Beep

Haebin instantly rose to the sound of her phone going off. “B-Beep!” She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and glued her eyes to the screen. Did she finally get a reply? “Of course I did!” She whispered. “I blocked all advertisements and spam emails, who else would reply?”

The aspiring writer had been fresh out of college for a few months now and with her bank account slowing draining, a job, any job, would be nice. Haebin clutched the device close to her chest and mumbled a prayer. “I’m not that religious but if there is something up there please let this be a job recruit.” She whispered. “I’ll stop cursing too!” She opened one eye and read the sender’s name.

JEM Publishing Company

“Yes!” Haebin opened the message and grinned cheekily. “Off of the workforce I go! 8 years worth of money from summer jobs and I’m two months away from becoming dirt poor!” She sighed and shook her head. “Money doesn’t last long when you’re an adult huh?”

She reminisced about the times she worked as a teenager through the brutally hot temperatures that were summer in Seoul. She thought about all the tax cuts she got and how difficult it was to make a few bucks especially when she had to do crazy amounts of work for the lowest wages. Haebin took a deep breath and read the email.

Greetings Haebin Kim,

She chuckled. “They said greetings, how cute.”

We appreciate your efforts to come to all three rounds of interviews. You have a great student profile and a bright future ahead of you. Unfortunately, due to the high competition that comes with paid internships, we could not give you a spot in the company.

“Unfortunately…” Haebin stood up on her bed and held the phone up. “WHAT?”

Sehun jolted awake from his sleep and banged his head into the wall. “Oh!”

Haebin read through the email and nearly flipped her mattress. “WHAT THE BRO.”

The merman jumped and scrambled to stand on his two feet. “Sorry, Haebin! I fell asleep here last night-“

“A REJECTION LETTER? HOW STUPID- YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE SENT ME NOTHING-“

“H-Haebin?”

She turned around and stared at the awkwardly crouching man in her room. “MORNING SUNSHINE, I JUST GOT MY FIRST JOB REJECTION, HOW WAS YOUR MORNING?”

“J-Job?”

Haebin dropped her phone on her pillow and flopped down. “Nothing,” She whispered. “Nothing, never mind, it is nothing.” She looked up and tugged his arm towards her. “Wait, what happened to you? Why are you standing like that?”

“My body hurts,” He winced in discomfort and held his shoulder. “You fell asleep yesterday when we were playing the question game but the floor seemed to hurt so I brought you here.” He said. “I guess I fell asleep too,”

Haebin gasped. “On the floor? Did you get any sleep?”

Sehun shrugged and leaned over to one side. His back made a cracking sound and he cringed. “Eueeugh…”

She chuckled and patted her bed. “Go to sleep for a little bit, I’ll call you out for breakfast in a few,” Haebin said. “It’s still early,”

“But Haebin, what’s a job?”

She tucked him in and pulled the curtains closed. “I’ll explain all of that later, okay?”

A couple hours later

“MORNING HAEBINNY!”

“YES, MORNING, HOW’S OUR HAE-BUNNY DOING?”

Haebin came running out of her kitchen like a mad woman with a rice scooper in hand. “Can you guys be quiet? It’s 10 in the morning!”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? The entire world is awake already; it’s 10 in the morning.”

The deep-voiced giant behind him nodded. “He’s right; we can be loud and proud, as usual.” He flexed his arms. “How are my gains? I think I’m finally getting muscles here!”

Haebin waved the big plastic spoon in the air. “Shut it! Sehun is sleeping!”

“Who’s Sehun?”

“The guy you guys named Pumpkin Lee,” She scoffed. “I can’t believe you guys called him that, you drunken idiots made it to my house but you couldn’t ask for his name?”

Chanyeol walked around the living room. “Where?” He asked. “He’s not on the couch,”

“Or the bathroom,” Baekhyun’s finger floated in the air as he dryly asked. “Y-You wouldn’t make a man sleep in your storage closet r-right?”

Haebin stood in front of the stove and stirred the soybean paste stew. “He’s in my room.”

“Oh-“

“WHAT-“

“WHAT-“

Haebin nodded. “He’s sleeping in my room, shut up Chanyeol, you are so damn loud that China can hear you.”

Chanyeol scurried over to her side. “Y-Your room? Like in your bed?”

“Where else would he sleep? On my desk?”

Baekhyun stormed over to her other side. “What is this? You let a stranger sleep in your bed but not us? Why do we need to share a couch and that skinny noodle man gets your queen sized bed?”

Haebin smacked a pair of chopsticks on top of each of their heads. “It just happened like that, alright?” She snapped. “And don’t get too ahead of yourselves; he’ll be on the couch from now on.”

“N-Now on?” Chanyeol grabbed his tank and bounced it in and out of his chest. He was getting heated. “How could this be? You’re going to kick us, your best friends, out but that Sebum or whatever his name is can stay?”

Haebin reached for the both of them and pulled them into a headlock. “Listen here, Sehun is different from you guys.You two are fresh out of college with useful degrees yet all you guys do is use your parent’s money and get drunk every other day, seriously now?”

“What does Sehun do, hm?” Baekhyun asked. “Is he successful then? Because if he was he wouldn’t be here!”

“Have you guys been applying for jobs and going to interviews?”

Chanyeol looked down at his feet and quietly traced the tiles with his big toe. “Um,”

Baekhyun shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly inched towards the fridge. “How about some…some…some kimchi? On this fine day?”

Haebin took the boiling pot off the stove and set it on the table. “Let’s eat!” She handed Chanyeol a few bowls. “Scoop the rice and soup,” And on the way to her room she nudged the shorter, “Baek, side dishes,”

The two boys did as they were told and watched in disbelief as Haebin went into her room and came out with a sleepy Sehun who towered over her. What was even more shocking was the “how to brush your teeth” conversation they heard coming from the bathroom.

Baekhyun scratched his head. “What do you mean how to brush your teeth?” He asked quietly. “Is he still hung-over?”

Chanyeol set the table. “Beats me, but then again anyone who hangs out with Haebin turns into a psycho,”

“We hang out with her too!”

“That explains a lot…”

Haebin walked out of the bathroom and gritted her teeth. “If you say anything weird during breakfast, I’m going to kill the both of you.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol only looked at each other and telepathically whispered. Psycho

[a/n]: comments are much appreciated! :)