#rkxmk

[rkfanfic]

— ◉ — @rkxmk

[gunheerk-blog]

unfinished portraits.

Sometimes, Gunhee would catch a glimpse of his roommate’s artwork. He’d come home from work and a painting would be drying in the living room. Or before he left to get his pre-shift coffee, he’d find MK staring out the window in the kitchen, a half-finished sketch in front of him. But he never dared ask what it was about. Gunhee sort of admired the artistic mystique surrounding MK. He thought asking about the art would ruin that… especially if he misinterpreted the work.

It was kind of like writing lyrics, not that Gunhee was very good at that. In fact, the few times he had tried, he found himself staring at what came out as a compilation of whatever he had been listening to that week. At times, it felt like he didn’t have a creative bone in his body. Maybe he should talk to MK more just to get some pointers. Although, it occurred to Gunhee after that thought that maybe a visual artist wouldn’t be able to help him with composing lyrics.

Out of stubbornness, he continued to avoid the elephant in the room that was their creative pursuits. Of course, if he woke up or came home and MK was around, they’d always exchange polite small talk. It seemed, however, that Gunhee was not the only one too shy to ask the big questions. So quiet roommates they remained. Friends… well maybe one day.

[gunheerk-blog]

moving in part ii

{September 5, 2018}

Gunhee had quietly sipped his coffee… for about five minutes. Then he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You’re an artist right? So you understand what it’s like to work late hours too. You see, I work full-time at a bar, so I’d be home late most of the time. I hope that’s okay, I mean, I’m quiet when it’s late like that but I have to confess something else.”

He looked around to make sure no one was listening. After scanning the room, he lowered his voice and said,

“You see, I’m practicing to become an idol trainee. I know, I know, I’m a little old for it. Born in ’94, so I’m actually older than you too… did I mention that? Anyway, I’m really serious. So during the day I’ll probably be practicing my vocals… sometimes dance. If it bothers you, I can probably find a studio to rent somewhere – I mean, at the price you’re offering for rent, I bet I could afford it, but –“

MK was smiling. He cut Gunhee’s chain of thought short and asked, “So d’you wanna see the place?”

After touring the building, Gunhee was awestruck. Why on earth couldn’t a nice guy who lived in an ideal location with an apartment like that get a roommate? But he didn’t pry, even if he should have. He just left casually for work and hoped for the best. He’d been honest about his lifestyle, and that was all he could do.

So later on his break, when he received an email from MK asking when he could move in, he did a fist pump. In real life. The other workers in the break room may have stared, but Gunhee was thrilled. He immediately typed back a response.

Absolutely. I’ll move in Saturday the 15th. Can’t wait. See you then.

{306 words}

[gunheerk-blog]

moving in part i

{September 5, 2018}

Gunhee was exhausted. After months of looking for a roommate through work acquaintances and recommendations from the servers at his grandparents’ tea shop, he had finally resorted to online want ads. He was skeptical of all of them. Some of them because they exaggerated how clean the place was. Others because they wouldn’t post pictures. Still others were out-of-reach because they were asking more in rent than he was already paying. So when he saw a listing for ₩500,000 per month in a very well situated condo, he almost passed it up. Too good to be true.

But maybe he had had one-too-many coffees one afternoon, or gotten one less hour of sleep one night, and he ended up sending a very hesitantly worded email to the ₩500,000 posting, fingers crossed.

He got a reply from someone who seemed very enthusiastic even across the internet, which should have set further alarm bells off in Gunhee’s head, but he decided to ignore that and take a chance. The poster wanted to meet for coffee right beside the listed condo’s address. He’d be able to see the neighbourhood and get his afternoon caffeine, so how could he say no?

The day of the meeting came and Gunhee found himself on the bus to the café in a ragged black hoodie and jeans. Maybe not the best first-impression outfit. Maybe not an outfit he should still be wearing, since he woke up in these clothes and didn’t have time to change. But he had showered after work last night so he couldn’t look too unkept, right? Nonetheless, there was no changing now.

Gunhee got off the bus and took the short walk to the café. Inside, he tried to stay calm and ordered an extra large coffee, triple cream and triple sugar. As he waited for his drink, he felt eyes on him and knew that someone in the room was waiting – had they figured him out? He took his coffee, turned around, and–

A bright, blonde-haired young man was staring at him and appeared to be suppressing a smile. Remembering how enthusiastic the emails had been, Gunhee went with his gut and began to approach this man’s table. He barely reached the seat when the man spoke, asking if he was here applying to be roommates.

“Wow,” said Gunhee, “do you read minds? Yeah, I’m Gunhee. You must be MK. Give me a minute to sit down and drink this coffee, and then we can talk all about the arrangement.”

{419 words}