↱GREAT ESCAPE↲ ⇾seongjoong/yeonbin⇽

20

a few weeks before graduation, yeosang popped the question.

"do you want to move in with me?"

the question hung in the air of the quiet cafe.

university students were cramming for finals week; last minute requirements, over caffeinated and with the need to sleep for more than two hours a night.

handouts littered the small space of their tabletop, coffee cups used as paperweight on overlapping pages.

hongjoong seemed to not hear the question, focused on the sheets in front of him, fingers tightly gripping a pastel pink highlighter hovering over the text.

yeosang regretted asking, felt his heart in his throat and ringing in his ears as each silent minute ticked by.

( it hadn't been a minute. )

yeosang thought of ways to backpedal.

i know you're with seonghwa, but...

you told me you hated being at home...

it'll save us both rent money...

it's near all these writing agencies...

just as yeosang was opening his mouth, willing the earth to swallow him whole, hongjoong spoke.

"okay, sure."

"i mean, you don't have-" yeosang's voice cracked. "wait, what?"

"yeah, why not?" hongjoong said, concentrating on his literature notes, nibbling on the end of his highlighter. "saves me time and money."

oh, thank god.

"great," yeosang replied cooly - or he tried to be. "okay."

"plus," hongjoong continued, not bothering to look up. "i like living with you."

yeosang's heart tightened, and he bit his lip to suppress a smile. "me too."

he felt like he had just won the jackpot.

__

"how's hongjoong?"

it was a rare occurrence for him to be back at home after he graduated college.

typically, his parents would bombard him with questions about his romantic life, only to be disappointed by their youngest son's mundane updates.

still, yeosang immediately caught on when his parents began prodding him about his current living situation.

it started from your college roommate, to his parents easily recalling hongjoong's name not long after.

"he's fine," yeosang would reply, restraining the urge to narrow his eyes in suspicion. "always tired from work."