My phone vibrated indicating the alarm going off, I groaned at the sudden vibrations on my stomach as I lay face down on the couch. I groggily opened my eyes, checking my phone for the time, 11:15 A.M. I only had one class on Thursdays and it was an afternoon schedule. I sat up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. Seungcheol-hyung and Jihoon were gone by now, meaning I had the apartment all to myself. Opening the fridge, there wasn’t much in it really, just a pack of energy drinks, chicken , and some facial cream? I shook my head and walked towards the shower. Once the hot water hit my , I felt my muscles slightly relax.

It’s been a week since I took shelter at my friends’ shared apartment. I didn’t get kicked out of my previous lodgings or anything dramatic. When I started attending college, I lived with my older sister, Seulgi-noona, in her apartment downtown. Over a week ago, her boyfriend had proposed to her and asked her to move in with him. Of course, she had said yes. She worried about me though, offering me to keep staying at her apartment. I told her I couldn’t and promised to look for a place to stay closer to the university instead.

When I met up with my friends at lunch that week, Seungcheol-hyung had been extremely nice and volunteered to take me in for the time being (coaxing an approving grunt from Jihoon, his roommate). Since then, I found their living room couch my new friend and companion.

With midterms in the way and my natural laziness, I wasn’t able to find a new place to stay at. None of my friends (and I frown at the small number of them) knew anyone who was looking for a roommate or any place that was vacant.

I sighed as I exited the shower, a towel wrapped around my waist and another on my head. I rubbed the cloth on my hair roughly, the situation I was in being too frustrating at the moment. As I waltzed back into the living room, I noticed my phone vibrating. I had an incoming call.

“Hyung?” I answered after I had boxers on. “Woo-ah, I found ya a new apartment! You’ll have a roommate though, but don’t worry, she’s a cutie!” came Seungcheol-hyung’s cheery voice. In the background I could hear a displeased sound and a feminine voice saying something in between the lines of ‘You are officially disgusting’ and ‘I hope your dongsaeng isn’t a ert like you’. Seungcheol-hyung only chuckled at the person, who I assumed was my future roommate.

“Anyway, when do you think can you move in?” he said after he finished teasing the other person. I glanced at the clock hung on the kitchen wall, I had half an hour to grab lunch and get to class in time.

“I have class in a few, hyung. I can drop by later and leave some clothes. I’ll call the moving company to get my other stuff at noona’s place tomorrow,” I said putting on my clothes. After getting settled with the time, hyung ended the call but not before forcing a half-hearted ‘goodbye’ and ‘see you later’ from his friend.

I stared at my phone for a good minute and sighed. I really owe hyung a lot. I didn’t really have much of a problem living under the same roof with a girl (a cute one at that, according to hyung) but I didn’t particularly like the idea. I wasn’t exactly the most sociable person and the only girl I was ever comfortable with was my sister. But I thought I shouldn’t burden hyung and Jihoon any longer. I stepped into the doorway to wear my shoes and headed out to get some food.

When I came home that evening, Seungcheol-hyung was all dressed up while Jihoon was lazing on the couch flipping through channels uninterested. “Welcome home, Woo. I’d drop you by Whee’s place but I forgot I had a date tonight, ha ha’” he dryly laughed. He handed me a piece of paper with the address and directions then sprinted off like a madman. Shouting back a ‘good luck’ and ‘don’t intimidate her much’.

I turned to Jihoon who simply shrugged as he was fixated on the cartoon show playing on the TV screen. I began to pack a bag of clean clothes and wrapped my dirty ones, hoping to drop them by the launders on the way. I stepped into the bathroom to comb my hair and straighten my clothes. I had to at least look presentable, first impressions last, right? I bid goodbye to Jihoon and biked to the mystery girl’s apartment.

When I arrived, it was already past 6:30. I took a few minutes to catch my breath before ringing the doorbell. The apartment was on the 4th floor and the elevator was currently under maintenance. Shuffling sounds were heard from behind the door before it was opened to reveal a small girl with an all-too-familiar dimpled smile. “Hi, you must be Seungcheol’s - Wonwoo?” she stood there wide-eyed and unmoving.

“Noona?” Honestly, I was as surprised as her. I would never have thought I’d see the little girl I used to live next door with again. Moreover, be my new roommate either.

As we stood at the doorway motionless, the smell of smoke filled the air. The both of us quickly snapped out of it and rushed to the kitchen. No doubt, the food was burning. Wheein-noona quickly turned off the fire and placed the burnt pot under running water. Steam covered the kitchen and soon we were a coughing mess.

Once the air cleared out, we again stared at each other. “Umm, pizza?” she sheepishly smiled.

“I cannot believe you almost burned this place down,” Wonwoo teased as he took a huge bite off the newly delivered pizza. Wheein glared at the male then smirked, “I cannot believe you fell for that,” Wonwoo almost choked on his pizza and the smug look on his face was replaced with a pout. Wheein giggled at her cute dongsaeng, playfully pinching his cheeks.

After the little cooking fiasco, the two quietly cleaned the mess and Wheein’s failed attempt at dinner (they were supposed to have jjampong). The atmosphere was awkward. They didn’t talk to each other, just silently finishing the chore.

Wonwoo washed the dishes while Wheein dried them and placed them in the cupboard, their backs facing each other. After the last plate, Wonwoo turned to where Wheein was (supposed to be) working.

“Wheein-noona?” he called out but was answered with an eerie silence. Wonwoo walked out the kitchen, the living room was empty and all the other rooms of the apartment, besides the kitchen, were pitch black. He called out again, still no answer. Wonwoo knew he was being paranoid but he swore he just felt a cold breeze, sending a chill down his spine. He walked back into the kitchen, wrapping both of his arms around his torso, seemingly protecting him from danger. He went to the fridge and took a water bottle out to clear his dry throat.

“BOO!”

“AAAHHHHHH!” Wonwoo had dropped the water bottle and screamed. He put his hands on his chest, his heart literally almost flew out of his ribcage. His small, sharps eyes turned big and stared at the culprit who was now a laughing mess on the floor right.

“Oh my god. You should have seen your face. Oh my… It was so funny!” Wheein managed to say in between breaths. Meanwhile, Wonwoo glared at the older female unamused.

Wheein continued to laugh on the matter even after the pizza had arrived, almost telling the delivery guy a ‘funny story’ until she was dragged by a sulking Wonwoo by the collar.

“It wasn’t funny,” Wonwoo crossed his arms over his chest, still pouting.

“Aww, little Wonnie’s still a scaredy cat~” Wheein cooed. She always had fun teasing the younger since he was easily startled and she, well, she was a girl full of surprises. “So, you’re friends with Seungcheol?” the girl sat on the couch while Wonwoo sat on the living room floor. They left the TV on to a music show broadcast but weren’t really paying attention.

“Yeah. Only for a while though, I’ve only met him at the start of the semester,” Wheein hummed in reply, taking a mental note to thank Seungcheol later. Wonwoo wasn’t good at making new friends so she was happy he made some. The two fell into a comfortable conversation, just lightly chatting about each other’s lives. Wonwoo hadn’t felt this relaxed for weeks. He smiled at Wheein stuffing with food, her cheeks resembling that of a squirrel’s.

He crinkled his nose “You still eat like a pig,” he snorted when she abruptly stopped eating. Her face turned solemn, Wonwoo panicked yet again. Oh, man, I shouldn’t have said that. You are so insensitive, Jeon Wonwoo, when he thought she would burst into tears he got a slap on the back of his head instead.

“I can eat however I want. This is my house,” Wonwoo was surprised but chuckled after he snapped out of it. Who was he kidding, it was Jung Wheein we’re talking about here. She was tough, feisty and didn’t care what people thought or said about her (especially about her appetite). She got stronger too, he thought as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

“Speaking of which, this is gonna be MY house, too, you know?” Wheein blinked at him. “Oh, right! You’re my new roommate!” she pointed a finger at him. Wonwoo rolled his eyes, “I thought we’ve established that?”

“Sorry, I forgot,” she giggled. That’s right, they were gonna live together now and she had to take care of a big baby from now on. As much as she did not want to admit it, Wheein missed Wonwoo ever since he moved away and she’s really happy to have him. Things are gonna be more fun now.

After eating ‘dinner’, Wheein walked Wonwoo to the front of the apartment complex, despite the boy’s clear signs of protest. They stood in front of each other and it’s only now that Wheein notices how much Wonwoo towers over her. She felt nice and safe around him.

“So… I’ll see you tomorrow?” Wonwoo said, scratching his nape awkwardly. Wheein only nods and smiles brightly at his flushed figure. “No hugs?” she said, her arms wide open. Wonwoo didn’t move so she went ahead and wrapped her arms around him, “Bye, Wonwoo.”

When Wonwoo had arrived, Seungcheol was on the dining table checking the mail. “How’d it go?” he asked. “It was okay, I guess,” Seungcheol stared curiously at the younger boy, “And?”

“And I think.... It’s going to be quite fun actually,” Wonwoo smiled at his hyung. He left for the bathroom and left Seungcheol even more curious.

“Jeon Wonwoo? That kid you used to play with?” Hyejin and I were eating at the uni’s cafeteria for our 30-minute lunch break. “Yeah, we used to be neighbours,” I said sipping on my milkshake. I had told her about what happened last night upon her endless probing.

“Hmm… I haven’t met the guy but I heard he’s super hot,“ she said. I snorted, “What? Wonwoo? Hot? Where’d you heard that from?” Hyejin stared blankly at me, “I mean, I don’t know. Won’t it be hard to have a male roommate? I heard it’s tough. I’m just looking out for ya, sister.”

“I can handle it, and it’s not like I have a choice anyways,” I said, finishing up my food.

“Also, there’s the possibility of you guys developing feelings for each other,” Hyejin stated. I gave her an unimpressed look, “We’re roommates, not a live-in couple.”

“Okay, okay,” she put her hands up in defeat, “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

YAAAAYYY! UPDATE!

Sorry it took so long :c I just wasn't satisfied in my writing, I had to edit like ALOT (also I still can't grasp writing in Wonwoo's voice, it's still weird for me, I'll have to work on that) 

Thank you all for subscribing and, basically, just reading my story. Will try extra hard to update faster hahaha.

I love you all and I hope you have a great day ahead of you!

P.S. Comments are highly encouraged and deeply appreciated!