When there is an unexplainable surge of emotions towards a specific thing and it brings one happiness, questioning it is usually the last thing on our minds. Because by questioning and analysing we would get to the bottom of this. By explaining, the chance of extinguishing it comes to exist and we can't risk that. Unconditional happiness can be the best kind. Ignorance can be bliss. Just like how an innocent child is happier knowing nothing of the world's darkness and dirt.

The target can be anything. An object, an activity, a person. The list goes on and on. It can be just one, or even multiple targets.

Feelings can change. Emotions can be redirected, or flip over like a coin. At the most unexpected moments one experience can twist a mind and turn over a heart. Passion is fragile. Whether it’s adoration and fondness, or resentment and pain. Passion, however, is also unconditional. It’s strong and holds on at that instant when you’re heart is about to burst.

Although it may not be permanent, it is tremendous.

That morning hadn’t gone as Hyejoon had planned it. Never did she expect to wake up in another man’s bed. Although nothing potentially dangerous had happened, it was not how her night was supposed to go. Especially not when barely a season had passed since the start of their cohabitation. What was she going to do now? Would they be able to leave this behind them? Or even better forget about this… incident.

After managing to make an escape from the apartment, she immediately contacted a friend with a lot of time on her hands The tall girl with the bouncy curls sat across from her enjoying the cup of caffeine to suppress her insanity as much as possible, while Hyejoon’s upper body was sprawled over the table. Chaima thoughtfully poked her straw around as she stared at the miserable figure of her friend.

“So… the real question is, do you want to forget?”

Hyejoon’s upper body was pushed up in one motion and a questioning gaze was directed to the curled brunette. Said girl simply shrugged as she took a bite from her sandwich and dropped it on her plate afterwards. The spoon she stirred her coffee with was waved around as she attempted to elaborate on the question she threw on the table.

“In other words, Hyejoonnie, do you like this man?”

If Hyejoon didn’t know better, she’d think her friend was making fun of her again. But when her brown eyes locked with the girl’s sincere ones, she knew that for once this dorky giant was serious. She wasn’t joking around as far as the tanned girl could see, nor was she trying to poke fun at her misfortune, as she usually would. Then again Hyejoon returned the favour at any chance she could grab.

“No, I don’t. Not as in like like.” was her honest response. “I mean, he definitely is handsome and has a good personality. He’s a gentleman, has interesting quirks and is a fun person to be around, but... “

Chaima nodded in the short interval of silence. “Nah.” she heard her friend conclude.

Hyejoon anticipated her friend’s reaction. Despite having known Chaima for quite a while, the girl was a mass of mystery and spontaneity at most times. To her relief, she responded with a nod followed by a careful sip of the coffee, Hyejoon wondered what was so good about. Her friend radiated satisfaction when the liquid filled , making Hyejoon’s nose curl up in distaste.

“Well. What do you want to do?” Chaima asked after taking a good moment to think.

Hyejoon sighed. “Not lose the room, that’s for sure. I just found a place to live, I can’t afford being kicked out.”

“You’re such a dramatic maknae.” she heard her friend say and almost threw her fork at her for the way Chaima rolled her eyes at her. “You won’t lose it that soon. I doubt he’d be that unprofessional.”

“Who knows.” the defeated girl responded with a desperate bite from her muffin, wishing the sweetness of the pastry to soothe the pain of her misfortune. When it didn’t work, she shoved her plate to the side and returned to her previous position again, forehead placed on the cold wooden surface. She felt a knuckle colliding with her head with enough pressure to extract a groan from her.

“Dra. Ma. Tic.” she heard her friend repeat.

“Then what am I supposed to do?!” Hyejoon burst out as she jumped up once again. The embarrassment started to sink in when she noticed heads turn their way and shoot annoyed and prying stares at their table. She sank in her seat and glared at her snickering friend. She was enjoying this too much, obviously.

“Move on with your life, ignore this small thing and see how he reacts. If the guy is interested, he’ll show a reaction to you being like you always are, as if it never happened and you can break his heart. If not, then he’ll do the same and everything will go smoothly.”

Well that made sense. Hyejoon blinked as she stared at her friend in silence for a while. Chaima who noticed this, shifted uncomfortably in her seat and frowned. “What?”

“I’m surprised.” Hyejoon responded.

“At?”

“You actually being wise for once. Thank you unnie.” the tanned girl smiled.

“You’re a , Kim Hyejoon.” Chaima retorted and got up from her seat. “I hope you choke in your muffin. I’m off, see you never.”

“Bye Chaima.” Hyejoon greeted the girl, followed by soft lyrics of Magic!’s song, Rude. “Have fun with your sister!”

“I hate you!” was the last thing her tall friend exclaimed before leaving the café.

Since the party was on a Sunday evening, Kim Hyejoon had to attend her afternoon classes with a pounding headache and sore, exhausted eyes. Concentration and patience were buried under the mass of misery and ache she was burdened with. No sign of them anywhere. And honestly she didn’t need them right then. Juggling with a heavy head and her school books was enough.

Sleeping through classes helped to make time pass faster, it seemed. Although it did not do much for the pounding of her temples and eyelids. Even the sound of the zipper of her bag annoyed her as she closed it. Flinging the backpack over her shoulder, Hyejoon made her way out of the lecture hall and headed for the exit of the building.

It didn’t take long for her to reach her house and she was beyond relieved that her roommate wasn’t home. It gave her time to prepare a snack and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet with her Playstation before she retreated to her room for the day. Her plans went uninterrupted as for almost an hour until she heard the doorbell ring.

The first two rings went ignored as she concentrated on shooting several foes to capture a base. The interval between the second and third rings had been shorter. The person at the door really did lack patience, but so did Hyejoon. Just another minute until she could leave her spot. Only after her success she would be able to put down the controller.

The fifth ring had been faster than she had expected and threw her off guard. A glance of half a second was enough for bullets to hit her character and she cursed upon seeing its vision blur as it fell to the floor. Her head turned again, wishing misfortune upon the intruder that cost her her life but still approached the door to open it.

With a swing of her arm Hyejoon was faced by a man with dark brown hair. His long fringe was parted to the side, slightly covering his face. He peered down at her with an amused smile, noting the obvious irritation in her expression. Hyejoon stared in surprise at the unexpected guest and was taken aback a bit. Although she didn’t know who or what she expected, it wasn’t this.

“Hobak-oppa?” she stammered still in awe.

“Nice to see you too, Malangie.” he returned the greeting with a lopsided smile. “How are you doing?”

A frown fell upon her expression when she heard her nickname. “I told you not to call me that.”

“Hey you liked the name.” he grinned, retreating his hand from the bell and tucking it inside his pocket.

“As a pet name for a dog!” she exclaimed, holding her hands up in loss.

“Aren’t you going to let me in, Hyejoon-ah?” he asked, to which the girl stepped aside giving space to enter the apartment. “I came to the decision that Hyungnim doesn’t need a girlfriend.”

“Doojoon-oppa isn’t home.” the brunette informed her roommate’s group member and friend.

His sudden turn towards her took the girl by surprise and she halted in her steps on a safe distance from this unpredictable man. “What?”

Junhyung hummed in response and shook his head. “Had a fight?”

“With Oppa? Not that I know of… Why?” She arched an eyebrow. His behaviour became stranger by second.

“Sure. As long as you’re okay.” he retorted as his eyes landed on the lit screen of the television. “Call of Duty, huh.”

The girl folded her arms over her chest, watching the mind wander around their living room in thought. He seemed to be looking for something, but his words had Hyejoon drown in her thoughts about this man and her roommate, unabling her from even thinking about helping him. The tanned girl flinched when she heard the man’s ‘a-ha’ boom through the room and her eyes landed on him.

“Found what I came for.” he explained to the lost girl as he held up the dark brown leather wallet for her to see. “I better go now.”

“So you weren’t here to find Doojoon-”

“No I wasn’t here for Dooppa, Malangie.” Junhyung correcter her with a smug smirk. “I just forgot something last night. He has a schedule.”

“Stop that.” she muttered in response as she watched the man move to the exit and slip his feet in his shoes.

“You should really consider going on a lunch with me, Malangie. My treat.”

Room for a reply was nonexistent. The door slammed shut with the man flashing her another smile. Amusement as vivid as Hyejoon’s colourful stream of vocabulary, directed towards this ‘stupid Junhyung’ and his weird entrance and exit. Even the invitation he left her with had surprised her to say the least. She turned around and shook the whole interaction off. In a fit she shut off her Playstation and the tv and decided to do some chores. Laundry would be a good start.

Well, laundry had seemed a good start. For some reason everything worked against Kim Hyejoon on that particular day. She died in the game, which rarely happened. Junhyung’s random visit, which wasn’t particularly a bad thing although it felt like it was. But now the washing machine had to give up on her.

She was glad that her laundry itself was safe and sound. The only problem was the fact that there was quite some water left in the thing, while it’s supposed to be, well, emptied. Sitting in a lotus position in front of the home appliance, Hyejoon had a staring contest with the device, pondering on how to get rid of the water and hopefully fix it. Especially since it was a shared one.

Half an hour went by in thought and she ended up using towels to absorb the water and squeeze it out in a bucket. The amount of water was more than she had imagined, so it took three towels, a bucket and a lot of patience and muscle power to transfer the water from the inside of the machine into the yellow bucket beside her.

Doing her work in peace, apparently was not allowed by the gods. Just as she thought she was doing a good job, she heard steps shuffling and coming to a stop not far from her. She ignored it and continued twisting the towel to release as much water as she could. Her arms started to feel sore, so she took a break for a few seconds and used the opportunity to wipe sweat from her forehead.

“What are you doing?”

.

“Laundry.” she responded with a few pants.

“Does that require polishing the washing machine?”

What a stupid question.

“Maybe.”

“Do you… need help?”

Yes. “No.”

“Okay. I guess. I’ll be in my room if you do.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. Was he mocking her? Was the sight that funny? Was he going to ignore whatever happened last night and this morning? The conversation they had? Hyejoon drew a deep breath as she recalled Chaima’s advice. If he ignored it and didn’t acknowledge whatever happened, she wouldn’t either. Why would she? It obviously didn’t mean anything. They were just roommates, barely acquaintances.

Oddly enough, clearing that up in her mind was relieving. She felt at rest immediately and when she peered into the washing machine again, she noticed that the last towel had been the last water for her to remove. Thank god. She dropped the wet towels into her basket with freshly washed laundry and moved to the kitchen. Except for her underwear she hung her clothes there on the collapsible rack.

Doojoon stood at the counter, making himself a cup of tea and even pouring a glass of iced tea for her. He was wearing his glasses and reading something on his tablet with full concentration. Occasionally he slid his hand down the screen to scroll, the girl guessed. The soft pastel box beside him with the comical letters on the side alerted Hyejoon of one thing.

“Donuts?”

The question made Doojoon look up her way as she closed a clothespin on her black shirt. His nod, summoned a gleeful smile to her face.

Just roommates.