“Renting... OH! RENTING!” A flurry of hands reaching for a phone and a single call made and a room finally promised.

~

“This… is my new house…?” Wonwoo utters, looking at the super.

“Yeah. You don’t like it?” the super asks, chewing a piece of bubblegum rather loudly.

“Er, no, just… Very crowded, isn’t it?” Wonwoo says and looks out at the apartment.

It seems there are other people living here already. Various articles of clothing are flung around, lying in heaps on the floor. Crumpled bags of chips peek out from any and all open spaces, and Wonwoo looks away, afraid because that line of black things looks suspiciously like a line of eager ants. Bottles of beer sit around on flat surfaces, popped open and nearly all only half drunk. Not to mention the rank stench coming from inside.

“Um… how many people are already living here?” Wonwoo asks, squirming uncomfortably.

“Oh, hm… I don’t really keep track since one of the guys who lives here helps me sometimes and he takes care of this particular apartment. But I’m throwing out a safe guess of 12.” the super scratches his head.

“12…” Wonwoo repeats faintly.

“Hey, if you don’t want it, that’s fine. I wouldn’t blame you honestly, 13 guys living under the same roof. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.” The super makes a face and turns to leave. “I’ll rip up your contract then.”

“WAIT!” Wonwoo exclaims and whirls around. “No, don’t do that. I’ll just take it.”

The super blinks at him before he grins and walks down the stairs, throwing over his shoulder, “Alright, thatta boy. Have fun!”

Wonwoo turns again to face the apartment he will be living in. Well, he’s going to have to brave it sooner or later. Although he’d rather it later…

But no. Wonwoo shakes his head and boldly takes a step in, remembering to hold his breath. He can do this.

~

No, he cannot do this.

Wonwoo gazes around in dismay as his other roommates bustle about, throwing trash on the floor as they pass from the living room to the bathroom, or from the kitchen to the living room. He watches as they open yet another bottle of beer and gulp down half before popping open another and downing half of that too. He feels like crying when they run around, screeching, “Give me my goddamn underwear, you !”

“You guys, can you guys PLEASE ING SHUT UP!" a voice roars from one of the closed-off rooms and Wonwoo flinches. A guy playing on his phone next to him obviously noticed as he scooches closer and starts up a conversation with him.

“Ah, sorry about the craziness. And the mess. Mingyu’s been at his friend’s house for a couple days now, so we’re not exactly keeping up with the cleaning stuff. Although I might start, this mess is starting to bug me.” The guy goes silent for a second before laughing. “Ah, who am I kidding? Mingyu should be back tomorrow anyways. Just put up with it for one more day. Anyways. I’m Boo Seungkwan. What’s your name?”

“J-Jeon Wonwoo.” Wonwoo responds nervously.

“Ah well Jeon Wonwoo, welcome to your new home. I expect you want a tour? Of course you do, now come, follow me.” Seungkwan says breezily and stands up. Wonwoo hesitantly stands as well, thinking that Seungkwan is going to give him a tour of the apartment. But no. Seungkwan walks over to a heap of clothes on the floor and kicks it. “Hey, get up. Yah, Kwon Soonyoung, get the hell up.”

The pile of clothes shifts and Wonwoo realizes with a surprised chuckle, that the pile of clothes is actually a person burrowed under a couple clothes.

“Why…” the person mumbles, shifting again and allowing a head of yellow, straw-like hair to peek out.

“We have a new roommate and he wants a tour of the apartment.” Seungkwan says, kicking the person again.

The person groans and pushes away the clothes to stand up, revealing small, slanted fox eyes, high atop a narrow face. He shakes his head, making the locks of his stringy hair dance, and looks at Wonwoo, a smile growing on his lips. “Hi, I’m Soonyoung. You are…?” Soonyoung lifts a brow and holds out his hand.

“I’m Jeon Wonwoo.” Wonwoo says and shakes Soonyoung’s hand.

“Okay, Jeon Wonwoo, let’s go!” Soonyoung beams and lifts an arm to parade down the short hallway. Seungkwan smiles at Wonwoo and goes back to his seat on the couch, pulling out his phone again and grinning at it widely. Wonwoo follows Soonyoung, slightly nervous.

“Well, obviously, that was the living room. This, here, is the kitchen.” Soonyoung says, leading Wonwoo down the hallway and pointing at the room to his left.

 “Oh, these two beds are here because there’s not enough space to put them in the bedrooms. So we kinda alternate but mostly, it’s me and Seokmin. Chan sometimes joins us too, but Seungcheol hyung is weird and doesn’t want him to ‘associate’ with us or whatever, so he usually sleeps in the big room.”

Wonwoo nods uncertainly, staring at the beds that are lined up against the living room wall. Soonyoung takes no notice and continues on.

“This is the bathroom.” Point to the left.

“That is the room that Jihoon uses. He’s supposed to share it with me, Seokmin, and Mingyu, but we got kicked out, so he’s using it alone now. That’s why Seokmin and I are sleeping on the beds now and Mingyu sleeps on the couch. Jihoon’s locked himself up in there, selfish brat.” Soonyoung mutters, pointing to the right.

“I HEARD THAT!” comes a shout from the inside, making Wonwoo jump nearly out of his skin.

“Ah, don’t worry. Jihoon’s just a little feisty. And well, at least he lets Seungcheol hyung sleep in there. Now come on.” Soonyoung grins, waving a hand to beckon Wonwoo forward. He points at the final room and peeks inside. “Here, look. We have bunk beds in here, so a lot of people can fit. Jeonghan hyung, Jisoo hyung, Seungkwan, Junhui, Myungho, Hansol, and Chan all sleep in here. Hm, I wonder where you would sleep.”

Soonyoung frowns and then races back to knock obnoxiously on Jihoon’s door.

“WHAT?!” Jihoon shouts.

“Is Seungcheol hyung in there?” Soonyoung asks, unfazed by Jihoon’s more than unwelcome greeting.

“Do you think he would be in here when I’m trying to get things done?” Jihoon growls.

“Hm… I guess not. Okay then.” Soonyoung shrugs and walks back to Wonwoo. “I’ll ask him later. But for now, you saw the apartment, so let’s introduce you to everyone!”

Soonyoung drags Wonwoo back to Jihoon’s room and knocks again. There is silence and then the door is flung open.

“Holy , hyung, what do you want?” Jihoon hisses.

Wonwoo blinks at the boy in surprise. He had not expected someone so small and adorable-looking to be so… fierce. But when Jihoon’s eyes slide over to Wonwoo at Soonyoung’s invitation, Wonwoo quickly discards the doubtful look on his face, afraid that Jihoon would be offended and maybe attack him.

“H-hi, I’m Jeon Wonwoo.” Wonwoo stammers.

Jihoon glares at him for a couple seconds before saying, “I’m Lee Jihoon. Nice to meet you.”

“Ah, nice to meet you too.” Wonwoo says, internally thanking the gods that Jihoon’s tone has turned much nicer than when he was screaming at Soonyoung.

“Well, if that’s all you wanted, Soonyoung hyung, can I go back to my work now?” Jihoon asks, giving Soonyoung a dirty look.

“Well, no.” Soonyoung says, frowning. Jihoon crosses his arms, waiting impatiently. Then, Soonyoung grins and bends down to plant a quick kiss on Jihoon’s cheek. Wonwoo’s eyes widen and Jihoon’s face burns scarlet as Soonyoung scampers away, laughing hysterically to himself.

“Y-YAH!” Jihoon screams and chases after Soonyoung, who runs away.

“Jihoonie is mine now!” Soonyoung sings as he jumps from the couch to the floor and then back onto the couch as Jihoon follows him. Seungkwan groans loudly, complaining, but stays on the couch the whole time.

Wonwoo blinks after the boys and sighs. He really cannot do this.