The thing about thousand- dollar couches, is that for all its impressive value in adding ‘spunk’ or ‘personality’ to one’s home, it does not necessarily (most of the time) embrace the concept of comfort to its owner--- or in case to case basis, the one who sleeps on it.

                Seunghyun has spent most of the night, of the last two grueling days, tossing and turning over the narrow piece of furniture which he highly doubt could even hold the weight of three people at the same time. And of course as if to spite him, he just had to be born with a pair of long legs that either awkwardly dangled when he stretched or painfully folded when he curled up over the couch.

                This forced him to try and sleep sitting upright leaning against the back of the couch for more than a handful of times. It would have been a favorable position, if only his neck did not stiffen and his back suffering from the piece of concrete block disguised as a furniture in pretty upholstery.

                That was when he found himself wishing, yet again, that he was born with shorter legs like someone from around this apartment whom he bets was sleeping away like an angel in a bed of clouds.

                He could’ve slept on the floor on the floor and it would have made little difference. But then he decided against it. At the very least he was warmer up in the couch in comparison to the floor, as he was at the moment, swathed in thick, fresh- smelling comforter that reminded him of summer when he was a little child. The nostalgic smell helped ease the bitterness of his situation if only a little.

                A glance at the clock hanging on the opposite wall confirmed his galling suspicion. A mere few hours until the sun breaks over the horizon and there he was wide- eyed and bushy tailed like a squirrel.

                There was no helping his situation and with great deal of unwillingness he, ceded to it.

                Sleep seemed to be the farthest thing from happening to him, and with a kick at the comforter, Seunghyun reached for a thick volume of a medical journal seated atop Jiyong’s posh coffee table.

                Jiyong had been intently staring at him across the table the minute he sat his sorry down for breakfast.

                The smaller man was thoughtfully munching on a piece of carrot while Seunghyun huddled over his bowl of cereal in an attempt to ignore his temporary roommate.

                A half a carrot was pointed on his face accusingly.

                “You have eye bags.” Said Jiyong before throwing Seunghyun a sympathetic look, one you would normally give to someone who’s been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Leave it to the pompous younger man to overly dramatize things first thing in the morning.

                Seunghyun continued to chew on his cereals for a little while before deciding to humor his nosy neighbor with as much interest he would with a carton of milk. Exhaustion was finally catching up with him.

                “Thank you, for pointing that out.” He said in a lazy drawl.

                He was in fact very well aware of this problem, reaching to a point wherein a few of his fellow doctors have expressed their well-placed concern for the future chairman of the hospital. A few wry comments were also received from some of the patients he’s had the last few years on how he looked more and more exhausted these days, hinting on how it must be the ‘girlfriend’s’ fault of the current state of his well- being.

                Girlfriend.

                Ha.

                If only those people knew how he barely manages to sleep a wink the previous nights. Hotels were always an option, but then again he’s never been a fan of them. Who knows what the previous occupants did in those hotel rooms. And besides, he has this perfectly accessible couch inside his office he could dive into head- first during lunch break.

               “You should do something about that,” Jiyong watched as Seunghyun stood form his seat and stumble his way to the sink to wash his bowl. “I’ve got some cream in my room, yeah?”

              “What? No.” Seunghyun turned to Jiyong, vehemently refusing the offer and looking every bit of horrified, insulted and on the verge of keeling over any moment because of exhaustion. “I am not going to use make- up. I’ve had enough of you causing me trouble, so please just leave me be. Okay? ”

            “It’s not make- up, geez.” Jiyong scoffed at him before pausing thoughtfully after. “We­ll technically speaking, it is. But it was merely a suggestion for heaven’s sake. What gotten into you anyway?”

          Jiyong stood from his seat, the chair loudly scraping against the tiled floor that grinded the insides of Seunghyun’s head in the form of an unwelcome migraine. The smaller man walked past him, apparently upset at Seunghyun, but it’s not like he’s capable of giving two s about anything right now. So he let him walk away without another word being spoken.

       It should never have bothered him this much. But this morning’s encounter left him unable to concentrate properly with his work and a sinking feeling in his gut throughout the day.

       Now that he’s had time to rest his mind with an hour of sleep on his office couch and a hearty cup of coffee courtesy of a friend doctor from the pediatric ward, Daesung. Guilt has been plaguing his entire being with how he treated the younger man and frankly, it was not the best feeling.

      He reacted badly towards his host earlier and he was going to take responsibility for it.

      So he would make peace. With ice cream as a bribe.

      And maybe a year’s supply of almond flavored Pepero that Jiyong liked so much, his trash can was nearly bursting with its boxes.

      Yes. He’d definitely make peace.

       Opening the damned door proved to be a challenge for Seunghyun as he struggled with his satchel and a few soldiers on one hand and on the other hand with two bags containing ice cream and a few boxes of Pepero.

      “I’m back.” He greeted absently as he stepped inside.

      After taking off his shoes, it took a few moments for Seunghyun to realize that the smaller man was nowhere to be seen because of the fact that usually at this time of the night, he’d arrive at the apartment to see Jiyong in front of the television either reacting violently or sobbing his eyes out from the dramas he was avidly watching.

     So for him to come home to an empty living room was a surprise.

     Before setting off to search for his wayward roommate, Seunghyun decided to place his peace offerings on the refrigerator. He was on the process of unearthing the ice cream from the bag to go straight into the freezer, when he heard a few thumping followed by a string of curse words undoubtedly coming from Jiyong.

    Hurriedly he set off to the source of the noise and found the door of the room next to Jiyong’s slightly open, with the light inside spilling out into the hallway.

    There was no helping it as a snort escaped him after hearing Jiyong swear like a fisherman’s wife yet again at something that was clearly testing the young man’s volatile temper.

    Curious as Seunghyun was, he pushed the door open unannounced.

    The room revealed to be Jiyong’s extensive storage/ closet room that housed a department store’s worth of clothing and shoes that Seunghyun barely knew where to look at as a chaos of different fabrics and colors assaulted his poor eyes.

    But it also revealed a most peculiar sight, for in the middle of the room was Jiyong struggling with a queen sized bed he’s been trying to push against the wall.

   “This weighs a ton I’m telling you.” Jiyong said in a huffed breath.

   A wide grin broke out on Seunghyun’s face feeling immense amount gratitude at the young man’s act of thoughtfulness.

   “No it’s not.” Seunghyun replied fondly. “You just have about as much strength as a girl seeing as how little you are.”

   “You jerk,” Jiyong said without much bite and sent a pillow flying in Seunghyun’s way before flopping himself on the newly made bed. Seunghyun’s bed.

   “I realized I’m not being a really good host,” Said Jiyong with a serious look on his face. “Sorry about that. But now that you have this, don’t you dare go all grumpy on me mister.”

   Seunghyun laughed at that. “Yeah, I’m sorry about this morning. It was… uncool. But I promise I’ll try.”

  “Good boy. Now help me up, my back hurts.”

  “So…” Seunghyun said as he took the outstretched hand in his and helped Jiyong.

 “What?”

 “You up for ice cream?"

**I'm back after a few eons of procrastination. Finally. This chapter is for the gorgeous readers who continue to support this work. You know who you guys are :)

But other than that I'm not entirely sure if people would still actually bother and try reading this. So here goes nothing. Peace out. *slinks away*