Chapter 3:

“The problem with human attraction is not knowing if it will be returned.”
― Becca Fitzpatrick

It had been 20minutes.

In this short span of time Yongsun had ditched her sweater and tank top and was now running around her apartment in a bra and shorts. She paid no attention to anything, curled up on the couch, enjoying the warm sunlight flooding in through the windows like a cat, practically purring as the sun caressed her skin. She was basked in such bliss that she felt herself drifting off. She had tons of things to unpack, her room and the majority of the apartment piled with boxes that were yet to be opened. But she couldn’t bother, welcoming sleep instead.

That is until she heard the clicking of a key in place. She froze, growling in displeasure as she wondered who would dare to interrupt her comfort time. She rolled upright, hair tousled down her back as she shot a glare at the open door. She had the time to take in a pair of big-eyes and the chubbiest cheeks she had ever seen before her thoughts caught up with the situation.

She was dimly aware that he was screaming. When she had fully tuned back into reality, she was on her feet, covering her chest with a pillow from the couch while she chucked the nearest object at his head, screaming at him to get out. The stranger ducked, narrowly missing the shoe that went flying past him, landing with a thwack in the corridor outside. Normal people would turn and run away (particularly after seeing the rage in the pretty girl’s face) but Hyunwoo was not normal.

Instead, trying to make amends with the angry girl, he rushed inside, hands held out defensively as he opened his mouth several times, trying to find the words to soothe the raging female.

“I-“ was about as far as he got before he was sprinting into the kitchen, getting smacked in the head by a well-aimed pillow. Yongsun fumbled for her sweater, managing to shove one arm into the hole before Hyunwoo approached again, wringing his hands nervously, “I’m really sorr-“
“. What are you a ert?!” Yongsun shrieked covering her chest as she hurled the tv remote at him. Prepared, Hyunwoo ducked, eyes never leaving hers as she ran a hand through her hair irritably, turning her back to him.

“Jesus Christ. You just don’t take a hint, do you?” she spat, shooting a glare behind her shoulder, irritation evident as she paced around. He just looked confused and a little scared but never tore his eyes away.

“Can you at least turn around?!” she hissed. Hyunwoo immediately turned while Yongsun finally managed to pull her sweater back on. She grabbed one of the remaining cushions before stalking over and attacking Hyunwoo’s knees with it, the latter crumpling into a heap on the floor, staring up in terror at the furious girl. She proceeded to climb onto him, straddling his stomach as she held the pillow threateningly against his neck, the male cowering beneath her.  

“Who. Are. You.” She asked, menace dripping in her words.

Things were not off to a great start in apartment 502.

--

Ding!

Kyun broke eye contact, stepping calmly out of the elevator, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Nari who only just managed to run out before the elevator doors closed. She studied Kyun with interest, following after him instinctively as he came to a stop outside a door, lowering the box to fish out a ring of keys. When the key clicked in place, Nari jumped, realizing in a flood of panic that she should go to her own apartment rather than follow a random stranger around.

That is…until she realized that she was at her apartment.

To say she was confused would be an understatement.

She was still confused, even as Kyun scooped the box off the ground, nudging the door open with his foot as he walked in. She could only stare, eyes wide as Kyun lowered the box on the kitchen counter, hanging the keys on a hook before turning to her, jerking his head at her to come in.

It was then, watching his smile bloom into a gentle laugh that the pieces clicked into place.

Male roommate! Right! Joongki mentioned something about that! She realized.

“Aren’t you coming in?” he asked, dragging Nari from her daze. She shuffled in sheepishly, body moving on auto-pilot as she tried to remember where she had seen this guy before. Kyun offered no help, instead taking his time to unwrap some of the giant boxes lying on the pure white tiles of the kitchen counter. If he noticed Nari’s staring, he didn’t comment, seemingly occupied with pulling different cups wrapped in bubble wrap out of the boxes, staring at them with mild interest. They certainly weren't his.

Nari’s head was buzzing. She stared at the cups. Yep. There was the one with the black and white kitty on it…and the one with blue polka dots…and the cute mickey mouse cup she got from Disney land.

Something popped in her face and Nari looked up to see an annoyingly handsome face hovering in front of hers. She jumped, almost dropping her box while staring wide-eyed at Kyun who laughed, popping another bubble on the bubble-wrap. He offered her a boyish grin and her heart skipped a beat.

“Y-you’re my roommate?” Nari blurted, slapping herself mentally, “Sorry. That was rude, I meant…um…”

Kyun leant forward on the kitchen counter, pressing his hand to his cheek as he nodded, “It seems that way, huh?” he said, tilting his head slightly.

Sure, Joongki had mentioned something about a male roommate…but she never imagined this grinning, broad-shouldered, nerdy and somewhat awkward brunette seated across from her.

Meanwhile, Kyun couldn’t be more relieved. He had been uneasy to say the least at the prospect of actually sharing an apartment with a woman; something he had only studied about in text books. He had been hesitant, terrified and worried, juggling the 3 emotions all day for weeks until he finally just signed the contract and got his to Muhanjeong.

The moment his eyes landed on Nari, his heart soared and sang in relief.

Things were going to be just fine.

--

Hyunshik was not amused.

There he was, stepping out of the elevator at the 10^th floor after finally having managed to ditch Yeo by convincing him that he needed a cup of coffee and blue-berry muffins from the nearest Paris Baguette (which in fact was quite a walk away). Things had been calm, quiet almost until he heard the sudden screams erupting from one of the apartments, a flying object of bright neon yellow hurtling towards the floor like a comet.

Hyunshik blinked, inner detective taking over as he lowered the boxes in his arms, gingerly picking up the abandoned nike shoe. He poked his tongue into his cheek, tilting his head as he studied the shoe, “Size 4. Worn till recently,” he stared at the ceiling contemplatively, “A woman’s shoe coming from…”

He turned towards the open door, “My apartment.”

His frown deepened as he straightened up, gingerly approaching the door and poking his head in like a ninja. He made sure to stay silent as voices began to ring throughout. Curiosity got the best of him as he slowly began to scan the sun-washed room, creeping into the apartment.

“I-I’m Hyunwoo. Lee Hyunwoo. I just came to help you move your stuff! I swear! Can you please get off me?” a feverish voice blurted. The victim, Hyunshik deduced, taking another step in.

“I don’t believe you. Who sent you?” a female demanded. The owner of the shoe, Hyunshik thought, hearing a sudden smack before he burst into action, turning the corner, ready to fight. The peculiar sight that met him had him simultaneously irritated and wanting to snort in laughter.

A short, blond-haired girl sat on the stomach of a terrified male, brandishing a pillow like a weapon, expression absolutely lit with anger as she smacked him over the head. Hyunshik watched for a second, his presence going unnoticed before he cleared his throat loudly. 2 sets of eyes immediately shot up, one filled with relief while the other glared at him like he was a squashed cockroach.

“Am I…interrupting something?” Hyunshik asked, hands in his pocket while Yongsun rolled her eyes, clambering off Hyunwoo, still clutching the pillow as she marched over. There was a wild look in her eye, blonde hair tangled and sweater tugged on backwards. The top of her head only just brushed Hyunshik’s chin yet she stood tall, glaring up at him with all her might. In his eyes, she looked like a 2-year-old child pouting for candy but he thought better of commenting lest his inner douche bag choose to emerge.

“Great. What are you? The King of Narnia?” Yongsun snapped, disliking the arrogance practically dripping off the toned male, “Who invited you?”

He snorted in response, nudging the girl as he walked past, assisting Hyunwoo off the ground.

“You alright?” Hyunshik inquired while Hyunwoo nodded feverishly, shooting another apologetic look at Yongsun before rushing from the apartment, leaving the two to stare at each other, sizing up the other. That is until Yongsun realized that Hyunwoo was gone.

“You can’t just let him go like that! He was mine! And who’re you? Who let you into my apartment?” Yongsun demanded. Hyunshik’s eyebrows shot up as he crossed his arms, looking around with mild interest, “Actually it’s our apartment,” he corrected, confusion momentarily flickering across Yongsun’s pretty face before she shook away her doubt.

“No way! I rented it first! There is no way that you and I-“
“Hyung I got the keys! And your coffee” Yeo sang, doubling over, breathless in the open doorway, key held triumphantly in one hand, brown paper bag in the other.

“I-oh! You got in!” Yeo said, “How did you get in?” he blinked confusedly at Yongsun, “You’re the roommate?” he asked, bemused as 2 pairs of eyes glared at him.

“Yes, Yeo. That is the roommate,” Hyunshik said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice (and failing miserably).

“Oh…so should I have gotten two muffins instead of one?”

--

The silence stretched on.

Yeorin and Ruo had been seated at the kitchen counter for a good 10minutes now, doing nothing but stare at each other. Neither made an attempt to speak, too occupied studying each other to do much else; Yeorin with confusion and Ruo with curiosity. He tilted his head to the side, surprising Yeorin yet again with how child-like his features were, eyes the size of orbs. Meanwhile, he thought she was pretty, tall and probably very easy to annoy (which would be better for him, of course.)

Yeorin grew to miss the silence as Ruo suddenly exploded in a hurricane of words and gestures. His speech was a lot like the state of the apartment; an explosion of chaos and destruction that took her a long time to comprehend. She squinted at him, trying to fish something out of his sudden rambling conversation.

“You’re a noona, right? What do they call you? What’s your job? Are you hungry? Cuz I’m hungry but I also wanna sleep and-“

“Stop,” Yeorin interrupted, holding a hand up, overwhelmed, “Stop and speak a little…slower. Please.” She said, her maturity at a total contrast to Ruo’s explosive childishness. While she was composed and poised, he was uncontrolled and free, completely at ease with doing what he wants when he wants.

Like now.

He was leaning across the kitchen counter, practically shoving his face into Yeorin’s, invading all ideas of personal boundaries as he continued staring until she finally stumbled off her stool, almost slipping (again) on a packet of half-eaten chips. She brought her attention back to the catastrophic apartment that was now to be her home and she could only sigh, staring wistfully around, not knowing where to put her eyes. She was joined by Ruo a second later as he stood behind her, scratching his stomach and revealing the top of his boxers though he didn’t seem to care about the embarrassed flush that crossed Yeorin’s face.

“Could you…step away, please?” she mumbled, awkwardly crab-walking away while he followed her, step after step, his back pressed into her shoulder. The initial embarrassment swiftly turned to irritation as she spun around, bonking into his shoulder and resultantly flying into the mountain of laundry piled in front of Ruo’s room. Ruo snorted, laughing in a deep rumbling voice while Yeorin’s eyes began to water.

The smell. The smell was unbearable.

She cringed, squinting her eyes shut, calming herself down before marching determinedly towards the curtains, whipping them open. Ruo’s laughter turned into a hiss. His arms covered his eyes while he clawed at the light, backing into the kitchen, shocked at the sudden brightness of the apartment. He was not used to seeing light this early. She ignored his cries of protest, fanning away the cloud of dust that rose from the curtains as she moved to open the windows, swinging them open all the way, the sunlight and fresh-air putting her mind at peace…for a little while.
--

Yeo’s eyes flickered in amusement.

He had been watching Yongsun and Hyunshik for a good 5minutes now, a gawk on his face as he admired the sight before him. They were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, as far away from each other as possible, backs turned to the other, arms and legs crossed as they determinedly looked in opposite directions, Yongsun to the windows and Hyunshik to the kitchen, sparks of tension flying between them like they were a fighting couple.

Yongsun’s eyes landed on Yeo then, igniting her inner tigress for the second time that day.

“What do you want? First you barge into my apartment uninvited-“
“It’s technically mine too-“
“You bring this stupidly nosy with you-“
“Well I’m not exactly thrilled to be sharing a home with the Queen of Aggression either-“

“And now you’re staring at me like I’m some zoo animal. Well you know what, I’m gonna sue you. You and this douchebag,” Yongsun huffed, pausing to shoot another look of disgust in Hyunshik’s direction. He had known this girl for 15minutes now, and he had already been insulted more times than he could count on his fingers. Neither moved to touch the boxes surrounding them and with a sinking feeling, Yeo thought they would never get to unpacking until one decides to leave.  
Perhaps the combination of two arrogant people isn’t the best ever. In fact, it is likely to end up in a grand explosion of creative insults meant to lower the other’s self-esteem though in reality, it is likely to have the opposite effect. In a strange way, it could even be seen as a sign of affection.

Yongsun is aggressive, opinionated and arrogant while Hyunshik is arrogant, intelligent yet awfully distrusting of people. But who knows? Perhaps something, the red string of fate, for example, will bring these two opposites together.

--

“Sooo…shall we unpack?”

Kyun had convinced Nari out of concern to finally just sit down and stop being so tense. Unlike the silence of other apartments, this was different; comfortable almost as the two sat, each holding a cup of warm green tea in their hands, the cups and tea a courtesy of Nari (Kyun had forgotten to pack household items on account of all his luggage being packed with books).

Neither offered more than the simple exchange of names and age. Kyun, being older and therefore wanting to be ‘responsible’ suggested that they start unpacking before they lost daylight. Nari offered something about knowing the numbers of several take-out stores nearby should they get hungry.

“Shall we get to work?”

Nari nodded her silent agreement, offering a small smile to his wide one. His smile was contagious, something about the curves of his plump lips making people smile, almost like magic, she thought. She was guarded but he felt familiar and the thought warmed her. With light-hearts, the two set off to work, building the apartment they would be sharing…together.

Bit by bit, they opened the boxes, peering inside, pulling and pushing the heavy packages around the apartment, never irritated or annoyed, remaining polite as they exchanged smiles and conversations here and there.

“Where’s your uni?” she had asked him as he effortlessly piled her books on the top shelf of the large, pure-white bookcase, reaching the shelves she couldn’t reach.

“Sungkyunkwan University,” he said, a huge grin spreading on Nari’s pretty face, “Me too!” she exclaimed, amazed, happy at the coincidence. Meanwhile, he tried to hide the huge grin threatening to spread on his face. Her video game collection was huge for a girl…but also strangely adorable.

“What department?” she inquired later as they stood together in the kitchen, piling the cups and plates into different drawers. She was hunched in front of the lowest shelf, neatly stacking plates while Kyun stared at her intently, “Medicine,” he said, watching as another look of wonder flittered across Nari’s face.

“Me too! Well…I kinda wanted to do microbiology but I’m in medicine for now!” she said, chatting animatedly as they worked together to reposition the TV.

“How come I haven’t seen you aroun-“ Nari trailed off, realization hitting her like a bolt of lightning. They were sitting side by side on the couch now, shoulders touching as they sipped a cup of ice-tea, both covered in a thin layer of sweat and dust after all their hard work.

The final puzzle piece fitted in place as Nari realized why Shin Han Kyun felt so familiar.

She had seen him before.

And perhaps that was the defining piece in her attraction to the awkward male.