“If I stay with you in Muscat then there’s a high chance that I’ll fall in love with you,” Seunghyun confessed with a smirk, “if you can’t handle that then you have to let me go.”

Jiyong stepped back anxiously, “who says I can’t handle that?”

Rather than that, the question was whether Seunghyun could handle Jiyong. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed it before, but Jiyong was the worst housemate to be attracted to. Once you fall in to pit of ‘seeing him as a potential partner’, you are tortured by his ignorant approach to cohabiting. It first struck him on the day the parents left for their vacation. 

Thursday, 20th March, 12:30

Seunghyun got back at home from work in his uniform with his bag in hand. He walked to the front door with his hand in the pocket on his jeans, searching for the keys. As he walked closer he noticed the sound of loud music coming from the kitchen. He momentarily smiled at the thought of sharing the house with Jiyong and then quickly shook the grin off as he felt an unfamiliar feeling crawling inside him. 

Jason Derulo’s music filled the house so loud that Jiyong didn’t even hear Seunghyun come in to find him dancing in the kitchen. Jiyong’s blond locks bounced in the air with the rest of his body. His skin was bare and glowing under the early afternoon blaze of sunlight which shone through the kitchen window. His voice was almost concealed by the music, but Seunghyun could hear it as clear and sweet as it was. He was wearing his skin tight underwear and nothing more. The black material clung on to his body, giving Seunghyun a detailed idea of every curve and line in his figure. 

Jiyong turned his head and jumped at the surprise of his friend staring at him. He turned the music down so that they could hear each other. The music was almost silent and it created an slightly uncomfortable emptiness in the atmosphere.
“You’re home already?” Jiyong looked at the clock, “I was about to make you lunch.”
Seunghyun laughed, “aren’t you going to put some clothes on?”
“No,” he replied, “it’s just you and me here, you don’t find it uncomfortable, do you?” The other man shook his head in response. Jiyong walked to the fridge. His legs were smooth and toned. The sea green painted nails on his long and slender fingers were distracting, and guided Seunghyun’s gaze to the parts he wasn’t supposed to look at. From the look in his eyes, to the movement of his hips, his presence was exhilarating.
Seunghyun cleared his throat, “so what should we have for lunch?”
“I’m not hungry but I thought you would be, so I bought some stuff,” he said as he took out some ingredients from the fridge. “I can make you pasta.”

Later, the two men sat opposite each other for lunch with a plate of pasta between them. Seunghyun was dressed in more casual clothing
“This is for you,” Jiyong said, “I really don’t feel hungry.”
Seunghyun raised his eyebrows, “this is too much for me.” The other man smiled and pushed the plate closer to his friend.
“Hyejung really likes you,” Jiyong started, “she was saying some funny things the other day.”
“Really?” Seunghyun laughed awkwardly. “She’s very funny sometimes. By the way, does Youngbae work at a repair shop?”
“He owns a repair shop... how do you know?”
“I was walking with Hyejung the other day and we crossed his shop, he was quite friendly,” he tried some pasta and smiled, “this is really good.”
“Thanks... So what did Youngbae say when he saw you?”
“This and that... He still thinks we’re dating so I didn’t say anything to make him think otherwise.” There was a short silence and Jiyong looked down at the table.
“Are we though?” he asked, “I mean, you were a little vague yesterday... I’m not quite so sure about what you meant.”
“I meant that I like you and if you like me back then we can work something out.”
Jiyong blushed, “right.”
“Why are you being so shy about it?” Seunghyun joked, “I guess it’s kind of weird talking about this while you’re practically .”
“If you like me then why were you leaving?”
Seunghyun sighed, “because... I thought it wouldn’t work out.”
Jiyong got up and walked over to the man to give him a back hug.

The sun sank lower in the sky and Seunghyun found himself alone in a house with nothing to do. Jiyong was due to come late from work and he was all alone with the pets - until he heard his phone ring.
“Hello?”
“Tabiiiii,” it was Katrina. “What are you doing? You must be home alone right now.”
Seunghyun hummed, “you’re keeping track of these things, huh?”
“Jiyong called me and asked me to ask you if you want to do something since he’s at work right now and he’s worried that you’re dying of boredom, to be exact.”
“Did he tell you anything else?”
“Not really, why is there something I should know?”
“No,” he lied, “you shouldn’t know anything.”
She scoffed, “you can’t refuse to tell me what it is - now that I know you’re hiding something. The fact that you lied about it made me more curious.”
“You can’t force me to tell you.”
“Is that an invitation to come over? I’ll see you in a while,” she hung up the phone, leaving Seunghyun to chuckle to himself. 

It had already been an hour since Katrina came. Seunghyun eventually had to tell her the entire story in detail, so that she would understand what had happened. She couldn’t stop asking questions. The two sat on the sofas in the living room, facing each other. 

“What are you going to do about his parents?” Katrina asked with a slight frown, “they won’t let you live here if they know that you guys are together.”
“We haven’t thought that far ahead,” he paused and rubbed his hands together, “why wouldn’t they let me live here?”
“Well, the last time Jiyong went through a serious relationship was with me. He still hasn’t fully recovered from the end of that... I mean the break up and Hyejung all at once - he fell back and didn’t do anything for a few years.”
“What has that got to do with me?”
Katrina bit her lip, “I don’t know how they will react exactly... I’m just saying it could go bad. How about you don’t tell them for the time being?”
“Okay, you explain that to him then,” Seunghyun replied. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, what is it?” Katrina turned her head to the side.
Seunghyun smiled nervously, “what am I supposed to do now? I mean, you’ve dated Jiyong and all... What exactly did you guys do, I mean?”
Katrina laughed, “just being here for him is probably enough. You can take him out and get to know each other more. When I dated Jiyong, I was already his best friend.” She crossed her legs and leaned back on the chair. “He can’t be the first person you’ve dated. Just do whatever you used to do with your other boyfriends.”
“Jiyong is the first guy, I’ve tried to date,” Seunghyun confessed, “and I want to be serious about it.”
“You guys are still at the beginning though, there’s no need to be serious about it yet.” Katrina crossed her arms. “Just relax and don’t think too much about it.”

That night, the weather was unusually warm. Gaho had been waiting for Jiyong to come home. Seunghyun had fallen asleep in the living room waiting for his housemate to return. A dinner with co-workers had held Jiyong back a lot longer than he had expected. Standing in front of the door, he felt guilty about not telling Seunghyun he’d be late. 

Jiyong walked in to the living room, where the light was still on. Seunghyun woke up to the sound and stretched his body.
“You’re back?” he yawned. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost three,” he looked at Seunghyun’s clothes and sighed, “you should change and get ready for bed.” The man got up from the sofa and walked towards the dressing room. 

Later, the two met in the bathroom between their bedrooms.
“Go ahead, I’ll wait outside,” Jiyong said as he stepped back in to his room.
Seunghyun refused, “I only need to brush my teeth, it’s not urgent or anything.”
“Same, we can use the sink together then.”
“Sure,” he replied. The time in the bathroom was painfully awkward. Jiyong was dressed in his usual light clothing, which barely covered his body. On the other hand, Seunghyun wore fuller clothes. A cozy grey shirt with long sleeves fitted nicely on to his body and his trousers were just the right size, as if they were tailored for him. Jiyong noticed these small details. His eyes shifted towards Seunghyun’s chest, where he glanced over the two s poking through his shirt. Seunghyun looked at the man next to him and raised his eyebrows.
“What is it?” he handed the toothpaste to Jiyong after squeezing some on to his toothbrush. “Why are you staring at me like that?” he said, before brushing over his teeth.
“It’s just weird,” Jiyong told him, “I guess I still haven’t managed to get my head around what happened over the last few days.”
“No