Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tyler:

I didn’t know that the guy I ended up pairing with as a roommate would change the entire trajectory of my life.

It all started when my old roommate suddenly moved in with his girlfriend, leaving me stuck with half a room and no warning. When I told the RA, they said a similar thing had happened to someone else on the same floor, so they decided to move me to their room because my new roommate is an upperclassman. The RA handed me a key and led me down the hall. The door we stopped at had a small name tag taped to it:

Aidan

When they unlocked it, the room was silent. No one was inside.

The left side of the room was neat and organized, but not obsessively clean — just tidy enough, with a bit of comfortable disarray. A few stacked books, and papers. While observing my new roomates side of the room, the RA taps me on the shoulder and said:

“Tyler, I’ve got my shift soon, so if you need anything, I’ll be in the office.”

“Thanks,” I said, glancing at the name tag again. As the RA walks past me I ask “What’s my new roommate like?”

“Aidan’s a pretty chill guy. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

I nodded, though I’d never heard of him before. I finished unpacking, took a shower, and checked the time — 9:45 p.m. Still no sign of him.

I sat down at my desk and, out of curiosity, opened ClickedIn. Using what little info the RA had given me, I searched:

Aidan, XXXX University, 3rd year

His profile popped up. No picture, which somehow made him more mysterious.

Aidan Cho He/Him

Cantera Business School Junior (Finance and Engineering)

Irvine, California, United States

That was all. Simple, and yet I found myself analyzing his page longer than I should’ve. Maybe I was just nervous to meet someone new. Or maybe there was something about the unknown that got under my skin. He could walk in at any moment and see that I was searching him up, so I quickly closed the tab. I was done procrastinating, so I opened my ECON 223 assignment. Around 11 p.m. , was when I heard the door creak open.

I looked up.

He stood in the doorway — black shirt, blue jeans, straight black hair in a middle part that brushed the top of his clear glasses. His dark eyes flicked toward me.

For a second, the room went oddly quiet.

I got up quickly to break the ice and went over to greet him. “Hey. Sorry if I scared you popping up out of nowhere. I’m Tyler, by the way.”

I reached out, and he shook my hand. His skin was surprisingly soft, his fingers thin –cold. I realized a moment too late that I’d been holding on longer than I should have, so I quickly dropped his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Aidan” he said in a low and calm voice.

And just like that, Aidan Cho became the start of something I didn’t see coming.

Aidan:

Tyler Palanova.

There’s no one on campus who doesn’t know that name. He’s the kind of person who people gravitate towards and attracts attention without even trying — the “face of the business school,” people call him. Seeing him up close, I understood why. Chiseled features, tan skin, sun-kissed brown hair, and warm hazel eyes that catch the light like caramel.

The RA had already texted me earlier, saying they’d found me a new roommate — Tyler — but I’d never spoken to him before. Honestly, I was expecting someone intimidating and egotistical. But the moment he turned around, I felt something else entirely. He stood there shirtless, still damp from a shower, water tracing lines down his chest. Grey sweats hung low on his hips. His body was probably more defined than his face — which was saying something. He got up approached me to shake my hand and introduced himself.

My eyes lingered longer than they should have before I realized he was still holding my hand.

He smiled – the confident smile everyone always talks about.

“Sorry if I scared you popping up out of nowhere. I’m Tyler.”

I cleared my throat and nodded. “Nice to meet you, I’m Aidan.”

He sat on his side of the room while I dropped my backpack and took the chair by my desk. After a beat, I asked,
“So, what happened to your last roommate?”

He let out a sigh putting his face in his hands. “He decided to move in with his girlfriend. Can’t really blame him, but it was kind of fucked up to pull this early in the semester.”

“What about yours?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Transferred to Cornell without telling me, also fucked up, but we weren’t close anyway.”

Tyler leaned back, grinning. “Transferring schools without a warning is wild.”

“Yea,” I said with a small chuckle. “Guess we both got unlucky with shitty roomates.”

The conversation drifted naturally until he mentioned he wanted to finish some work.

“If the light bothers you, just let me know,” he said.

I nodded, lying back on my bed. I don’t remember when I fell asleep, but the last thing I heard was the quiet sound of him typing and for some reason, it felt peaceful.

Chapter Text

Tyler:

I wake up to my alarm ringing at 7 a.m. and scramble to shut it off before it wakes Aidan. From the looks of it, he’s a heavy sleeper — not even a flinch. I check my phone and see a few messages from Lana.

Lana- Hey, when do you want to meet up again?

It’s been two weeks since we last saw each other:(

Lana and I have been hooking up since last October. Before anything started, I made it clear — no strings attached. She agreed, but lately she’s been reaching out more, and I can tell she’s starting to want something deeper. I don’t want to lead her on, so I’ll probably have to remind her of what we agreed on.

I get dressed for basketball practice and left a note on Aidan’s desk before heading out:

Hey, I’ll be at practice and probably won’t be back till late. Here’s my number in case you need anything! 630-XXX-XXXX — Tyler.

At practice, the guys are already warming up when I arrive. The coach’s voice booms through the gym as we run drills. My closest friends on the team are Jacob Kang and Nathan Yvgeny — both starters like me and we've been friends since freshman year. They were the only ones that stuck around with me because a lot of other guys quit after the coach suddenly added extra hours and I lost contact with them after.

After practice, the team decides to grab burgers. We sit around one of the big corner booths, tired but starving.

“Yo,” Nathan starts, mouth half full, “didn’t you get a new roommate?”

“Yeah,” I say, grabbing a fry. “Aidan Cho. He’s a third-year in the B school. You guys know him?”

Jacob shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Same,” says Nathan.

“He’s pretty chill,” I say. “I think living with him’ll be fine.”

“Cool, you’ll have to introduce us to your new chill roommate" Nathan says, and then grins. “Soooo… how’s you and Lana?”

Jacob chokes mid-bite and punches him in the arm. “Bro, seriously?”

“I was just asking!” Nathan protests.

“It’s fine,” I say, laughing a little. “We’ve been okay, but I feel like she’s getting too clingy. I think she’s starting to catch feelings.”

“Then you should probably cut it off before it gets messy,” Nathan says

“Yea you should get it out of the way so you can avoid her tantrums” Jacob adds looking away.

“I’m thinking about it,” I admit. “I’ll talk to her soon.”

After we eat, I head to Lana’s apartment. She lives off-campus, which is convenient — no one really sees us together since that’s the only place we hang out.

When she opens the door, she pulls me in by the collar and kisses me before I can say a word.

Later, after I shower, she’s still in bed, wrapped up in blankets, scrolling on her phone. I hesitate — I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I need to say something. Lana can be... unpredictable when it comes to emotions.

Before I can speak, she drops her phone and wraps her arms around my neck.
“You up for another round?” she teases.

“Lana, I just showered,” I say, but she doesn’t take no for an answer. And honestly, I don’t try that hard to stop her.

After I leave her apartment, I walk back to the dorm. When I open the door, Aidan’s at his desk, studying.

“You’re back,” he says without looking up.

“Yea.” I drop my bag near my bed.

“I didn’t know basketball practice was that long,” he says, finally glancing up taking his glasses off. “Are they keeping you hostage or something?” he says sarcastically.

I chuckle. “Nah, practice ended a while ago. I ate out with my friends and then met up with my girlfriend.” I felt like it would be too confusing if I told him our real relationship, so to save some trouble I just told him she was my girlfriend.

For a split second, something shifts in his expression — a flicker, quick and unreadable. I don’t know what it was, or if I even imagined it, but it sticks in my mind longer than it should.

Chapter Text

Aidan:

I expected Tyler to have a busy schedule, but it turned out to be way more packed than I imagined. Between his classes, basketball practice, hanging out with his friends, and being president of some business club, I barely see him. When he does come back to the room, it’s usually late at night—after he’s been out with his girlfriend.

That part surprised me.
I hadn’t heard anything about him having a girlfriend, so during my applied investment management lecture, I decided to ask the girl sitting next to me.

I turned slightly toward her and said, “Hey, you know Tyler P.?”

She laughed. “Who doesn’t know who he is?”

“You’re right,” I said, smiling.

“Wait, why do you ask?”

“He’s my new roommate.”

“Oh really?” she said, twirling her Apple pencil before smirking. “If you ever need help with the assets concept, I can always tutor you in your room.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you know if he has a girlfriend?”

She tapped her pencil on her head, visibly thinking hard. “Hmm… no, I don’t think he’s dated anyone here. But props to the lucky girl he’s hooking up with.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, raising my head.

She grinned. “It was on Fizz that TP and LD have been hooking up. She’s lucky—I’d give anything to be in her position.”

“Thanks,” I said, forcing a small smile before turning back to my notes.

I didn’t really know how to feel after that. Confused was the closest I could get. Why did he lie and say that he had a girlfriend instead of just admitting he was hooking up with someone? Not that it’s any of my business—we’re just roommates. He doesn’t owe me an explanation about his personal life. Still, I thought we were starting to become friends and getting closer. Maybe that was just me imagining things.

I tried to shake it off and focus on the lecture, but the thought lingered in the back of my mind until class ended.

Chapter Text

Tyler:

A couple weeks have gone by, and living with Aidan has been easy. I think we’ve gotten comfortable around each other. He goes to his classes, then to the library, then comes back, showers, and sleeps. He rarely deviates from this routine.

While slumped on my desk, Aidan coincidentally walks in. He nods at me, and I say hey. He drops his backpack off next to his desk and walks over to mine, holding the back of my chair, lowering his head right next to mine, and looking at my screen.

“Ah, I see you’re in ECON 223, huh?”

“Yeah—wait, how did you know?”

“Are you forgetting I’m also in the business school?” he chuckles.

I smirk playfully, rolling my eyes.

“How’s it going so far?” he asks.

“The professor lowkey sucks ass at teaching.”

“Yeah, he’s not a good lecturer, so you pretty much have to teach yourself all the concepts. And it’s so annoying that he doesn’t post the slides.”

I can feel him breathing on my neck—he was so close. But why was I so conscious of it?
I get snapped back into reality when he says,

“If you ever need help, let me know,” as he taps my chair and turns around, going back to his desk.

For some reason, I didn’t want the moment to end, so I said,
“Wait, if you’re not doing anything, could you help me with this concept?”

He turns around and smoothly says, “I got you, let me get my laptop.”

While he was fishing for his laptop, I got the chair from his desk and brought it over next to mine.

“Thanks, bro,” he says.

“So, you need help on this section?” he asks, pointing at my laptop.

I nod.

“So, with this section, you need to know where to put the numbers in. Right here—” he points, “—is where you put in the revenue and assets.”

“So after transferring that data in, then you can determine whether or not the company is affected, right?”

“So for this part, you enter the company’s revenue and asset data here. After that, the program shows whether the firm’s affected by market changes—like if it’s losing efficiency or still stable.”

“So depending on the revenue of the company, it determines the market changes?”

Aidan shakes his head lightly.

“Not exactly,” he says, glancing and pointing to my screen. “Market changes don’t depend on one company’s revenue. It’s more like—you’re seeing how the company responds to those changes. Like, if demand drops or prices fluctuate, does the firm’s performance stay stable or take a hit?”

I hum, pretending to follow along but mostly just watching the way Aidan’s eyes narrow slightly when he’s explaining.

“So it’s like testing the company’s adaptability?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Aidan nods, his tone softening. “That’s what the regression’s showing—how sensitive the firm is to outside variables.”

I lean forward a bit. “Right… right…” I pause. “So if my coefficients are negative, then—”

Aidan leans closer too, our shoulders brushing. “Then that means when the market variable goes up, the company’s performance goes down. They move in opposite directions, like in here—”

I look at him as he explains this and just can’t seem to take my eyes off his face. There’s something about him that gravitates my eyes toward him. It might just be because he’s pale for someone living in L.A. Yeah, that’s it—that explains why I seem to keep staring at him.

Chapter Text

Tyler:

The next night, I’m sitting at my desk doing some accounting readings, and Aidan is on his bed looking at his laptop.

“Hey, are you ready?” he asks.

“For what?”

“Course registration…”

“Oh, yeah.”

I completely forgot about course registration for next semester. But thinking about it more, I can’t believe I only have one more year with him. Everything feels like it’s going by too fast.

“My time slot is right after yours,” I say.

“What classes are you gonna choose for first split?”

“BUS 365 and ACT 410.”

I guess he saw my confused expression, because he explains right after, “Business communication and legal environment of business.”

“You’ll probably get it,” I smile.

“Dude, I hope so, because every other finance major in my class is thinking about doing the same courses for first split.”

“You just gotta do it faster,” I tease.

He evidently looks nervous about getting his classes. And for some reason I wanted to ease this anxiety he had.

“Hey, I’m pretty fast, and I haven’t broken my record of getting all my classes.”

“Really?” His eyes sparkle a bit.

“Yeah, I could help you if you want.” I rub the back of my neck feeling a bit shy.

“Yes, bro—thanks for coming in clutch.”

He pats the bed next to him, indirectly asking me to sit. I don’t know why, but something flipped in me. Was I… nervous?

“So what courses are you registering for?” he asks.

“MATH 221: Multivariable Calculus, and ECON 220: Data Science for Economists.”

“You have to take math?”

“Yeah, it’s a prereq for my major.” I sigh.

“Shoot… good luck with that.”

I sit next to him, our legs touching, and I’m way too aware of his presence.

“Okay, are you ready?” he asks.

I snap back into reality and check the time—7:58.

“Yes.”

He sets his laptop on my lap, and when he does, his hand barely brushes the inside of my thigh. It felt… hot, for some reason.

Right at 8:00, I refresh the page and quickly click on the courses, registering him for them. We wait a second, both staring at the screen loading, and then—

He successfully gets them.

“Ain't no way, thanks bro!” he laughs, holding his laptop in shock, smiling ear-to-ear. I haven’t seen him this happy ever. It was kind of funny—wait, not the right word. Kind of cute? Then he puts his arm around me, giving me a pat on the back. His hand on my back feels oddly cold, like his touch sent a shock through me.

“Dude, you’re really cold.”

My body moves before I can think; I squeeze his hand lightly, then let go before he can read into it.

“Yeah, you should’ve told me to raise the temp.”

I get up and walk to the thermostat. I hope he doesn’t think about that because I can’t believe I would do something so cringe. Why would I do that? Guys don’t usually do that… right? But I mean, I’d do that with Jacob or Nathan, so this is just me being worried for my friend.

“Nah, you’re good,” he says. “It wasn’t even bothering me—I didn’t even notice.”

I stand in front of the thermostat, pretending to still adjust it while I try to process myself.

Aidan:

He was warm.

An hour ago he helped me get into my classes and I can't believe I got them. He's a nice guy.

“You need those prereqs you’re registering for to matriculate into the business school, right? ’Cause aren’t you doing the ECON BBA program?” I ask.

“Yeah, and it counts for my major, so it works out.”

“So then you need math for that?”

He laughs softly. “Well… kind of. It’s actually ’cause I’m minoring in Applied Mathematics, so I'm trying to get all the fundamental classes out the way.”

"Makes sense" I chuckle.

After a couple minutes, he closes his laptop, turns off his desk light.

“Did you get your classes?” I ask.

“You already know.” He winks at me.

He has no idea how charming he is.

I take off my glasses and blink a few times because I’ve been staring at my screen for too long.

“Is your vision that bad?” he asks.

“It’s not that bad… but it’s not ideal.”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” I hold out my glasses.

He walks over, takes them from my hand, and puts them on.

“Wow… it's hella bad.”

“Yeah… I’m really considering getting LASIK so I don’t have to wear them anymore.”

“Don’t.” he quickly says.

He lowers himself in front of me so we’re face-to-face and says, “I mean… I think the glasses suit you. It’s like a part of you, you know?”

Then he takes them off and gently puts them back on my face.

“I like glasses on you.” He straightens his back up, turns around and walks back to his desk.

I was so caught off guard. The casualness of his comment embarrassed me.

“Are you going to use the bathroom?” I ask.

“Nope,” he says, sitting at his desk again.

“Okay, I’m gonna shower then.”

“Okay.”

I go in and stand in the shower, the water drenching my body. My whole body feels hot, so I turn the water all the way to cold.

I don’t know why he has so much control over me. I don’t usually think about little things like this. It’s just—when he says stuff like that, I can’t help feeling embarrassed. I guess I’m not used to people complimenting me on anything besides my height. Comments like that just get to me.

Chapter Text

Tyler:

Now that it’s mid October, it’s officially midterm season — and it feels like the universe hates me. My calendar looks like actual hell:

Monday — ECON exam
Tuesday — FIN quiz
Wednesday — BUS & ECON exam
Thursday — ENG paper
Friday–Sunday — assignments on assignments

And on top of that, I have basketball practice every single day. I swear I barely have time to study, much less eat.
At practice, Coach blows the whistle, stops the drill, and launches into this whole speech about how we “don’t seem motivated lately.” Like… did he forget the entire basketball team is basically in the business school?

“Guys, I understand this is a hard time with all your exams and whatever,” he says, pacing in front of us, “but remember we have a tournament this weekend. We need to be in the best shape, and right now? I’m not seeing effort.”

Nathan mutters under his breath, “Well maybe if we had fewer hours of this dang practice and more time to study, we’d be more energetic.”

“YVGENY!” Coach yells.

“Yes, sir?” Nathan answers instantly.

“What did you say?” Coach screams.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replies, barely holding back his laughter.

Coach rolls his eyes and goes back to lecturing us. Meanwhile, me, Nathan, and Jacob are silently wheezing.

We’re finally released after his thirty-minute rant. As we’re leaving the locker room, I nudge Nathan.

“Bro, you actually gotta stop trolling the coach.”

“Yeah, he’s gonna hear it one day,” Jacob adds.

“Ay, you know his hearing is bad. He’s, like, ancient,” Nathan shrugs, slinging his arms around our necks. “I’m gonna be fine. But thanks for caring about me, lil bros.”

“Bro stop,” I grumble, shoving him off.

We split up, and as I’m walking back, I’m hit with this weird realization: why do I push Nathan away, but when Aidan touches me I don’t mind? But strangely… I want more of it.

Either way, I’ve got a long week ahead, and I need to focus on my exams, not whatever that thought was.

Aidan:

Tyler’s been ridiculously busy the past few days. This week I swear I barely saw him — when I went to bed, he'd be coming in with his basketball bag, and when I woke up, he’d still be hunched over his desk. By the time I finished my own classes, he was already gone again.

By Wednesday morning, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

I woke up and found him still awake at his desk, eyes barely open, dark circles bruised under them. He looked exhausted… and still looked good, somehow, even like this.

“Hey,” I said quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Tyler muttered, sluggish.

“What day is it?” he asked.

“Wednesday.”

“How long have you been studying?” I asked.

He actually had to count on his fingers. “Uh… since like… 12 a.m.?”

It was 6:30 a.m.

“Bro,” I said, walking up to him, “you’re killing yourself. What are you studying for?”

“BUS and ECON today. And the info just started clicking.” he says putting his face in his hands.

“You need a break,” I said, firm.

“Nah, I’m good. I have to get through this.”

I put both hands on his shoulders, squeezing lightly to get his attention. “Listen to me. You need to take a break.”

He finally looked up at me, eyes sunken.

“When was the last time you ate?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Before practice? So… like 5 p.m?”

“Okay, no. I’m getting you something to eat. For both of us. You’re going to take a nap, and then I’ll wake you up and we’ll go over BUS and ECON together.”

“Thanks, bro, but I’m okay—”

“No,” I cut him off. “You’re not going to absorb anything with your brain this fried. Trust me.”

“Aidan, I’m fine—”

“Tyler. You look like shit right now”

We went back and forth for a solid minute until he finally sighed.

“Okay. You’re not gonna drop it, are you?”

“Nope.”

He stood up, defeated, and I guided him toward the bed. He crawled under the sheets and grabbed my wrist.

“You better wake me up. I trust you.”

“I will,” I promised. “When’s your first class?”

“10…”

“Oka, don’t worry. I got you.” I ruffled his hair without thinking.

I left the room feeling… weirdly worried. More than I expected.

McDonald’s in the village was already open, so I ordered what I thought he’d like — three sandwiches, two hash browns, a black coffee, oatmeal just in case. Dude eats like a vacuum; I wasn’t taking chances.

I came back around twenty minutes later. He was asleep, finally looking peaceful, even though he still looked worn out. It was 7:00 a.m. I let him rest another fifteen minutes before waking him.

At 7:15, I leaned over and tapped his shoulder. “Tyler. Wake up.”

“Hm?”

“Yep.”

He bolted upright, like he forgot he existed.

“Don’t worry, it’s only 7:30. We’ve got time,” I reassured him.

I unpacked the bag on his desk. “Got you a coffee, no milk — I know it messes with your stomach.” and started gathering the notes he was working on.

He started inhaling the food while I moved to his desk.

“Let me see what you’re working on,” I said. “What time are your exams?”

“BUS is at 11:30. Econ’s at 3:45 p.m.”

“Okay,” I said, flipping through his notes. “I’ll try my best, but I haven't taken these classes. Let me look over the material and see what I can explain.”