Yunho sighed before turning the doorknob of his shared dorm room. He had always dreaded going back in there especially when his roommate was present. His roommate was the most coldhearted, – if not heartless – indifferent, despicable student in the infamous SM Boarding School for Boys. Yunho had been trying his best to avoid his roommate as much as possible. Although they’ve stayed together for almost 4 months, he still felt as unfortunate as the day he got assigned to that room.
 
Jaejoong’s arrogance pissed him off to no end. He tried his best to be a good roommate, but all his efforts were wasted since Jaejoong refused to acknowledge Yunho’s intentions of becoming friends. He remained cold and unreasonable. As Yunho entered the room, he immediately spotted a sound asleep Jaejoong on his own bed. He was relieved that he didn’t have to go through another awkward and dreadful moment with his roommate which he experienced every time they were alone together.
 
Yunho went to his side of the room and put down his stuff. He got his books and notebooks and immediately started doing his homework. He couldn’t really do much when Jaejoong was awake. There was this tense atmosphere between them that made Yunho unproductive. After he finished his homework, he decided to take a shower.
 
Yunho came out of the bathroom dripping wet, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. As he walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, Jaejoong was already getting up from his bed. “Oh. You were here.” Jaejoong said nonchalantly.
 
“Yeah. Sorry if I woke you up.” Yunho said with the same tone.
 
Their dorm room remained silent for the rest of the night after that conversation.
 
Yunho always returned to their dorm room as late as possible for any reason he could find. Although it was obvious that he was avoiding his roommate, he still respected Jaejoong like a normal person needs to be respected. Yunho came home at almost 2am on a Friday night. He was surprised to see an empty dorm room because Jaejoong would usually be asleep on his bed at this time of day. Although Yunho wasn’t really fond of his roommate, he was still sort of worried about him. They did live together after all.
 
Yunho went to bed after taking a quick shower. He shut his eyes and tried his best to make himself comfortable. He thought it would be easier to fall asleep if Jaejoong wasn’t around, but it turned out to be the exact opposite of easier. He twisted and his bed, desperately trying find a comfortable position, but nothing seemed to work for him. He gave up trying to fall asleep. There was no denying it. He was worried about his roommate. They aren’t the best of friends, but they lived together, so he at least had the right to worry about the other if not pry into his personal business.
 
He was pretty sure that Jaejoong would go back to the dorm since he would always inform Yunho beforehand if he was going to sleep elsewhere. It was a formality of theirs. They didn’t really care about each other’s business, but it would be troublesome for the other if one of them suddenly disappeared without anyone knowing where he was last seen.
 
Jaejoong arrived 30 minutes after Yunho. Although it was quite dark in the room, Yunho could still see his roommate’s flushed face and his unstable movements. Yunho could only conclude that Jaejoong was absolutely drunk. Yunho remained seated on the couch, his eyes following Jaejoong who was walking towards him. Jaejoong nearly tripped on the coffee table, he was lucky that Yunho caught him on time, but unluckily, Yunho lost his balance and they fell on the couch with Jaejoong landing on top of Yunho.
 
“Aish! Yah! Kim Jaejoong! Get off of me.” Yunho tried to say as calm as possible. He was pissed at the inconvenience Jaejoong brought him. Jaejoong didn’t move, moments later Yunho heard light snores emitted by the man on top of him. “Aish. You shouldn’t drink if you have low tolerance” Yunho sighed, but smiled a little as he glanced at Jaejoong’s angelic, sleeping face.
 
Yunho carried Jaejoong to his own bed and tucked him in. He smiled at the sleeping figure. “Why can’t your attitude be as great as your looks?”
 
When Yunho woke up, Jaejoong was still sound asleep on the other side of the room. He stared at his roommate’s back for about 5 seconds before getting up. He stretched a little before heading to the bathroom. After taking a refreshing bath, as he was about to grab his towel, he heard the sound of something heavy falling on the floor. He immediately wrapped the towel around his waist and went out to check on what caused the noise. He went to the mini kitchen and saw their refrigerator fully open; he lowered his gaze only to see an unconscious Jaejoong lying on the cold floor. He panicked when he saw the fragile looking man and took a deep breath before coming closer.
 
He carried Jaejoong to his bed and got a glass of water ready for when he wakes up. He went over to his closet to put on some clothes then went back to his roommate. He sat on the bed as he stared at the man thinking of what he should do. He caressed the man’s cheeks before feeling his temperature from his forehead. “Omo! Jaejoong has high fever.”
 
Yunho grabbed his phone and dialed a familiar number. There were two rings on the line before the person on the other end answered.
 
“Yoboseyo?”
 
“Umma!” Yunho said in a sweet and slightly nervous tone.
 
“Yes, dear? Is there something wrong?” Mrs. Jung sensed that Yunho was in a bit of trouble (mother’s instinct)
 
“Ehh.. I’m afraid I won’t be able to come home this weekend.” Yunho explained trying to sound as calm as possible.
 
“Eh? Wae? What happened?” Mrs. Jung sounded worried over the phone.
 
“Well, my roommate has high fever and I think I have to take care of him.”
 
“What? You think? Of course you should take care of him, son.”
 
“Uhh.. Right. I have to take care of him. He’s too weak. I think he fainted while getting food from the fridge.”
 
“Omo~! You should make him soup and tell him to rest a lot, okay? It’s bad for college students to miss classes. It’s a good thing it’s the weekend.”
 
“Yes, umma. I will make sure he will be alright.”
 
“Ahhh… I’m so fortunate to have a thoughtful son.”
 
“Of course. I learned from the best.”
 
“Aigoo! And such a sweet talker as well. Well, you should probably make him some soup.”
 
“Arasso. I’m hanging up now, umma.”
 
Yunho laid his phone on his bed before going to the kitchen to make some soup. He didn’t know much about cooking, so he was only able to make noodle soup. He brought the soup to Jaejoong and laid it on his study table. As he was about to sit down, he heard the sounds of rustling sheets. He darted his eyes to his roommate’s previously sleeping figure and walked to him. Jaejoong groggily woke up and tried to sit up, but was too weak to do so. “Omo! Jaejoong-ssi, don’t force yourself to get up, you’re still too weak.”
 
Jaejoong just stared at him for a while then nodded. Yunho smiled before turning to get the soup.”Jaejoong-ssi, I made you some soup. You should eat in order for you to regain your strength.”
 
Yunho noticed that Jaejoong was hesitating to be fed by Yunho, but he eventually complied, probably because he was hungry. “Say ahhh~” Yunho fed him little by little, blowing on the soup before feeding it to Jaejoong.
 
Yunho went all out in taking care of Jaejoong, making sure his every need was attended to. He applied cold compress on his forehead, took his temperature regularly and gave him medicine. He was surprised that Jaejoong didn’t complain once, but thought that it may be because of his current condition.
 
On Sunday night, Jaejoong was almost fully recovered, but he still stayed in bed. Yunho tucked him in and said “Goodnight”, but before he could move to his own bed, Jaejoong held onto his wrist. “Y-yunho-yah.”
 
“Yes, Jae?” They somehow progressed to dropping the honorifics. “C-can you hug me until I fall asleep?” Jaejoong said shyly which made Yunho smile. “Of course.”
 
The next day, Yunho woke up alone on Jaejoong’s bed. He willed himself to not frown at this. He started his day like he always did. He took a bath, put on his clothes, ate breakfast then went to class. His day was going like usual. He went to class, met up with YooSuMin and pretty much just followed his daily routine. His day went by as it always had; the only difference was that he went home early.
 
‘Okay, Yunho. You’re not going back early because of Jaejoong. You’re just tired.’ He tried to convince himself. As he entered their shared room, he saw Jaejoong lying down on his own bed, reading a book. He thought twice about greeting his roommate. He was about to open his mouth, but shut it again. He dropped his bag beside his bed and plopped down on the chair near his study table. He took a deep breath and hesitated for a while before looking towards Jaejoong’s direction. “Hey, Jae. Are you feeling well now?”
 
Jaejoong glanced up at him then nodded before going back to his book. Yunho wasn’t pissed at his roommate’s slightly rude behavior (he didn’t even say “thank you” for taking care of him), he was used to it. In fact, he was sort of expecting it. Just because he took care of Jaejoong didn’t mean that they would instantly become friends.
 
It’s been three days since Jaejoong was freed of his fever. Of course, Yunho was relieved that his roommate was fine now but he couldn’t hide the fact that he was also saddened by it. He missed the clingy Jaejoong, the Jaejoong he fed and tucked into bed, the Jaejoong that wanted his attention, the Jaejoong who wasn’t heartless and rude.
 
Yunho couldn’t stop thinking about his roommate. During class, he would try to concentrate on the teacher’s lecture but suddenly Jaejoong’s face flashes in front of him. Even when he closes his eyes, he could see Jaejoong. YooSuMin could sense that something was off with Yunho.
 
“Hyung. Hyung? Hyuuung?” Changmin waved his hand in front of Yunho’s face. “Hello? Earth to Yunho?”
 
Yunho finally snapped out of his daze and answered “Yes, Min?”
 
“Ughh… You weren’t listening to me? Aish! I said Chun and Su and I want to go to the amusement park this weekend. Will you join us?”
 
“Yeah. Sure.” Yunho answered sounding uninterested and absentminded.
 
“ What’s the matter with you, hyung? Do you have a problem?” Junsu asked sounding very concerned.
 
“Yeah, you’ve been spacing out a lot lately. Is something troubling you?” Yoochun added.
 
“Nothing. I want to go to the dorm now. Bye, Su, Min, Chun.” Yunho waved at his dumbfounded friends and went off to his dorm.
 
“Wait. Did he just say “want to?” or “have to?” ” Changmin asked, befuddled.
 
“I heard “want to”.” Junsu answered with the same confused expression.
 
“M-maybe he just got the words mixed up?” Yoochun tried to think of reasons why Yunho said that. “He can’t possibly be excited to see his roommate, right?”
 
Yunho was alone in their dorm room. He was half expecting to not see Jaejoong there. After all, the man has been avoiding him ever since he recovered from his sickness. Yunho didn’t blame the man. He understood how awkward it might be for Jaejoong to be in the same room as him after how close they acted during the weekend even thought they disliked each other. “Aish! Kim Jaejoong. Why did you have to get sick?! Yaaaiiishh!! I’m going crazy.”
 
Yunho didn’t remember falling asleep, but the he felt like something huge was hovering over him. He was awake, but he kept his eyes shut. He felt something or someone was staring at him at a close proximity. He opened his eyes, carefully. It was TOO CLOSE. He was startled by Kim Jaejoong’s face which was just about 1 and a half inches away from his. “J-jaejoong-ssi? Wh-what are you doing?”
 
“You.” Jaejoong said with a very serious tone. His eyes never leaving Yunho’s. Yunho wanted to look away but couldn’t. He felt like Jaejoong’s eyes could pierce through his soul and directly see what was inside his heart. “Wh-what?”
 
“This is your fault.”
 
“Excuse me?”
 
“Why did you have to act so concerned? Why did you take care of me? I thought you hated me.”
 
“I never said I hated you.” Although Yunho disliked his roommate’s behavior, he didn’t hate him. He didn’t have enough reason to. He knew that Jaejoong, just like any other person out there had a reason for acting the way he did. They just stayed there, staring intently at the other. It was such an intense staring contest. Yunho realized how beautiful Jaejoong really was. He knew that Jaejoong had milky white skin and feminine features but he never really noticed that Jaejoong’s eyes were doe-like and pensive. Just being stared at by his eyes could melt your heart and even your entire being. He failed to notice Jaejoong’s plump, cherry red lips which looked so soft and inviting. Yunho briefly wondered how soft they were if he could feel them with his own lips. Then he also didn’t notice how Jaejoong’s milky white skin was absolutely flawless. He didn’t have any blemish or whatsoever. Jaejoong looked like an angel was what he concluded in his mind.
Yunho unconsciously decided to lock his gaze on Jaejoong’s lips. He was contemplating on whether he would feel those lips with his own to fill in his curiosity or miss this once in a lifetime chance and regret it forever. He debated with himself and looked at the pros and cons. If he kissed Jaejoong right then and there, Jaejoong might hate him forever, slap him and never speak to him again, but if he didn’t then they would remain the way they are now and he would regret it for the rest of his existence.
 
While Yunho was busy in his own world thinking of what to do, Jaejoong decided for him. Jaejoong leaned forward, closing the small gap between them and brought their lips together. There was no movement, just an innocent press of lips. When Jaejoong pulled away, he smiled a genuine smile for the first time then motioned to get up, but paused then said, “I hate you”. He completely got up and rushed out of the room. Yunho was left in absolute confusion. His brain was trying to absorb what just happened, but he really couldn’t understand. “AIIISH! KIM JAEJOONG! YOU MAKE ME GO CRAZY!”
 
The next day, Yunho came “home” early again. He was surprised to hear Jaejoong greet him “Welcome home, Yunho-ssi.”
 
“Uhh… Th-thanks?” It was more of a question than a reply. It was awkward but different because it was awkward in a good way. He smiled to himself and took a seat at their mini dining table.
 
“I made us dinner.” Jaejoong said with a shy smile.
 
Yunho’s heart did a backflip which caused the cage of butterflies within him to open. He felt those little butterflies flutter around his stomach as he took in the sight of Jaejoong’s back as he was preparing their meal.
 
Jaejoong was extra nice. He served Yunho and even insisted on feeding his roommate, but although Yunho wanted so badly to accept, he still declined saying that he was very capable of feeding himself.
 
Yunho enjoyed the undivided attention Jaejoong gave him. In return, he also showered Jaejoong with attention and care (and maybe even love).
 
Although they were very friendly (or maybe even more than friendly) inside their dorm room, they acted the complete opposite when they were in school.
 
They crossed each other in the hallway, but Jaejoong kept his usual poker face and ignored Yunho. Yunho didn’t bother to ask Jaejoong why because he didn’t want to ruin whatever it was they were doing.
 
Yunho spent most of his time in their dorm room. He stopped denying it and accepted the fact that he was happy to be around Kim Jaejoong and be treated specially by him. Sometimes they would meet up in their room just to have lunch together. They even joined their beds together and slept beside each other at night.
 
Yunho’s friends noticed that he wasn’t showing up often. They realized it last Saturday when Yunho failed to let them know he wouldn’t be able to make it to the amusement park.
 
“Yah! Yunho-hyung!” Changmin called for the older student just before he could make it out of the class room.
 
“Yes, Changmin?” Yunho asked his dongsaeng, looking impatient. He couldn’t wait to spend time with Jaejoong.
 
“Hyuuung! You don’t spend time with us anymore.” Changmin tried to look cute and pouted his lips. Yunho chuckled at his dongsaeng’s childish act. “Yah! Hyung! Don’t laugh at me. It’s true, you know. You spend all your free time inside your dorm room. Is your wicked roommate holding you captive or something?”
 
“Aish. If only you knew. He makes me go crazy. Aigoo~” He laughed at his own statement. Little did he know that a certain roommate of his was just outside his classroom holding a lunchbox for him. Jaejoong heard Yunho and Changmin’s conversation. He almost dropped Yunho’s food but gladly, he didn’t and ran somewhere far off.
 
When Yunho arrived at their dorm room, Jaejoong was nowhere in sight. He frowned at the emptiness but patiently waited for Jaejoong to arrive. “Maybe their professor dismissed them late today.” He said to himself. He waited and waited for Jaejoong, but he didn’t come. Yunho was worried, but he had another class after lunch, so he headed off to the school building with an empty stomach.
 
After that day, Jaejoong returned to acting coldly towards Yunho. He completely ignored Yunho’s exsistence and even moved their beds back to their original position.
 
A few days later, Yunho and Jaejoong still ignored each other. Yunho couldn’t stop wondering what had caused the sudden change in Jaejoong’s behavior. He couldn’t think properly, couldn’t eat properly and he couldn’t function. Everything he did was done halfheartedly since the other half of his heart was left with Kim Jaejoong. One day, all of these things got to him. He didn’t eat breakfast before going to PE class. He fainted midway to their jogging warm up exercise. He was brought to the clinic and he didn’t have the strength to attend his afternoon classes.
 
The news got about Yunho got around the campus fast. It reached Kim Jaejoong 2 periods after lunch. Jaejoong skipped his last class when he heard the news.
 
When he entered the room, Yunho was sound asleep on one of the beds. He was the only patient in the infirmary at that time. He sat beside Yunho’s sleeping figure, caressing his tan face, admiring the manly features. “Aish. Yunho-yah, why did you have to make me care for you so much?”
 
He was about to stand up to go to the canteen to get Yunho something to eat when he wakes up, but before he could get on his feet, Yunho grabbed his wrist and made him stay put.
 
“Y-yah! What do you think you’re doing?”
 
“Jae.” Yunho pulled Jaejoong down, which caused him to lie down next to Yunho. There was only a little space, so they had to stay closer to not fall off the bed. “Don’t leave. Stay here.”
 
“I was just gonna get you something to eat for later, you big baby.”
 
“I don’t need food. I need you.” Jaejoong could just feel his blood rise up to his cheeks. He was probably as red as a tomato at that moment. “Y-yah! Y-you’re not sick, aren’t you?!”
 
Jaejoong desperately tried to hide his blushing face from Yunho. “I am. I’m hurt.”
 
“Why? What happened? Did you fall or get a scratch or something?” Jaejoong asked absolutely concerned. He checked Yunho from head to toe, looking for marks or scratches but found none. “Yeah, I fell. I fell for you, Kim Jaejoong”
 
Jaejoong could feel his whole body heat up like every inch of his skin was blushing, turning red from Yunho’s words. Yunho wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s waist firmly. “I fell for you, but you ignored me. You left more than a scratch, you left a huge hole in my heart.”
 
Jaejoong stiffened at Yunho’s confession. He didn’t know how to react.
 
“Yah!” Jaejoong struggled to get free from Yunho’s strong arms (unwillingly). “I ignored you because you said I was making you go crazy.” Jaejoong pouted. Yunho couldn’t help but inwardly flail at the sight. He missed seeing Jaejoong’s cute expression. “I didn’t want to bother you and make you feel burdened by me, so I just ran away.”
 
“Wha—? Oh…You heard that?” Jae nodded. “Well, it is true, though.” Jaejoong frowned. “Well, what’d you expect? You’re absolutely coldhearted and arrogant at first then all clingy and needy when you were sick then you went back to being cold then suddenly I wake up with you on top of me then you kiss me then suddenly you say you hate me, but you become so sweet and the exact same opposite of how you were at first and then out of the blue you started ignoring me again. Who wouldn’t go CRAZY cuz’ of that?”
 
“It’s your entire fault.”
 
“WHAT?”
 
“You started caring for me, you idiot! It made me feel excited and happy. I was in pure bliss when you took care of me. No one has ever taken care of me like that before except for my mother, but she died when I was still too young. I absolutely loved the attention, but when I got better, I wanted to get sick again, but I figured you only found me as a burden or a hindrance to your happiness. I backed off and tried my best to go back to how things were, but constantly seeing you every single day was making me lose my control. I’ve never felt this way before. It was so frustrating how we were in the same room, but I felt like you were so unreachable. When I found you sleeping on your bed, I couldn’t help myself, then staring into your eyes made me lose it, so I kissed you.”
 
“but then you said you HATED me.”
 
“Of course I hated you! I built up walls around me, so people wouldn’t be able to pass through, but that didn’t stop you. You slowly dug your way in through those thick layers until you finally reached what they were guarding.”
 
“Which was what?”
 
“My heart.”
 
“Then you patched up the hole I made, so you didn’t have to see me just because you found out that you made me go crazy?”
 
“Look, I expected too much. You thought I could steal your heart away too if I showed you my vulnerable side, the side of me that I refused to show to anyone. I tried my best to show myself to you. I wanted to be able to take care of you just like how you took care of me, but in the end, I was just being a burden.”
 
“You’re not a burden.”
 
“But you said…” Yunho sat up and pulled Jaejoong up with him. He cupped Jaejoong’s cheeks with his warm hands and stared lovingly at the shorter male. “Like I said, you make me go crazy, and you’ll surely bring me to the edge of my sanity if you suddenly start ignoring me again after this.”
 
“But…”
 
“No buts. You should take responsibility for expertly stealing my heart with just one kiss.” Jaejoong finally felt at ease and smiled. Yunho meshed their lips together into a sweet, loving kiss. “I love you Yunho-yah.”
 
“I love you, Jaejoong-ah.”