PRESENT DAY

“Happy Birthday, Sehunnie!” Kyungsoo shouts, holding up the chocolate cake, which he had carefully selected for the occasion, up to his boyfriend’s face so he can blow out his “2” and “3” candles. The partygoers burst into applause and woop, blowing the kazoos and unleashing the confetti poppers that Kyungsoo suddenly regretted purchasing -- it was way too noisy and sweeping up all that confetti was going to be a royal pain in the .

Speaking of butts…

Upon laying eyes on the cake Sehun’s initial look of shock turned into a red-faced laugh –- just the reaction Kyungsoo had hoped for. You see, the chocolate cake, covered in black frosting, was in the shape of a … Sehun’s to be specific.

Usually Kyungsoo wouldn’t be so crude, but this cake held special meaning for the two of them. How they met was a story they liked to reminisce about from time-to-time…

ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO

The first time Kyungsoo and Sehun met was in their apartment’s laundry room. Sehun was on the ground, bent over on all fours, round buttocks unabashedly on display in black gym shorts.

Hearing steps behind him, Sehun looked up, not bothering to stand on two feet, just turning his head to look behind him, like a dog investigating his own his tail. Kyungsoo was taken aback, but then again it wasn’t a bad view.

“My damn sock got stuck between the washing machines,” Sehun huffed, without any formality.

Kyungsoo wondered what kind of person didn’t even say “Hello” to a stranger, and didn’t care that their was all up in said stranger’s face.

“Oh yeah, that ,” Kyungsoo replied.

“It so bad. And I need this sock – it’s part of a very expensive pair of designer socks.” “Okay, well good luck with that,” Kyungsoo said, dropping off his laundry basket and walking out of the room.

“Aren’t you going to wash your clothes?” Sehun asked between grunts, as he struggled to reach his wayward sock.

“Well, it seems a bit dangerous to start the washing machines while your head is between them…so I’ll just come back in a bit.”

“Ah yeah, that makes sense. Okay, cool. Thanks.”

Kyungsoo nodded toward Sehun’s (the only part of him that was in view) and left, scratching his head.

From then on, Kyungsoo called the stranger “ guy.” Only in his head of course! He wouldn’t say that to his face for god’s sake!

Well, that’s what Kyungsoo thought, but as the saying goes, “the best-laid plans...often go awry.”

Kyungsoo was a bit alarmed that he and “ guy” seemed to have the same schedule. The very next day, when the apartment elevator reached the eighth floor, it opened to reveal “-guy,” dressed to the nines in a slim fitting grey suit, with cobalt tie, shiny leather shoes, and large sunglasses.

Wow, what a difference! Kyungsoo thought. Could this be the same guy from the laundry room yesterday?

“Oh, hey!” Sehun said, upon seeing Kyungsoo.

“Hi.” Kyungsoo replied, while Sehun entered the elevator. Kyungsoo felt a cloud of awkwardness hanging over him that he really wanted to shake off.

Not much of a conversationalist (either), Sehun didn’t say anything more. They had six more floors to go and the silence was killing Kyungsoo, so he ventured to say, “Did you have any luck getting your sock?”

Sehun instantly lit up. “Yes! Oh my gosh, it took forever, but I’m proud to say that I finally got it.” Sehun lifted his foot and pulled up his pant leg to show off a black sock with small, blue birds on it.

“Nice,” Kyungsoo said. “Thanks! I was really worried because I had to pre-order these online from London. Disaster averted! I’m Sehun by the way. Did you move in recently?” “ boy” continued.

“I’m Kyungsoo, and yes, I moved in yesterday,” Kyungsoo replied, he was relieved that he could replace his nickname for the tall stranger with his legal name.

“Are you off to work?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yep, the ol’ daily grind,” Sehun replied with a chuckle. “You?” he asked.

“Yes, me too. Off to grind--,” flustered Kyungsoo paused. Sehun’s eyebrows raised as he peered over his sunglasses at him. “I mean, I’m not going to grind, I’m also doing the daily grind…aish...yes, I’m going to work.”

Sehun stifled a laugh as Kyungsoo fidgeted across from him, his ears a bright red. This guy was quite interesting, Sehun thought.

“Is it safe to ask what your occupation is or did you have a Freudian slip there?” teased Sehun.

Tugging on his neck, Kyungsoo released a belly laugh so deep and resonant that Sehun was taken aback. He definitely had not expected that voice to come out of the tiny man.

“No, I don’t grind for work if that’s what you mean. I’m a music teacher at the nearby university. What about you?”

Sehun reluctantly shooed away the vision of what Kyungsoo grinding for work might look like.

“I’m a buyer for the men’s line of a fashion retailer. I spend all day looking at clothes, shoes, belts…socks.” Sehun winked at Kyungsoo over his glasses.

Kyungsoo nodded with an “Ah.”

The elevator bell dinged as the doors opened on the parking garage.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you,” Sehun said nonchalantly as headed in the direction of his car.

“Yes...uh...have a good day! Hope you snag some more awesome socks today,” Kyungsoo said heading in the opposite direction.

Sehun shook his head, Kyungsoo had a funny (not funny funny, but odd funny) sense of humor. He liked it.

On his drive to the university, Kyungsoo thought about how Sehun seemed so confident and self-assured. He was thoroughly fascinated. For this young man, Sehun, life’s problems were as disastrous as almost losing a pre-ordered European sock, and as joyful as rescuing said item from the sock Bermuda triangle.

Kyungsoo thought that maybe he should re-evaluate his own life. He tended to worry about a lot of things.

Getting ready for work the next morning Sehun paid extra attention to his outfit choice, the level of pomade in his hair, and how minty-fresh his breath was.

This apartment building was quite intimate as far as apartment buildings in Seoul went, only 100 units spread over ten floors, so Sehun noted that the probability of running into his well-mannered co-dweller Kyungsoo would be higher than average.

Sehun knew -- like everyone did -- that there were two ways to stalk someone you wanted to “get to know better”: 1) Research your target down to every detail and track them down. No meeting accidental, no interaction uncalculated or 2) be unabashedly alluring and stellar whenever happenstance fated you to interact with the target.

The first option sounded like a lot of work, and also Sehun was naturally gifted in the fine arts of allure and stellarness, so of course he opted for the second option.

Leaving his apartment, Sehun was very pleased with the level of excellence with which he’d assembled himself -- everything, from head to toe, was on point. Sehun was usually happy to stun anyone with his good looks and fashion sense, but unfortunately he was not happy at all that he looked so good at the very moment he was about to run into his ex-boyfriend, Junmyeon.

Junmyeon greeted first, coming down the hallway toward Sehun, laundry basket in his arms, full of freshly washed clothing.

“Oh, hey Sehun-ah, fancy seeing you here right?” Junmyeon let out one of his stilted chuckles.

“Ha, yes, how strange,” Sehun replied, avoiding too much eye contact with Junmyeon.

“After work tonight, if you’re free...I’m having some people over… you remember Yixing and Jongin, from my office? Well, yeah, they’re coming over to watch the soccer game tonight. Just pizza, beer, chicken wings...you’re more than welcome to come. I’d -- they’d love to see you I’m sure.”

Junmyeon’s smile never subsided the entire time he spoke, although Sehun could tell he was feeling quite awkward.

“Oh, uh, thank you for the invite, but...I can’t tonight...Or...any night. I think it’s for the best. Ya know?”

This wasn’t the first time Junmyeon had invited Sehun over to his place since they’d broken up, nor the first time he’d declined. But this time Sehun didn’t make a lame excuse, he finally needed to be upfront with Junmyeon. Their relationship was over.

Sehun now regretted ever telling Junmyeon about this gem of an apartment complex -- nice neighborhood, good amenities, and affordable rent. But back then he’d hoped that Junmyeon would want to move in -- preferably with him. But the past is the past, and now Sehun had set his sights on the cutie Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo’s fascination with Sehun only increased as they got to know each other better during their morning elevator chats, meetings at the mailbox, and hallway or lobby pass-bys on the way to or from wherever.

Unexpectedly, Kyungsoo found that his heart beat just a little faster when the elevator reached Sehun’s floor. Sehun was the complete opposite of him: tall, suave, confident, all eyes turned to look at him when he appeared. However, their opposing natures didn’t cause Kyungsoo to feel insecure or awkward around Sehun. Instead he felt excited and invigorated. He himself couldn’t explain why. Sehun was literally like a breath of fresh air. Air that vibrated with electricity that was both addicting and a little terrifying.

Kyungsoo really looked forward to running into Sehun, talking about music and fashion, the latest hit movie, or about the elderly lady on the fifth floor who always smelled like eggplant. So, he was more than disappointed when one morning, the elevator doors opened and Sehun wasn’t there.

Sehun was always there. Every morning like clockwork. Since the day he moved in. Kyungsoo felt something was terribly wrong.

Sehun wasn’t in the elevator, but he was in fact there. Well, in the building, in his corner apartment, still in his bed, hands gripping the sheets, cool beads of sweat running down his temples. And yes, something was terribly wrong indeed.

In the early light of dawn, Sehun had woken up from a shocking nightmare. He realized that although he had consciously chosen to navigate his crush on Kyungsoo in a detached and aloof manner -- maintaining his cool at all times, he had actually subconsciously begun to stalk Kyungsoo in the way of common folk.

All this time he’d been logging his happenstance interactions with said man into a detailed schedule in the Notes app on his smartphone:

7:30 a.m. - Elevator, on his way to work (weekdays only)

Between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. - Sometimes elevator sometimes lobby, on his way to the gym or returning from the gym (depends on when I wake up) (weekends only)

Between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. - Hallway, doing laundry (every other Sunday)

6/6:30 p.m. - Elevator, returning from work (weekdays only)

Between 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. - Lobby, going to/coming from grocery store down the street (possibly any day of the week)

There was more, a lot more, but one gets the idea.

Sehun had justified his list by telling himself that he needed to know when he should prepare, if needed, a new, well-appointed outfit for his target. Of course he could not let Kyungsoo see him in the same outfit twice, even if he saw him three or four times in one day.

Three weeks since meeting Kyungsoo however, Sehun couldn’t tell whether it was the chicken or the egg that came first, as they say; if he was getting dressed to go purposefully run into Kyungsoo or if he just happened to be dressed nicely when he accidentally ran into Kyungsoo -- was it still an accident if he had a schedule? Sehun shuddered. Anyway, he had run out of clothing options -- he’d worn everything in his closet, including his gym clothes.

Also, the plan was for Kyungsoo to fall for his allure and stellarness to the point where it was so obvious that one day Sehun would have to laugh and say, “Ah, do you like me?” with a little tap on Kyungsoo’s shiny, round cheek.

Kyungsoo would blush and bow his head and nervously reply, “I do” and Sehun would look at him with his steamiest gaze, meanwhile closing the gap between them in two long steps, grabbing the back of Kyungsoo’s head to draw those plush lips to his in a heated kiss; Kyungsoo quivering in shock and pleasure. Yes, that’s what was supposed to happen. Sehun had given this plenty of thought and planned it out to a T.

Then why the heck was he the one feeling like the air was fresher when Kyungsoo was around; the sun was brighter, the sky was bluer, life was beautiful, and the world was at peace? How had a quiet, styleless man flipped the script and beguiled Sehun with his own understated, yet powerful stellarness?

Sehun yanked the covers over his head, shutting his eyes in the hopes that would stop images of Kyungsoo’s big, round eyes, heart-shaped lips, and compact, yet substantial frame from swimming in his head.

Sehun was in no condition to go out into the world that day. He was having a legitimate crisis.

One benefit to having Kyungsoo’s schedule in his phone was that Sehun could also plan when not to see him.

For the past week he’d been leaving for work earlier than usual in order to avoid encountering the small man in the elevator. He’d in fact rearranged his entire life, grocery shopping in the wee hours of the morning or late in the night, staying out on weekday evenings after work so he’d come home long after Kyungsoo was probably already tucked in to bed.

Unfortunately, Sehun eventually needed to do laundry, and while Kyungsoo usually did laundry on Sundays between 12pm and 2pm, that all depended on whether there were washing machines free or if there was an emergency need to do laundry due to a ketchup explosion.

He hedged his bets at 11:42 a.m. on Saturday morning when Kyungsoo might be running errands or having brunch with friends after going to the gym. Kyungsoo had mentioned to him that these were activities he often engaged in at this time.

The only tricky part was making it downstairs to the laundry room, whose entrance was right off the lobby. Usually it wouldn’t necessarily be an issue because most tenants went to and from their apartment floor to the basement-level parking garage, but Kyungsoo walked to the gym because it was only a few blocks away. So, there was a chance of bumping into him in the lobby.

In a turn of events whereby Sehun was anticipating not seeing Kyungsoo, he was again unfortunately spotted by his ex, Junmyeon. Just as he was passing the elevator to take the stairs downstairs, for added security -- Kyungsoo wasn’t likely to walk up ten flights to his apartment -- the doors opened and out popped Junmyeon like an adorably harmless jack-in-the-box.

Running down the hall at full speed would have been a wee bit dramatic, so Sehun nodded in Junmyeon’s direction keeping his pace.

“Ah, Sehun-ah! Laundry day, eh?” Junmyeon said behind him, a peek over Sehun’s shoulder, confirming the rosy cheeks and stiff grin that were so familiar to him.

“Yep,” muttered Sehun not stopping.

“Hey Sehun.” The sharp edge in Junmyeon’s voice made Sehun pause. With a sigh he turned to face Junmyeon.

Although he was trying to appear relaxed, Sehun could tell that Junmyeon was pretty annoyed.

“Look, Sehun, I understand that we’re no longer seeing each other, and I know it’s pretty weird to be living across the hall from each other...but you don’t have to be this way. It’s awkward for me too, but I’m trying to make the best of it. Why can’t we be civil to each other?”

The earnestness in Junmyeon’s eyes pricked at Sehun’s heart, however this was really bad timing. Minutes were ticking by that might draw him closer to the possibility of running into Kyungsoo.

“I am being civil. I just really need to do laundry right now.” And with that Sehun rushed to the stairwell. He heard Junmyeon air through his teeth in exasperation.

Sehun lamented that suddenly his life had gotten very complicated. It was like he was the (dashing) lead actor in some drama-ridden, romantic film, except he wasn’t getting paid for it.

Sehun had managed to put in his load of laundry without seeing Kyungsoo, but had had to wait to transfer his clothes from the washing machine to the dryer because between 12pm and 1pm Kyungsoo usually came home from his Saturday morning excursions to shower and take a nap. For all Sehun knew, Kyungsoo could have come straight home after the gym and been in his apartment the whole time, but Sehun couldn’t risk it.

He was worrying about whether his clothes might start getting moldy after sitting wet in a confined space for over thirty minutes when he finally zoomed down to the laundry room.

He wasn’t quite sure whether to be annoyed or relieved, but someone had taken it upon him/herself to remove Sehun’s clothes from the washer and put theirs in, as evidenced by the current whirring of the machine. His clothes had been tossed it into a pile on the laundry room’s folding table.

Strangely, there were five washing machines in the room, but only Sehun’s clothes had been removed. It’s possible that his washer was the only one that was “available” when the person came to do laundry, but since he’d lived there, his laundry had never been removed. It was either some rude, new tenant or...

Sehun suspected that his ex, Junmyeon, might be trying to get revenge on him by taking his laundry out -- after all he’d just seen Sehun with a basket of laundry, Sehun had also pissed him off, and Junmyeon would most likely recognize his clothes.

Also, of course Junmyeon wouldn’t actually fold his laundry neatly for him like a respectable human being, not because he was cruel, but because Sehun was sure that he didn’t actually know how to fold anything. When Sehun would go over Junmyeon’s apartment, his clothes were always stacked in “organized” (per Junmyeon’s description) piles rather than folded into drawers or even hung up in closets.

It was pretty petty and Junmyeon wasn’t really like that, but if Sehun had annoyed him badly then he might have done it out of spite.

Luckily there was a dryer open, so Sehun gathered his soggy stack of clothes...

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo was losing his . Though of course he would not admit that to anyone.

He hadn’t seen Sehun in a week and he was sincerely worried. Was Sehun sick? Had he moved suddenly due to a family emergency or new job offer? Or maybe he’d just gone on vacation and forgotten to mention it Kyungsoo?

Kyungsoo would have gone to Sehun’s apartment, but although he knew which floor, he didn’t know which apartment number he lived in. And knocking door-to-door would be really embarrassing if Sehun had just been gone for a few days, or just busy, or just trying to avoid Kyungsoo for some strange reason.

Kyungsoo let out an exasperated sigh, not knowing the reason behind Sehun’s disappearance frustrated him to no-end.

He ran on the treadmill a little longer at the gym today trying not to think about MIA-Sehun. He’d ran some errands, wandering the streets like a lost soul.

Kyungsoo had come home and realized he had nothing else to do, which was very dangerous in his current state. So, he’d decided to do some laundry -- the kitchen towels and bathroom rugs could use a wash couldn’t they?

He took the elevator down to the lobby level and walked to the stairwell down to the laundry room. When he’d gotten to the laundry room the washers were all running except one. However, when Kyungsoo lifted the lid there were clothes sitting in there. Usually he’d leave them and do his laundry later -- it wasn’t even his usual laundry day, but he really needed to laundry at that moment.  

He would have put the pile of wet clothes in a dryer if he’d brought enough quarters down with him, but he hadn’t. But because he felt bad for selfishly removing someone else’s clothes -- and because it gave him more to do -- Kyungsoo decided to go back up to his apartment to get more quarters in order to put the removed clothes into the dryer.

Kyungsoo kept a cup of quarters on the kitchen counter. He’d throw in quarters whenever he had any spare change, so by the time it was laundry day, the cup was well-stocked. He just brought the entire cup of quarters down to the laundry room with him because he didn’t feel like counting out enough quarters to dry his clothes and the stranger’s clothes.

Upon re-entering the laundry room he saw someone hunched down behind one of the dryer’s open door -- only the very top of their head was visible...until the person leaned forward into the dryer causing his bottom half to jut out beyond the cover of the dryer’s door.

Kyungsoo would recognize that perfect bubble anywhere! Swept away with excitement, Kyungsoo did something he rarely did, or conversely, didn’t do something he usually does: he didn’t think before he spoke.

It was too late for regrets as Kyungsoo let out an exuberant exclamation of, “ guy!” A wave of horror washed over him leaving him immobile; mouth agape, eyes wide…

If Sehun was confused by hearing “ guy!” out of nowhere, he was exponentially confused when he looked up to find Kyungsoo standing there. He had the instinct to look around the small laundry room to make sure there was no one else who could have possibly said those words. But, nope, there was just Kyungsoo.

Sehun stood up and for a moment the two young men just stood facing each other looking like two “screaming face” emojis.

After all his hard work Sehun had run into Kyungsoo after all, and he was unprepared because he hadn’t come up with an excuse that didn’t sound creepy yet. He also recognized that this was a perfect opportunity to deflect attention away from his embarrassing situation and focus on Kyungsoo’s -- plus he was very curious.

“What did you say?” Sehun asked.

“Uh...nothing, I didn’t say anything...did you hear someone say something? So weird--” Kyungsoo fumbled.

“Kyungsoo, you clearly said ‘ guy,’ there’s no one else here but us and I definitely did not say that,” pressed Sehun.

Kyungsoo’s ears turned red and his face scrunched up with the release of his bellowy laugh. Sehun realized he had really missed this strange ball of cuteness in human form.

“Oh my gosh, Sehun, I’m so sorry. I...omo this is so embarrassing...that’s a stupid nickname I gave you -- before I knew your name! Oh gosh, it sounds so bad, but it’s not what you think.” The flush had spread from Kyungsoo’s ears to his cheeks as well.

“It’s not what I think? So, you didn’t call me that because you were checking out my ?” Admittedly Sehun was having a little too much fun putting Kyungsoo on the spot, especially when it was concerning one of his most exceptional body parts.

“I wasn’t checking it out! Well not of my own free will. You had it just sticking up, practically in my face...you were looking for your fancy sock.” Said Kyungsoo, giddy from the happiness at seeing Sehun and the humor of the situation melding together.

“Whoa, you’ve been thinking about my in your face? I was innocently looking for my sock and you were there objectifying me in my moment of distress. I’m…speechless.” Sehun clutched his chest in dramatic fashion, not able to keep a smile from spreading over his face.

“Sehun stop, please,” Kyungsoo whined although his cheeks were shiny from laughing, “It was the day I moved in and I didn’t know your name and that’s all I could think of at the moment.”

“I mean, let’s just say that, I get a lot of compliments on my . So, if you happened to think that my was nice to look at and maybe had other unmentionable thoughts about it, then I totally understand because you wouldn’t be the first nor the last.”

Sehun surprised himself with his audacious flirting, but it felt really good to let some of the feelings he’d been trying to figure out how to get rid of have free reign.

“Oh really? How do you know I won’t be the last?” Kyungsoo said, looking directly into Sehun’s eyes, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

For the first time in the last few minutes, Sehun was at a loss for words. Was Kyungsoo flirting back?

“So now you know my secret...but you seem to be just fine with it so, let’s move on. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.” Kyungsoo asked, eyes b with eager curiosity.

Sehun pondered his dilemma. And decided to go with the truth.

“Well, since we’re spilling our secrets, I was avoiding you.” Sehun said, maybe a little too nonchalantly.

“You were? Why?” Panic spread through Kyungsoo, his worst fear realized.

“Because...because I didn’t know how to manage my feelings...but, now that I know you were checking out my , I can tell you that I’ve been finding it very hard to stop thinking about you.” Heat crept across Sehun’s face. He swallowed down the little lump in his throat.

Kyungsoo looked away.

Oh no, Sehun thought. Did I misinterpret what he said?!

Kyungsoo’s gaze returned to Sehun and so did his smirk. That smirk was damn y, Sehun noted.

“Honestly, I’ve been a wreck all week not seeing you. Let’s catch up over dinner tonight. We can order in. My place or yours?”

With his luck of running into Junmyeon lately, Sehun replied, “Yours!”

“Sounds good. How about 7 p.m.?”

Sehun wished he had his sunglasses so he could shade his eyes from the brightness of Kyungsoo’s smile in that moment.

“Oh by the way, sorry, I took your clothes out of the washing machine. I was actually just coming down with quarters to put them in the dryer.” Kyungsoo said to Sehun’s surprise.

Feeling silly, Sehun replied, “No problem. See you in a bit!”

∞∞∞∞∞∞

Kyungsoo and Sehun spent the night eating Chinese food and drinking tall bottles of beer. They laughed about “ guy” and Sehun crushing hard on Kyungsoo.

When Sehun admitted that he had kind of been stalking him, he was happy that Kyungsoo said, “Wow that’s really flattering coming from someone like you.”

He was also completely floored when Kyungsoo leaned over and kissed him long and deep. Both of them were flushed and sweaty once they came up for air.

Needless to say, Sehun didn’t protest when Kyungsoo asked him to spend the night.

∞∞∞∞∞∞

PRESENT DAY

“Man, you two have the best love story! I never get tired of hearing it,” says Jongdae as Kyungsoo cuts and passes out pieces of the cake to everyone.

“Yeah, except for the part where Sehun thinks I’m the passive-aggressive ex taking his clothes out of the washing machine!” Junmyeon interjects. He’s determined to never let Sehun live this down.

“Sorry Junmyeon, but honestly who else would have fit the profile better?” Sehun teases.

“Hmm let me see, maybe just some random tenant without manners? Serves you right that it was your future boyfriend. Might teach you to not judge people so harshly.” Junmyeon feigns being stern, but he honestly thinks it’s pretty funny too.

“Yes, I was fated to meet a man and his in the laundry room,” says Kyungsoo giving said a little pat before draping his arm across Sehun’s shoulders as best he can with the height difference.

Sehun kisses the top of Kyungsoo’s head, pulling him close.

Both Sehun and Kyungsoo were grateful that sometimes love comes unexpectedly, whether you’re chasing it or running from it, it has a plan all its own.