Note: I wrote this chapter in the middle of the night, so I hope it's understandable and has not too many mistakes in it xD hope you like it! :)

The young man woke up early in the morning. He felt comfortable and didn’t really want to get up. But he remembered his guest and opened his eyes immediately. Jongsuk noticed that he must have fallen asleep and leaned against the taller one’s shoulder. He felt guilty. Woobin looked at him and slightly smiled.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Did I sleep the whole night?!...ah…” he buried his face in his hands.

“It’s alright. You must’ve been tired.”

“I’m such a bad host. Did you get any sleep?” Jongsuk was seriously worried. However, Woobin didn’t have to sleep. Moreover, he wasn’t even able to. The gatherer had a lot of time to think about everything while watching the innocent man sleeping soundly. He didn’t understand how Jongsuk could be so careless. He even fell asleep with a stranger in his house! This guy was seriously too careless. The sleepyhead looked into the others eyes as he was suddenly pushed down to the sofa. The older one bended over him and leaned in so far, that their lips almost touched.

“What would you have done if I had wanted to rob you, or even you?” Woobin breathed, slightly smirking to scare the younger one. And if the night hadn’t passed this quietly, he might have been scared, but the dark haired man had his chance to do as he pleased and he didn’t do anything, so Jongsuk wasn’t really worried right now. Instead he felt his heart beating faster and his cheeks reddening.

“If you wanted to do anything, you could have done it tonight…but you didn’t.” he muttered and looked the other way.

“Maybe I wanted to have fun when you are awake instead of sleeping. How boring would that be? “

The younger one gulped and looked into Woobin’s eyes, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “You don’t seem like a bad guy at all…I’m not usually letting strangers into my house, but somehow…I trust you.”

That wasn’t the answer Woobin had expected. He sighed and sat up. Actually he wanted the other to be scared a little to be more suspicious of strangers, but it seemed like he failed.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you. I just think you should be more careful.”

“Mh…I will…” Jongsuk replied and sat up, too. He laid his hand on his chest to feel the heartbeat slowly – very slowly – slowing down again. The young man stood up immediately and went into the kitchen.

“Are you hungry?” he tried to change the subject. He felt embarrassed again.

“Not really, but go ahead and eat.”

“Okay…”

Jongsuk warmed up some leftovers and sat down at the table, quietly starting to eat.  Woobin glanced at him and decided to sit across from him. He began to rub his temples and Jongsuk worried again.

“Do you wanna sleep? I can wake you up later…or should I drive you home?”

“No, I’m alright. Don’t worry.”

“But you don’t look alright. Is something else bothering you?”

The gatherer remembered what he thought of last night. He had to find a proper way to stay close to him. Even if they were friends he couldn’t always be there and he also couldn’t meet him by chance every day. So he thought of telling him he had a fight with his parents and that he wanted to stay for a few days until Jongsuk said he could live with him. Humans tended to get used to others too easily and couldn’t let go anymore. He wanted to take advantage of that.

“Honestly…I had a fight with my parents yesterday before we met.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for that…”

“I really don’t want to see them the next days. However, they said if I don’t come back they will cut off my money supply…” Woobin tried to act as realistic as possible and sighed. “I still don’t wanna go back. I don’t want them to threaten me with money either. They can’t buy me. But I can’t live on the street either…”

“Wanna stay at my place? I have a spare room anyway.”

Again, he gave in way too easily. He isn’t careful at all. The gatherer thought and looked as surprised as possible, though he had expected that anyway. “Really?...I don’t wanna be a bother…”

“No, it’s alright. I hate living alone anyway and my best friend isn’t here either.”

“But I can’t even provide you any money…”

Jongsuk smiled brightly. “Just do the housework…I really hate to do it honestly.”

He winked and giggled.

“Aren’t you trusting me too much again?” Woobin asked, really not understanding that guy at all. It even made him a little angry. Other targets he had were trying hard to live well and ended up dying miserably. And now he was with a guy who was too careless and risked his life just like that. However, it wasn’t like he had a chance to change him nor did he have the right to judge his decisions.

“Maybe. But still, I want to help. I don’t have much work this week anyway. So I will be around most of the time.” Jongsuk finished his meal and put the dishes into the sink.

“Just start your work and everything is alright” he grinned and patted Woobin’s shoulder. The gatherer smiled, he had to.

“Thank you.” he stood up and did the tons of dishes. The gatherer wondered if god really accepted that he touched all those human’s belongings. He didn’t have much of a choice, but it was still prohibited. Maybe there was an exception for a situation like that. Woobin really hoped that would be the case. If not, he would feel betrayed even more. It was still so weird to be touched. Every time Jongsuk touched him a shiver ran down his spine. Though the feeling itself felt really nice, he hated it. It gave him an illusion of being a human and that was a torture. It had been hard enough to accept his current situation and everything would get back to the usual anyway. No one would be able to see or touch him as soon as the man died. Right, the man will die. That’s why you are here. Don’t get confused. Woobin told himself several times.

Jongsuk observed the tall guy in his kitchen for a while now. He agreed to everything the man said. He was too careless and made a lot of mistakes already. However, he really felt comfortable with him around and he didn’t feel any sort of fear. Woobin just didn’t seem to be a bad guy at all. Though his appearance was rather cold, he was actually really cute and handsome. The young man smiled and plunked into the sofa and closed his eyes. He was sleepy again and before he could do anything about it, he fell asleep again. Woobin finished his work and approached the sleeping boy, not noticing he was in dreamland again.

“Jongsuk-ah, I finished my work.”

No reply.

“Lee Jongsuk, did you hear me?” Woobin waved his hand in front of Jongsuk’s face.

No reply again. The tall man sighed, but then slightly smiled. He sat down quietly and waited for his sleeping housemate to wake up.

The next days passed fast – actually it were already two weeks since the gatherer first stepped into the human’s house – and a lot of things happened. The gatherer was forced to eat, shower, change clothes, etc. because if would’ve made Jongsuk suspicious otherwise. However, Woobin hated it and he couldn’t get used to it after all. For example, he couldn’t taste anything, so swallowing food was weird and he didn’t feel it in his stomach afterwards either. Of course he wouldn’t, he wasn’t a human but a soul. Also he felt uncomfortable after he changed his clothes. They were all skinny and not as dark as he liked it. But he couldn’t complain and didn’t want to either. He shouldn’t mind about such things anyway. It was his job, nothing more, nothing less. Jongsuk on the other hand felt really comfortable with Woobin around and he got used to him rather quickly. Though the gatherer didn’t really talk much, he had someone who’d listen to him, he had someone to eat with him, someone to tidy up for him. He almost felt like he was in a relationship with that guy, but having this thought made him blush and feeling awkward in an instant. It was noon and Jongsuk wanted to go out and enjoy the good weather. He already packed a small picnic basket with fruits, drinks, his mp3-player and a book. Woobin told him that he didn’t like crowded places, so the younger boy decided to take him to his “secret place” where people barely appeared. Woobin agreed and followed him obediently to this place. It was really beautiful. There was a blossoming tree beside a small river and the meadow was colored in a fresh green. Jongsuk put down the picnic blanket and sat down.

“Sit down.” Jongsuk ordered and the tall man did.

“Why are no people here? This place is beautiful.”

“They all go to the park nearby or down to the beach. It’s a long way to go here if you actually can go to the park that’s close to the city. But I like to take walks and found this place last summer. No one disturbs you here either. It’s really nice.”

Woobin just nodded and looked around. The fresh air felt nice and he thought it was a good decision to leave the house. There were no people around so he didn’t have to worry about that either. It felt good. Suddenly Jongsuk crawled behind the gatherer and sat down back to back, using him as a backrest.

“Wanna read a book or listen to music? I also packed some fruits and drinks if you’d like some.” he asked the older one.

“I don’t need anything…”

“As always~” Jongsuk groaned and giggled afterwards. “Just tell me if you change your mind.”

Woobin nodded and felt the boy’s warmth spreading to his own body. He even felt the others heartbeat as if it was his own. Every time the other touched him for a longer time it was like that. Even if just their arms touched lightly, it still had the same effect. Woobin first hated all those human characteristics, but he slowly began to like it, especially the feeling of the other’s heartbeat. He couldn’t explain why, but it was a nice feeling. Maybe it was like that because the other one felt like that? He didn’t know.

“Yah, if I fall asleep, wake me up immediately! I don’t wanna fall asleep again…” Jongsuk muttered. When he was close to the other, he always felt way too comfortable and he was so relaxed that he fell asleep quite often. But he didn’t like it. He wanted to spend time with the other instead of sleeping. He wanted to get to know the tall man better and he figured he had to spend a lot of time with him until he would open up to him. However, he wouldn’t give up and decided to try his best.

While Jongsuk tried hard not to fall asleep Woobin thought about the whole situation once again. The past days had confused him a lot. Of course, it was still awkward for him to eat and such - and he still didn't like it, but the bright boy seemed to like him and took care of him gently, though he didn’t really talk nor did something in return and Woobin had to admit that it was a nice feeling. The gatherer didn’t forget about his job and he knew exactly that this was just a temporary situation. But he couldn’t escape these feelings, even though he wanted to keep his distance to the boy. Somehow, he now felt like he should enjoy this short period of attention as long as he could, even if it was going to be like hell afterwards, even if he was going to regret it later. Right now he just wanted to feel this calm heartbeat that made him comfortable and the boy ruffling his hair, smiling at him. Ah, I got used to him..., Woobin thought.