Chapter Text
It doesn't get easier the more you age.
Sangwon feels like he heard that somewhere once, and for majority of his life, he’d patiently waited for his turn. Sangwon had given up once he turned twenty-seven. It was ridiculous to hold onto such childish fantasies once you’ve grown up, and the world isn’t so kind to you anymore.
Who even made up this type of bullshit that humans were expected to follow? Get your degree by twenty-three, work for a year or two at an Olive Garden, go back to school for your masters at twenty-five and be married with kids by the age of at least twenty-seven.
Sangwon has only completed two of those tasks.
Sangwon always tells his peers that he’s not bothered by his less than traditional style of living. But this wasn’t completely true. While his classmates were adamant on scrolling through dating apps ten hours a day, Sangwon was studying. When they went on first dates with their current partners, Sangwon was studying. When they held engagement parties and baby showers, Sangwon was studying.
It wasn’t that Sangwon never wanted these things, it was quite the opposite actually.
Before he'd become a realist, Sangwon would've considered himself a romantic. He still is at heart, but there's no reason for him to show that side of him if he wasn't actively seeing anyone, and hasn't for a very long time now. And Sangwon was content with that. He really was. He was grateful for his life and success and all that. Love wasn't something you needed when you had money.
It's why Sangwon wakes up at five in the morning, according to the scheduled he’s followed for the last three years or so. He enjoys a cup of coffee—black, with a splash of almond milk and no sugar. Consuming things like that in the morning isn't good for you, and also causes your face to swell.
After a successful run around his neighborhood, Sangwon takes a shower and feeds his cat, making sure to scratch her head and give her kisses to prepare for his absence for the next eight, or nine, or twelve hours. Who knows at this point? It’s why he’d hired a cat sitter not too while ago—expensive but extremely convenient.
Sangwon slides into his dress shoes, freshly polished for the week. With his bag filled with stacks of heavy documents, Sangwon closes the front door behind him, letting it lock by itself. It’s when he’s walking to the elevator that he notices. A group of burly men haul in heavy box after heavy box, sweat running down the sides of their necks. It’s for the apartment directly in front of his, and as far as Sangwon knows, the unit hasn’t been sold yet, just remained empty since he moved into the building almost two years ago.
“What the fuck is in these, bro?” One of the men complains, and slamming a box roughly onto the floor. Sangwon thinks he hears something rattle, and thinks about telling them off. But he remembers it's not his business, and he should be more worried about why the hell someone is moving into the apartment of a supposed sick old lady.
The other guy replies, “Apparently it’s all clothes. Those are all the boxes he checked on the form, at least.”
“Who has this many clothes? Rich people, I swear.”
“Hey, you wish you were one of them.”
“And you'd be right about that.”
Sangwon almost wants to send a message to the homeowners' association as he grabs the subway to the company. Again, it's not his business, but he would've loved a heads up. He made sure to familiarize himself with all of the people on his floor, only two other units, just to learn their schedules and avoid them as much as possible. Sangwon wasn't good at small talk so it's something he'd just rather not do. It's torturous.
It's why he loves his job. He lets himself into the private office that he'd inherited from the last director. It's surrounded in floor to ceiling glass windows, but Sangwon clicks a button on the remote that lowers all of the blinds at once. Bright spaces were distracting to work in.
All Sangwon has to do for the day, or most days, really, is sit at his desk with another scalding cup of coffee and get to work. It requires almost little to no interaction with his coworkers, apart from the quarterly presentations for business development or whatever. Since he'd moved up the company though, he wasn't in charge of those anymore and all he had to do was sit back and give feedback.
And so he gets to work, keyboard clicking obnoxiously for the next few hours before he enjoys the company-provided lunch at around twelve and sits back down at his desk until it's time to go. When he checks the time, it's already half-past six and he tells himself that he'll leave by seven at the latest. Maybe.
A knock comes at his office door exactly at seven, and while he's thankful for the reminder, he still rolls his eyes as an Anxin-sized shadow makes its way towards his desk.
"What's up with you and sitting in the dark, boss?" Anxin asks, but doesn't move to turn on the lights. Just sits on the edge of Sangwon's desk next to his computer.
Anxin Zhou—the newbie his company hired after a year of interning. He was damn good at his job, but also really annoying. Anxin had no concept of personal space especially when it came to Sangwon, and the guy is just entirely too comfortable in general. Sangwon finds him quite odd.
"Because it's my office, Anxin. And I told you to stop calling me that. I'm not your official boss, that'd be Junseo Kim."
"But you've taught me everything I know! You're more of my boss than he'll ever be." Anxin sends him a smile and a wink from across his desk. "Anyways, go ahead and turn off that computer for me so we can get dinner."
"I'm not done yet."
Anxin rounds the corner of his desk to shoo his hand off the mouse and go through the motions of shutting his desktop down. Sangwon doesn't move to stop him because, admittedly, he really was getting a little tired.
"My treat," Anxin says as he pulls Sangwon up from out of his chair and busies himself with packing his things up for him like he knows exactly where everything goes. He does by the way, and not because Sangwon forced him to be his maid or anything while he was an intern, but because he'd watched over Sangwon's shoulder enough times to learn.
Anxin had taken a liking to him much more than he'd had with their other coworkers, and Sangwon still doesn't understand why. Junseo says it's because he's the nicest senior at the company, but Sangwon doesn't really consider being helpful and cordial as 'nice', just basic human decency. But then again, not many people in the corporate world have it.
Sangwon especially knows what Anxin's gone through more than anyone. Moving alone to a foreign country when you're not completely fluent in the language or used to the culture is difficult. Anxin had adjusted much quicker than Sangwon did, but he still has his doubts sometimes that he likes to talk about.
Their regular, at least three nights a week spot, is a little hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant tucked in a shady alley about five minutes from the company. The nice ahjumma that owns it always gives them free food even though they don't need it, so Sangwon always leaves a hefty tip in return. He's been there more times than he can count, but it's still nostalgic for him—eating food that tastes just like home and speaking his mother tongue that can't use often these days.
Sangwon's stomach growls the minute a bowl of kimchi jiggae hits the table in front of him, steaming bright red. He and Anxin thank the ahjumma for the food and go to town, and Sangwon realizes he really hadn't eaten much that day. He'd only eaten about half of his plate during lunch.
"So," Anxin starts, obnoxiously slurping the soup. "What's up?"
"What do you mean 'what's up?'. Eat your food."
"Just like, what's new? Y'know."
"When is there ever anything new with me?"
"Exactly," Anxin lets out in exasperation. "You're like, not even that old. Why the fuck are you never doing anything like where's your man at or something?"
"Where is all this coming from, Anxin?" Sangwon suddenly loses his appetite, letting the spoon handle clink against the ceramic bowl. It was normal for Anxin to be nosy and too close for comfort, but he's been asking Sangwon the same question for the past week straight. It was starting to annoy him.
"How do you feel about blind dates?" Sangwon stares at him, wordless, in disbelief. He doesn't even entertain him, sliding a piece of kimchi into his mouth.
"I ask becauseee.. well, one of my friends accidentally saw a picture of you and I and—."
"Accidentally?"
"Let me finish. But he saw it and he was all like 'oh? who's your friend? he's hot', so I was like 'oh that's actually my work bestie and he's single and you're hot too want me to ask him if he's interested?' And he was like 'yeah, actually. he's bad.' So… how 'bout it?" Anxin rambles around a mouthful of tofu.
Sangwon ignores the 'work bestie' comment because there's about fifty other things in that whole thing he needs to address beforehand.
"First of all, it's not a blind date if he knows what I look like already. Second of all, absolutely not. Me and Jangmi are just fine. I'm not looking for a man and she's not looking for a stepdad." Sangwon says.
Anxin places a hand on his forearm, and Sangwon scowls down at it. "I'm just worried about you…"
Again, Sangwon usually doesn't have issues when Anxin tends to ask him personal things because he just knows it's in Anxin's nature to. He's a nosy boy at heart, and Sangwon suffers from it sometimes as well, so he has no problems in indulging in his nonsense questions. But when Sangwon is asked the same question over and over and gives the same response just to receive it again, he just knows Anxin has something up his sleeve. Which he was correct about.
Sangwon smacks his hand away, "There's no reason to be worried, Anxin. I'm fine. Also, what the hell am I gonna do on a date with one of your prepubescent friends? I'm probably ten years his senior."
"So? Age is nothing but a number! And he's very well-established and has his own apartment and is kind and handsome." That means nothing in New York City. Everyone is kind and handsome, but, well, having your own apartment is pretty rare.
But still, Sangwon says, "No."
"Just one date! Please? You love me.. do it for me. Let me be matchmaker for once! We've known each other for what, like almost two years now? I haven't heard a single hoe story from you but I tell you all of mine. I feel like such a slut sometimes." Sangwon has never told Anxin that he loves him. But he'll be nice and also not address that.
"Anxin, you're half my age. You're supposed to be out there living your life while I sit at home watching TV with my cat. Why would I have hoe stories?"
"You're not even that old! I've seen thirty one year old whores before. They're cool, too."
Sangwon rolls his eyes, signaling the ahjumma over to them for the check. He smiles politely up at her with a small bow from his seat before returning his glare back to Anxin.
"No. The answer is no."
Anxin blows him a kiss from the other side of the table when Sangwon puts his card down. As if he doesn't pay every single time, even after Anxin says, 'my treat this time!'.
"Can you at least think about it? Look, I'll show you his picture." Anxin genuinely looks desperate as if Sangwon might die if he doesn't go on this date and meet his guy. He must be paying Anxin to do this and Sangwon can't believe he's being pimped out right now.
"Okay, definitely not a blind date, then."
Anxin ignores him to pull out his phone and scroll through it before he stops at a picture, turning it to face Sangwon. Admittedly, the guy is pretty good-looking. From what he can see, he looks pretty tall, cute smile and big ears that surprisingly suit his face. He is handsome. But Sangwon isn't interested. However, he does want Anxin to leave him alone.
"Fine. I'll think about it." Sangwon says. Even though he will definitely not be thinking about anything.
Sangwon halts in front of the door across his when he hears the apartment that's usually silent filled with hush voices. It's eerie a little bit, like a ghost has taken presence there, especially when Sangwon has yet to see exactly who's inhabiting the space. If it's the old lady or someone new entirely.
He shakes it off, not wanting to look like a creep if it manages to open at random, and enters his own apartment with Jangmi brushing up against his legs.
Sangwon's night routine is just about the same every day, just like his morning one. He'd eaten with Anxin later than usual today, so he skips a real dinner for a light snack after changing into pajamas and cuddling into his couch. Jangmi sits on his lap purring and snuggling into him as Sangwon catches up on his reading for the week.
It's a quiet, slow-paced lifestyle that Sangwon doesn't mind. He will admit that maybe he's gotten a bit too comfortable with being alone, but the thought of potentially giving that up to be in a relationship makes him foam at the mouth. If he could have it his way, Sangwon would have a separate apartment from his spouse, maybe in the same building and not too far away. Not because he doesn't love them, but because at the end of the day, Sangwon does need his personal space.
Anxin isn't entirely wrong, though. The last time Sangwon had even had sex was before he'd become an intern at their company, which is why he doesn't know about it. Not that Sangwon would've told him anyways. But Sangwon doesn't even remember most of it, it was with some random at one of Jiahao's many house parties downstairs. He hasn't been to one since, especially after moving into the same building not too long after.
He knows that if he wants to get married eventually, Sangwon has to put himself out there. Anxin's friend seems like a good opportunity for that kind of thing because he at least has to start somewhere. But there's something about going on a date with a stranger that Sangwon's never met before that only fills him with anxiety.
Sometimes, he wonders how he'd even managed to end up with his exes because admittedly, Sangwon really is a tough nut to crack. Not that they lasted long or were even serious—for Sangwon at least.
Sangwon doesn't realize he's fallen asleep until Jangmi sets her weight on his chest and licks his cheek. He makes a confused sound as he runs his fingers through her fur, "Why? What happened?"
It's then that Sangwon hears it—a loud bass. He closes his eyes again, not yet bothering to move to his bed with his cat heavy on top of him. He's too sleepy to investigate if someone is trying to rob him or something. His Ring camera will do the work for him.
He blinks one eye open when he hears it again. But this time, noisy, rambunctious music follows it, seeping through under his front door.
Jangmi hops off of him to sit in front of the door, tail curled around her body. Sangwon groans as he gets up, slipping his house slippers on as he follows behind her to make sure he's not hallucinating, to make sure the both of them aren't hallucinating.
The only thing Sangwon can think of as he unlocks the door and swings it open is how much goddamn money he's paying in association fees, but he can somehow still hear whatever the fuck is going on in the apartment all the way across from his.
It doesn't even fully register how frustrated he is—body and mind still groggy with sleep until he finds himself pounding on his neighbor's door, well not exactly pounding, but let's pretend that's what he's doing right now. Sangwon doesn't have the balls to be that aggressive as much as he really wants to. So he knocks not too softly, but loud enough for working ears to pick up on regardless of loud music.
It stops—and Sangwon hears shuffling coming closer and closer towards him. Again, not noises he should easily be able to hear behind thick, solid doors. But what else should he expect in the middle of New York City, really? Everything here is a capitalistic scam to get you to spend your money for shit quality.
Sangwon is just being dramatic. He actually quite loves his condo.
The door swings open, a confused expression painted on a guy's face as if he hadn't been blasting music past midnight. He's shirtless, a white tee slung around his neck as he looks down at Sangwon, waiting for him to speak with a raised brow. Like Sangwon's the crazy one.
"Um," Sangwon starts, looking behind the guy's head so he doesn't accidentally stare at his chest that's kind of pressed up into his face. "It's a little late and I have work in the morning. So, would you mind..?"
The guy's face does a complete 180, and he looks ready to drop down on his knees in front of Sangwon and apologize. "Oh shit, yeah. I'm so sorry, yeah I'll keep it down. I forgot I have to be like, a civilized human now that I'm in a real apartment."
Leo chuckles at his own joke (? Sangwon doesn't know if it's supposed to be a joke or not). He has big, cute features—a pair of chubby cheeks with thick, pink lips to match. But there's a certain charm to him, something that makes him a little more harsh and handsome than just outright cute.
"Thanks." Sangwon says. He's sleepy, ready to cuddle back into his comfortable couch with Jangmi.
"I'm Leo, by the way. Nice to meet you." Leo holds out his hand for Sangwon to shake, and Sangwon does. His palms are sweaty, but Leo beats him to his own thought. "Sorry, my hands might be sweaty. I was just building this shelf from IKEA. It's taken like fifty of my brain cells since I started. Hence, the music."
It helps with concentration, is what Sangwon thinks goes unsaid. Leo points behind him, moving out of the way for Sangwon to see pieces of various shapes of wood spread out on his floor as if he'd thought that Sangwon thought he was lying or something. The guy's a little weird, really.
"Sangwon," He says in response. "I gotta get back to bed so.."
"Oh yeah, duh, work and all. Have a good night, Sangwon." He smiles politely, waving at him as he walks the ten or so steps back to his door. Sangwon returns it before he's letting himself back into his apartment.
Leo seemed like a nice enough guy for Sangwon to not be completely upset with him, as long as he makes sure Sangwon doesn't hear his music for the rest of the night or ever, to be frank. Plus, he was speaking like he's never lived in an apartment before or any house at all. Maybe he'd just recently purchased it and didn't have it like that growing up. Sangwon was the same so he had no right to judge. He decides to let it go.
But if Leo does that shit again, Sangwon might actually have to give him a real peace of his mind.
"I can't believe you kidnapped me from work."
Jiahao rolls his eyes, "It's not kidnapping if you didn't want to be there in the first place, anyways."
"I actually don't mind being at work, and you know that."
"Yeah, and that's fucking weird." Jiahao pushes the bottle of nail polish into Sangwon's hands and holds his own right hand out, flat on the table for him to paint.
Jiahao showed up at his place of unemployment uninvited, demanding that he come up to Sangwon's office. When Anxin denied him of his request because that's definitely not how you set up a meeting with a director, Jiahao had apparently pushed past him to go up the elevator. Anxin was a little scared to tell him what happened, knowing that Sangwon doesn't appreciate unwanted guests. But Sangwon reassured him that it was fine once Jiahao stepped into his office and he realized who it was.
He said something about Sangwon having sooo much PTO and never using it. But today of all days, a random Friday, was somehow special enough for him to drag Sangwon out of his office chair as they waved a confused Junseo goodbye.
If it was for something important, Sangwon would've understood. But instead, he's sitting here painting Jiahao's nails as he scrolls through a delivery app to order food. "How's chicken? Too greasy for you right? Me too actually, I need to lay off the greasy food."
Sangwon applies paint to his index finger as carefully as he can. He's kind of mastered this by now after giving Jiahao so many free manicures to the point where he's wanting to paint his own nails again. Sangwon has done it a few times before, but after a few weird looks from clients, he stopped. New Yorkers being anti-men-wearing-nail polish was news to him. Every male in the city was practically bisexual.
"Chipotle sounds good." Sangwon agrees, just to get Jiahao to stop throwing restaurant names at him. He needs to focus before Jiahao makes him redo the whole thing because of a slight smudge. Plus, Chipotle was his favorite fast food restaurant anyways. Win-win.
"So," Jiahao starts, locking his phone and placing it behind him on the couch. "Have you met our new neighbor?"
"Yeah, I did. How'd you even know? We're on a different floor than you."
"I met him in the elevator this morning and invited him out for breakfast. I'm surprised you didn't tell me right away."
Sangwon rolls his eyes. He'll never understand the power of an extrovert. He wishes he could have less shame, sometimes. Only sometimes. Because Jiahao also gets himself into stupid situations doing stuff like this, too.
"At first, I honestly didn't even think too much about it. I did see some movers yesterday morning but—I don't know what I thought. It's weird, though. I was told an old woman owned that apartment and wasn't planning on coming back to it anytime soon." Sangwon explains, trying to keep his hand steady as his mouth moves.
"Well, you weren't wrong about the old woman part."
"Then what is it? Leo surely doesn't look like somebody's grandma to me." Sangwon wasn't really interested before, but now that Jiahao's actually had a first hand recount of what was going on, he's curious. Especially since the apartment across from his that's been empty for years now is suddenly being inhabited on a random day. Sangwon shivers thinking about possibly leaving his house the same time Leo does, or even awkwardly walking together to their front doors from the elevator.
"The old woman was Leo's grandma, actually. She passed away like two weeks ago and left him the apartment."
Okay, Sangwon hadn't been expecting that even though it's clearly the most reasonable explanation for all this. A young boy affording a condo in a building as boujee as this mixed with building furniture in the middle of the night with no shirt on mixed with Leo basically telling him he'd been homeless beforehand or something.
"Ah, that makes more sense."
"He's a cute guy, actually. And super easy to talk to. I'd be interested if I wasn't seeing your boss. He is quite young, though. I've gotten over my cougar phase."
"Okay, you don't have to refer to him as my boss."
"Then what is he?"
"Junseo Kim is what he is."
"Whatever with the dramatics, Sangwon." Jiahao shoos him away with his free hand, jostling his still hand in the process. Sangwon glares up at him when he gets polish on the actual tip of the last finger he's painting. Jiahao only mumbles an 'oops' before smiling at him in a way that just means, 'Wipe it off and redo it properly right now'.
Sangwon is finally home after begging Jiahao to let him go. He's sick of watching reruns of Real Housewives of Atlanta. He's not joking when he says that he can recite every single one of Nene Leaks' lines of every episode by now.
It's still earlier than it would be if he'd gotten home after finishing up his work today, and honestly, Sangwon feels at a loss for what to do. He just knew he needed to be alone. So he changes into his pajamas with a full belly and pulls out his puzzle table to get to work. Anxin had gotten him a new one for Christmas, and he has yet to start on it.
Sangwon's about an hour in when Jangmi decides to walk all over his finished pieces as his doorbell rings. He ignores her for now, confused, as he makes his way to the door. He can see a figure through his Ring camera—it's the top of a head with thick, dark hair. And when he looks up, seemingly noticing the camera, he smiles into it like he wants Sangwon to watch the footage later.
Sangwon opens the door and picks up Jangmi, throwing her over his shoulder so she doesn't run out. Leo's eyes instantly light up, "Omg, can I pet her? Or him?"
"Yeah, she's nice."
Leo coos as he runs his fingers through her white, fluffy fur and scratches under her chin that meets Sangwon's shoulder. She purrs in response.
"Sorry, for uh, bothering you or whatever. I figured you'd be home by now from work. How was it by the way?" Leo asks, straightening himself back up even though he keeps his bright eyes locked onto Jangmi.
"It was fine." Sangwon answers in confusion, waiting for Leo to get to the point. While his neighbors were pretty friendly, no one ever just stood at his door to make casual conversation with him except Jiahao. But Jiahao is just weird. Maybe Leo's as strange as he is. Sangwon doesn't know if he can handle two weirdos in the same building as him.
"Oh, cool." Leo says. Sangwon can tell he's never had a job a day in his life. "I was wondering if I could uh, borrow some sugar? I'm trying to chef up some cookies right now and forgot I needed that."
"Sugar?"
"Yeah, sugar."
"That's it?"
Leo nods. Okay, Sangwon really was stuck with two weirdos. Except this one was young (he guesses about maybe early twenties) and boyish. Much worse.
"Okay, come in 'cus she'll run out." Leo lets himself in, closing the door behind him and bending down to pet Jangmi when Sangwon puts her down. "Stay right there."
He doesn't have to tell Leo twice because he doesn't even look like he's paying attention anymore. He's meowing at his cat as if he's trying to have a conversation with her. Jangmi is surprisingly chirping back at him.
Sangwon returns with a mason jar in his hand, covered with a wooden lid reading, 'SUGAR'. Leo takes it from him, "Thanks a lot, bro."
"Don't mention it." Sangwon gives him a polite smile and sees him out. Leo seems completely harmless, so he's not freaked out or anything. He's just a tad.. not normal, which is okay, he guesses.
Totally not okay, by the way.
Leo shows up at his door the next morning, another smile on his thick lips. He brings back Sangwon's jar of sugar, at least, but then requests butter. He says he's making an omelette for breakfast. Sangwon tells him to wait with Jangmi to go fetch it from the refrigerator. Leo thanks him and says he'll return it soon.
Leo comes again Sunday evening, when Sangwon's about to finish his puzzle. He doesn't know how Leo always somehow catches him when he's home. But then again, Sangwon rarely leaves his house unless it's for work or one of his friends dragging him somewhere. Thankfully, Jiahao has been busy with Junseo, and Anxin is busy doing 'young ho activities' as he would say. Whatever that means.
His long hair is pushed back with a black, plastic headband. It's the first Sangwon's ever really seen his face not partially covered by his bangs. Sangwon doesn't know how to feel about it.
He returns Sangwon's tub of butter. But he's here for something else—milk. Sangwon grimaces at him, says he only drinks almond milk. Leo shrugs, says he'll take it anyways. He's just eating a bowl of cereal, specifically Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so 'it'll basically cancel out the almond milk'. Sangwon rolls his eyes, but budges anyways, handing him the milk. Leo gives him another one of his charming, grateful smiles and sees himself out.
But then Leo stops coming for a few days. Sangwon weirdly starts to think that maybe something's wrong or maybe he's just busy or maybe he just happens to be visiting him while Sangwon's at work for the week. But when Sangwon checks his Ring camera history, all he sees is the occasional Amazon driver dropping off packages in front of his door. Sangwon isn't worried per-say, he also needs his almond milk back. For like, cooking purposes or whatever.
It's Thursday when Sangwon finally bites and asks Jiahao about it. He does it in a subtle way of course, like it's equivalent to a conversation about the New York City weather.
"Oh, I've been doing good. Actually, I haven't been able to make my morning oats in a while. You know my neighbor, Leo? Well he borrowed some almond milk from me and I haven't seen him in a few days so it's a little weird. And I miss having oatmeal for breakfast."
Jiahao turns towards him, pausing Real Housewives of Atlanta with his brows furrowed. "I didn't ask about your day, for one."
"And for two, have you tried like.. knocking on his door and asking for it back?"
Okay, this is going to be harder than he'd originally thought. Sangwon underestimates Jiahao's intelligence sometimes. He doesn't know why he does because it's not like Jiahao gives dunce or anything. Maybe just because Jiahao is kempt and a little feminine, Sangwon sometimes has this ditzy impression of him even though he's been best friends with him for years now. It's just the internalized misogyny talking or whatever. But Sangwon is sure many would say the exact same about him.
Actually though, Sangwon doesn't feel bad. Jiahao calls him 'a stupid woman' whenever he gets the chance. He also ignores Sangwon's attempts at telling Jiahao that he is in fact 'a man'.
"I mean, I don't know when he's home to do that. It would be weird to knock and he's not home." Sangwon tries to explain.
Jiahao doesn't buy it. "So? Just knock again later. You're so weird."
Sangwon shakes his head and huffs, turning his body to face forward again. "Nevermind. You wouldn't get it."
It's silent for a few seconds too long. And then he feels a hard smack on his bare thigh, so rough that Sangwon thinks it's left a handprint. Sangwon hisses and goes to yell at him before Jiahao beats him to it, "Oh my god! That's why you wanted to come over and watch RHOA. Wow, and here I thought you just wanted to spend time with me."
Sangwon shakes his head frantically, waving his hands out in front of him. "No! Not at all. I love watching the same series over and over again with you."
Jiahao rolls his eyes, "Whatever. Your crush is visiting his parents for a few days in Long Island."
"Oh," Sangwon nods. That makes sense. "Wait. He's not my crush. Ew. No."
"Sure. You barely care about what I have going on and I'm your best friend. Also, you could've just texted me." Jiahao definitely got him there. See. Smart. But he doesn't need to know that.
Also, Sangwon does not have a crush on his twenty-something-year-old neighbor. That would be crazy. And irresponsible of him. He doesn't even know why Jiahao would ever utter such blasphemy.
"That's weird."
"It might be weird, but now you have to sit here with me and binge the South Africa trip arc again."
Sangwon can't even complain. He did this to himself.
Leo graces Sangwon with his presence on Friday night. Perfect timing of course, and Sangwon opens the front door with a sheet mask on. Leo jumps in surprise before he realizes what he's looking at.
He holds out the carton of almond milk towards Sangwon with what looks like a guilty smile, "Sorry for being so late with this. At least almond milk doesn't expire as quickly, right?"
It's the first time he's actually made Sangwon laugh, he realizes. Sangwon shakes his head with a smile, taking it from his hands as he balances Jangmi on his shoulder. He lies as he says, "Don't worry about it, seriously. Didn't even remember it was missing."
"Phew, okay. Thanks, Sangwon."
Leo's about to leave before Sangwon wants him to. So of course, in true Sangwon fashion, he makes a sad attempt at small talk. "So how are these recipes coming anyway?"
Leo isn't put off by the question. Jiahao was right about him being personable. But he does scratch the back of his neck as his ears redden in embarrassment. "Um… Not great, actually."
Sangwon's about to ask him to elaborate before Leo does it for him, "I'm not used to like, I don't know.. taking care of myself, I guess? God, that makes me sound spoiled doesn't it? But all this cooking stuff is hard, y'know? Just easier to order takeout every night, to be honest."
"Well, at least you're trying." Sangwon shrugs. He can't blame the guy for how he's grown up, clearly well-off if his late grandmother owns a place like this and he's never had to even make something as little as an omelette for himself. "Maybe you should try with the basics for now like, I don't know. Ramen or something."
It's not the healthiest, but it was certainly a diet he'd lived off of when he was in his twenties as well and putting himself through university. Quick, easy and filling. The calories didn't add up too much if he was only eating that for dinner with small snacks throughout the day.
"Wait!" Leo perks up as if Sangwon's a genius and not just a human being with a functioning brain. Not that Leo's stupid or anything. Just a little dense from what he can tell. "I should go buy some of that. Any store recommendations around here?"
Sangwon just stares at him. Leo stares back with a hopeful smile on his face, like Sangwon's going to go into his phone and send him grocery store recommendations in New York City. There's like, a Trader Joe's just a ten-minute walk away and a bodega directly under their building. Sangwon isn't sure what he's expecting from him.
"At this point I feel like I should just do the shopping for you."
"Oh my god. Will you? Actually? Please!" Leo's begging now even though Sangwon was joking. Surprisingly, Sangwon isn't annoyed by the thought of his night routine being interrupted to help out the needy.
"Fine. Give me ten minutes."
"Okay! I'll meet you downstairs?"
"What? Downstairs?" Sangwon looks at him in confusion and Leo returns the same expression. Then he realizes, "Oh my god, no. We're ordering them online. How old are you? Haven't you at least done that before?"
"Twenty-three and no."
Sangwon isn't surprised by his age. Honestly, he'd thought that he was a bit younger. Not because he gives anything less than twenty-three, but because of his chubby cheeks and that youthful glow that seems to surround him. Sangwon suddenly understands those people who can 'see auras' and if he could too, he'd guess that Leo's was a glowing baby pink.
"God, okay. Get out. I'll be over there in a second."
Sangwon peels the mask off his face and pats the excess residue into his skin until he's fully moisturized and glowy. He feeds Jangmi next, a concoction of various dried animal parts and wet pate along with a broth. Only the best for his daughter, of course. And then he's sliding his feet into a pair of outside slippers and making his way over to Leo's door.
Leo's apartment is a lot more cozy and well-decorated than he'd expected. It makes sense as a woman had been dwelling in the space before him. If it had just been Leo all along, Sangwon wouldn't have been surprised to see a few lawn chairs in the living room with a huge flatscreen sitting on the floor in front of it. The only indication that a man lives here is the lack of groceries in his kitchen and the dumbbells sat awkwardly on the stairs that lead to the loft a floor above.
"Wow, you really don't have anything in here."
"Yeah.. I'm not sure where to start, to be honest." Leo motions for Sangwon to sit at the island with him and sets his laptop down in front of the two of them.
Sangwon opens up Amazon Fresh and shows Leo how to use it. He'd consider himself an Amazon demon as one would say. It was godsent, especially with his sometimes strange working hours or just pure exhaustion with the desire to do absolutely nothing all day. It definitely saves him a grueling trip, especially trying to lug around groceries in the city. Even with a car, Sangwon doesn't think it would be any easier. It's exactly why he doesn't own one.
Sangwon's adding a bunch of miscellaneous essentials to his cart as Leo leans over him like a nosy toddler. In his defense, it is his apartment that Sangwon's buying groceries for. But Leo also told him there wasn't any budget limit so he's going to help him out. And maybe himself too for all this free labor he's doing.
"Random question," Leo starts.
"Shoot."
"Are you Korean, by the way? 'Sangwon' is a pretty Korean name. But honestly, I know a lot of 'Yuki's that aren't Japanese so." Leo asks. He points at a tray of donuts for Sangwon to add into the cart. Sangwon smacks his hand away.
"Yeah, I am. Moved here for university and been here ever since," Sangwon answers. "Are you?"
Sangwon had an inkling if he was being honest. To an outsider, Leo probably just looks like the typical Asian-American, could probably be anything. But to another Korean, Sangwon could definitely tell by his features. He wasn't exactly confident about that observation, though, so he's glad Leo confirms it for him.
"I am. I mean, it's a long story. I was born in Australia then moved to Korea until I was in like, middle school. Then we migrated here, so me too, been here ever since," Leo explains. That explains the weird accent. It's like a mix of American and Australian. Sangwon can't say anything, though. His Korean accent is probably pretty strong still, too.
"Do you speak any Korean?"
"Yeah, pretty often. It's the only language my family uses to communicate. Except my Dad. He's a little weird. What about you? I mean, you were probably born and raised there, right? Do you get to speak it often?"
It's also a long story for Sangwon. But much longer than Leo's. He's not in the mood, and he's sure Leo wouldn't be either for hours worth of lore being dumped onto him. So he settles for the simplest answer he can give.
"Not really, actually. I call my family every now and again but not too often. I haven't been home in a few years either. So the most practice I get is through the occasional TikTok scroll and the ahjumma that owns the Korean restaurant near my job."
"People your age use TikTok, too?"
Sangwon stops scrolling to send him a side-eye mixed with a glare. "How old do you think I am?"
"I don't know. Thirty?"
"Close, actually. Thirty-one." Sangwon wishes he could take it as a compliment. But one year off from his actual age is nothing. Damn, does he really give thirty-year-old? He needs some tips from Anxin to stay hip. Maybe he can become a 'young ho', too.
Sangwon can feel Leo breathe into his ear, clearly too close for comfort when he says with a smile in his voice, "So that would make you my hyung, then. No?"
Leo's voice is much much deeper in Korean. It should be illegal. It is illegal actually, for Sangwon to even think someone eight years his junior has a sexy voice. He can't believe that he's even admitting that to himself. Sangwon can feel his face heating up as he unconsciously leans away from him.
But he plays it cool, and says, "Yeah. So treat your hyung with some respect, okay?"
"Okay." Leo replies, a little too happily. Sangwon squeezes one of his fat cheeks between his fingers before opening the Amazon cart to finally checkout. "Oh, that's not that expensive."
Sangwon raises an eyebrow at him. Yeah, he's definitely a nepo baby or something. Does he even have a job or like go to school, or something? Probably not. "Do you wanna add more?"
"Nah, I think it looks good. Add some stuff for yourself too, though."
"Already did."
Leo doesn't mind the blatant use of his money, clearly, because he replies with a, "Okay, good. You can use the card on file, yeah, that one right there."
Sangwon stretches when the order confirmation fills Leo's screen, like he's just spent hours on the stairmaster. His legs feel like jelly when he closes the screen and hops off the bar stool. Sangwon has to turn that particular part of his brain on when Leo says to him in Korean, "Thank you so much, really. I know I should be like, a functioning adult and do all this stuff by myself. But—."
Leo looks down at his feet, smaller than Sangwon's ever seen him in the little time they've known each other. He doesn't know why his heart hurts a little bit. But it makes sense when Leo finishes, "It's just been hard to, I don't know, do things? I guess? Y'know, ever since Halmeoni passed away."
Sangwon isn't usually good at this—comforting people. But it's somehow natural to him when he's pulling Leo into a hug, wrapping his arms around his neck. Leo wraps his own around Sangwon's waist, and they stand there like that for a few minutes.