I wanna die, Junmyeon thinks to himself as he looks over at the stack upon stack of papers on his table. There has to be at least two hundred pages of printouts there, not to mention the five chapters of Guyton he has to study. All in all…around three hundred pages that he has to read before the week ends. And today was Saturday.

Junmyeon groans and collapses on his bed, mentally asking himself for perhaps the four hundred-twenty-seventh time (not that he’s been counting) why he wanted to go to med school in the first place. He’s only on his first year, yet he already feels like he’s been slaving for that MD for decades now.

I want to help people in the way that I can, Junmyeon remembers his old self saying. But really, all Junmyeon wants to do now is travel back two years in time and give his old self a drop kick. In the balls. That guy is so stupid he should never be allowed the possibility to procreate.

After a week of exams and mind-numbing hours upon hours of lectures, you’d think that he’d be allowed to at least have the weekend to rest, right?

HAHAHA.

Rookie mistake. That was what he’d thought as well, back on his first days as a med student. Turns out, weekdays are the days you cram stuff in your head, and weekends are the days you try and understand everything you’ve stuffed in your head—plus read ahead for the following week, accomplish homeworks, try to sleep for two hours so your brain won’t die, review for scheduled quizzes, and try to squeeze in time for meeting friends and family, all the while trying not to go completely insane.

Ahh, the beauty of med school.

He forces himself to get up. With half-dead feet, he walks to the kitchen, occasionally tiptoeing to avoid the various pieces of trash he’s decorated the apartment with: dried up cups of ramyun, days-old pizza boxes, empty chip bags…he’ll clean those up. Eventually.

The fridge is empty save for his half-finished tub of ice cream. “Ha!” Junmyeon crows. “Sugar.”

Just what he needed. Now for something salty… He rummages through his bare cupboards. He could have sworn he still had one cup ramyun somewhere… “There you are, baby,” he coos at the beautiful plastic cup of instant noodles at the far end of his cupboard. He has to stand on his toes and jump quite a few times to reach his dream—Kyungsoo would have snorted at the sight, but for Junmyeon, there can never be shame when it comes to food.

Kyungsoo. Junmyeon’s grin is wiped off his face as he remembers his boyfriend. His absent boyfriend. His bastard of a boyfriend who decided to work in a school that was an hour’s drive away. He supported Kyungsoo, of course. He’d always told Junmyeon of his desire to work at his hometown. It’s not like he went that far—he was in Gyeonggi-do. But whether he was in Gyeonggi-do or the North Pole did not really make that much of a difference. He was Not Here. Kyungsoo visited him during weekends but still…

A shiver goes down Junmyeon’s spine as he remembers. .

He scrambles to retrieve his phone from his bedroom and hurriedly goes through his calendar.

✿♥‿♥✿ SOO IS VISITING TODAY~!! his screen shouts at him.

His brain turns PANIC MODE on and Junmyeon frantically looks around at all the mess he’s accumulated for the past week. He could clean up in time, right? He just needs a garbage bag, right? He could just dump everything on the floor in it—including his clothes. He’ll just sort through it afterwards. It’s all right, Junmyeon, we can do this. All we need is a time machine—, where can I find a time machine—what? No, we need a garbage bag, get it together, Junmyeon!

But apparently the universe is not on his side today, because someone is knocking on his door and only Kyungsoo ever knocks (not that the people Junmyeon knows are impolite—it’s just that Kyungsoo is the only visitor he gets these days. No, don’t feel sorry for Junmyeon. He is doing just fine, thank you very much).

Fight or flight? Junmyeon’s brain inquires innocently.

More knocks on the door.

Fight or flight?

Kyungsoo must have assumed that Junmyeon wasn’t home, because soon enough Junmyeon hears the horrifying sound of a key being inserted into the doorknob.

Fight or flight? His brain chants at him. Fight or flight!

Footsteps on the hallway.

“Junmyeon?”

. Flight, flight, flight!

“Kim Jummyeon, I can see your miserable sticking out from underneath the bed, just come out already.”

No way, there was no way he could—

“I’ll count to three, and if you’re not out of there by then, I will pull you out by your toes and you can say goodbye to the last shred of dignity you have left.”

A sheepish figure slinks out from underneath the bed and pulls itself into a kneeling position. “Oh, hi there Kyungsoo!” it cheerfully greets. “How are you today?”

The other is unimpressed. “You’re covered in dust,” he says with a flat voice.

“I had a great day as well! What brings you here?”

“Your apartment looks like it’s ready to get engaged with the dumpster outside.”

“It’s sunny outside? That’s lovely!”

Kyungsoo sighs and massages the bridge of his nose. “Junmyeon, please stand up and go take a shower.”

The creature on the floor actually had the audacity to pout. “I’m not even that dirty!” it says indignantly, but it stands up nevertheless.

“I can smell you from here,” Kyungsoo deadpans.

Junmyeon’s eyes suddenly shine with a mischievous glint. Before Kyungsoo could react, the dust creature tackles him. “Dumpster hug!” he exults, trapping his unfortunate boyfriend in his arms.

“Kim Junmyeon, let go of mfff—“

“If I’m smelly, you’re gonna be smelly with me!” Junmyeon announces with glee, yanking Kyungsoo’s head to his chest. His victim boyfriend manages to pull free, but not before Junmyeon has rubbed off more than half of the dust on him.

“Aish, Kim Junmyeon!” Kyungsoo shouts irritably, trying to dust himself off to no avail. “If you didn’t look like you were dead on your feet right now, I swear you’d be in a headlock already.”

Junmyeon coos and hugs him (with no intentions of attacking this time). “I missed you too, Soo-ya~”

The other returns the hug, but only briefly before pulling back. “I’m serious about you smelling, though.”

A rather long bath later, Junmyeon comes out of the bathroom to be greeted by a most mouth-watering smell. His nose hangs on to the delicious aroma as he floats his way to the kitchen, oblivious to the fact that his apartment now looked like an actual apartment—no litters on the floor, no leftover food for friendly cockroaches, no dirty socks hanging off chairs…no, those things did not matter right now. What mattered was that smell which to Junmyeon signaled first actual meal of the week.

In a much better state of mind now than half an hour ago, he prepares the table for two. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo is yet to acknowledge his presence, attention fully on the pot that he was stirring.

“Soo-ya~” Junmyeon softly whines as he gently hugs Kyungsoo from behind. Kyungsoo was now wearing a black tee and one of Junmyeon’s pajama bottoms. Junmyeon grimaces as he remembers his earlier assault. “Sorry for being crazy a while ago,” he apologizes into Kyungsoo’s neck.

Kyungsoo snorts. “I’m used to it,” he says, but Junmyeon does not need to look at his face to know that his boyfriend was smiling right now.

“Wotcha cooking?”

“Just some kimchi jiggae. Thank goodness I did some grocery shopping before coming here.” Kyungsoo puts a lid on the pot and turns off the stove. He turns around and gives Junmyeon a flick on the forehead.

“Ow!”

“You . Why is your kitchen so empty? I told you to always keep it stocked for when you’re hungry!”

“But I—“ Junmyeon receives another flick before he can defend his case.

“And all you’ve been eating is instant food again! Don’t even try to deny it, Kim Junmyeon,” Kyungsoo warns as Junmyeon opens his mouth to protest. “I just cleaned up most of your crap and I counted ten cups of ramyun. Ten! In a week! Do you even know how much salt those contain?”

“1500 milligrams per serving.”

He receives another flick. “Don’t get cheeky with me. If you’re smart enough to know, then you should be smart enough not to eat them!”

“Butcupramyunisyummy,” Junmyeon mumbles, and his boyfriend actually growls. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” he hastily apologizes. “It’s just that I hardly have time to eat, nevermind cook. And you know how poisonous my dishes are, Soo-ya. So I just…go for stuff that’s easy to prepare and…yeah.”

Kyungsoo’s glare softens by a fraction. “Go sit down,” he says, and Junmyeon grins because he knew that all was forgiven.

Junmyeon pulls up a chair and holds on to his spoon and chopsticks like a child as he waits for Kyungsoo. His boyfriend bends down to retrieve something from the floor. Junmyeon actually tears up at the sight of the multi-layered lunch box. “Kyungsoo!” he exclaims.

“You didn’t think I’d come without it, did you?” Kyungsoo asks in a suspicious tone. “Do you actually have that little faith in me?” He starts laying the boxes infront of Junmyeon.

“But you had a really tiring week! You even had to help with your class’s field trip yesterday,” Junmyeon debates, his eyes glued to the goodies before him. There was pork belly, grilled eel, kimchi, sausages and egg rolls, and holy is that kimbap??? “How did you even have enough time to…” his voice trails off as Kyungsoo places a bowl of steaming kimchi jiggae infront of him, and his stomach grumbles impatiently.

“I made time for it,” Kyungsoo says simply. “Now eat.”

And eat, Junmyeon does.

There is nothing graceful about how he gobbles down that piece of chicken, and that sausage…along with some gim…and a spoonful of anchovies…and two gulps of the jiggae followed by a spoonful of rice, but Kyungsoo finds himself grinning despite himself at the adorable sight of his Junmyeon’s bulging cheeks.

“Slow down,” he says with a chuckle. “No one’s going to take your food.”

“bod ish sho goo ay—“ Junmyeon takes a drink of water and swallows. “It’s so good, Soo-ya! This is THE most decent meal I’ve had in days. What’d you season this chicken with?” he pops another piece into his mouth. “And the kimbap is great! Did you put lots of ham in it? And why aren’t you eating?”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes affectionately at Junmyeon’s rambling. “Stop trying to talk while speed-eating, you doofus. You might end up choking,” he nags. The other just gives him a cheeky grin and proceeds to inhale more food.

The monster that is Junmyeon’s stomach seems to be placated as he slows down some minutes after.

“So, how’s your week been?” Kyungsoo inquires as Junmyeon nibbles on a slice of apple.

“Oh my god, Kyungsoo you wouldn’t believe it! We had three exams this week! And our professor, Mr. Kang , remember him?” –a nod from Kyungsoo—“ Well he decided to be an upgraded version of his self last Wednesday and gave us a pop quiz. A pop quiz! He doesn’t even teach us anything! And he thinks he has the right? Oh and you remember my classmate Sehun? Well he…”

Kyungsoo rests his chin on one of his hands as he nods along to his boyfriend’s stories, smiling contentedly. But in between, his sharp eyes takes in Junmyeon’s slender figure. Was he always this thin? The way his shirt hung off his shoulders was worrying. And Junmyeon’s face was beautiful as usual, but those dark circles under his eyes…was he getting any sleep at all? Kyungsoo knew that Junmyeon had a lot to do, and that studying medicine was very demanding, but still…

It would be better if he could see Junmyeon everyday, and not just every week. If only he didn’t live so far from him…

An idea starts to form in Kyungsoo’s mind.

They are on the couch, hours later, on one of Junmyeon’s study breaks.

“Ah!” Junmyeon suddenly gasps in the middle of the drama they were watching. “I almost forgot!”

Kyungsoo just watches in confusion as his boyfriend gets up and heads for his bedroom. He returns with a paper bag in his hand, and a bright grin on his face. “Here!” he tells Kyungsoo as he drops the bag on his lap. Kyungsoo only looks at the bag and then at him questioningly.

“There was this festival for the undergrads a few days ago,” Junmyeon explains. “They set up some booths and one of our professors happened to be absent that day, so I was able to visit some shops.”

Kyungsoo opens the bag and pulls out a box. He sees the familiar label. “So your university had a festival and you decided to buy me… multivitamins.”

Junmyeon bursts out laughing. “I’m just messing with you,” he confesses. “Your real present is under those boxes. But be sure to take your vitamins, okay? I gave you a lot last month but your roommate Chanyeol is a vitamin druggie so I know you’re out of them by now.”

“Junmyeon, no matter how addicted Chanyeol is to these vitamins, you gave me enough to last us both a year,” Kyungsoo chides. But there is a telltale gleam of fondness in his eyes as he pulls out box after box of multivitamins from the bag. His digging is finally rewarded as he pulls out the last of the bag’s contents. The package is quite heavy and is covered in brown paper that Kyungsoo tears open.

“No way,” he gasps in awe as he reverently touches the sacred artifact in his hands.

“You’re always talking about wanting the original Japanese versions,” Junmyeon explains. “And also whining about how no one sells those around here. So when I saw that at one of the anime booths, I just knew I had to snatch it from that ahjumma who found it first.”

“You snatched the first five volumes of Prince of Tennis from an ahjumma?” Kyungsoo demands.

“Hey no, it’s fine!” Junmyeon waves his hands in defense. “I bribed her with one of my EXO photocards. And I even treated her to lunch. And ice cream. And one of those fancy fruit drinks with…wait. Okay I think I may have been duped.”

Kyungsoo laughs in disbelief and Junmyeon joins in as he plops himself back on the couch. “I can’t believe I got scammed like that,” he mutters in between giggles. “That nasty fox.”

Their laughter dies down into smiles. Kyungsoo rubs his thumbs on the edges of his present. Ryoma Echizen grins up at him from the cover. He looks at Junmyeon, whose attention was now back to the drama on the tv. The female protagonist on the show makes a blunder, and Junmyeon laughs. The light from the tv screen is making his face glow, but Kyungsoo decides that the smile Junmyeon has is much, much brighter.

“Junmyeon.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s move in together.”

Junmyeon’s head snaps back to face his boyfriend. “What?”

“I said, let’s move in together.”

“But your work…”

“There’s an opening at a school near here, and I’ve been thinking of applying there,” Kyungsoo answers easily.

“But you were always talking about working for the school in your hometown!”

“Yes, and I have done that for a year.” Kyungsoo takes Junmyeon’s hands in his. “I think that that’s more than enough.”

“But… but I’m so messy,” Junmyeon offers weakly.

“I know.”

“And I’ll be studying a lot so I probably won’t have much time for you.”

“I know.”

“And sometimes I might cry for no reason.”

“Sometimes? You cry a lot for no reason,” Kyungsoo corrects. “But that’s fine, too. Junmyeon, why are you saying these things like they’re new information? In case you forgot, we were actually roommates back in undergrad before I got my job. And I’m your boyfriend. I know what I signed up for two years ago and I still know it now.”

“Because it’ll be different,” Junmyeon protests. “I wasn’t a stressed out wreck of a human back then. You’ll see me all the time and you’ll be exposed 24/7 to my whining and neediness and crankiness and what if… What if you get sick of me?”

Kyungsoo feels his heart tighten at how small Junmyeon’s voice sounded. He sighs and pulls him closer to his chest. “You idiot,” he starts. “I don’t love you despite your faults, Junmyeon. I love you because of them. Because they’re a part of who you are. And will you stop thinking so little of yourself? If I live with you, I get perks too. You give the best massages, you make amazing hot chocolates, you give the warmest hugs, and somehow you’re much better than I am at designing fun lesson plans.”

Junmyeon’s lips start to tug upwards. “What about my kisses though?”

Kyungsoo snorts. “Nope, not gonna give you that one. I’m the better kisser in this relationship.”

Junmyeon lets out an indignant squawk and his boyfriend laughs despite himself. “I’m serious though,” Kyungsoo says to him. “I have really high standards when it comes to people I decide to love, I wouldn’t fall for anyone short of amazing.”

It was one of the biggest compliments Junmyeon had ever gotten from his boyfriend—he could recognize it for what it was, no matter how Kyungsoo disguised it with his tsundere words.

Kyungsoo had probably realized the gravity of what he said, as his ears start reddening. Junmyeon battles the urge to cackle at the adorable sight. He knew that if he laughed now, all his efforts for Operation: Make Doh Kyungsoo A Softie will be in vain.

Instead, he smiles. “Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“Okay, let’s move in together.”

And Junmyeon’s still a mess. And his books and printouts and notes and reports are still waiting for him on his desk and he still feels like dying from all the stress, but right now—right here, with Kyungsoo beside him and the promise of a companion, a constant supplier of warm food and hugs and cuddles and kisses and laughter…

He thinks he’ll be just fine.