Sunny closed the door of her apartment and stood behind it, half-stunned, half-confused.  This morning, she had been able to get Yuri as a flatmate.  This afternoon, she spoke to her landlord, who divulged a secret to her.  Before her ex-boyfriend had been living there, she had spoken to Mr Lai about the rent, and he had informed them both that the rent would be doubled, because two people were living there and the rent was per person, not for the apartment.  They agreed and had been paying the rent as directed.  Now, she found out that, in fact, the rent hadn’t been doubled, but had stayed the same.  Mr Lai had sensed that the “idiot”, as Yoona had so eloquently and daintily put it, wasn’t all he seemed, and had “charged” full rent for him to see whether he would run at the sign of such commitment.  He didn’t.  Mr Lai’s suspicions had been somewhat validated, when he had seen a young woman leaving the fifth floor, where Sunny’s apartment was, looking a little dishevelled.  He had never seen the woman before, but knew Sunny was out that day.  It turned out that she was one of his “conquests”, and Mr Lai was glad he had charged him the full rent.  The money he had paid, however, was secretly kept as an emergency fund for Sunny, if she ever needed it.  Half of it had been used on decorating her apartment, but a full year’s worth of rent had been kept back for her to use when she needed.  Mr Lai also admitted that it meant that the rent wouldn’t increase, meaning that she and Yuri would split the rent and bills equally, instead of increasing the costs for both of them.  She was speechless, completely.

“It’s ok,” Mr Lai comforted her, “I should have told you, but I didn’t know how to tell you I had been silently seeking pre-emptive revenge on your ex-boyfriend for something I knew he would do.  But your friend seems like a nice girl, and since you two are going to be the next big stars, I should tell you the truth and help you out.  Just let me meet her first, and she can have a key.”

Now, Sunny was trying to compute what had been said.  She wanted to scream at him and throw her arms around him at the same time.  The rent she had been paying was difficult for her at the time, but she didn’t think twice about it.  Now, she wished she had.  But that was then.  Now, she was working hard, and could afford a little luxury.  Eventually, she shook her head, shaking the clutter that had formed in her thoughts, took her phone from her pocket, and sent a message to Yuri.  “Mr Lai wants to meet you first to check you out,” she typed, “but it’s yours if you want it.”  As she tapped Send, a deep breath escaped her lips, followed by a slowly growing laugh.  He really had looked out for her, right from day one.  If only he was her father.  Actually, no.  Her father was a wonderful man.  But most people have an adopted father, she rationalised, and nodded, mentally adopting Mr Lai as her surrogate father.  Walking her way to the kitchen, she switched on the kettle and took her mug from the sideboard.  The vibrating of her phone on the work surface paused her tea-making process.  It was a message from Yuri.

“Thanks,” it read.  “Can I come by tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Sunny replied, “I don’t think he does anything on Saturday.  Is 12 ok?”  She sent the message and carried on making her tea, whilst Yuri replied, confirming the time and wishing her a good evening.

“This could be good,” she muttered to herself.  “Although I am going to have to get my head around cleaning up here.”  Admittedly, Sunny wasn’t the cleanest of people.  She wasn’t so messy that she had rodents or cockroaches or any other infestation, but she did have a habit of leaving clothes across the floor when she changed, or of throwing her coat somewhere, or of leaving a plate until the following morning before cleaning it.  Not the biggest of issues, but still something she should at least make an effort to keep in check.  Apparently, Yuri was quite a clean freak.  Not really OCD about it, but she liked things to be tidy and organised.  Without a second thought, she put her mug onto the coffee table and straightened up, ready for Yuri’s arrival.

“Is this really all you have?”  Sunny looked in wonder, as Yuri left the taxi with two suitcases, her rucksack and her guitar.

“Yep,” Yuri sighed, “everything else is either at my parent’s house or in storage.  Besides, I can move everything else here slowly, right?”

Sunny nodded, calling the elevator for the pair.  They ascended the five storeys to their floor in awkward silence, before leaving the elevator.  Instinctively, Sunny grabbed one of the suitcase handles before Yuri could object.  It also turned out to be the lightest.  The pair, each wheeling a suitcase behind them, walked to apartment 5c, the one they would be sharing.  Sunny stood aside from the door and handed Yuri her key.  “I’ll let you have the honours of opening the door, since you’re moving in.”  A smile from Yuri and a turn of the key later and the pair were inside.  “Can I get you anything?”  Sunny asked.  “Tea?  Coffee?  Water?”

“Water is good for me,” Yuri breathed heavily, standing her suitcase by the wall.  “I guess I can wheel them into my room later, right?”

Sunny nodded, handing the cool bottle of water to her new flatmate.  “Just so you know,” Sunny answered, “I’m not one of those girls who minds if you have company.  If you get a new guy, bring him over.  It’s fine by me.”

“Really?”  Yuri asked.  “It wouldn’t bother you if I had a guy and you didn’t?”

Sunny shook her head.  “No.  I mean, I guess could easily get a guy if I wanted to.  I’m just sworn off men for now.”

“Me too,” Yuri agreed, following her new flatmate to the sofa.

“Why?”  Sunny fell onto the sofa and opened her bottled iced tea.  “I mean, you’re really cool, really funny, and kinda … really pretty.  Why would you not want a guy?”

“Bad experiences,” Yuri shrugged it off, sitting down and joining her friend.

“Like what?”

Yuri shook her head and shrugged.  “Doesn’t matter.  It happened, and it won’t happen again.”

“What won’t?”

Yuri looked up.  There, sat next to her, were the most captive, most attentive eyes she had ever seen.  She looked at the bottle in her hands and took a deep breath.  “My ex was a jerk, and I’m never going to get with a guy who will treat me like that again.  What more is there to say?”

“You know you can always tell me,” Sunny offered.

Yuri shook her head.  “Thanks, but I’ll pass,” she replied, sipping her water.  “Anyway, what happened to you?  What has you sworn off men?”

Sunny shrugged her shoulders.  “He cheated on me.  Slept around.  Anyone willing to open their legs for him, he was right there.”

“I’m really sorry,” Yuri comforted her the only way she could.

Sunny shrug again.  “What can you do?  It happened.  I wasn’t enough for him.”

“What on earth makes you say that?”  Yuri asked, a little defensively.

“It’s true,” Sunny reasoned.  “If I was enough, he would have stayed.  He didn’t.  I need to find someone that I’m enough for.”

“You are enough for someone,” Yuri argued.

Sunny nodded as she drank.  “I know, but I need to find him.  I’m not going to change myself just because some guy can’t keep it in his pants.  I’m glad I’m this way.  I just need to be more careful who I give myself to.”

Yuri relaxed and nodded.  “Good.  As long as you never change.  You’re a wonderful woman, Sunny.  Don’t ever let anyone make you think otherwise.”

“Thanks,” Sunny smiled, blushing slightly.  “I’m young, anyways, I have plenty of time to settle down.  Now, it’s my time.  Time to do what I want, when I want.”

Yuri nodded in response and held her bottle out towards her companion.  “A toast,” she announced.  “To freedom, independence, and not needing a guy, his huge ego, or his little .”

Sunny toasted, furrowing her eyebrows at Yuri.  “Have you been dating my ex?”

“What?  No, I … I don’t think so,” she answered, confused.  “Why?”

“You described him perfectly,” Sunny sipped at her drink, leaving Yuri perplexed.  A smile crossed her face as she lifted her free hand and held her thumb and index finger a few centimetres apart.

Yuri’s jaw dropped, catching on to Sunny’s thought train.  “Oh my god,” she laughed.  “Really?”

Sunny nodded.  “Ok, maybe not that small,” she conceded, “but he was still pretty tiny.”

Yuri shook her head.  “I know they say good things come in small packages,” she started.

“Whoever came up with that was wrong, and really wrong,” Sunny laughed.  “I can’t believe how good I got at faking it.  I must have won a few Oscars by now.”

“So I guess you like a guy that’s 'well hung', huh?”  Yuri teased.

Sunny shook her head.  “It isn’t the size, it’s how you use it,” she replied sagely.

“You’re kidding,” Yuri shook her head.

“No, I’m Sunny,” she answered sarcastically.  “But I really believe that.  Yeah, he was small, but he was also absolutely clueless.  And so selfish, too!”

Yuri shook her head, smiling.  “Guys just won’t learn, will they,” she asked rhetorically.

It was 1am.  The night sky was lit only by the streetlights that aligned the roads, lighting the way for the passengers to arrive safely at their destination.  Sunny was still awake.  Three hours ago, she had excused herself to bed, minutes before Yuri had.  It felt … odd.  Having someone stay as a housemate?  Watching her quirks to make sure she didn’t step out of line?  There would be a point where she would slip up, Sunny was sure of it.  Then Yuri would see her as some hideous ogre and leave without a trace.  What concerned her wasn’t that she now had someone to help share the rent.  What concerned her was how much it was bothering her.  Of course she would be anxious with a new housemate.  Who wouldn’t?  But like this?  Even by Sunny’s standards, this was a little too much.  If she snored, Yuri was across the flat, at the opposite side of the living space to her.  There were rooms and walls between them both; the chances of her being heard were next to nil.  And yet, it worried her greatly that she might do something to ruin their new found friendship.  And what about her ex?  She was quite non-descriptive about what had caused her to go off men indefinitely.  Whatever it was, it must have been pretty significant.  Sunny rolled over onto her side and tried again to sleep.

Yuri couldn’t sleep either.  This was typical of her, by all accounts.  She could never seem to sleep in a strange environment.  When she was staying with Yoona, she had the same issues.  It usually took only a few days to become accustomed to her new surroundings.  But this felt … different.  She knew relatively little about her host, and the conversation about ex-boyfriends earlier had her spooked.  Especially when her breakup had caused her all manner of pain.  And yet, that wasn’t what stopped her from saying anything.  She didn’t know what did, but something was telling her to stay quiet.  Normally, she wouldn’t hold back.  It wasn’t her fault the relationship fell apart, it was his.  Why shouldn’t people know what a prized arsehole he was?  Even if what he said had some truth to it.  “No”, she chastised herself, quietly so Sunny would not hear.  “He was wrong, completely.  And I know Sunny was just being sweet, but she doesn’t need to know what happened.”  She took a deep breath and swallowed her anxieties, before turning onto her side and trying again to sleep.