Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had become a habit of Donghyun to come to the rooftop of the building. Despite being in Seoul, the building wasn’t very high compared to the ones you could see around. Up there, he couldn’t see much besides the surroundings of the building, some other rooftops and the street below, but he also couldn’t hear the bustle of the city.
Nobody came to the rooftop anyway so he took the chance and arranged a comfortable seat, a small table and somehow managed to tie a blanket from the wall to one of the remaining metallic fence the building still had in order to be under shade on a sunny day. He was lucky that the rooftop was not very big and hadn’t struggled much when tying the blanket.

Donghyun’s major was music, focused on composition. He for sure was pursuing something he loved and liked to do, so it is natural to think he would come here to get inspiration to write, compose or even play the guitar, his beloved instrument, yet he came to do other things: some days he went to read, listen to music, some days he would just blankly stare at the sky. He remembers he used to be a bibliophile when he was younger but lost interest over the years. However, since he came from Daejeon to pursue his dream, reading became his way to escape, at least momentarily, from daily life, but didn’t necessarily need to read to do that.

Today was one of those days he needed to space out for a bit and took the elevator to the seventh floor, where he could walk up the stairs to the rooftop. The day was partially cloudy, but the sun was visible and still shone strong. Maybe it was because it rained for the few past days, but Donghyun caught a whiff of spring. Wind was blowing gently and helped him fight the heat. Thankfully, he thought. He came earlier than usual so he decided to sit and wait until the sunset. He reclined the back seat to a point he was half lying, put some music on his mobile out loud and closed his eyes, proceeding to immerse into his thoughts.

After what seemed like an eternity to him, he heard the noise of the door opening and steps slowly approaching him when he decided to open his eyes and get up to look who managed to sneak into the rooftop. When he turned to the person, he saw a boy not much taller than himself with a hair colour he could describe as burgundy or bourgogne that changed according to the amount of light it reflected. It covered his forehead to his eyebrows and was a little bit curly. He had small but elongated eyes with the outer corner a little down, which made him look a little sad, but the grin on his lips said otherwise. He had both of his ears pierced and was wearing casual clothes, what seemed to be an oversized striped white pyjama shirt with a grey tracksuit pants.

“Eh…” the boy said, finally breaking the ice. “Hello, are you Kim Donghyun?”

The sudden burst of words from the boy startled him, they might have been staring at each other for so long. He grabbed his phone to turn off the music “Yes, it is me. And you are…?” He asked back kindly.

“My name’s Im Youngmin, I live on the fourth floor. I –” the boy hesitated briefly after going on, “I recently moved there and I don’t have a clothes line yet in my house, so I was wondering if I could hang up the clothing here,” he said while moving his arms, which held a basket. Donghyun didn’t notice it carried clothes at all until now.

Cute, Donghyun thought. He inspected his surroundings to think of a way to tie a clothes line, but there was nothing to do so on the wall of the entrance. “I don’t think we can hang a clothes line here, there is no support on the wall. But I do have a drying rack in home, do you want me to bring it over?” he replied.

“It’s not necessary, really, I could just hand them around –” but Donghyun cut him off and started walking towards the door.

“It is nothing, really! Wait here for a moment” he said smiling. He couldn’t tell very well since it could be the sun light, but he thinks he saw Youngmin blushing.

Because he didn’t want to make the boy wait too much, he took the stairs instead and rushed supporting himself on the railing. There were only 3 stories any ways. How could his new neighbour possibly moved in without him noticing it? He discarded the possibility of Youngmin living next to his door, since he would have heard the noises, so he could only live in the two opposite doors to his.

Once he had the drying rack, he took the elevator back to the seventh floor and went to the rooftop. Youngmin was now staying on the shade projected by the blanket and staring the surroundings, the basket lying on the floor.

“Hey” Donghyun said, drawing the attention from the boy, who turned back. “Be careful, the wall is quite low and most of the fence is missing” he added playfully, while deploying the rack.

Youngmin proceeded to pick up the basket and approached Donghyun, setting the rack on the sun near the shade. “I’m very careful, I was just looking around,” he replied and put the basket on top of the rack.

Donghyun couldn’t help but smile. “I know, I am just playing around”. He looked the pile of clothes. “Do you want me to help you hang this?”

Youngmin, who was taken aback, declined his help. He had underwear among the clothes and whereas it was ok for him to be shown, it would be embarrassing if the boy hanged them. Donghyun then went back to the seat.

“How long have you been living there?” Donghyun asked after a couple of minutes, minutes that felt like an eternity.

Youngmin couldn’t put into words how much he was thankful that he started the conversation, as he was not a person that would carry conversations. “I moved in last weekend, so 6 days from today,” he quickly recalled.

Donghyun really didn’t have a clue on how he could not hear him moving, but these were flats normally rented to students, so he would not have needed big things. He could also have moved when he was studying our out of home, that explained not seeing him around the common areas.

“I asked an ahjumma I saw a few days ago who I had to ask the rooftop keys,” he started this time, “she told me nobody comes to the rooftop since a long time, but one owner of the pair of keys was a boy who came here occasionally, so I tried coming today and lucked out”. He pauses to take another piece of clothing. “The door was half-open, so I stepped out”.

Donghyun was a bit confused because he always shuts the door in order to not get disturbed by some neighbour, but he was not heartbroken about this but completely the opposite.

The boy finished hanging the clothes. Frowning, he stared at Donghyun, who was sitting in the seat staring back at him, with a hand over his eyes to cover from the sun. Donghyun said the sunset will be soon, so he suggested Youngmin to stay here and chat for a bit, an offer which he can naturally not refuse. Donghyun sat on the floor leaning on the table, as he encouraged Youngmin to do the same since he didn’t like to be up on him on the seat.

The day’s warm, but not hot. A breeze of wind gently blows their skin, moving their hair, rustling the metallic fence.

Donghyun shook his head and fixed his bangs. “I live on the fourth floor as well. I’m not renting the flat, my parents bought it long ago and I moved here to attend university. They haven’t the major I wanted back in my hometown, Daejeon, that’s why”. He put a grin on his face, which made his expressions lean towards a side of his face as he talked. “Back in Daejeon I lived in a house with a big balcony, and I spent fairly a good time there. But in this apartment, I don’t have such thing, so I had to contact the neighbours until I manage to get the key for the rooftop, then got a set of keys for myself”.

After holding forth at such length he looked away and looked back again at Youngmin. The boy had been listening attentively through all his speech, but had to look away a few times because Donghyun was gazing at him all the time, which embarrassed him.

Donghyun could see sparkles in Youngmin’s eyes. They were naturally as if he had tears on them, but wasn’t the case. “Your family owns the apartment? That’s lucky” He said. “My rental contract expired so I had to move. This was the best option”. Donghyun was looking at him so fondly he had to look away again because he started to blush. “A-anyway”, the boy stuttered. “What major did you choose?”

“Can you guess?”

Youngmin didn’t know what to say. “You look…” he paused and examined the boy before going on. “… like a biology student?”

“Fat chance” he laughed. “I major Composition in CAU… what?” the other boy pulled a surprised face and he couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Me too! I am in my second year!” he said, too hurriedly he almost tripped his words. Youngmin’s eyes would squint a little whenever he laughed, showing a faint eye smile. Donghyun thought he resembled an alpaca somehow.

They kept talking about how Youngmin took a gap year because he was not sure what to do and worked in his parents’ tomato farm in Busan. He talked about his little brother, his life back there, his friends, his present life in Seoul. While Youngmin liked to rap, Donghyun focused on singing, but they both had in common their passion for composing. “We should write a song together!” Donghyun said cheerily. And so they agreed to do in a future.

In a brief pause of their conversation, Donghyun realised it was dusking, so he told him to come with him and see the sunset.

“This building isn’t very tall and you are not able to see the sun hid until the skyline, but in this spot you can see it to its furthest point among the buildings. Right there” he said, raising his arm and pointing the buildings in the distance.

They stood here for a long time, thinking long and hard without saying much, only Donghyun pointing at places and naming them.

Donghyun had a habit of approaching people too close when talking with them, regardless of whether he knew them or not. It was not until this point that Youngmin learned that. Their arms and hands kept touching. Youngmin moved little by little to the side to not be very close to him, but every time he pointed at something he would return right to his side. Thinking he might notice it and could be seem as rude, he started to play with his hands. As if Donghyun had indeed noticed, he looked at Youngmin’s hands and returned his gaze to the sunset.

Donghyun swung his feet forward and backwards a few times. “Your clothes should be almost dry by now” he stopped and looked at the other, who reciprocated. “Should we be going now? I can walk you home”

“I- what? But we live downstairs?”

“I know”. This time was Youngmin who laughed.

Whilst Donghyun went to pick up his phone, Youngmin picked his clothes. Once done, Donghyun carried the drying rack and walked towards the door. Youngmin came in first, and he went down the stairs to push the button for the lift. Even though the lift was small they managed to fit in with the rack. When they arrived at the fourth floor, no one of the two wanted to say goodbye.

“Can you give me your number? We have to make our next date” Donghyun said.

‘Our next date’? Youngmin shook the strange thoughts. “Sure, hand me your phone” said still unsure. When he got the mobile from Donghyun’s hand, he saw he’d saved him as ‘Alpaca’ along a tomato emoji. He could feel his face lighten up and blushing, and there was no way of avoiding Donghyuns eyes this time. “Why would you save me like this? Do I resemble an alpaca?” he whined.

Youngmin formed a pout in his expression. “Don’t you like it? I can change it if it is not okay with you!” Donghyun replied with a broad smile, which didn’t lightened Youngmin’s red face.

“It’s okay! I actually like it!” They stood like they were for a few seconds. “I should be going now, I have to make dinner and be early for tomorrow’s classes” Youngmin excused himself. It was not truly an excuse, however he couldn’t resist any longer the boy’s gaze, who kept a smiling face all the time.

“Ok, let’s meet soon hyung! I won’t forget to bring you a pair of keys!” They said goodbye and Donghyun turned away to open his apartment’s door, not before looking back at Youngmin, who did the same and pretended he didn’t.

Chapter Text

Youngmin’s bed sheets were of an orange colour, just as the colour the sky turns when a storm is approaching on a warm day, Youngmin thought while he was emptying the washing machine drum onto his basket. They were not originally this tonality, as it faded over the years of use.

Nothing happened when he knocked the door. After a while, Youngmin decided to go upstairs to the rooftop and search for Donghyun here. Just like the first time they met, the door was opened and Donghyun was sit, but unlike the first time, he was now reading a book, Kafka on the Shore by Murakami, Youngmin could disguise.

“Hello hyung! You came” the boy said loud. Donghyun closed the book with a little piece of paper, left it on the table and got up, walking towards Youngmin.
Donghyun was wearing a big close-knit turtleneck brown wool jumper with blue jeans and pale brown clothed shoes that matched the jumper and his hair. Whilst it was spring, the boy looked like autumn, Youngmin thought.

“Hello Donghyun”. He paused for a moment, thinking in detail how to put in words his thoughts. “I wanted to dry out my clothes so I knocked into your door but there was no answer, I thought you might be here. I should have messaged you before but the reason I didn’t is…” Donghyun stood now in front of him.

“It is okay, I feel the same too! But if you wanted to hang the clothes, you should have texted me with no hesitation. I don’t bite, you know” he moved his leg back, with the tip of the foot resting on the floor, spinning his ankle.

“I could tell the same!?” he replied back with a pouty face, which made Donghyun chuckle a little. Youngmin felt relieved knowing he was not angry. He glanced over Donghyun and saw the white drying rack next to the shadow projected by the blanket. “You brought it?” he said as he pointed back him.

Donghyun looked back and smiled. “I bring it every time I come here just in case”

An ambulance passed by loudly. Even though it was a spring evening in late March, it was a cold but sunny day, humidity heavily pressing against their skin. Birds would come and go, perching on the electric wires and the metallic fence every once in a while.

After they both finished hanging the bed sheets, in which Youngmin accepted the younger offer to help, they sat on the floor with their legs crossed, covering them with a blanket Donghyun brought. “Here. I bought banana bread and carrot cake. I’m usually hungry when I read. Oh also, I got you the keys as promised”. Youngmin then extended both of his hands to take the keys and thanked him.

“Did you know banana bread has a lot of calories?” Youngmin said before putting a piece of bread in his mouth.

“Really? I thought it would be the opposite since they are made of fruit… they are my favourite” his expression was on the sad side, but it didn’t show much.

“That would explain your round cheeks” Youngmin said under his breath unintentionally. Astonished at his own words, he covered his mouth with both hands. His cheeks started to heat up while Donghyun remained a calm expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that, it is not a bad thing, I mean your cheeks are cute, the ones that…” his voice slowly faded. At this point, Donghyun had half a smirk half a pout on his face, along with bright red cheeks.

“Look who is talking! You too have big round cheeks! You look exactly like an alpaca eating when you chew!” he exclaimed laughing while getting up. They both laughed at his sudden outburst.

Their daily routines, college, their liked dishes, composition; each little fragment that led nowhere but everywhere. Every piece of their lives were put together one after another with apparent no meaning, but they gave meaning to every one of them. Even just by having met twice, it was obvious for both of them that they were growing more accustomed to each other. This fact surprised Youngmin himself, who was not the kind of person to do so this quick.

“I lived in Singapore for 5 years” mentioned Youngmin.

It was not until a puff of wind that made them feel a faint chill when they realised the dark was enfolding them. Donghyun suggested then to clean up and gather the clothes. “Do you want to go out and have a supper?” Donghyun asked before going downstairs.

Youngmin let out a sigh and looked to the black sky, whilst humming. “What? We can eat something delicious!” he insisted. Youngmin looked at him with a doubtful look. “Ah, we can go to the pond at the nearby park and spot some fireflies if we are lucky! Minnows as well!” he continued. This time Youngmin looked convinced, who only sighed with the only purpose of seeing Donghyun begging. The excited look at his face put a grin on Youngmin’s face.

“My clothes are still a little bit damp, let me hang them around my flat and get ready first”

“I can help you with that! Go go!” Donghyun hurried Youngmin and grasped him by his waist behind him, slightly pushing him downstairs. Youngmin was a bit startled to the touch and looked embarrassed, but the other boy didn’t seem to notice as we has walking with big steps, side by side not to step on his. Everything he showed was a big smile.

Chapter Text

They had arranged the date for the next Saturday at the roof. There was no laundry implied this time, just the both of them to chat for a while. He chose good clothes as Youngmin always dressed with flair, he noticed, even in simple outfits. A simple white shirt packed in with black jeans would do. He styled his hair in a comma shape and finally grabbed the backpack and left.

Prying into the roof, he saw Youngmin was already waiting there, standing up and looking up to the skyline. Sneakily, he tried to approach Youngmin. “I’ve heard you opening the door” Said Youngming when he was halfway, turning to him.

“Ey, you could play along” reproached Donghyun, a pout on his lips.

Donghyun brought chai tea in a thermos with two small blueish china cups and an assortment of different nuts. Youngmin, on the other hand, brought a home-made banana bread already arranged on the table, claiming it was healthier than the one Donghyun bought several days ago, but he couldn’t guarantee he will not get fat any ways. This fact did not bother Donghyun, who deliciously ate the bread afterwards.

As opposed to previous days, the sun was no close to be seen and a bleary sky hung over them. The atmosphere was thick and getting to a point where you could almost touch the air.

“It seems like a big storm is approaching” pointed out Donghyun. Youngmin agreed humming as he was drinking from his cup. “I like the colour the sky turn every time it happens. The scent is fantastic as well”. He paused for a moment and sighed. After a moment, he went on and leaned over Youngmin. “Now that it dawns on me, your bed sheets have the same colour as the sky today.”

Youngmin seemed apparently surprised at Donghyun’s words. “That’s… an interesting approaching. They were not originally like that, they were browner. My room in Busan is all brown and orange. I chose it very early when I was young, since it reminded me of autumn and I love it” explained Youngmin.

“Autumn is my favourite season too!” exclaimed, as he inclined even more towards him, keeping an smile on his face.

They were seating side to side, their faces now only a few centimetres away from each other.

Time stopped.

Sparrows and magpies cries were heard in the distance, enveloped by the continuous dead noise of cars and the whistling of a shivery breeze. After a few seconds, Youngmin looked down at Donghyun’s lips, who were not smiling anymore and smiled pressing his lower lips to his teeth, forming a straight shape, and looked back at his eyes. Donghyun copied him and as if realizing the lack of distance between the two, straightened his back and continued to drink the steaming cup of tea.

“I need to calm down. Drink it up quickly or it will get cold” hurried Donghyun. He was not sure if he was talking to Youngmin of reassuring himself.

It was awkward, Youngmin thought, yet he could feel his heart beat speeding up. He felt a little overwhelmed and had to compose himself before grabbing the cup to drink, as the younger advised. In the end, time does not really stop and he needed to react. Maybe he did mean to have a romantic date, he thought.

Donghyun looked at him again and smiled, exhaling and making a nasal found, as to cover the moment before. “So what are you doing lately? How are your days?”

“Lately… hmm…” he stopped and pressed his lips briefly. “Nothing much, the usual. I am pondering whether I should get a small part-time job and save up a little.” He proceeded to have a bite of the cut banana bread on the table and covered his mouth with his hand. “It’s because I want to buy a tablet. I’m tired of carrying so many notebooks around in my backpack.”

Donghyun nodded. “Is that so?”

“Right. I’m also not very keen of organizing my papers. I thought it would be much more convenient if I had a tablet” he said, and locked his hands on top of his crossed legs.

“As I thought”, Donghyun replied, as he tried to put an interesting expression, using his thumb and index finger to hold his chin.

Youngmin then hit him weakly on his shoulder and let out a short laugh. “What do you mean as you thought? Where do you get this from?” he exclaimed.

Donghyun smiled. “Well, you said you like to rap. In my mind, you probably have many scraps of possible lyrics here and there. It’s important to jot down every good idea we have, right?” he raised his eyebrow. “I also took a peak at your bedroom when I went to your house. To this much I know.”

That’s right. He helped me to hang up the clothes last week. “Nobody told you that’s not polite!?”

“C’mon hyung, we’re not strangers! You should invite me to your apartment someday anyway” complained Donghyun.

They kept talking for a while and made a pause to check their phones. Around that same time, it started to drizzle, creating a shy fog. It was so fine it made a shushing noise when it hit the ground. The sky’s brown hues and tonalities turned into gray ones, anticipating a more intense storm.

Donghyun stood up and breathed deeply closing his eyes, following with a big sigh. “I love this. How about you hyung?” asked him. “We can pick up our things and leave if you want.”

Youngmin also stood up and stepped out of the light blanket hanging over them to feel the intensity of the rain. “I think it’s ok. The blanket covers us anyway, and it’s not as cold as before. I think the tea warmed me up.”

He was happy to hear this and so unconsciously smiled, to which Youngmin answered in the same way before going back under the blanket and sitting down again.

“Could we take a picture together by the way? I want to post something in my Instagram”, the younger said.

Youngmin was caught biting on another piece of the bread, and first frowned before speaking out covering his mouth again. “So suddenly? But I don’t like taking pictures.”

“Then… How about a video? Or a loop video” he replied. He sat down and shook his phone. “By the way, at this rate I won’t be able to eat a slice of the bread! Wasn’t it for me?” he joked.

“And it is! It’s only that it’s so good, don’t you agree?” said excitedly, his eyes round open.

Donghyun laughed and nodded. “Indeed. You need to tell me where you bought it. Now answer me! Can it be a video then?”

He sighed. “Let it be a video then. But only once alright?”

“Don’t worry. We can shot it perfect at once” answered. He sat down and turned on the camera on his phone. “How about if we eat a piece of the bread showing the thermos?”

“Whatever! Let’s get it done” hurried him.

Donghyun stuck his body next to Youngmin’s, who was taken by surprise and moved away, but instantly came back next to him again. He did not expect they were going to be this close, but the other warned him about this the day the met. They each grabbed a piece of bread and arranged the setup for the video.

“Ok, I will do a loop, so let’s make one action only!”

As the video started, Youngmin brought the piece to his mouth and shake his head side to side with a broad smile. Donghyun, at the same time, bit down the air a couple of times looking at the bread in his hand. After doing so, he looked back at the screen on his phone to discover Youngmin’s warm smile. He found himself captivated in it, smiling in a silly manner, not minding anything else.

“Are you sure this is a loop?” asked Youngmin, snapping him back to reality.

“Of course not!”

The video was cut off with Donghyun laughing and being pushed to the front by Youngmin, wearing a surprised expression on his face.

“You can post it but only because it’s funny” said the older. Donghyun was already editing the video and making it ready to be posted.

“Of course. And you look very cute.” He could not resist himself from making such bold comment after watching the video, and looked at him to see his reaction. He was looking at him perplexedly and looked away. “What are you saying…” he muttered. Donghyun knew he was smiling at the same time.

He looked back at his phone and asked Youngmin for his Instagram and tag him in the post. The other took the phone and wrote it himself, handing it back afterwards. He posted it and instantly followed him, to which Youngmin reciprocated. They, naturally, went over each other’s profile, asking questions about pictures that grabbed their attention, people in their pictures, music, and every other aspect of it.

After a few minutes, notifications started to come to their phones. Most of them were likes on the post, but there were, as well, some comments. Youngmin looked at them and stopped at one. He felt extremely flustered and read it aloud in a low voice.

“Donghyun, is this the cute neighbor you keep talking about? You’re so slick, already got his intagram!!”

Donghyun, who almost jumped at this, hurried to Youngmin side to read it. “Who, who, who? Who said this?” exclaimed, almost tripping his words. “Ignore it, he is always teasing me” laughed nervously.

Youngmin looked at him in his eyes. Some locks of hair of his fringe partially covered his teary eyes. He inhaled, his nostrils opening up.

“It’s ok. I also like you.”

He grouped all his courage to say this sentence, although he could feel his own face was exposing his embarrassment.

Donghyun simply stood still with his eyes opened big, thrilled by the surprising statement, his heart about to come out of his chest. He wanted to jump and scream of joy, but had to resist the urge in front of him. As the rush of thoughts hectically crossed their minds, the rain grew stronger by the second, becoming louder, eclipsing any other noise, including their own thoughts.

“Donghyun, put your things back in your backpack, we should we going down” suddenly said Youngmin. He put everything inside his backpack as he was told and carried it on his shoulder.

Donghyun waited for Youngmin to lock the door. They went through the three stories in silence, side to side when they reached a floor and one behind the other in the stairs. The modest rain’s aroma penetrated the common areas through the iron bars of the windows, mixing with the building's own artificial smell, aged through the years. None of them said a word until they reached their floor, where they faced each other.

“So…” started saying Donghyun, quickly breaking the silence. “What did you say again?”

A smirk could be seen now on his face. “You’re playing with me right?” complained the older.

Donghyun smiled broadly. “I am. I’m just teasing you.” The boy in front of him crossed his arms. “I’m happy you said it first. I was really hitting on you but I was scared that you would not take it seriously.” He made a pause after saying this. His heart was still racing and he found it difficult to express himself accurately. “I think I felt this way since the first day we talked. You too could feel it in the air, right?”

Youngmin looked away and tilted his head, hinting a faint smile, and looked back at him.

“So… cutting it straight to the poin. Will you go out with me?” said Donghyun, powerfully and clear.

This time, both of them were blushing. Shyness was concealing the excitement in both of them, as well as some tints of embarrassment, embracing and experiencing the sprouts of emotions of people their age.

Youngmin would not stop twirling around his windbreaker's toggle with his hand. He fixed his bangs in an attempt to naturally break vision contact and to shake his thoughts. “Yes, I would like to.”