Two weeks of intense renovation, endless paperworks, unexpected breakdowns, mixed with never ending rain, passed by like a breeze. To Jinhoo, this was the proudest moment of his life.

He admired the beauty of his revamped house, the sun's rays highlighting every detail. Where there was once dust, sparkles took its place instead. The flowers he had planted were growing extremely well. Every single part of the house was screaming, 'Live in me!'

The interior of the house, on the other hand, was remodelled. Mostly the work of Jinhoo and his crew. Being an architect did have it's up-sides.

New furniture were installed to make the empty house more cozy. Carpeted flooring, painted walls, and an overstuffed fridge, all signs of the house coming to life. At least to Jinhoo. 

All that was left was to put up a notice, and Jinhoo was sure of doing more than just that.

**

It's been an entire month since Jinhoo had looked upon his house with restored pride. At the moment, he was feeling the exact opposite.

There had been no reply to the notices he put up, online and in the neighbourhood. He figured out it was due to the fact he was living in a seemingly rural area.

Still, Jinhoo couldn't help this overwhelming feeling of loneliness every night he spent in the house. He swore he could go crazy if he spent another week alone in there. The recurring figures of his late parents kept haunting him.

Shaking his head free from the thought, Jinhoo angrily got out of bed and stomped down the stairs to the front door.

You know what, I'll just take down the damned posters. Nobody was interested in them, and they still aren't. I'll call grandmother and pack up by tonight. I'll take down the posters my-

Jinhoo opened the door.

Two bulging eyes stared back at him. A yelp escaped from his mouth before he knew it followed by the slamming of the front door. 

Was that a person? An actual person at my doorstep? Why are you so surprised?

Jinhoo peeked out the peep hole and yes, indeed, there was a person standing in front of the door.

As much as he wanted to believe that he was here to stay, he couldn't be so sure. The past few people that have dropped by were just contractors, the mailman, and an idol who got lost during filming. Although, the last one was quite interested in Jinhoo's offer.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" he squeaked out, opening the door again.

The same alert eyes stared back at him from under a black snapback. Long strands of black hair poked from underneath his hat, nearly blocking his eyes. A pair of black headphones hung around his pale neck. "Uh, isn't this the place in the notice?" the young man asked for confirmation, looking down at a shrivelled piece of paper in his hand. Jinhoo noticed how deep the man's voice was.

Wait, was he- does he want to stay? Here? What do I do? Do I shake his hand? Let him in? Pat his back?

Jinhoo did all of that in a consecutive motion. The young man only stared back at him in confusion.

"My name is Jinhoo. If you just follow me in, you can sign this form and I'll show you around," informed Jinhoo as if he had memorised the entire thing. "You'll be able to move in by next week."

The stranger shook his head quickly, saying, "No, no, there's no such thing. I need to move in tonight. See, I even brought all my stuff." Indeed, there was a luggage bag behind him and a box overflowing with random items in his arms. "I just got kicked out of my parent's house. Bull reason, really. But I was looking forward to getting out of that hellhole."

Listening to the guy let out all his pent-up frustration, Jinhoo couldn't help interrupt, "Er... Why exactly did you get kicked out?"

A cold glare sent towards him was enough for him to know that it was time to change the topic. "Well, never mind," he started, looking around anxiously as he opened the door wider. This whole introduction thing seemed way easier when he rehearsed a month ago. "Come in. Let me show you around."

"No, just show me to my room," the 'guest' said indifferently, kicking his muddy shoes off. They landed messily on Jinhoo's favourite rose bush but clearly the man did not know that, or did not even seem to care.

Jinhoo was astounded at the man's lack of manners. "Well, okay then." His right eye twitched as the 'guest' plopped down onto his dining chair, unaware of how drenched he was and that it was wetting the seat.  "Rude," he added under his breath.

When Bitto (the man had asked Jinhoo to address him as such but really, his real name was really just a simple Changhyun) hastily signed the final paper, he let out a groan and got up, not noticing once how his host winced at the sound the chair made dragging across the floor. 

On one hand, all Jinhoo felt like doing was to wrap his fingers around Bitto's neck and strangle him. On the other, however, Jinhoo held on to the slightest but of humanity left in him to at least remain as the more civil one in this exhange. 

"Thanks for stayi–" he attempted to thank Bitto, who was already out of the dining room. As he silently fumed to himself, not far he heard the sound of a vase falling.

A distant "sorry" followed and finally the slamming of the door.

Jinhoo's mind fell apart at that moment, and he knew this was not the only time it'll happen.

**

Turns out Bitto wasn't as bad a housemate Jinhoo had thought he would be. 

Just kidding.

He was every bit as bad as an irresponsible housemate would be.

Early mornings with Bitto's idea of relaxing background music (which really was just a mix of screaming and guitar solos) as he got ready for work (which Jinhoo clearly doubts he had) always resulted in the host waking up bleary-eyed and pissed. Nights passed by with Bitto blasting kpop bops doing whatever the hell he was doing as Jinhoo screeched inwardly in the midst of doing his diagrams. This would be followed by Jinhoo increasing the volume of the classical piece he was listening to which would then be counterattacked by Bitto maxing out his radio. It didn't help that that trashy piece of metal was actually more technologically advanced than Jinhoo's measly iPhone speakers, hence its volume was always louder.

Music was not the only issue. Cleanliness (or rather a lack of thereof), unkemptness, thievery, BETRAYAL, and countless more; Bitto was guily of them all.

So, when, one day, a grouchy Jinhoo opened the door to some relentlesss knocking, he almost bit the person's head off.

"What do you want?" He snapped, not bothering to conceal his annoyance. "It's seven in the morning. Mr. Ho's rooster isn't even up–" He knew he was lying but that didn't matter because the minute he set eyes on the person before him, he shut up and gawked.

Set in front of him, leaning casually against the door, was a man who was definitely guilty of the crime of being just too (forgive him for swearing) ing handsome. Fair, soft skin, eyes crinkling into a smile, his slim muscles flexing underneath his thin (why was it so thin?) t-shirt, long black hair falling in front of his eyes and oh god, his lips. 

He was simply devilishly handsome.

The man simply shrugged and his lips, an action which did not go unnoticed by Jinhoo. "I'm sorry," he apologised briefly. "I just wanted to check the house out. You are the owner of the boarding house, am I right?" He looked to Jinhoo for confirmation but only tilted his head to the side. Only then, did the latter notice that he was gawking at this fine specimen of human.

In an attempt to get out of the awkward situation he put himself in, he laughed, a bit too loud, he noticed when the guy flinched. "Yes, yes! That's me." He remembered that the man mentioned 'boarding house' and asked, "So, you're interested? In me– No, in the house?" That was close.

"Yeah," the man replied slowly. Without warning (Jinhoo felt he need one), he flipped his bangs (which Jinhoo felt like running his fingers through) to the side and held out a hand. His red lips puckered into the cutest, small smile Jinhoo had ever witnessed.  "Wooshin."

"Jinhoo." His voice came out throaty.

Wooshin didn't seem to realise this as he pointed towards his baggage. "So, I guess, I'll just bring my stuff in? Is that okay with you?"

Stuttering, Jinhoo tried to explain the 'two-week' rule he included in his notice. "I mean, usually, I have a– uh–" Just then, he realised how stupid it really was. "Never mind. Come in, and sign the papers."

He caught a whiff of Wooshin's scent, manly and musky, as the latter ambled into the house and decided maybe that it wasn't such a bad idea.

**

This entire 'boarding house' thing was the most horrible idea Jinhoo had ever come up with.

If he ever felt frustrated before, it was doubled now that he had an additional, housmate, and not to mention, hot. It wasn't the same type of frustration he felt with Bitto. He mostly felt it when Wooshin decided it was a great idea to cook breakfast in nothing but a pair of boxers, or when he would come up of the bathroom all wet and nothing but a towel concealing him.

Jinhoo did have it bad for the guy, but he doubted Wooshin would be okay with the former harbouring these type of feelings for the latter.

Hence, the frustration, and now, Jinhoo found himself wandering down the hallways, cursing to himself and ruffling his hair annoyedly.

Who's good idea was it to have Wooshin work out in his office? The images of sweat and skin elicited a strangely pleasing feeling in Jinhoo. 

No, he was sure that Wooshin deliberately did all this to elicit some type of response out of Jinhoo. He concluded that, Wooshin, in fact, was the devil's incarnate.

He nodded to himself, as he looked for an empty room to lock himself in, just to distance himself from Wooshin. Finally, he reached the farthest room down the hallway on the the second floor and sighed. At last, a place to relieve his stress.

But, all thoughts of de-stressing abandoned him, when he screamed out of sheer fright at what he saw in the room.

A man (he was sure from the pile of clothes at the edge of the bed) hidden under a blanket rested atop the mattress Jinhoo had just installed a week ago. As if it wasn't any better, Jinhoo realised he did not know this man at all.

"Who the hell are you?!" was his first question. The figure on the bed did not fidget at all.
"What are you doing in my house?!" He asked next. The figure rustled a bit.
"Why are you ?!" Was his final question. The man finally got up and Jinhoo shielded his eyes from the sight.

"First off, I'm Wei. Secondly, in case you have forgotten, this is also my house. I already signed all the documents and have paid my rent. It kind of hurts me that you don't remember. It's not like that there are much people in this house anyway. And, lastly, I'm not ?"

At this point, Jinhoo decided it was safe to look at this man, and he felt slightly relieved that the man was in fact wearing a pair of track pants. 

But as he peered at Wei's face, he feels no sense of recognition. "I don't recall ever seeing you before."

Wei smiles widely and makes big hand gestures. "Well, duh, that's because we haven't met." He sticks out his hand and Jinhoo realises how the former towered over him. "Hi, I'm Wei. Your new housemate. Wooshin gave me the documents and told me I could just drop by and stay if I wanted to."

To say, he felt betrayed by Wooshin was an overstatement, because really, even if Wooshin threw a weed party, invited a harem of es or carried out a devil sacrifice in his basement, Jinhoo would merely sigh and turn a blind eye.

This won't do, this won't do at all.

author's note: