Boy Next Door ✔

Chapter 6

His neighbor was laying on the couch on his stomach, his hands wrapped around a pillow. One of his legs was dangling on the floor and the quilt Soo Yun had used to cover him was nowhere to be seen. Soo Yun couldn't get pants big enough to fit him in his closet so he just covered him with a quilt after cleaning him. His smooth brown butt was now in the air, his feet still in socks. 

A titter rippled a cross the otherwise silent house and it grew into a positive explosion. It was a laughter that Soo Yun could feel in his lungs, so hard that it took his breath away.  The lack of oxygen didn't matter. All the anguish of the past few days melted like snowballs in a microwave. This laughter created a small vacation, a blessed relief from all the distress that shoved its way into his brain.

 For a single moment, the things that had occurred with his father and brother didn't matter. He lost the tightness in his chest. The muscles in his neck relaxed. After all that had occurred, he felt hope. And hope feels good. With hope came the thought that "things would turn around," that somehow, "Someone in the great Somewhere" had stepped into this arena as his champion.

He felt joy ride into his life alongside the laughter. And Soo Yun knew, that when the laughter left, this joy would stay with him.

Rubbing his eyes with the inside of his palms, his neighbor slowly opened his eyes and looked at him confused. He noticed Soo Yun and jumped out of the couch faster than a cat in ice-water, every sense urging him to claw his way to standing. He noticed his naked bottom half and frantically looked around for something to cover himself with. Noticing the quilt on the other side of the couch, he jumped to it and wrapped it around his waist.

"What the hell man, what are you doing here?" He barked.

Soo Yun chuckled brightly and walked into the kitchen with a spring in his step. 

"I should be asking you that question, you're in my house."

His neighbor looked around and realized he wasn't in his apartment. He bowed his head and held himself like his upper spine was rubber, shoulders falling forwards in a way that would be more befitting a grandfather.

"How did I get here?" He looked down at himself, "and where are my clothes?"

Soo Yun filled the coffee filter before turning back to look at his neighbor.

"You were pounding on my door drunk last night. As soon as I opened the door you ran in, stripped and started doing backstrokes on my carpet."

Blushing would have been no problem, but what his neighbor did was go as red as a beetroot and radiate heat like a hot pan. You could have cooked a three course meal on his face. No-one could have missed it.

Soo Yun chuckled and handed him a cup of coffee. 

"You didn't do anything super embarrassing so relax."

Soo Yun noticed the young man visibly relax and that warm smile was back on his face. He accepted the cup of coffee and sat back down on the couch. Watching as Soo Yun sat down next to him.

"You're a doctor?" He asked as he blew on the coffee then sipped it.

"Surgeon." Soo Yun sipped his coffee, gripping the cup with both hands. They bore the innocence of a young soul, soft and delicate. Hands that were for making art. They were smooth and pampered, just like the rest of him. Surgeon's fingers with cool white skin and perfect manicure. 

His neighbor looked at his deep ocean blue eyes. "Aren't you too young to be a surgeon?"

Soo Yun giggled. The giggles rolled out of him like the waves on a long shallow beach. They seemed to disappear for a while only to build up and break to the surface once more. He knew it wasn't manly to giggle but he couldn't help it. 

"I'm 28." He wiped the sides of his mouth with the back of his hand, blemishing that white skin with the black of the coffee. He then took a tissue and wiped his hands, standing up.

His neighbor stood up with him, following him into the kitchen. He seemed like he was back to his old self, unruffled.  His voice had a husky drawl and every step he took was in slow motion compared to almost anyone else Soo Yun knew. His idea of hurrying was to bend his head downward a little as he sauntered, the pace of his footfalls not changing one iota. That was just the way the man was, born calm, couldn't change him, wouldn't want to.

"You're 28?" He asked in that husky drawl then whistled. "You don't look it." He grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter and leaned onto it, watching Soo Yun pour coffee into a new portable coffee mug. "Also, 28 is still to young to be a surgeon."

"How would you know?" Soo Yun asked, twisting the cover of the mug and turning it to see if it would drip. He was satisfied with the results. He watched as his neighbor bit into the apple and shrugged.

"Wild guess." He said in that lazy drawl of his.

Soo Yun walked out of the kitchen and picked up his bag from the couch. He walked to the hallway and put on his sneakers, then picked up his car keys from the key holder at the wall. The whole time his neighbor was watching him, chewing at the apple lazily.

"Don't you have school or something?" He asked, clearly wanting to leave.

"I'm an art student. Not that many classes." He didn't show any signs of movement. 

"What's wrong with your house?" Soo Yun finally asked the question he felt was too rude to ask before.

"Girlfriend's in there with her girls."

Soo Yun looked at his watch. He was going to be late if he dragged this any longer and he didn't want to get on the bad side of the director again. 

"Your clothes are in the laundry room. It's on the left right past the hallway." He walked to the door, "1-9-8-5." He said and opened the door. "That's my pin number. Lock the door when you leave."

He walked to the elevator with his neighbor standing at the doorway, waiting for him. He pressed the down button and waited. After a few seconds the elevator door opened and he walked in. As the doors were about to close, a hand blocked them and they opened up again, revealing that warm smile.

"Kris." He stretched out his hand to Soo Yun. "My name is Kris Lu. Thank you for letting me crush at your place."