By the time they finished eating,

It was Sams bedtime. He told MinJoon goodnight and headed to his room. MinJoon reluctantly watched him go, instructing him to let him know if he needed anything.

Sam put on the new pjs MinJoon gave him, and brushed his teeth. He felt unsettled and very awake. Sam had trouble adjusting to new things. His mom stopped taking him on vacations when he was 9 and tried to walk home from Hawaii after crying for 24 hours straight and refusing to eat or sleep.

So that meant Sam hadn’t slept anywhere other that his own house in a decade.

He paced around the bedroom, the familiar panicking feeling rising.



Outside his window a dogs distant bark floated up. Sirens wailed in the distant. The air conditioner rumbled. Sam bit his lip and plugged his ears. Squeezing his eyes shut he paced circles around his room, trying to force himself to relax. Did his mom know where he was? What if there was a storm? What if MinJoon left and he was all alone? Would the police ever find his body if he died?

Sam realized tears were running down his face and he was hyperventilating.

“Help me,” he moaned, “someone help me!”

At that moment they door was flung open and Monjoon rushed in.

“Sam! Baby what’s wrong?” Cried MinJoon anxiously, rushing to the sobbing boy and wrapping his arms around him. Sam was too upset to notice MinJoon called him baby. Sam welcomed MinJoon’s embrace, hiding his face against MinJoon’s shoulder. He tried to control himself and get a grip, but he couldn’t stop sobbing. MinJoon just held him, like Sams mom did when he was little and had a panic attack. MinJoon held him tightly and rocked him back and forth, murmuring softly. Sam managed to take a couple deep breaths and calm down with MinJoon holding him.

“I’m sorry!” Gasped Sam ashamedly, “i-i just...”

“Shhhh...” hushed MinJoon, “take your time. What happened?”

Sam looked down in embarrassment.

“I got scared.” He said pathetically.

“I can drive you home.” offered MinJoon concernedly.

Sam thought about it. Home sounded nice. But MinJoon...he was so nice. And Sam said he’d be his roommate.

“N-no I’m okay.” Stuttered Sam, sniffing. MinJoon quietly studied Sams face with concern, then gave him a pat on the back and grabbed a tissue from Sams bathroom. He knelt next to Sam and gently dried his face.

“If you don’t want to stay, it’s ok. Really.” MinJoon Said worriedly.

“I’m ok now,” Said Sam, and he meant it. He felt safer than ever with MinJoon there.

“Do you want to watch a movie with me?” Offered MinJoon, thinking it might make Sam feel better.

“Sure.”

It turned out MinJoon had a luxury home theatre with surround sound. MinJoon let Sam pick the movie, so they ended up watching Tangled. The boys sat next to each other on the couch, and MinJoon spread a blanket over Sam. Sam could hardly keep his eyes open, and drifted to sleep 10 minutes into the movie. MinJoon noticed Sam fall asleep and turned off the tv. He admired Sams peaceful sleeping face for a moment and then ever so gently wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and lifted him easily. He carried Sam down the hall to the guest bedroom, where he lay him gently and tucked him in.

MinJoon stood by the bed for several minutes, debating if he should leave Sam or not. He knew Sam could be a bit weird about things, and he was worried that Sam might wake up in the night and be scared.

I shouldn’t baby him like that, thought MinJoon, he’s an adult. He’ll be fine.

MinJoon reluctantly left the room, but left the light on. He’d picked up on Sams little quirks. He was shy, was scared of the dark, and hated new things. MinJoon had his own quirks. He was terrified of bugs, had insomnia, and was very sensitive. MinJoon went to his bedroom and got ready to sleep. He started by chugging heavy duty sleeping pills.