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A lot of people said he smelled good. He was constantly asked what perfume he used.
He would always answer that he didn’t use any.
That was the short answer. If they want the real answer, this is what actually happened:
A few months ago he moved to Japan to study and was looking for a place to stay when he saw an advertisement about 2 guys who were looking for a third roommate in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. He contacted the number on the ad and they confirmed that he could move in anytime.
He flew from Korea and moved into the apartment immediately. He introduced himself to Riku and Yushi, two Japanese guys who lived in the apartment.
They strangely resembled cats, in Daeyoung’s opinion.
When he moved in, both Riku and Yushi were so shy that they barely talked. It was a bit hard at first because he was naturally a talk-active person.
But when Riku approached him first, he was touched, so he started making small conversation here and there. Yushi also started initiating conversation with him, even though he could barely hear him since his voice was so small. He had to pay extra attention to him.
A week had passed and Daeyoung noticed zero development in their relationship. They were still kind of awkward with him. So he decided he had to do something .
His idea of getting close to someone was to make them home cooked meals. So he did.
He cooked one of his signature dishes, kimchi fried rice, and served it to Riku and Yushi.
They loved it. Devoured it, even. Yushi even asked for a second.
After that, their relationship advanced rapidly.
Unexpectedly, it was Yushi who quickly became close with him. One day Yushi cautiously approached him and asked, with his soft voice, “do you like spicy food?” and then proceeded to ask him to cook spicy food for him next time.
Yushi would also wake Daeyoung up in the morning when his alarm couldn’t and teased him from time to time, like imitating the way he talked, laughing at him when he mispronounced a Japanese word, and staring at him.
Daeyoung thought Yushi staring at him from across the room was bizarre, until he saw people on the internet talking about their cats doing exactly that, and suddenly Yushi’s behavior somehow made sense to him.
Daeyoung once asked why he did that and Yushi answered, “your zoned out face is cute,” he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Daeyoung was flabbergasted.
Unlike Yushi who gradually became close with him, Riku just bulldozed his way to his personal space on one random day.
Riku’s way of getting to know a person include him invading said person’s personal space.
Riku would hug him, hold his hand, rub their heads together. Riku would keep doing that until he returned the favor by doing the same thing to him.
Daeyoung didn’t mind though, he also liked skinship after all.
Apparently, Riku being clingy was a normal occurrence that Yushi didn’t even bat an eye.
Just like that one time Riku saw him watching TV in the living room and instantly latched onto his arm, putting his head on his shoulder.
Yushi, who just finished showering, saw that and decided to sit beside him. He pressed himself beside Daeyoung without saying anything.
So he had Riku on his right and Yushi on his left. He felt warm and cozy and a little confused.
They really were like cats, he concluded. They were shy at first, but gradually became closer when you gave them food and attention.
He read about cats a lot since he moved with Riku and Yushi, and he saw somewhere that once a cat liked someone, it would stick close to that person. Just like Riku and Yushi to him now.
Them staying close to him was not a one time thing, he realized later, they kept doing that every chance they got.
Riku liked to be as close to him as possible, he even sometimes put his leg on top of him so he wouldn’t go anywhere.
Yushi preferred to slightly annoy him. He liked pinching his arms and belly, holding his hands and playing with his fingers.
When they did that, he remained quiet the whole time and just accepted his fate to be their favorite stress toy .
However, months after he moved and successfully befriended Yushi and Riku, he noticed he started to smell like them.
He knew how each of their perfume smelled by now. After living with them and being constantly hugged and clinged to, it would be weird not to, was Daeyoung’s reasoning.
Riku’s perfume smelled musky and earthy while Yushi’s was powdery and floral. So, when they hugged him, their perfume must’ve rubbed off on his clothes, creating a whole new scent.
He only noticed because he didn’t use perfume, yet his friends kept asking what perfume he used.
They said he smelled good and kept pressing him to tell them, but he couldn’t possibly say “I don’t use perfume, but my housemates who cling to me do, and their perfumes rubbed off on me.”
That would be embarrassing.
So when people ask him what perfume he used, he either answered “I don’t use any,” or “I use my housemates’ perfumes,” which, in Daeyoung’s opinion, wasn’t a complete lie.
He would never disclose the real truth, though.
The truth about the origin of his new perfume? Or the truth about him actually liking smelling like Riku and Yushi?
No one would ever know.