Seunghyun dragged his tired and sore body out of the elevator, with his hair disheveled and collar askew. The sun outside was just beginning to rise, signifying a fresh, new start for everybody, but him. His day was just about to end, and all he could think of at the moment was to take a hot shower, crawl into his bed and hibernate like an old, grumpy bear. Nevermind that he hasn’t eaten anything for the last eight hours or so, and only managed to survive with those bottles of vitamin water that fueled his system to last an entire night of work at the hospital. Stress and fatigue combined, his job was definitely starting to take its toll on him and his body. Seunghyun may be a doctor, but he ain’t no Superman. He, like everyone else, was also subjected to aching limbs and dark circles beneath the eyes. But then again, given how much he loved his profession despite its downsides, Seunghyun just basically says ‘ it’ and continue moving on with his tedious but fulfilling life, devoted on helping others. And although sometimes he blamed his father for feeding him all those superhero when he was a child, he was thankful for it nonetheless.

He continued to drowsily walk, not really sure if he went on the right direction ( or if he was on the correct floor, for that matter) when a sudden shriek of absolute terror pierced the stillness of the morning, that for a moment he actually thought that a murder was taking place on the hallway.

Turns out he was just over exaggerating and apparently, so did the person in front of him.

Seunghyun stood a few feet away, rooted on the spot, watching in amusement and slight worry, as his clearly horrified and flailing neighbor, struggle with a brown and wrinkly dog who seemed determined on finishing his very important business in front of Seunghyun’s door and maybe on the potted plant next to it.

“Gaho, nooo!!!” Jiyong screeched at the top of his lungs all the while tugging at the dog’s leash, to no avail. “You do not pee on Seunghyun’s door. Oh god.”

He silently observed the smaller man, who was trying to bribe his pet into submission with doggy treats and nearly laughed out loud when it simply refused to budge. Jiyong surely had his ways on entertaining Seunghyun every time they ran into each other, whether he was his usual sassy self, or the troublesome drunk one and even now, the whiny and frustrated one.

To Seunghyun’s surprise (and inner delight) Jiyong began to scold the dog, who was now sniffing around, like he was a mother talking to a mischievous child.

“Gaho, you bad bad dog!” He chastised and squatted down to the dog’s level and looked at it’s eyes. “You are not allowed to sleep on my bed for a week. Got it?”

Seunghyun almost expected for the dog to reply at its owner, and couldn’t help but snicker stupidly at the scene unfolding right before him. But it was quickly wiped off his face when he noticed Jiyong’s gym shorts riding up his legs, revealing slender, milky white thighs. Like a child witnessing a miracle, his eyes helplessly (and shamelessly) raked over the fine pair of limbs and couldn’t help but wonder why everything about Jiyong was uh...feminine.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get weirder than it already is, Jiyong reached over to grudgingly pat the dog on the head, a dusky peeking into view through the side of the flimsy, sleeveless shirt the other man wore. Seunghyun could feel his mouth going dry and his face heating up as the lines and curves of ink that painted the pale skin of his new neighbor was bared for his eyes to see (and maybe appreciate).

Okay. He seriously needs to get some sleep. Pronto.

Blaming his unusual reaction towards someone of the same to his questionable state of mind, Seunghyun was just about to make his presence noticed when the dog decided to do it for him by barking loudly and startling its owner.

Jiyong whipped his head towards his direction, with Seunghyun  clearly seeing the panicked and somehow guilty expression crossing his face. He grinned mentally at the fact that Jiyong’s usual air of hauteur and bravado went flying out the window when he was at fault. Not that he was the one who peed on Seunghyun’s door, but he is the owner of the dog, so technically it’s his fault as well.

“Um, good morning Seunghyun…” Jiyong greeted him, his hands absently playing with the leash.

Before he could even reply, Jiyong started firing out explanations on why his door reeked of his pet’s make water and how sorry he is about it. “I’m really really sorry about this. You see, I took him out for a run at the park and he was fine then. But when we got here, I have no idea what’s gotten into him and he just, you know, decided to do his business on your doorstep and I couldn’t stop him. I swear his potty trained! He just…”

Jiyong rambled on, making Seunghyun chuckle at his unexpected cuteness when he was frustrated.

“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Seunghyun cut him off.

“But---“

“Really, I don’t mind. I’m not angry.” He smiled at Jiyong and awkwardly bent down to pat Gaho who sniffed at his shoes. “I didn’t know you like dogs.”

“Yeah,” Jiyong reluctantly replied at the diversion of the topic. “He had to stay back at my parents’ house until I managed to settle  all my stuff here.”

He trailed off and pointedly eyed Seunghyun’s over- all disgruntled appearance like the first time they met at the mall with a barely concealed grimace. 

“Rough day at work?”

The question made Seunghyun laugh a little before he nodded. “You have no idea. I just got here actually…”

“Really?” Jiyong’s voice was laced with incrudelity. “So you haven’t had breakfast yet?”

Well duh, Seughyun thought sarcastically and was tempted to roll his eyes at the silly question. Of course he hasn’t. The last thing he had in his mind was eating sunny side up’s when he looked like a wandering zombie.

“How about we have one now?” His neighbor offered, standing on the balls of his feet. “You know, to make up for what my dog did. But after I clean up this mess of course!”

On any other day, Seunghyun would have gladly accepted the invitation of food, but he badly needed some eye shut and he wasn’t sure himself that if he could survive breakfast without nodding off in front of Jiyong and the food.

The hopeful face Jiyong had, made him feel a tad bit guilty when he’s just about to turn down his offer, when his eyes locked on the prominent collarbones showing through the low neckline of the damned shirt. The smaller man could’ve gone topless and it would have made little difference given how the piece of cloth looked like it could tear with little force required.

“Im sorry Jiyong, “He managed a polite smile. “But I really need to sleep or I might pass out. And besides, I want to be fully conscious if we ever have breakfast together. Next time maybe?”

The other reluctantly agreed, his lower lip jutting out adorably and Seunghyun thought things would’ve ended at that and he could finally sleep, but Jiyong had other plans in mind.

“How about dinner t your place tonight then?” He perked up at his own suggestion, slightly startling Seunghyun. “We can’t have it at my place since my kitchen is still a bit… bare. But you don’t have to worry since I’m cooking!”

Now how could he possibly say no to that? He wouldn’t have to put bother putting some decent shirt and shoes on, and ride the elevator and go out of the complex to buy dinner that takes little effort and bodily movements  to cook, say like um, ramyun.

“Hmmm, sounds like a plan.”

“Great! I’ll be here at seven.”

Yeah, great.

~~~

Seunghyun woke up many hours later to the relentless buzzing of his doorbell and silently wished for whoever it was behind the door to get hit with lightning or something for ruining his beauty sleep. He had to blink a couple of times to let  his eyes adjust with his room being plunged into total darkness.

Getting up from the bed, Seunghyun lazily stretched like a cat, and purposely slowed down his movements to get back at the intruder who still rang his doorbell like there was no tomorrow.He then blindly fished out for his house slippers under the bed and made his way out of the bedroom where he was greeted with even more darkness.

As much as he was concerned for his poor eyes being assaulted, he was forced to switch the lights on when he stabbed a toe on some unknown furniture and had the decency to at least wipe the drool on his face before he opened the door with a loud grunt.

Jiyong welcomed him with a scowl on his face, and it didn't need to take a rocket scientist to figure out that the other man was pissed for having to wait for quite sometime.

"Oh good, you're here. I was beginning to think you ran off."Jiyong remarked sarcastically. "So you just woke up? I Hope you had sweet dreams."

Seunghyun merely shrugged his shoulders. "Hope your pretty little finger is fine after it harassed my doorbell."

His neighbor glared at him a littleand huffed out. "Touche. So are you letting me in or what?"

Before the whole sentence was barely even out of his mouth, Jiyong already slid past Seunghyun and invited himself inside. "Nice place." He said as he toed his shoes off.

Seunghyun was left at the still open door with his ridiculously thick hoodie and blinked stupidly into the empty space in front of him, in a vain attempt to fend off his sleepiness for an hour or two until dinner was over. He plodded his dozy carcass inside and looked for Jiyong. Without a doubt, he found the smaller man wearing his unused apron, bustling around his kitchen like he owned the place.

"I hope you're fine with seasoned pork chops and some pumpkin soup. It's all I can manage with my poor cooking skills." Jiyong said over his shoulder while taking out pots and pans Seunghyun forgot that he even owned, from the cabinet."I had to run to the grocers and buy the meat.Oh, and  I also brought ice cream as a..."

He plonked himself in one of the chairs on the kitchen island and propped his chin on the counter with his right hand. His eyes was fixed on the food containers he just noticed sans the ice cream that he guesses was still back at Jiyong's apartment and hummed his agreement on what he thinks are at appropriate intervals without really listening to what was being said and only moved a muscle when it was absolutely necessary.

"Hey, I was wondering" Jiyong turned to him and began opening the containers and checking the meat, glancing at him from time to time. "About the other day when I was... drunk. Did I do anything embarassing or gross? I mean, I clearly remember bumping at you in the elevator that day and when I woke up later on, I was already in bed without any recollections on what happened after the elevator. So, I reckon you helped me, am I right?"

Laughter started to bubble on Seunghyun's chest at the ridiculous memory of a crying Jiyong and the aliens and barely managed to stiffle and hold it in, making it sound like he was like he was growling or something, which of course did not go unnoticed from the smaller man.

"I DID do something." JIyong concluded with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, well..." He trailed off, unsure if he should be honest and tell the whole story or save Jiyong from the embarassment.

"Well, what?" Jiyong prompted, a hand on his waist and a foot tapping on the tiled floor, clearly getting impatient with Seunghyun's lame stalling. "Spit it out."

Uh-oh. Not good.

Warning bells rang on Seunghyun's head, experience telling him that he should just flee from the kitchen and make sure he wasn't within fifty feet radius near the other man in case he switches to his full diva- mode, which Seunghyun was pretty damn sure he wouldn't be able to handle at the moment.

"Nope. Nothing. Haha." He lied and jumped of the stool while wracking his brain for an excuse to escape further interrogation he bets will happen any minute now. Judging from Jiyong's history for being as stubborn as a tumor, he'd probably insist answers from Seunghyun even if he had to force it out of him.

"I'm just going out and buy some--- uh, BANANAS. I'll be back in a jiffy!" Without waiting for his neighbor's reply, he bolted out of the kitchen.

                                                                                                            ~~~

Ten minutes passed and Seunghyun found himself still sitting on the steps in front of his apartment building, the employees and security guards on duty giving him funny looks as they watched him coop outside the building and swat away countless mosquitoes for the last few minutes, without any bananas in posession. How could he, when he didn't have any money with him. He'll just have to fabricate excuses about them being out of stock when he faces Jiyong later.

Finally making up his mind to stop acting like an exile from his own flat, Seunghyun slowly walked inside and rode the elevator fully expecting Jiyong to be halfway finished on preparing dinner and maybe he could offer some kind of help like putting plates .

What he didn't expect was to be greeted with the smell of something burning when he stepped out of the lift and could feel blood draining from his face at the sight of curling smoke coming out from under his front door.

The first thing that crossed his mind was 'My Be@rbricks!' and realized how wrong it sounded when Jiyong was probably inside, helpless and suffocating or heaven forbid, burning.

Without really thinking and acting out of pure impulse, he kicked open the front door and was immediately greeted with smoke that blanketed his entire apartment and the loud beeping sound of the smoke detectors that rang in the air. Thankfully he couldn't see any form of fire when he passed by the living room and he could only hope of the same thing for his kitchen.

"Jiyong!" Seunghyun called for the other man repeatedly, his voice getting hoarse; worry for Jiyong greatly welling up and blindly looked for his way to the kitchen, his eyes stinging.

Just as he managed to reach the kitchen, the sudden gush of water spouting from the fire sprinklers effectively stupefied him and nearly rendered him unconscious. Seunghyun could only groan in despair.

                                                                                                            ~~~

He stood there just outside the door, sopping wet from head to toe with a stuffed Be@rbrick in one arm as workmen scurried in and out of his flooded and soaked apartment, trying to prevent any further accidents from happening. The shock was taking far too long to settle in and really, no one could blame him for that.

The sudden explosion of a bulb and the sound of the electrical wirings sparking inside the house caused the repentant man across him, who still wore the apron from earlier with a spatula in one hand and a tub of long forgotten melted ice cream near his feet, flinch and gnaw some more on his abused lower lip.

"Seunghyun, I'm SO sorry..."

A/N: Oh, no. Poor Hyunnie *laughs hysterically* I just love making him suffer in this story. Hahaha. Trouble seems to be Jiyong's friend ^^. Anyways,  have fun reading and let me know what you think. Byee~

P.S. : Please pardon any mistakes I've comitted. I'll fix them later.