Chapter 9 - Apartment Offer

As Zhan, tired from the long and tiring day, lay in his bed, he smiled at the thought of Yibo. At first, Yibo looked at him so sadly, like a puppy being beaten by its master, when Zhan told him that when Seungyoun came to visit Yibo, he would leave the two of them alone. Only to then have the brightest smile on his face when Zhan promised him not to go. And then, when they were cleaning out the living room closet and found a few photos, Yibo almost begged him to let him keep that one particular picture because Yibo liked it so much. And as soon as Zhan gave him the picture, Yibo put it in a picture frame and placed it on the small order table next to the sofa bed. "That way I can look at it whenever I feel like it." Yibo explained when Zhan asked him why he put it there.

The affection Zhan feels for Yibo is completely new to Zhan. He was always affectionate to his friends and liked to take care of them. But with Yibo it is, that feels Zhan exactly, something completely different. Especially since the two have only known each other for two days. He can't stop thinking about Yibo. He worries whether Yibo has eaten enough. He just wishes that Yibo would be fine and will never lose his smile again.

In the morning, after the two ate breakfast, they headed to the furniture store. Once there, however, they didn't go in, but stopped at a notice on which a newly renovated building had been pictured. Zhan knew the building. It had once been the main post office. But since the main post office had moved over 15 years ago, the building had stood empty. At least until a couple of investors bought the building and built several apartments there.

On the notice board were a few pictures of one of the apartments. As if spellbound, Zhan and Yibo looked at the pictures. "In the pictures, the rooms look damn good. Especially the big bright kitchen. And it's even equipped with a built-in kitchen." Wondered Yibo.

"Mhm. Incredibly nice." Replied Zhan looking at the picture of the kitchen.

"You know Zhan? I'd be interested to see what the appartment really looks like."

"Mhhh, it says to call this cell phone number and then you can see the apartments."

"What do you mean Zhan? Do you want to look at the appartment? Just take a look. That's all. I've always wanted to look at new apartments like this."

"Sure. Why not? I'm interested in seeing what the apartments look like, too."

"Then I'll call there now. We can buy furniture later, too."

"Okay."

"Will you give me the number?"

"Sure." Said Zhan, reading out the numbers. Yibo reached one the investors' property manager, who told him he and Zhan could come over right away. They then immediately set off and arrived there after only 10 minutes by car and were delighted to find that there was a parking lot for the residents' cars right in front of the house.

The property manager was already waiting for them and showed them the model apartment, which is built like all of the 8 apartments. "We are here in a historic building. An old building that was built of bricks. It was important to the investors that the charm of the old building is preserved, as you surely noticed when you arrived here. And also the hallway still has its original old charm. Everything has been redone or replaced, but at the same time it looks like it did when it was built. The apartment doors also look like they did back then. But they have the most modern locking technology. The locking system works only with the fingerprint. The appartment has 110 square meters of living space and each of the 8 apartments has a beautiful 6 meter long and one and a half meter wide balcony facing the courtyard, which you can access from the living room. Right here on the right side is the guest toilet. A toilet, a sink and a small shower. On the left is one of the two bedrooms. Through the two high windows, a lot of light comes into the room. The floor is made of real wood parquet. If we go one room further, we come to the living room. Here, too, are three of those beautiful high windows that flood the room with daylight. The balcony is right there and protected from prying eyes. From the balcony you can see the courtyard and the relaxation area. Between the already very old oaks, beeches and chestnuts, there are several benches to relax, a small pond, a gazebo and a small winter garden, which is maintained by the caretaker of the house. Opposite the living room is the second bedroom. It is set up the same way and is the same size as the other bedroom. And then here next to the bedroom, we have the master bathroom. In it there is a toilet, sink, shower, a large round bathtub and a bidet. But now we come to the highlight of the appartment. Namely, the kitchen-living room. It is the largest room in the appartment, has a great modern and fully equipped fitted kitchen with stove, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave. In addition, a seating area with a nice big table and 6 chairs. I'll leave you alone for a few minutes now, so you can have another look around." Said the manager.

Zhan and Yibo walked through the rooms again and then sat down at the table in the kitchen. "I could really imagine living in an appartment like this." Said Zhan.

"Oh yeah, me too. I had seen the pictures and imagined the appartment to be nice. And I found out that the appartment is even nicer than I thought."

"I like how the rooms are laid out. All the rooms are a good size, spacious and bright. And then this courtyard, wow. I love the kitchen."

"The apartments have fixed prices. Did you know that? Here, it's actually first come, first served to buy the appartment."

"Yeah, I read it earlier. I could only pay three-quarters of it, though."

"You know Zhan, me too. Let's say if we both want to buy the appartment and both pay half each, we'd still have money left over to furnish the appartment nicely."

"You don't mean that just theoretically now, do you?"

"Not really. I love this apartment and would love to live here."

"But you realize that with this appartment we would be tied to each other?"

"Yes. But so what? We're married, aren't we?"

"We are."

"And even if we get divorced in 6 months, we'll still get along. You offered me to stay living with you no matter what. Why don't you and I start over? I mean, we deserve a fresh start, don't we?"

"You're right. You and I are just starting a new life."

"So would this appartment be a possibility for our new start together?"

"Absolutely Yibo."

"How long do you think it will take you to know if you want to live here too? In other words, whether we both want to buy the appartment?"

"I don't have to think long Yibo. I love this appartment as much as you do. And I would agree with your proposal. We'll each pay half and buy it. And with our remaining money, we'll furnish the appartment anew."

"Yes, really?"

"Yes."

"Yay!" Yibo cheered, hugging Zhan with joy, and in his exuberant joy, he pressed a big kiss to Zhan's lips. "Oh I um... sorry." Stuttered Yibo, looking to the side in embarrassment.

Zhan pulled Yibo back into his arms and laughed. "It's all good. You don't have to be embarrassed. In fact, that was really sweet of you."

"But I kissed you...that's...well...I don't usually do that. I was just so happy about it."

"It's all good Yibo. I'm not mad at you."

"But you must think it's disgusting."

"No why? Your lips kind of tasted like pineapple and they're really soft."

"Um..." Yibo stared at Zhan and got all red in the face. But after two or three seconds, Yibo laughed. "So my lips taste like pineapple because of the lip balm. And you think I have soft lips?" He asked curiously.

"You have full soft lips, yes."

"No one has ever told me that before. However, that was my first kiss."

"Oh wow, what an honor."

"Haha, very funny."

"I'm totally serious Yibo. And I'll let you in on a secret. That was my first kiss too."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll probably never forget that first kiss. It was a short kiss. But it tasted sweet and was really soft."

"Your lips are really soft, too. We..." Yibo stopped, as the house manager returned.

"So you guys had another look around in peace?" Asked the house manager.

"We did. And we made a decision." Said Zhan.

"And?"

"We want to buy one of the apartments. We already have the money and we could make a purchase agreement right now." Said Yibo.

"Oh I'm glad to hear that. We still have four apartments available. One on this floor, two on the next floor and one on the third floor."

"So I would be for the one on this floor. So the apartment next door. We're both on our feet all day at work. So we don't want to have to climb stairs when we get home in the evening." Said Zhan. Yibo nodded.

"Alright. If that's the case, then we can go to the outhouse and sign the sales contract."

"Very well. If we transfer the money immediately, will we get the appartment today?" Yibo asked.

"Yes in any case. We'll make the sales contract, you'll transfer the money, and as soon as I see that the money is in the account, the appartment will be yours."

"Great. Let's go then." Said Zhan.

They went with the property manager to the neighboring house and to his office. The property manager drew up the contract of sale and the two of them each transferred half of the money to the designated account. Only two minutes later, the full amount was in the property manager's account and the two received all the documents. They went with the property manager to their new appartment, where he stored their fingerprints in the locking system. "With this, only the two of you will have access to the apartment. It is now yours. The electricity is already registered. I did that online." Explained the property manager.

Yibo and Zhan went to their new appartment and toasted with a glass of champagne, which the property manager had brought, to their new appartment together. Afterwards, they each chose their room, Yibo immediately took the first room near the apartment door and Zhan the other. Then they hurried to go to the furniture market. They wanted to buy furniture for their new appartment.

In just two hours, the two had found furniture for their rooms, the hallway and the living room. And because the furniture was all on sale, they even had enough money left over to buy some nice stylish decorations. As well as a few moving boxes. And to their delight, the furniture would be delivered and set up that very evening.

They drove home with the moving boxes and started packing immediately after Zhan called the landlord and cancelled the appartment. They were going to spend the first night in their new appartment that very night. Even if their furniture, like the new beds, were not brought and set up that evening, they would sleep there.

Since Yibo had moved in with Zhan with only two suitcases, there was not much for him to pack. He therefore helped Zhan pack, who Yibo was surprised to discover didn't have a lot of stuff either. Most of it was the books Zhan owns and everything in the kitchen. "What are we actually going to do with the furniture in this appartment? They're still in very good condition, aren't they?" Yibo wanted to know.

"We're going to sell them. We'll put the furniture in an online marketplace and offer it there." Zhan replied.

"Good, I'm sure there will be buyers quickly."

"I think so too. I've already taken a lot of pictures and will put them on the Internet later."

"I can help you."

"Okay. Oh yes, we need to re-register phone and internet. I can do that online, too. And on Monday, we can re-register at the Citizens' Registration Office. And I'll make a forwarding request online at the post office."

"Good, how long do you have this appartment here?"

"Only 14 days. When I rented the appartment back then, the landlord and I agreed on a right to terminate the lease for 14 days, instead of three months."

"That's very good. That way we won't have to pay any more rent."

"That's right. Because the rent has already been paid for December. And the apartment handover is on December 30. So before the new month starts."

"When do we want to tell our parents about our appartment?"

"On the weekend. To be honest, I was going to invite a few people, like your best friend over for the weekend, to celebrate your moving in a bit. But it looks like we're celebrating our own appartment now."

"You were going to do that for me? That's really sweet of you. And yes, we're going to celebrate moving into our own appartment!"

"I'm looking forward to that. Um, I think we should start getting ready to go. We'll have the furniture moved in an hour. We'll get the moving boxes down to our cars and then head out."

"All right. I'm ready." Said Yibo and grabbed one of the moving boxes.

They had managed to stow all the moving boxes in their two cars, as well as their suitcases of clothes and two backpacks full of the food and spices from the kitchen. And no sooner had they arrived at their new appartment than their furniture was delivered and set up. It all went very quickly, as 8 furniture movers came right away and set everything up.

When the furniture was in place, they distributed the decorations and their appartment looked fantastic. They even had enough energy to unpack the moving boxes. And when Yibo was in his room and had packed his clothes into his new closet, he took the picture of Zhan and placed it on his nightstand next to his new bed. He tapped the picture lightly and smiled. "No matter what comes. We will stay side by side. Won't we Zhan? You'll always be with me." Yibo whispered to the picture.