INTRODUCTION

Jung Ewon (Aeon Rhodes)

The first time I saw Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul, I knew the biual label I'd been trying on for size on my head was bull. I was gay. It wasn't a total shocker or anything. I'd asked my parents for an Easy-Bake Oven for my eighth birthday. By the time I turned twelve, I knew asking for the Barbie Styling Head I actually wanted was a straight shot to strange looks and "Shh, he's walking up" conversations, so I asked for money instead. Then I bought the hairstyling Barbie toy I actually wanted and hid it in my closet. Someone should put that story on Urban Dictionary as an example for irony. But I digress.

Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul was everything I wasn't. He was tall, broad-chested, athletic, uberbutch, right-handed. Again with the digression.

Anywho, I was a scrawny fifteen-year-old, sitting in my bedroom in my mother's second-story Busan apartment-my father had moved out by then-and I was not teaching myself how to do a new french twist on the Barbie Styling Head, which I'd dyed an amazing shade of auburn, when I saw a truck piled high with furniture pull up out front and the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen hop out.

I can't say for sure, but I think I might have started drooling. I definitely sprung a . Because, here's the deal: it was summer in the city, so it was hot as motherer and Mr. All-Asian was wearing cutoff jeans, Pumas without socks, and nothing else. I almost broke my neck running to my camera so I could snap a picture of the wet-dream-come-to-life who was moving into my apartment building.

Since starting at the beginning seems like as good a place as any, that's the first picture I'm putting into the album: Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul at age sixteen, dark brown hair cut jock short, no shirt, shiny with sweat, and the fodder for almost all of my ory fantasies for years to come.

Jung Ewon (Aeon Rhodes)

"Hi, uh, hey, uh, hello." I smoothly said to Nichkhun as I came (running) down the stairs. "Do you want some he-"

And that's when I really kicked the seduction strategy up a notch by managing to slip on thin air and then land -first at the bottom of the stairs, knocking over some of Nichkhun's stacked boxes in the process. I short of froze then, just did the slow pan up to him to check whether he'd notice my snafu. Because, you know, it was totally possible he's somehow missed someone yelling out to him, then screeching while falling down the stairs, and finally banging around boxes loud enough for deaf Taeyeon Ajumma in 3E to hear.

He was staring at me, mouth gaping , dark brown eyes wide. Yes. Death-defying accidents and unbeforeknown humiliation weren't enough  to prevent me from inventorying everything I could  about his appearance. In case you're interested, his s were medium size and chocolate color, contrast to his pale skin, and I had this strange urge to feel their texture. With my tongue. And my eyes are blue. Just thought you might want to know, that sometimes happen with half asian kids.

I assume there were other noises around us. Probably cars driving and honking, people shouting, a kid playing hopscotch, birds chirping, a mugging? whatever, you get the idea. There were noises. But the thing was, I coulnd't hear any of them. It might have been head trauma from my fall, I'm willing to remain open-minded about that possibility, but as I sat there and locked gazes with Nichkhun, everything went quiet, everyone around me disappeared, and he was all I saw.

"Are you okay?" he asked me once he finally closed his mouth.

His lips were really nice. Not too thin, not too plump, and a great shade of red. I wanted to kiss him. I'd never kissed anyone. I wondered if I'd be  crap at it.

Was I supposed to stick my tongue in his mouth and whirls it around his tongue, or what? I thought about asking Loose Hyuna-coughcough-on the fourth floor, but there was a higher than likely chance she would have wanted to take a hands-on, or in this case lips-on, teaching approach and I wasn't up for it. Let's take a moment to think of all the double entendre jokes we can make about that last comment. Okay, moving on.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Nichkhun asked, sounding worried.

I could hear him just fine but I decided against mentioning it because he was rushing over to me and, as I might have mentioned, he wasn't wearing a shirt. He squatted in front of me, his y thick brows furrowed, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Should I call an ambulance?" he asked "Do you need anything?"

And just like that, he'd handed me the perfect opening.

I pushed my brown hair out of my eyes and said "CPR."

He raised both eyebrows. "What?"

I did that fake cough thing that never sounds convincing because it's all dry.

"CPR." I repeated. "I think maybe I need CPR."

"CPR is for people who aren't conscious or breathing." he patiently explained.

I doubled up on the fake cough and added a dramtically hoarse voice to complete the picture. "Are you sure?" I asked as I rubbed my throat. "Shouldn't we go ahead and do it just to, you know, be safe?"

Nichkhun shook his head. "I took a babysitting class from the Red Cross when I was thirteen." he said, sounding very earnest. "And I have to do annual refreshers to keep up my certification. I know what I'm talking about. You're breathing on your own and conscious. That mean CPR is not indicated."

Damn Red Cross, ing me, I dropped my hand from my neck and let out a sharp sigh of disappointment. "Yeah, okay." I looked down and tugged at a loose thread in my jeans.

"I'm Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul." he said

My first reaction was 'Ni-what-now-cool???' but I chose to remain silent, just starring at him like a degenerate.

He left a little laugh "Hard and long, I know." he said looking at me.

Oh, I bet you are. That was the point in the conversation where a light gust of wind should have made my hair blow just so, a guy on the corner should have started playing violin, and those chirping birds should have flown around us and landed on a shoulder, or at the very least, a dinged-up box. Alas, none of that happened. Instaid, I dragged my gaze up to meet his and proceeded to rumble like an idiot.

"Hi, Nichk...Nichkhun? I'm Jung Ewon but everyone calls me Aeon. Well, not everyone. In third grade Kim Kibum used to call me Aeon Rhodes, cause I always wanted to hit the roads and never stop, so he was calling me Aeon which means eternal and sounded close to my name and Rhodes cause it sounds like roads, so Aeon Rhodes, get it? Weird I know but I never complained because it could have been worse. The girl who used to sit next to me? She was one of those who have military parents that change countries every few months, she came from america, her name was Sandra Butts. She used to beg people to call her Sandra but it was third grade, so even the teacher called her Sandy so her name was Sandy Butts and-"

Thankfully, Nichkhun's father saved me from the certifiable-worthy ramble. Well, technically he shouted in frustration, but the result was the same.

"Nichkhun! Quit chit-chatting with your friend. We have four more truckloads to bring over, and I'd like to get this done before sunset."

Friend was good. I was happy to start with friend. I'd be even happier if Nichkhun could be the kind of friend who likes to spend time in my bed when my mom and my sister were out. Excellent. Now I had something to work toward.

"Sorry,Dad," Nichkhun said without moving his gaze away from me. "be right there."

But he didn't move. He just kept staring at me. "Blue." He said. I was sure he meant my eyes, did he like them? I swallowed hard and tried to think of something interesting to say, but couldn't come up with a single thing that wouldn't risk a black eye instead. Then a loud crash sounded from the truck and Nichkhun's father strated cussing up a storm, so I figured it was time to get up off the sidewalk and lend a hand.

"I'll, uh, help with these boxes." I said as I climbed to my feet.

"Yeah?" Nichkhun asked, smiling brightly. "If you're sure you feel okay, that'd be great."

"Great." I said as I rubbed the toe of my shoe back and forth across the concrete.

"Great." he said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and dragged his waistband dangerously low.

"Great." I said as I looked up at him from underneath my lashes and chewed on my bottom lip. 

"Nichkhun! Dammit, come on!" his father yelled.

 That broke our great standoff. Nichkhun hustled over to his father, I scrambled to pick up one of the displayed boxes, and together, the three of us moved a truckload of stuff into the apartment directly next door to mine.

When we were done unloading, Mr. Horvejkul rushed Hichkhun out of the apartment.

"Let's go. We have to load the truck and do this all again." he said

We both followed him out the door and stood in the hallway as he locked up.

"Will you be around later?" Nichkhun asked.

My nonexistent social life was finally panning out to be a good thing. "Yeah." I said. then it dawned on me that instead of sitting around thinking about my new friend, I could actually be with him. "I can go with you guys and help load if you want." I volunteered.

Nichkhun's whole face lit up. "Did you hear that, Dad?" he said. "Ewon said he'd help us."

Mr. Horvejkul started booking it down and the stairs, and Nichkhun and I followed.

"Your parents are okay with that, uh..."

"Ewon." I reminded him.

"Right, sorry. Your parents okay with you coming along, Ewon?"

My father was long gone-I hadn't received so much as a postcard in more than a year. And my mom was picking up a bunch of overtime at the hospital, so she'd be at work until close to eight. Lord knew where my sister Sunny was. Probably spending the night with her latest future ex-boyfriend.

"Yeah, no problem." I told Mr. Horvejkul.

He nodded and grunted, and then all three of us squeezed together into the cab of the truck.

                                                                                  ------

"Do you want me to help you unpack?" I asked Nichkhun once we were done dragging all the boxes into his bedroom. 

I was exhausted,my arms were so overworked my muscles were twitching, and I was putting odds at sixty-forty that my legs were going to collapse at any second. But I focused hard on mind over matter and told my body to buck the up because being helpful-friend guy mean I could look at Nichkhun.

Nichkhun, whose cheeks were flushed from hours of lifting boxes and walking up and down stairs. Nichkhun, who was so tall I had to tilt my head all the way back to see his face. Nichkhun, whose arms were bulging with thick muscles I didn't normally see on boys out age. Nichkhun whose legs were covered in downy hair I wanted ot caress. Nichkhun, I said in a dreamy, whistful voice, and follwed by a long sigh. Okay, so maybe the last one was overkill, but you get the idea: I wanted to be with Nichkhun, and if manual labor was the price of admission, well, I was willing to pay for my ticket.

"Nah, that can wait until tomorrow." He flopped down on the extra-long twin mattress we'd droppen in the corner of the room. "I'm beat."

Seeing him lying down almost made my kness buckle and, that time, it wasn't from arousal. I figured my body was just envious.

"C'mere." he said as he patted the spot next to him. The mattress was pretty narrow and he was very broad, but he scooted all the way to one side and I was but a wee lad...no? Okay, I was a skinny little runt, so there was plenty of room for both of us on the mattress. Better? Geez guys, this is my life story, let me change a few facts without you judging me, okay?

"You sure?" I asked as I moved forward.

He grunted his assent and tapped his hand again. I plummeted onto the mattress face-first, making us both bounce.

"Sorry." I mumbled into the fabric under my mouth.

He raised his arm, dropped it on me, and landed a few halfhearted pats on my back.

"S'okay." he slurred. Then he tossed his other forearm over his eyes and sighed.

We lay in silence for a while. I might even have dozed off for a little bit. Once my body had a chance to rest and recuperate, though, my brain kicked on and I remembered some questions I'd filed away throughout the day, intending to ask Nichkhun for answers when we were alone. There were lots of voices and noises coming from the next room, but technically it was just the two of us in the tiny space. That counted alone. I flipped onto my side, propped my elbow on the bed, and rested my head on my hand.

"Nichkhun?"

"Huh?"

"What's the deal with you parents?"

"My parents?"

"Yeah."

He moved his arm off his face, rolled onto this side, and then mimicked my pose. "What do you mean?" he asked.

I chewed on the side of my lip, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden, like I was prying or overstepping or generally clueless. But he didn't seem upset,, so I decided, what the , and charged on ahead. "Well, your dad was helping us load the truck and stuff, right?"

"Uh-huh." He bobbed his head.

"So then who was the other guy? The one, uh-" I tried to figure out the right words to ask about the man I'd seen groping his mom's in the kitchen. She had been packing boxes. He had been feeling her up. I had been mortified as hell. I finally settled on "-with you mother."

"Oh!" Nichkhun said. "That was Dave."

Right. Okay, not helpful at all, then.

"Dave?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "My stepfather."

"Your parents are divorced?"

"No, not divorced. Just not married to each other. Never have been."

"Huh." I said. "And that woman who was at you old apartment? The one packing up the bathroom?" And having a conversation about feminine products with Nichkhun's mother that made me wish I could plug my ears with supersize...damn it. Still thinking about those products. Horror.

"That was my stepmon, Shin Hye."

Since my parents split, I'd had maybe a couple of phone calls from my father. No way was my mother going to start dating one of his buddies or exchangeing recipes...or other things...whith whoever my dad was banging.

"It's cool." Nichkhun said, making me realize I must have looked as confused as I felt. "My dad and Dave are, like, best friends or something. They all went to high school together: my mom, my dad, Dave, and Shin Hye."

"Oh, that's, uh, nice." Weird. Totally weird. But lying as close to Nichkhun as I was at the moment, his scent seemed more important then his family dynamic. He smelled good. Seriously good.

"What are you doing?" Nichkhun asked.

I snapped my head up. I'd somehow managed to get my face oddly close to Nichkhun's chest. And by oddly close, I mean I was a tongue-length away from making contact with his skin. I hoped he couldn't hear my heart beating louder than conga drum and tried to come up with a viable excuse for almost the guy. My initial thought was to go with seizure, but Lord knew what they taught him in that Red Cross class, and I didn't think a hard-on was a believable side effect of that particular condition.

So instead I rolled onto my stomach, propped my chin up on my hands, and said "Nothing." Then I chewed on my bottom lip and looked up at him from underneath my lashes, hoping against all hope thet he wouldn't call me out on the obvious lie or shove me off his bed.

Thankfully, he did neither. He rolled onto his stomach, mimicking my position once again, and continued our conversation from what seemed like hours earlier, even though it couldn't have been more than a minute or two.

"So are your parents married to each other?"

I had never been more grateful for a distraction, even if it meant talking about my parents' ugly divorce. Nichkhun met my gaze the entire time I spoke. He looked sympathetic, nodded at all the right times, and asked follow-up questions. And suddenly, I realized he was listening, really listening, which was when I knew I was in trouble.

Super-hot neighbor guy was enough to make my hard in close quarters. Add in nice and compassionate and an entirely different organ was on the line. After witnessing the pain that resulted from a crushed heart firsthand, I didn't think that was a good thing. So I answered his questions and told him about my ed-up family, but instead of thinking about how good it'd feel to have him wrap me in his strong arms and hold me tight, I thought about how good it'd feel to wrap my hand around his and him hard.

Having fantasies about the jock next door struck me as much safer than hoping to find something the grow-ups in my life didn't seem capable of achieving. So much so, that I wouldn't even let myself think the word. I had a hot new friend. End of the story.