01.
              -starting anew
 

Kyungsoo moves into his new apartment on a Tuesday. 

He's all jitters when he takes his key from the landlord,  stuttering out a quick 'thank you' that has him blushing to the ears. The short, wrinkled man gives him a grunt in return and turns to leave, immediately. Kyungsoo bites his lip and supposes it's a good thing that he minds his own. He had seemed awfully grumpy and the last thing he needed was a y landlord.

"Jesus, 'Soo," His friend, Chanyeol, breathes when they step into the hazardous looking elevator that will be taking them to the second floor
of the building. He'd offered to help Kyungsoo move his things, though the latter had told him it would be pointless, considering he didn't have a
whole lot to actually move. 
"Since I'm such a good friend," The cheeky giant had insisted with a grin. "Besides, I have a van."

Now, as they stand in the poorly lit elevator, he looks wary. "This place is..."

"It's a little old, Yes," Kyungsoo acknowledges. "But, well." He shifts the large box of his belongings in his arms, balancing it on his knee while he presses for the second floor. "The rent is very cheap."

Chanyeol snorts. "Ah, of course."

"Plus, it isn't so bad," He chides, standing back. "There's a certain charm to it. It's just a little... Dusty."

When the elevator groans to a stop a few moments later, the shorter of the two locks up momentarily and Chanyeol laughs at him. "Dusty, is that all?"

Kyungsoo frowns and ignores him, stepping out of the thing a little more quickly than he'd like to admit. "Now, let's see..."

It takes them nearly 10 minutes to find 14B, where he'll be living from now on. 'Until further notice, anyway,' Kyungsoo reminds himself. It's only temporary, after all.

Just until he can get back on his feet.

"Talk about confusing," Chanyeol huffs when they do find it. It felt like they'd more or less been stumbling around in circles, because most of the rooms weren't even in order. On top of that, some rooms didn't even have a number. "And weird... This place is giving me vibes, Kyungsoo."  

"You're being dramatic," Kyungsoo grunts, struggling to get his key fitted into the lock. "It's just... Ugh..." He finally gets it and shoves open the door shortly after. "Old."

"It's creepy!" Chanyeol squawks as he follows his friend into his new residence. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's a ing serial killer somewhere in this building. Hiding out... You know, the kinds that probably have a whole wall dedicated to their victims, with newspaper clippings
and stuff, holy ."

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. They hadn't even been there for half an hour. "You need to stop watching so many movies, you maniac. It does no good for your touch with reality." Which isn't all that great in the first place, he wants to add, but doesn't.

Chanyeol gazes around the apartment, nose wrinkled. "Yeah, but-"

"Chanyeol," Kyungsoo sighs, setting his stuff down on the couch that had already been sitting against the wall of the tiny living room. Well, at least that was one less thing to worry about. He hopes it's clean, at least. "Can we just get my stuff situated? Please?"

The lanky man pinks almost instantly. "Y-Yeah," he stutters, apologetic. He hurries over next to Kyungsoo and gingerly sets his things down. "Sorry."

They get to doing just that, making repeated trips to Chanyeol's van for the rest of his things. They start with the rest of the boxes, and then the meager amount of furniture he now owns, all of it given to him by Chanyeol. A bookshelf, a coffee table, and a mattress. It requires taking the stairs, making Chanyeol complain each time.

After everything's been brought up, they decide to unpack a bit.
The hours whiz by before they even realize it.

"Okay, this is enough," Kyungsoo finally says, pushing his hair back with a deep exhale. "We can stop here." It's not like everything needs to be put away tonight. He can finish up some other time, maybe unpack a little bit each day after work. There's really no rush.

For now, what he needs is a shower and some sleep.

Chanyeol glances at him from the bookshelf he himself had given to Kyungsoo. He pushes one last book into place before dusting off his hands. "Alright, then. I'll get some of these boxes, for you."

Kyungsoo nods, picking up all the stray newspaper around him. He gets up and pads into the kitchen, over to the pantry where a large garbage bag hung off it's door. It was all he had until he could get a proper bin.

"It's not bad," He hears Chanyeol admit as he gathers up the empty boxes. "With more stuff in it."

Kyungsoo smiles and nods, though his friend can't see. "I told you," He calls, stuffing all the newspaper into the trash. "It's just dated."

The other hums faintly, shuffling into the kitchen a moment later. "Still," He says, quietly. Kyungsoo turns around and watches Chanyeol shuffle closer, hands stuffed into his pockets. He's looking at Kyungsoo, eyes soft. "You know I would have let you stay with me longer."

Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, and Chanyeol knows what's coming, stops him.

"You know it's no trouble, 'Soo. You know I like having you around, and..." He shrugs and looks away. "I just don't understand why you wanna do things this way."

Kyungsoo looks at him for a long moment, lips pursed. "Because, I have to. I have to do this on my own. It's..." He hesitates, looking for the right words. "It's good for me."

"Well," Chanyeol says, eyes flicking over to rest on Kyungsoo again. "Don't hesitate to ever, like, call me if you need anything, okay? You know that I'd do anything for you." The last part is said with an obvious blush blooming across his cheeks, and Kyungsoo smiles softly at him.

"I know," He says, voice light and playful as he crosses the room to stand in front him. He arches a brow when looks up at the taller male. "But I'll be fine. I'm not totally disabled, you know?"

It's half joking, half serious, but Chanyeol winces anyway. "That's not what I'm saying, and you know it. I'm serious, though. If you need help, I don't care what it is- Just, call me. Right away, I mean it."

"You've done enough, Chanyeol," Kyungsoo laughs, delicately wrapping his arms around his best friend's skinny torso. He isn't one for hugs usually, but it's Chanyeol.

Chanyeol returns the hug, hesitant at first, before he's squeezing the younger. "Thanks, by the way," Kyungsoo adds after a few moments, awkward. He wishes he wasn't, but he's never been good with this stuff.  

"You know it's nothing," Chanyeol replies, resting his chin on the top of his head. "I gotta admit, though. I'm going to miss the home cooked meals," He says, sounding dreamy. "And a constantly clean house..."

Kyungsoo pulls away and swats at him, scowling. "So that's why you're going to miss me," He accuses and Chanyeol laughs, batting his hands away.

"That," He admits, resting his hand on top of his head. "But also you. Just you."

Kyungsoo feels himself flush, much to his dismay. Why did Chanyeol have to say like that? "Yeah, well," He mutters, moving Chanyeol's hand. "I'm sure you'll live. It's not like you can't just come and see me here, anyway."

He doesn't miss the flash of momentary hurt across his best friend's face before he covers it up with another grin. "That's true, I guess. Anyway, walk me out?"

It's a short walk, and suddenly Kyungsoo is a little reluctant to have him go. He hasn't been alone for a while. "Thanks 'Yeol," He tells him again, wishing he could express it a little better, wishing he could thank him for everything. But it's hard.

Chanyeol gets that, though, and smiles at him. His eyes twinkle a little bit with it, even under the ugly yellow lighting in the hall. "Anytime."

"I'll see you soon," Kyungsoo tells him, leaning on the door. He's stalling, just a little. "I'll still be working the rest of the week, and figuring out... All this, but maybe this weekend?"

"If you're not too tired," Chanyeol says, smile widening, "Maybe we could go do something. Or I'll come over and we can just, like, stay in and watch some movies or whatever?"

"I don't have a television," Kyungsoo reminds him gently.   

"Oh, Right," Chanyeol looks embarrassed, and Kyungsoo thinks he sees him blushing again. "Well, you know, you could always come to mine. And, um, it doesn't have to be movies. We could always do something else. I don't know, you think about it, we'll do whatever you want."

"Okay," Kyungsoo says with a small smile. He misses this idiot already.

"Okay..." Chanyeol repeats, hesitating. "Okay. See you, then."

"Bye," Kyungsoo says softly, and closes the door. As soon as he does, his heart sinks. Maybe he should have asked Chanyeol to stay, just for the night. Just to make sure...

He takes a deep breath and stops himself from thinking any further. No. No, this was fine. He was an adult.

'I just need to take a shower. Shower, and then go right to sleep. Everything will be fine,' he tells himself sternly.

Won't it?

He looks around hopelessly for a minute, rubbing his arms. It isn't the best, he knows that. It's small, it's cold, and it seems as though everything is discolored. The walls, the floors, even the windows. Kyungsoo doesn't miss the funky smell to the place, either.

But it's what he's got. He might as well make the best of it. He doesn't want to waste much more time just standing there, so he snaps himself out of it and goes to grab his shower things and some clothes for bed.

The bathroom is next to his bedroom, down at the end of the short hallway that separates it from the living room. He fumbles momentarily with the light, then moves in and sets his things down. He prays that there's water, relieved when it comes gushing out of the tub faucet. The loud rush fills his tiny bathroom. He turns the knob towards the hot setting, testing it with a finger. He waits, but even after a minute, it's still cold and there's no sign of it getting warmer anytime soon. He might have to get used to that, he supposes.

He sheds his clothes and steps inwith caution. He yelps when the spray hits him.

It's not cold. It's freezing.

"Goddamn it," He hisses, scrambling for the shampoo and making a mental note to ask someone about that later. He doesn't know who, but someone.

He's halfway done rinsing out his hair when a sudden, loud bang from the other side of the wall makes him jump and curse loudly. When it's followed by a bout of unintelligible yelling, his eyes widen. 'It must be from the apartment next door... What the hell?'

It stops just as abruptly as it started, and Kyungsoo frowns, hoping this doesn't become a problem.

With the minor incident still lingering on his mind, Kyungsoo rushes through the rest of his shower, trying to put a reason to it.

'Maybe it's a gamer,' He tells himself, turning the water off. He'd only heard one person yelling, he thinks. So that could be it, right? A hot headed gamer? Chanyeol always got so heated when he was playing video games. God knows how many times the guy had freaked out over losing a round.

Or maybe the person had injured themself in some way... Kyungsoo tended to be pretty loud too if he happened to burn himself or stub his toe.

'I'm just being jittery,' He concludes, toweling himself off. He was just on edge because he was in a new place and alone for the first time in a long time. Chanyeol's earlier fretting hadn't exactly helped, either.

Chuckling at himself, he hurries and finishes drying off and quickly throws his clothes on. He can't wait to get into bed, which might only be a measly mattress and some blankets on the floor at the moment, but a bed nontheless.

It does remind him, however, that he needs a bed frame. He also needs an actual trash bin, food, and actual kitchen supplies so he can eat food. He doesn't have any bowls or plates or silverware, he doesn't even have anything to cook in. Not even a microwave for instant food.

He thinks about how much it's all going to cost while he drags himself over to his little bed.

The bed frame can wait, is what he decides, throwing aside his blankets and crawling onto the mattress. He settles down and closes his heavy eyes.

There's so much to do.

A/N::

Chansoo is so good for the soul.
Anyway, I know this was short, but it's just to start things off. I also know there was no Jongin, but he should be making his first appearance in the next chapter ~

I should also add, that, as sorta mentioned in the tags for this story: the romance is going to be pretty light. As in, everything is going to be mostly platonic. (Especially on Kyungsoo's side)
It just ain't that kinda fic.

I'll try to get started on the next chapter right away!