The rain patters against the sidewalk in a way that makes Kyungsoo somehow more tired than when he’d woke up this morning. He shoves his hands deep in his pockets for warmth as the droplets assault his uncovered frame, soaking him to the bone. It’s days like these he wishes he had more options than public transportation. The bus is late, per usual, and by the time he makes it into his apartment building it’s nearing 3pm. He had been late this morning to work, clocking in at 5:10 instead of 5:00 as scheduled, so he had to stay a little over to make it up to his coworkers.

 

As he enters the elevator, he makes a mental note to buy an umbrella the next time he's out and hits the button for the 3rd floor harshly. He hadn't really thought about the stranger since he'd arrived at work, but now that he was in the same elevator again, his thoughts came flooding back to him. Maybe the strange electric and allure he had felt with the stranger was just the storm outside. It was his only plausible explination, anyway.

 

Exiting the elevator, Kyungsoo made a bee-line for his apartment door. His top priority at the moment was to get in the shower and warm his freezing body, but something catches his eye before he can get there. Its the pair of stained Converse, sitting innocently outside room 308. Kyungsoo can tell now in the daylight that the stains were actually black smudges of what looked like oil or ink. The original color was supposed to be white, or so he thinks, but there's so much covering them its impossible to tell. 308. He makes a mental note of the room number before moving on down the hall to his own door, 316.

 

Chanyeol nearly hits him in the face when he walks in the door, all but slamming a pan into his nose. "KYUNGSOO PLEASE, I can't cook!" He cried loudly, a look of dispar on his face. "It's nearly 3 and I haven't had a single thing to eat today." He adds, his stomach audiably growling for effect just as he finishes. 

 

Kyungsoo sighs, this being an extrememly normal greeting for him to come home to after work. His roommate, Chanyeol, was basically a 5 year old trapped in a giants body. "Chanyeol for the love of God, I just walked in the door." He grumbles, setting his keys on thier kitchen table and walking toward the fridge to comply despite his clear annoyance with the taller.

 

"PLEASE Kyungsoo, I already burnt the water I was going to use to cook ramyeon..." Chanyeol trailed off as he scurried after Kyungsoo from place to place in the kitchen, watching the quiet boy work reluctantly, but without actual resistance. "Also, I might have broke the microwave." He adds quietly, wincing even before Kyungsoo delivers his response. 

 

"...You what?" Kyungsoo manages, starting a new pot of water boiling and turning to face the other. "Chanyeol, please tell me you didn't leave silverware in there or something when you turned it on, AGAIN." He asked, eying Chanyeol as his expression darkened.

 

Chanyeol blushed in embarassment and averted his eyes from Kyungsoo's harsh glare. "U-Uh.. well.. maybe..." He tried, wincing yet again and ducking his head as a swift slap from Kyungsoo landed on his upper arm. "..You dunce." Kyungsoo muttered, already turning to look at the damage done.

 

After tinkering with the microwave and cooking Chanyeol his meal, Kyungsoo finally took his long awaited shower. It was godsent to be in there with the hot water stinging his skin and it felt so good. He washed himself slowly and methodically, taking his time and debating how difficult it might be to poison his stupid roommate.

 

It didn't take long, however, before his thoughts traveled back to the handsome stranger he'd met that morning when it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. The man seemed amused by him, which honestly kind of pissed Kyungsoo off, but at the same time he was so weirded out by the whole expierience it was overlookable. Kyungsoo couldn't for the life of him understand why he'd spaced out so much he forgot to get off the elevator, or why the strangers presence made him feel the way he did, and for someone so analytical that was a big deal.

 

A knock at the bathroom door interupted his thoughts, sending Kyungsoo into a disoriented fog. "Kyungsoo I have to go... number 2." Chanyeol whined from the other side. Sighing, Kyungsoo reluctantly finished rinsing off the soap from his body and turned the water off. He grabbed the towel hanging over the top of the shower and proceeded to dry himself off and dress before opening the door.

 

Chanyeol scrambled into the bathroom instantly and pushed Kyungsoo out into their hallway to do his business, leaving Kyungsoo plotting the giants death again and the stranger in the elevator forgotten for the moment, yet again.

 

---

 

As the days passed through the week and into next, Kyungsoo forgot about his strange encounter in the elevator for the most part, only being reminded of the moment when he would walk down the hall to his apartment and see the pair of not-so-white, white Converse sitting outside his neighbors door. The sight of them left a small twinge of something like excitment in his chest, though really he didn't understand it. Sure, the guy had been kind of alluring. And sure, maybe even (dare he say it) hot, but why after all this time did he keep thinking back to him?

 

Every morning on his way to work, Kyungsoo expected - no - anticipated the strangers reappearence into his life, and every morning, nothing happened. This morning was no different. Kyungsoo made it to the bottom floor and out the door with no interuption, per usual. He went to work, clocked in exactly at 5AM, did his daily task of filling out boring form after boring form, and was out by his usual time at 2PM.

 

However, as expected, Chanyeol interrupted the rest of his plans for the evening. "Kyungsoo please, there's no food in this place." The boy whined from the other end of the phone. Grumbling and tired, Kyungsoo let out the biggest sigh he could muster and stopped in his tracks. "Well maybe if you weren't 6'3" with a bottomless pit for a stomach we could keep some food in the cupboards." He hissed, already averting his path from heading home to heading towards the local grocery mart.

 

Chanyeol whimpered as though hurt, but the both of them knew the boy was getting what he wanted. "Park Chanyeol you're paying more of our rent this time since I've bought all our food for the month." Kyungsoo snapped at him, and despite the ultimatum, Chanyeol chuckled from the other end. "You're the best Kyung." "Yeah, I know." Kyungsoo smirked lightly, and with that he hung up.

 

Grocery shopping was a weekly chore for Kyungsoo for the most part, considering all Chanyeol  seemingly did was eat and sleep. He had a job for sure, but it changed so frequently Kyungsoo didn't bother to keep track of what it was anymore. As long as their bills were paid, that was all he cared about.

 

The frequency of his trips to the store, however, made Kyungsoo an expert at pricing and execution. He was in and out of the mart within 30 mintues, though the hard part of the journey was always the amount of bags he had to drag home. He had meticulously hooked 3 bags on his right arm with a milk carton in hand, and 3 bags on his left arm with two more bags in that hand. 

 

Kyungsoo waddled all the way to the bus stop then and managed to haul his things up the stairs and into a seat until he made it to the apartment complex. He set a few bags down and paid his fair before exiting the bus and heading down the last stretch to home sweet home.

 

Usually, Chanyeol would be right there in the lobby as soon as he entered to help him carry up bags or at least beg Kyungsoo to cook, but when the tall boy didn't greet him in the entry way he wondered what was up. Grumbling and nearly instantly annoyed with the giant again, Kyungsoo tried to hit the elevator button with the milk carton he'd been lugging around, but despite hitting it straight on, the button mis-fired and nothing happened. 

 

Frustration was starting to build in Kyungsoo, his short fuse with Chanyeol specifically only growing shorter by the minute because damn it Chanyeol I'm not a ing slave. Usually, Kyungsoo was a very calm and collected individual, but make him tired, hungry, and throw Chanyeol into the mix and you had a recipie for disaster. 

 

He reached to hit the elevator button again but was cut off when someone's arm reached across in front of him and gently gave the button a tap, lighting it up and causing the elevator to jolt into motion. Traitor, he thought to himself in response to the elevator and turned to see who the hell thought Kyungsoo couldn't handle the simple task of hitting a button.

 

He stopped in his tracks then, the handsome stranger from a week before standing just behind him with arms crossed over his chest and eating smirk seemingly plastered on his face.

 

Kyungsoo does his best to keep his eyes to himself, really he does, but he can’t help stealing peeks at him. The jacket is gone this time, the man in simple jeans and a plain white t-shirt but it is covered in what looks like grease or oil - smells like it too.

 

“Need help with that?” He man offers, breaking Kyungsoo’s thoughts, already reaching to grab the milk carton and few bags in Kyungsoo's hands. Before the shorter could even utter a word, the weight of the bags had been lifted from his arms and into the strangers hands just as the elevator opened up. 

 

The man entered the elevator and casually leaned himself back against the far end like the time before, waiting for Kyungsoo to join him as if he did this all the time. Kyungsoo stepped in the elevator like a lost puppy, displaced and having no choice but to comply, though entirely confused. It seemed so natural for the guy, but Kyungsoo's skin was getting clammy.

 

Silence. Kyungsoo swallowed hard, the elevator doors closing and finally acending, but the silence made the elevator ride feel like it lasted 5 mintues. Someone cleared their throat, Kyungsoo still isn't sure if it was him or the stranger, followed by more deafening silence. He kept his eyes on his shoes, sometimes glancing at the strangers shoes in temptation to study him, but mostly fixated on his shoes to keep calm in the awkward situation. 

 

The loud ding of the elevator annoucing its arrival on the 3rd floor caused the short boy to jump slightly, snapping him out of his head and back to reality. Pushing himself from the wall, the stranger walked out into the hallway and waited for Kyungsoo to scurry out after him. "..Aren't you going to lead? I don't exactly know which apartment is yours.." The stranger asked, giving Kyungsoo an amused though questioning expression.

 

"O-Oh. Right." Kyungsoo gasped, hurrying himself up ahead and nearly tripping on the hallway carpet as he did so. "I-It's down this way." He told him, cheeks now tinged pink from embarrassment. He felt so self concious like this, honestly starting to sweat a little bit because what was this stranger thinking? What was Chanyeol going to think? Wait, why did he give a what Chanyeol thought anyway? Oh God just stop overthinking-

 

"Here... this is it." Kyungsoo stopped outside the door and stood there a moment, expecting the man to hand him his bags or drop them by the door or something, but he just stood there waiting expectantly. Swallowing hard and mustering up his courage, Kyungsoo tried to wiggle his way out of the situation at this point. "Um... I can take it from here." He tries, though his arms are obviously too short and sill full of hanging bags, and the stranger is giving him a look that reads "Really?"

 

A tiny sigh escapes Kyungsoo as he gives up in defeat. He knows he really doesn't want to struggle to get them into the kitchen and maybe the guy could keep Chanyeol at bay, though doubtful, it made him hopeful. Unlocking the door, he kicked it open and looked around at the dumpy, yet seemingly tidy place.

 

He lead the man to the kitchen, Chanyeol nowhere to be found within eyesight at least. A small sigh of relief left him because despite wanting a buffer in the situation, at least the obnoxious giant wouldn't embarrass the hell out of him. "Sorry about the mess, I have a roommate who doesn't clean up after himself." Kyungsoo explained, setting the bags down onto the counters.

 

The stranger didn't respond, but Kyungsoo was already distracted in the moment as he began filing groceries away and picking up the things on the countertops that Chanyeol had left behind in his hunt for food. It was quiet apart from the rustle of the shopping bags and it took him a while before he snapped out of it and realized the man was still there, leaning against the counter and silently watching him.

 

Kyungsoo turned to him abruptly, cheeks instantly heating yet again. "S-Sorry. Thank you for helping me carry my things since my good for nothing roommate is literally good for absolutly nothing." He murmured, averting his eyes from the other momentarily to breathe.

 

"I'm Kyungsoo - Do Kyungsoo, by the way." He said, glancing back at the stranger only to see him smiling that light, playful smirk, but this was somehow different. A little more sincere, maybe, or soft. Or maybe Kyungsoo just didn't understand how to read facial expressions thanks to his anti-social tendencies. Yeah, it was probably that.

 

Either way, the man straightened up then and held out his hand to Kyungsoo. "It's no problem, it's not like it was out of my way. I'm Jongin. It's nice to officially meet you, Do Kyungsoo." Kyungsoo took Jonign's hand slowly, knowing his hand was cold and clammy from the nervous sweat that was ensuing. Jongin shook his hand firmly, surprisingly warm and strong for someone whose fingers looked pretty boney. "Likewise." Kyungsoo responded in a delayed, half whisper.

 

When Jongin let go of Kyungsoo's hand, Kyungsoo pressed them back into his pockets on his jeans and debated what to do from here. As weird as it seemed, he really didn't want the stranger to go. He was curious about the stranger and wanted to get to know this Jongin who seemed elusive and maybe even secretive. There was a strange pull, or attraction, that he couldn't quite place that made him want to dig beneath the surface. Habits die hard, however, and Kyungsoo just can't bring himself to do anything close to what he wants. 

 

"So I'll see you around?" Kyungsoo manages, taking a step towards the door to lead Jongin out. Jongin follows naturally in step behind Kyungsoo, again, as if the situation had happened many times before. He didn't give an answer until he stepped out the door and turned to bid farewell to Kyungsoo. "I'm sure I'll catch you again in the elevator." Jongin quiped, smirking that dumb smile at him yet again.

 

"I'm sure you will." Kyungsoo managed, maybe a little too quickly for the moment. But that damn smirk -

 

At that, Jongin turned to leave. Kyungsoo found himself lingering there a moment longer, eyes on Jongin's figure as he walked down the hall to his own apartment, his gate so smooth it was as if he’s gliding.