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It had been a month since Seungkwan let Mingyu live with him and Mingyu still hadn’t gotten a job. Hell, Mingyu had barely even left the house since he arrived. At this point, Seungkwan felt like he had brought in a freeloader. Was this Mingyu’s plan in the first place? Suddenly Seungkwan wondered if this man was a con artist. How many other people had he conned into giving him a house by playing the innocent card on humanitarians?

Seungkwan shook his head. Now was not the time to think about such infuriating things. He was at work, so he had to focus on his work, otherwise, his godforsaken manager might beat him again, and who knows if Seungkwan will snap this time or not. Seungkwan sighed and continued cleaning the counter. He’d have to talk to Mingyu again about getting a job later. Or else he, himself, will have to find a way to get Mingyu a job.

He grumbled to himself as he ran the rag over the glass surface, staring at his own reflection afterwards. For a brief second, he wondered how someone like him managed to end up living with someone with such god-like looks such as Mingyu. Once again he shook his head. Why did he care? If the man was conning him, Mingyu probably didn’t even care about how Seungkwan looked other than if he looked gullible or not.

Meanwhile, back at Seungkwan’s apartment, Mingyu was exploring the fridge and discovering new foods. There were so many things Mingyu had never seen besides maybe from afar. As well as things Mingyu had never seen at all. He had the urge to try everything, but a tiny voice in his head told him to think about how Seungkwan would react if he came back to an empty fridge.

Did Mingyu listen to that voice, though? Of course not. He ate anything he could find in the fridge that he thought was edible…as well as some things that probably weren’t edible. It was worth the stomach ache. Well, the edible food was worth the stomach ache. He did, however, spend a lot of time in the bathroom after.

By the time Seungkwan got back from work, Mingyu was in a food coma on the couch and the fridge was wide open, now empty. Seungkwan inhaled sharply when he saw the state of his kitchen. He gritted his teeth and glared daggers at the sleeping, long-legged male.

“YAH, KIM MINGYU!” he shouted, walking up to the couch and throwing a pillow at the other male. “Who gave you permission to eat everything in my fridge? I said you can have a snack, not a full course meal.”

Mingyu opened his eyes groggily and lazily, not seeing the immediate threat of his small roommate Boo Seungkwan. He sat up slowly and focused his gaze on the boy, who had his arms crossed. His disappointed, angry glare vaguely reminded Mingyu of when his mother used to catch him doing something he wasn’t supposed to.

“Well?” Seungkwan said expectantly. “Are you going to apologize? Or explain yourself, at least? I gave you food once a week, and eventually every day for 3 weeks, you shouldn’t be starving enough to eat my entire fridge a month after moving in.”

“I wanted--” Mingyu burped softly, “--to try everything…it all looked so good.”

Seungkwan groaned. “Do you know how much all those groceries cost?? Some of it was from my mom… You’re crazy. What have I gotten myself into, hosting a stranger in my apartment? How do I know you’re not a con-man?”

Mingyu blinked and sat up straight, pulling his legs off the couch. “What’s a con-man?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, repeating the word in English as if that would help Mingyu understand. When the tall ex-angel still looked at him with confusion, Seungkwan just shook his head and turned around, walking to his bedroom, leaving a very much confused Mingyu to stare at his back until the bedroom door closed.

After a second, Mingyu shrugged and lay back down, resting his hands on the back of his neck. Still worth it, he thought as he stared up at the ceiling. At least Seungkwan didn’t go full rage. Which meant his manager didn’t do anything too bad to him at work. He hummed softly and was about to drift back to sleep when something else was thrown at him, this time something hard and metal smacking him in the cheek and chin as his entire face was covered with a fabric.

“Ouch…” he mumbled, sitting up. A jacket fell down into his lap, which he picked up and looked at.

“Get up,” Seungkwan demanded, pulling his arm into his own jacket. “We’re going out. But brush your teeth first. Who knows what your breath smells like after eating all that. I, for one, do not want to find out.”

Mingyu sighed and stood up, knowing if he didn’t get up now, Seungkwan would probably find a way to drag him off the couch. Seungkwan gave a sarcastic smile as Mingyu made his way into the bathroom.

“Change while you’re at it. You’ve been wearing that all week. And then we’ll get shoes for you like you’ve been asking.” Seungkwan called out as the bathroom door (unintentionally) slammed shut.

Before the door shut, a quiet, sardonic sounding, “Yes ma’am.” came from the bathroom. Seungkwan shook his head, making sure he had his keys and wallet. Mingyu reminded Seungkwan of an obedient yet naughty dog. He always did stupid stuff, yet oddly complied with most of Seungkwan’s commands. For now, at least.

Several minutes later, Mingyu, who had disappeared into the bedroom—where Seungkwan reluctantly let Mingyu store his clothing—after brushing his teeth, was finally ready to go, met by a very impatient Seungkwan, who was waiting by the front door, all ready to go.

“Good?” Seungkwan asked, to which Mingyu nodded a little reluctantly as he slipped on a pair of slightly too small shoes belonging to Seungkwan.

The lack of shoes had a lot to do with why Mingyu didn’t leave the apartment often—or at all. He had no idea what his shoe size was, but it definitely was not the same size as Seungkwan’s shoe size. Mingyu had not experienced true pain until he had to walk around in too small shoes for an hour when Seungkwan forced him to come grocery shopping with him the second-week Mingyu had been living there for. Since then, the tall Fallen had done his best to suggest (or maybe beg) to Seungkwan that he needed shoes of his own.

Either Seungkwan had gotten tired of Mingyu’s complaining, or the short ball of energy and sass was feeling nice, which he tended to do sometimes, much to Mingyu’s confusion. Either way, Mingyu was glad to be getting some actually proper fitting shoes of his own to wear, after either wearing no shoes at all, his sandals he Fell with, or Seungkwan’s ill-fitting shoes for his first two or more months on Earth. Hopefully, he got to choose something instead of being picked the cheapest, probably ugliest pair of shoes Seungkwan could find.

Before Mingyu even realized it, they were out of the apartment building and walking towards the nearest bus stop. He had no idea where exactly they planned on going but didn’t want to ask Seungkwan so he just stayed quiet. The two sat down on the bench and Seungkwan directed his attention to Mingyu.

After a full minute of Seungkwan just staring at Mingyu, the taller male shifted his weight uncomfortably. “W-what…? Is there something on my face? Or did I miss a spot brushing my teeth?”

Seungkwan tilted his head slightly, humming in thought. “No. You’re good. Let me just…” he reached his arm up and Mingyu almost flinched but calmed down when Seungkwan gently placed his hand on Mingyu’s head, messing his already slightly messy hair up even more. “And…” he examined Mingyu’s outfit, straightening out the shirt and fixing the collar of his jacket. “There. Perfect.”

Seungkwan smiled proudly at the work he did on Mingyu, leaving the latter slightly speechless at this spontaneous act of kindness. Or at least it seemed to be a form of kindness.  The messing up of the hair didn’t seem all too ‘kind’ to Mingyu, though, but Seungkwan seemed pleased so he decided not to question or comment.

Mingyu had also never seen such an expression on Seungkwan’s face. The lopsided smile, the glint in his eye. He just looked genuinely pleased with himself. Had Mingyu caused such an expression on him? And also, why did such an expression look so good on him? Mingyu couldn’t understand the questions running through his brain, let alone why he felt so satisfied to have been a possible cause of this prideful expression, and even more so why he was even wondering and thinking about these things.

Sure, Mingyu considered Seungkwan to at least be…not the ugliest person he’d seen. But his personality was hard to understand. One day, Mingyu would feel touched at whatever kindness Seungkwan offered. The next, Mingyu was hating Seungkwan for being bossy and entitled. Not to mention Seungkwan was a man, Mingyu was an ex-Angel, and God was all about opposite- relationships. If he wasn’t already condemned to hell by being sent to Earth before, surely being in an intimate relationship with a male would be a direct ticket to see God’s old friend Morning Star, Lucifer. Not that he himself had issues with same- relationships. But the Old Man was still pretty iffy about it, even still often kicking Angels out of Heaven if they had same- relationships without asking him first.

He shook his head. This was all ridiculous. He’d only known Seungkwan for a total of around two or more months, half of which was spent hiding from the boy. Why would he even think about being a romantic, intimate relationship with a man, let alone Seungkwan? For all he knew, Seungkwan could already have a significant other, male or female. Who knew what Seungkwan did in the 10 plus hours he was out of the apartment? Obviously Seungkwan…and maybe God knew too. Not that Mingyu could ask.

“Earth to Kim Mingyu?” Seungkwan’s voice, as well as a light whack on the shoulder, drew Mingyu from his perplexing thoughts, “We’re gonna miss the bus, it’s coming up to the stop right now!”

Mingyu blinked, standing up as Seungkwan also stood up and the bus slowed down in front of the stop. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

Seungkwan shook his head and took Mingyu’s wrist, lightly dragging him onto the bus and using some extra coins to pay for his ride. They sat down in the back and Mingyu tried to ignore everyone's gaze, which had somehow shifted to him the moment he and Seungkwan stepped on the bus. Some looks were dirty looks from men. Others were awestruck looks from women. Mingyu didn’t really like either.

Seungkwan made a sidelong glance at Mingyu, noting his uncomfortable expression. He scrunched up his nose as he looked around. The moment Seungkwan’s eyes met with the people around them, they’d look away for some reason. Probably not wanting to be caught staring. He sighed and reached into his bag and took out a pair of sunglasses, elbowing Mingyu in the ribs to get his attention, slightly glaring at anyone who stared.

Mingyu stared at Seungkwan for a second, confused about where the sunglasses came from. Seungkwan made some gesture Mingyu didn’t understand but regardless, the Fallen took the sunglasses and put them on without question. He just assumed Seungkwan didn’t like all the attention on them. He doubted it would help deter the people on the bus from staring, though.

After a few stops, they got off and immediately, Mingyu noticed how crowded the area was. Suddenly he understood the need for sunglasses if his beauty was indeed that to gaze upon. The two walked side by side for a bit, but this method seemed to always get them separated slightly. Luckily, they’d always find each other before they got too far from each other, but Mingyu, having never been in such a place before, kept getting distracted and lost.

“Can you bear with me for a while?” Seungkwan asked after almost losing the taller in the crowd again.

Before Mingyu could question what Seungkwan meant, the shorter slid his hand into Mingyu’s. Shocked, Mingyu froze. Seungkwan just shook his head and dragged Mingyu forward, asking to be excused if there were people in front of him and apologizing if he ran into someone. Mingyu blinked. Usually, in such a situation, Mingyu would watch one side get angry for being pushed or bumped into. But here Seungkwan was just being polite about it and no one seemed to bother him, just nodding and walking away. Mingyu was fascinated at how well-mannered this boy was. Without realizing it, he had relaxed his hand, which was still held in Seungkwan’s, and somehow, he didn’t feel weird about it. It was actually quite…nice.

Word count: approx. 2353

A/N: it's been a while. college started for me (I started in January because I was too late to apply for any fall courses for this year and didnt wanna wait another year) and immediately had a lot of stuff to do. also I got a bit blocked with this chapter. I had about half of it written, but scrapped the idea and re-wrote it. now youre stuck with this. im staying up later than I should be for having to wake up at 8am so I need to wrap this up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. sorry for taking so long. next chapter might take a while too but ill try my best. okbye