Chapter Text
Sanghyeok rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his bed. Slivers of sunlight were streaming through the blinds. Squinting, Sanghyeok glanced to his right to see his roommate sound asleep, sprawled across the mattress.
The school year for Seoul University had started a month ago and Sanghyeok had been lucky enough to get a good dorm room. Not too close to the main campus and not too far. It was one of the dorms with the best kitchen one could possibly have as a struggling college student, even including a decently sized table.
Unfortunately, the table was currently occupied by a giant fish tank with 21 fish and shrimp. Sanghyeok's roommate, Kim Donghyun, was very passionate about fish in any shape or form. One time, Sanghyeok had ordered sushi and Donghyun had refused to talk to him for a week. Another time, he swore he saw Donghyun whispering to the lobsters at the supermarket before buying all of them and running out of the store, leaving Sanghyeok to pay for the remaining groceries they had previously agreed to split. Donghyun had returned to their dorm three hours later, hands empty and full of apologies. Sanghyeok had only stared at him, dumbfounded, wondering what he had done with the poor critters. How Donghyun managed to afford five lobsters as a broke college student was lost on him.
Eventually, after a few weeks of school, Sanghyeok accepted that fish were the love of Donghyun’s life, especially after hearing he came from Busan. He found himself eating chicken instead of sushi from that point on. It had made Donghyun happy, so Sanghyeok hadn’t minded. Jaehyun had laughed at him after listening to the stories, saying Sanghyeok was whipped. Sanghyeok responded by shoving his face, denying all accusations of blushing. Was it a crime to be a considerate roommate? Sungho had simply shaken his head at their antics, quickly changing the subject to their music theory assignment.
Mumbling to himself, Sanghyeok threw off his blanket and got up. He had early morning classes unlike Donghyun, who got to sleep in for another hour.
After washing up and eating, Sanghyeok was ready to go. He looked down at his phone to see the time was 8:15, around the time Donghyun was supposed to wake up.
Sanghyeok peeked inside their bedroom to see Donghyun still passed out.
Walking in, he shook Donghyun's shoulder, "Donghyun. Donghyun, you'll be late if you don't wake up soon."
Donghyun hummed, turning his head, suddenly centimeters away from Sanghyeok's face. A little startled, it was at times like this that Sanghyeok was reminded of how handsome his roommate was. A bit of a sharp contrast to his own morning sleepy face.
Trying again, he said, "Donghyun, you also need to feed your fish. Get up. Did you stay up that late on the assignment?"
Blearily opening his eyes, Donghyun finally looked up at him.
There were a few beats of silence before Donghyun bolted upright, clutching his blanket and backing away as he stared at Sanghyeok with wide eyes, his face flushed.
"Sa-Sanghyeok?" asked Donghyun.
An image of a pufferfish flashed across his mind and Sanghyeok laughed, throwing his head back, his nose scrunching with glee, "Your expression!"
Donghyun looked blankly at him, slightly tilting his head.
"Sorry, it's just you reminded me of something. Didn't mean to scare you," Sanghyeok smiled, mirth still dancing in his eyes. "You weren't waking up and your class is going to start in an hour or so."
Scratching the back of his head, Donghyun nodded, "Oh okay."
"I made some fried rice, so you can help yourself." Rechecking the time, Sanghyeok made his way out of the bedroom, "I'll see you at math!"
Donghyun smiled and waved at him, cheeks still flushed, "Okay."
Sanghyeok gave him one last grin before he was out the door.
…
Donghyun nearly dragged himself out of the classroom, following closely behind Sanghyeok into the bustling hallway. The two of them looked as though their souls had left their bodies.
“I’m so screwed for the test next week,” Sanghyeok said as they turned right into another hallway.
Donghyun agreed, his eyes drooping, “What even is the Lagrange formula? I don’t remember Professor Jung talking about it.”
“Don’t even go there,” Sanghyeok groaned. “At least it’s over. I’m heading over to Dongmin’s swim meet now, wanna join?”
Donghyun hesitated. It wouldn't be a wise decision, but as he looked at Sanghyeok’s smile, he found himself nodding and smiling back. One visit couldn’t hurt.
Sanghyeok opened his mouth as they turned the corner at the end of the hall, about to say something when Myung Jaehyun came barreling toward them.
“Jaehyun, what are you- oomph”
Nearly knocking Sanghyeok over, Jaehyun enveloped Sanghyeok’s smaller frame with his arms, shouting, “Our Riwoo! How are you feeling on this glorious day?”
Donghyun was taken aback and subconsciously frowned at the newcomer. He had heard of the popular senior by word of mouth and had seen Sanghyeok hanging out with him several times, but he had no idea they were this close. His heart gave a little twinge as he watched Jaehyun squeeze his hyung.
Sanghyeok coughed, patting Jaehyun weakly on the back, “Like I’ve been run over by a truck.”
“Go easy on him, he just got out of Professor Jung’s class,” Donghyun said, slightly tugging Sanghyeok toward him.
Jaehyun let go of Sanghyeok, eyes widening as he beamed at Donghyun, “Hey! You must be Riwoo’s roommate! Nice to finally meet you.” He wiggled his eyebrows, “I’ve heard a lot of things about you.” Before Donghyun could ask what kind of things, Jaehyun had turned back to Sanghyeok, “And dang, no wonder you look dead inside. I had to take that class last year and it was brutal. Remember when I told you about his grading system? Evil, I tell you. Pure evil.”
Sanghyeok huffed, “Yes, how could I forget? You talked my ear off. Now enough about math.” He threw an arm around each of their shoulders and began to lead them toward the exit. “Let’s go support Dongmin. If we miss his race, he’s going to be grumpy for a whole week.
“Oh, roomie is coming too?” Jaehyun asked.
Donghyun hesitated, “Yes, is that okay?”
“I heard that you hate water, so it's a bit surprising.”
Sanghyeok glanced at Jaehyun in confusion, “Where’d you hear that? Donghyun has a whole fish tank at our dorm.”
Jaehyun shrugged, "I heard it from the swim coach, said something about how Donghyun would have made a great swimmer based on build alone but got turned down because, as I said, water is not your buddy."
Donghyun's mouth went dry. "As long as I'm not wet, it doesn't really matter."
Jaehyun shrugged again, "Valid."
Sanghyeok smiled, "I guess your love for fish doesn't translate to wanting to be one." Nudging him, he continued, “Just so you know, I told Jaehyun about the lobster incident, which by the way, you still haven’t told me what you did with them.”
Donghyun furrowed his eyebrows, trying to recall the memory before he smiled sheepishly. “Oh, I let them go,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He’d felt a bit hopeless just seeing them in such horrible conditions waiting to be boiled alive and had acted without thinking, ditching Sanhyeok and taking the train to the nearest beach. He let out an embarrassed laugh, expecting the scolding he sort of deserved.
Instead, Sanghyeok smiled, tension easing in his shoulders, “That’s a relief. I thought you somehow ate them all yourself or you were roped into a party dare or I don’t know. I lost some sleep to that, you know, wondering where the poor lobsters were after they’d been kidnapped.”
Donghyun looked in surprise at Sanghyeok, seeing the sincerity in his gaze. Pretty.
Jaehyun raised his eyebrows, “Wait so that was actually a true story? I thought you just exaggerated it somehow.”
Sanghyeok’s head snapped toward Jaehyun, “What? You didn’t even believe me? What kind of best friend are you?”
“Excuse you, I happen to be the very best friend you could ask for. How ungrateful!”
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who doubted me!”
Donghyun let out a small laugh. Sanghyeok reminded him of a cute ruffled bird as he and Jaehyun bickered the rest of the way.