very straightforward, aren’t you Seungcheol?”

Now it was Seungcheol’s turn to blush. Hearing Jihoon say his name made him tingle and stop in his tracks. “Uhhhh…”

But Jihoon just laughed and loosened his arms, clearly pleased that the ball was now in his court. “It’s a nice quality.”

Seungcheol grinned and shook his head as he headed towards the kitchen fridge. “Sorry there’s no real place to sit or anything. Do you want something to drink?”

Jihoon replied, “Thanks, but no, I’m only 18…”

“Oh, I didn’t mean alcohol,” Seungcheol interjected, his head in the refrigerator. “Don’t worry, I’m only 20 so no drinking for me either. I mean do you want any water or anything?”

“Uhh, yeah water would be good,” Jihoon said, cautiously sitting down on the hardwood floor, leaning his back against the far wall. “Thanks.”

“No problem. So you’re 18? You going to school?” Seungcheol asked, making his way back over with two water bottles. But he nearly dropped them upon seeing Jihoon just patiently waiting for him, like a shy puppy at a shelter. His nervousness was irresistible.

Jihoon meekly smiled as Seungcheol sat down next to him, taking the bottle from him without making eye contact. “Yeah, I go to the university just a few blocks from here.”

“Cool. Do you know your major yet?” Seungcheol asked, opening his bottle and taking a sip.

But Jihoon couldn’t focus on anything other than this person who just randomly let him into his home. Normally, Jihoon’s sour mood would prevent him from wanting to interact with anyone, but this charming stranger made it too easy for him to get nervous and embarrassed that he couldn’t say no. Weirdly enough, he didn’t want to say no. “No, I’m still undecided. There are so many things I want to try, I’m just not sure where I belong yet.”

Seungcheol smiled as he stared at the side of Jihoon’s face, a benefit from the boy refusing to look back at him. “Good for you. Explore different things while you can.”

“What about you?” Jihoon asked, turning back to finally face Seungcheol. “You in school right now?”

Unfortunately, Seungcheol only sometimes came off as smooth, since the eye contact was too much for him to handle, automatically forcing him to look away. “Uhh, yeah!” he quickly answered. “I go to the same university. I’ve been going for a couple of years now.”

“Really? Just goes to show how big that campus is. I’ve never seen you before today.”

“Same here,” Seungcheol agreed, feeling his heart warm up. “Because I sure would remember if I’d seen you before.” He smirked and chuckled a bit before pulling the courage to glance over into Jihoon’s eyes. His delicate, gleaming eyes. For a second, neither of them turned away, even though Jihoon’s face slowly got pinker. His heart was beating rapidly while Seungcheol’s was losing control. There was a weird...sensation that both of them experienced. And for a moment, neither of them could unlock from that trance, until Seungcheol managed to crack a smile through his excitement.

Making Jihoon do the same. His eyes curved into little half-moons as he laughed. “I thought you were gonna say you would never forget my hair.”

Seungcheol chuckled and scooched closer to him. “We live in Korea! Anyone could have that hair!”

For the next hour or so, both of them just sat on the floor together and talked, learning the basic information about each other. Seungcheol told Jihoon about how difficult it used to be to get to his classes on time since he lived so far away. Jihoon explained to Seungcheol how he managed to always forget his key at home. Seungcheol talked about how passionate he could be over something and how he valued loyalty when it came to friendships. Jihoon spoke to Seungcheol of how easy it was for him to get lost in whatever he was working on and how stubborn he could be sometimes.

As they just talked and talked, Seungcheol’s smile never left his face. Something about Jihoon’s voice made his heart just run away from him. And his glowing excitement made the rest of his body ache with satisfaction. Something about this kid was just so comforting and...special, it almost felt like. And Seungcheol hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

Jihoon had never been smooth when it came to first encounters, but this by far was his most successful. He was engaged, he was cheerful, he wasn’t just a nervous wreck. Even though he was in the beginning, Seungcheol made him feel at ease. And everytime he was able to throw Seungcheol off his game, getting him to stumble on his words or flush a shade of red, it made his insides dance as his stomach filled with butterflies.

And both of them had this strange awareness, even if they didn’t think the other felt it, that this was not just an introduction to a new friend. No, this could possibly be more. That thought ringing in his mind made Seungcheol feel weightless, as if he was floating. For Jihoon, it was a lot scarier, almost as if he was falling. But as we all know, there’s a certain rush that comes with the drop.

“Yeah, my friend Seungkwan works at the coffee shop right downstairs,” Seungcheol said, fiddling with the wrapper on his finished water bottle. Even though he was done with it forty-five minutes ago and dying for another one, he couldn’t pull himself to leave Jihoon’s side even for a second.

“Hey, I know Seungkwan!” Jihoon exclaimed, looking over at Seungcheol. For a while, he had noticed the tall boy inching closer to him and, oddly enough, he didn’t try to move away. By now, their arms were practically rubbing against each other. His skin was still damp from the sweat of his labor, making Jihoon quiver. “Yeah, I go there...every morning actually. I’m pretty sure he knows my order by now.”

Seungcheol laughed and tilted his head back, letting it rest against the wall. He stretched out his legs and reached his arms forward. “It’s crazy that I haven’t run into you before. But I guess I’m only there in the evenings.”

“I wonder how many times we’ve almost crossed paths,” Jihoon chuckled, letting his chin sink to his chest.

Seungcheol chuckled and gave Jihoon a sly look. “Probably not too many, because if we have…”

“I know, I know,” Jihoon jokingly interrupted. “You would’ve remembered me.” He smiled fondly at Seungcheol, their noses just inches away from each other. He could feel Seungcheol’s breath against his skin as he teased, “I get it, Seungcheol.”

For a second, Seungcheol just stared into Jihoon’s gorgeous, dark eyes, fondly admiring how bright they shone as he smiled. Gradually, his glance slipped down to his lips. Seungcheol had to shake himself to get away from any irrational ideas. Trying to regain his composure, he cleared his throat and laughed. “Glad to know you’re catching on.”

They both laughed, but Seungcheol really meant it. As they were getting to know each other, Jihoon became incredibly more comfortable, slipping in such composed and smooth responses every so often. It pleasantly surprised them both.

“So, Jihoon-ah,” Seungcheol began, smiling down at his lap.

“Mm.” The “-ah” added to his name made a chill run down Jihoon’s spine, as if Seungcheol had just his back.

Seungcheol took in a deep breath and turned back to smile at him. He was met with an equally affectionate grin, making him laugh. “Do you think…,” he nervously started, “...maybe...that you would ever...want to go there...with me?”

Jihoon’s eyes grew wide again, just like they did when they first met a few hours ago, but it was quickly paired with a giant smile. As if trying to find the right words, Jihoon just sat there with his mouth gaping open.

Seungcheol’s heart was racing, waiting for a response, uncertain if this was the right move so early. He was never this forward, even though Jihoon thought he was. This was actually only his second time asking someone out and he was starting to regret it. But Jihoon’s cute expression made it impossible to regret. But before he could say anything…

“SEUNGCHEOL! I’M HOME!”

Immediately, Seungcheol and Jihoon snapped to face forward, sadly turning away from each other. At the front door was another tall boy, this time with longer hair, who was too busy looking at all the boxes to notice that Seungcheol wasn’t alone. “Seungcheol! I thought you said you were gonna move these to the right—” But as soon as he looked up, he jumped a little. “OH! Sorry! Uh, I didn’t know...Seungcheol, why didn’t you tell me we had company?”

Seungcheol closed his eyes and sighed as Jihoon just stared, completely dumbfounded. Not because of this person’s unexpected entrance, but more of how he was going to respond to Seungcheol’s question. Seungcheol slowly got up as he groaned, “Sorry, Jeonghan. This wasn’t really planned.” He turned and shyly grinned at Jihoon, apologetic that they were interrupted. “This is Jeonghan, my roommate.”

Jihoon followed his lead and stood up as well, coming back to reality and putting on a smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jihoon. Sorry, yeah I live across the hall.”

“Oh, nice,” Jeonghan nodded. “Nice to meet you. You live in 917B?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

Jeonghan stepped in and threw his backpack on the counter. “Cool, I think I just ran into your roommate. Mingyu, right? Yeah, he just got home.”

“Oh,” Jihoon replied, softly, “I guess that means I’m not locked out anymore.” He looked over at Seungcheol and tried to grin, but was actually really disappointed that he no longer had an excuse to stay over.

But Seungcheol made no effort to hide that disappointment. He frowned and lowered his head. “Right.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Jihoon said to Jeonghan as he waved and headed for the door.

“You too!” Jeonghan smiled back.

As Jihoon went to the door, Seungcheol followed behind. “I’ll walk you out.”

Jihoon chuckled and glanced back at him as he opened the door. “You realize I live about five feet away.”

Weakly smiling, Seungcheol stepped into the hall with him and shut the door behind. “Thankfully.”

Jihoon smiled up as they stood face to face. “So, about what you were asking…”

“Right,” Seungcheol nodded, nervously in his cheeks. Gently rocking on the heels of his feet, he asked, “Maybe...coffee?”

For a little while, the circle around their personal space was filled with anticipation. Seungcheol waited for an answer, his heart beating in his ears. But this time, Jihoon didn’t leave him hanging for too long. He blushed and laughed, smiling down at his feet before glancing back up. “Coffee sounds good.”

Overcome with joy, Seungcheol nearly ruptured his cheeks from smiling so hard. “YES!” he exclaimed, startling Jihoon. Then out of nowhere, he grabbed Jihoon by the shoulders and leaned in, kissing him right on the side of his cheek, his soft lips firmly pressing against his skin.

This was the most surprised Jihoon had looked during their whole encounter. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull as his hand flew up to clutch his cheek. His heart stopped before it nearly exploded after realizing what had just happened. As Seungcheol retracted, he couldn’t hide how happy he was, nearly jumping up and down from his excitement. The cute boy was going to get coffee with him. Jihoon was going to get coffee with him! JIHOON WAS GOING TO GET COFFEE WITH HIM!

“YAH!” Jihoon screamed, sounding upset but wearing the same, uncontainable smile. His body tingled as he yelled. “YOU CAN’T JUST—!”

But Seungcheol quickly released his grip, swung the door back open, and scampered into his apartment. Only revealing his head through the crack, he flashed a huge smile and chimed, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. For coffee.” And with one last longing stare, he closed the door and disappeared. Locking the door, he quickly turned and slammed his back against it. He had no idea what came over him, but he couldn’t control his urge to just...kiss him like that! Seungcheol’s brain was wracking with panic, if he crossed a line with Jihoon or if that was just too rash. But that panic was almost immediately replaced with pure excitement. Finally, Seungcheol gave a deep, satisfied sigh and went back to moving boxes, smiling like an idiot, and only thinking of two things: Jihoon and getting coffee the next morning.

On the other side, for a minute, Jihoon just stood there, dazed and cupping his face. He could feel how incredibly warm he was getting, but he didn’t care. No one was there to see. And with that thought in mind, he laughed and sank to the floor. He leaned back against his own front door and smiled into his hands, trying to wrap his head around what was going on. Did that all really just happen? Did he seriously just get a date with the hot guy across the hall? Was he actually going to get coffee...with Seungcheol? Was Seungcheol even real?

And when it finally hit him, that all of that did really happen. That he seriously got a date with the hot guy across the hall. That he was actually going to get coffee with Seungcheol. And that Seungcheol was so incredibly real...He nearly passed out. Laughing like a maniac, his whole body ached with joy, such a huge contrast from how tired he was before. Now he was...giddy. Like a little kid, but even better. He felt like he was floating...No...He felt like he was falling...He was getting that rush you feel from the drop…

But then he actually fell.

“What the hell, Jihoon?!” Mingyu exclaimed as he opened the apartment door and watched as Jihoon fell backwards onto the floor. “Were you just sitting against the door?!”

Jihoon lowered his hands to reveal his overly happy face. Placing his hands on his stomach with his head on the ground, he smiled up at Mingyu, who looked confused beyond belief. But he didn’t care that he was laying on the floor. He didn’t care that he may have just banged his head a bit. Nothing mattered. With his hair sprawled behind him, Jihoon just kept smiling. “Did I ever tell you that my lucky number’s 17?” And with that, he started to laugh uncontrollably, thinking about how, thankfully, it was Seungcheol’s lucky number, too.

But Mingyu just rolled his eyes, leaning against the door and staring down at his hysterical friend. “There’s something wrong with you.”