Chapter Text
Jiseok loved parties. He loved the loud music, the packed bodies, the thrumming energy. He loved the way everyone seemed to treat each party like it would be their last, no regrets or consequences. He loved that for a few hours a week the only thing he had to worry about was where to get his next drink and who he was going home with. It was magical.
Parties were even better when they were at Jungsu and Gunil’s house. Well, technically it was Gunil’s older brother Younghyun’s house, but he worked in the city and didn’t usually attend the parties, so whatever. Jiseok loved parties at their house because he had been there enough times sober to be able to find his way around even when he was teetering on the edge of a blackout.
Now, typically Jiseok was pretty good at avoiding blackouts, despite his lightweight status. On occasion however Jiseok fell victim to puppy eyes and actually good tasting drinks. Which was to say that he was cross faded as fuck and it wasn’t even his fault. Jooyeon had begged him to smoke with him before they left their dorm. He had hit him with a lethal pout and Jiseok figured he’d be a bad friend if he made Joo smoke alone. He told himself he would just drink less at the party if he was high. What he hadn’t considered was that Jungsu usually made jungle juice that somehow tasted amazing and also contained at least six full bottles of liquor. He had lost count of how many of those he had. But that meant it was Jooyeon and Jungsu’s fault he was fuuucked up and they had abandoned him! Well, actually Jooyeon had abandoned him to look for Hyeongjun before Jiseok even started drinking. And he was pretty sure he had walked away from Jungsu while Jungsu was mid sentence. Regardless, the end result was the same. He was wandering through the crowds of people alone, clutching a bag of cheetos like it was his lifeline. About every six minutes he was re-remembering that he was supposed to be going to the bathroom.
The Koo/Kim house was massive, and they had three bathrooms scattered around their main level and basement. Jiseok had slowly tried all of them and was disappointed but not surprised to find all of them occupied. He knew better than to wait for a free bathroom at a party, there was no telling how long the occupant (or occupants) might take. Thus he had decided that he knew Jungsu well enough that he could venture upstairs to find a bathroom. He was like 99% sure he wouldn’t care and had to pee bad enough to risk that 1%.
The stairs to the second floor always got roped off with caution tape at parties. It made Jiseok giggle because it looked so out of place in the otherwise nicely decorated, upscale home. He didn’t blame them though. No one wanted strangers in their bedrooms. Good thing he wasn’t a stranger.
Jiseok paused at the base of the steps, hands twisting in the top layer of tape. He debated whether he should try to step over the barrier or go underneath. Underneath won, Jiseok wasn’t sure he would have the balance to get over it without falling and also he was naturally pretty low to the ground so slithering under it wasn’t hard. He stumbled up the rest of the stairs and was faced with a hallway. This was where his plan got dicey. He had a vague idea of which door was Gunil and Jungsu’s bedroom but that was the only room upstairs he had ever been in. He knew there were three more bedrooms, one for Younghyun, one for the mysterious roommate that Jiseok had yet to meet, and then a guest room that had been offered to Jiseok on multiple occasions but he always opted for the pull out couch in the living room. Anyway, there had to be a bathroom somewhere. Only one way to find out.
The first door Jiseok opened was a closet, which was disappointing. There wasn’t even anything interesting in it, just really nicely folded sheets and towels. The second door was the guest bedroom which was unnervingly clean and put together. It looked like it came out of a magazine. The third door Jiseok stumbled through was still not a bathroom but was also not empty. Jiseok blinked, adjusting to the darkness of a room that was illuminated only by tv light. He froze, his hand still on the doorknob as he locked eyes with the prettiest dude he had ever seen in his entire life. And he knew a lot of pretty dudes.
This must be the mysterious roommate, Jiseok realized. Why hadn’t Jungsu told him he was hot? He was propped up against his headboard, phone in hand. He was dressed in gray sweats and a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and goddamn his arms were nice. His hair color was hard to make out in the low light but it looks like something between a red and brown. He had a lip piercing. Jiseok felt normal about that.
The proper response was to apologize and then leave, closing the door behind you. That was exactly the plan Jiseok was going to enact but it was interrupted by the ending credits song of Jiseoks favorite drama. The pretty boy was watching his favorite show.
Jiseok’s excitement took the reins. Bathroom adventure forgotten, he stumbled into the room and dropped down onto the edge of the bed, pulling up one leg so he could face the tv more comfortably. “I love this drama!” He told the boy next to him.
The roommate stared at him with a look of concern and endearment that Jiseok was used to seeing on Jungsu. He didn’t say anything.
“D’you want a cheeto?” Jiseok slurred, holding out the bag. The roommate looked like he was considering it. In retrospect the expression may have been more about Jiseok’s presence and less about the cheetos. After a moment of deliberation he shook his head.
The roommate turned his attention back to the tv. “Don’t get crumbs in my bed.” He warned in a voice that was higher pitched than Jiseok had expected.
Jiseok sat up a little straighter and saluted the roommate. He was not going to leave crumbs in a hot stranger’s bed. How embarrassing would that be?
The next episode auto-played and Jiseok let himself be pulled into the familiar storyline, forgetting his surroundings and munching cheetos with reckless abandon. However it only took about fifteen minutes before sleepiness slowly began to seep in. He relaxed back against the headboard not realizing how close he was to the roommate. They were shoulder to shoulder. Jiseok froze, waiting to be shoved off.
But it didn’t happen. Jiseok knew that wasn’t an invitation but his body was so leaden he felt like he couldn’t fight it. He slowly let his head loll over to rest on the roommate’s shoulder. Once again the roommate just let him do it. Jiseok’s eyelids were heavy too. The crossfade had hands and it was kicking his ass.
Jiseok didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up. He bolted up and was immediately humbled by a headache that was clearly trying to kill him. He laid back, not entirely surprised to feel there was a body next to him. This was not his first ‘waking up in a strangers bedroom’ rodeo. He was really only confused because he was fully dressed, shoes and all. Which meant he probably hadn’t slept with the guy next to him. Not bad, just unusual.
Jiseok braved opening his eyes and stood up slowly. He took in the room around him, his curiosity (nosiness) getting the better of him. The room was surprisingly tidy for a college student. There was a pile of clothes in the corner and a backpack dropped by the door, but otherwise the floor was clear. The bed was against the far corner of the room with a desk next to it, functioning as a desk/nightstand combo. It held a notebook, a novelty mug full of pens and a pair of thick framed glasses. The walls were covered in posters of punk bands and pictures of motorcycles. Definitely edgier than Jiseok’s Green Day’s poster and table of elements. The wall above the bed had a string of unplugged fairy lights with polaroid photos of what Jiseok guessed were this dude’s friends clipped to it. Shit wait, Jiseok knew those people.
Memories slugged back into Jiseok’s brain, hazy and incomplete. Just enough to piece together that he was not only still in Jungsu’s house but he was in his roommates bed. He had been looking for the bathroom and instead had fallen asleep in Jungsu’s mysterious roommate’s bed. And the roommate had been ice enough to just let him sleep, And he had lied when he said he wouldn’t leave any cheeto dust, it was like a chalk outline of where he had been sitting.
A mixture of panic and embarrassment set it. That was a helluva way to leave a first impression. He decided he needed to get out before the roommate woke up because he would rather die than talk to him after passing out drunk in his room. He brushed as many of the cheeto crumbs out of the bed as he could without disturbing its inhabitant.
Jiseok was about ready to hightail it outta there when he remembered the notebook sitting on the desk. He rushed over and scribbled out a note. It seemed more polite than just leaving.
Thanks for letting me crash here. Sorry about the crumbs :( <3 He drew a frowny face and a heart for good measure. And then he slipped out as quietly as he could.
It was weird walking out into the upstairs of Jungsu’s house, especially without Jungsu. The hallway was despicably bright and as if the world was mocking him Jiseok could see the bathroom door propped open one room over. He sighed.
Downstairs the living room was empty save for Jooyeon when Jiseok entered. He was asleep on the couch, curled around a throw pillow. He hadn’t even bothered to pull out the bed part. Jiseok knelt by his head and shook him awake, figuring it was nicer than just leaving without him.
Jooyeon groaned and shoved his face further into the couch.
“Joo, I’m going back to the dorm if you wanna come with me.”
“What time’s it?”
Jiseok had no idea and he told Jooyeon as much. His phone was dead. All he knew was that he worked later and he definitely needed a nap and to do some homework before then.
“Go on without me, I’ll make Gunil drive me home later.” Jooyeon mumbled, not even lifting his head.
Jiseok rolled his eyes. He pushed up from the floor and skulked past the kitchen to the front door.
“Oh, Jiseok, you’re still here? Jungsu said you left pretty early last night.”
Jiseok jumped and whipped around. Through the archway to the kitchen he could see Gunil standing by the coffee pot. He looked like Jiseok felt, his hair was standing up all over the place as if he had been electrocuted and his face was puffy from drinking late and lack of sleep. On second thought Gunil actually probably looked like Jiseok looked but Jiseok didn’t have time to worry about his appearance right then.
“Uh yeah,” Jiseok’s headache was reemerging. He loved Gunil but he was talking too loud and it was making him Jiseok’s least favorite person. “I just passed out early, started too strong I guess.”
Gunil nodded. If he was curious about where the hell Jiseok had slept he didn’t ask. “I just made coffee, do you want to take some with you? I know you probably work today.”
Scratch that, Gunil was his favorite person ever. “Yes, oh my god I love you.”
Gunil chuckled and filled a reusable to-go mug that he must’ve known he would probably never see again for Jiseok. He even put cream and sugar in it for him. Jiseok owed him his life.
Jiseok accepted the cup graciously and hugged Gunil, ignoring how that amount of sudden movement was enough to make his head spin. And then he all but sprinted for the door.
As Jiseok traipsed back to campus he made his plan. He was just going to avoid going to Jungsu and Gunil’s house for a bit and hope that the roommate would forget what he looked like. If he even knew, if Jiseok was lucky, maybe it was too dark for him to see clearly. And if he ever ran into him he would just lie and say he had never met him. But ideally he could just do what he did best and avoid the issue literally forever. Easy.