Chapter Text
[2 months after the end of Season 4…]
Scene: Kitty and Minho’s new apartment in Sinchon
Natural light floods through floor-to-ceiling windows of their new fifteenth-floor apartment. Moving boxes are stacked neatly next to the kitchen’s peninsula breakfast bar with quartz countertops, while the modestly-sized living room holds a sleek leather couch facing the western city views. Down a short hallway, the bathroom is visible, showing double sinks and a deep soaking tub, while the second bedroom – meant to be their shared office – currently houses stacks of other moving boxes.
In the center of the living room sit several large flat-pack boxes from a high-end Scandinavian furniture store. Kitty sits cross-legged on the floor, excitedly reading assembly instructions while Minho stands nearby, looking skeptical and holding his phone.
MINHO: (checking his phone) The assembly service can be here in two hours. (matter-of-fact) Problem solved.
KITTY: (not looking up from the instructions) Absolutely not. (pointing to the boxes) This is our first furniture as a couple, Minho. We’re building it together.
MINHO: (exasperated) Covey, the dining table alone has 47 pieces.
KITTY: (enthusiastically) Exactly! It’s like a really expensive puzzle. (with a playful grin) Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?
MINHO: (deadpan) I left it back when I realized screws and I don’t get along.
Kitty pats the floor beside her, giving him her most persuasive smile. With a dramatic resigned sigh, Minho sits down, immediately adjusting his position when he realizes how uncomfortable the hardwood floor is.
MINHO: (pulling out the instruction manual) Fine. But when this ends in disaster, I’m calling professionals. (studying the manual) Why are there no words?
KITTY: (already opening the first box) That’s the beauty of it. Pictures are universal language! (triumphantly pulling out a wooden panel) See? Easy!
MINHO: (picking up a bag of screws and hardware) There are seven different types of screws in here, Covey. (slowly, with growing concern) And they’re labeled with letters that aren’t even in alphabetical order.
CUT TO: Two hours later
The living room now looks like a furniture explosion. Wooden panels are scattered across the floor, tools are everywhere, and Minho has rolled up his sleeves, the old scar on his arm visible in the late afternoon light. His usually perfect hair is slightly messy. Minho is kneeling next to what appears to be an upside-down chair, consulting the instructions with the intensity of someone defusing a bomb.
MINHO: (frustrated) This can’t be right. Step 4 says to attach these two, but one of them doesn’t have the right holes.
KITTY: (from across the room) Maybe you have it backwards?
MINHO: (defensive) I don’t have it backwards. I’m very good at following directions. (pause) When they make sense.
KITTY: (not looking up, pointed) Oh, poor baby. Sounds like you’re having trouble with reading comprehension. (finally glancing at him, chuckling a little) You have sawdust in your hair.
MINHO: (reflexively reaching for his hair) What? Where?
KITTY: (approaching him) Here, let me… (reaching up to brush it out)
Their faces are suddenly very close. She gently brushes the sawdust from his hair.
MINHO: (softly) You have a smudge on your nose, you know.
KITTY: (confused) From what?
MINHO: (amused, reaching up to wipe it away with his thumb) I have no idea.
She leans into his touch for a moment, both of them comfortable in the intimacy they’ve built over years together. Minho leans in for a quick kiss before stepping back.
MINHO: (surveying their completed furniture) I have to admit – this wasn’t so bad.
KITTY: (pleased) Just this and the dining table left. We actually did pretty well!
MINHO: (checking his phone again) The assembly service is still available…
KITTY: (giving him a pointed look) Minho.
MINHO: (rolling his eyes, sighing in defeat) Fine. But I’m ordering dinner. This is going to take all night.
When Minho finishes the chair, he approaches the dining table pieces, carefully organizing all the hardware while Kitty spreads out the instruction manual like a battle plan.
Later into the evening, the apartment is finally coming together. Several pieces of furniture stand completed, and Minho and Kitty are putting the finishing touches on the dining table. They both look exhausted but oddly satisfied.
MINHO: (tightening the last screw) And… done.
KITTY: (admiring their work) It’s perfect! (throwing her arms around him) We did it!
MINHO: (returning the hug, looking around at their handiwork) I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… (reluctantly) that was actually kind of fun.
KITTY: (with a knowing smile) Wasn’t it?
MINHO: (with his characteristic smirk) Don’t get used to it. Next time we’re definitely hiring help.
As they collapse onto their new couch, surrounded by the fruits of their labor and scattered instruction manuals, the camera pulls back to show their first home together – imperfect, slightly chaotic, but unmistakably theirs.