Everything was a blur. The room was now a mosaic of colors and all you could think about was how much you were going to die. Your eyes were watering and they threatened to close. You pinched yourself. Just a little longer. Darkness.

            “Ha! You blinked!” Your best friend crowed. Yongguk looked pleased with himself and he stuck out his tongue at you.

            For a moment you were distracted by his tongue but then the competition kicked in. “Only because you happen to have smaller eyes than I do. I bet if you blinked, nobody would have noticed.” You huffed.

            He grinned. “You can’t do that. That’s racist, you know. Besides, it’s not my fault you think puffing out your cheek and staring at the world with wide hamster eyes would help you win. It just creates more pupil area for it to get dry.”

            “Whatever. You’re so annoying. So what do I have to do for you?”

            Yongguk thought for a moment. “Hmm, as clichéd as this would sound, I sort of need a maid for my dorm. My roommate’s a neat freak but he won’t touch my stuff.”

            “With good reason too,” you muttered. “Your clothes smell like they’re radioactive.”

            “Hey!” he protested. “I do laundry like once a week.”

            “That’s six days too little.”

            “Alright. So you can do it. My demand is for you to be my maid. I’ll give you the key to my dorm and every time you have a free period, you are to go in there and clean up. You are not to let my roommate know. I don’t want Himchan getting wrong ideas.”

            You blushed at what he was implying. Then you rolled your eyes, determined not to let Yongguk know how he affected you. “You’re so stupid. Can’t you think of something less than that? I can buy you food for the next few days?”

            “No. I want you to clean for me. Oh! And since this punishment is lasting one week, I want at least a meal every day.”

            “What? Alright. Poison central, coming right up.”

            He raised his eyebrow. “You wouldn’t dare. Okay, let’s go shopping for a maid costume. This should be fun.”

            “You know,” you said darkly, “If we did this again, and I won, you’d have to pay dearly for this.”

            “Oh, I know,” he said cheerfully. “That’s why I’ll make sure I never ever lose.”

            It was embarrassing to walk into the costume shop and ask the clerk for a maid costume. He had on a bored look and when he saw Yongguk standing behind you, had assumed things. “If it’s for role play, we have the ier version in the adult section in the back. I highly doubt we have anything that’s not partially see through. If you like things that rip off easily, we have those too.”

            Your ears were burning and you shook your head. “Oh no, sir, you misunderstood. We honestly need a maid costume.”

            The clerk shook his head. “Sorry. We only have the more provocative types. I’m sure you can buy some at some uniform store.”

            You glared at Yongguk when you walked out. He was chuckling, obviously deeply amused. “You are so embarrassing. I swear, you should never trust me in your dorm.”

            He looked at you. “There’s nothing you can try to do that Himchan doesn’t already know. You would know better than to mess around, though. Now let’s go find you a nice maid’s costume.” You scowled and followed him.

            The first day of your maid job was torture. You had three hours between math and biology so you trekked across the campus. His dorm was located at the end of the buildings. You took out a key and walked inside.

            He was right. It was a clear distinction between his side of the room and Himchan’s. His roommate’s was neat, with the bed folded and a cleared desk, save for a few books. Yongguk’s had his stuffed animals strewn all over and his clothes everywhere. You slipped on a mask. Your task was about to get dangerous.

            You wrinkled your nose as you put his dirty clothes into a laundry bag. You were glad you brought gloves and closed your eyes when you saw his boxers strewn underneath days old jeans as well. He was gross. For a moment, this was enough to toss all the romantic feelings you had secretly harbored for him out the window.

            With the clothes safely packed away, you sorted his closet. Hopefully if you got everything done in one day, then the rest of the week would just be cooking. His closet was a mess but you took great pleasure in putting things where they belonged. You folded his tees and then his button down. You created a pile for his pants and a section for his shoes.

            The door to the dorm opened and you jumped. An unfamiliar dark-haired man peeked in. “Wait, this is my room isn’t it?”

            Realizing this must be Himchan, you nodded. “Oh yeah. Yongguk put me on maid duty this week. I have to make him dinner. Do you want anything?”

            Himchan brightened. “Yo if you’re that chick, then you’re the best.”

            You were offended. You had just offered to make him dinner and he proceeds to call you “that chick?” “Excuse me?”

            “Oh, sorry. I mean, that would be great. Just bring whatever you were planning on making. Thanks so much. I like this plan of his.” Himchan waved and slipped back out.

            You were completely befuddled but went back to work. You were sorting through his piles of scrap paper when you saw a sheet with your name on it. You took a closer look. Scrawled in Yongguk’s handwriting was your name and was that his last name he attached to it? What? Your heart raced and you dropped the paper, shoving it underneath his stacks of books. This was weird. Maybe you should just go home, dump his laundry, and come back with dinner and hopefully the paper will have never existed.

            The entire time you were cooking, you couldn’t stop thinking about that. What was the meaning of it? You knew girls did it in their deluded fantasies, but did it mean something when the guys did it for you? Argh. He was your best friend. Your best friend whom you happened to have feelings for.

            You put on a nicer top and carried over dinner. The two boys were already in the room and they clapped when they saw you. “Smells good,” Himchan praised.

            You avoided Yongguk’s eyes and put the plates down on the table. Your eyes slid over and saw the paper was still there. Nope, you weren’t hallucinating. Yongguk ate, thanking you. When they were done, he threw out the trash and offered to walk you across to your dorm.

            While you were walking, he said, “Hey, I guess you’ll make a good housewife. You did a good job cleaning up today.”

            The word wife was all you heard and you jumped up. “Y-yeah? I suppose. I liked being neat.”

            He was quiet and then he took your hand. “Hey, do you want to be my housewife?”

            “I already am your maid, you idiot.”

            “No, what I meant was, er, you see. I have had a crush on you since we were five? And maybe that crush has turned into something more and I know I love you. It sounds dorky, but it’s true.” He scratched his neck. “I’m not good at confessions, but will you accept me?”   

            You looked at him. Yongguk smiled tentatively and everything made sense. This creeper was totally having high hopes. You pushed his nose. “Yes, on one condition. You don’t make me change my last name to yours until after we get married.”

            He turned red and you started running down the lawn. “Hey, get back here!” 

Best friends secretly in love request ^^ 

I had fun writing this.

Off to do genetics