Chapter Text
𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ๋࣭⭑ zᶻ ૮˶- ﻌ -˶ა⌒)ᦱ ｡˚○٠࣪⭑
"It's over..." Says Minjae, face planted down on a small bar table.
"What's got you in the feels now, hyung?" Martin takes a swig at his drink, tapping the table with his painted nails in his free hand.
His head lolls to rest his cheek against the wood, facing the window. "It's my roommate, I… I think he hates me now."
It's been two months since Minjae had moved into his apartment with an entire stranger, had to since there was no way he could handle the rent all by himself, except now he had mistakenly destroyed the tranquil atmosphere of their living quarters, all because he wanted to get shitfaced with his friends.
But to be honest, he had always thought the guy had a disliking towards him, this must've been the last straw. Leaving his clothes and socks everywhere, dirty dishes, not putting stuff back, and having to hear the man's contemptuous grunts and huffs when he gets to the mess before Minjae does. He swears he's been doing better at being tidy though!
He groans again pitifully, head aching as the vibrations from his disgruntled whines feel like a pike stabbing into his already sore frontal lobe. Right, and his hangover is just the cherry on top. Thankfully it wasn't as heavy as the past few times. He didn't have any classes today, allowing him to sleep in a bit longer, so he was sentient enough to get up and drive to work.
His co-worker, dongsaeng, and college classmate of roughly a year and a half Martin, finally responds after a minute of chewing on his straw. "You mean the hybrid guy? What's his name— uh... Hunter, right?" He places his drink down, ruffling his hair out. "I've only seen him around campus, he seems cool though. What did you do to upset him?"
That's another thing he didn't take into accountability, he lives with a hybrid of all things. Nothing against them god forbid, he's friends with a hybrid himself, and with that fact it comes to a surprise Minjae knows nothing about how their lives differentiate from humans, not as well as he should. Hunter is a dog hybrid out of everything, and from what he's seen and heard, his kind usually are friendly and open and love to make friends. Nope, not with Minjae though.
Hunter is so reserved Minjae sometimes forgets he has a roommate, which was fine before, rather a quiet roommate than a loud one. Yet when his habit of overthinking begins to connect the ideas he's now coming to the conclusion; he's a shit roommate, he's not as friendly and inviting as he looks, and he's messier than an actual dog counterpart. Emphasis on the messy part.
Minjae shoots up, eyes wide and glaring into Martin as his mind runs rabid. "Everything." The lid of his eye twitches, a sheer layer of purple from a lack of sleep, pupils shaky and all. Every small moment, every interaction he's had with Hunter, it all seems bad now. All of it, terrible, terrible!
Martin doesn't get a chance to respond before Minjae starts to blabber. "I had way too much to drink last night, and— and when Junmin dropped me off I must've did something to upset him! I don't know what it was, I can't really remember, all I could see was him frowning at me before I blacked out, and even this morning I swear he was ignoring me with the biggest stink-face ever! What am I gonna do!?"
He huffs after his long-winded speech, hands gripping the sides of the table. Feels kind of weird ranting about getting black out drunk to his junior of all people, yet if he didn't get this out now he would've exploded on the spot. Martin is silent once again, a mix of a concern and bewilderment in his drawn brows and likely a bout of held-back laughter behind his taut lips.
His warbled expression fades as he composes himself into a simple smile, took all his mental willpower to. "Uh, not to be like that Minjae but, this sounds like a you problem."
Minjae sighs, face planting onto the table again, hard enough to make the table shake. "Man…" Yeah, he probably wouldn't be much help for a situation like this. Either way, Minjae's better than this for sure. The butt load of classwork has been stressing him out so he thought a night out would help ease his mind, instead it's only given him more worry in an entirely different field.
In the next second, the shop door opens, the bell attached to the top dinging. Martin greets the customer, standing up from his seat. Before he walks off, he pats Minjae's shoulder softly. "Don't stress about it too much! Now c'mon, you can't mope here all day."
Minjae composes himself with a sigh, hopping off the stool and trudging back behind the register through the area of cramped shelves and displays. Martin is right, he should stop thinking about this so hard, it's easier said then done though. While he assists the customer, he takes a deep breath, examining the interior of the shop to clear his mind.
It's decorated neatly, posters of all kinds of artists and fake plants strung up barely leaving a single inch of the room unoccupied in the already cubbyhole-esque record shop. The shop gets traction often, today isn't the day though, a curse and a blessing. He analyzes the various vinyls on the shelf walls, some of them newer releases and others much much older. There's a specific album cover he stares at a lot, Dots and Loops, it's simplistic, perfectly so that Minjae loves to zone out while staring at it catch dust on the shelf.
The sound of small talk between Martin and a customer has his eyes drifting over to where they're standing. He's holding a vinyl in his hand, from here it looks like New Edition's Heart Break, eagerly yapping the customer's ear off. His taste in music is very skewed, a good quality for a this job of course; gotta get recommendations from people who dip their finger in everything. The customer in question is a short girl, long black hair with layered bangs resting on her forehead, and perky cat ears. Another hybrid…
He was free from his thoughts about Hunter for only a minute. Actually, this girl has hair similar to Hunter's, his is a few inches shorter to stop at his shoulders. He's always wanted to ask him how long it took for him to grow it out. There isn't much to think about him besides his appearance, a few glimpses of his face and his short fluffy monochrome ears. He doesn't speak with him often, having his number to text him solely about things regarding the house or bringing others over.
So case in point: they're still strangers with one another. It's not like all roommates are obligated to be close friends, he's heard the stories and whatnot, but this is a bit extreme even to him.
A hand waves in front of his face, and Minjae is roused from his thoughts.
"Earth to Jae, heellooo?"
Minjae stands straight, looking between the woman and Martin who's staring at him, amused.
"You are really out of it today." Martin rolls his eyes as he rings up the woman's items. She giggles at the both of them then exits the shop with a wave.
He slumps onto the counter again with a exaggerated sigh. A man he barely knows shouldn't have him delirious at work, if Minjae keeps making this about him, him, him, then he's never gonna have a moments rest. "Have you had any better luck with your roommates?" Martin told him he had to find a few extra roommates to cover rent, he's never said much about how it's been going though. Hopefully they aren't horrible, lest his dongsaeng has been suffering without him knowing.
With the way he springs around to face him, it seems it's the exact opposite. "Lots of luck, actually. I've been having the time of my life with them!"
And so he rambles on about all the fun hangouts and mini-parties at their apartment, bonding in such a short time like they've known each other since they were kids. You'd think they were in there holding hands and singing kumbaya in their damn living room the way Martin's eyes are lit up describing the game night they had last week where they'd all gotten together to play Overcooked, almost passing out from laughter and yelling.
When he makes eye contact with Minjae again, he's staring at him half-lidded, on the verge of zoning out as his head aches from his chatter. He settles down smoothly, scratching the back of his head. "Not the time?"
Minjae snickers, hand waving the air around. "It's fine. I'm glad that you're having fun." It does bring him joy knowing he's enjoying his college life. And the cherry on top is that he hasn't even dabbled in alcohol yet— something odd to be happy about since he for one fancies the occasional beer or three. Can't help it, it's his inner hyung speaking. Couldn't imagine Martin of all people getting drunk.
Martin's lips go flat, corners stretching to either side of his face to form a line. Soon he hops up again, scooting closer to Minjae, smiling. "You should try getting to know him. See if you two would make good friends."
What a concept. Would it blow your mind to say Minjae didn't think of that? He was gunning more for a nice apology. He nods deeply back at him. "I guess…" Wouldn't it be kind of awkward? Two months of basically radio silence and now he's all up in his business? Wow, his brain just can't see anything in a positive light right now, can it?
"Give him a chance atleast, you never know hyung, you could end up being best friends for life!" Martin pats his back roughly. Minjae would love to believe he's an optimist, yet something about this situation has him dreading the inevitable, conceivably unrealistic outcome.
He'll think on it. Wherever the wind takes him or something along those lines, but at most he owes him an apology.
𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ๋࣭⭑ zᶻ ૮˶- ﻌ -˶ა⌒)ᦱ ｡˚○٠࣪⭑
The rest of the workday went the same as usual: debate over which of their favorite artists is better or discuss new releases, fun way for them to pass time when there's a lack of customers. Once they finished closing, Minjae had dropped off Martin to his place, then scurried over back to his own apartment to handle his own situation.
Minjae twists the door handle open, slipping his jacket off and chucking it onto the coat hanger right in the corner of the entrance. Next his shoes come off— he sees Hunter's shoes are already at the door. Must've gotten off work early, same as he did. He hangs his keys up on the key holder stuck to the wall. It's themed like a cat, a housewarming gift from Yechan. Said it was so he could "always think of him," whatever the hell that meant. Then, he checks the living room.
The TV is off. Two bean bags and a heap of cushions and pillows lay neatly untouched, not even a ruffle of the furs in the carpet beneath them. They'll get a couch one day, but this has sufficed for the longest, makes for a killer place to nap as well. Alas, Hunter's in his room, per usual. There's no noise coming from inside, there's hardly ever a peep.
Minjae's usually fiddling with his instruments in his own room, making him the polar opposite. He already warned Hunter about the noise and he claimed he was fine with it, which he hopes is true because sometimes he gets a little too far into the zone. He's always wondered what he does in there all day, it can't be just studying.
He skips past the kitchen and stands right in front of Hunter's door. There's a few floral stickers littered across it, half of them ripped and faded already since they were so damn cheap. Except for one sticker, one that's quite large, it's a silhouette of two paw prints.
Okay— enough stalling. All he has to do is apologize. Minjae takes in a deep breath. In, and out. There's no need to feel nervous about this…
He can't tell his own nerves the message unfortunately. His hands have a slight tremble to them as he goes to knock on Hunter's door. Maybe it's because they don't talk much, maybe it's because he rarely goes into his room, maybe it's because he's scared he's gonna straight up turn down his apology. Damn, tighten up Minjae!
He almost doesn't catch Hunter's deeper voice behind the door in his scrambled thinking. "Yeah?"
Minjae chokes on his spit, a very audible and embarrassing hacking noise. He clears his throat. "Hey, you mind if I come in?"
Silence. Then there's shuffling from his room. Light shuffling that only lasts a few seconds before he speaks again.
"Sure, the doors unlocked."
Another quick breath in to steel himself, and Minjae grabs the handle and pushes the door open slowly.
His scan of the room is swift. Hunter's room is smaller, but with the lack of furniture it looks as spacious as his. He can only spot his bed in the corner, a grey curtain drawn to hide the window, and a few posters and fairy lights up on his wall. Pretty cozy.
He finds Hunter sitting at his desk on his right, his laptop open with the light from the monitor illuminating his body. His hair is tied up in a ponytail in the back, fluffy ears that stretch from the side of his head and up to the top sprung and listening, glasses sat on his nose bridge as he stares at Minjae expectantly. "What's up?"
He doesn't fully enter, only leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed. "So I uh, wanted to apologize about… last night." Right to the point, perfect.
Hunter tilts his head, eyes going a tad wide. "You.. apologize?"
Minjae breaks eye contact, fidgeting with his fingers. "I don't really remembered what happened last night but, I think I said or did something to peeve you so.. uh.. just wanted to clear the air."
To Minjae's surprise, he quickly shakes his head, moving an inch closer in his swivel chair. "What? No, no, you didn't do anything wrong dude."
"Are you sure? You seemed kind of iffy this morning when I saw you so—"
"No, I promise it's not like that, I'm just not a morning person."
Wow, this is the exact opposite of what he was expecting. Honestly, he sounded a little too nice with his soft, quiet tone he's got. Minjae stands up straight, arms crossed against his chest. "Oh."
They stare at each other for a while. A long, long while. Not really, but it feels like that. The hum of his laptop fills the quiet now. After roughly twenty seconds of quiet, Hunter murmurs. "Your hangover wasn't too bad, was it?"
Minjae chuckles breathily. "It's nothing compared to what I've dealt with before." His first college party to name one, to this day he has no clue what happened besides having a hangover that had him bedridden for the whole day.
He squints back at him. "You don't say?"
They both chuckle this time, very lightly. After it dies down, Minjae nods and rotates away from Hunter. "Well, sorry for bothering you then. I'm off to take a shower." His hand grips the door handle and starts to pull it shut.
"M-Minjae."
He stops right in his tracks, immediately poking his head back into the room. "Yeah?"
He can see his cheeks suck in, chewing on the linings of his gums. They seem kind of squishy from this angle and shoddy lighting. "You—"
His words are cut short unfortunately, Minjae's focus is broken by a buzz in his pocket. His hands go to pull it out and check who it is. Lo and behold, it's Yechan. Hopefully it isn't something stupid, but when is it not?
Realizing he interrupted Hunter, he puts his phone back in his pants and ignores the pinging text notifications. "Sorry, I'm listening."
Hunter's smile fades as he swivels away, facing his desk fully now instead of Minjae. "…You're on trash duty today."
Oh, his chores must've changed since he couldn't do it yesterday. "Ah. Right, I'll take care of it." He backs up again, pulling the door with him. "Thanks for the reminder."
Once the door closes with a click, he walks towards the kitchen and wrestles with the trash bag first before he pulls his phone out again— Yechan's left him seven messages already.
Why is he like this...
𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ๋࣭⭑ zᶻ ૮˶- ﻌ -˶ა⌒)ᦱ ｡˚○٠࣪⭑
Afterwards, once his own house chores are done, he finally settles in. Minjae threw on a larger shirt and some shorts and waded into his room, purposely ignoring the laundry he should've dealt with two days ago. And when you do ignore it, his room is just as pristine as Hunter's. He flops onto his bed with a groan, the bed frame groans right back at him. His mattress, pillows and plushies, it somehow feels ten times softer than usual, he could take a nap right about now, except it would suck if he threw off his already pretty crappy sleep schedule.
Looking up at the poster on his ceiling, his mind drifts in his partially sleepy daze. He hears his friends voice again at the record shop. Martin's suggestion of trying to befriend him isn't completely out of this world— if he's this curious about Hunter to the point he was on his mind for half the day, why not try and get closer with him? No harm in trying to be nice.
If he's lucky, maybe Hunter also wants to get close to him. And if he's not, well, better to stay on good terms with him so he doesn't straight up move out.
He's starting to drift too far, eyes fluttering until they close completely...
His phone pings. The vibration tickles his foot from where he threw it on the bed, yanking him back to reality. With a yawn, he crawls over to grab it and simultaneously rest his head atop a Toothless plushie while he lays on his stomach.
It's from the groupchat, seems like everyone's gathered at the moment.
Ominous much? What's Sumin up to? He wasn't at their hangout yesterday, never gave them an explanation to why, this could possibly be related to it though. Whatever it is, he wont pry for now. If he wants to talk with them in person so badly he can wait. He can use the time to discuss his deal with Hunter with everyone as well.
Watching his friends argue back and forth about twenty dollars gets tiring after five minutes, so he puts his phone down and mutes their conversation for now. Minjae sits up more, glancing to his desk where his laptop and a few notebooks are splayed out on top of it, filled with notes, doodles and lyrics he's working on. The cover is bulging from the amount of sticky notes and paper shoved inside. Then to the other corner of his room, near the closet, where his guitar and keyboard are propped up. He should practice, he'd love to actually. Mmhm, the thought of having to get up right now when his bed feels this perfect hurts him though.
…
A power nap wouldn't hurt— an hour will do. Then he can focus better.
𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ๋࣭⭑ zᶻ ૮˶- ﻌ -˶ა⌒)ᦱ ｡˚○٠࣪⭑