Micky sighed as he watched his friend finally drift off to sleep, beads of dried teardrops traced down from the hollows of her cheeks. He quietly slipped the glass of warm milk by her bedside before placing the blanket atop her frail tired body.

Jessica watched the scene from the empty doorway with a judgemental expression, her toothbrush hanging from .

“Who exactly are you?”

“Micky Yoochun,” he replied as he Sooyoung’s head.

“Do you love her?” She insisted on discovering the details of her roommate’s unspoken secrets.

He simply nodded, “Yes.”

But before Jessica could even pry him with accusations and scandalous ideas linking him with Sooyoung, he continued,

“Knowing her for all these years…how could I not love her? My best friend who’s more like a sister; yes, I love her.”

“So you’re married…to someone you see as a sister?” She raised her eyebrows at the revelation.

“It’s complicated.”

Micky stood up and began to walk his way over to the confused girl. He playfully tapped the end of her toothbrush and sweetly smiled, “and you’re dripping.”

-------

Shim Changmin dragged his feet along the pavement, his steps both slow and lifeless. His hand fell on the doorknob, but his mind was accumulated with one too many thoughts that his body remained still. One thing, that is Choi Sooyoung, gathered his every attention...running through his brain, it was only her.

A cheeky little fellow peeked through the blinds of their window to spot the dazed boy. He ran towards the entrance with a spring to each step as excitement filled his body.

“Yah chingu! I guess you’re not the only one who’s got talent.”

Kyuhyun winked as he pulled his friend inside hastily. He proudly lifted his chin up, praising himself while waiting for the showers of congratulatory messages.

“Bwoh?”

It wasn’t exactly the reaction Kyuhyun expected to see coming from his buddy, but then again Changmin didn’t understand that this meant Kyuhyun’s chances into bumping into the girl he was currently crushing hard for were now increasingly high.

“Aish..can’t you flash me a smile or something? You are after all now looking at a soon to be national singer.”

Kyuhyun stared back at his friend with sparkling happy eyes, but was greeted with a continuous clueless face.

“Ahhh~ just come here and give your friend a good old hug!”

He pulled Changmin in and roughly patted his back, their bromance evidently second to none.

“If the time comes and I see her again, I’ll introduce you to her.”

“I still don’t quite understand what you’re talking abo-“

“I got in..into that company!. The girl with the business card…it’s fate.”

“When did you even apply?”

“Same goes to you. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, then all of a sudden I got a notice of my acceptance. I don’t even know how it happened, but hey, we did it chingu!”

Changmin slowly withdrew himself from the big bear hug he found himself in.

“Uh Kyu…about that…”

“We’re moving into the dorms tomorrow morning. 7AM sharp. I’m gonna go pack now~”

With that being said, Kyuhyun as light as a feather, disappeared off into his bedroom before he could hear Changmin’s remaining thoughts:

“I don’t think that’s a good idea...”

Getting accepted into the company meant one thing, but moving into the dorms meant another: more possible encounters with Choi Sooyoung.

Although every inch of his body desired for her touch and that every thought that ran through his head were revolved around her, he knew very well that the last thing he wanted was to rush back into things.

Before one can rebuild what was broken, before they can even envision the end results, one must have a solid plan on how to repair it all so that in the future, it is sturdier…that it will never break again. For the crumbling of pieces of what was once intact, is devastating to experience a second time. 

He flopped down over the comfort of his bed listening to his friend’s cheerful singing from the other room.

It was a voice that sounded like it was free from worries, a voice that misery, sadness, and longing were now unknown. A fragment of that tone resembled that of what Changmin had once had…but within the years had lost. That innocent happiness…he hoped for it to return one day.

I hope nothing takes that away from you buddy, that it never slips away from your grip.

Staring at the light that flickered above him, he was reminded once more of the illuminating vision of what may be.

He smiled weakly before whispering out,

“One step at a time. One step at a time…”

The echoing sound of energetic knocks danced off the walls in the room. Sooyoung lazily walked on over. Her hair was wrapped messily in a high bun and she dressed in an interesting choice of attire for a girl. She decided to wear the unthinkable for the first time in a long time yesterday.

She pulled the door open and scrunched her eyes trying to adjust to the figures that greeted her.

“Well hello there beautiful~” a familiar voice exclaimed as her vision was blocked with the individual shoving a warm cup of latte in her face.

“You…”

“It’s Kyuhyun. Cho Kyuhyun. Extra whipped cream, just like the other day.” He smiled brightly as the sun.

“This right here is my chingu, Shim Changmin.”

Kyuhyun explained as he nudged his friend at the side, pleading for him to act cool as at that moment, Changmin resembled that of a mime. He said nothing and stood still, eyes fixated at one thing.

“I like your shirt.”

The words escaped his mouth effortlessly as the object was a familiar calling to his past, their past. It was the exact same shirt he gave Sooyoung years back. It was the shirt that she had personally requested for.

Kyuhyun eyed the outfit, wondering what the big deal was since in his eyes it was pretty plain.

“Baseball uniform? Are you just a fan? A gift from a friend? From an ex? A boyfriend?”

The clueless third wheel joked.  

Sooyoung answered each thrown question confidently in her mind.

Yes. A baseball uniform that awakens both bad and good memories held preciously to her.

Yes. It was a gift from a friend, a friendship that blossomed into something much more.

Yes. It was a gift from an ex, who for so long, she despised, but even more so loved.

As for the last answer, she looked at the previous owner’s eyes, the one who looked ever so dashing while wearing it and replied, “You tell me.”

“Neighbours,” Changmin softly called out while extending his hand to hers, grabbing it without her knowing. He shook it one too many times, held it firm yet gently in his one too many seconds.

They held each other’s gazes, interlocked intensely.

One step at a time. One step at a time.

*ahem* Kyuhyun coughed, somewhat annoyed at the longevity of their strangely intimate “first encounter”, but he brushed it off as nothing.

“She’s the one.” He quietly whispered at his friend.

The words from Kyuhyun’s mouth finally interrupted the two as Changmin let go her warm hand pulling apart their connection once more. Shaken by what was just said, his feet stumbled a tad bit as he took two steps to the side much to Kyuhyun’s pleasure.

“We brought breakfast neighbour~” He happily sang as he held out a bag of freshly baked goodies before inviting himself and Changmin inside past the confused Sooyoung who continued to stare at a particular someone, remained at the door.

Kyuhyun whistled a happy tune as he took out the contents from inside the bag. Plastered across his face was an innocent smile. Changmin watched his chingu from a close distance before glancing back at Sooyoung who slowly but surely flashed him a shy smile.

Changmin recalled his previous wish for his friend,

I hope nothing takes that away from you buddy, that it never slips away from your grip.

But now staring at her and being so close, he thought:

“Mianhae chingu, but I just found out that I’m still holding on…”

=================

A/N:

I <3 you ppl who still are interested in reading this even when I never quite find the time to update.