Families would definitely pick that day to have a trip to the beach or to have a picnic; lovers would pick that day to have long walks; children would run around the neighborhood playing tag; old couples would stay outdoors and reminisce their moments together and teenagers would go to amusement parks or fool around like they usually do.

Most people were blissful. They were gladdened the day was so lovely because it had been a while since a bright morning come across their way and they needed a well-deserved break from the cruelty of the world, but there was one specific twenty-five year old who thinks the world was upon her shoulders. This certain someone only thought that it was just another gloomy morning that will soon be filled with misery, uncertainty and nonsensical daisies. That was Lee Aki.

Aki was in her kitchen, staring blankly at a distance while pouring coffee into her “God save the Queen” mug with a particularly dismayed face. She was in deep thought, digging through her mind palace as if she was a skilled mole. What or who could cause her so much distress early in that gorgeous Sunday morning? For one thing, she was thinking about Byun Baekhyun again and the possible havoc he’ll execute once he gets there.

Yes, Byun Baekhyun. The most uncertain and misery-filled being that ever happened in her life. He stumbled into her life one day, told her that he was looking for a decent apartment. They were strangers and it wasn't until ten minutes, Byun Baekhyun made the final decision of living together with her.

Seeing him from the first time, Aki could only deduce that he was loud, stubborn and chaotic and knowing her, she was against all that. From the way he acted, he seemed jittery and eager. He kept fidgeting and moving unnecessarily. He also beamed countless of times, which could only assume that he has an attention span and cheerfulness level of a puppy.

The glum introverted Lee Aki and the eccentric puppy Byun Baekhyun.

What an unlikely pair. 

She reasoned to Tae Hee that he was highly unsuitable to be her roommate. Tae Hee asked why but Aki didn't know what to answer and that only left to a decision that Baekhyun was her official roommate at the moment.

Aki gasped in pain as she was pulled back to reality when she felt hot liquid fall onto her feet. She shook her head as she saw her cup, overflowing with the creamy coffee. She sighed loudly, taking a towel from the counter as she wiped the wasted beverage.

Her doorbell rang, echoing inside her head like the resounding church bells after a boring wedding. Speak of the devil and he doth appear she thought agitatedly. She left the towel and jogged lazily to her door.

When she opened the door, Kim Jongin was standing across her door, wearing an sleeveless shirt which showed a good amount of his long fairly-dark skinned arms and dark blue pajamas. He was Chanyeol’s roommate and he was, as girls would say delicious. Seeing him, half-asleep was simply amazing. It wasn’t that Aki likes him; she is just fond of his facial and body features because he was indeed a handsome sort. His black hair was unruly and below his eyes were dark circles; of course, being an architect is stressful, no wonder he looked so exhausted. But no matter how many flaws you point out, he was basically perfect.

He flashed Aki a lazy grin, “Good morning noona. Was that your roommate?”

Aki smiled back. “Unfortunately.” She paused as she began to climb down the stairs. “Wish me luck!”

Jongin chuckled lowly and cried, “Good luck!” loud enough for Aki to hear.

When she opened the door, she was greeted with a blinding smile that resembled the sun. Her eyes squinted as she saw the kaleidoscopic face of Byun Baekhyun with his luggage beside him.

"You rang.” Aki said with a fake smile.

He chuckled as his cheek muscles relaxed into a gentle smile. “Good morning to you too, Cheeks.”

Aki felt her cheeks heat up but it wasn't because she was embarrassed but she was filled with pure irritation. “What the did you just call me?” She questioned, suppressing every urge to murder him in that morning.

Baekhyun’s eyebrows shot up, pretending as if what he said was normal. Who’s in their right mind, would call anyone, cheeks?

“ Cheeks. Your cheeks are really chubby and cute, they resemble cheeks, don’t you think?” He cooed cheerfully.

Aki felt as though lightning struck her. She was in the verge of spatting back a more intelligent retort than his but she failed hilariously as the male shuffled inside the building with a cute smile.

…

“Have you had breakfast?” Aki asked from the kitchen with a darkened expression.

Baekhyun was standing in the middle of the living room, glancing around with an interested gleam in his eyes as if it was the first time he entered the glorious apartment of Lee Aki.

“Yes, I did but a nice cold cup of cocoa would be nice.” He replied, still gazing delightfully with a distinct smile.

Aki turned around, catching Baekhyun’s awed expression. “Shouldn’t it be hot?”

Baekhyun’s eyes flicked towards her way. “I always preferred my beverage cold in the morning. You should try it. Helps calm the nerves.” He sat comfortably on her sofa. Aki rolled her eyes in boredom while the lad, still admired every bit of her apartment when a stack of vinyl caught his attention.

“You collect vinyl?” He exclaimed, sprinting towards the old collection.

Aki whipped her hair around, readying the ice cubes from the freezer, watched the male with curious eyes. “Yes I do, isn’t that obvious?”

Admiring and gawking at the vinyl records with a mouth agape, he sneakily took a disc out and placed it on top of the record player, bringing the needle on it as the room was filled with an old English song, goofy and cheerful. It was Bruce Springsteen's “Hungry Heart”. Aki watched him with disinterest when all of a sudden; the giddy young man charged towards her with a wide grin and in that moment she definitely knew she was about to be pulled into a dance.

Baekhyun, the silly twenty-three year old took her by the waist, placing her hand on his shoulder as he gracefully glided, swayed and twirled Aki around the middle of the living room.

"Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack

I went out for a ride and I never went back

Like a river that don't know where it's flowing

I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Lay down your money and you play your part

Everybody’s got a hungry heart"

He was smiling down at her with so much gentleness you could ever find in a man. Aki looked straight back at him, completely lost in his eyes with a shocked and dazed expression as if she fell into a trance. All of her surroundings, even Byun Baekhyun, began to melt as her head painted a picture of a memory that happened a year ago. 

...

Distraught and aghast, Aki lifted her head up and slammed it on her desk with much force, the sound traveled to the living room, causing her husband to turn around in curiosity of the mysterious thud. A grumble and groan escaped Aki's lips, slamming her head wasn't one of her best ideas but that was the only convenient way she could express her anger at the moment. From the living room, her husband shut the television off and made his way towards the basement where Aki's office resides.

Indeed, Aki's office was their basement. Their basement was small but it brought Aki a strange cozy feeling. It brought her solace and so claimed that it would be her space. The room was overflowing with photographs and canvases of paintings; on the wall, on the floor, everywhere. Memories and lovely shots in beaches, in woods, in streets, the sky, people in weddings, in birthday parties and even photographs of the young married couple.

Behind the pictures, the four walls were painted by none other than the twenty-five year old girl. In her spare time, Aki enjoys painting and paints whenever she feels like it. Whether she was happy, sad or angry, she'd just grab a brush and paint till her heart's content. They were mostly paintings of flowers in fields or of the night sky or even abstracts and splashes of random colors that greatly complemented the photographs well. 

The room screamed of art and beauty. It screamed Aki. 

Thinking of reasons for the mysterious thud, he recalled that the latter came home with an exceedingly good mood after taking wedding pictures. Could it be there was something wrong with the photos she took? Well, setting theories wouldn't make any difference, he thought. He must find out himself. So he stealthily climbed down the stairs, peering with wide eyes as he finally caught glimpse of his wife repeatedly slamming her head on her desk but it was quieter than the first one. When he arrived at the bottom, he smiled and went towards her.

Just like the charming husband he was, he s his arms around Aki's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, leaving a kiss on her temple. "What's the matter, luv?" He asked as he looked at the screen of Aki's laptop where a bride and groom stood proudly with smiles on their faces and arms around each other. Aki sighed problematically and held her husband's arms around her as she too, looked at the pictures in front of her.

"It’s wrong, it’s all wrong. I got too excited and messed up-" she stopped midsentence as she placed her head down and groaned loudly in frustration. 

He looked closely and instead of scowling and insulting of her lack of concentration that day; he grinned and rubbed her back for comfort. "It looks beautiful to me.” He paused. "And I'm sure the couple would love it as well."

Aki lifted her head with a pout as her husband placed a kiss on her forehead. She was still bitter and disappointed of herself and so what her husband did next was unexpected but the loveliest thing.

When he spotted her record player, he put a disc he personally liked as the room was boomed with a lively song from the 80's. It was a Bruce Springsteen song. Aki felt herself smiling again as her husband brought her to her feet and led her to the middle of the room, awkwardly swaying. He was never a good dancer but if it was for Aki's sake, he'd do anything just to make the girl smile again.

"I met her in a Kingstown bar

We fell in love I knew it had to end

We took what we had and we ripped it apart

Now here I am down in Kingstone again

Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Lay down your money and you play your part

Everybody’s got a hungry heart"

And just like that, Aki was laughing again. After a funny, clumsy twirl she laughed so genuinely as if she had never laughed before. Her husband smiled successfully as Aki wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer until they were pressing against each other, their chins resting on the other's shoulder. "Thank you." 

He didn’t respond but instead, he embraced her tightly in his arms.

…

“Aki?” Baekhyun watched Aki with worried eyes. He was essentially happy when she followed his lead and danced with him but when time passed, he noticed her eyes were blank as paper, like she was sleeping with her eyes unintentionally open. “Aki-ssi?” he asked again, shaking her a little as Aki finally came back into her senses.

Aki looked stupefied for some specific reason. “Oh, Baekhyun.” She said sounding a bit surprised as her knees felt like jelly. Baekhyun held her before she fell on the floor.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern.

Aki felt her eyes starting to well up. No, not right now. “I’m all right.” She said breathlessly as she stood up, fixing herself.

“You were teary-eyed.”

“I just remembered something, no biggie.”

“Come on, Aki sit down for a minute.” Baekhyun suggested as he laid Aki down on the couch. “You haven’t had breakfast, right? I’ll make you one.” Aki gripped his wrist before he could leave to the kitchen.

“No, it’s okay Baek. I’m seriously fine, that’s not necessary-“

Hearing her say his nickname made Baekhyun’s ears flush into red but tried to ignore this with a wide smile. “I’ll handle it and if you’re scared of the result, don’t be. I may not look like it but I’m a decent cook.” His eyebrows comically danced just like the way it when they first met yesterday.

Aki noticed what she had said and felt blushing as well. 

“Bacon and eggs, sound good?” Baekhyun was already at the kitchen trying to wear Aki’s yellow apron.

…

She munched quietly purposefully avoiding the younger man’s curious gaze. When she was finished, she set the plate down on the coffee table with an inevitable burp. “How was it?” the lad asked, his eyes twinkled with the sun that was shining out of the window. Aki shrugged and drank her coffee that she previously made for herself. “Better than what I expected.”

Baekhyun’s lips twitched into a smirk. “I’m glad to hear that. Now, about that list of rules you proposed yesterday.”

Aki was surprised. He didn’t pry. If it were someone else, they would’ve asked about her dazed state a while ago, but he didn’t. One thing she understood was that Byun Baekhyun is full of surprises.

“O-oh yeah about that. Sure, let’s discuss it right now. I’ll go and get a pen and paper.” She wobbly stood up and came back with the necessities she needed.

Baekhyun smiled worriedly but hid this with the familiar twinkle in his eyes, “Of course. We must call it “The Roommate Agreement”. Sounds catchy, don’t you think?”

Aki scoffed but wrote it anyways.

“You have something on your mind for agreement number one?” Aki asked, glancing at Baekhyun. He was pursing his lips as Aki quickly looked away.

“What about, whoever wakes up first, they will be in charge of making breakfast?” Baekhyun suggested.

“Are you sure? You wake up early since you’ve got classes.”

Baekhyun smiled and nodded, “As long as I don’t set the kitchen on fire, we’ll be good.”

Aki was a little confused with her roommate’s decision but wrote this nonetheless.

“What’s next? Ah, bathroom hours.” After thirty minutes of agreements and disagreements, they have created an appropriate and sensible Roommate Agreement as they hung this proudly beside the front door.

Roommate Agreement of Tenants:

Lee Aki and Byun Baekhyun

1.     Whoever wakes up first, he or she will be in charge of breakfast

2.     Bathroom Hours

3.     Every second Sunday of the month will be reserved for cleaning; no exceptions

4.     Don’t leave your underwear in the bathroom after bathing

5.     Respect and stay quiet if the other is busy

6.     Do not barge into each other’s room if there is no emergency

7.     Sing loud and there will be severe consequences

8.     Must inform the other if he or she invites people to visit

9.     Respect each other’s privacy

10.   Alternate buying of groceries (or go together)

11.   The one who isn’t in charge of breakfast will be in charge of dinner

12.   Must follow the Roommate agreement

Whoever violates one of these agreements, they will solemnly swear to pay a fine of 1000-5000 won depending on how he/she badly violated it.

You have been warned.