It didn’t take long until the buzzing song of the device started to fill up the space and Seo Joon knew it was Han Yoon Jae calling him, unable to keep his curiosity to himself. Shirtless, he came back from the hall, poking something that looked like a new mole on his pale waist while walking. 

- How the hell do you send me such a weird text and just vanish, you punk? - The deep voice spoke calmly from the other end as soon as Seo Joon accepted the call. He laughed. - What are laughing at your excuse for a friend? You know I can't handle suspense! 

- It’s always fun to play with you. - He giggled hard after hearing the staid “Yah!” from his friend followed by a long sigh. - How are you doing, hyung? 

- At the moment? Tired of your bullshit. - He joked, a mad tone that the younger one knew too well to take too seriously. - Spit it out already, Seo Jeon!

- Alright, alright! - He walked towards the living room, holding the phone close to his ear. - You’re no fun hyung… - And Bona lazly looked at him once he noticed Baek was planning to sit by his side.

- Could you please…? I feel like smacking the back of your head already.

- The Yonsei board sent me an e-mail this morning... - He sput out, noticing how quiet Yoon Jae became for a moment, clearly in expectation. It wouldn't last.

- So what, for fuck sake, you little shit! So what?! Are you actually in or were you just messing with me first thing on your sorry ass day?! 

This time Seo Joon bursted into laughter, rejoicing himself with the impatient outburst from his years long friend. Han Yoon Jae was a storm of fresh air, even if a bit of a mannerless one most of the time. It was nice to have such a chaotic talk with someone, even though some people could classify that as an unhealthy conversation, but he knew Yoon Jae well enough to know the older guy wasn’t mad at all. He was anxious and pretty much excited, also a bit nervous out of pure care. He was that type of friend, the one that almost shares your emotions with you and that, whatever the outcome of your actions, will be there to tell you everything is going to be fine. 

- I passed, man! 

- Omo, fuck! I told you didn’t I?! - The other one was screaming in his ear now and, still laughing, Seo Joon pushed the phone a couple inches away from it. - Damn, I feel like a proud dad, Seo Joon-ah! When do you start? March?

- Yes, March fifteen… I’m happy too.

- You would be crazy if you weren’t, it’s a 80% percent scholarship, you don’t even need your father’s help to do it, even though he would gladly help you. My father is the cheapskate one, you know that, the old geezer… - Han was speaking so fast it sounded kind of funny on itself yet Seo Joon could properly understand if he concentrated. 

- But he pays for your tuition just fine, doesn’t he? You’re too much of a whine…

- Yah, I’m still your sunbae and hyung, don’t forget it because I let you talk to me without honorifics, punk! - Fake menacing tone, there it was. 

- Yes, ma’am… - He teased. 

- Yah! - Both boys laughed. - So, do you want to drink to that? - Yoon Jae invited as soon as their laughter settled down. - I'm free as a bird tonight! 

He pondered. Going out to party for a bit, even in the middle of the week sounded like a good idea, but if he went out to celebrate without properly telling his family about the news, things wouldn’t get pretty. 

- You know my dad and sisters… - The younger one sighed as soon as the words left his lips. - If they even dream about me telling you before them, they will get all hurt and stuff. Besides that, once I tell them, they will probably come over with so much food I will stay in the bathroom until the first day of classes...

Yoon Jae’s grin was clear as day through the phone. 

- Yeah, I’m aware. Friday night then? - He proposed. - I’m taking the morning shift this week anyway. 

- What about the late nights with your nose stuck in becker glasses? - Bona rubbed his head against his naked belly after sneakily getting closer to him, the sensation causing Seo Joon to contract his stomach for a moment.  

- The intern can handle it. I’m too accomplished for that shit, I’m PHD material now! 

- Says the man who lets his dad pay for it… - Seo Joon teased. 

- Alright, Friday night then. I’m hanging up. - And so he did. 

Without releasing the smartphone, the young man brushed his cat’s furry head with the back of his hand, feeling the vibration of his purr against the smooth skin. Once in a while it felt like the hairy thing actually liked him, but he knew it could never be wise to rely on that idea. Bona was a facilely enraged creature and there was that menacing deep yellow glare that always told Seo Joon to "stop being annoinly physical and fuck off", so before the little one got the chance to do so, the man was mentally prepared to just leave it alone. 

- You’re nothing like me, Bona-ah. - He smiled towards the cat, which pushed his head against the human’s hand for a little bit more of caressing. - And you’re just hard to understand sometimes. I know you’re going to reject me in less than five minutes, but you’re cute, you know? -  The cat purred under his touch once again. - Will you be fine if I’m not around that much for a while? - He decided to leave the phone on his lap and quickly turned his attention back to the animal that, this time, whined and jumped away from him. Seo Joon shook his head. Typical. - I thought so, punk…

Then he got up, thinking about a cold shower and what he could cook for lunch later. Something easy to make, he imagined. It was too hot of a day to keep his body close to the oven for more than forty minutes or so, also there was plenty of work waiting for him inside his laptop case still hidden inside the backpack up on the wall. 

Then he remembered. 

He needed to call home and tell his father he joined the Master’s course and also prepare himself for his sister's loud congrats. If he decided to tell them after his shower, he didn’t have to worry about lunch. It would come around holded by the same arms craving for hugging him to death, for sure and even though his family members could be annoying sometimes, he couldn't negate he was fond of their warmhearted affection. 

With the cool water oozing down his skin, Seo Joon smiled again. There was this nearly unbearable happiness hitting his guts and pushing out so many grins that anyone able to see him would think he lost his mind. He wondered if there could be anything to make him happier that week, but honestly… He strongly doubted it. 

*~*~*~*

As predicted, Thursday evening became something like a turbulent feast filled with laughter and proud smiles from his family. His dad eyes showed he was over the moon, yet his moderated manners let only small grins escape his mouth, accompanied by serious-faced remarks such as “you did good, Joon-ah” or “I knew you could do it, Joon-ah” and even “Is it expensive? Father can pay for it if you need to, Joon-ah” 

- Mom would be proud of you, Joon-ah. - His older sister mumbled at some moment of that night, the quieter she had been in the last couple hours. - You’re a good boy, you deserve good things... - And that certainly made his face flush a little.

- Stop being weird… - That was the only thing he managed to say after a moment of silence and they shared a look meaningful enough for nothing else to be said afterwards. 

- Who wants more chicken?! - Seo Ye Ji screamed while coming back from the front door.

- Give it to dad, you just ate it all by yourself before, you fat auntie! - His sister yelled from the floor, where both of them were sitting.

- Seo Yeong... - Their father warned from the couch, eyes on the email he kept rereading on his son’s phone.  - Stop being mean to your sister and eat your noodles before it gets too cold to do so… 

- What the heck, you’re older than me, bitch! - The younger of the two retorted.

- Seo Ye Ji! 

- Are you saying you’re fat then? - Seo Joon dodged the flying chicken wing that came speeding towards his face and laughed hard, pretending not to notice the glare of his father glued to the back of his head. 

It was a pleasant night and the apartment felt quite empty once the three went back to their father’s home, which wasn’t that far from there. His sisters refused to leave the older man alone for too long, even if their father assured them he would be just fine on his own. The girls seemed to be okay staying around and honestly, Seo Joon would do just the same thing if he wasn’t so done with his childhood home. Seo Yeong, the oldest, was married already, but her husband knew too well that in a scale of caring, he was probably the third one on the list. His four years old nephew was the first, followed by their old father. Actually, the poor chinese man was probably the fifth on that list but that was something he didn't need to know. The couple had their own house but it was too far to go back after a couple drinks and since Yifeng was babysitting the little Yan at their house together with her husband’s “too nosy to stand” chinese mother - Yeong’s words - , staying at the ancient house of the family was for the better, at least for a couple of hours.

He stared at the living room table, a mess he wasn’t into dealing with anytime soon. Yet, reflecting he had a cat that would most likely end up chocking with some stupid chicken bone in the middle of night, he decided to do something before he couldn’t reason with his lazyness no more. 

- Don’t even think about it... - He warned once the cat came wiggling towards the low table, looking at its owner as trying to hide his malicious intentions. - I can see through your snappy face, go to your sofa already.

Bona jumped over the table, sitting his heavy butt on an empty plate and started to lick his paw as nothing had been said to him at all.

- As if you ever did hear me… - He smiled, drowsy, poking one of the cat’s dark ears right before getting back to his task of taking all the bones and small pieces of wasting food away. 

The sun was just starting to set, turning the tree leafs close to his loft’s window a little bit brighter than they normally were. Sunsets were such a stunning moment of the day, he thought, but the young man would appreciate it way more if his body wasn’t so tired of keeping him up. It was early, Seo Joon knew it, but to be fair, his day started the night before since work couldn’t really give him a break. Environmental problems were as tiring as the Plague but since it wasn’t people dying and burning to the ground, little did others care. Sometimes not even people dying was enough to make their heads tilt towards the facts, still, well… Humanity. There was not much he could do himself about it. It was better to work only with what he could do.

With a heavy stomach he threw the waste away, pushing the card boxes down until their extremities disappeared into the trash can and just to feel a little less of a lazy person, he washed a couple dishes before heading towards his bathroom door. There was a black stain on his shirt, he noticed, and his face shrinked on the reflected image only enough for him to know he messed up again. A twenty six year old man that couldn’t keep his clothes clean during a single meal. What a heartthrob.

Brushed teeth and a pair of clean clothes on, he made his way to his large, ground-level bed, thinking of nothing more than hiding himself under the gray sheet eagerly waiting for him as he liked to imagine. He was the eager one, honestly, but thinking about his mattress as some kind of dog that missed him way more than his cat ever would felt comforting in his mind. 

Of course he loved Bona way more than some dog-like bed. His buddy was a grumpy little thing, but it would make sure to be around him at night time or to keep still by his side or on his lap when Seo Joon worked from home. Occasionally the fat cat would lay on his notebook as the device was some kind of warmed-by-light duvet that it couldn't get enough of, typing crazy hangul like words all over the scream and even though it was distracting, could be pretty amusing at times. 

His gaze reached the world outside, peeking at his neighbors activities inside their own homes. The kid, playing on the living room carpet with something he couldn’t really identify, the steam floating right over where a couple of pans - that Seo Joon found beautiful to the point of wanting to ask the skinny woman always roaming around the kitchen where did she got those, but it would be another level of creep - laid, the tall man coming from somewhere behind those grayish walls just to sit on the floor with who he assumed was his only son. Seo Joon never saw any other children there and well, this curiosity of him was starting to get weird even for himself. He turned around, facing his bambu dresser and the artefacts laying on top of it. A picture of his family eating together and laughing till their faces looked red during some fancy dinner of his father’s workplace was standing there, framed with a light shade of brown wood. Their attitude felt out of place, but it was a nice picture probably taken by a very much bored hired photographer. He also could see his rings and an old silver friendship necklace his younger sister gave him ages ago and out of the blue. It was nice of her, he thought. It was good to be friends with someone that knew you that well and was okay with acknowledging it. Then, he saw the stuffed blue and now pretty beaten raven, a materialized memory of him as an infant, always dragging the small bird around. It used to work as his friend, he could remember that well and maybe his mother knew how much he would grow to like that simple toy she gave him before they were even able to meet once.

Thinking about the past him, the bum-faced child with a lot to say without even being asked about it, his eyes fell shut. Embraced by dear memories and a couple of wanders, he allowed his body to rest and his mind to travel wherever it felt like going.