After what seemed an awfully long and nail biting- no, scratch that. 

After what seemed an excruciatingly long and nail biting walk, Jongin had finally turned down his street. He had always been told he overthought everything, though it was only now that he realized it was true. It wasn't so much that he was afraid of Baekhyun, but more of what he may end up doing around him. After all, the poor kid had to spend two weeks under the same roof as you and your boyfriend. Living with you was hard enough, or so he complained, but Baekhyun was now in the picture too. What would happen if he forgot about Baekhyun's presence and said something he shouldn't have? Or placed a hand on your hip? Or fall asleep on the couch and say something about you in his sleep? Or- And as if things couldn't have gotten any worse. There it was, his car. You and Baekhyun had beaten him home.

Oh god.

They're here.

How did they get here so quickly?

It wasn't too late to run; he still had time to turn back. But Jongin wasn't a quitter.

"Say hello, then go sleep." He muttered to himself as he made his way up the driveway. "Yeah, that'll work." With a few more steps, he took out his keys and unlocked the door, giving it a slight push. His eyes fluttered around the house, almost expecting you two to be just standing there. Then suddenly, he heard your laughter from upstairs, followed by another, though this one was definitely a male’s.

Jongin heaved a sigh and got his shoes off, tossing his jacket onto the chaise lounge. He pondered there for a moment on whether or not it was safe to go upstairs. He figured calling out to you wouldn’t make a good first impression, so instead he decided to slowly, yet cautiously, make his way up.

The closer he got, the clearer your conversation with Baekhyun became. “Yah- Don’t touch that.” You let out a small giggle as you tried to take the journal from his hands. He held it above his head and grinned, “No, at least let me read the first entry.”

You had brought a small journal to write in from home. It wasn’t anything special really, but you used it to write down things that would happen from day-to-day in Seoul. Though, as the days came and went, you gradually became too busy to write in it every night.

“Fine, but the first entry only.” You pointed a finger at him and took a seat on the edge of the bed as he did, watching him flip through the first few pages, and then begin to read out loud.

July 19^th

I’m in Seoul. I’m actually in Seoul. Seeing, breathing, and living it.

My first day was spent trying the many different sorts of street food with my dear, dear roommate, Kim Jongin. This guy, honestly. During our bus ride home he slept for the entire time, leaving me to discuss politics with some old lady. I’m not at all from around here, couldn’t she see that? Anyway, it was fun and I’ll definitely be going out again for hotteok. Boston needs a serious food upgrade. I really don’t know how Baekhyun will take this whole ‘living with a guy’ ordeal, well, it’s more of an ordeal to him- but hopefully he’ll be ok..?

“Brat.” He muttered suddenly.

Any anyway, there’s not much I can do about it, it’s not like I requested to live with a guy. Alright, we’re ending this here for the night before Jongin yells for me to turn out my light.

As Baekhyun finished, his sneaky fingers went to turn the page. “No.” You snatched the journal away from him and stuffed it back into your night table.

Meanwhile, still standing awkwardly on the stairs, Jongin listened in on the journal entry. He swore his heart thumped a little faster each time his name was mentioned, and therefore somehow forgot where and who he was around. He took a few more hurried steps up the stairs and turned the corner into your bedroom.

Pororo was a show Jongin insisted he watch every morning; despite how much you over it. Over time, he began calling you Pororo, but decided to shorten it down to just Po, as it was cuter and suited you a lot better- or that’s what he thought, anyway.

“Po!” He grinned as he stood in your doorway. Then, he froze.

Baekhyun glanced Jongin over once, then twice. He took in his form and immediately picked out everything Jongin had that he didn’t. He was a lot taller and probably more muscular, but Baekhyun couldn’t quite tell underneath his thick sweater. Dark-skinned; odd. He slowly got up from the bed, now standing across from the other male.

But Jongin was only doing the same thing; comparing.               

Baekhyun’s hair sat nicely on his forehead, definitely not styled, but it somehow appeared like it had been. His milky white skin made Jongin swallow thickly, but as Baekhyun stood, Jongin almost smiled as he saw he was clearly quite a few inches taller than him.

“I’m Baekhyun.” He took a step forward and extended his arm for a handshake. To which Jongin stared at. It clicked as he remembered Americans didn’t bow, but instead shook hands.

“Jongin.” His head bowed slightly before taking his hand and shaking it, but Baekhyun pulled his hand away after a brief moment and sat back down on the bed, arm wrapped nicely around your waist.

Jongin’s eyes fluttered to Baekhyun’s chest as it pressed against your shoulder, until you interrupted his daze.

“Did you go out?” He nodded, looking between the both of you. “I thought I would have enough time to go for a walk before you two got here; seems I didn’t.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and turned his body, motioning that he was about to leave. “I’ll go heat up the food, then.”

Just as he was about to leave, you stood and shook your head. “It’s fine, I can do it. You two should get to know each other in the meantime.”
 

And there went Jongin’s plan to hide in his room.

Baekhyun was equally disheartened, but followed suit and stood up next to you. He took a few steps past Jongin before stopping and looking back at him. “Coming?” – “Yeah.”

As you began to make a bit of noise in the kitchen, Baekhyun seated himself across from Jongin at the kitchen table.

“So, uh, what do you do for a living?” He asked, drumming his fingers against the wood. Jongin’s eyes shifted over to you for a moment and then back at him. “I work at the school just down the street from here as a dance teacher’s assistant.”

“What’s that?” He raised a brow. Jongin sat back in his seated, feeling quite a bit irritated. Not only that, but the look on Baekhyun’s face told him he wasn’t at all impressed.

“And what exactly do you do - back where? Boston was it?”

Baekhyun let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. It’s going to be like that, huh?

“I’m a full-time honour student at Harvard with a grade point average of 4.0.” His arms crossed over his chest, wearing a cocky grin. “You do know what all that means, don’t you?”

Jongin looked around the house, only to catch your slight cringe. Great, you had heard too. He let out a short huff and grinned crookedly. “Yeah, I got it, you’re a nerd.”

But before Baekhyun could continue, you quickly came between the two with their supper, placing the dish of ddeokbokki in the middle of the table. “Alright, no making fun, this is the first time I’ve made this.” You looked between the two, eyes stopping on Jongin for a moment longer to give him an apologetic look on behalf of your boyfriend.

He gave a slight nod and looked over at the dish, checking it out. “It-”, “It looks great, babe. Good job.” Baekhyun finished for him, giving your hip a pat as his arm outstretched to wrap around your waist. “Can I have a kiss?”

Jongin stared in defeat, watching as your lips tugged into a smile and then pressed against his. He chewed the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything. As he reached across the table for the dish, Baekhyun pulled away to look at him, though he was slightly disappointed as he thought Jongin hadn’t paid any attention to the kiss.

You placed another kiss on the top of Baek’s head before taking your seat between them, taking the dish from Jongin to serve yourself, then passing it over to Baek once you were finished.

The table fell silent then as everyone started eating and you couldn’t help but sigh, wracking your brain for something to talk about. But your thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Jongin broke the silence.

“I’m finished, it was really good, ___.” He stood from the table then and took his dishes to the sink. Without another word, he headed upstairs and into his bedroom.

You watched him over the top of your chair and looked at Baekhyun with a sigh. “I thought I told you to be nice to him?” Baekhyun could only chuckle, continuing to eat his food without even looking at you. “I never did anything to him; I only asked what he did for a living.”

“No,” You shook your head, “You made him feel like his job wasn’t good enough. His job means a lot to him, alright?”  

“Are you standing up for him?” Baekhyun was staring at you now, “Am I interrupting something between you two by being here? I sure hope not.” You looked away from him and grabbed your napkin, wiping your mouth clean before standing and grabbing his and your plate from the table.

“I wasn’t finished.” He watched in disbelief as you scraped the leftover food into the garbage. “Why are you so angry? He started it.”

“I don’t care who started it! Apologize to him.”

“No.”

You shook your head and set the plates in the sink before leaving the kitchen to go upstairs. Baekhyun sighed at this and sat back in his chair, playing with his fingers in his lap.

You found Jongin in the bathroom, rinsing his face off in the sink. Leaning against the doorframe, you waited until he was finished.

You watched him squeeze his eyes shut from the water as he felt around the counter for his towel. “Jongin.” He lowered the towel from his face, jolting slightly at the sudden sound of your voice.

“Yeah, what’s up, Po?”

You shook your head and stepped inside, closing the bathroom door behind you. “I’m sorry about him. He’s not usually like this, honestly. I don’t…What?” He was wearing a smug look on his face now, wiping away the water on the counter. “I don’t care, really. He’s entitled to having an opinion, right? What bothers me though is the fact that you’re dating a nerd. Does he read from a textbook during ?” He laughed, dodging you as you tried to slap his arm.

“No, he doesn’t, so shut up.”

As you opened the door to leave, you jumped back, seeing Baekhyun standing there.