My Landlord is Gay! 🔞

The Conscience

Jihoon wanted to slap himself for his unmatched stupidity of not checking the phone before heading out. Like he knew Junkyu was out with Haruto, he just assumed that they had returned but turns out, they wouldn't for at least an hour more and Junkyu actually took the pain of texting him too. He just forgot to check. So the fact that he had been ringing the bell for the last two minutes to get no response was on him. Great.

Jihoon was supposed to meet Junkyu to continue studying for the exam since it inched closer and closer. However, Junkyu had a date planned so he decided to study after that. They had agreed upon a time but Junkyu kinda got carried away and so, they were late. He texted Jihoon to come an hour later but poor Jihoon didn't check his phone. Cursing his careless brain, he got on the elevator to head home again. His day couldn't have gotten worse because the elevator stopped on the ground floor right before a short man trying to get in.

It was the landlord, in a formal blue shirt and pants. Maybe he had returned from his office? But it wasn't break time yet, plus he was sweating hard. Did something happen?

"Oh, Jihoon?" Hyunsuk asked. Jihoon only faked a smile. Hyunsuk didn't say anything either. Maybe he was really busy.

Jihoon walked out of the apartment building. It was almost afternoon but the sun was still strong. That explains why Hyunsuk was sweating so much. Or maybe he was tired? Sick probably? Or else why would he come back home at such an usual hour? He must have someone at home to look after him. Or not. What does it matter to Jihoon? He'd probably take a shower and go to sleep. But if he catches a fever? He must have medicines, right? And even if he doesn't, he can call his friends for help. There's absolutely no reason for Jihoon to think about it.

But he didn't even talk properly when he's known to be a talkative guy. Maybe his condition wasn't okay. And Jihoon knew that, yet he was walking away like some heartless dude. He should at least have asked- 'Are you alright?'

Jihoon fought with his ego on the streets, and ended up losing. The conscience of a good guy in him took him to the same elevator again, after bringing out lots of 'fuck it!'s from his lips. Instead of pressing Junkyu's floor number like he usually did, he went for Hyunsuk's one. Luckily, he knew which floor the landlord lived in because of Junkyu or else he'd have to call his friend and disturb his 'date'.

Jihoon stood before the door with a huge breath locked in his lungs. He felt so strange. He didn't know Hyunsuk well. Didn't even have a good feeling towards the latter. Yet he was standing in front of the said guy's door, to ask whether he was okay or not. Hesitating for a bit, he finally rang the bell. He had to wait for a minute before someone opened the door. As expected, it was that annoying short guy who probably lived alone. But not so expected, he was shirtless.

And he looked good.

"Jihoon?" Hyunsuk asked, so shocked that even his voice cracked in the end. Jihoon became so flustered all of a sudden. He played a lot of scenarios but in every one, Hyunsuk was properly clothed, in the same blue shirt. The sudden exposure of a stranger's near perfect body surprised him. And he did something stupid.

He immediately put the back of his palm on Hyunsuk's forehead to check his temperature. Not asking beforehand, not even taking permission. Hyunsuk backed off, but the brief touch let Jihoon know, Hyunsuk was burning up.

"You have a fever." Jihoon stated.

"Um...yeah." Hyunsuk said, and for the first time, Jihoon noticed how tired he was.

"You have someone with you or..."

"No, I'm alone." Hyunsuk answered. Jihoon nodded. What next? He didn't know what to do. The most common thing would be to leave, but Hyunsuk looked pretty unwell to be left alone. Gosh! Why did he have to come and put himself in such an awkward position?