It hadn’t taken long for you to completely despise living with Hwang Minhyun.

And, you were sure the feeling was mutual.

You had moved into the apartment as a last hope of survival from going back home, not wanting to travel three hours by train every morning and night just to get to your university classes each day.

But now you were thinking the trip wouldn’t be as bad as living with him was.

Your friend Gaeun had assured you that her apartment had one other student from your year staying there and that he was pretty quiet and easy to live with.

And when you first met Minhyun, you were impressed, he seemed friendly enough, and you had recognised him from one of your English papers last semester, which put you at ease.

He even helped you bring in your boxes of stuff and you had been grateful for his kindness.

It was all short lived.

“Uh, Y/N, we make sure to rinse off and immediately put our mugs into the dishwasher. Just so you know for the future.”

“Your music is too loud and I’m trying to study, could you put in headphones or turn it off?”

“Y/N, you forgot to hang up the bathmat after your shower, wouldn’t it be dangerous if someone slipped? Make sure you pick it up next time.”

“Y/N, wake up, it’s Sunday and we clean the apartment today. You’re on the bathroom this week.”

“I’ve made a household expectations list for you Y/N since it appears you don’t know what it’s like to live with others.”

He was wrong, and you had merely stared at him; your last roommates would have broken his spirit in 2.5 seconds with how messy they were compared to you.

And now you were so sick of hearing your name that whenever anyone called after you at school, you would literally narrow your eyes at the sound, imagining the way Minhyun always said it, an instant sense of dread filling you from hearing your name.

The problem wasn’t that he was rude; in fact, when Minhyun wasn’t calling your name, he was quiet and stayed mostly in his room. He usually only appeared to eat breakfast and dinner, always with a book in his hand and you had learned not to bother attempting conversation with him from the second day living there.

But it was still giving you a complex.

You wouldn’t class yourself as messy, in fact, you thought yourself as someone who was quite tidy. And you had thought you were mindful of others, yet he had you concerned that you weren’t.

So now you were scrubbing at the bench as soon as you entered the kitchen, even before touching anything you needed, in case he came out at that moment and found something wrong.

You were stressed, wound up from his nagging that studying sometimes was hard because of how pent up you were.

And for a couple of weeks, you found yourself staying back late at the university library to study, feeling more comfortable there than in your own room.

But all it took was a small comment over breakfast one morning about how late you came home the night before and to let the household know if that would become a regular thing, to make you begin questioning yourself on how to plot his murder.

Or your own.

You had spoken to Gaeun about it, asking if she found his ways off-putting.

The girl had no idea, admitting that Minhyun had never been that put out by her as she spent most nights at her boyfriend’s flat.

This left you in a bind, not having someone who you could compare his behaviour with, and soon you were browsing over rooms to let online, unsure with how much longer you could take it.

But every one you found was either too far from school, too small, or overpriced. You had to admit, even though Minhyun was a nightmare, you had found a steal of an apartment for your living requirements.

You had to wonder if the low rent cost was down to having to put up with him.

The first term came and went, and your first breath of fresh air was when Minhyun went home for the week-long break from school, leaving you mostly alone in the apartment.

You began to fall in love with the place then, the view from your bedroom window seemed brighter and the couch was comfier than it had been before.

Of course, though Minhyun had to return for classes and you had been anxious for his arrival, scrubbing every inch of the apartment until it sparkled.

He had merely looked around disinterested before heading off into his room and you were furious, having spent three hours cleaning the kitchen for no reaction.

It was then when you had had enough of living up his rules and started your own since you were also paying to live there.

“Why didn’t you rinse off this plate?” He had come into your room holding it up, looking incredulously at you.

“Oh, I was busy,” you answered, putting your headphones back on and attempted to read your textbook until he slammed the door shut.

It had felt exhilarating and soon you were testing him more, Minhyun’s dark eyes regarding you as if you had sprouted another head after a few days of your torment.

He couldn’t seem to argue with you though, nor did he understand where the girl who had been so compliant had gone.

A few tense weeks went by that even Gaeun noticed it when she was in the apartment, asking if something had gone down between you both.

You shook your head merrily as you crunched down on your toast for breakfast, and Minhyun grunted, leaving the table with haste.

It amused you that despite it all, he never changed his routine, always coming out to eat breakfast and dinner when home in your company.

Exams were almost around the corner and you could tell Minhyun was struggling to deal with keeping his perfect grades and not lose it at your little messes, that when he came home and found you drinking a beer on the couch, he didn’t hesitate to take one of your cans from the table and open it.

His eyes challenging you as if to say anything.

Instead, you shrugged and took a drink of your own, knowing you were choosing the safer option, given the steely expression on his face.

It didn’t take him long to get tipsy and you were surprised, he appeared to be the type who could drink a lot, but he hadn’t even finished one can.

“Why are you doing this to me, Y/N? Why must you torment me so much?!”

“Stop being so uptight about the house being clean or clean it yourself then!”

“I do, I clean more than you!” He had pointed a finger at you with flushed cheeks and it was rather adorable.

The mere thought of finding your roommate anything other than irksome frightened you though, and you jumped suddenly, looking down at the can in your hand as if its contents had done something to your brain.

You rushed to tip it down the sink and then into your room, ignoring the now uncharacteristically loud boy singing in the living room to his robot vacuum cleaner.

For two weeks you slipped back into cleaning habitually throughout your time in the apartment, and this seemed to ease off Minhyun’s obvious burdens.

Exams distracted you both, and finally the semester was over, a sense of relief within the apartment was evident.

That night you had joined Gaeun at a local club to celebrate exams being over and her moving in full time with her boyfriend, and when Minhyun turned up, you were slightly unsure why it made you happy to see him so much that you smiled, and for some reason he also ree, grabbing a juice instead of alcohol, which only made you laugh.

He shook his head at you going to tell Gaeun why and you stopped, wondering why it was only a secret for you to share.

For some reason you covered for him, allowing his “I’m not feeling too well today” excuse to pass.

And so you insisted on drinking enough for him, soon dancing on the floor as the alcohol intoxicated your normally reserved way of being social.

You danced with Gaeun until she left you for her boyfriend, and then with whoever was nearby. You didn’t care, you were just enjoying the night of freedom from the weights of being a second-year student.

But then someone’s hands were gripping yours a little too tightly and before you could whine at them to stop you were against someone else instead, your hazy mind being able to recognise Minhyun’s cologne.

“Ah! It’s Min-Minnie! What do we need to clean today?”

“Honestly,” he muttered as he dragged you out of the club and the wintry breeze was enough to sober you up a little, your eyes widening in fright at being in his grip.

You jumped away quickly but lost your balance, Minhyun’s arms winding back around your waist to hold you up.

It felt nice to you, almost too nice, and you felt a rush of colour to your cheeks at the thought of him against you.

“Let me help you get home safely, Y/N,” he told you and you had somehow accepted this, half delirious from the alcohol you had consumed and the other because for some weird reason his touch on yours was sending crazy signals all through your body.

And when you got home, it seemed like you had lost all rationale, giggling as he tried to remove your boots and flinging yourself sideways to make it harder for him.

This sent you both sprawling onto the floor with you on top of him and for a moment you both were frozen there until your lips found his.

Minhyun reacted immediately, his warm mouth caressing yours with a need that overwhelmed you.

When he stopped, you came to your senses and shrieked, scrambling to your feet and rushing as fast as you could take yourself to your room.

The next day you didn’t see Minhyun when you finally ventured out into the communal area of your home, and you felt dejected for some reason.

Until you spotted a note on the fridge encouraging you to drink a lot of water today and eat the hangover soup he had made for you.

You couldn’t understand why your emotions were jumping back and forth over him, but as you ate his food and drank a bottle of water, you couldn’t stop smiling.

Semester break was spent back on the farm your parents ran and in between dealing with cows and your parents’ constant bickering you had finally come to the conclusion that you had grown feelings for the boy.

Which made you anxious to return back to the city, wondering how you would cope with this newfound realisation.

You had over thought every detail, had a plan of what to say to him in regards to what had happened that night as soon as you were back but you didn’t get far, Minhyun merely looking in your direction as you came through the front door and walked straight into his bedroom without so much of a hello.

And so you became confused and upset with yourself, accusing your brain of allowing you to think that there was anything there.

You eventually accepted it was merely a drunken kiss and tried to move on.

But this wasn’t easy when you found out that Minhyun was in not one, but two of your literature classes, your mind inwardly cursing him out for having a similar English based degree as yours.

At first, you had sat apart, Minhyun always arriving before you and getting the best seat in your favourite row.

And so you would try to arrive to class earlier, succeeding in not only obtaining the center seat but a scowl from him when he found you there.

Instead of finding somewhere else to sit like you had been doing, he walked right up and sat down beside you, casting another sour gaze upon you before smiling a little, confusing you somewhat.

And in the next class, he purposely gave up the seat for you, making you feel like you were stepping into dangerous territory when you sat down there.

You didn’t question it and soon you were sitting together in both lectures as if it were natural between you to do.

Sometimes you would share writing tools when one of yours would run out, and Minhyun had started bringing you a coffee to your first class when it was earlier in the morning.

Before you realised it you were both organising times to study together, the accessibility of living together and having each other’s ideas to bounce off of each other more beneficial than any study group you had belonged to in the past.

You had become so productive as a team that you hadn’t noticed Minhyun was the one leaving his mugs in the sink along with yours.

And on Sunday after the morning clean was done, it wasn’t unusual to find you both wrapped up in your assigned novels on the couch together, sharing a blanket on the colder days.

You began to look forward to finding Minhyun on campus, the smile he’d shoot you when he would spot you making your stomach leap about excitedly.

And some mornings you would travel to school together on the subway, Minhyun always standing in front of you to prevent other travellers from banging into you when it was too crowded.

You wondered how you had functioned so well at university before this semester, both your grades and your enjoyment increasing with each week that went by.

And then Minhyun came down with a cold just as your group presentation had been announced, the boy pushing himself further so he wouldn’t let the team down.

It bothered you, and you had bought him some medicine to help him get better but before you could gift it to him another member of your team, Eunhee, had given him some first, making you so bitter that you had excused yourself from the meeting early.

You weren’t sure why you were so annoyed because you had accepted there was nothing between you both but seeing the girl flirt with Minhyun had really unsettled you.

All the same, you left the medicine on the table for him at home, hearing him come in later with a cough rattling his chest.

He had stuck his head in through your door and managed a thank you and a smile, which erased all your inner envy in that moment, you ushering him to go off to bed.

And in the middle of the night when you could hear him coughing from his room, you had laid there wondering if you should go help him or not.

By three in the morning, you couldn’t take it anymore and got supplies ready, tentatively knocking on his door before stepping into his room.

You didn’t go in there often but you could tell he wasn’t well by the clothes strewn over his floor.

Minhyun had told you to leave but you ignored him, placing a cool wet cloth over his forehead to ease his fever and fed him some more medicine. He was soon asleep and not coughing as much which made you feel at ease again.

You absentmindedly tidied his clothes up into his hamper and checked on him a few times before deciding to leave him to sleep in peace, his hand soon grasping yours.

“Stay, please.”

You were shocked but did as he asked; sitting back down on the bed beside him and watching him sleep.

And then you stirred awake with the morning light, realising you were still in Minhyun’s bed and curled up beside him.

He was awake already, a blush crossing his pale face when you connected your gaze with his.

Suddenly it was completely awkward, and you both fumbled over your words before quickly separating.

Throughout the day you found him looking in your direction and his cheeks flushed each time you noticed him, wondering why he was so embarrassed by what had happened.

In your first shared class it felt awkward, every time you moved in your seat he would flinch a little, and it irked you over time that you refused to sit next to him in the following class, hoping that would ease his reactions. But this only seemed to make his face cloud over in an emotion you couldn’t understand.

Things became tense between you again and soon you were back to your original habits, Minhyun finding things you did annoying enough to mention and you purposely fuelling his frustrations by ignoring his requests.

Until, it got all too much for both of you in the middle of another group presentation gathering, you clicking your pen in and out repeatedly as you all discussed which part to highlight next from the Daniel Defoe book you were speaking on, when Minhyun’s hand was soon on yours and yanking the pen out of your grip.

“Yah, what the hell?!” you cried and he glared at you.

“You were annoying everyone here with the incessant clicking!”

“Well you annoy me every single damn day ever since I moved in!” you spat back, surprised at your own sentence that you covered your mouth in embarrassment. You then gathered your stuff and dashed out of the library, heading for home until suddenly you were pulled back to face the taller boy.

“What did you just say? I annoy you?!” he asked but you didn’t answer, trying to shake his grip off. “The feeling’s mutual, Y/N!”

“Oh is it? Well good! Since you’ve been so frustrating to me this whole time, I’m glad to hear I’m not suffering alone!”

“I’ve never met someone who could come in and turn my world upside down on itself as well as you have!”

Your body was so wired up then that you managed to throw off his grip, and waved your arms up and down agitatedly. “Maybe I should just move out so you don’t have to see me anymore! Then I won’t have to be so confused about liking you or not!”

Minhyun froze then, and you panted at the exertion of your argument, your eyes softening at the lack of retorts. It made you realise what you said and you simply your heel, trying to escape before you said anything else that was stupid.

Again you didn’t get far, this time having no chance to say anything as his lips crashed down on yours, his arms pulling you against him as he wasted no time in deepening the kiss. His mouth was a little desperate as if he was worried you would actually leave him and he wanted you to know just how much he liked you too.

It was a moment where you didn’t need any words from the boy, his hands that were holding you against him were enough to let you know it wasn’t so one-sided.

All the same when he pulled back the first words to fall from his mouth were, “Don’t leave, I like the way we are. I like you, I always have.”

And you realised you liked it all as well, the nagging, the studying together, the tense air between you both and the laughter. Living together had become something you couldn’t imagine stopping.

It seemed to be more amplified when you both arrived home that night after the kiss, stepping into your apartment together, still holding hands.

You glanced around the familiar settings, to the couch where you had studied and read together, to the small round table where you shared meals and study sessions, to the kitchen where all the bickering had begun.

Minhyun seemed to be scanning the area in a similar way until he caught your eye, smiling over at you and giving your hand a squeeze.

“Ready to add new elements to this apartment?” he questioned casually, but his tone didn’t match the look upon his face, he appeared more hesitant than his words were.

You smiled and stepped up out of the entryway, pulling him up behind you before kissing him lightly.

His eyes were soon dancing with a new light within them and he pointed to the spot on the floor you were standing on. “Our first kiss was here.”

You nodded, feeling another wave of affection for him because he hadn’t completely forgotten that night like you had thought all this time.

“Where shall our next one be?” you asked, walking around the room, Minhyun following you for a moment.

And then he was in front of you, pulling you over to the kitchen and you bit your lip, finding your morning coffee mug still in the sink. You waited for the mood to change, and then squeaked when he hoisted you up to sit on the bench, moving in between your legs.

“Right here.”

“What about the rules about the kitchen?” you taunted, and he smirked, his eyes now only on your lips.

“We’ll need to change them,” he told you, kissing you with demand.

As you kissed him back, you almost laughed at the idea of how months ago you thought of Hwang Minhyun as someone you despised.

Now, he was someone you loved.