Jae lived in a small apartment nearby a bus station, which he shared with his older sister, who worked in the city.
The both of them had moved here from South Korea to study, with Jae having lived here for almost 6 years now.
As Seth stepped foot into Jae’s apartment, he smelt the sweet aroma of home cooking.
Slipping off his shoes, he peered around at the compact space.
Seth had never really been inside fully before.
Whenever the two studied together, it would always be at the UTS library. And as for hanging out outside of uni, they usually did at Seth’s place. The only time he’d dropped by Seth’s apartment was to drop by a borrowed item of his in the first year.
On a pan atop the stove, was a freshly cooked serving of japchae, glass noodles which he’d seen Jae bring for lunch before.
“Sorry about the mess, by the way,” Jae said, waving around at the pristine space.
Jae led him toward his room, toward the wardrobe that would save him. Sliding open the wardrobe door, Seth was hit with an array of various options and styles before him.
“What kind of vibe were you going for? Monochrome? Flashy? A little grunge, like bad boy style? Or more soft boy?”
Jae threw out these terms as if Seth’s brain would understand any of them. He soon seemed to realise that Seth was hopeless, and decided to pick out an outfit for Seth instead.
He pulled forward a black polo top (that definitely looked so much more stylish than the options Seth’s dad presented to him), along with a pair of black trousers, and a belt to go with it.
Even if it was a fully black outfit, it looked much better than whatever Seth was going to put together. And quite formal. As Seth took the clothes, he suddenly felt unsure.
“It isn’t…too much? For a casual hangout?” Seth asked.
Jae raised his brow, a knowing smile playing on his lips.
“Seth, you and I both know that for both of us, this isn’t just acasualhangout.”
10am, at the station. That was their agreement.
Yet, Seth was there at 9.30am. He’d woken up two hours before, as well. Ate a good hearty breakfast, rather than his usual apple and cereal fished from the pantry. He’d spent extra time this morning in the bathroom too, obsessing a little too much over the growing pimples on his chin.
Why was he even getting pimples? Wasn’t that only reserved for teenagehood?
Usually, Seth didn’t pay much attention to his hair. It wasn’t important for him to care over it, besides the general brush and comb through.
This morning, however, he’d taken the extra time to apply some sort of hair product - mouse, was it? Or maybe it was wax. Either way, it had made his hair appear a little slicker. He’d also raked it away from his forehead. He wasn’t used to looking this way. To looking cleaned up (come to think of it, he wasn’t used to feeling this way either).
Seth couldn’t remember a time when he’d cleaned himself up this way for a casual hangout. Not even for his dates had he styled his hair this way. Nor wore clothes this stylish. Shaking away the thought, Seth deduced that it was time he had his glow up, anyway. Not all of this was for Nina - no, it couldn’t.
He simply just wanted to start…feeling nice. Looking nice.
He simply just wanted to -
“Seth!”
Nina was walking toward him. Her short hair was half-tied up, with stray strands of it whipping across her forehead from the wind.
She was wearing this maroon dress that reached her ankles, paired with a shirt beneath it. Her cheeks were painted theslightest hint of red, and Seth couldn’t tell if it was because of the wind, or if Nina had applied it herself.
For him. Forthis.
A tint of gloss, however, coated her red lips, complementing her features.
Nina was waving at him, lips stretched into a wide grin. For him.
