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Hakyeon stares at his front door with disdain. Of all days, it had to be today that the stupid thing stubbornly refuses to unlock. Of all days, nature had to choose today to:
- A rainstorm for which Hakyeon was highly unprepared for;
- Hakyeon’s lock finally giving out because his landlord refused to believe there’s something wrong even though Hakyeon told him at least three times; and
- Of course, because his life is ridiculous, his phone, the traitorous thing, is also dead because he forgot to charge it. Again.
Somewhere, somehow, Jaehwan must be laughing. Hakyeon can almost hear him.
Hakyeon wants nothing more than to take all of these sopping wet clothes off, crawl into his bathtub and stay there until he feels human again.
He stares at his door some more, then sighs. It’s a small building, no doorman and only two apartments per floor. Hakyeon only moved here a month ago. With exam season just around the corner and his students freaking out more and more each day, he hasn’t had a chance to meet his neighbour yet. Hell, he’s only seen another human being in this building once, in passing, when he was moving in.
It’s safe to say he’s not really expecting anything when he knocks on the door opposite his.
He’s definitely not expecting the man that opens it to be this… wow.
The man in question is staring at him, blinking slowly. His expression is blank but he also looks like he hasn’t had a lot of sleep so Hakyeon doesn’t hold it against him.
Of all days to meet his apparently very hot neighbour, it had to be today.
“Um, hi,” Hakyeon starts, awkwardly shuffling in place. It moves the wet fabric of his shirt around and it’s cold, so he stops. “I live next door and I think my lock broke? But my phone is dead, could I maybe use yours to call a repairman?”
The man just blinks at him for a few moments, before he steps aside to let Hakyeon in. A big, grey cat waltzes in. Hakyeon can’t help but smile, bends down to let it sniff his hand but the cat just takes a whiff and walks away, hiding behind her owner’s legs.
The man smiles, reaching to scratch the cat behind the ears. “Sorry, Butter isn’t very sociable. She’s not mean, though.”
His voice is a lot softer than Hakyeon would’ve imagined but the more he looks at the man, the more it fits.
He closes the door behind Hakyeon, then walks into one of the other rooms to Butter’s obvious displeasure. A moment later, he reappears with a smartphone in hand. “I don’t think I have a number of one so you’d have to look it up,” Hakyeon’s neighbour mumbles, handing him the phone, already unlocked.
“Thank you. My name is Hakyeon, by the way,” Hakyeon ends up blurting out as he takes the phone.
His neighbour startles, then. Blushes? He mumbles a, “Taekwoon.”
Hakyeon smiles at him, trying to channel all the reassurance he’s capable of.
He dials the first number google spews at him and the locksmith is very understanding, will try her best but the earliest she can show up is in three hours. Hakyeon resigns himself to spend those three hours on the floor of the hallway, next to his door. Maybe he could take a nap?
“Thanks,” Hakyeon says, yet again. He hands the phone back and Taekwoon gives him a curious look when Hakyeon turns to leave.
“How long is the locksmith gonna take?” Taekwoon says hesitantly, when Hakyeon already has his hand on the door.
He looks sheepish when Hakyeon turns to look at him. “A few hours? She said three but I’m hopeful it could be less.”
“You could, uh,” Taekwoon trails off. “You could stay here? Unless you’re planning to stay with a friend or something-”
“I’m not,” Hakyeon interrupts. He can’t help the relief that washes through him, even if intruding wasn’t his intention. “All my friends live quite far away so I was planning to just wait in the hallway. Are you sure I wouldn’t be a bother though?”
Taekwoon shrugs. “Not more than knowing you’re… sitting outside in the hallway? You must be cold,” he adds, glancing at Hakyeon’s wet clothes.
At least they’re no longer dripping. He would’ve hated to ruin his pretty neighbour’s floor. Butter probably wouldn’t appreciate the water either.
“I know I keep saying this,” Hakyeon says, ridiculously emotional at the prospect of not spending the next three hours in the hallway, “but thank you.”
Taekwoon waves him off, refusing to meet his eyes.
*
Now that they’ve established that Hakyeon is spending the rest of the afternoon in Taekwoon’s apartment, Taekwoon insists he changes out of his wet clothes and into something warm, dry and… Taekwoon’s.
Hakyeon is not sure how to feel about it.
The sweater provided is impossibly soft, though, even if it droops off Hakyeon’s shoulders as he watches himself in the mirror. It makes sense - while their height difference isn’t all that much, Taekwoon’s shoulders are a lot wider than Hakyeon’s. The sweatpants are also quite comfy, even if a little tight on the butt. Ah well.
Taekwoon makes him blow dry his hair as well, which makes Butter jump and hide behind the coffee table.
Hakyeon laughs, then turns off the blow dryer. “Hey, sweetheart,” he says, offering his hand again. He kneels on the carpet this time, getting on eye level with Butter so he wouldn’t loom over her.
Butter sniffs at his fingers, eyeing him with suspicion. Then she butts her head in for pets.
She follows when Hakyeon gets back on the couch, jumping on it right after him, only to sprawl herself in his lap.
When Hakyeon looks up from her, Taekwoon is watching them curiously. “She doesn’t usually do that with strangers.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m wearing your clothes?” Hakyeon offers.
Taekwoon goes beet red which is a little funny. And it definitely doesn’t make Hakyeon’s heart flop in his chest. That might be a problem.
“Maybe,” Taekwoon agrees meekly. He gets up, then disappears into the kitchen without another word. A few minutes later, he’s back with two steaming cups.
“I figured you’d need something warm to avoid getting a cold?”
The smell of coffee hits Hakyeon before he even sees the liquid inside his mug. He’s not a fan, not really, but Taekwoon looks unsure enough as it is.
“You’re really sweet, thank you,” Hakyeon smiles, bracing himself for the bitterness. Coffee is far from the worst he’s done for a cute guy.
*
Talking to Taekwoon is surprisingly easy, once they get over the initial awkwardness. He’s a little shy but Hakyeon wouldn’t be as good of a teacher as he is if he didn’t know how to deal with shy.
When the locksmith finally calls to let them know she’s downstairs, Taekwoon buzzes her in and hands Hakyeon’s wet clothes in a plastic bag.
“I’m gonna wash these and return them as soon as possible,” Hakyeon promises, tugging at the sweater.
Taekwoon waves him off, “I’m not in a hurry, don’t worry.”
It’s now or never. Hakyeon takes a deep breath.
“I’d kind of like it to be sooner rather than later, though,” he starts, watching as a frown sneaks on Taekwoon’s face. Hakyeon smiles at him. “Maybe when I get them back you could come over for coffee?”
The frown is gone, replaced by something between confusion and suppressed anticipation. Taekwoon smiles, small and pretty, and Hakyeon decides then and there: it’s one of the greatest sights he’s ever witnessed.
“I’d love that,” he mumbles, once again avoiding eye contact.
Even if Hakyeon knew what to say next, the chance is taken away by the doorbell ringing insistently.
The girl on the other side looks incredibly unamused, short brown hair falling into her eyes. She adjust her glasses, streaked with so many raindrops Hakyeon wonders if she’s even able to see. She looks almost as bad as Hakyeon did at the beginning of this encounter and he almost feels bad for making her come here. But cute as Taekwoon is, Hakyeon still wants his bathtub.
Taekwoon gives him one last wave before he closes the door, Butter tangled between his legs.
As Hakyeon watches the locksmith work, he can’t help but admit that his good-for-nothing lock might have been the cause of something nice after all.