It was another two weeks before Yoonjae attempted to visit again, and this time Joonhee couldn’t say no. 

Don’t tell me you still haven’t unpacked.

He couldn’t tell Yoonjae that because that would be the most obvious lie.  Joonhee wasn’t the kind of person that would just let things sit like that.  He was, afterall, the one that had done most of the cleaning when they’d lived together.  To begin with he hadn’t had much to unpack.  Truthfully, he’d unpacked completely within two days, but he hadn’t been ready then.  He wasn’t sure he was ready now, but he couldn’t say no.

They decided (or Yoonjae decided) that he’d visit on Joonhee’s next day off, and that Joonhee would cook because Yoonjae claimed to miss his cooking.

Shiwon eats better than she cooks, he had said.  Joonhee had never even seen Shiwon cook but he had seen her eat many times, so he wasn’t surprised.  

After living with Yoonjae for six years (and known him for longer) it was easy to cook for him.  Joonhee knew what he didn’t eat, knew all his favourite foods, even knew in what order he’d eat those foods if placed in front of him.  It was the kind of thing that he couldn’t unknow even if he lived with someone else for ten years.

“Wow.” 

Joonhee had just finished cooking and begun to set the plates in place (Yoonjae was late but it wasn’t uncommon) when Daehyun got home.  “Sunbae, I didn’t know you were coming back this early.”

They had gotten used to living together by now, though the elder would sometimes tease Joonhee about how he seemed to try to take care of him.  It was a habit formed from living with someone that was used to having someone else do the housework.  Given their schedules they didn’t eat together often (unlike when he’d lived with Yoonjae) but when Joonhee cooked he made enough and saved it in the fridge for him.  He said that Joonhee would make a good wife at least twice and Joonhee just shook his head and grinned when that happened.

“But you still made enough for me, right?”

“Yes,” Joonhee answered automatically while setting an extra place setting.  “My friend’s coming over tonight but if you don’t mind we can eat together.”

How could Joonhee have known how awkward that would turn out?

The introductions were normal enough, and it wasn’t like they were rude but when Yoonjae didn’t like someone it wasn’t hard to tell.  At least it was easy for Joonhee to tell.

“Kim Daehyun,” a hand was extended for a handshake and since Yoonjae had gotten better with people since high school he actually did accept it, even smiled as he offered his name in return.  It was a bit awkward but it was a level of awkward that was normal for Yoonjae.  Awkward in the way it had taken him a lingering moment to accept the handshake and the way that it was pretty obvious his smile was purely polite and entirely cool.  It wasn’t something unexpected from Yoonjae, he was someone that took time to warm up, something Joonhee knew from experience.

What was weird was the way he occasionally seemed to deliberately steer the conversation into something just between the two of them, and the way Yoonjae touched him almost constantly above and under the table.  The touching itself wasn’t anything entirely strange, Joonhee had been trying to avoid it but it was something he was used to enduring to an extent.  Yoonjae had always been touchy with him (he wasn’t entirely sure why since he didn’t do the same with Sungjae, not nearly as often anyways), it had been uncomfortable and painful all through high school as Joonhee figured out his feelings. 

They were, of course, long out of high school and while it still got uncomfortable simply because the person he loved was touching him casually, this right now was a whole different kind of uncomfortable.

Yoonjae was touching him for absolutely no reason, more than it was natural even for him.  He was touching deliberately.  He put his hand on Joonhee’s arm even when the position was awkward and their knees kept bumping under the table.  The first few times Joonhee had assumed it was a maddening accident, but considering it happened repeatedly for the entire hour they spent at the table, he had to acknowledge that it was deliberate.  It was like Yoonjae was trying to remind him at every opportunity: to look at him, focus on him.

As if he hadn’t lived like that since practically the moment they met.

Daehyun made no comment if he noticed, thankfully.  It was the kind of thing that could be commented on only by the tactless and dense.  And unlike Yoonjae, Daehyun was neither. 

As if sensing the comparison Yoonjae shifted so that their knees bumped again, Joonhee had to wonder if he’d get through dinner with his sanity intact.  It wasn’t even a small table, Yoonjae was simply sitting an inch too close.  Joonhee was used to dealing with his casual touches without reacting too much by now, but he had to wonder if some of the tension wasn’t showing on his face.

“You two are really close,” Daehyun commented politely, breaking into the conversation that Yoonjae had wrapped around just the two of them.  Joonhee couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved, wondered if the comment would help Yoonjae realise how weird he was being.

“Of course, we’ve been best friends since high school,” Yoonjae responded with a smile.  He said it in a way that made their friendship sound like a prize, a treasure.  As uncomfortable as the evening had been Joonhee couldn’t help smiling at that.  He didn’t resist this time when Yoonjae wrapped the conversation back around them.

After dinner they cleaned up and did the dishes.  Yoonjae and Joonhee did, because even as Daehyun tried to help clear the table Yoonjae had dismissed him physically and verbally.

“I know how Joonhee likes to do the dishes.”

He’d then taken the plate right from Daehyun’s hand, it had been so abrupt that he’d just stared blankly at the younger man for a moment before he muttered some kind of affirmative.  He probably shouldn’t have.  He felt like he’d enabled...something.  He wasn’t sure what though, the entire dinner had been weird, if not outright uncomfortable.  Daehyun thought even Joonhee had been uncomfortable, though he hadn’t let a whole lot show on his face except for brief flashes of something.

Something, there were a lot of somethings and Daehyun had no idea what it was that he’d watched pass.  He was still thinking about it without watching the television that babbled on when Joonhee came back. 

Yoonjae and Joonhee had gone for a walk, at Yoonjae’s suggestion of course, and while Joonhee had looked a bit perplexed he went along with it. 

And now he was back, still looking confused.

“You’re back,” he called out to bring Joonhee’s attention to him.  Daehyun wanted to ask Joonhee what the whole thing had been about, but was that really his business?  Having only been roommates for a bit more than two weeks he hadn’t really figured out what kind of boundaries to keep up.  Until he met Joonhee’s strange friend he hadn’t been in a hurry to figure it out, he assumed they’d run into it harmlessly at some point, but tonight it had felt like he’d been in the middle of a lovers’ something.  Something.

“Yeah...” Joonhee trailed off as if he might say more so Daehyun waited, looking at his roommate somewhat expectantly until it became obvious that Joonhee had nothing to add.  Maybe he was just too busy putting his shoes away.  Or maybe saying anything else would seem defensive, it would make the whole thing weirder than it actually was, and he was actually trying to save Daehyun from putting his foot in his mouth.  Maybe it was a Busan thing.  More likely it was just because they’d known each other so long and that kind of thing was just natural to the two of them.  Any of those explanations would have been enough, if not for the fact that Daehyun thought he saw something like discomfort in Joonhee’s expression.

“How was the walk?”  He was fishing and they both knew it.  Joonhee didn’t sigh, but he gave the impression that he wanted to.

“It was all right...” 

Again, he waited to see if Joonhee would say more and he did this time.  “Sorry if dinner was a bit awkward, Yoonjae’s not really good with meeting new people.” 

“Nothing to apologise for, next time he comes I’ll leave the two of you alone,” Daehyun felt awkward the moment he suggested that.  He’d said it in such a way that Joonhee couldn’t possibly leave it alone, he’d made it weirder.  He couldn’t help it though, the words came out without too much thought, he couldn’t resist the nagging sense of curiosity.

Joonhee gave him a bit of a weird look.

“You don’t have to do that, anyways it’s not like he’ll come over a lot,” he didn’t sound convinced of that even as he said it.

“Really?  You two seem...close.”

That, he really shouldn’t have said, not that way.

Daehyun wanted to bite himself when he thought about how it sounded, the way he said it.  It was as if there was some kind of illicit affair between Joonhee and his friend.  He hadn’t meant for it to sound that way, (even if he kind of wondered) but it was out there and surely Joonhee heard it as well.  If nothing else Daehyun realised that Joonhee was someone who was sensitive to tone and implication, paid almost too much attention to other people.  No doubt Joonhee would wonder what he was trying to imply and Daehyun didn’t blame him.

“Well,” the word hung in the air for a moment.  Joonhee was heading for his room, his back to Daehyun.  “We’ve known each other for a long time.”

He couldn’t see Joonhee’s face. 

“I’m going to get some rest, it’s been a long week.”