I’ve been sitting here for maybe 7 minutes, next to him; watching him. I gently the surface of his messy, wavy, brown hair. I brush his bangs to the side to allow myself to witness more of his precious sleeping face: his eyelids greet me as my gaze touches them; his eye lashes are branched out like thin, black leaves; his pale pinks are shut, moving slightly from his breathing.

I crouch down; I hover my lips over his ear.

“Wake up Kyuhyun.” I whisper.

After managing to wake up my roommate—my supposed lover—I head to the kitchen with a magazine in my hand. I sit and watch Kyuhyun grumpily serve himself a bowl of cold cereal. As he sits down across from me, I smile down at my magazine. I listen to the crunching of the cereal flakes crowding against each other as Kyuhyun scoops them up within a spoon.

“What are you reading?” he asks.

“I’m reading this section about colors and their meanings.” I shake my head a little when Kyuhyun rolls his eyes while eating.

“Look, the color green has an extra meaning of hope and dreams.” I point out while tapping at the page with my finger.

“I thought green associated with nature.” Kyuhyun says.

“It also means envious.” I add. Kyuhyun chews in response and I continue reading.

I set my elbow on the table and rest my chin in the palm of hand, now hunch over.

“So what are we going to do for Valentine’s Day?” I ask thoughtlessly.

“We?”

I blush instantly at my mistake.

“I—I meant, you.” I correct. Valentine’s Day is for lovers, not close roommates who people think are lovers. I bravely look up, using my bangs as a shield for my eyes, to look at Kyuhyun. I can feel my cheeks enflaming further as an amused smirk forms on those lips that I hate yet love.

“I was thinking of spending it with someone cute.” He answers. I flash an obvious fake smile towards his teasing words.

“What about you.” he reverses the question.

“I was thinking of spending it alone: just me and some dramas on TV.” I state with a slight sting in my tone. Kyuhyun laughs and I can’t help, but laugh too.

When I look at him, sometimes I find myself staring directly into his eyes; searching for some hidden meaning behind—a hidden feeling for me. I guess it’s easy to see that I like Kyuhyun beyond roommate and friend. The idea of love erupting between us isn’t a secret either, we joke about it all the time. Whenever Kyuhyun wants to get out some boring event or reject a girl, he always says he needs to tend to his wife at home—meaning me. And sometimes I would jokingly tell my friends that I'm busy teaching Kyuhyun how to love.  These jokes are funny to us and others, but every joke holds a hint of truth in them, right?

We’ve even kissed before, once; when we were drunk. One night, Kyuhyun brought home some cases of beer for a small get up that ended up being canceled. To not waste such quality drinks, he and I threw our own small party that ended up with both of us drunk. In our drunken stage, we resulted in the bedroom, where we sat around kissing each other. At least, all I can remember is kissing him; I didn’t find any evidence the next morning that suggested otherwise. I can remember kissing him even in my drunken state because I can’t forget the touch of his lips. No matter how harsh he kissed me, his soft lips always rebounded to a gentle feel.

“Ryeowook.” I snap awake from memory lane when Kyuhyun calls me.

“What do you want for Valentine’s day?” he inquires. I pause for a moment to think of a proper answer, and then smile in satisfaction when I think of one.

“I want a Valentine card that has a big red heart on it.”

“That’s it?” I nod my head.

“That’s so cheap.” Kyuhyun insults.

“It’s special!” I argue.

“You want a card for Christmas too, one with a big green tree on it?”

“Fine, I want a big diamond ring for Valentine’s day, one that will cost 3 months’ worth of salary!” I interject with a purposely playful feel to my voice. Kyuhyun chuckles.

“You know, according to American traditions, the ring you’re asking for is an engagement ring.” I freeze for noticeable seconds.

“Then maybe that’s what I want.” I try to say as confident as possible, hoping Kyuhyun would still see it as a joke. He smiles evilly, but I exercise my poker face.

“What size ring are you?” I stick my tongue out at him for an answer, to which he laughs grandly at. I return my attention to my magazine. I stop when I reach the color red and its definition.

“Look this is you Kyuhyun: the color red means energy, war, danger, strength, power…” I trail my sentence into silence when my mind reads the rest of the definition.

“And what else?” he wonders, aware of the fact that I stopped short.

“Wait, I made a mistake, this isn’t you. The color red also means determination as well as passion, desire, and love.” I finish.

“That sounds right.” He cockily says.

“Did you not hear the love part? You don’t love things.” I counter.

“Sure I do: I love this cereal; I love my bed; and I love my…”

“Ok, ok, you love things. But you don’t love people.” I emphasize.

“I don’t love people romantically because I only love one person.”

“Who?” I question instantly.

“My wife.”

“You’re so stupid.” I chuckle. I look down to my magazine, but after several of minutes of waiting for a combat, the silence pressures me to address Kyuhyun again.

“Hey Ryeowook.”

“…what?” I answer hesitantly.

“I hate you.” I widen my eyes in shock and I sense my face flush red in frustration.

“I—I hate you, Kyuhyun!” but I don’t. Kyuhyun laughs, but I'm so annoyed at this point, that I can't join his joy. I stand up and leave the kitchen to enter our shared bedroom. I remember when I first agreed to share a room with Kyuhyun; I had it in my mind that we would have separate beds. When I found only one bed from Kyuhyun’s decision of saving room, my first thought was cuddling. I had it in my mind that each night I would be able to hug Kyuhyun and be held by him; home and hope were in his arms to me.

Not willing to go back to retreat my magazine, I sit down on the bed. I glance at the calendar that’s hanging on the wall. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow.

“Ryeowook.” I can hear Kyuhyun calling me. I ignore him and lie down. I grab my pillow and use it to cover my face.

“Ryeowook.” Judging from the loudness, I assume Kyuhyun is now in the room with me. I feel the bed shake and sink near me, indicating that Kyuhyun is beside me.

“Leave me alone.” I complain. I struggle to react when Kyuhyun hugs me from the side. He grabs my pillow tightly to snatch it from my hands and throw it to the side. My blushing face is exposed, in addition to my now messy bangs. I mutter an inaudible complaint, ignoring Kyuhyun’s hand that grabs my chin. He turns my head slightly over and suddenly I feel a familiar gentleness. He kisses me.

“Wai—“I try to stop him, but he interrupts me with another kiss. And honestly, I don’t mind being silenced by his kisses. He places his arms to the side of my shoulder, towering his chest over mine and plants more kisses onto my lips. We exchange various kisses: light pecks, intense smooches, and slight tongue. I feel like I'm drunk again, off of happiness.

“You taste as sweet as ever.” He whispers in my ear. I blush with love; he can tell me he hates me again, and I would still find it charming. That’s how bad in a trance I'm in right now.

“Come on, smile.” He suggests. I smile shyly which I receive another kiss for. Kyuhyun starts kissing me more aggressively; he pauses from time to time to whisper something sweet to me; he stares at with eager, energy filled eyes; he forces me to engage in a war of endurance when he begins roaming his hands over my body; he overpowers me when I try to retreat due to shyness; even as I struggle with my insecurities, his determination doesn’t die out, his passion enlightens over and over again, for the rest of the day. Our desires are the things that matter to us today.

He tells me he loves me, but he never actually needs to say it. And I never say it either, but he knows already.

His emotions are contradicting; intense.

But I can feel all them and that makes me happy.

He’s the color red and that’s why I love him.

I've never written a one shot before so this was new. It's pretty randomand kind of short, but I hope readers still enjoyed it! :)