“Dad, my electricity is out and I’m sure I’d paid the bills. Could you send someone here to fix it?”
—
Shim Changmin, whose parents are running a small electric repair shop located at the north of Seoul and he’s at a rent house at the south as its closer to the university. It’s been like this since he started school, transport distance killing him and he has to change to another bus halfway, which always fail since he missed the stop, resulting in going back to the stop or taking another bus. Usually he’ll do the latter and it’ll take another whole hour to get to school, totally late for his first class.
But being the son of a repair man, it looks like the genes aren’t passed down smoothly. Changmin is color blind. He can’t differentiate colors and can’t even connect wires to form a plug. Earth wire live wire or neutral wire, to changmin, all these are just names. He can’t study sciences too, even though chemistry sounds really interesting, he’s rejected and asked to choose another course. That’s how he ended up majoring in law.
It was a hot afternoon when the doorbell rang, and changmin was just starting to work on his case analysis.
“Good afternoon sir I’m from Shim Electric!”
—
While the man works on the fuse box, changmin stands beside him and stares, literally shooting lasers into the back of the man’s skull. Not that he’s doing it on purpose. He’s trying not to stare. Which repairman will turn up in a tight t-shirt and skinny jeans? The last time he checked, repairmen at the shop are wearing loose overalls.
“Are you a newcomer at the store?”
“Yes! I joined the family last month!” the man replied, beaming right into Changmin’s eyes, radiating sun rays off him.
“Excuse me for asking, but why you are not wearing overalls like what other repairmen wear?” changmin decided to ask, his curiosity increasing as he watches how the cloth clings to the muscles at the perfect angles.
“It’s so boring! Thought I would surprise my customer!”
Changmin found his head nodding in agreement; he certainly had got a pleasant surprise from this hot repairman. And now he noticed the back of the shirt is totally wet.
“do you want to take a shower?” changmin asked casually, hoping that he will accept and he would be able to see some eye candy for the rest of the day, and hoping not to accept because he’s paranoid about inviting someone he doesn’t know well into his rooms and invading his privacy.
“I’d love to! But I’m going to another apartment,” the man smiles again, fiddling with the wires on his hand.
Things get terribly awkward since Changmin didn’t reply and repairman is just too focused on his job.
“It’ll be a total of fifty dollars, sir, and things shouldn’t screw up anymore, but if things really screw up please call the shop!”
Changmin handed him the money and watched the man go off with a can of cola in his hands after Changmin had emphasized so many times that giving a cola to him isn’t giving a tip which is not allowed at the shop, thanks to Changmin’s suggestion five years ago due to some circumstances.
Thirty minutes after the man left, Changmin stares at the cola in his hand and realizes he hadn’t asked for his name.
—
Thirty days after the man left, he also left Changmin’s mind.
—
Ninety days after the man left, Changmin’s back at home (reluctantly) for holidays.
He would prefer studying his ass off for his next exam when school starts again and not stand in the snow and let his sisters make a snowman out of him and the last time he measured, his waist is not a whopping fifty inches.
It’s the same routine like past years, inviting or getting invited by neighbors for little host parties, “enjoying” the festive mood. This year, it’s their family hosting the party. It’s fun at first, but as the years go by, it’s not that fun anymore.
And now since he’s a third year in university, his relationship life is of the most interesting topic among all.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No”
“Really?”
“No”
“How about someone you like?”
“No”
“Are you sure?”
It took Changmin all his willpower not to slap the ahjumma who is also their neighbor since he was in diapers and replied, “Yes”
And of course the next best thing to happen is his sisters (who stole his phone and cracked his password – changgod) running off to show everyone a girl he had been texting.
“Oh son who’s this Jieun girl? Bring her home when you have breaks!”
Mrs Shim patted her son’s back and smiled brightly and because changmin hates unfilial children he makes a mental note to torture his sisters again. Pouring paint into their makeup case, wonderful idea.
He was still thinking how to cause havoc in his sisters’ room when they shouted “Oppa!”
Naturally, Changmin (as the rightful brother) turned his head and sees two girls latching on a familiar person’s arms.
“Hey! You’re the guy who treated me cola!”
—
So mister repairman (Jung Yunho and two years older) recently moved into their neighborhood and his dad’s shop was lacking in manpower so Yunho was recruited. Good choice nice taste.
Being the only two whose age difference is the smallest, it’s easy to hit it off together.
By the end of the week, they’re going out for daily walks in the snow park with their dogs. That’s how Changmin starts to know him better.
“I’m from Gwangju but moved here and I teach dancing in my house, since there’s an extra room. Do you want to learn?”
“Thanks but no thanks. No interest. I prefer books,” Changmin hopes Yunho doesn’t think he’s a geek loser.
“Oh that’s cool. The only thing I’m good in is failing. It’s still a miracle how I passed my finals,”
—
Two weeks after Changmin’s back at home, it’s painfully obvious that Changmin is attracted to Yunho. Just like a bad written typical high school drama, yunho is totally oblivious to Changmin’s feelings and continues to treat him as a intimate friend, hands lying on his thigh or lacing their fingers together when they’re running through alleyways from gangsters which yunho accidently angered with his “tch” after being (not very) politely asked for money. Gwangju pride, what could he do?
Of course Mr and Mrs Shim would want to talk about homosexual couples during dinner one night and assured their children (namely Changmin) that being they don’t mind them (him) being homo or bi as long as their (his) partner loves them (him) and they are happy. Changmin would have ignored the topic but his mum was giggling all the way and his dad is shaking and trembling trying not to laugh. As usual, his sisters are laughing right in his face.
“Changmin, why are they looking at us?” Yunho fidgets while turning around and noticing weird stares from strangers.
Stupid rumor spreads fast, eh. “I don’t know,” grabbing a few more bags of chips and throwing them in the trolley.
—
Reality check. His balls are quite blue.
It’s been years since Changmin woke up sweaty and thirsty with an erection in his boxers. Back then, he was fantasizing about the school’s prettiest girl. Now, his head is flooded by images of Yunho.
However, in general, at nights like this, all he does is to lock the door, pull down his boxers and hand job himself and moan the person’s name. Same old way.
—
He’s in Yunho’s house to pass him some food made by his mum and got invited by the cheery hyung, and told Changmin that parents and sister somewhere Changmin didn’t really catch the first time when Yunho told him.
“So when the girl freaked out because halfway when I was taking out the ladder from the shed and a lizard ran past us -”
“Uhm”
“She fell into her own fish pond and -”
“Ok”
“You’re not listening,”
“Yes, I mean no. I was just -”
“It’s alright. Everyone has bad days! Let me get you a glass of water!” Yunho ruffled his hair and walked away.
Sometimes changmin wishes yunho isn’t that nice. So they could quarrel and things would escalate, resulting a “because I like you, idiot!” shout at the same time. It would be so much easier to confess if Yunho really isn’t that nice.
“Here, water,” Yunho holds a glass right in front of Changmin’s face, “penny for your thoughts,”
“Yunho-hyung, I… like…. cola better,” Changmin mentally facepalms himself. He watches helplessly as Yunho apologized profusely and go back into the kitchen to take cola.
When he came back with cola Changmin tries again.
“Hyung, I… like….”
“Hmm?” Yunho stares at changmin, nodding his head to urge Changmin to finish his sentence (so that he could go pee)
“I like you” Changmin whispers as he leans onto yunho, eyes closed, not ready to see Yunho’s reaction.
“Oh let me go to the toilet first!” Yunho exclaims at the exact moment ran into the washroom, leaving Changmin lying on the sofa, heart thumping out of his chest.
A happy-face yunho appears from the washroom, “so what did you say just now?”
Changmin is clearly unhappy though, standing up and staring so hard at Yunho’s eyes that the older man stepped back. “Hyung I said I like you and you to be my boyfriend and this is the third time since the past five minutes! The first time was screwed, the second was interrupted and now the third time I’m shouting! I don’t mean to shout oh I’m rambling again,” Changmin plops down on the sofa and buries his head into his hands.
“Changmin-ah, aren’t we already going out?” Yunho sits beside him and removes Changmin’s hands from his face.
“Since when?”
“Since we brought our dogs out? The night before you asked me out in the middle of some drinks…” yunho trailed off and fidgeted around, waiting for a response from Changmin.
All changmin wants to do right now is to bang his head against a wall. That night he was drunk. He doesn’t remember anything but to bring their dogs out for a walk together. No wonder after that Yunho was very touchy. All makes sense to him now. And all the more he wants to band his head against a wall to die from the embarrassment.
And he’s caught unaware when suddenly his head is tuned and a pair of lips crashed into his.
As a hyung, Yunho felt that he should take some initiative.
Not that Changmin minds. His embarrassment expanded to revealing his naked body to yunho and letting yunho hear all sorts of weird noises he made while Yunho thrusts into him, moaning his name repeatedly.
Much to Changmin’s surprise, Jung family also approves them and often invites the whole Shim family to dinner together. Soon enough they begin to have fortnightly dinner sessions at either one of the houses.
But all good things come will come to an end. Changmin’s break is over and it’s time to go back to school. He’s tempted to move back but the rent is paid till the end of the semester.
“Promise that you would visit?” changmin whispers between last kisses while locking them in the bedroom while everyone else is downstairs to leave the lovebirds alone.
“Yes,” yunho slips a small glass jar of messages for changmin to read while taking study break since he’s pretty sure that if they start calling each other the call would never end and Yunho’s speed of text messaging is way too slow.
—
Changmin was on research on another case analysis when the doorbell rang.
“Happy valentine’s day in advance sir I’m from Shim Electric!”
For the first time of his life, Changmin might have saw a spark of colors when he sees Yunho standing there with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate, in the middle of January.
