new flatmate!au

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***

"i need some space," jae told his parents as soon as he found another college student who was willing to let him live with him for half the rent. "i'm moving out."

what he didn't expect to see were space posters plastered all over his new flatmate's walls.

as soon as he entered the apartment, jae's jaw dropped in dual disbelief and amazement. he turned to his new living partner, who seemed like a perfectly normal person at first glance. the younger looked up at him with a huge smile balanced on his face; jae then started to wonder if it really was as bright as the sun or if his mind was just playing tricks on him.

"welcome to your new home!" his dongsaeng chortled. "here, take a seat."

"thanks! you must really love space a lot..." jae told his flat mate, sitting down on the couch and setting his suitcase beside his feet.

"what makes you say that? i absolutely hate it." upon receiving a look of disbelief from jae and a gesture towards the posters covering the walls, wonpil shook his head and plopped down beside jae. the blonde had used the wrong word for space in korean, thereby confusing wonpil. "oh, maybe you meant outer space? yeah, i do." then he slid closer to jae and pressed into his side, cuddling into the older boy. "but in terms of physical space, i really do hate it."

"and i, on the other hand, like it very much," jae said, physically pushing the other boy away from himself and standing up to take his bags to his room. "i will be busy unpacking, so please don't bother me."

"okay, hyung," wonpil mumbled, pushing out his bottom lip.

Damn, this boy really does love attention, jae thought to himself.

*

the first few months went by fairly smoothly; wonpil left jae alone as he had requested and jae felt freer than ever before. they occasionally sat around in the living room and talked, but wonpil was wary not to get too close to jae so as not to upset him. jae noticed wonpil's struggle to stay physically detached from him, yet he said nothing of it. it was probably just better not to mention it at all. because even though he felt closer to wonpil on a mental level, he had trouble even comprehending becoming closer to the boy sensually-speaking. touching just... it just wasn't his thing.

but the freedom did not last long. the blonde guessed these past few months had been the calm before the storm... and the storm that came was like nothing he had ever experienced.

it all started when wonpil's friend, younghyun, came over. "brian-hyung, brian-hyung, come meet my flatmate!" wonpil REALLY wanted to show off his cute new flatmate to brian, whom he had told all about his "small kiddie-crush" on jae, as the silver-haired boy liked to put it. jae shook brian's hand, a polite smile settling on his features. just as he opened his mouth to introduce himself, wonpil cheerily pranced onto his lap and began to warble, "brian-hyung, this is jaehyungie-hyung, but he likes to be called jae. jaehyungie-hyung, this is brian-hyung, well, actually it's younghyunnie-hyung, but no one really calls him that anymore. i'm so happy you're meeting each other, finally!! aaah, it's so exciting, i'm so happy!"

jae awkwardly pushed the clingy boy off his lap and stood up, brushing off his jeans. "aaaaand-- that's my cue to leave. see you around, brian!"

"what was that, hyung?" wonpil called after him with a confused pout, while brian simply chuckled and waved a goodbye. the brunette turned to his english-speaking friend, eyeing him with suspicion. "what just happened? where is jaehyung-hyung going?"

his eyes squinted into puzzled slits when younghyun only shrugged and gave him an amused chuckle.

*

jae came back slightly later than he usually did. he heard the shower running and, relieved, sagged down onto the couch. the blonde, exhausted from studying coursework at the library and playing games at the arcade all day, found his eyes wandering the walls. he wondered what was so interesting about them: the space posters or the effort he saw in each pasted-up piece of paper. he slowly stood up, confusion creasing his brows. were they really just posters? and why was he only noticing this now, after months of living here??!

jae walked closer to the wall and felt his mouth grow wide in wonder. "oh my god," he breathed out, tracing his finger over one of the posters. it was too... REAL to be a photograph. upon closer examination, he noticed that all of them were hand-done watercolor paintings. and each had a small signature in the corner:

kwp

and if that didn't stand for kim won pil, then park jae hyung wasn't park jae hyung.

suddenly, jae felt damp arms encircle his waist and a chin rest on his back. he jumped on instinct, a surprised yelp issuing from between his lips.

"hyuuung, please don't yell... it hurts my ears."

jae froze and felt his face heat up. and he was pretty sure it wasn't because of the hot steam billowing out of the bathroom. "ah, wonpil-ah. let me go, please. i don't like touching a lot, remember? or being touched..."

wonpil grumbled something into jae's back and then let him go. "sorry, jaehyungie-hyung... i just really like touching people i like... and i really like you... as a flatmate, i mean."

jae turned around and looked at wonpil. but then his eyes immediately flew to the floor in a frenzy, his cheeks heating up even more than before. "yah! go put on some clothes!!"

the boy only sporting a towel and an unexpectedly fit body eyed the slightly older man. noticing how flustered the man was acting, wonpil cornered jae into the wall and put his hands beside the blonde's shoulders. leaning forward a bit, the brunette teasingly whispered, "if i do... will you give me a hug?"

jae tried to look anywhere but at the brunette, but ultimately failed. he gulped heavily and finally nodded, his trembling fingers unclenching once wonpil pushed himself away from the wall. he stood there, slumping, and closely inspected the floor until he heard the younger man's springy footsteps and hums leave down the hall, then slunk down the wall in defeat. his jittery fingers found his hair and he murmured to himself: "oh, god... i've been sucked into a fucking black hole..."

*

when wonpil came back to the living room, wearing a jersey and some baggy shorts with a small towel wrapped over his shoulders to catch the droplets from his hair, he was met with the sight of a dazed jae still sitting against the wall, arms splayed at his sides and eyes zoned out on the floor in a trance-like shock. the brunette shook his head and strode up to the older man, kneeling in front of him with worry gracing his features. "jaehyung-hyung-ah..." when the older gave no answer, wonpil sighed and sat down criss-cross. "jaehyungie-hyung, snap out of it! what's going on with you?"

the blonde finally looked up at him through his glasses and garbled out, "please... please just hug me."

wonpil, surprised, quirked his eyebrow at jae. "hyung, it's okay if you don't want a hug. i won't force you. if you don't like affection, i won't push it on you." he suddenly averted his gaze to his hands, guiltily wringing them together in his lap. "i'm really sorry about before; i was being really selfish and didn't think about how you would feel. we don't know each other that well, and yet here i am pushing all this affection at you. i really am a shitty per--"

jae cut him off with a sudden hug, his head finding wonpil's shoulder, which was moist with scented shower water. "you're not a shitty person, wonpil-ah... you're not shitty at all for being yourself! when i told you to hug me, i meant it. now hug me, dammit!"

wonpil felt a smile tug at his lips and carefully looped his arms around jae's waist. "... thank you... jaehyungie-hyung..."

*

they spent the night on the couch, talking on and on. jae was still a bit hesitant with the whole touching thing, but he let wonpil occasionally brush his fingertips against his arm, which was a pretty big deal (by their standards, at least). wonpil was currently telling jae all about his watercolor paintings. "this one i painted when i was 12... that's why it isn't as realistic as the other ones. and that one--" he pointed to one hanging closer to jae, the blonde's eyes immediately traveling around to find it, "--that one i actually drew quite recently. it's the helix nebula. i was thinking of you, actually... because your eyes are pretty," he mumbled bashfully, hiding his mouth behind his hand while looking to the side.

jae stared at the work: an 11x14 piece of watercolor paper with a beautiful array of colourful dots splattered over its surface in what truly did resemble an eye. jae turned to wonpil with a look of awe and beckoned him closer. "i like your eyes, too. let me look at them," he shyly murmured, and the brunette looked over at him with his hooded eyes. jae reached out to poke the younger boy's cheek, and, quite quietly-- "they really are pretty... so, so pretty."

"yours too," wonpil breathed out, a huff of a laugh escaping his lips. "i don't draw people, but you might be an exceptio--"

jae shut him up with a hand conveniently placed over his lips.

*

brian was over again in a few weeks, bringing in some fast food for his friends. "so... you together yet?" he asked wonpil while jae was in the kitchen.

"yes. but not as a couple."

"that'll change, today." brian gave wonpil a meaningful look, drawing a groan from the younger man's lips.

"don't meddle in my business, brian-hyung. i can work it out on my own just fine."

"just for calling me that, i'm going to do it to spite you."

"ughhh. hyuuuuung--"

"if you don't stop your moaning, wonpil-ah, i'll leave." jae walked into the living room, setting some plates and utensils on the table beside the napkins and fast food.

"i think you used the wrong word there, jae-hyung. or maybe... actually it is the right one. ignore me." their guest hid his giggles as wonpil actually moaned and buried his face in his hands.

"okaaaay... i'm ignoring that... and that." jae sat down at the table and took a sip from his beverage. "mmh, this is so good!"

"hyung... the way you sip your drink makes me want to stroke your head."

jae exasperatedly smacked wonpil's cap and went back to drinking.

"hyung..."

jae smacked it once more, and brian turned to them, ceasing his dancing. he found himself grinning at the pair instead. as jae landed blow after blow onto wonpil's poor cap while the brunette ceaselessly called him with a shit-eating grin on his face, the silver-haired man began to laugh. "i see you guys want your space... should i leave?"

jae looked up at him mid-smack and said, with a mouth full of food and drink, "i think we have enough already. just look at the walls."

and brian laughed, because apparently, wonpil had been right about jae's warped understanding of space: be it physical or outer.

***

I AM JAE