There's nothing worse than the moment when you realize you're out of milk just seconds after having already poured your cereal. Just ask Jongin, who's staring mournfully at the expired milk carton. As if his day wasn't bad enough, this had to happen.

It's a Sunday morning, which are the worst because they're a taunting reminder of the Monday to come, and Jongin was rudely woken up by Luhan's frantic phone calls. If Jongin didn't value his life so much, he would have chucked his phone at the wall and went back to sleep for the rest of his life. But he knew if he didn't pick up, Luhan would personally come to his house and take his life (and sleep, for that matter).

That's how Jongin spent the first two hours of his day listening to Luhan whine about how Minseok was ignoring his text messages and how he thought they were finally "progressing into something more." Jongin may have been more sympathetic if he hadn't been hearing this conversation for the past two years of his life.

Honestly, it has gotten to the point where Jongin would personally lock the two of them up in a room just so they could make up and make out already. It's so awkward being the third wheel among those two with their and whatnot.

After finally convincing Luhan that visiting Minseok was the right choice, Luhan hung up and left Jongin to enjoy the rest of his morning. He planned to go back to sleep before waking up for his morning work out, but just as his head hit the pillow, his alarm rang.

Jongin was sorely tempted to skip his work out, but he knew he shouldn't. Dance required him to stay fit, plus summer was fast approaching, so he needed to keep his body in shape.

Fast forward, and here we are, staring at that milk-less cereal bowl once more. Jongin looks as if he might shed a tear any moment, but he refuses to, just in case his roommates come out at any moment. If Jongdae saw him crying over his cereal, he would never let him or their friends (or their entire college campus) hear the end of it.

Jongin contemplates leaving the milk in the fridge just to see if Jongdae or Junmyeon would drink it, but even that's too evil for him. He sighs, about to trash it when he sees the trashcan overflowing. Honestly, he expected Junmyeon to take care of things better.

Then again, Junmyeon's been busy lately. Jongin would rather not talk about what he's busy with, but let's just say both of his roommates have been "busy."

Grumbling, Jongin pulls out the trash can and started heading towards the door. As he exits the door with the trash bag in hand, it occurs to Jongin he probably should have changed out of his pajamas. He shrugs it off, though – it's still pretty early, and no one else would be up yet.

"Stupid Luhan, stupid Sehun, stupid people," Jongin mutters under his breath as he swings the trash bag over the trash bin. "Need to keep me out of their love problems... need to keep me out of their lives in general."

"Are you okay?" a voice interrupts him, causing him to stumble back and hit the trash bin in surprise. His eyes meet a wide-eyed male who he's never seen before, not that that's any surprise because Jongin hasn't really met many of his neighbors. After meeting Park Chanyeol, who lived just two doors down, Jongin decided he really didn't want to meet his neighbors either.

But this stranger doesn't look harmful, although his wide-eyes are somewhat intimidating.

"Oh, y-yeah," Jongin replies awkwardly. "Just, uh, taking out the trash."

"Well, you sound pretty hostile for someone just taking out the trash," the stranger says, and Jongin laughs in disbelief. This man has no right to judge Jongin's life actions; if Jongin wants to take out the trash while cursing his friends under his breath, he should be able to do it without being judged.

"It's nothing," Jongin insists a little stiffer this time.

"Are you sure?" the stranger asks, and Jongin doesn't understand why he won't just leave it alone like anyone else would. It's too early to be dealing with this type of stuff anyway.

"Why does it matter?" Jongin bites, immediately regretting his words afterwards. He feels bad, because this person obviously just wants to help but he caught Jongin on a bad day. "I– sorry," Jongin sighs, hanging his head. "I just had a crappy morning."

"Care to elaborate?" the stranger offers, and his tone isn't mocking or witty – it's surprisingly earnest. Jongin, without thinking, lets himself answer.

"My friend woke me up at five to talk," Jongin tries putting it simply, but he finds that hard to say when this topic is anything but simple. "I mean, I don't know what he wants me to say to him. Like, what would you do if you hypothetically liked your friend and he hypothetically liked you back but you were both too scared to do anything?" Jongin groans, ruffling his hair. "I don't know. I don't even know why I'm talking about this."

There's no reply, so Jongin keeps going. "And this has been going on for forever, and I'm just waiting for something to happen so this can all be over with. Then, when I thought this day couldn't get any worse, the milk was spoiled."

"You didn't have any juice to drink?"

"It was for my cereal," Jongin whispers, and the stranger nods mutely in sympathetic understanding.

"I'm sorry," he offers somberly. "You have a lot on your plate."

"It's okay," Jongin mumbles with a sigh, standing up straight again. "I mean, I guess I kind of expected all of this."

"Even the spoiled milk?" the stranger teases, and Jongin looks up to meet his eyes. They're no longer as intimidating when they're smiling; in fact, they're rather nice, curved up crescents right now. Cute.

Jongin laughs despite himself. "No, not the spoiled milk," he answers, surprised at how light his chest feels after sharing that with someone, although his answer was probably convoluted and unclear. "Hey, thanks for listening," Jongin finally says with a soft smile.

"Any time," the stranger offers with a grin. "Here," he says, leaning over and ripping up a coupon that had fallen out of the trash. He writes something on it before walking over and handing it to Jongin. "If you ever need to talk, you can call me."

Jongin's eyes widen in surprise. He just met this guy, and he was offering him his number? Talk about a fast mover. "I– uh–"

The stranger blinks a few times before realizing what Jongin is thinking, and then bursts out laughing. "Oh, no, I don't mean this like in a flirty way or whatever. I just figured you might want to talk more about it. It seems like you had a lot on your mind." The stranger grins, and Jongin flushes for thinking otherwise. "Besides, I'm just being a good neighbor."

"I didn't catch your name, by the way," Jongin suddenly remembers.

"Kyungsoo," he replies with a smile. "I just moved into this complex the other day."

That explains why Jongin's never seen him around. "Oh, cool. What apartment number?"

"805."

"Hey, that's just one floor above my place," Jongin exclaims. The number sounds familiar, but Jongin can't remember why. His mind is too jumbled up with thoughts of milkless cereal and headaches that feel a lot like how Luhan's voice sounds.

Jongin laughs. "Okay, I'll see you around I guess?"

Kyungsoo nods with a smile before leaving. Jongin watches him leave, before realizing he had a work-out to go to now on an empty stomach. He groans, slamming his head against the trash bin only to step on something. He looks down and lets out a cry.

He forgot he was in his pajamas.




-




Mondays are "Man Days". Don't blame Jongin for the cheesy name – even he still cringes whenever he has to say it out loud – because it was all Sehun's idea. Sehun may not look sentimental with his icy expressions and dull eyes, but Jongin knows the real Oh Sehun.

And unfortunately, the real Oh Sehun likes to spend his Monday afternoons working out and going back to his apartment to – here it comes – watch old karate movies. Not the cool ones, where the fighting actually looks somewhat legitimate, but the terribly cheesy ones where the kicks are meters away from where they should have been and everyone is missing their punches but people are still being beat up anyway.

Jongin didn't even know there were so many old karate movies until Sehun showed him his collection.

"Which crappy karate movie are we watching today?" Jongin asks as they walk back to Sehun's apartment the floor above Jongin's.

"None," Sehun replies to Jongin's surprise and gratitude. "My roommate showed me this really old horror movie he had the other day, so I decided we could switch things up."

Jongin sighs; he shouldn't have expected too much after all. "Wait, roommate? When did you get a roommate?" Jongin asks, eyebrow raised. When Jongin was at Sehun's place last week, the man was flying solo. How did he even get a roommate so fast?

"Just two days ago," Sehun answers, fishing through his gym bag for his keys. Jongin and everyone else has told him countless times to just place his keys in one spot so he doesn't have to go searching through his entire bag for his keys, but Sehun never listens. "Dude, I told you last Friday that he was moving in."

Jongin blinks. "Really?"

"Yeah," Sehun replies, rolling his eyes.

Jongin tries remembering what he did last Friday with Sehun. He remembers, after dance practice, they went to the coffee shop on the corner of the street for a drink and Jongin ordered crumb cake. It wasn't even crumbly, and Jongin was gravely disappointed. But other than that, he can't recall what they were talking about.

"Don't tell me all you thought about was your stupid cake and you didn't even listen to me," Sehun deadpans, already knowing the answer as Jongin stares at him blankly. "Why are we friends again?"

"Because you need me to copy lit notes from and who else would take care of your sorry when you're drunk?" Jongin snorts, walking over to the couch and throwing himself on it. His muscles are still sore from the work out, making him groan as his back hits the seat.

"I have a boyfriend to take care of my ," Sehun snorts, and Jongin wrinkles his nose at the thought of his friend having . Ew, gross, Jongin does not want these mental images haunting him; he can wait for the horror movie to scare him.

"At least you admit you take it up the ," Jongin mutters, reaching over to grab the TV remote as Sehun prepares the popcorn.

"We take turns!" Sehun calls from the kitchen, and Jongin groans, throwing a pillow over his head to ignore his friend. Jongin is channel surfing when Sehun yells, "Hey, put the movie in already! The popcorn's almost done."

Jongin rolls his eyes and sits up to find the DVD, but there's nothing on the coffee table. He gets up to search around the TV, but he only finds Sehun's old karate movies, as well as some new ones he's never seen before in Sehun's place. They look far too good to belong to Sehun though, who has the taste of a twelve-year-old boy.

"I don't see any old, horror movie!" Jongin yells back.

"Well, look harder! Kyungsoo said he'd leave it on the coffee table!" Jongin is about to yell back that it's not on the coffee table, and Jongin should know because he's sitting on it right now, hunched over the TV, when a door opens and out steps a familiar face.

"Were you looking for this?" Kyungsoo asks, holding up an old DVD as he looks at Sehun. Jongin's eyes widen, and Kyungsoo notices the glance as he turns to look back at Jongin, recognition and surprise registering in his eyes as a small smile makes its way onto his lips.

"Hey," Jongin says first, still shocked to see the other so soon after their first meeting just yesterday. "I didn't know you were Sehun's new roommate."

"And I didn't know you were Sehun's friend," Kyungsoo replies with a laugh. "So did you buy new milk?" he asks, grinning.

Jongin smiles. "Nah, my roommate buys the groceries. He should be getting it today though."

"Best of luck to you and your cereal then," Kyungsoo says with a mock salute. He walks over and hands Jongin the DVD, who takes it while never taking his eyes off of Kyungsoo.

"Wow, are you two going to make out or something?" Sehun says as he walks back into the room, bowl of popcorn in his arm. "Because if so, at least give me some warning. I hate rooms stiff with unresolved ."

Jongin groans as he turns to throw a glare at his supposed best friend. "Seriously, man?"

"Yeah, dude. Remember that time after Minseok and Luhan made out at Kris' party drunk? Holy , I swear I could've cut through the air with a knife that day. It was so awkward, ugh," Sehun says, shuddering at the memory. He plops himself onto the couch and then reaches over to grab the DVD out of Jongin's hand to go put it into the DVD player.

Jongin rolls his eyes and ignores Sehun, as he usually tends to when Sehun makes dumb comments. "Ignore him.

"It's okay," Kyungsoo laughs. "I know it's not me you want to make out with, right?" he asks with a wink. Jongin blinks in confusion, and Sehun seems just as lost.

"What is he talking about?" Sehun asks, eyebrow raised. "Do you have some hot boyfriend you're not telling me about or something?"

"W-What?! No!" Jongin sputters. Last he checked, he's been single for some time now. After his last break-up from an empty relationship, all he's known of relationships are that of his friends', which aren't very pretty either.

"Not yet," Kyungsoo says suggestively, and Jongin's about to keel over because what is Kyungsoo implying?! He hasn't even known the guy for 48 hours and he's already making implications about Jongin's life?!

Sehun is about ready to pee his pants laughing at Jongin's lost, incredulous expressions.

"What are you saying?!" Jongin cries, completely lost.

"Oh, come on," Kyungsoo says, rolling his eyes. "Remember? Your hypothetical boyfriend or crush from Sunday morning?"

"Hypothetical boyfriend?!" Jongin swears there's something wrong with everyone who moves into this apartment building; they start thinking crazy thoughts. He remembers Junmyeon was a reasonable, responsible young man before he moved in with Jongdae and Jongin; now look at the man, who would eagerly strip in public if Jongdae asked.

"You don't have to be ashamed," Kyungsoo says comfortingly, and Jongin's about to cry and Sehun looks ready to take a picture of the same. "Sehun's gay, and I'm bi. We're all friends here."

Jongin wants to cry, What are you talking about?! but all that comes out is a whimper.

Kyungsoo seems to see that Jongin is still confused though, so he offers clarification to jog Jongin's memory. "That friend that woke you up Sunday morning, who likes you and you like him back?"

"What fr– Luhan?!" Jongin chokes. As if this couldn't get any more ridiculous.

Sehun's ears perk up at the familiar name. "Wait, what about Luhan? You like Luhan?"

"Oh, gross, no!" Jongin exclaims in disgust, glaring at Sehun for even suggesting that. Kyungsoo is watching in amusement at Jongin's reaction.

"But he just said–"

"I was talking about– oh, never mind!" Jongin groans. After all, he (stupidly) promised Luhan he'd keep their 'heartfelt' conversation from that morning a secret. Luhan doesn't want anyone knowing what happened between him and Minseok, although Jongin doesn't understand why, because it's not as if everyone doesn't already have a clue.

"Let's just watch the dumb movie," Jongin mumbles, about to sit down when Sehun kicks him. Jongin turns to glare at him, but Sehun just points to the kitchen.

"Can you get me a drink? I forgot to grab a soda before I came over," Sehun asks – more like demands – as he turns his attention back on the TV screen.

"Get it yourself, you lazy ," Jongin grumbles, but Sehun just puts his legs over the couch, blocking Jongin off. Jongin leaves, not before flipping Sehun the bird.

He's rummaging through the fridge for two Coca-Colas when he hears someone enter. He hopes it's Sehun, so he can throw the can at his head, but when he turns around, he sighs. It's Kyungsoo.

What more damage is the guy willing to cause Jongin now?

"Hey, sorry if I revealed your secret," Kyungsoo apologizes in a low voice, to Jongin's surprise. "I didn't know Sehun didn't know. And, um, I didn't know your crush had a boyfriend."

"What."

"You know, that, uh, Minseol guy?"

"Minseok," Jongin correctly without thinking. "And he's not his boyfriend." Yet, Jongin thinks but doesn't say because it's not his secret to reveal.

"Right. Well, if you ever want to talk, you have my number," Kyungsoo offers with a slight smile, and Jongin finds himself smiling back despite himself. "I'll see you around?"

"Wait, aren't you going to stay and watch the movie with us?" Jongin asks, a crease forming between his eyebrows.

"No, I've got practice to go to right now," Kyungsoo replies sheepishly.

"Practice? For what?" Jongin asks, now curious.

"Singing," Kyungsoo answers, glancing at the clock. "And I'm going to be late if I don't go now. See you around?"

"Sure, see you," he says, watching as Kyungsoo leaves. Jongin returns to the living room and tosses the can of soda at Sehun, who catches it.

"So how do you know Kyungsoo?" Sehun finally asks, and Jongin ignores that annoying smirk on his face. It's that smirk Sehun always has when he thinks he knows something – which happens more often than you'd think. Of course, he isn't always right though; in fact, he has a 42% chance of being right. It's gone up from his previous 27% at least.

"It's a long story," Jongin replies with a sigh, leaning his head back on the couch, not wanting to go back into details about that day. It wasn't a particularly pretty one.

Sehun looks as if he's thinking about whether or not he should press the issue further. "Okay, movie first, story later," Sehun finally decides, pressing the Play button on the remote and leaning back, bowl of popcorn in between them.

Jongin's never been more relieved to watch a cheesy horror film before.





-




"YOU WERE FRIENDZONED BEFORE YOU EVEN BECAME FRIENDS, OH MY GOSH." Luhan's loud laughter sounds even worse over the phone, Jongin comes to learn today. He has to place the phone on the table to save his eardrums.

"It's not that funny," Jongin mutters, crossing his arms.

"OH, NO, IT'S HILARIOUS," Luhan all but screeches, and the phone echoes and makes dying ghost sounds as it tries to process Luhan's voice. Even the phone thinks there's something wrong with Luhan.

"Shut up," Jongin hisses, wishing Luhan were right in front of him instead so he could strangle the guy. Jongin's always been there for Luhan's nonexistent relationship problems with Minseok, so he could at least be shown the same courtesy when Jongin comes to him asking for advice. After all, this is kind of Luhan's fault.

"Wait, so tell me again how this all happened again, how he thinks you like some hypothetical guy or whatever?" Luhan asks, calming down after a few more chuckles. Jongin can hear him holding his breath, trying to stop himself from laughing even more.

"Well, remember I told you how we met? I was taking out the trash and talking to myself, and he approached me?"

Luhan snorts. "Brave guy. I would've ran the other way."

Jongin rolls his eyes, ignores Luhan, and continues, "He asked me what was wrong, so I told him about how you woke me up with your whining–"

"I was not whining," Luhan defends. "I was just expressing my pain."

"Yeah, by whining," Jongin deadpans. "Anyway, as I was saying, I was telling him about you, and I guess I must've made it sound as if I was the one with relationship problems, too?"

"How does that even work?" Luhan mumbles.

Jongin sighs. "I don't know. Maybe because I didn't mention anyone else, so it sounded like we had a problem or something." Jongin pauses to think, before sighing and repeating, "I don't know," in frustration.

"Wow, you seem really worked up over this," Luhan muses. "Do you like him or something?"

"W-What?!" Jongin sputters, almost knocking over his cup of coffee in the process. After a long day of watching terrible acting and even worse special effects, Jongin dragged himself back to his place before Sehun could remember about his story with Kyungsoo. Jongin was ready to go to bed when he remembered he had a project due that Friday – one he had yet to start.

With Luhan's help, he finished a good quarter of it. During their phone talk, Jongin let his incidence with Kyungsoo slip, and of course, Luhan dug further until Jongin spilled everything. (Unfortunately, Luhan has a longer attention-span than Sehun.)

"Of course not!" Jongin exclaims. "I just met him! How can I like him? I only know his name's Kyungsoo, he encourages Sehun's taste in poor films, and he sings."

"Sounds like a keeper," Luhan teases, and Jongin wishes there was a way to put his hands through the phone so he could strangle his friend.

"I don't like him," Jongin repeats, firmer this time. "I was just-just caught off guard by him. I mean, it's not every day you meet someone while taking out the trash and then find out he's your best friend's roommate and he thinks you're in love with your friend."

Luhan's quiet for a moment, and Jongin wonders if he's finally driven his friend away (he wonders if it's bad that he secretly hopes so).

Jongin's about to ask Luhan if he's still there when Luhan finally speaks up.

"Maybe it's fate," he offers, and he actually sounds serious. Jongin shudders. No way Luhan means that. Luhan, despite his overwhelming characteristics, is a reasonable man; that's the only reason Jongin keeps him around. While Sehun is always off in his La La Land, Luhan is grounded and realistic.

And he doesn't believe in silly things like fate.

"Ha ha, very funny," Jongin finally mutters. "You need sleep. Night, Luhan."

"I'm very much awake, thank you very much," Luhan replies shortly. "And I wasn't joking. Think about it, Jongin! This is much too coincidental to be anything else!"

"I'm hanging up now."

"FATE IS GIVING YOU A CUTE BOYFRIEND, DON'T LET FATE DOWN!"

"GOOD NIGHT, LUHAN," Jongin screams back, about to hang up before quickly adding, "AND I NEVER SAID HE WAS CUTE."

"NO, BUT THE WAY YOU TALK ABOUT HIM SAYS ENOUGH."

Jongin presses the End Call button, then proceeds to shut off his phone. That was enough Luhan for the rest of the night, or week, or maybe even year.




-




Jongin doesn't run into Kyungsoo until next week. Too busy with his project, he spent a lot of time in the university's library rather than at home. Plus, Jongdae and Junmyeon have been leaving socks on the door longer than usual, and quite frankly, Jongin's been afraid to come back home.

It's Wednesday, and Jongin is pissed. Sehun stole his subway pass to run off with his rebellious boyfriend, who Jongin still finds scary, not that he'll ever let Sehun know that. Even after Jongin told him he couldn't take his pass, what does Sehun do? Sneak into the practice room when everyone's on break, take the pass out of Jongin's bag, and run off to meet Tao, who was waiting outside the entire time.

And of all the days to choose, Sehun chose the one day it decided to rain. As if Jongin's day couldn't get any worse.

After rushing home as fast as he could through a combination of speed-walking and many sketchy alleyway shortcuts, Jongin finds himself in front of his apartment only to see a sock hanging on the door.

"You've got to be ting me," Jongin hisses. Of all the days for both Sehun and his roommates to be bastards, they had to choose today. He bangs his head against the door, flinching as the water from his hair hits his eyes. Even nature hates him right now.

"You look like you could use some help," a new voice cuts the air, and Jongin spins around to see Kyungsoo standing there. His sneakers are wet and his umbrella is still out, so he must've just got back too.

"What are you doing here?" Jongin breathes, and he doesn't mean to sound rude, but Kyungsoo's apartment isn't on his floor.

"I was walking up the stairs when I saw you cursing at the door," Kyungsoo replies, a grin playing his lips. Funny how Jongin's only seen Kyungsoo twice before this, yet his smile is so famliar already. "You know, every time I see you, you're cussing at some inanimate object. Maybe you should see a psychiatrist about this."

Jongin cracks a smile at this. "Sorry, you always catch me at bad times," he apologizes, but Kyungsoo just shakes his head.

"Don't apologize," Kyungsoo replies reassuringly. "It's funny. Besides, my friends do that all of the time. One of my friends even vents to his coffee maker when he's stressed."

Jongin doesn't know if he should laugh, because his friend just may have serious mental setbacks.

"In fact, I think he lives in this apartment complex. Have you heard of Park Chanyeol?"

And suddenly it all makes sense.

"Yeah, I do," Jongin says with a laugh, and Kyungsoo smiles at that. Jongin almost forgets how ty he feels in his drenched clothes.

Almost. After all, wet jeans and soaking sneakers aren't usually parts of Jongin's outfits.

"Maybe you should go in and dry up," Kyungsoo says, eyeing Jongin and already understanding his discomfort.

Jongin sighs and replies, "I would, but my roommates are at it again. I swear they never stop."

Kyungsoo laughs. "That ," he comments. After a moment, he adds, "Well, if you want, you can come by my place. I bet Sehun has clothes that'll fit you, and he wouldn't mind if you borrowed them."

"I don't even care if he did mind," Jongin snorts. "He's part of the reason I'm soaking. He took my subway pass and I had to walk home in the rain."

Kyungsoo's eyes widen at that. "Wait, really? Damn, I didn't take Sehun to be the type of guy to do that."

"He usually doesn't," Jongin admits, saving Sehun's reputation without meaning to. But he can't lie and say Sehun's a completely horrible person; after all, he is (unfortunately) Jongin's best friend. Who would Jongin be if he let his best friend be seen as a monster? "But his boyfriend came around, and I guess they wanted to go to some club together, so they took my pass."

"Ouch."

"I know."

Kyungsoo offers a slight smile. "Come on, then. I'll make you some tea and you can go raid Sehun's closet." Jongin laughs.

"Sounds like a plan," he replies as he follows Kyungsoo up to his and Sehun's apartment. As they enter, Jongin's surprised this is the same place he was just at last week. It's as if, in that one week, a magical cleaning fairy came in and saved Sehun from the filth he was previously living in.

"Did you guys get a maid or something?" Jongin asks in awe as he steps in. He never knew Sehun's tiles were white!

"What?" Kyungsoo laughs, placing his umbrella by the door. "How could we afford that? We're broke college kids, or did you forget already?"

Jongin smiles sheepishly. Okay, so a maid sounded a bit too extravaggant given their budgets, but who else could have possibly created an apartment out of the dumb Sehun had?

"Besides, we don't need a maid," Kyungsoo replies, grinning back at Jongin as he walks over to the kitchen. "I cleaned everything up. I couldn't stand stepping into the living room with trash everywhere. Seriously, Sehun's a nice kid and all, but he needs to learn how to pick up after himself."

Jongin laughs. Boy, does he know. He's been helping that boy clean up his mess for far too long, and it doesn't help that Jongin himself isn't all too good with messes either. But at least he's much better than Sehun.

"I'm making tea. Is green tea okay with you?"

Truth be told, Jongin's more of a coffee person. Tea never really cuts it for him. Nonetheless, he replies with an affirmative before finding Sehun's room and ransacking the younger's closet until he finds a pair of clean sweats and a tank top to wear. They fit so nicely Jongin contemplates taking them for good, but he's no thief, unlike a certain someone.

When Jongin comes back out, he's thankful to find his wet clothes wrapped up in a plastic bag and a cup of tea beside it. He grabs the cup and blows into it before taking a sip. It's just the right temperature.

He looks around to find Kyungsoo, who's just coming back out of his room after changing into more comfortable clothes.

"Are you hungry?" he offers as he walks back into the kitchen, Jongin following.

"A little," Jongin admits. The walk back did take a lot out of him, as if dance practice wasn't enough.

"We have leftovers, if you want," Kyungsoo offers, but Jongin shakes his head.

"Thanks, but I'd feel bad if I took your food," he admits sheepishly.

Kyungsoo laughs. "Don't be ridiculous. I made too much last night after Sehun didn't make it for dinner." Upon seeing Jongin's unsure face, he insists, "Really, it's fine. I'll just heat some up for you." He moves to grab a plate, and Jongin sighs into his tea.

After eating leftovers in front of the TV, Jongin decides it's probably safe to head back now. He'd love to stay and talk admittedly, but he does have homework due tomorrow to finish up tonight.

"Good luck," Kyungsoo bids him as he leaves, plastic bag of wet clothes in his hand.

"Thanks," Jongin laughs, and he's about to leave when he turns back and calls, "And Kyungsoo?"

"Hmm?" the older asks, almost closing the door before Jongin called him.

"Thanks," Jongin repeats with a soft smile, and they both know what it means this time.

Kyungsoo smiles back brightly. "Any time." And Jongin actually believes him.

There's something about the way Kyungsoo said it that puts a bounce in Jongin's step as he walks back to his own apartment.




-





Jongin finally uses the number Kyungsoo gave him their first meeting – he kept it in his drawer after that day, just in case – when he invites Kyungsoo over for coffee as a formal thanks. It's the first of many times they'll spend together.

Over the following couple of weeks, Jongin finds himself over at Sehun and Kyungsoo's place more than he is at his own. Not that Junmyeon or Jongdae mind, but Sehun's starting to get suspicious. Luckily, Sehun's pretty distracted too though, as Tao's busy moving in at his new place downtown and Sehun's always over there, helping him "unpack."

Jongin's learns a lot about Kyungsoo. For starters, Kyungsoo actually has really good taste in movies. He only had that cheesy horror movie because his friend gave it to him as a gag gift one Christmas, but he kept it anyway for the laughs. They spend a lot of their time together watching movies.

Once, they ran out of DVDs and neither wanted to get up from their comfortable spots on the couch (Jongin's head resting on Kyungsoo's shoulder, and he will fight to the death defending himself that he was simply laying on Kyungsoo because he was sleepy, not because he likes how Kyungsoo feels close to him), and Kyungsoo the cable to the first channel, which happened to be–

"Pororo?" Jongin asked, eyes widening at the familiar cartoon. He hadn't watched this in forever, but he was surprised it was the first channel on the TV. Kyungsoo's suspiciously quiet, so Jongin peeked up at him through his eyelashes and saw the red flush on his neck. He looked back down and pretended to not see as he secretly cooed over the sight of an embarrassed Kyungsoo.

"I, uh–" Kyungsoo shook his head and was about to change the channel when Jongin stopped him, grabbing his arm then the remote.

"Let's watch it," he said, and he continued to look at the screen, even after Kyungsoo turns to stare at him. It takes much more willpower than you'd think for Jongin to just ignore Kyungsoo's stare like that.

So Jongin also learns that Kyungsoo has a secret love for Pororo and watches it when Sehun's out. He also uncovers Kyungsoo's cooking skills first-hand when they had their first dinner together on a night when Jongin locked himself out of his apartment, half on purpose because he knew Junmyeon and Jongdae bought whipped cream the other day, and the half still on purpose because he wanted to spend time with Kyungsoo. Sehun was out as well, and Jongin sometimes fantasized that Kyungsoo kicked Sehun out to be with Jongin alone sometimes too.

Kyungsoo's a lot of things – a singer, a part-time artist when he feels like it, a songwriter, a beat-boxer. The list could go on and on, but Jongin doesn't want to seem obsessed (as if he's fooling anyone to begin with).

And finally, Jongin learns that Kyungsoo is everything his other friends aren't, and for that, Jongin's grateful. Kyungsoo is caring and outspoken, but also quiet and understanding when necessary. He's sunshine on rainy days, and Jongin's never been more confused before in his life.

But the confusion's worth it for now, if he can have Kyungsoo by his side.




-





While Jongin forgot all about the whole "hypothetical boyfriend" misunderstanding with Kyungsoo about him and Luhan, apparently Kyungsoo hadn't.

"So... how are you and Luhan these days?" Kyungsoo asks one day when they're out for bubble tea. Jongin almost chokes on a boba at the question.

"He's good?" he answers once he catches his breath. He's careful when he tries to meet Kyungsoo's eyes, but taken back when he sees how emotionless they look. Kyungsoo's always something – happy, amused, annoyed, upset, etcetera – when they're together, but he's never blank.

"Is he still with Minseok?" Kyungsoo continues, voice quieter this time.

"I-I guess," Jongin stammers, unsure of how to handle this. Should he just explain everything to Kyungsoo right now? Or would he be mad at Jongin for lying this entire time? Jongin frowns. When did this friendship become so confusing?

(A long time ago, actually, not that Jongin will ever admit that. It became confusing the moment Jongin realized Kyungsoo made his heart race, palms sweat, and lips curve into a smile without meaning to.)

Kyungsoo is Jongin's only normal friend, and he can't lose that (or so he tells himself), so what Jongin says next is without thought or reason or anything sensible.

"But I'm meeting him this Saturday," Jongin blurts. Kyungsoo averts his gaze downwards now, and he nods.

"That's good," he mumbles. "I, uh, hope you guys work things out." Kyungsoo looks everywhere but at Jongin, and it makes the younger nervous. "I-I should go now, actually," he mumbles, starting to stand up.

"But you haven't finished your cake," Jongin says quickly, standing up too. Kyungsoo looks at him, and there's something there that Jongin's never seen before, and he really doesn't ever want to see it again. Something like... betrayal, and it makes no sense because Jongin's just letting Kyungsoo hear what he wants to hear, right? Even if it means he has to lie and clench his fist to do it.

"I have practice," is all Kyungsoo says, and Jongin doesn't even mention that Kyungsoo doesn't have practice on Wednesdays because he knows it wouldn't matter.

Kyungsoo would walk out that door either way, not even sparing a glance back at Jongin.



-




Kyungsoo is different after that. He still replies to Jongin's texts, but all of the messages are short and curt excuses as to why he's too busy to hang out or even talk to Jongin. Even when Jongin complains about being hungry, Kyungsoo would just tell him to go out and grab something to eat.

And Kyungsoo never says that. Kyungsoo would always offer to cook him something right away, even when he's busy studying, and Jongin would refuse humbly, although he'd be a little pleased to see the older fuss over him.

Whenever Jongin comes around, Sehun would tell him Kyungsoo's not home, even when Kyungsoo's shoes are right by the door. Jongin learned to stop arguing by the second day, and Sehun would only spare an apologetic glance each time. (Sehun's learned to stop asking, as the last time he tried, he was met with a pan full of Kyungsoo's force. For someone so tiny, Kyungsoo's scary strong.)

It isn't until Saturday night when Jongin sees Kyungsoo again.

They're at a karaoke bar, they being Jongin and his small group of close friends from university and dance. Luhan and Minseok are among them, and the three of them are in the corner talking when Sehun enters. Jongin barely spares him a glance until he sees the familiar face behind him.

"Kyungsoo?" he calls out.

Said man immediately turns to look at Jongin, and when their eyes lock, Jongin's breath hitches. It's only been a couple of days since he last saw Kyungsoo, but it feels so much longer now. Kyungsoo's eyes wander to Luhan and Minseok after that, then back at Sehun, who's by Kyungsoo. Sehun walks over to Jongin, so Kyungsoo follows.

"What are you doing here?" Jongin asks when Kyungsoo is closer.

"Sehun invited me," Kyungsoo replies. "His date cancelled, so he dragged me as a replacement."

At that, Jongin turns to glare at Sehun, who is only smirking. "Sorry, but Tao's busy tonight and I couldn't show up empty-handed."

Jongin wants to say, But I did, but then he remembers he's supposed to be here with Luhan, so he shuts his jaw. Sehun, knowing he won the argument, grins triumphantly. Meanwhile, Luhan and Minseok are watching curiously.

"So this is Kyungsoo," Luhan finally says, breaking the awkward silence that fell. "It's nice to meet you finally. I've heard so much about you. I swear this guy doesn't shut up about y–"

Jongin smacks a hand over Luhan's big mouth to keep it from saying any more. He can still see the smile in Luhan's eyes though, and he refrains from rolling his eyes at the older. Minseok is watching, completely lost.

Luhan finally pries Jongin's hand off his mouth (not after it, much to both of their disgust, but it was the only way, Luhan would claim) and introduces himself. "Hi, I'm Luhan, and this bun beside me is Minseok. We're both Jongin's friends, but I'm sure you knew that." Luhan grins confidently, and Kyungsoo returns the gesture, but it seems more forced.

"Yeah, friends," Kyungsoo murmurs in quiet disbelief. Everyone seems to miss it, except Jongin.

Minseok and Luhan are all over each other tonight, not to Jongin's surprise. The two finally made their relationship official just two weeks ago, much to Jongin's relief, as he doesn't have to deal with Luhan's calls as often anymore.

Meanwhile, Jongin just tries to enjoy the night as much as he can. He glances over at Kyungsoo every so often, but the older is always either watching people sing karaoke or looking down at his drink. Jongin wishes he'd acknowledge him just once.

He ends up regretting that when, out of nowhere, Kyungsoo asks, "Aren't you upset Luhan's been flirting Minseok the entire time?" He sounds annoyed, and Jongin can't figure out why, because if anything it seems more suitable for Jongin to be annoyed.

"I–" Jongin's not sure what to say. He can't deny it, or it'd seem suspicious, but he doesn't want to confirm it either. He doesn't have to though, because apparently Kyungsoo has more to say.

"You came here with him, after all, right? Shouldn't Luhan be your date?" Kyungsoo presses, and he seems more annoyed and troubled as he continues, as if he doesn't understand and doesn't want to.

Jongin opens his mouth to reply when someone does it for him.

"Why would Luhan be here with Jongin?" Minseok asks, and Jongin and Kyungsoo turn around to see Minseok and Luhan behind them, coming back from grabbing drinks. Minseok's arm is around Luhan's waist, and there's an apparent from on his lips.

"Yeah, why would I be here with Jo– you little ," Luhan hisses when he realizes what's going on. Jongin's eyes widen in fear at the venomous look Luhan's giving him. Of course Luhan would get it immediately.

"You better explain everything to him," Luhan warns. Minseok looks confused, but Luhan gives him a reassuring look before whispering something in Minseok's ear that causes him to turn red. Jongin's glad Luhan had the decency to whisper it.

"Explain what?" Kyungsoo demands, getting impatient. "Seriously, Jongin, what is going on? Why is Luhan here with Minseok when you said he'd be with you?"

"I never said he'd be with me only," Jongin mumbles, and Kyungsoo just glares, arms crossed. "Let's-Let's talk outside," Jongin finally sighs, softly grabbing onto Kyungsoo's arm as he leads them out of the karaoke bar. It was getting too stuffy in there anyway, with the stench of alcohol lingering in the air and curious eyes watching their every move.

When they're outside, Kyungsoo walks ahead and Jongin thinks he's about to leave him when Kyungsoo stops. It's quiet for a moment, the only other sounds are that of the karaoke bar and the cars passing by.

"So there was never a hypothetical boyfriend," Kyungsoo finally starts slowly, back facing Jongin.

"I– no," Jongin sighs, not even bothering to lie anymore. As if that did him any good the last time, anyway.

"Then why would you say there was?" Kyungsoo asks, exasperated, turning around to look at Jongin. The hurt is clear in his eyes, and Jongin feels a sharp pain in his chest.

"I don't know," Jongin groans, running a hand through his hair as he averts his gaze. "I just panicked, I guess, and I didn't want you to think I was lying to you the first time we met."

"So you lied to me some more?" Kyungsoo asks incredulously.

Jongin shrugs weakly. It was never a sure-fire plan to begin with, Jongin knows that. He's not even sure why he went through with it. Well, okay, maybe he does know why, but he doesn't want to admit anything. Not until he's sure of the others' feelings.

"Are you... are you that mad at me for lying about Luhan?" Jongin asks timidly.

"Uh, yeah," Kyungsoo deadpans, rolling his eyes.

"But why? I mean, it was just a little lie, and it's not like Luhan and I ever really did anything together," he trails off, averting his eyes again.

"Well, I was jealous too, you idiot," Kyungsoo snaps, too annoyed to even be embarrassed by his confession. Still, there's no bite to his bark; he just looks more frustrated than anything else right now. "I can't believe you made it all up," he sighs, sounding defeated.

"I'm sorry," Jongin whispers, scared of the way Kyungsoo's shoulders sag. It's quiet again, and Jongin wants more than anything to walk over and wrap his arms around the smaller.

"I really, really don't like you right now," Kyungsoo finally says, and Jongin feels his heart drop. "Which really annoys me, because I really, really like you all other times."

Just like that, Jongin's heart springs back up, beating faster than ever, and he smiles hopefully. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Kyungsoo grumbles, now embarrassed at the way Jongin is looking at him. "You better like me back too, or I'm going to throw that trash can at you," he says, gesturing to the trash can beside them.

Jongin laughs and nods. "I like you too," he admits, just as embarrassed.

"Good. And if you ever do something like this in the future, I'm going to make sure much worse things than spoiled milk happens to you," Kyungsoo threatens, but Jongin's too busy dreaming of their future together to even be concerned.

"I would never," Jongin promises, and he means it. Kyungsoo's face softens at that, and in a daring move, he reaches and grabs Jongin's hand.

"I've always wanted to do this," Kyungsoo admits with a laugh, looking down at their intertwined hands. "Fits perfectly, huh?" Jongin smiles and looks down at their hands, and he agrees.

It's as if their hands were made for each other. It's as if Fate made them for each other.




-




They're in Kyungsoo's apartment. The last of Sehun's boxes are by the front door, awaiting Tao and Sehun's arrival to move them to Sehun's new place. Jongin and Kyungsoo are on the couch, watching old comedies. Well, Kyungsoo's watching the comedy – Jongin's just watching Kyungsoo.

"So I heard you're looking for a roommate," Jongin drawls as he puts an arm over his boyfriend and pulls him closer.

"Mhm," Kyungsoo hums, grinning as he looks up at Jongin. "Are you interested?"

"Depends," Jongin teases. "What's in it for me?"

"Well, aside from not getting your kicked by me, I promise I always have fresh milk in the fridge," Kyungsoo offers.

Jongin laughs as he leans down and presses his lips to Kyungsoo's, murmuring, "Sounds like a deal."

a/n: Not gonna lie, I'm not sure if some of the italics transferred over when I copied and pasted from the LJ version? I mean, I guess it's not that important, but at the same time, it is OTL I plan to come back tomorrow to change it if it didn't, but yeah. So if no words were italicized, then I'm sorry ;; I'm just way too tired right now to go through it.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!