3/3 (1/1)

After Sungjong moved out Sungkyu spent most of his free time cleaning.  His apartment needed it desperately.  It wasn’t a chaotic mess but there were bits and pieces of people lingering, people that weren’t there anymore.

“Wow, it’s so clean.  You should host my birthday part,” Dongwoo commented lightly a few weeks later when he visited.  There were new shelves for his books and cds and then there was the new coffee table they had just put together because the last one had been Sungjong’s.  After he moved out he had left a gaping empty space in the small living area in Sungkyu’s apartment.  It was weird, he didn’t have a coffee table before Sungjong moved in but when he moved out and took it with him suddenly the place looked like a hole without it.

“Why are you having a birthday party?  Aren’t you too old for one?” Sungkyu asked as he restlessly straightened one of the books on his shelves.  He wasn’t sure that was his but couldn’t remember when it had turned up in his apartment.  Even after cleaning it was the same, pieces of people lingering, people that weren’t there anymore.

He hadn’t really expected that to change even when he started, had only started to do something about the restlessness he felt after Sungjong left.  After living with another person for a while living alone felt too quiet, his apartment seemed too big and too cluttered all at the same time.  He’d thrown out that old espresso maker, some old books and magazines but there were things he knew he couldn’t throw away, could probably never throw away.  The bear at least was something he’d promised to keep for Sungjong.

But he probably should have at least put it away in some dark corner where he wouldn’t see it every day rather than leave it sitting on his couch like a house guest.  He couldn’t quite do it though, couldn’t stand the thought of the fluffy white bear stuffed in the back of his closet.

He walked over and pulled it away from Dongwoo who gave him a look.  “That’s depressing, who gets too old to celebrate birthdays!  You’re hosting my birthday party this year!”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

In the end Sungkyu didn’t fight it, he knew Dongwoo was doing it more out of concern than anything. At the very least his way of expressing his concern was less depressing than his sister’s.  Besides, it was nice to have someone try to look after him and keep him from lounging around in his self-pity.

The day before the party Sungkyu dyed his hair again, he’d dyed it immediately after Sungjong left because seeing the bright red with his dark roots growing in had made the whole situation more pitiful.  But the black didn’t suit him anymore either, that was what he felt anyways.

Sungkyu was relieved when Dongwoo took one quick glance at his newly honey brown hair and shot him a wide approving grin.  Dongwoo had good taste, generally.  But then Sungkyu noticed that Dongwoo came with way too much alcohol, no food, and a karaoke machine.  Then he started to worry for a different reason.