Kyungsoo walks into the kitchen early on a Saturday morning and finds Dae In stacking a bunch of pancakes on a plate. He smiles to himself, always amused when his girlfriend shows the slightest hint of being domesticated. It’s a side to her he rarely sees, even if they’ve been living together for a while now.

“You’re up early,” he tells her in greeting, moving to stand beside her and wrapping his arm around her waist as soon as she’s within reach. She turns her head slightly to smile at him, sleepy eyes crinkling into half-moons, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before turning her attention back to her pancakes.

“We have a guest coming this morning, I wanna give a warm welcome,” she tells him, handing over the plate with the tall stack of pancakes precariously balanced on top of each other. Kyungsoo nods, remembering that their new roommate is coming today. “Plus, I’m starving. I woke up to my stomach grumbling,” she says, pouting.

Kyungsoo smirks, quickly setting the plate at the center of the table so he could hurry back beside her. He corners her against the kitchen counter, caging her in his arms before leaning in to have his face come dangerously close to hers.

“Last night was quite the workout, wasn’t it?” he drawls in his bedroom voice. She thinks his already y voice is made even ier with a sleepy grumble. Add to that his messy, unruly dark hair, his wide eyes (still big and bright even after having just woken up and she has no idea how’s that’s possible) and his heart-shaped smile, with his lips hovering so close to hers she can smell the spearmint from the toothpaste he just used, and Dae In decides Early Morning Kyungsoo in his thin white shirt and cute pajama bottoms is her favorite. She doesn’t even try to hide his effect on her, a shiver running down her spine and a blush creeping up her neck and cheeks as he lightly brushes his lips against hers. Memories from the previous night come back to her and the blush on her cheeks intensifies.

It takes a considerable amount of self-control on her part to keep from pulling him back for another kiss (hopefully a little longer and deeper this time, because Early Morning Kyungsoo is such a good tease), but she remembers that their roommate might arrive any minute now. Jongdae did say he planned to get to the apartment as early as he could, and her best friend of so many years would probably not be pleased to see her making out in the kitchen with her boyfriend, especially if that boyfriend is also his friend and bandmate. He’s always treated her like a sister, and has always been protective and caring of her in his own way (even if he does treat her like a guy most of the time). Oh! Which reminds her…

She clears and tries to smile as innocently as she could. “Yes, Kyungsoo. Last night was…quite the workout. You were…” Kyungsoo smiles triumphantly, waiting for her to continue. Normally she wouldn’t be so vocal about these things, but today is a weird day (and last night was really one for the books, she has to admit). “You were…amazing,” she says, slightly embarrassed and refusing to look at him. “About that though…starting today, we might have to keep our voices down when we, you know…”

“What? Why? Because we’re getting a new roommate?” Kyungsoo asks, incredulous, a frown on his forehead. He doesn’t get why they have to adjust their ways (especially their ways in the bedroom, of all things sacred) just because a new person is coming to sleep in the next room. Besides, Yujin might seem like a goodie good girl, but Kyungsoo knows better – they’ve been best friends for so long that Kyungsoo is certain Yujin is more liberal than conservative. And she knows Dae In well enough, so he’s sure Yujin wouldn’t mind hearing certain nocturnal noises from them from beyond the wall. And knowing Yujin, she wouldn’t shy away from returning the favor either. If anything, Kyungsoo is more worried about Dae In freaking out about what she’ll be hearing from the next room when their new roommate is up to no good.

Dae In is about to explain her point when they hear a knock. Actually, a series of frantic knocks. The wide-eyed couple stare at each other blankly for a second before hurrying to answer the door. Kyungsoo gets there first, and swings the door open to find not one, but two people with quite a lot of luggage between them, sharing the same frustrated expression.

“Hey there, roomie,” Jongdae tells him as he tries to walk through the door and into the apartment. Kyungsoo is quicker though, and even with his tinier frame is able to block him from passing through.

“What are you talking about, Jongdae-yah. Why are you here with Yujin?” he asks, turning his attention to his best friend, whom he hasn’t seen in quite a while. This is not the touching moment he had expected to share with her once she arrives in Seoul to come live with him and Dae In. Now Kyungsoo is just confused.

“You know this guy? Of course I didn’t come with him! And for the record, I’m your new roommate, not him!” Yujin blurts out quickly, as she also tries to force herself into the apartment past her best friend.

Dae In finally arrives at the scene and gives her best friend a warm, welcoming smile, until she notices Yujin looking menacingly at Jongdae, and Kyungsoo struggling to keep both of them out of the apartment.

“Yujin! You’re here!” she greets her brightly, unfazed by her boyfriend’s best friend’s menacing expression. “What brings you here? I thought you weren’t arriving until next month? I guess you’ve met Jongdae, he’s my best friend and Kyungsoo’s bandmate…he’s staying in the room you’ll be staying in for now, until you’re ready to move in.” Somehow Jongdae manages to worm his way around Kyungsoo and into the apartment to give Dae In a warm hug, but their moment is quickly cut short by a loud chorus of “What?!” from Kyungsoo and Yujin.  

“Baby, Yujin is arriving this month, not next month. That’s kind of why she’s already here,” Kyungsoo tells Dae In matter-of-factly, and she kind of wants to slap him in the face for speaking to her like she’s five. She could’ve sworn Kyungsoo told her Yujin was arriving next month. It’s what she’s thought all this time!

“Besides, I thought you said you’d help Jongdae find a place to stay now that he’s back in Seoul?” Jongdae was living with the rest of EXO-M in China for the past few months, but now that they’re back in Seoul while on break and right before the preparations for their next comeback start, he’s decided to rent a place of his own away from the dorms. It can drive you crazy, living with nine other boys. It’s good to take a break from so much testosterone every once in a while.

Dae In crosses her arms in further frustration towards Kyungsoo. “I did help Jongdae find a place to stay, that’s why he’s here! He’s supposed to stay with us for a month until your dorm arrangements get fixed, or until he finds a place of his own.”

Kyungsoo takes in a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “But if Jongdae stays here with us, where will Yujin live? She doesn’t know anyone else in Seoul!” He doesn’t mind having Jongdae for a roommate, in fact among all the other members Jongdae would be right on top of the list in terms of members he’d like to live with, but Kyungsoo is worried for Yujin, who’s left everything behind to come to Seoul and take a chance at a teaching job.

Kyungsoo and Dae In engage in a staring contest while their best friends wait around anxiously in awkward silence. After a while, Yujin can’t take it anymore, and decides to intervene.

“Okay you guys, let’s all just relax. So there’s been a mix-up with the schedule, but it’s not a big deal. We can fix this,” she says calmly. She doesn’t know how to fix it, to be honest, but there’s bound to be a way.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” Jongdae says from inside the apartment. He’s wandered off into the empty room, and comes back out of it with a big, cheeky smile on his face. “It’s a pretty big room, it could easily fit two people. There’s a king size bed in there too,” he says, looking straight at Yujin with a knowing glint in his eye.

Yujin cuts her eyes at him, trying her best to keep her temper in check. Seriously, the nerve of this guy! Who does he think he is? So they shared a moment in the elevator. But that was before she found out he’d be the root of all her stress. Moving into the city is stressful enough, and now she’s faced with this! She wants so badly to wipe that smug grin on his handsome face…wait, did she just think he was handsome?

Jongdae must’ve sensed her irritation, and is quick to make things right. He doesn’t know why he cares about what this girl thinks – they’ve only just met, and yet he already has a strong, strange desire to get her to like him. “Come on, I was just kidding. It’s too early in the morning and I smell pancakes, let’s all just chill! If it’s okay with all of you, I can sleep on the couch in the living room while I find a place for myself or until I decide to go back to that testosterone lair which is the EXO dorm,” he shudders at the last thought. “Either way, I’ll be fine, it’s no big deal.” And just so he’s sure he can get back to Yujin’s good graces, he casually shrugs and throws his signature nice guy smile her way.

Dae In and Kyungsoo both sigh in relief, happy their roommate problem has been fixed. They have another thing coming, though, if they think Yujin will let this obnoxious, smug (but yes, admittedly very handsome) guy get the last word on this.

“You don’t have to do that, Jongdae-shii”, she tells him, tone formal and serious eyes looking straight at him. “We can take turns sleeping on the couch. We’ll toss a coin for it.” Her statement sounds final, in a don’t-you-even-think-of-arguing kind of way, and they all look at her in shock as she finally walks past Kyungsoo into the apartment, dragging along her luggage.

Jongdae has to keep himself from smiling at her sass. His living arrangement just got a whole lot more interesting.