After a long day of work and half an hour of staring out into the night scenery of Seoul, Sungmin let out a sigh of relief as the taxi turned into the familiar street. He passed a few small restaurants and an internet cafe before the vehicle pulled to a stop. 

“Thank you,” he said, handing the money over to the driver and grabbing his bags. He skipped up the stairs and paused to greet the ahjumma from two floors down that gave them pears and homemade songpyeons for Chuseok every year. 

After delivering a final bow, he noticed the elevator doors about to close, and Sungmin decided to make a dash for it. Upon reaching them, he stuck his foot out and braced himself. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes, thankful that his toes were still intact. He giggled at his latest achievement and then smiled to himself, amused at how something so trivial could generate such happiness in him. Sungmin entered the elevator. 

“What floor?” 

If Sungmin could’ve leapt three meters in the air, he probably would have. But seeing as his human capabilities didn’t extend that far, his body decided to react by letting out a high pitched scream instead. After calming his wildly beating heart, he suddenly realised that he almost deafened the poor soul that had so innocently asked him a question. 

“Omo! I’m so sorry!” he bowed immediately, but was glad to see that the man simply smiled at him. “Eighth floor, by the way.” 

“No problem,” he replied calmly.

While Hyukjae was the reserved-around-strangers type and preferred to not acknowledge or have any form of interaction with people in elevators, Sungmin was quite the nosy kid. He was the kind of person who loved striking up conversations with random people, and this guy was no exception.

“Busy day?” he asked, and the man’s head shot up from his phone screen, clearly surprised that he was being addressed. He eyed Sungmin for a second before answering him.

“Yeah, actually. I’m planning on having guests over, so I had to cook and clean the place.”

Sungmin nodded. “I know exactly how you feel. Guests are so tiring. Especially when you have a useless roommate that doesn’t do chores until you threaten him.”

The man opened his mouth to say something, but the elevator sounded instead. 

“Oh, its my floor. Bye!” Sungmin exited the elevator, but by the time he realised he had forgotten to ask for a name, the doors had already shut. Oh well.

Sungmin walked in fast paces, his leather shoes click-clacking against the floor. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a ring of keys, flipping through them until he found the right one. He slipped the key into the lock and turned the door. Finally, a night of peace and -

”Hyukjae?” Sungmin swung the door open to reveal his roommate lying face-down on a pile of clothes. When he didn’t respond, Sungmin quickly ed his shoes and ran over to him. He took him by his skinny shoulders and flipped him over. 

“Lee Hyukjae! You can’t die on me! We still have to go to Disneyland and the Cup Noodle Museum together!”

Hyukjae’s arm reached up and slapped him hard on the chest. He opened his eyes and glared at him. “I’m so glad that our long-lasting friendship means so much to you.” 

“No problem,” Sungmin replied nonchalantly. “But seriously, what is all this?” he asked, gesturing to all of the shirts and pants strewn all over the floor. 

Hyukjae rubbed the back of his neck. “I was just trying to pick out a nice outfit for tonight.”

Tonight? Sungmin wondered, tracing back to bits and pieces of conversations over the past day. And then it it hit him. “Ugh, do I have to go? I’ve been at work all day, and I’m tired~” he whined, plopping himself on the couch. 

Hyukjae glared at him from his position on the floor, where he was sorting through a pile of shirts. “You promised me, Min. Last night, remember? And you never -“

“Back down on promises, yeah I know,” he groaned into a pillow. Stupid moral values. He rolled over on his side, watching as Hyukjae checked his reflection in the mirror.

Hyukjae shrugged a jacket off and took his T-shirt off, pulling a pale blue sweater over his head instead. He caught Sungmin’s eye in the mirror. “Does it look good?”

Sungmin nodded his approval. “You’re really going all out for this guy, huh.” 

It seemed as though his friend hadn’t heard him, as he quickly gathered all of the clothes in his slender arms, tossed them on his bed and began to slip on his shoes. Sungmin suddenly recalled their conversation last night.

“What if I get sick tomorrow, and you just show up alone at his house. That’s a win for you, right? I’d be doing you a favour." Sungmin untied his apron, setting it on the counter and carried the plate of kimchi fried rice to the table, where Hyukjae was tapping his fingers.

“But I need you there, Min. Moral support, y’know?” 

“Does this guy really scare you that much?” he asked, scooping a good serving of the rice onto his plate.

Hyukjae took the serving spoon and helped himself as well. “It’s not that I’m scared of him, but he just gives me this feeling. Like….when he makes eye contact with me, I get all nervous and don’t know what to say. I feel like one of those girls in those dumb romance comedies that you like to watch. It’s so cliché and frustrating!” he buried his head in his hands, embarrassed at his confession. He hated touchy-feely things.

“Oh dear,” Sungmin said to himself. He had only ever seen Hyukjae like this once in his entire life. And that was long, long ago. “You’re in love, my friend.”

————————

“You know, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Hyukjae said, tapping his foot nervously as they waited for the elevator to arrive. 

“It’s just a dinner, Hyuk. Calm down.”

“Yeah, but he’s really cute and I don’t want to leave a bad impression on him.” They stepped into the elevator, and he began checking his reflection in the mirror. He even styled his hair, for goodness’ sake. 

Sungmin leaned back against the wall. “Didn’t you already do that the last time you marched up into his room and he was half ?” He narrowly dodged the kick that was aimed at him. “Hey! Watch the plant!”

Hyukjae watched his short roommate in the mirror, who was inspecting the plant to make sure it was alright. “Why do you have that thing anyway?” The elevator made a short ding and the two made their way to Donghae’s apartment.

“It’s a housewarming gift. I figured that my great and thoughtful personality would make up for your lack thereof.” Before they had left the house, Sungmin had rushed back into his room to pick up the gift that he had planned on giving their neighbour a while back.

Hyukjae rolled his eyes. “Please. Your tacky houseplant would probably ruin Donghae’s flawless decorating.”

As they got closer to Donghae’s door, Hyukjae started getting anxious once more. It was perfectly normal to get nervous around handsome guys, as Sungmin would tell him, but could he really help it if he was a walking ball of awkwardness? 

“You can do this,” he muttered to himself, as he brought his finger to press the doorbell. Then he paused. Sungmin groaned. 

“Lee Hyukjae, sometimes, you really get on my nerves.” He pressed the button before Hyukjae could bat an eyelash. 

“Why did you do that? I have to mentally prepare myself first!” Hyukjae ran a hand through his hair, wincing when it got caught on the bracelet he was wearing. “Crap! Min, help me!” 

Sungmin set the plant on the floor and pulled his friend’s head down, laughing as he picked strands from the wretched accessory. “Imagine if he opened the door no-“ 

And as circumstances seem to befall the ever-so-lucky Hyukjae, the door swung open at that exact same moment. A tall, well dressed man stood before them, staring at the two with a look of perplexity. 

Sungmin scrambled to get the potted plant off the floor. He shoved it hastily into the man’s arms. 

“Happy housewarming!” he beamed. He gave the man a good once-over, not quite noticing the way Hyukjae was just gaping in shock at the stranger. Wow, he really is quite good looking. 

“Uh….th-that isn’t….” Hyukjae stuttered unintelligently.

“Sorry, but…who are you?” the equally confused man asked. 

Sungmin blinked. Surely this was the right apartment? Hyukjae had already triple checked the number. He glanced at said roommate, who looked like he was dying of embarrassment. Poor thing. He was never the best at talking to new people.

“Oh, we’re Donghae’s neighbours. We live downstairs,” he answered politely, never failing to keep a radiant smile on his face. “This is his apartment right?” 

The man nodded slowly. “Yeah it is, but-“ he was interrupted as another man appeared beside him, wrapping a muscular arm around his waist. 

“Hyukjae! I’m so glad you could make it!” greeted Donghae. When he saw Sungmin, his eyes widened, and so did Sungmin’s.

“You’re that guy-“ Donghae began.

“From the elevator!” Sungmin finished. He laughed. “What a weird coincidence!”

Their words fell on deaf ears, however, as Hyukjae sulked beside Sungmin, devastated. I knew he had a boyfriend, he thought bitterly. He side-eyed the man, with his neatly combed hair and dress pants. He looked down at his own ripped skinny jeans. I can’t even hate him because he’s better looking than me. 

Hyukjae winced as he felt an elbow in his side. “Hyuk, are you even listening?” Sungmin hissed in his ear.

He looked up and saw Donghae staring directly at him. “Um….what?” he said dumbly. Why was it that whenever he ended up at this door, he suddenly became horribly inarticulate?

“He said he liked your outfit,” Sungmin whispered excitedly.

Hyukjae felt his chest swell with pride, unable to keep a happy grin off his face. “Really?”

Donghae smiled back. “Yeah.” 

“He’s smiling like an idiot because he spent like three hours trying on all of his clothes.” Sungmin laughed as Hyukjae slapped his arm.

Donghae led them into the house, where Hyukjae suddenly noticed the pictures of him and the other guy hung up in the entryway. In one of them, Donghae was still fairly young. I guess they’re childhood sweethearts or something.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce you guys. This is my older brother, Jungsoo-hyung.” Jungsoo smiled at them, and Hyukjae noticed a little dimple that formed at the corner of his mouth. Wait what?

“Brother?” Hyukjae was suddenly struck by a wave of relief. Sungmin giggled softly as he saw his roommate visibly relax. He was just so easy to read.

“Yeah, he dropped by today to check on me.”

“Does he live with your parents?” Hyukjae asked.

Jungsoo and Donghae exchanged a glance. “Oh,” said Jungsoo, smile faltering. “We were raised in an orphanage. We don’t exactly have parents.” His words were quiet, but rehearsed. Hyukjae instantly felt bad. So much for not screwing up your first impression with his family.

An awkward silence settled for about five seconds before Donghae spoke up. “I was making galbijim!” he declared, rushing to the kitchen. 

“I’ll help you out,” Sungmin called, following him.

Hyukjae felt nervous as he stood with Jungsoo in the living room. The older man sat down on the sofa, switching the TV on. “You don’t need to feel bad about earlier, you know. We both don’t take it personally.”

Hyukjae studied the man’s expression before sitting on the opposite end of the sofa. They remained silent, half-immersed in the movie. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Jungsoo didn’t really like him. He glanced at the man. He was muscular, but not overly-so that it was slightly unsettling. His hair was combed over his forehead, and the corners of his eyes crinkled as he let out a half hearted laugh at whatever was on the screen. 

“You’re staring,” Jungsoo remarked, and Hyukjae didn’t even realise it. 

He twiddled with his thumbs, deciding that apologising would probably make things even more awkward. Not that he was socially inept or anything. He just had a bad habit of second guessing himself too often. After a few minutes, Donghae and Sungmin came back into the dining room with the food. Jungsoo and Hyukjae got up and went to the table. 

“Wow!” he exclaimed, staring at the feast laid out for them. “You made all of this?”

Donghae rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I used to cook for my brother and I all the time.”

Hyukjae immediately took the seat next to Sungmin, who smirked at him. Hyukjae stuck his tongue out childishly.

“So where are you guys originally from?” Sungmin asked. 

Donghae took a piece of kimchi and popped it into his mouth. “Mokpo.”

“Whoa!” Hyukjae exclaimed, eyes wide. “You must’ve travelled far to get here then.”

“Actually, I’ve been working in Seoul for a couple of months already. I’m living with my boyfriend,” said Jungsoo. 

Hyukjae nearly choked on his piece of meat, but Sungmin carried on without batting an eyelash. “That’s really romantic! So Donghae, I take it that you don’t have a job yet?” 

Donghae raised his eyebrow slightly. “How did you know?” 

“Oh, Hyuk’s been complaining-“ Hyukjae delivered a swift kick to Sungmin’s leg. “-I mean, he mentioned that there had been music blasting 24/7 from the upstairs apartment, and so I figured you’ve just been staying in all day or something.”

Donghae nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, well…I’ve been looking for a job for the past month and I haven’t been able to find a decent one yet.”

“He’s been looking for something that caters to his hobbies. His last office job didn’t really work out,” Jungsoo mentioned.

“Dancing,” Donghae added, his eyes lighting up. “I love dancing.”

“What a coincidence! So does Hyukjae! In fact, didn’t you tell me that Taemin opened up a spot for a new dance instructor at his academy recently?” Hyukjae blinked as all three pairs of eyes settled on him, and he had a small lump forming in his stomach.

“Uhm…yeah. Howon left last week so I need an assistant teach-“

“That’s great! You should totally check it out tomorrow,” Sungmin interrupted, rattling off the address of the dance academy before Hyukjae could say anything.

“Wow, thanks!” Donghae turned to a horrified Hyukjae. “I guess I’ll see you at work then!”

Sungmin shot Hyukjae a Cheshire grin, and Hyukjae felt like slamming his head on the table.

The rest of the night proceeded with minimal cringes from Hyukjae, many of which stemmed from Sungmin’s never ending re-telling of embarrassing teenage anecdotes. 

“It gets better. Once I went to his house and accidentally walked in on him-“

“OKAY!” Hyukjae intervened, chuckling nervously. “I think that’s enough story telling for tonight, eh Minnie?” Sungmin merely smirked at his pointed look.

“Wow, look at the time,” Hyukjae said, standing up and taking his plate to the sink. “I guess we better go soon.”

Jungsoo got up as well, taking the rest of the dishes to the kitchen as well. “Thanks for spending dinner with us though. Donghae loves any opportunity to cook for other people.

Hyukjae smiled at him. “No problem. Thanks for having us over.”

The four of them exchanged a few more farewells before the two headed back downstairs.

“See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” Sungmin was leaning on the elevator wall. 

Hyukjae sighed. “I guess not.” He glanced at his reflection in the mirror.

“I haven’t seen you that happy, though. Not since-“ his roommate suddenly stopped, looking anxiously at Hyukjae, but he had heard it already.

Hyukjae stiffened and stepped out of the elevator, walking in fast paces. He felt Sungmin’s presence as the shorter man jogged to catch up.

“Hyuk, stop. I didn’t mean anything.” 

Hyukjae fished the keys out his pocket and opened the apartment door, heading straight for his room and locking the door behind him. Sungmin hesitated outside.

“I know you didn’t mean anything, Min. Don’t worry about it,” came the voice from inside.

Hyukjae flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He cradled Choco close to him, her fur gently. The sounds of Sungmin’s footsteps retreating echoed around his room, but so did his words. 

“Not since him, right Choco?” he smiled bitterly, unwanted tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He wiped them away and shut his eyes tight, willing himself to sleep.

God, I’m pathetic.

-------------------------------------------

A/N: I feel the need to bow deeply to all of you who waited on this chapter. I got really caught up on some important exams and I wanted to write a good chapter for you all, so I kept re-writing and changing stuff. But I made this chapter longer than the previous ones so hopefully I'll get on a roll since summer vacation started up this week.