There are boxes in the lobby when Changkyun comes home from school… packing boxes, at least a dozen of them, some overturned with someone’s belongings spilling out of them onto the marble floor. It’s a random assortment of items: books and picture frames and knick knacks. Changkyun doesn’t want to be nosy. He passes by the boxes with just quick glance on his way to the elevator.

There are more boxes in the hallway when the elevator doors open. They’re stacked on both sides of the hall in the direction of Changkyun’s apartment. Changkyun likes to think he’s pretty slim, but he has to turn sideways to fit through the box tunnel. The new resident sure has a lot of stuff. Changkyun wonders if maybe the person is a hoarder.

The door on the left of the hallway, directly across from his own door, is wide open, and when Changkyun peeks inside the empty apartment, all he sees is a flash of pink hair. Female , he thinks, and slips quietly behind his own door to get started on his homework.

*knock knock*

The sound is so soft that Changkyun barely hears it from the bedroom, and it’s late; he’s already in bed. He sits up and tilts his head to the side, listening.

*knock knock knock*

It’s much more firm this time. Changkyun sighs as he slides out of bed and pulls on the pair of pajama pants he’d left on the floor before laying down earlier. When he checks the alarm clock on the dresser, it tells him it’s nearly midnight, and he worries about answering the door so late at night.

Through the peephole he sees the same pink hair from earlier, just the crown of the person's head. He’s curious what his neighbor could want, and upon opening the door, he’s surprised to find a boy. Well, maybe not a boy, but definitely male. It’s hard to tell how old he is because of the head of fluffy pink locks and the shy, almost embarrassed smile.

“Can I help you?”

The boy scratches the back of his neck. “I… uhm… hah.” Changkyun raises one eyebrow at him in a silent question. “Sorry to bother you, but I’m new here. I just moved in today-” he looks at his watch, “-err yesterday… I guess. Anyway, I was trying to cook myself some dinner, and I have all of my kitchen stuff unpacked, but I can’t seem to find my salt. Do you have any salt I could borrow?”

Now both eyebrows are raised. Did Changkyun’s new neighbor just get him out of bed at midnight to ask for salt?

“I’m Kihyun, by the way. Forgot to mention that.” He waves at Changkyun, and the movement is miniscule, his hand just barely tilting left and then right before Kihyun drops it and laces his fingers behind his back.

“Uhhh… Changkyun? I’m Changkyun. Let… let me get you some salt. Wait here.”

Changkyun gently closes the door so Kihyun won’t think he’s trying to be rude. In just a few seconds he returns with the salt shaker he keeps on top of the stove.

“Oh my gosh, thank you so much!” Kihyun’s eyes scrunch into crescents and his lips lift into a smile just wide enough to expose his top teeth. “I better get back to my food before it burns.” He gives the same tiny wave again and backs away across the hall until he bumps into his door.

Changkyun chuckles and shakes his head before heading back to bed.

Neighbors are weird. The previous resident across the hall had come and gone at all hours of the night, slamming her door and singing loudly when she’d had a few too many. Once she even tried to open Changkyun’s door at two in the morning, and when her key wouldn’t turn the lock, she banged on the door until Changkyun came out to help her into her own apartment.

Kihyun is a much better neighbor. He’s mostly quiet. He seems to keep normal hours. If he has friends, they don’t seem to visit often or cause any trouble.

A few days after moving in Kihyun knocks on Changkyun’s door, at a much more reasonable time of day, to return the salt shaker. He introduces himself again, saying that he’s a few years Changkyun’s senior but that he attends the same university as a graduate student. When Changkyun makes no move to invite him inside, Kihyun gives another shy wave and retreats behind his own door.

*knock knock*

Not even two weeks after Kihyun moves in, he’s back at Changkyun’s door.

“I’m so sorry to bother you. You’re probably studying or something, but well... I was trying to as well, but I can’t seem to find anything to write with in my apartment. I must have loaned out my last pencil at school this afternoon. I’m sure there’s one somewhere in the boxes I still haven’t unpacked, but I’m not really sure where to start looking. I didn’t exactly label everything properly when I moved, and-”

“Kihyun,” Changkyun interrupts him, wondering why he seems so nervous over something as insignificant as asking to borrow a pencil, “you’re rambling.”

“Oh, sorry. Do you have an extra pencil?”

Changkyun pulls a mechanical pencil from behind his ear and hands it to Kihyun whose face turns the same color as his hair as he thanks Changkyun and disappears into his apartment again.

Yeah, neighbors are weird, but at least Kihyun seems nice.

*knock knock*

Seriously? Who the hell could that be?

It’s only 8:00 AM, and Changkyun is tying his shoes in the doorway of his apartment. His backpack is already packed up and on his back, and he’s trying to leave early enough to get some coffee on the way to class since he somehow managed to run out of k-cups. He shuffles to the door, barely avoiding tripping over the one untied lace, and opens it to find Kihyun… again.

“I’m so sorry to bother you.” It seems like all of their conversations start like this. “I poured my coffee this morning before I realised I’m all out of milk. Could you spare just a splash?” Kihyun holds up his steaming mug of coffee in front of him with both hands and pleading eyes.

“I’ll trade you,” Changkyun suggests when he gets a whiff of the aroma of roasted beans in the air. Kihyun looks confused. “I’m out of coffee. Pour me a cup and I’ll let you borrow my milk.”

“Oh. Oh, sure. Yeah, just…” he hands Changkyun his cup and runs back across the hall. When he returns he’s carrying one of those travel mugs that looks like a Starbucks cup in probably the largest size Changkyun has ever seen. “If you’re anything like me, you’ll want more than just one cup,” Kihyun explains.

Changkyun invites Kihyun in and tells him to have a seat on one of the stools at the bar. He then proceeds to empty his refrigerator of at least six different flavored creamers, a pint of half and half, and a half gallon of 2% milk. “Uhm, just take your pick. There’s sugar in the bowl on the end of the counter too, if you like yours sweet.”

“Just milk, thank you,” Kihyun says with an amused grin, and Changkyun can tell he’s trying not to laugh.

“I know, I’m a big baby. I need the caffeine but can’t stand the taste.”

“You’d be better off with energy drinks,” Kihyun comments as he watches Changkyun pour half a bottle of chocolate and caramel creamer into his coffee.

“Yeah, but when you show up to class with a can of Red Bull everyone thinks you’re a douche. Coffee is much more sophisticated.”

The smile is back, the one that means Kihyun is trying not to laugh out loud at Changkyun. “If you say so,” he says, and he can’t hold back the tiny giggle that escapes at the end. “So when is your class?”

“Nine, why?”

“You’re still wearing your backpack.” Oh, well, that’s embarrassing. “And your shoe is untied.” Even better.

“Well, y’know,” Changkyun laughs nervously, “someone knocked on my door at eight in the morning, before I’d even had my coffee so it’s understandable I’d be too distracted to notice tiny details like that.”

There’s just a dusting of pink across the apples of Kihyun’s cheeks as he mumbles an apology and takes a sip of his coffee.

“Hey, no. It’s okay. I mean, you have milk and I have coffee… It all worked out, right?”

Kihyun clears his throat a bit. “Well, yes, but you’re also about to be late for your class if you don’t leave right now.”

“Oh. Oh, . Thank you. God, I can’t afford to be late to this class one more time either. My teacher already hates me and I failed the last test and-” Changkyun stops his frantic search for his backpack at the sight of Kihyun’s pinched grin. He’s trying not to laugh… again. “What?”

Kihyun hops down from the kitchen stool and taps Changkyun’s shoulder strap on his way to the door. “Don’t forget to tie your shoe,” he calls as the door falls shut behind him.

*knock knock*

“I swear to God, Kihyun, if you are knocking on my door at 7:30 on a Saturday morning for a cup of sugar, I will wring your ne-”

It’s not Kihyun.

“Who is Kihyun?”

“Jooheon. Go. Away. It’s too early to deal with you.” Changkyun shuffles back to the couch but doesn’t shut the door.

“Who is Kihyun?”

“Shut uuuuuuuuup!” Changkyun whines and wishes he was best friends with literally anyone else on the planet. “I’m not done sleeping,” he adds as he flops onto his stomach across the couch. “You can either be quiet or go home.”

Jooheon lays down on top of Changkyun’s back and nuzzles into his neck. It tickles, but when Changkyun tries to squirm out from under Jooheon, he can’t. Jooheon is too heavy.

“I’ll let you go if you tell me who Kihyun is.”

“Never,” he chokes out.

“Oh, so it’s a secret. Does little Kyunie have a crush?”

“ you! Get off of me!” Changkyun finally manages to roll off the couch and lands on top of Jooheon on the floor with a thud. Jooheon groans in pain.

Changkyun is awake now. There's no way he could fall asleep again after that struggle. He pushes himself up off of Jooheon and makes his way to the kitchen for some much needed caffeine.

“Seriously,” Jooheon says as he sits at the counter, “who is Kihyun and why have you never talked about him?”

“He's just my neighbor. He moved in across the hall last month, and he's weird.” Changkyun presses the button on his Keurig to start the coffee before slicing a bagel in half and dropping it in the toaster.

“Weird how?”

“He keeps asking to borrow things.”

“Liiiike sugar?” Jooheon asks, accepting a mug of coffee and sliding the sugar bowl closer.

“Not yet, but so far he's asked for salt and milk, batteries, paper and pencil… on separate occasions, and a hair dryer.”

“Dude, he does sound weird.”

The bagel pops out of the toaster, and Changkyun places each half on a napkin. “Right? I knew I wasn't imagining it,” he adds as he spreads cream cheese on one half and pushes it across the counter to Jooheon.

“Do you guys hang out?”

“We had coffee one morning, but other than that, no.”

“What else do you know about him?”

Changkyun pauses in the middle of smearing cream cheese on his own half of the bagel. What else does he know about Kihyun? He knows that they attend the same school but not what Kihyun is studying, that Kihyun likes his coffee with a splash of milk and nothing else, and that he blushes when he's nervous or embarrassed. That's really it.

“Not much,” he admits.

“Well maybe you should get to know him, hmm?” Jooheon suggests as he steals Changkyun’s half of the bagel. Changkyun looks at the bagel and back up at Jooheon.

“Jooheon… why are you here?”

Jooheon grins, exposing a mouthful of half chewed food and making Changkyun cringe. “I haven’t slept yet. Wanted to see my favorite person before I crashed.”

“Jooheon. Go home.”

*knock knock*

Changkyun sets his bowl of noodles on the coffee table to answer the door.

“Whoa, you okay?” Kihyun is slumped against the door frame. He’s flushed and sweating, and his nose is red. He sniffles before he answers.

“Do, I’b dot okay. Do you have ady cold bedecide?” Changkyun props the door open and hurries to the bathroom to grab the cold medicine from the cabinet, snatching the extra box of tissues off the bathroom counter on his way back. “Oh, tissues. Thacks.”

Changkyun watches as Kihyun drags himself back to his apartment and sends Changkyun a weak, half smile before closing the door.

No one knocks on Changkyun's door for several days afterwards, but just when Changkyun is starting to worry that his neighbor has lost his battle with his sinuses, he bumps into Kihyun in the elevator.

“Ah, it's my hero!”

Changkyun laughs. “I see someone is feeling better.”

“Yes, all thanks to you. I still hadn't unpacked my medicine cabinet and after five minutes of digging through boxes I was feeling dizzy and my head was pounding and if not for you… I don't think I would have made it to the drugstore for a couple of days at least.”

“You're welcome,” Changkyun says as he awkwardly bumps Kihyun's shoulder. “Hey, why are you still unpacking? You've been here a couple of months already. Settle in and stay a while.”

“I don't know. You never know when you'll need to get away, y’know?”

Changkyun just hums because he really doesn't know. When he lives somewhere, he takes root. Home is the place you're supposed to be most comfortable. How can it be home if you never truly settle in?

“Get away?” he says quietly, speaking to himself and completely forgetting that their close proximity, being enclosed in a tiny metal box together, means that Kihyun can hear him clearly.

“Yeah, don't you ever get that trapped feeling, the itch to just go and be somewhere else?”

“You mean like vacation?” Kihyun smiles, but it's bitter. Changkyun gets the feeling that this is something important about Kihyun that he should understand but clearly doesn't. He wants to understand though. “So is that why you moved? To get away?”

“That… and I kind of had to. My last place was pretty expensive. I ran into some unfortunate circumstances. My roommate moved out and I couldn't afford the rent. I tried getting a second job to cover it, but I started struggling in school so I had to quit. I wouldn't have even had a couch to crash on if it weren't for my friend Minhyuk.

“I managed to save a bit while I stayed with him, and after I graduated I took a year off and wandered around. Trains are a surprisingly comfortable way to travel.” Kihyun studies his hands as he talks, gnawing on the inside of his cheek between thoughts.

“Anyway, I felt better when I came back, less confined, so I applied for graduate school, but of course then I had to find a place to live that wasn't someone else's couch and I especially couldn't stay with Minhyuk anymore because he had moved in with someone so… Here I am.”

The elevator doors open, and before Changkyun can respond, Kihyun says, “Gotta get to work. See you around, Changkyun,” and leaves Changkyun standing alone in the lobby.

*knock knock*

When Changkyun opens the door, Kihyun has a laundry basket on his hip and a sheepish grin on his face.

“Sorry to bother you,” he starts, but Changkyun narrows his eyes at Kihyun and he clicks his jaw shut, dropping his gaze to his feet.

“Kihyun,” Changkyun sighs, “this is getting ridiculous.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

“I’m not mad.” He’s really not. He just… doesn’t understand. “How do you never seem to have what you need when you need it? You know what… never mind. It doesn’t matter. I’m here to help. What can I do for you today, Kihyun?”

“I-it’s okay. I can run to the store.” Kihyun turns toward his own apartment, but Changkyun stops him with a hand on his shoulder, spinning him back around.

“Come on, tell me. I’ll help if I can.”

“Laundry detergent?”

“Okay, just gimme a minute. I’ll be right back.” Changkyun returns a moment later with his own laundry and a bottle of detergent. “Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Laundry. Let’s go do laundry.”

“What, like, together?”

“Yeah. Come on. It’s not like it’s a date or anything.” Kihyun’s cheeks turn pink and his ears turn red, and he follows Changkyun to the elevator with nervous, shuffling steps.

The laundry room is in the basement, and it's empty in the middle of the day on a Thursday. Changkyun has never seen it empty. The rows of washers and dryers are always full and running on Saturday afternoons, which is usually the only time Changkyun can spare for laundry. Today one lone dryer is tossing clothes around and around with gentle thumps and clicks from the buttons on a shirt.

Changkyun doesn’t sort his laundry, just throws it all in the machine together before turning to Kihyun who is separating his own basket into whites and colors.

“You'll be sorry when all your white shirts turn pink,” Kihyun teases.

“Nah, I don't have anything red in my basket.” Kihyun gives a huffy laugh and shakes his head.

Once the machines are full, Changkyun adds the detergent and presses the buttons to start the cycle. “So… We've got some time to kill; what do you wanna do now?”

“Well, I usually play games on my phone, but I feel like that might be rude since I have company.”

“Probably, yeah.” They both laugh a bit, uncomfortably, and when the laughter fades out they're left with an equally uncomfortable silence. The washers slosh water around with a mechanical chug-chug-swish sound, the dryer click-click-thumps, and Changkyun’s breathing is so loud in his own ears it drowns out everything else.

“So, poetry?” Kihyun asks. He's sitting in one of the metal folding chairs with his feet stretched out in front of him, staring at his shoelaces.

“Huh? What about it?”

“I noticed a bunch of poetry volumes on your coffee table. Is that what you're studying?”

“Oh.” Changkyun is a little surprised Kihyun even paid attention to his apartment. “Not really. I'm studying music. Poetry is a corequisite for lyric writing courses.”

Kihyun nods with a small, “Ah,” and the silence returns.

“What are you studying?”

“Geology.”

“You mean like… rocks? Isn't that boring?”

“Maybe to you. I like rocks, and it's more than just rocks. It’s the movement of the Earth’s crust which is related to seismology; it causes earthquakes and tsunamis. It’s lava from underwater volcanoes creating islands made completely of igneous rock. It’s pretty geodes and gemstones and sedimentary rock that can tell you the entire history of an area. It's much more interesting than you think.”

Changkyun likes the way Kihyun talks about his studies. His eyes light up and sparkle, and Changkyun can tell he's passionate about his… rocks . Changkyun smiles as Kihyun tells him all about the Grand Canyon and how the Colorado River has carved its way through the canyon for years and years until the individual layers of rock can be measured like rings on a tree, and even though it's boring, because let's face it, if you're not into rocks (and Changkyun isn't) it kinda is, Kihyun’s excitement makes it seem like the most fascinating phenomenon.

It dawns on Changkyun around the time they're moving their laundry from the washer to the dryer (including Changkyun's previously-white-now-turned-pink boxer briefs thanks to the stray red bandana that made it into his load… How? He doesn't even own any bandanas!) that this is the most enjoyable social experience he's had in months. Kihyun is fun and captivating, and the way his eyes crunch up when he lets loose with that loud, obnoxious laugh of his is cute and dammit, Changkyun likes him. .

Now Changkyun isn't sure what to do. He doesn't want to make things awkward between them, and he can't decide if telling Kihyun would be more or less weird than trying to pretend he doesn't feel the way he feels.

Kihyun buys some snacks from the vending machine and shares them with Changkyun, and when the dryers buzz, they load up their baskets and head back upstairs. Kihyun looks like he wants to say something. He shuffles more than usual in the elevator and keeps picking at the fuzz on his sweater. Changkyun tries to ignore it, but he’s so tuned in to Kihyun’s movements now that it’s nearly impossible.

Changkyun is stunned when Kihyun breaks the silence just as the doors open. “I have a confession to make. I’m not out of laundry detergent.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“And I wasn’t out of batteries or pencils or paper either.”

“I know you actually needed the cold medicine; you looked awful that night, but what about the salt and milk? Why do you keep asking me for things you don’t need?”

“No no, I really was out of salt… milk too, but after the first night when you answered the door looking all sleepy with your ruffled hair and your wrinkled pajamas, and by the way I still feel really bad for getting you out of bed that night, you were… well, you were cute, and I wanted to see more of you. Thing is, I didn’t know how to talk to you so I just kept making excuses to knock on your door.”

“That’s… actually kinda… it’s creepy, dude.”

Kihyun looks down at his laundry, and his faded pink fringe falls across his eyes. Changkyun wants to push it out of the way to see Kihyun’s face, which judging by the bright red of his ears probably matches his hair. He resists the urge and instead places his hand on Kihyun’s shoulder to get his attention.

“You didn’t have to do all that just to see me. You could have just asked. We could study together or you can cook for me.” Kihyun’s eyebrows draw together unevenly, one higher than the other. “Don’t give me that look.” Changkyun smacks his shoulder. “I live right across the hall. You made something Thai the other night and I could smell the basil and lemongrass from inside my apartment.”

“It was just fried rice.”

“Whatever it was, it smelled amazing, and I was starving. You could have invited me over. I wouldn’t have turned you down.” Changkyun winks and then cries internally. He’s not smooth enough to get away with like that. He’s not cute, he’s just embarrassing… painfully embarrassing.

“Oh.” Kihyun kicks his foot at his door. He checks his watch. He unlocks the door and mumbles something about folding the laundry before it wrinkles. He gives that same tiny little wave he gave the first time he knocked on Changkyun’s door, and then the door closes and Changkyun is left alone in the hallway, blinking and wondering if he said something wrong.

Changkyun stands there a moment longer before collecting himself and making his way into his apartment. He deposits the laundry basket on the coffee table and flops on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He loses himself replaying the entire hallway interaction, and is completely unable to come up with a reason for Kihyun's behavior… unless it was the wink? He knew he shouldn't have winked, but he can't imagine one tiny, awkward moment would ruin their entire afternoon.

He rolls over and groans into the couch cushion before pushing himself back up and resigning to spend the next half hour folding pink boxer briefs.

*knock knock*

“What the hell?” Changkyun has barely gotten his laundry folded and tucked away into his dresser when someone shows up at his door. He tries to remember if he invited Jooheon over, but it’s Thursday so that seems unlikely. He looks through the peephole and mutters, “What the hell ?” when all he sees is Kihyun’s pink hair.

Kihyun is wringing his hands when Changkyun opens the door, and he looks up at Changkyun with huge, wary eyes. “What the hell, Kihyun?” Kihyun continues to stare at him, like a skittish cat who's about to run any second. Changkyun decides to change his approach. “Kihyun, is something wrong? Can I help you somehow?” Kihyun blinks and looks left and right before dropping his hands to his sides and taking a deep breath.

“I unpacked.” It’s almost a shout, like Kihyun can’t hear his own voice or control the volume. He tries again, a little quieter this time. “After we talked that day in the elevator… I unpacked. You said something about staying awhile and I… I realised for the first time in years I really want to. I wanna stay if it’s near you.”

Changkyun doesn’t know what to say so he just stares, but apparently it’s the wrong reaction because Kihyun looks about ready to run again. “Oh. Okay.”

“Okay,” Kihyun replies. “Okay… okay.” He takes another deep breath, and this time Changkyun recognises that it's Kihyun's way of preparing himself before saying something that makes him uncomfortable. “Changkyun?”

“Yes?”

“Changkyun can… can I cook you dinner?” he asks, but then he starts to backtrack. “I mean I kind of owe you since I keep bothering you and borrowing your things and…” he trails off.

A smile lifts the corners of Changkyun's lips, and Kihyun mirrors him though it's still a little hesitant. “Hmmm… I don't know. Is it a neighbor thing, or is it a date?”

Kihyun freezes, and for a second Changkyun thinks he's made another mistake. Then Kihyun's eyes crinkle closed and his cheeks turn neon pink, and he stutters out, “D-d-date.”

“Kihyun,” Changkyun reaches for one of Kihyun's hands and pauses for a moment as he takes notice of how well their fingers fit together, “I would love to have dinner with you.”