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"CHOI YOUNGJAE!!!!!" Jaebum bellows as he barges into their room.
He crashes onto his bed and yells for the younger's name again before shouting in frustration into his Bart Simpsons soft toy (no one other than Youngjae needs to know).
He calls him repeatedly till the younger finally responds by stepping out of the shower in only a plain white towel wrapped around his thin body. His black hair is still dripping wet and he's fuming.
"What the hell do you want now?" He demands.
"I can't even take a damn shower in peace with you around..."
"Okay whatever, so" Jaebum interrupts as Youngjae grabs an oversized shirt from their closet (Jaebum's) and dresses himself. "Jae-ah, why is the school website down?" He laments as he points at his MacBook.
Youngjae tosses the damp white towel over his head and squeezes next to Jaebum to look at his screen.
"What are you talking about? It's working perfectly fine."
"Then why can't I select the module that I want?"
"Because, you haven't signed into your school account...you moron."
Youngjae brushes Jaebum's hands out of the way and does the selection process for him. He doesn't even need to consult the elder to know what he wants to take for the next semester. No one knows Jaebum better than he does and he's never been as sure of anything else in his life.
"Oh."
"How did you even graduate High School?"
"Well sorry, but not everyone's a genius."
"And not everyone's being a stereotypical jock right now."
"Touché." "I'm sorry babe come here," Jaebum eventually concedes and reaches for the hairdryer on the desk. He combs his free hand through Youngjae's hair and dries off the wet ends naturally.
"Am I forgiven?" Jaebum whispers as he presses his nose against the back of Youngjae's nape.
"If only everyone knew you were this clingy." Youngjae teases but allows himself to be squished by Jaebum's muscular arms.
"No one will ever know. It'll always be our little secret."
---
If you were to make a direct comparison between Jaebum and Youngjae, you will find them standing on two opposing poles of different planets that exist in completely different universes. Jaebum majors in engineering and is the university's star quarterback. Meanwhile, Youngjae majors in computer science and spends half of his time in the computer lab. In normal circumstances, the two will never have met. However, going against all odds and breaking through several alternate universes, the two found themselves in the most unlikely situation - roommates in Hall 7 of Yonsei University.
Jaebum doesn't bother greeting Youngjae and remains completely immersed in texting the hot senior from the cheerleading team. Youngjae, in return, doesn't care as well, seeing as how fit and buff he was, the boy's brain was probably filled with steroids anyway.
Jaebum picks up a call then and speaks casually in full volume. "Yeah, I'm rooming with some lame kid... How would I know what his name is? I don't even care... We're probably not going to talk to each other for the whole semester... He's so small and dull we probably have nothing in common." He cackles.
Youngjae considers it his bad luck to be rooming with the literal definition of a jerk. He tried switching rooms before but the clerk told him that all other rooms were filled, and when he turned to his friends, none of them wanted to deal with someone so ignorant. He admits that most of his friends are stuck up and snobby but it's because they're part of the elitist group in school who consists of the richest if not, smartest students in school. Youngjae isn't wealthy so truth be told, they wouldn't even be friends with him if he wasn't the university's top scorer. Thus, he's used to being used all his life and grew up cryptic and insensitive to other people's feelings. Till one night when he stays up late to edit the finishing touches for an essay, Jaebum stumbles into their room reeking of cheap alcohol and sweat.
He clicks his tongue in disapproval and is about to call it a night when Jaebum starts to violently sob into his hands. His crying get louder and he seems to have completely forgotten about Youngjae's presence. Youngjae doesn't know what made him care (or have he courage to do so) but he sits next him and warily places a hand on top his shoulder. He squeezes it unsurely and thinks of several ways to dodge a possible punch by the elder who's still obviously shaken. But instead, he gasps in surprise when Jaebum suddenly clutches onto him and starts crying into his shoulder.
For the first time in a long while Youngjae lets himself empathise with another person. He lets himself feel the ache in his throbbing chest. He finds himself shifting to a more comfortable position to embrace Jaebum properly. He allows himself to be human.
---
Jaebum wakes up to a throbbing head and aching muscles. His pillow sheet is damp and badly crumpled from his tears. He tries to get up but knocks into another body instead. He forces his eyes open and moves back in shock from being nose to nose with Youngjae. He rubs his eyes, not believing that he's completely awake and pokes the younger's cheek. He remains dutifully asleep and completely oblivious of the world. (He’s actually quite cute) Jaebum realises for the first time then just how much of a deep sleeper he was (and he never stopped teasing him afterwards).
He rolls off the bed to wash up and gradually recalls last night's events. He went out to one of his friends wild pool parties and partied till the wee hours of the morning. He had his phone tucked away in his bag for the entire night and only checked it when he was about to head home. He unlocked it to many miss calls and urgent messages.
“Jaebum-ah where are you?"
"Jaebum! Pick up your phone now!"
“Im Jaebum."
"You're going to regret this."
"Nora just passed..."
Jaebum was in denial. He immediately called Mark back to confirm the heart breaking news. Fuck.
Overwhelming guilt consumed him whole.
Nora was his one and only beloved pet cat, and he treasures her like his own family. She's always been there for him since young and when his parents were often away on business trips and meetings. She accompanied him while he watched The Simpsons on TV as a middle schooler and the first one he sees when he returns home during after clubbing as a fresh graduate from high school. She never acknowledges him but he's content, watching her familiar eyes scrutinise him before walking away.
When Jaebum first moved into the dorms, there was a rule that stated no pets were allowed hence, Jaebum handed Nora over to one of his cousins Mark to take care of her. Mark was always great with animals so he figured she was in the best hands with him. (At least better than he was at the moment.)
She was chic and sexy, and he fell in love with every single thing about her. But, now she's gone and he couldn't even be with her during her last moments because he was being oblivious and dumb. The ache was so unbearable that he turned to the nearest escape route - the temporary comfort of stale alcohol.
---
As Jaebum stares at Youngjae's sleeping and peaceful face, he eventually decides to follow his gut and trust him with the truth. So, when the younger eventually wakes up in the late afternoon, he leaves him a note to meet him for lunch, his treat.
Youngjae's first reaction was to come up with an excuse to ditch him. He barely knew the guy and he figured that Jaebum would probably threaten him not to tell anyone of his vulnerability or he'd beat him up or something. But after hesitating for so long, he does a final check of his insurance plan, and leaves the room to find him.
As cliche as it was, that was the start of a very unlikely but true friendship.
---
Subsequently, Jaebum finds bugging Youngjae one of his favourite past times. Every time he's done with practice, he bothers the younger with endless amounts of short texts, annoying him to quickly come back to their room to entertain him. Youngjae regrets letting the elder know his number and does a pretty good job at avoiding him till one evening, Jaebum personally pops by the computer lab to bother him instead. Hurrah.
The more time they spend together, the more differences Youngjae finds between them. When Jaebum waits for him in the computer lab, Jaebum leaves him alone to focus on his assignments while he watches live rugby matches and takes down notes on how to play better. At first, Youngjae wonders what good will it do for Jaebum's future to be so engrossed over sports. It's not something that's long-term and eventually he will have to give it up. But through observing his passion from the sidelines, he realises that Jaebum is the most hardworking and perseverant person he's ever known. He puts in a lot of effort and works hard for what he wants - something that Youngjae has always taken for granted.
When the two finally leave, they walk back to their room either in comfortable silence or with Jaebum ranting about some unfair play and the value of sportsmanship.
Gradually, they head back with their fingers entwined.
---
Youngjae rushes to his usual seat at the second row of the school's indoor stadium and wipes away the sweat sticking uncomfortably to his neck.
"Jaebum-hyung, we need to start the game!" Youngjae hears his senior, Jackson yell from the grass patch below.
Jaebum is still searching frantically for something or frankly speaking someone, until his eyes finally focuses on Youngjae.
"Glad to see that you've made it!" He shouts sarcastically.
Youngjae buries his face into the loose opening of Jaebum's oversized jersey, cheeks blushing beetroot. Sure he feels guilty, but he ran the whole way from Block 1 to Block 20 for the guy (the most he’s ever done in three years).
"Whatever! At least I'm here aren't I?" Youngjae hollers in return.
Today is a really important and huge day for Jaebum. It's the finals for the season and this very match determines if he gets scouted into the national team or not. Youngjae always tries to find excuses not to turn up but as always, he always falls for Jaebum's persistence (and long persuasive kisses) and so despite himself, he has never missed a single game.
Jaebum explains to him that his presence gives him some kind of extra pressure to perform well. With his high pride and ego, he’ll do whatever it takes to perform his best and only win if he’s in front of Youngjae.
"I'll make you proud." Jaebum mouths and Youngjae nods from the stands, not doubting him one bit.
You already have.
Jaebum scores the last touch down and before anything or anyone else, not even receiving news from his coach that he got scouted for the scholarship, he dashes straight into Youngjae's open arms and kisses him deeply.
Trophies are nice but he's grateful that he has the brightest and most invaluable one of them all, tucked safely in his heart always.