falling again (and again and again)
Fandom: SS501
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life
Pairing: HyunJoong/YoungSaeng
Word Count: 3518
Summary: YoungSaeng seeks perfection. HyunJoong is skilled in the art of imperfection.
Author's Note: Written for nekkajitge for gyonggo_ss.
YoungSaeng had always been one to seek after perfection in every aspect of his life. The way he looked, the way he did things, they all had to be flawless. Just one slight blemish would put his nerves on end. He couldn’t really help how he was, but then, was it so wrong to want everything to be just right?
HyunJoong didn’t give a damn about perfection. To him, it was so unrealistic and phony even. Whoever claimed perfection was the way to go was a big fat liar. Besides, what was so wrong with imperfection?
With nothing to his name, and being two months late with the rent, HyunJoong was pretty careless with his choice in a new roommate. He had never really liked scrutinizing people, so as long as the other guy didn’t smell and looked like he had just crawled out of a dumpster, he was fine with whoever moved into his home.
Much to his frustration, his hope of choosing the first person that showed up was not as easy as he had wanted. He ended up turning away two applicants who had shown up at his doorstep with blatant disregard to personal hygiene. One person said that he didn't believe in having a job. Another person just said he was lost-metaphorically anyway, but HyunJoong had to wonder if that was really the case.
It was nearly noon, and no decent human beings seemed to exist. He wondered if it was time to start drinking himself into a coma to avoid his landlord’s wrath.
When he was close to making a decision, the doorbell rang, and HyunJoong waited for a moment, wondering if the next sound he heard would be his door being slammed to the ground and his dear old landlord was coming in to snap his neck. When a second ring was heard instead, he figured he was safe-for now that is.
HyunJoong must have saved the country in his past life, because the next roommate-candidate surpassed his initial already low expectation. In fact, the guy had a decent steady job with a nice salary and no crazy beliefs. In short, he seemed…perfect.
And he smelled pretty good too, HyunJoong thought offhandedly, almost blurting it out loud.
“So YoungSaeng, when can you move in?”
YoungSaeng made it clear from the beginning that this was only a temporary situation until he could find a better-for lack of better words, he added as an afterthought-apartment. He took a shifty glance around the apartment, noticing dirty pots and pans in the sink, a pillow and blanket strewn across the couch, and a guitar case leaning precariously against the coffee table.
“Do you always sleep out here?”
HyunJoong looked to where YoungSaeng gestured, and shrugged. “Yeah, I get home late from gigs, so I just sleep out here.” He turned and grinned at YoungSaeng. “Don’t worry, there’s a spare empty bedroom for you to use.”
YoungSaeng took another glance, and then he mentally started making a list of rules and boundaries that he would need to share with HyunJoong in the near future.
YoungSaeng’s closet was small, but he still found a way to organize his clothes by types and colors. A dresser adjacent to the closet consisted of socks, ties, and his boxers and they also followed a similar organization format.
He found pride in the fact that everything was organized in a way for convenience. Meanwhile, he found his roommate’s method for organization to be a complete crime against humanity.
HyunJoong had jeans tossed over furniture, but that was still better than everything else that ended up on the floor, forming small mountains made up of dirty t-shirts, socks, and underwears. Empty bags of chips littered the floor while take out boxes were left on his dresser and nightstand just waiting to invite rats to reap the leftovers.
How can you live like this? YoungSaeng had wanted to ask, but it was in his seamless, well-mannered nature to refrain from asking rude questions to someone that he had only become acquainted to for 33 hours.
Little did he know, though, HyunJoong was not as clueless or absentminded as he seemed. The other man instantly picked up on YoungSaeng’s tensed, mildly disgusted appearance.
“S-sorry about the mess.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I haven’t had time to clean since my last roommate bailed on me.” He quickly closed his bedroom door, relieving YoungSaeng from the eyesore that is his room. “I guess this is also why I usually sleep on the couch,” he added as an afterthought.
“It’s quite alright,” YoungSaeng said with impeccable politeness, and for a moment, he could have sworn he saw a twitch from HyunJoong. “So should we work out small details about our living arrangement to ensure that there will be no trouble in the future?”
“Huh?”
HyunJoong had really just wanted someone to split the rent with.
YoungSaeng had handed HyunJoong a list comprising of exactly 50 roommate “rules” to help the two of them get along well. He read from his own copy, adding in clarifications when he felt needed. He paused when he reached rule twelve to see if HyunJoong was still listening.
HyunJoong, on the other hand, just asked, “The fuck is this?”
YoungSaeng decided perhaps, they could just ignore each other, and he would just have to put in an extra effort to find a reasonable place to live by himself.
“Oh by the way,” HyunJoong crumbled up the list, tossing it into the wastebasket that was also full of abandoned songs he had written, “your list never mentioned anything about when one of us has a girl over to…you know.” His eyebrows started moving up and down in a suggestive manner.
“Wh-what?” YoungSaeng tried to find some way to hide his burning face.
“Oh, I’m sorry, person.”
“That’s not what I-I mean, just-”
YoungSaeng retreated to his bedroom, unconsciously slamming the door.
HyunJoong smirked. In a loud sing-song voice, he added, “How about a rubber band on the doorknob?”
A soft panicked noise was heard on the other side, and HyunJoong felt pleased with himself.
He just hoped YoungSaeng would not leave until most of the late rents could be paid off first.
After the first day’s meeting, the two men did not really see each other for a few weeks. YoungSaeng worked in the daytime, which was when HyunJoong was sleeping until late in the evening. By the time YoungSaeng had arrived home, HyunJoong was already getting ready to leave.
Besides a few polite greetings, nothing else was said. They were still just strangers sharing an apartment together.
About two months into their new living arrangement, YoungSaeng had arrived home in the evening to find HyunJoong was still sleeping on the couch. He looked at his watch, and wondered to himself whether or not he should disturb the other man’s from his sleep. He glanced at his watch again, and saw that a minute had gone by.
This was for HyunJoong’s own good, YoungSaeng decided. Besides, he was not going to be the only one putting in the weight for the rent.
“Hyun-HyunJoong?” He shook the other’s man shoulder lightly, trying to stir him out of his rest.
HyunJoong remained still.
YoungSaeng tried harder, but nothing had changed.
He increased his strength each time, but by the eleventh time when HyunJoong continued to remain still, YoungSaeng was starting to have a small panic attack.
“My god-HyunJoong? Wake up! Co-come-” He fell back in surprised when HyunJoong sat up, eyes still blank as ever. He looked at YoungSaeng for a moment before reaching behind YoungSaeng to grab his phone from its place on the table. He started to check his messages, leaving a baffled YoungSaeng still sitting on the floor, mouth agape.
“Wh-Are you alri-why aren’t you working tonight?” YoungSaeng finally demanded, although he immediately covered his mouth, mentally kicking himself for his sudden outburst.
“Hung over,” HyunJoong answered, still reading his messages.
YoungSaeng let out a sigh, catching HyunJoong’s full attention. “By the way, YoungSaeng, why are you sitting there?”
YoungSaeng blinked, quickly getting up, and heading straight for his room. “Nothing,” he mumbled.
HyunJoong stared after YoungSaeng’s disappearing form before he finally realized what probably had happened. He followed after, knocking on the other man’s closed bedroom door. “YoungSaeng?”
He could hear a muffled “what?” from the other side, sounding as if YoungSaeng was changing shirts. HyunJoong cleared his throat before speaking, “I forgot to tell you: I’m a deep sleeper.”
There was a pause, and HyunJoong figured he could continue. “Sorry if I freaked you out or anything like that.”
He received no response.
“YoungSaeng?”
He waited, and then he heard: “What?”
“Do we have any aspirin?”
YoungSaeng opened his door and stared at his roommate. “What?”
“Hangover. Bad, bad hangover.”
YoungSaeng looked at HyunJoong for a moment before closing his bedroom door. HyunJoong blinked, and as he was about to return to his couch, the door opened again, and YoungSaeng handed him a pill, telling him the precise procedure to take the medicine as it was written on his bottle.
HyunJoong popped it into his mouth, mumbling in gratification. “Say, have you eaten yet? We should go out to eat and celebrate having a new roommate.”
“We’ve been living together for two months now,” YoungSaeng pointed out.
HyunJoong scoffed. “Fine, we’ll celebrate my first hangover in two months.”
YoungSaeng stared.
“I’ll pay,” HyunJoong added.
“Let me get my jacket.”
For some reason, much to YoungSaeng’s confusion, HyunJoong had been putting in extra efforts to get to know YoungSaeng since the aspirin-situation. He was not the type of person to push someone away, especially if they were buying him coffee every morning before work.
“Four packages of sugar,” YoungSaeng reminded HyunJoong as he started mixing their drinks to fit their individual taste.
HyunJoong grimaced, but YoungSaeng chose to ignore that look. “This is going to be really sweet, you know.”
“I know,” YoungSaeng responded, reaching for the cup when HyunJoong started to hand it to him. He took a sip, and smiled. “Perfect.”
HyunJoong grimaced again.
They sat down at a table in the middle of the café. YoungSaeng cleared his throat, grabbing HyunJoong’s attention in the process. “So,” he started, “don’t you usually sleep at this hour?”
HyunJoong shrugged, and YoungSaeng wondered to himself what that was even supposed to mean.
“Did you get fired?”
HyunJoong choked on his drink. He reached for a napkin to wipe his mouth before shooting YoungSaeng a dirty look. “No. I was not fired.” He pulled one leg up, wrapping an arm around it as he continued drinking his coffee.
“I’m taking a break until stupid Jungmin recovered from his broken leg, bratty HyungJun get back from his ‘vacation,’ and KyuJong is visiting his family since the other two idiots are unavailable.”
YoungSaeng was puzzled for a moment. “Are they in your band?”
HyunJoong nodded. “Jungmin’s the lead singer, HyungJun plays the drum, KyuJong is the bass player, and I’m the lead guitarist as well as the leader of the band.”
YoungSaeng nodded his head as HyunJoong listed off their positions, and then he jumped in his seat when HyunJoong slammed his fist on the table.
“Those idiots better get back by the end of the month, especially HyungJun. That brat is costing me more money than I am making.” HyunJoong noticed YoungSaeng cocking his head to the side, obviously puzzled by the recent outburst. “Never mind, just drink your coffee.” HyunJoong propped his chin in his hand, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“Speaking of which,” YoungSaeng started, “why are you buying me coffee every day?”
“I’m being courteous.”
“You’re being awkwardly weird.”
“Then you can buy me dinner tonight.”
“Wh-what?”
YoungSaeng really had no idea how HyunJoong got him to buy dinner for them that night, or all of the nights that followed for that matter. Usually while YoungSaeng was working, HyunJoong would send him a text with what he wanted for dinner that night.
Japchae! Let’s eat japchae tonight! And don’t be stingy on the meat~ =.=
Should we eat bibimbap tonight? We should! Make it for me Saengie!!
Since when did HyunJoong become so relaxed in formality, YoungSaeng had to wondered disapprovingly.
But.
But he did want to eat bibimbap too.
Let’s try something else tonight…PIZZA. PIZZA. PIZZA.
Texts like these made YoungSaeng wondered again how he came to know this man-child, but maybe this was not such a bad thing.
“You have tomato sauce on your lips, Saengie.”
YoungSaeng’s eyes widened when HyunJoong brushed his lips against his own. Caught by surprise, YoungSaeng remained motionless, mind completely blank even though there were many thoughts he could have had. When HyunJoong pulled away, licking his own lips, YoungSaeng still remained quiet.
After a moment, YoungSaeng spoke, “You’ve had too much to drink, HyunJoong.”
HyunJoong laughed, seemingly already forgetting the situation a few minutes ago as he started humming a song he had heard on the radio earlier that morning.
“I dreamt you were wearing a grass skirt and getting married to a monkey, and the wedding is ordained by HyungJun,” HyunJoong told YoungSaeng one morning.
YoungSaeng gave him an incredulous look. “Are you drinking already?”
HyunJoong sniffed his coffee, and shrugged. “You think this is spiked?”
YoungSaeng didn’t know why he laughed, or how he had grown so much closer to his roommate.
“So why am I in a skirt?”
“Because the monkey is the groom.”
YoungSaeng could sense a “duh” hanging off that sentence, but he was too amused and bewildered to snap back at him with a witty remark.
It had been two weeks, but YoungSaeng still had not mentioned the kiss. For one thing, was it even a kiss? HyunJoong did seem pretty drunk, or it was just his own unorthodox way of cleaning someone’s sauce-covered lips and YoungSaeng was now thinking too much into it.
YoungSaeng scoffed. Even he could not believe his own bullshit of a theory.
It was a strange day when HyunJoong did not send his request for dinner to YoungSaeng. After six months of living together, YoungSaeng recognized a routine had developed, but on this day, at one in the afternoon, he still had not received a text from his roommate.
“That’s particular,” he murmured offhandedly as he looked at his phone, just waiting for an alert to pop up on the screen.
He started to write a text, but stopped when he realized how ridiculous he seemed worrying about some man’s dinner. He stuffed his phone back into his pants pocket, mumbling about how glad he was that he could save some money for once as opposed to wasting it on takeout food.
When YoungSaeng arrived home, he noticed a rubber band on the doorknob. The sight of the object drew back the memory of their first meeting, and unknowingly, he started to seethed. He started to reach for the knob, but stopped when he realized what he could walk into. That thought alone made his blood boiled even more intense than before.
“So that’s why you didn’t want dinner. Hpmh.”
With nowhere else to go, YoungSaeng found himself wandering through a park as he thought again and again about that rubber band. “It’s my apartment, too.”
He kicked a pebble on the ground, feeling foolishly like a child that did not get what he wanted.
He walked around the park in circles for at least four times before he received a text message from HyunJoong. He considered ignoring the message, but curiosity had gotten the best of him.
YoungSaeng stared at the screen, on the verge of sputtering in exasperation. “You want ramen?”
He returned the phone to his pocket as he continued his walk around the park.
“Lousy jerk.”
It was around nine o’ clock when YoungSaeng decided to return home carrying a bag with ramen packages from a convenience store. He did not know why he should feel obligated to carry out HyunJoong’s request, but he just knew that he could not pass the convenience store without feeling guilty.
The rubber band was now gone, and when he entered the apartment, it was pitch black.
He called out for HyunJoong, but received no response. “Lousy jerk,” he mumbled again to himself. Then in a louder voice, he tried calling for his roommate again. “I got you your ramen!” In a quieter voice, he added, “you stupid horny bastard that left your roommate homeless and starving for four hours.”
“Now that’s not a nice thing to say about someone who was working hard on this party for you.”
YoungSaeng jumped in surprise when HyunJoong turned on the light, revealing a cake sitting on the coffee table with a present placed next to it.
YoungSaeng blinked nonstop, and then he felt a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. He dropped the bag, reaching for his head to swat at HyunJoong’s hand. “D-don’t!” He smoothed his hair, tossing a glare in HyunJoong’s direction.
His glare disappeared and was replaced with shock when he received a kiss on his lips. He pulled back, stumbling over the fallen bag. HyunJoong tried to break his fall, but succeeded in only getting his arm crushed by YoungSaeng’s body.
HyunJoong laughed weakly, pulling his arm out from under YoungSaeng. “Well, this is romantic,” he murmured, kissing YoungSaeng again.
“Wh-what are-”
“Happy six-month anniversary, roomie.”
YoungSaeng blinked again in confusion. He stared up at HyunJoong’s face, trying to comprehend that stupid smirk on his face, and then he let out a soft “ah” in understanding.
“You’re lame.”
“Well, I’m sorry we can’t all be as suave as you.”
HyunJoong leaned down again, stopping when YoungSaeng pushed his face back.
“What about the rubber band,” YoungSaeng demanded, inadvertently flinching at his own loud voice.
HyunJoong pulled the rubber band out of his pants pocket, twirling it around his finger. “This?” He continued when YoungSaeng nodded. “How else was I going to keep you away from the apartment as I prepare for the party?”
“Send me on an impossible errand, arrange for someone to distract me, tell me-”
HyunJoong clamped YoungSaeng’s mouth shut, sighing. “Since when did you get so snarky?”
YoungSaeng’s eyes widened, and then he let out a weak shrug, unsure of the answer himself.
HyunJoong removed his hand from his roommate’s mouth, leaning down again until they were only centimeters apart. “Happy six-month anniversary, YoungSaeng.” He kissed YoungSaeng’s forehead. “Hope you stick around until our one year mark.”
YoungSaeng smiled. “You’re so lame.”
“You’re too perfect,” HyunJoong quipped suddenly, biting into a morsel of cake, “but I still like you anyway.”
YoungSaeng raised a brow, trying to hold back his annoyance as much as possible. “What do you mean ‘anyway’?”
HyunJoong shrugged. “I don’t like perfection. It’s too fake.” He turned and smiled at YoungSaeng. “But I guess you’re an exception.”
YoungSaeng really should have been outraged by HyunJoong’s statement, but that impish smile was making it hard for him to stay angry for long. He settled for punishing HyunJoong with a shy shove, earning a low chuckle from the other man as a response.
“You’re too perfect,” HyunJoong whispered again, snaking an arm around YoungSaeng’s waist.
“Shut up.” YoungSaeng liked being perfect, and there was no way he was ever going to change himself just to please someone else. He considered his next thought with careful precaution, wondering how bold it would seem when spoken aloud. One look at HyunJoong’s cheeky smirk, and YoungSaeng decided that perhaps, for today anyway, he would be a little careless with the way he spoke around HyunJoong.
“You’re imperfections are perfect.”
“I’m oddly pleased and offended by that statement,” HyunJoong confessed, ruffling YoungSaeng’s hair again and annoying the other man in the process.
“By the way,” HyunJoong started, “you’re going to need to pay a little extra money for the rent this month, since I had to spend it on your present and cake.”
YoungSaeng was quiet. HyunJoong waved a hand up and down in front of YoungSaeng’s face. “Saengie?”
“Quiet. I’m debating whether or not to smother you with this pillow.”
“Yah! That’s not nice-” He smiled when YoungSaeng kissed him.
“You’re not nice,” YoungSaeng retorted quietly. HyunJoong started to give the other man a confused look, but YoungSaeng did not leave enough room for much talking afterwards.
The next morning YoungSaeng revealed to HyunJoong about how mean he thought HyunJoong was for making him fall for his roommate again and again with his silly-but endearing-antics. As a second thought, he confessed, “But I hope you stay this way always-imperfect as you are.”
HyunJoong was quiet and then he snorted, “And you called me lame.” He wrapped his arms around YoungSaeng to prevent him from attacking HyunJoong with the pillows. Nuzzling his face against YoungSaeng’s cheek, he whispered, “Sorry I’m a bad influence on your perfectness.”
“Well, as long as you acknowledge that.” YoungSaeng smiled, thinking perhaps, he could get used to living with this flawed person.
This entry was originally posted at http://108am.dreamwidth.org/41107.html.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life
Pairing: HyunJoong/YoungSaeng
Word Count: 3518
Summary: YoungSaeng seeks perfection. HyunJoong is skilled in the art of imperfection.
Author's Note: Written for nekkajitge for gyonggo_ss.
YoungSaeng had always been one to seek after perfection in every aspect of his life. The way he looked, the way he did things, they all had to be flawless. Just one slight blemish would put his nerves on end. He couldn’t really help how he was, but then, was it so wrong to want everything to be just right?
HyunJoong didn’t give a damn about perfection. To him, it was so unrealistic and phony even. Whoever claimed perfection was the way to go was a big fat liar. Besides, what was so wrong with imperfection?
With nothing to his name, and being two months late with the rent, HyunJoong was pretty careless with his choice in a new roommate. He had never really liked scrutinizing people, so as long as the other guy didn’t smell and looked like he had just crawled out of a dumpster, he was fine with whoever moved into his home.
Much to his frustration, his hope of choosing the first person that showed up was not as easy as he had wanted. He ended up turning away two applicants who had shown up at his doorstep with blatant disregard to personal hygiene. One person said that he didn't believe in having a job. Another person just said he was lost-metaphorically anyway, but HyunJoong had to wonder if that was really the case.
It was nearly noon, and no decent human beings seemed to exist. He wondered if it was time to start drinking himself into a coma to avoid his landlord’s wrath.
When he was close to making a decision, the doorbell rang, and HyunJoong waited for a moment, wondering if the next sound he heard would be his door being slammed to the ground and his dear old landlord was coming in to snap his neck. When a second ring was heard instead, he figured he was safe-for now that is.
HyunJoong must have saved the country in his past life, because the next roommate-candidate surpassed his initial already low expectation. In fact, the guy had a decent steady job with a nice salary and no crazy beliefs. In short, he seemed…perfect.
And he smelled pretty good too, HyunJoong thought offhandedly, almost blurting it out loud.
“So YoungSaeng, when can you move in?”
YoungSaeng made it clear from the beginning that this was only a temporary situation until he could find a better-for lack of better words, he added as an afterthought-apartment. He took a shifty glance around the apartment, noticing dirty pots and pans in the sink, a pillow and blanket strewn across the couch, and a guitar case leaning precariously against the coffee table.
“Do you always sleep out here?”
HyunJoong looked to where YoungSaeng gestured, and shrugged. “Yeah, I get home late from gigs, so I just sleep out here.” He turned and grinned at YoungSaeng. “Don’t worry, there’s a spare empty bedroom for you to use.”
YoungSaeng took another glance, and then he mentally started making a list of rules and boundaries that he would need to share with HyunJoong in the near future.
YoungSaeng’s closet was small, but he still found a way to organize his clothes by types and colors. A dresser adjacent to the closet consisted of socks, ties, and his boxers and they also followed a similar organization format.
He found pride in the fact that everything was organized in a way for convenience. Meanwhile, he found his roommate’s method for organization to be a complete crime against humanity.
HyunJoong had jeans tossed over furniture, but that was still better than everything else that ended up on the floor, forming small mountains made up of dirty t-shirts, socks, and underwears. Empty bags of chips littered the floor while take out boxes were left on his dresser and nightstand just waiting to invite rats to reap the leftovers.
How can you live like this? YoungSaeng had wanted to ask, but it was in his seamless, well-mannered nature to refrain from asking rude questions to someone that he had only become acquainted to for 33 hours.
Little did he know, though, HyunJoong was not as clueless or absentminded as he seemed. The other man instantly picked up on YoungSaeng’s tensed, mildly disgusted appearance.
“S-sorry about the mess.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I haven’t had time to clean since my last roommate bailed on me.” He quickly closed his bedroom door, relieving YoungSaeng from the eyesore that is his room. “I guess this is also why I usually sleep on the couch,” he added as an afterthought.
“It’s quite alright,” YoungSaeng said with impeccable politeness, and for a moment, he could have sworn he saw a twitch from HyunJoong. “So should we work out small details about our living arrangement to ensure that there will be no trouble in the future?”
“Huh?”
HyunJoong had really just wanted someone to split the rent with.
YoungSaeng had handed HyunJoong a list comprising of exactly 50 roommate “rules” to help the two of them get along well. He read from his own copy, adding in clarifications when he felt needed. He paused when he reached rule twelve to see if HyunJoong was still listening.
HyunJoong, on the other hand, just asked, “The fuck is this?”
YoungSaeng decided perhaps, they could just ignore each other, and he would just have to put in an extra effort to find a reasonable place to live by himself.
“Oh by the way,” HyunJoong crumbled up the list, tossing it into the wastebasket that was also full of abandoned songs he had written, “your list never mentioned anything about when one of us has a girl over to…you know.” His eyebrows started moving up and down in a suggestive manner.
“Wh-what?” YoungSaeng tried to find some way to hide his burning face.
“Oh, I’m sorry, person.”
“That’s not what I-I mean, just-”
YoungSaeng retreated to his bedroom, unconsciously slamming the door.
HyunJoong smirked. In a loud sing-song voice, he added, “How about a rubber band on the doorknob?”
A soft panicked noise was heard on the other side, and HyunJoong felt pleased with himself.
He just hoped YoungSaeng would not leave until most of the late rents could be paid off first.
After the first day’s meeting, the two men did not really see each other for a few weeks. YoungSaeng worked in the daytime, which was when HyunJoong was sleeping until late in the evening. By the time YoungSaeng had arrived home, HyunJoong was already getting ready to leave.
Besides a few polite greetings, nothing else was said. They were still just strangers sharing an apartment together.
About two months into their new living arrangement, YoungSaeng had arrived home in the evening to find HyunJoong was still sleeping on the couch. He looked at his watch, and wondered to himself whether or not he should disturb the other man’s from his sleep. He glanced at his watch again, and saw that a minute had gone by.
This was for HyunJoong’s own good, YoungSaeng decided. Besides, he was not going to be the only one putting in the weight for the rent.
“Hyun-HyunJoong?” He shook the other’s man shoulder lightly, trying to stir him out of his rest.
HyunJoong remained still.
YoungSaeng tried harder, but nothing had changed.
He increased his strength each time, but by the eleventh time when HyunJoong continued to remain still, YoungSaeng was starting to have a small panic attack.
“My god-HyunJoong? Wake up! Co-come-” He fell back in surprised when HyunJoong sat up, eyes still blank as ever. He looked at YoungSaeng for a moment before reaching behind YoungSaeng to grab his phone from its place on the table. He started to check his messages, leaving a baffled YoungSaeng still sitting on the floor, mouth agape.
“Wh-Are you alri-why aren’t you working tonight?” YoungSaeng finally demanded, although he immediately covered his mouth, mentally kicking himself for his sudden outburst.
“Hung over,” HyunJoong answered, still reading his messages.
YoungSaeng let out a sigh, catching HyunJoong’s full attention. “By the way, YoungSaeng, why are you sitting there?”
YoungSaeng blinked, quickly getting up, and heading straight for his room. “Nothing,” he mumbled.
HyunJoong stared after YoungSaeng’s disappearing form before he finally realized what probably had happened. He followed after, knocking on the other man’s closed bedroom door. “YoungSaeng?”
He could hear a muffled “what?” from the other side, sounding as if YoungSaeng was changing shirts. HyunJoong cleared his throat before speaking, “I forgot to tell you: I’m a deep sleeper.”
There was a pause, and HyunJoong figured he could continue. “Sorry if I freaked you out or anything like that.”
He received no response.
“YoungSaeng?”
He waited, and then he heard: “What?”
“Do we have any aspirin?”
YoungSaeng opened his door and stared at his roommate. “What?”
“Hangover. Bad, bad hangover.”
YoungSaeng looked at HyunJoong for a moment before closing his bedroom door. HyunJoong blinked, and as he was about to return to his couch, the door opened again, and YoungSaeng handed him a pill, telling him the precise procedure to take the medicine as it was written on his bottle.
HyunJoong popped it into his mouth, mumbling in gratification. “Say, have you eaten yet? We should go out to eat and celebrate having a new roommate.”
“We’ve been living together for two months now,” YoungSaeng pointed out.
HyunJoong scoffed. “Fine, we’ll celebrate my first hangover in two months.”
YoungSaeng stared.
“I’ll pay,” HyunJoong added.
“Let me get my jacket.”
For some reason, much to YoungSaeng’s confusion, HyunJoong had been putting in extra efforts to get to know YoungSaeng since the aspirin-situation. He was not the type of person to push someone away, especially if they were buying him coffee every morning before work.
“Four packages of sugar,” YoungSaeng reminded HyunJoong as he started mixing their drinks to fit their individual taste.
HyunJoong grimaced, but YoungSaeng chose to ignore that look. “This is going to be really sweet, you know.”
“I know,” YoungSaeng responded, reaching for the cup when HyunJoong started to hand it to him. He took a sip, and smiled. “Perfect.”
HyunJoong grimaced again.
They sat down at a table in the middle of the café. YoungSaeng cleared his throat, grabbing HyunJoong’s attention in the process. “So,” he started, “don’t you usually sleep at this hour?”
HyunJoong shrugged, and YoungSaeng wondered to himself what that was even supposed to mean.
“Did you get fired?”
HyunJoong choked on his drink. He reached for a napkin to wipe his mouth before shooting YoungSaeng a dirty look. “No. I was not fired.” He pulled one leg up, wrapping an arm around it as he continued drinking his coffee.
“I’m taking a break until stupid Jungmin recovered from his broken leg, bratty HyungJun get back from his ‘vacation,’ and KyuJong is visiting his family since the other two idiots are unavailable.”
YoungSaeng was puzzled for a moment. “Are they in your band?”
HyunJoong nodded. “Jungmin’s the lead singer, HyungJun plays the drum, KyuJong is the bass player, and I’m the lead guitarist as well as the leader of the band.”
YoungSaeng nodded his head as HyunJoong listed off their positions, and then he jumped in his seat when HyunJoong slammed his fist on the table.
“Those idiots better get back by the end of the month, especially HyungJun. That brat is costing me more money than I am making.” HyunJoong noticed YoungSaeng cocking his head to the side, obviously puzzled by the recent outburst. “Never mind, just drink your coffee.” HyunJoong propped his chin in his hand, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“Speaking of which,” YoungSaeng started, “why are you buying me coffee every day?”
“I’m being courteous.”
“You’re being awkwardly weird.”
“Then you can buy me dinner tonight.”
“Wh-what?”
YoungSaeng really had no idea how HyunJoong got him to buy dinner for them that night, or all of the nights that followed for that matter. Usually while YoungSaeng was working, HyunJoong would send him a text with what he wanted for dinner that night.
Japchae! Let’s eat japchae tonight! And don’t be stingy on the meat~ =.=
Should we eat bibimbap tonight? We should! Make it for me Saengie!!
Since when did HyunJoong become so relaxed in formality, YoungSaeng had to wondered disapprovingly.
But.
But he did want to eat bibimbap too.
Let’s try something else tonight…PIZZA. PIZZA. PIZZA.
Texts like these made YoungSaeng wondered again how he came to know this man-child, but maybe this was not such a bad thing.
“You have tomato sauce on your lips, Saengie.”
YoungSaeng’s eyes widened when HyunJoong brushed his lips against his own. Caught by surprise, YoungSaeng remained motionless, mind completely blank even though there were many thoughts he could have had. When HyunJoong pulled away, licking his own lips, YoungSaeng still remained quiet.
After a moment, YoungSaeng spoke, “You’ve had too much to drink, HyunJoong.”
HyunJoong laughed, seemingly already forgetting the situation a few minutes ago as he started humming a song he had heard on the radio earlier that morning.
“I dreamt you were wearing a grass skirt and getting married to a monkey, and the wedding is ordained by HyungJun,” HyunJoong told YoungSaeng one morning.
YoungSaeng gave him an incredulous look. “Are you drinking already?”
HyunJoong sniffed his coffee, and shrugged. “You think this is spiked?”
YoungSaeng didn’t know why he laughed, or how he had grown so much closer to his roommate.
“So why am I in a skirt?”
“Because the monkey is the groom.”
YoungSaeng could sense a “duh” hanging off that sentence, but he was too amused and bewildered to snap back at him with a witty remark.
It had been two weeks, but YoungSaeng still had not mentioned the kiss. For one thing, was it even a kiss? HyunJoong did seem pretty drunk, or it was just his own unorthodox way of cleaning someone’s sauce-covered lips and YoungSaeng was now thinking too much into it.
YoungSaeng scoffed. Even he could not believe his own bullshit of a theory.
It was a strange day when HyunJoong did not send his request for dinner to YoungSaeng. After six months of living together, YoungSaeng recognized a routine had developed, but on this day, at one in the afternoon, he still had not received a text from his roommate.
“That’s particular,” he murmured offhandedly as he looked at his phone, just waiting for an alert to pop up on the screen.
He started to write a text, but stopped when he realized how ridiculous he seemed worrying about some man’s dinner. He stuffed his phone back into his pants pocket, mumbling about how glad he was that he could save some money for once as opposed to wasting it on takeout food.
When YoungSaeng arrived home, he noticed a rubber band on the doorknob. The sight of the object drew back the memory of their first meeting, and unknowingly, he started to seethed. He started to reach for the knob, but stopped when he realized what he could walk into. That thought alone made his blood boiled even more intense than before.
“So that’s why you didn’t want dinner. Hpmh.”
With nowhere else to go, YoungSaeng found himself wandering through a park as he thought again and again about that rubber band. “It’s my apartment, too.”
He kicked a pebble on the ground, feeling foolishly like a child that did not get what he wanted.
He walked around the park in circles for at least four times before he received a text message from HyunJoong. He considered ignoring the message, but curiosity had gotten the best of him.
YoungSaeng stared at the screen, on the verge of sputtering in exasperation. “You want ramen?”
He returned the phone to his pocket as he continued his walk around the park.
“Lousy jerk.”
It was around nine o’ clock when YoungSaeng decided to return home carrying a bag with ramen packages from a convenience store. He did not know why he should feel obligated to carry out HyunJoong’s request, but he just knew that he could not pass the convenience store without feeling guilty.
The rubber band was now gone, and when he entered the apartment, it was pitch black.
He called out for HyunJoong, but received no response. “Lousy jerk,” he mumbled again to himself. Then in a louder voice, he tried calling for his roommate again. “I got you your ramen!” In a quieter voice, he added, “you stupid horny bastard that left your roommate homeless and starving for four hours.”
“Now that’s not a nice thing to say about someone who was working hard on this party for you.”
YoungSaeng jumped in surprise when HyunJoong turned on the light, revealing a cake sitting on the coffee table with a present placed next to it.
YoungSaeng blinked nonstop, and then he felt a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. He dropped the bag, reaching for his head to swat at HyunJoong’s hand. “D-don’t!” He smoothed his hair, tossing a glare in HyunJoong’s direction.
His glare disappeared and was replaced with shock when he received a kiss on his lips. He pulled back, stumbling over the fallen bag. HyunJoong tried to break his fall, but succeeded in only getting his arm crushed by YoungSaeng’s body.
HyunJoong laughed weakly, pulling his arm out from under YoungSaeng. “Well, this is romantic,” he murmured, kissing YoungSaeng again.
“Wh-what are-”
“Happy six-month anniversary, roomie.”
YoungSaeng blinked again in confusion. He stared up at HyunJoong’s face, trying to comprehend that stupid smirk on his face, and then he let out a soft “ah” in understanding.
“You’re lame.”
“Well, I’m sorry we can’t all be as suave as you.”
HyunJoong leaned down again, stopping when YoungSaeng pushed his face back.
“What about the rubber band,” YoungSaeng demanded, inadvertently flinching at his own loud voice.
HyunJoong pulled the rubber band out of his pants pocket, twirling it around his finger. “This?” He continued when YoungSaeng nodded. “How else was I going to keep you away from the apartment as I prepare for the party?”
“Send me on an impossible errand, arrange for someone to distract me, tell me-”
HyunJoong clamped YoungSaeng’s mouth shut, sighing. “Since when did you get so snarky?”
YoungSaeng’s eyes widened, and then he let out a weak shrug, unsure of the answer himself.
HyunJoong removed his hand from his roommate’s mouth, leaning down again until they were only centimeters apart. “Happy six-month anniversary, YoungSaeng.” He kissed YoungSaeng’s forehead. “Hope you stick around until our one year mark.”
YoungSaeng smiled. “You’re so lame.”
“You’re too perfect,” HyunJoong quipped suddenly, biting into a morsel of cake, “but I still like you anyway.”
YoungSaeng raised a brow, trying to hold back his annoyance as much as possible. “What do you mean ‘anyway’?”
HyunJoong shrugged. “I don’t like perfection. It’s too fake.” He turned and smiled at YoungSaeng. “But I guess you’re an exception.”
YoungSaeng really should have been outraged by HyunJoong’s statement, but that impish smile was making it hard for him to stay angry for long. He settled for punishing HyunJoong with a shy shove, earning a low chuckle from the other man as a response.
“You’re too perfect,” HyunJoong whispered again, snaking an arm around YoungSaeng’s waist.
“Shut up.” YoungSaeng liked being perfect, and there was no way he was ever going to change himself just to please someone else. He considered his next thought with careful precaution, wondering how bold it would seem when spoken aloud. One look at HyunJoong’s cheeky smirk, and YoungSaeng decided that perhaps, for today anyway, he would be a little careless with the way he spoke around HyunJoong.
“You’re imperfections are perfect.”
“I’m oddly pleased and offended by that statement,” HyunJoong confessed, ruffling YoungSaeng’s hair again and annoying the other man in the process.
“By the way,” HyunJoong started, “you’re going to need to pay a little extra money for the rent this month, since I had to spend it on your present and cake.”
YoungSaeng was quiet. HyunJoong waved a hand up and down in front of YoungSaeng’s face. “Saengie?”
“Quiet. I’m debating whether or not to smother you with this pillow.”
“Yah! That’s not nice-” He smiled when YoungSaeng kissed him.
“You’re not nice,” YoungSaeng retorted quietly. HyunJoong started to give the other man a confused look, but YoungSaeng did not leave enough room for much talking afterwards.
The next morning YoungSaeng revealed to HyunJoong about how mean he thought HyunJoong was for making him fall for his roommate again and again with his silly-but endearing-antics. As a second thought, he confessed, “But I hope you stay this way always-imperfect as you are.”
HyunJoong was quiet and then he snorted, “And you called me lame.” He wrapped his arms around YoungSaeng to prevent him from attacking HyunJoong with the pillows. Nuzzling his face against YoungSaeng’s cheek, he whispered, “Sorry I’m a bad influence on your perfectness.”
“Well, as long as you acknowledge that.” YoungSaeng smiled, thinking perhaps, he could get used to living with this flawed person.
This entry was originally posted at http://108am.dreamwidth.org/41107.html.