3:44a.m. → taewin

002

10:21a.m
dorms
— sicheng

when sicheng awakes, he assumes that the whole situation with taeyong unpacking his bags in the doorway and moving in unannounced is just a dream.

after all, such a ridiculous situation could not possibly have taken place in the real world, right? he should've been warned, and he should've welcomed taeyong in with open arms at a reasonable time, perhaps 12pm, not 3:44 in the morning with no explanation.

he pushes back the covers and sits up as he thinks on this, shaking his head with a gentle sigh. the flat is as quiet as it always is after all, from what he can hear, so it must've been a dream. thank god. sicheng isn't too sure he would've been able to deal with such a hostile roommate.

pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, he gets out of bed finally, opening his door and stretching out as he wanders through the flat to the kitchen once again, rubbing his eyes as he enters. he's about to head to the fridge when he bumps into an unusually solid mass in the path he usually takes every morning, and he stumbles back, opening his eyes finally and looking to see what this obstacle is.

it's taeyong.

oh no.

he gives sicheng a sharp look, one that pierces through sicheng's very being. sicheng can do nothing but give him an awkward little smile, suddenly wanting to go back to his room and get back in bed because he has no classes today. what makes it worse is that he's literally standing there in his pyjamas face-to-face with the most intimidating man he's ever seen. "hi." he manages to squeak anyway, "um, did you settle in well?"

taeyong doesn't answer. he just continues on his journey from the cupboard to the island counter, holding a small packet of grapes that hadn't been there the day before. sicheng just watches as taeyong picks one of them off the stem and pops it into his mouth, watching sicheng the entire time. "what?" he asks, when sicheng doesn't take his eyes off him.

normally sicheng is a lovely kid, but this is getting mildly frustrating. "don't you think you're being a bit rude?" sicheng asks, and he hates how confrontational he sounds, but he does just want to have a normal conversation with taeyong. "i'm just trying to help you settle in, even though you came into my dorm at three in the morning unannounced, and you're just ignoring all of my efforts. why are you even moving in at such a ridiculous time? it's like, halfway through the year!"

taeyong just chews on another grape in silence. sicheng bristles for a moment where he stands, and then stomps childishly to the fridge, grabbing his milk so harshly that he spills some of it down his pyjamas and onto the floor. he's going to file a complaint. he just wants his dorm to himself again.

while sicheng cleans himself up, taeyong actually speaks. "i got moved here." he states simply, and sicheng gives him an incredulous glare over his shoulder. taeyong shrugs, picking another grape and biting it in half. he's so... nonchalant. it's almost infuriating.

"don't you think i would've been warned?" sicheng scrubs harshly at the milk on his pyjama sleeve as he speaks, so much so that he almost tears the cloth he's using.

"no. it was very last-minute." oh, of course. sicheng doesn't pursue the topic further, figuring that if anyone's going to know anything about taeyong and why he's here, it's going to be yuta. he makes a mental note to meet up with yuta at some point in the day for interrogations. for now, he just sets about making the bowl of cereal he came into the kitchen for, placing it on the island across from taeyong and taking a seat opposite him. taeyong raises a dark eyebrow but says nothing more.

"are you not going to tell me about yourself?" sicheng asks, the anger in his tone gone. he can never stay mad for too long. "i just want to get to know my roommate." he gives taeyong a pointed look as he starts eating his breakfast.

taeyong snorts. "isn't much to tell." he states simply, and sicheng is reminded of old western movies for some reason. the image of taeyong in a cowboy hat with a lasso pops into sicheng's mind and he can't help but snicker.

"there's got to be something." sicheng presses, "uh. what subject do you major? what are your hobbies? your pet peeves? things like that." he looks up from his cereal and taeyong is just giving him a weirdly blank look. sicheng sighs, giving up for now. "never mind."

taeyong doesn't pursue the topic further either, just focusing on his grapes. the silence that settles in the air is not the comfortable one that sicheng is used to. it blankets the room in a heavy, uncomfortable atmosphere and sicheng almost can't stand the tension between them. he hopes that taeyong will try to make conversation in some way, but he has no such luck. as soon as taeyong is done with his grapes he just picks up his phone and completely ignores sicheng across the other side of the counter.

mildly frustrated, sicheng finishes his cereal and gets up, placing the bowl in the sink and then returning to his room. he doesn't alert taeyong that he'll be in there this time, because he figures that taeyong likely isn't going to care.

instead, he texts yuta.

sichengie
10:40a.m
meet me in your mother's cafe
in an hour.