philautia ;『jongsang』

i. stranger

yeosang walked into his new apartment quietly with a slight smile on his face. since he was starting college soon, it would mean more people to befriend. many people used to call him things like an "attention seeker" or a "pathological liar" in his old town, but he just brushed them off. what did they know, right? he just wanted to make people happy, and one of those people was himself. especially himself. he would do whatever it took to make people focus on him, even if it meant telling a few little white lies. there was no harm in that, at least not to him.

"can i help you?" yeosang heard as he was bringing his luggage inside. he turned his head to see a slightly taller- yet younger looking- male, standing in front of him.

"yes you can! here, bring this to my room," yeosang said, giving his luggage to the other.

"umm, i think you have something mixed up," the other male said, still holding onto the suitcase yeosang gave him. "i'm not a maid... i live here," he said.

"do you? that's interesting... but i don't remember asking. anyways, make sure not to drop anything, i have fragile things in there!" yeosang said, patting the taller on the shoulder and walking past him and onto the couch.

the younger reluctantly brought yeosang's luggage to his room, and when he returned to yeosang, he saw the older laying down on the couch watching tv.

"my name's jongho... if you wanted to know," the taller male said.

"i didn't, but thanks!" yeosang responded, his eyes gleaming. what's wrong with him? jongho wondered to himself.

"what are you majoring in?" jongho asked, sitting on the couch beside the laid out yeosang.

"theatre," yeosang responded.

"oh- me too!" jongho said, his face lighting up.

maybe i should play with him a little, yeosang thought to himself. "you are just too cute!" yeosang exclaimed, sitting up to face jongho. he sat criss cross on the couch with his hands in his lap, admiring the younger's face. "how old are you?" he asked.

"i'm 18," jongho responded, confused by the sudden interest.

"i'm 19, so i guess that makes me your hyung!" yeosang giggled.

"y-yeah," jongho responded nervously.

"but you can call me yeosang," the older said, holding out his hand, which jongho shook.

"i don't mean to alarm you, but i have a really serious medical condition that i thought you should know about," yeosang said, scratching his head, his face looking dejected.

"w-what is it?" jongho asked, concerned.

"well, my brain has a lack of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and other chemicals that are responsible for happiness and other brain functions. when i went to the doctor, he told me the best way to help this is through kissing. it releases a lot of those chemicals in your brain. i had a girlfriend back home, so it wasn't a problem, but now..." yeosang looks away, "i only have you."

jongho sat there, his face glowing a bright red. "s-so does that mean..." he began.

"yep! you have to kiss me, or i'll die!" yeosang smiled. it was very odd to jongho how yeosang reacted to everything... almost as if he wasn't human.