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The apartment was small, just big enough for two people who didn’t need much more than each other. The kitchen opened up into the living room, and the only bedroom sat tucked behind a sliding door that creaked when it moved. The walls were thin enough to hear the neighbors occasionally arguing or laughing, but most of the time, it was quiet. Su-ho liked the quiet.
Si-eun had picked the place after weeks of scrolling through listings between classes. Su-ho had only needed to see it once before saying, "It feels like you." That was enough for both of them.
Si-eun was in college now, majoring in something that made his notebooks look like they were written in another language. Su-ho stayed home. Not because he wanted to, exactly, but because he didn’t need to work. After Beom-seok had been sent to another country, and the hush money had been quietly transferred to his grandmother, she had insisted he use it to rest. "You deserve peace," she had said, placing her wrinkled hand on his. And for once, Su-ho didn’t argue.
So he stayed home, waking up when Si-eun did, watching him shuffle through their tiny kitchen half-asleep, hair still a mess from sleep. He made breakfast sometimes, toast and eggs, sometimes just coffee, depending on how late they had stayed up. Si-eun kissed him on the cheek before leaving, always, and Su-ho stood in the doorway watching him go.
Then, the hours stretched.
Su-ho studied. He kept up with his own books, took online courses, watched documentaries, sometimes re-read the few novels he had actually liked from school. He cleaned the apartment, tried new recipes for dinner, took walks, stared at the sky. But the quiet grew heavier as the day went on. It always did.
He missed Si-eun in a way that was new, not sharp or desperate, but constant. Like a song playing in the background of everything. He tried not to think too much about it. Tried not to think about the times when silence had meant loneliness, not peace.
When the sun dipped behind the buildings outside their window and the door finally clicked open, Su-ho was always in the same spot: curled into the corner of the couch, head lifting the moment he heard footsteps.
"Hey," Si-eun would say, dropping his bag by the door.
"Hey," Su-ho would answer, always with a smile he didn’t even try to hide.
They ate dinner side by side, knees brushing under the small table. Si-eun talked about his classes, about professors who talked too fast or not at all, about classmates who didn’t know when to stop talking. Su-ho listened, nodding, sometimes adding a soft joke that made Si-eun roll his eyes but smile anyway.
Then came the best part.
After dishes, after brushing their teeth and showering, they crawled into bed. Their bed was small, barely a double, but it was warm. It smelled like them. Su-ho pulled Si-eun close, always. Si-eun always let him.
Tonight, like most nights, they chose a movie neither of them really cared about. It played softly on the laptop at the foot of the bed, casting flickering light across the room. Si-eun lay against Su-ho's chest, his hair damp and clean, a blanket thrown over both of them.
Halfway through the movie, Su-ho whispered, "You smell like that shampoo I like."
"You mean the one you keep stealing?"
"It was one time."
"It was three."
"Details."
Si-eun shifted just enough to look up at him. "You okay?"
Su-ho blinked. "Why wouldn’t I be?"
"You’re always waiting when I get home. Every day. You don't get tired of it?"
Su-ho was quiet for a moment. The movie played on, forgotten.
"No," he said finally. "I missed you. That’s all."
Si-eun's eyes softened. "You don’t have to wait for me. You can go out, do something. Make friends."
"I have a friend. He's lying on my chest."
Si-eun huffed a laugh. "You're impossible."
"But you like me anyway."
"Unfortunately."
Silence settled again, but this time it was warm. Su-ho let his eyes close, his hand brushing slowly through Si-eun’s hair.
"I like this," Si-eun whispered. "Being with you like this."
"Me too."
The movie ended at some point, the screen dimming to black. Neither of them moved. Outside, the city kept breathing, cars humming past, lives unfolding in other apartments, other bedrooms. But in theirs, there was only the sound of two hearts beating steady against each other.
In the quiet, Su-ho found peace. And with Si-eun in his arms, he found home.