“Live here?” Jaejoong gaped. “At Room 202? You must be confused… I don’t know how you got the door code but this is my home. I moved in today. Maybe yours is along the hall?”

“No. It’s here,” the man reinstated, taking a step into the room and dragging off his coat, throwing it unceremoniously on the sofa. “You had better get out before I call the police. You must be some kind of ert.”

Jaejoong’s face coloured. “ert?! How dare -?” he remembered what he was wearing and covered his chest hurriedly, noticing the man’s eyes on his bare skin. “Don’t look at me!”

The man snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself. There’s not much to appreciate.” He moved past Jaejoong and began to look around. “Get dressed. Consider this your ten second countdown.” He slipped his hand into his pocket to withdraw a hand phone, which he immediately began dialing into.

“No, wait-”

“Ten… nine…”

“I – this is my house, really! I can show you the contract paper!”

“Eight… seven…”

“My name in Kim Jaejoong! I’m a student at the Seoul Institute of Arts! I’m majoring in music!”

The man’s eyes flickered upwards with interest. “You are? What a coincidence. Me too. Three, two…”

“ – You just skipped two seconds –”

“One…”

“STOP!” Jaejoong yelled, stamping his foot onto the ground. “Put your phone down or I’ll – I’ll throw it out the window!”

“Vandalism and breaking in?”

“I am not a criminal!” he raged. “Stand still.. I’ll be back in a minute.” Jaejoong raced into his room, heart thudding as he pulled out his copy of the housing contract, as well as his ID card. He remembered to put on some clothes, too, and came back wearing soft bunny rabbit pyjamas. He slammed the proof into the man’s hand and huffed. “There! Look at that. Now where’s your evidence?”

The man looked over this information slowly, then put it on the table and retrieved his own documents. Jaejoong scrutinised them. The information was identical, as well as the price. He placed it down alongside his own.

“There must have been some kind of mistake,” he said. “I thought it was cheap… what are you doing?”

The man was punching numbers into his phone. “Calling the landlord, what do you think? Hello? This is your tenant, Jung Yunho… I moved in to Room 202 today? Ah? He’s out of contract… I see.” Yunho cut off the phone call and shoved his hand phone back into his pocket.

“Well?”

“He’s in Japan right now and isn’t available.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

Yunho shrugged, appearing to be very calm. “We just wait until he gets back tomorrow morning, what else?”

“How are you so calm about this?”

“Do you have a better plan?” Yunho asked. Jaejoong remained silent, then the man turned around and headed back towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To my part time job.”

And just like that, he shut the door behind him and disappeared. Jaejoong was left standing flustered, his hair sticking all over the place after his shower. He dragged a hand through it and pulled on his coat. Yunho might be relaxed about all of this, but he certainly wasn’t.

*

Jaejoong found a phone box around the corner of the street. It was growing cold outside but was still barely seven 0’ clock. Even though he knew it was early, his parents were farmers and would be going to bed soon so that they could rise again at dawn. He also had this sleeping pattern driven in him and yawned as he dialed his best friend’s number. Changmin might live on a farm too, but he was always awake. It was as if the boy never even slept.

“Hello…?”

“Changmin?”

“Jaejoong… about time. I was wondering when you would call. Your mum’s been grilling me about it, just so you know. She said to let you know that you should buy a hand phone if you don’t have a house one installed… So, you arrived safely then?”

“Yes.”

“University is good?”

“Yeah, but-”

“How’s Seoul?”

“Busy,” Jaejoong replied tersely. “Listen, this place is really strange. This man just turned up in my apartment randomly and claims he also lives there.”

“Ah,” Changmin sounded distracted. “So you have a roommate?”

“Not intentionally! I was supposed to be living by myself! Can you ask my Dad about the room? The landlord is out of contact until Monday…”

“He’s probably sleeping. And anyway, what’s the problem? Does the man look like a mass murderer? Is he old?”

“No, he’s –” Jaejoong blushed when he thought about him and only just managed to stop himself from describing the man as handsome. He was though, tall and attractive and totally Jaejoong’s type, but that wasn’t the problem at hand. He didn’t want to live with anyone else. House mates usually caused all different types of problems and Jaejoong lived to go to bed early. If his roommate had a part time job then it likely meant that he didn’t sleep at a decent hour.

“I have to go,” Changmin announced suddenly. “There’s only two more levels until I reach Planet Zero, and then I’ll need my full concentration.”

“Are you blowing me off so you can play a video game? I can’t believe you!”

“Sorry, Jae. It’s past your bed time, anyway. You get grouchy if you go to bed after nine.”

“I – fine,” Jaejoong sighed. “Enjoy your game. So much for being my best friend.”

Changmin chuckled down the phone line and hung up. Jaejoong was left staring at the dial tone before replacing the phone on the hook and leaving the phone box, marching back to the flat. Inside, it was warm and he helped himself to a cup of green tea, carrying the steaming cup into bed. As he sipped it, he leafed through the school brochure again and eyed his time table. A leap of excitement replaced any of the confusion and discomfort he’d felt through the day, and he went to bed in excitement for what may in wait for him tomorrow.

*

It was a bad night’s sleep. Jaejoong had been woken at around midnight when Yunho returned from work and took a shower. The man then proceeded to heat up a meal in the microwave and ate with the television on. He’d had to cover his ears with his pillow and use the sleeping mask to block out the light that crept under his door.

In the morning, he awoke groggy eyed and grumpy. It was five AM and he helped himself to some coffee, turning on the television to tune in for the morning news. Jaejoong went about his business, getting ready slowly and styling his black hair. He chose to wear his favourite plaid shirt over a white vest, as well as a pair of figure-hugging jeans and a camel autumn coat.  He glanced at Yunho’s door, wondering if he should knock and wake the man up, but decided promptly that it was none of his business and not his fault if the other was late. After all, he shouldn’t have gone to bed so late!

The morning was chipped with bird song; nothing like his own misty home in the mountains, on the outski