“Eh double room?! I clearly indicated for a single room during application.”

“I’m sorry, Tony, but if you want to live in this dormitory, there are only double rooms left, all the single rooms have been taken by seniors. Do you want to change dormitories instead?” The dormitory receptionist stared at him, waiting for an answer.

“Aish, fine, I don’t want to change dormitories. Who is my roommate then? Can I choose?” Tony thinks back to his freshman times, where he roomed with his high school friend Woohyuk for a year. It was definitely fun times, but Woohyuk moved in with his girlfriend in their sophomore year and Tony had gotten used to a single room.

“All roommates are system-assigned. Your new roommate has already moved in, you can see for yourself shortly. He’s a sophomore.”

“A sophomore? Ah that’s okay, I have seniority then. Better than rooming with a senior or even a junior year student.” Tony thought to himself.

Stepping into room 907, he definitely did not expect to see Kim Jaeduck. How did he know Kim Jaeduck? Both of them were part of their respective high school’s soccer teams, and the two teams had a fierce rivalry for the district championships that date back to decades ago. Their rivalry was so intense that the school students once physically brawled during their senior high school year after the referee awarded the victory to Hanlim, Tony’s high school after a contentious foul by Sehwa High School. They had seen each other on the field plenty of times, but never ever spoke a word to each other. His new roommate situation was definitely going to be awkward.

Tony knocked awkwardly on the door to catch Jaeduck’s attention, who seemed busy cleaning up his side of the room. They introduced themselves politely.

 “So, what major are you in? I’m in Business Administration, 3^rd year.” Tony tried to fill in the awkward silence that quickly settled over them.

“I’m a 2^nd year, majoring in Theatre and Communication studies.”

“You know Eun Jiwon right? You guys were close in high school? When I was in America last semester, he was in a neighbouring university and we met often. He’s a real funny guy.”

“Yea I’m close with Jiwon hyung, haven’t really seen him after he came back though…” Jaeduck trailed off.

Sensing Jaeduck didn’t really want to engage in conversation, Tony turned back to unpacking his own things, letting an awkward silence fall over them. 

- 

“I’m doomed. Just doomed” Jaeduck announces at lunch, with enough flair in his voice to cause Jaijin to look up from his bowl of noodles. “You’ll never guess who is my new roommate.”

“Who?”

“Tony Ahn.”

“Tony Ahn?! You mean Tony Ahn of Hanlim High School?! Of the soccer team?!” Jaijin nearly choked.

“Yes exactly. See, this is what happens when you guys decide to get single rooms or not stay in dorms! Ughhh this is bad. Why me???? What have I done wrong?”

“Wait, hyung, what’s so bad about Tony Ahn? I can’t remember anything about him. He wasn’t exactly the best player on their team.” Suwon was curious. “And you don’t even play soccer now and I heard neither does he. The rivalry doesn’t even matter now.”

“heard from seniors in the dorm that he’s really messy. Like he hates cleaning, his room’s corners are full of dust, he clipped his toenails at the dining table. Once, I heard that a senior went into his room and his soles became black after that! How am I going to live with him?” Jaeduck sighed in despair.

“Plus the rivalry thing doesn’t help. We weren’t exactly polite to the seniors in that team despite being younger.” Jaijin added.

“Oh speaking of impolite, I also heard he’s isn’t exactly the icon of politeness to the seniors. And I’m a year younger than him! How do you think he’ll treat me?!”

“Can’t you move out now?”

“This is the closest and newest dormitory to the Theatre building. Why should I move?”

“Well, good luck to you then. Have fun cleaning for him?” Suwon tried to cheer Jaeduck up as Jaeduck buried his face in hands.  

-

The two roommates barely spoke to each other, only talking when necessary. It helped that they had different timetables, as Tony liked to sleep in and attend afternoon classes, while Jaeduck was an early riser and had dance practice at night.  However, after just 2 weeks of living with Tony, Jaeduck had almost reached his limit.

Although Tony rarely intruded into Jaeduck’s space, his own space was a mess. Clothes were strewn about everywhere, on the floor, on the chair, while there was even unwashed bowls and plates left on his desk for days. Jaeduck tried to ignore the mess, he really did, but seeing a cockroach scuttle across from Tony’s side of the room to his was too much.

“YAH! Tony!”

“What, what?” Tony took out his headphones irritably.

“Can you put in some effort in cleaning your side of the room, please. I just saw a freaking cockroach emerge from your side and crawl to mine!”

“If it crawled to your side, doesn’t it mean yours is dirty too?” He tried cracking a joke to defuse the tension, but it clearly didn’t work as Jaeduck continued to glare at him.

“Also!! It’s our room’s turn to clean the common bathroom on our floor. Let’s clean it after you’re done cleaning your side of the room. And hurry up, I have dance practice tonight.”

“Fine, fine.” Tony stood and surveyed his mess. He really really hated cleaning, and when he lived in by himself he would often hire someone to clean for him occasionally. But seeing he’s living with a roommate, he was out of that option.

-

“So, how do you clean the bathroom?”

“You mean you have never cleaned the common bathroom before?”

“The previous dormitory I lived in had bathroom cleaners I think? A different type of dorm?” Tony smiled sheepishly at Jaeduck.

“Take off your pants.”

“What?!”

“What, you want water to splash onto your pants?” Jaeduck had already stripped down to his underwear and stared at Tony expectantly.

“Uh…alright then.”

In their underwear, the two of them started to scrub the floors and silence once again fell over them.

“Jaeduck, do you dislike me or something?”

“What? What…what you talking about?” Jaeduck stammered, thankful that they didn’t have to look at each other then.

“We are roommates but today was the most we ever talked. Is the past rivalry between our soccer teams bothering you or something?”

“Honestly, it doesn’t bother me but it’s just a little awkward…And you are way too messy!! It won’t kill you to tidy up a bit.” Jaeduck finally looked at Tony and grinned.

“Ah ok, ok I’ll clean once a week, you can even nag me about it if I don’t.” Tony smiled back, relieved that some of their initial awkwardness was gone

On a spur, he suggested “Hey, you doing anything for lunch tomorrow? Let’s eat together. My treat.”

“Ok, I’m free after my morning class. Ooh I really like buttered steak!”

They went back to scrubbing the floor, but the initial tension that hung over them previously was gone.

-

The next day, their lunch went surprisingly well. They found they shared a love for Star Wars and quickly agreed to a Star Wars marathon over the weekend. Tony realised that Jaeduck liked to comment on the movie as it went along, but while Tony preferred a quieter movie viewing experience, Jaeduck’s comments were pretty funny, and his eyes crinkling into a line whenever he laughed was kinda of adorable.

Jaeduck also had the habit of touching him when he laughs at particularly funny scenes. It’s not like Tony minded, as Jaeduck was usually touchy around everyone he was close to, but Tony couldn’t shake the tingling feeling whenever Jaeduck’s touches lingered.

-

Author's notes:

I'm sorry if it's really boring TT please give some feedback if you find it boring haha
It's going to be chaptered but definitely less than 5.