Roomies

1

Mrs. Yang walked into her son's room and sat on his bed. "Hojin, wake up." She patted his shoulder and waited for him to wake up.

Hojin squirmed in his sleep but eventually woke up. "Mom?" He looked at the clock on his bedside table and groaned. "It's 6 a.m."

"It's time to go."

"This early?" He jolted up. "Do I have to?"

"You're 25... Your dad thinks if you continue living with us, you'll never meet a woman and get married. We want grandkids."

"Mom, I have friends that I go out with every weekend. I can meet a woman then. Besides, what's getting an apartment going to do? I'm still going to have the same routine."

Mr. Yang cleared his throat from the doorframe. "True... which is why you'll go on a date with Han Jieuns daughter once every weekend."

"You can't do that!" Hojin scoffed.

"I can, I will, and I did. Or you won't be handed the company." Mr. Yang didn't want to hear anymore from his son so he turned around and left the room.

"Honey, I'm so sorry." His mother looked at him with guilt in her eyes. "He's only doing this because he's worried you're going to be dependent on us for the rest of your life. Don't take it to heart."

His mom kissed his forehead and he looked at her, "Do I get to keep my car?" He asked.

"Of course."

***

Mak Ha-Ru was unpacking her things in her new apartment when she heard the front door unlock. She paused and turned around to stare at whoever was entering her apartment.

A man around her age entered with multiple people following behind him with boxes. He didn't seem to notice her. Haru stared at them in confusion until it clicked in her mind.

"You must be my roommate? I didn't know you'd be a dude." She said while mumbling the last part.

Hojin jumped when he heard her voice. He poked the side of his mouth with his tongue and scoffed, "Great, so not only did he kick me out, but he got me a roommate too."

"Um, sorry?" Haru mumbled.

He realized how rude he sounded and instantly apologized. "Uh, I'm sorry. It just caught me by surprise... I'm Yang Ho-Jin by the way." He walked over to her and bowed.

"Mak Ha-ru." She replied. "Umm, I'm putting some of my decor on this shelf if that's alright with you? I left that one empty for you."

"It's fine by me. You can have that one too. I don't have any decor or anything." Hojin told her. "I'm gonna unpack my things and then we can go over rules or whatever."

Haru nodded and he left the living room.

As soon as he entered his room, he pulled out his phone and called his dad.

"Hello, son? Listen- I'm sorry I had to do this if that's what you're calling for. I'm just really worried for your future."

"First of all dad, no that's not what I'm calling for. However, my future is my business. If I want to get married I will. Second, you're not sorry and we both know it." Hojin gibed. "I called because you forgot to tell me that I have a roommate."

"A roommate? I didn't-" His dad said questionably. "You know what, I'm gonna get this sorted out by the end of this week. You can come home in the meantime if you want, but maybe the guy isn't so bad."

"It's not a gu- Actually nevermind. It's fine. I guess he can stay so I'm not so alone." Hojin said.

"Are you sure? I can talk to them if you really want him gone. Maybe I'll pay them extra to get him out of there. If not I'll just get you another apartment."

"No, it's fine. Bye dad."

"Bye son. I love you even though you don't believe it."

"Yea. Love you too." Hojin hung up and started unpacking his things.

After multiple hours of unpacking his things, Hojin went to the kitchen to get something to drink. He grabbed a glass out of the counter and poured himself some apple juice from the fridge.

Haru entered the kitchen a couple of minutes later and looked at him. "Are you ready to go over the rules?" He nodded and she walked over to him, "Rule number one, buy your own groceries."

She snatched the apple juice bottle off of the counter and put it back into the fridge.

Hojin rolled his eyes and finished his glass. "Okay, rule number two, turn off the lights when you're not in a room."

Haru followed his eyes to the bathroom she'd just walked out of. She rolled her eyes and went to turn it off.

"And rule number three, no shoes in the house! Do you have no home training?" Hojin teased.

Haru kicked her shoes off and went to place them by the front door. "Sorry. Um, rule number three, if you want to have friends over, you have to come to me about it first. Vice versa."

"Okay. Rule four, no loud music. I hate loud music." Haru nodded and Hojin continued. "Five, clean up after yourself. Six, if you have a job put your schedule on the fridge."

"Why number six? That's kind of weird." Haru said.

"There's only one bathroom. If we know each other's schedules, we'll know when the other needs to start getting ready." Hojin explained. "And the most important rule- no entering each other's rooms without knocking."

Haru nodded and held her hand out, "Okay, roomie."

Hojin shook her hand, "Roomie."