Since Changmin’s arrival, a lot of things had to be readjusted. Yoochun had to redraw the bathroom schedules to accommodate one more user.

 

Kim Junsu, prides over himself because unlike his other roommates, he doesn’t have to join the morning chaos. He takes a shower at night and wakes up at 4am to relieve himself and goes back to sleep and gets up from bed at 7am.

 

Junsu walks to the kitchen and smirks at the madness going on in front of the bathroom. Jaejoong is pounding heavily at the door and muttering curses. Yoochun is counting down the minutes and Changmin’s silent but his puckered brows look dangerous.

 

“Yunho, you’re twenty minutes long overdue.” Yoochun snarls at Yunho the moment he steps out of the bath. He has his face already clean-shaven. He is almost unrecognizable from the caveman that he was a few days ago. Now, he’s looking more clean and refreshed.

 

“Didn’t I buy twenty minutes with my credits?” Yunho says.

 

“Wait, what are credits?” Changmin inquires.

 

“Didn’t you read the manual I gave you?” Yoochun asks.

 

“Yes, because I have the luxury of time to read a 50-page manual.” Changmin says sarcastically.

 

“So, you just signed it without reading it?” Yunho asks.

 

“Do you click the ‘I have read and agreed with the terms and agreement’ when you sign up on Social Media?” Changmin retorts.

 

In the midst of the tension, Jaejoong slips into the bath secretly. When Yoochun notices, he rushes to overtake Jaejoong, but Jaejoong has already closed the door behind him and locked it.

 

“Hey, it’s not yet your turn!” Yoochun desperately twists the doorknob. “It’s Yunho-Yoochun-Changmin, then you come in last.”

 

“Sorry,” Jaejoong says. “But Yoochun, you don’t even need to leave the house. But most of us have to work early today.”

 

“Fine, I can go last.” Yoochun sighs. “Just don’t do your 8-step skincare routine in there. Changmin still has to use the bathroom.”

 

Junsu notices Changmin has taken the seat beside him on the kitchen high stool. He has this disgruntled look on his face and Junsu tries to cheer him up with a smile.

 

“Hyung, what are credits?” The youngest housemate asks.

 

“Credits are perks or chores you exchange with others.” Junsu explains. “Example, Jaejoong gets two shelves on the fridge, but in exchange, he cooks dinner for us. Yunho gets more time in the shower, but he has to wash all the dishes after every meal and I get the whole pantry in exchange for me providing the entertainment system.”

Changmin nods with understanding, but his eyebrows are still knitted together. “This house has so many complicated mechanics. You’ve got color-coded systems, bathroom schedules, credits and Jalgeum night.”

 

“Besides the Jalgeum night, that’s all Yoochun’s doing.” Junsu says. “When it was just me and Yunho, everything was fairly easy.”

 

“That’s because there was just the two of you.” Yoochun interjects. “Imagine how chaotic things will be in a system-less house with five men living in it.”

 

“Yoochun’s got a point.” Yunho agrees as he opens the fridge and takes out his tumbler of protein shake. “We’ve got rules for a reason, in the same way, there are laws in society.”

 

“Aaargh. Too many rules. I’d much prefer living in a school dorm then.” Changmin stomps his feet and storms out of the kitchen back to his room.

 

“What’s his problem? Why is he so cranky?” Yoochun raises his eyebrows as Yunho and Junsu shrug their shoulders.

 

 

 

By eight o’clock, everyone starts leaving the house one by one, except for Yoochun, who most of the time just works at home. Changmin drives a bike to school; Jaejoong takes a cab to wherever his photoshoot takes places, and Yunho hitches a ride with Junsu.

 

Junsu works for a large gaming company in Korea called Jumpstart.  They make mobile games and online games that are nationally and internationally known. Junsu’s proud to have been part of the successful game ‘Kickstart’, a soccer mobile game that allows players to create avatars and become a virtual soccer players, and play with one another, and build a team. The game was conceived with his co-head and best friend Hyuk Jae. For several months, the game took the top spot in the list and had been downloaded over a million times worldwide.

 

Junsu and his team had just completed the beta for Kickstart 2, the same game but with added features and new interactions. In a month, Kickstart 2 will launch, but since the bulk of the production has been done, Junsu and his team can relax a little bit.

 

Today, a monthly meeting is going to be held by all division heads and board members. During the meeting, Junsu proudly presents their progress and completion. Their beta is now in the hands of the engineers for testing and bugging, and just as predicted, will be ready for launching within the month.

 

After all divisions finished their presentations, the marketing team presented last. While the last presenters report, Junsu’s thoughts are travelling elsewhere. He tries to listen to the marketing team, but he’s clueless about charts, numbers and statistics. The last thing he’s heard from the presenters is about the demographics of their downloaders. When he hears numbers being sputtered, he immediately zones out and thinks of soccer, of Kickstart and of lemon cakes from Ji Eun’s café: the three best things in this world.

 

As his thoughts drift towards his favorite things, he feels a light tap on his shoulders. He hears his name being called as he snaps out of trance. He looks up to the podium and sees the CEO looking at him.

 

“So I can entrust this project to the Creative Team, Kim Junsu?” Mr. Choi asks.

 

“Ah, yes!” Junsu replies enthusiastically to mask the fact that he wasn’t paying attention.

 

“It’s settled then.” Mr. Choi concludes. “The dating simulation game will be given to the Creative Team lead by Kim Junsu.”

 

“What?” Junsu looks around in confusion. “Did he just say dating game?” He asks the person sitting next to him.

 

“Yeah. The marketing team expressed concern on the few number of female downloaders. They wanted to extend the market to girls, as well, so Im Dae Ho from the Marketing team suggested doing dating simulation games as they are currently popular among female teens. Weren’t you listening to the discussion a while ago?”

 

Junsu scratches his head. “Of course, I was just making sure. But why give that project to us?”

 

Junsu shoots his hands up.

 

“Yes, Kim Junsu?” Mr. Choi holds his hand out to him.

 

“Sir, is there any chance we can pass on the project?” Junsu asks as he gets on his feet. “My team is not an expert on stuff like that. I don’t think creating a dating simulation game is our forte. We haven’t done anything like that before.”

 

“I know that this project has never been done in our company before.” Mr. Choi considers. “Which is why the most promising team gets to handle this account. And besides, you’re the only team who’s got their hands free. You just said so on your report that you just finished the beta for Kickstart 2 and that it is ready for launching within the month.”

 

“That’s true.” Junsu hesitates. “But there might be bugs, and we might need to readjust the algorithm and codes.”

 

“The Engineering team can handle the debugging.” Mr. Choi says confidently. “Right, Cho Yong Sul?”

 

The Division head of the Engineering team nods. “That’s right. Unless the platform is done entirely wrong, we can handle fixing the minor bugs.”

 

“Besides,” Mr. Choi continued. “We aren’t rushing this project. You can take all the time you want. You have time to research and gather materials.”

 

“B-but-but…” Junsu tries to protest, but Mr. Choi has already gone down the platform and his secretary has announced the meeting adjourned.

 

 

 

 

 

Junsu is drumming his fingers on the table while his team awaits his instruction.

 

 Hyuk Jae slaps his palm onto the table. “We can tell them we messed up High Kick’s beta.” He exchanges hopeful looks with Onew, who looks up from his laptop and nods in agreement.

 

“I checked with the Engineering team. Our beta, except for minor fixable bugs, is perfect.”

 

“Why do you have to be so good in coding?” Hyuk Jae reprimands Onew.

 

“Because Junsu-sunbae checked my work often,” the youngest member of the team said bashfully, unsure if he should take Hyuk Jae’s comment as a compliment or not.

 

“This is so weird. This is the first time we’ve finished a project so smoothly before the deadline, and we all wished it failed so that we can get away with this bizarre assignment. Is there really no way for us to get out of this?”

 

Junsu shakes his head. “Since it came from the higher ups, we don’t have much say.” Junsu raises his head with optimism. “But the project’s very doable. We’ve done more complicated RPG games before. This won’t be much different. We can recycle the same algorithm from the previous games and we can commission a well-known manhwa artist for the character design. We just have to figure out a story.”

 

“Is anyone dating someone right now?” Junsu looks from Hyuk Jae to Onew. Both men shrug their shoulders, looking more depressed than ever.

 

“How about you, Onew? You’re fresh from college. Your dating experience must be freshly engraved in your memory.” Junsu says expectantly.

 

The younger bespectacled man shakes his head. “I studied Engineering for five years in Seoul University. And I studied too hard that I didn’t have time to go out and meet people.” Onew says contritely, feeling almost regretful as soon as he’s confessed.

 

“Hyuk Jae,” Junsu turns to his colleague and good friend. “I remember you had a girlfriend.”

 

“Yes, four years ago.” Hyuk Jae mutters. “We broke up a year before I enlisted in the military and I haven’t dated anyone since I return.” Hyuk Jae exhales sharply. “I haven’t been in a relationship for a long time. I even forgot what it’s like to hold a girl’s hand.”

 

“How about Junsu-sunbae?” Onew asks.

 

Before Junsu could could say anything, Hyuk Jae quickly answers. “Junsu had a girlfriend in high school. They met each other through the online game Flyff.”

 

“We were together for a year.” Junsu says.

 

Onew looks fascinated. “Really?”

 

“They never met in person.” Hyuk Jae reveals. “Their relationship’s only confined within the game.”

 

“Well, we probably didn’t meet each other in person, but I believe we had a really strong connection.” Junsu tries to be convincing.

 

“I don’t think that counts.” Hyuk Jae shakes his head.

 

“I did like her a lot though, even if I had no idea what she looks like.”

 

“She could be a catfish or a 40-year old ahjussi preying on teenage boys.” Hyuk Jae comments.

 

“Shut up, Hyuk Jae!” Junsu barks. Deep inside, he is afraid Hyuk Jae’s right.

 

“Anyway, back to the topic,” Junsu returns the attention to their task at hand. “We need a storyline and we need to finish the concept boards in four weeks. That’s actually a lot of time, but because all of us are not experts in dating, I’m not sure how much time we need to spend on research.”

 

“I think we need to understand our target market in order for us to develop a suitable situation for them.” Hyuk Jae proposes. “What are teenagers up to this day? I feel like it’s been a decade since I was one.”

 

“It’s been a decade since you were one.” Junsu reminds his best friend.

 

“Oh right.” Hyuk Jae nods. “But those ten years feel like a life time. During our time, TVXQ was the most popular band, and Super Junior, too. But I don’t know who these new bands are. I haven’t kept myself updated these days.”

 

“There’s SHinee.” Onew says.

“Shinee who? Never heard of that.” Hyuk Jae shrugs his shoulders.

 

“They’re the band that debuted not long before TVXQ split up.” Onew states.

 

“Well, I stopped being a fanboy since TVXQ split up.” Hyuk Jae says.

 

“I remember that.” Junsu recalls. “You were so depressed about their breakup that you joined a prayer meeting for them.”

 

“Let’s not mention that again. So anyway,” Hyuk Jae diverts the topic back on track. “What’s popular with kids these days, Onew? I feel so old not knowing the trends anymore.”

 

“Stop talking like an ‘Ahjussi’, Hyuk Jae.” Junsu shakes his head. “It’s not like we’re too old to keep updated with the latest trends. You have the Internet, for crying out loud.”

 

“That’s easy for you to say because you didn’t spend two years of your life locked away from the world yet.” Hyuk Jae smiles caustically. “Being in the military can be daunting. Even if I got back just a few months ago, I’m still readjusting.”

           

“I hear there’s a romance novel out there that’s really popular with teenage girls and young women.” Onew says as he’s typing on the search engine. He shows his seniors a poll conducted by a popular women’s website. “It’s this romance novel called ‘The Five Types of You’ll Date’. It’s written by PYC.”

 

Junsu immediately recognizes the book cover. It’s the same image on the poster of the bookstore where Junsu dropped off Yoochun for his book signing. “That’s my housemate’s book!” Junsu exclaims. “Do you remember me mentioning about the annoying lazy tenant I have as a roommate. That’s the author of that book.”

 

“Oh cool!” Onew gawks in awe. “It says here his books is one of the top 10 most romantic novels of the year. It’s even ranked above Fifty Shades of Grey.”

 

Hyuk Jae turns to Junsu with determined eyes. “Junsu, we should ask for his help. I’m sure he can give us a lot of tips. The title already suggests that the book’s about dating.”

 

“I consider this my bible on dating. I absolutely adore this book. This is the story of my life,” Onew reads the comments of the netizens about the book. “The main character is so relatable. If you want to know how to date, don’t buy the boring dummy’s guide, read this novel instead.”

 

The last comment makes Onew look up from his laptop. “Hyuk Jae-sunbae is right. We need to get our hands on this book.”

 

“Just ask Yoochun.” Hyuk Jae tells Junsu.

 

“No Way!”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because I know he’ll make fun of me for it.” Junsu admits bashfully. He can already imagine Yoochun’s laughing face. “We’ll find another way. But there is absolutely no way I’ll tell him about this project.”

 

“Well, if you can’t ask him personally. There’s no harm if we look into his book, right?” Hyuk Jae says. “Okay, I think that is what we should do for now. Onew and Junsu, you both look into the book. I, on the other hand, will look for a manhwa artist to do the artworks.”

 

“Great.” Junsu agrees. “Let’s be dismissed for now and work on our individual tasks.”

 

 

Junsu takes a break from work and drops by at a local bookstore to purchase one of Yoochun’s book. It would have been easier to just ask a copy from his roommate, but he decides against it, after imagining Yoochun mocking him. As one of the developers of Korea’s top game, it was hard to be proud of working on a dating simulation game. To Junsu, it feels like such a downgrade, a parabolic dip in his career after reaching the peak of his creativity and ingenuity. I mean, what’s so original about a dating simulation game? That has been done and created by many game developers before. Junsu laments in disappointment. He’s always believed his company pioneers in creativity and originality. But as it turns out, all his company really cared about is numbers. How is it that they’re letting the statistics and demographics decide on what games to produce?

 

Yoochun’s book has always been displayed on a special shelf along with other best-sellers. Junsu shakes his head in disbelief. Sometimes, he forgets that the Yoochun who’s always trolling and making fun of him is the same person that created this cult-favorite novels. As far as he knows, Yoochun has written three books. The latest one is entitled ‘The Five Types of You’ll Date’.

 

Before Junsu could reach the book he’s going to purchase, he hears a feminine voice from behind him.

 

“Are you thinking of getting that book?”

 

Junsu turns and sees a tall and slender woman standing beside him. Her well-defined brow as arched at Junsu and her red full lips are curled slightly into a disapproving smirk.

Junsu grabs the book and nods. “Yes.”

The girl gracefully flips her hair as she takes the book from Junsu’s hand and returns it back on the shelf. “Trust me, you don’t want to buy that. It’s a waste of your time. If you want something worthwhile, I’ll lead you to the classics section. If you want something more contemporary, I can recommend Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Picoult.”

 

“But I want this book.” Junsu snatches Yoochun’s book again from the shelf. This time, he distances himself from the woman.

 

“Is it a gift for your girlfriend? For your sister? I promise I can recommend something much better than that crap.”

 

“No, it’s fine. I actually just need this for research.”

 

“What?” The woman says in disbelief. “If you want research materials, there’s a reference section over there. I don’t get how that crap is research material.”

 

“It’s for my job.” Junsu replies. He nods slightly at the girl and then turns his heel towards the counter. Unbeknownst to him, the woman follows him.

 

The cashier at the counter receives Junsu’s book graciously. A sweet smile is plastered across her face when she sees the nice-looking man in his neat checkered blazer.

“This is a nice choice for a book.” The cashier begins, “This is really popular among young women these days.”

 

“So I’ve heard.” Junsu nods. “I bought this to see what the fuss is about.”

 

The cashier smiles more widely as she tucks her hair behind her ear. “Do you know what they say about men who read these kinds of books?”

 

“What?”

 

“They say men like you are romantic. Is that true?”

 

Junsu claps his hand and laughs. “Really? I’ve never heard of that saying before.”

 

“I’m off after fifteen minutes.” The cashier offers.

 

“Good for you. Hope you have a great day.” Junsu nods politely as he receives his packaged book from the lady.

 

Behind him, chuckles a familiar feminine voice. When he turns around, he sees the same woman by the shelf trailing behind him.

 

“Oh my god, did you see the look on her face?” She says in between her laughter.

 

“What? Who?”

 

“The cashier.” The woman replies. “She just looks dumbfounded as if someone had slapped her across her face.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Coz you just rejected her.” She states as-a-matter-of-factly.

 

“I did? When did I?”

 

“Oh my god, you had no idea, don’t you?” The woman throws her hand on her chest in amusement. “She was flirting with you and she was trying to ask you out.”

 

“Really?” Junsu scratches his head obliviously. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

 

“What are you apologizing to me for?” The woman chuckles. “You should be sorry to yourself. You know she was very pretty.”

 

“Who?”

 

“The cashier.” The woman says. “Any guy would have jumped at the chance to go out with someone like her.”

 

“I guess, but even if she’ll be off after fifteen minutes, I’ll have to return to the office by then.”

 

“Well, you know what? I change my mind. You might need to read that book after all. I feel like you’re so clueless about this things.” The woman says with amusement. “But if I were you, a Cosmo is a better research material. That literary crap you just bought is basically just a summary of things taken out from the Cosmo.”

 

“Er—thanks for your recommendation.”

 

The woman pauses and scrutinizes Junsu. Junsu feels the weight of her gaze as she looks at him from head to toe.

 

“You’re not bad-looking yourself, you know.” She’s saying. “But if you work on your body posture, you’ll do better, and maybe if you try to be more present.”

“Who are you exactly?” Junsu raises his eyebrows. The woman beams a lovely smile and holds out her card.

 

“I’m Park Hwa Young. I’m a lifestyle blogger, but I mostly write about relationships and dating. People write to me if they want an advice with their love life. If you want my help, you can email me or you can visit my blog.”

 

Junsu accepts the card hesitantly. He’s not really interested, but he thinks it was the polite way to do.

 

 

 “I just hope you enjoy that book, as much as I hated it.” Hwa Young waves one last good bye to Junsu before she ambles back into the bookshop. Junsu doesn’t usually notice these things, but there was something about the way she looks that was so familiar. Junsu feels as if he’s seen her before, he just doesn’t know where. One thing’s for certain though, she is quite attractive and the other men whose heads turn when she passes by them confirms this.