pairing: ChenLay
length: 2217 words

“So get out!”

Jongdae wilted as he finished recounting the details that had led him to Baekhyun’s doorstep in shame and desperation.

“Jeez, I think they’re being way too harsh on you,” his best friend commented, sympathetically patting Jongdae’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault that upper management was toxic and corrupt. And absolutely moronic for letting you go like that. I mean, where else are they going to find someone who’s as hardworking and efficient as you?”

“I dunno, but it doesn’t even matter at this point,” Jongdae mumbled as he slumped forward, laying his forehead against the table. “I’m homeless now.”

“Are you sure your parents won’t come to their senses and let you come back home?”

Jongdae slowly shook his head, not caring that his forehead was rubbing uncomfortably against the wooden surface. “They made it very clear that I’m not welcome at home if I’m going to ‘be a loser who can’t even hold down a simple office job’,” he repeated, lifting his arms and using his hands to emphasize the air quotes.

“Good god, they’re brutal,” Baekhyun reiterated. “Man, I wish I could help you though. If Sehun weren’t already couch-surfing, I’d have you here in a heartbeat. But as it is, our place is full right now and Kyungsoo is going to have an aneurysm if we try to squeeze in another person,” his best friend explained apologetically.

“No worries, it’s fine,” Jongdae sighed, shoulders drooping even more. “I’ll… I’ll figure something out.” His attempted smile came out more like a wince when he added, “Maybe I’ll just camp out in a motel or something until I find something better.”

“Absolutely not!” his best friend automatically vetoed. “The only cheap motels around here are super seedy, rundown, and downright nasty. Who knows what kinds of diseases you might catch in one?!”

“I can’t afford an actual hotel though, so a motel is probably the only feasible option I have unless I decide to physically camp outside in the park or something,” Jongdae lamented. “And I might get ticketed for that, since I don’t think I have a camping license or permission to do that on city property.”

“Well, whatever we decide on, it definitely won’t be a motel,” Baekhyun staunchly stated. “Hold on, let me check something.” He then began scrolling through his phone before letting out a whoop. “I think I have a solution for your dilemma!”

Jongdae immediately perked up, eyes glimmering with hope. “What?”

Baekhyun held out his phone so that Jongdae could see the screen. There was a photo of a house that was similar to the one Baekhyun was renting with four—or five, if they counted Sehun couch-surfing—other guys. “Remember Lu Han? We were in the same internship program at Samsung before our senior year.”

Jongdae nodded.

“Well, I remember him posting about a house that he’s now renting with two other friends. They’re all Chinese international students, so they’ve got loads of money and loads of space. I can ask him if he’d be open to letting you share a room or couch-surf for a bit.”

“If they’re rich, won’t the rent be too high for me to afford?” Jongdae worriedly asked.

“You’re not going to be unemployed forever,” Baekhyun quickly reassured him. “And Lu Han also owes me a couple of favors, so I can probably negotiate something with him,” he added with a slight smirk.

Jongdae didn’t look convinced. “You sure? Seems like a lot to ask, especially with housing prices being as high as they are.”

“Just leave it to me,” his best friend promised. “You can stay in my room tonight. I’m gonna head back to my parents’ place and stop by Lu Han’s to see what he thinks about having you as a temporary housemate.”

“Alright, thanks, Baek,” Jongdae said, smiling gratefully.

--

As promised, by the end of the week, Jongdae was dragging his suitcases up the driveway and to the front door of Lu Han’s shared house. He had no idea how Baekhyun had done it, but Lu Han had somehow agreed to add Jongdae as a temporary tenant.

Upon ringing the doorbell, a doe-eyed Chinese man answered the door and kindly ushered Jongdae inside. “No worries, happy to help,” he jovially replied once Jongdae began profusely thanking him for taking in the unemployed man at his lowest point. “You should actually thank our housemate, Yixing.”

Jongdae looked at him in confusion. “Yixing? Who’s…that?”

“Zhang Yixing is one of my housemates. Our third housemate is Huang Zitao. We were all part of the Chinese Student Union in university and decided to become housemates together when we all realized we were staying in South Korea instead of heading back to China,” Lu Han explained.

“Oh, okay. But, um, what does Yixing have to do with me staying here?”

Lu Han’s expression changed to one of surprise as he asked, “Did Baekhyun not tell you? We only have three rooms here, so we were originally going to have you couch-surf until you could find another place. But Yixing overheard us talking and offered to let you share his room with him instead. He’s even waiving your rent share, since he felt bad about what happened to you,” Lu Han explained.

“Oh, wow… He really didn’t have to do that,” Jongdae murmured, ears burning from shame.

“I’m not surprised he offered,” Lu Han commented with a chuckle. “Yixing’s really nice and really clean as well, so he’ll be a great roommate to live with.” The doe-eyed male then helped Jongdae roll his suitcases to the rightmost bedroom in the house. “Yixing’s at the gym right now, but he should be back in about an hour. In the meantime, you can get start getting settled. A new bed frame and desk are scheduled to arrive next week. Are you okay with sleeping on an air mattress for now?”

Jongdae readily nodded.

“Awesome.” Lu Han beamed. “Zitao knows where the air mattress is, so he’ll help you set that up tonight after you and Yixing agree on how you’re going to split the room.”

“Alright, sounds good. Thanks again, Lu Han!”

“Cheers, dude!” Lu Han sent Jongdae a two- wave before sauntering out of the bedroom, presumably to his own room.

With that, Jongdae fully rolled in his two giant suitcases and placed his two duffel bags on the hardwood floor. He surveyed the relatively spacious room, noting how neat and organized everything was. Not a book was out of place, both in the tall mahogany bookcase in the northwest corner and the desk that lined the left side of the room. The bed was also neatly made and rather big, a queen-sized mattress if Jongdae had to guess. Considering how wealthy all three of his new roommates probably were, it shouldn’t have come to him as a surprise that Yixing was enjoying such a large mattress.

But it did raise the dilemma of how they’d manage to fit both two beds and two desks in one room.

Deciding that there was nothing he could actually settle on for now without Yixing here as well, Jongdae placed his suitcases by the window before walking out of the bedroom to explore the rest of the house.

Jongdae was in the middle of touring the kitchen when the door suddenly slid open and a dashing young man strode in, arms laden with heavy grocery bags.

“Oh, hello, you must be Jongdae,” the handsome man greeted with a dimpled smile. “I’m Yixing, your new roommate! It’s so great to finally meet you!”

“Y-yeah,” the Korean male stuttered, feeling the back of his neck burn while his cheeks turned bright red. “Nice t-to meet you t-too, Yixing.”

Oh god, he was never going to survive in this house.

Not when Yixing was the epitome of art and beauty.

His forearms rippled with muscle as he set down the heavy grocery bags onto the linoleum floor.

His skin looked smooth as porcelain, without a single blemish marring his pale skin.

His smile was bright and pearly white, accompanied by a deep dimple on the right.

Jongdae had never been in the presence of a man who was better-looking than the one currently in front of him, cut like a marble statue and radiating like a jewel.

No, there was absolutely no way Jongdae was going to maintain his sanity while living in the same room as Zhang Yixing.

--

“You didn’t tell me he was hot!” Jongdae hissed before slamming his forehead on the dining table in Baekhyun’s house and groaning loudly, both from pain and frustration.

“I mean, I didn’t think that mattered, considering the situation,” Baekhyun answered with a nonchalant shrug. “Besides, shouldn’t you be thanking me instead? Now you’re rooming with a hot guy and you’ll get to see him twenty-four-seven!” He playfully wiggled his eyebrows while Jongdae only groaned again.

“And now this hot guy knows I’m a loser who got fired from my job and kicked from my house!” Jongdae slammed his forehead again, wishing he could knock himself into unconsciousness. Maybe he’d end up in the hospital, blissfully away from Zhang Yixing and his blindingly brilliant smile, instead of worrying what the handsome Chinese male would think every time they were in the same room together. “Not like I even had a chance with him before since he’s way out of my league, but at least I could’ve made a better first impression on him if we’d had some sort of meet cute instead.”

“Nah, this is way better than a meet cute!” Baekhyun slung his arm around Jongdae’s shoulders and pulled him up to prevent his best friend from continually hurting himself. “Now you’ll have insider access to his lifestyle. You’ll find out all of his likes, dislikes, hobbies, habits, and it won’t be creepy since you’re both living in the same house! It’s just stuff you’ll naturally find out and you won’t even have to worry about taking him out on a second date!”

“Yeah, because we won’t be going on any dates,” Jongdae flatly replied. “It’s not like I can walk up to him one day and be like, ‘Hey, you’re really smart and good-looking. Wanna go on a date with me, your roommate who you barely know, even though I’m a failure?’ I’d just be asking to get rejected by him and then I’ll have to move out since I’ll never be able to look at him in the eye ever again, much less live in the same room as him!”

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like you’re asking him to get married tomorrow.” Then, there was a brief pause before Baekhyun cautiously asked, “You’re not gonna propose to him, right? Because even I think that’s too much.”

“No, of course not,” Jongdae answered through gritted teeth. “God, I need a new best friend.”

“Well, don’t come crying to me when he gets a boyfriend and it isn’t you, just because you’re too chicken to pursue anything.” Baekhyun leaned back in the couch and jerked a thumb behind him. “It worked for Kyungsoo and Minseok, so I don’t see why it can’t work for you and Yixing. Heck, even Chanyeol and Junmyeon started as roommates before they got together.” Baekhyun thoughtfully tapped his chin while musing, “Man, that’s a bunch of roommate couples in this house. Must be something in the water.”

“Or you guys are just an anomaly.”

“That too,” Baekhyun cheerfully agreed. “Anyway, just relax, be your charming little self, and sweep him off his feet. Easy.”

“Tch, easy for you to say. You’re not the one who’s going to be sleeping in the same room as him every single night,” Jongdae pointed out with a pained expression. “What if I snore or sleep with my mouth open or grind my teeth? He’ll probably hate rooming with me,” Jongdae continued fretting. “And then I’ll have to find another place to live and I’ll never see him again. And I’ll actually be a lonely, broke, single loser for the rest of my life. Oh god, my future is ruined.”

“Okay, this is getting out of hand now.” Baekhyun stood up and pulled his best friend up with him before matching him to the front door, completely ignoring the pitiful whines escaping from Jongdae’s lips. “You’re going to go back home and ask Yixing how his day was, and you’re going to be a normal human being while doing so. And next week, you’re going to ask him if he’d like to go out for coffee with you and if he says yes, you’re going to have a nice date with him. And you’re not going to worry about whether or not he says yes, because that’s for him to decide and you’re going to accept whatever decision he makes,” Baekhyun concluded before Jongdae could begin protesting again.

“I hate you so much.”

“You can thank me later when you and Yixing are married and living together in a giant mansion with three cats, four rabbits, and a hamster,” Baekhyun gleefully said.

Jongdae groaned once more as he reluctantly shuffled out of his best friend’s house, trying his best not to think about Yixing’s sweet dimpled smile and strikingly lean body.

Oh boy, he was screwed.

♈♈♈