Kija was trapped.

He stood on the far corner of his bedroom, back pressed against the wall and muscles tensed, ready to leap at the smallest sign of movement. His eyes were fixed on the closed door at the opposite side of the room, on which was the villain responsible for his distress: a spider.

It was smaller than his palm, but Kija could feel the horror taking hold of him as he stared at its disgusting black body. His heart still beat fast from the discovery of such a creature; he'd been up late working, and was a bit drowsy already when he'd decided to go to sleep. He hadn't noticed the spider immediately, only seeing it after he'd already gotten ready for bed and was about to turn off the light. His fingers had been inches away from the light switch when he'd raised his eyes and found himself face to face with the arachnid.

It had taken all his willpower not to scream as he launched himself away from the door. Kija was sure the neighbours wouldn't be happy about the noise at this hour.

Why did it have to come here? Why is it always my room and not Jae-ha's?

He was sure his roommate was sleeping soundly, unaware of Kija's situation. Even if Kija could somehow call him for help, though, he wouldn't. Jae-ha had been angrier than Kija had even seen him last time he was woken up in the middle of the night, when a cockroach had found its way to Kija's room. He threatened to move out if Kija ever woke him up again because of such a thing.

Kija didn't want to find out if Jae-ha had meant what he said, so he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and preparing himself to face the spider. However, when he opened his eyes, it was gone.

A shiver ran down his spine as Kija scanned the entire room. He could feel the danger looming around him, his defenses useless now that the spider had the element of surprise on its side. He considered his options: stay motionless and hope for the spider to show itself again, or get out of the room as quick as possible, taking advantage of the unprotected door. The latter seemed a lot more appealing, so Kija ran as fast as he could, throwing the door open and sprinting towards the living room.

Relief surged through him when he finally put enough distance between him and his room. There'd be no coming back to it until morning, when Kija could ask an already awake Jae-ha to search for the spider and kill it, but he could make it through the night. The couch couldn't be that uncomfortable to sleep in.

When Kija woke up, it took him a few seconds to notice that someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes to find Jae-ha hovering over him, eyes filled with confusion.

"Jae-ha?", Kija asked, blinking to rid himself of the remnants of sleep. He struggled to sit up, groaning when his sore body protested; apparently the couch was not as comfortable as he first thought. "What is it?"

"I should be the one asking you that. Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"I, well", Kija started, the full events of the previous night coming back to him. "There's a spider in my room."

Jae-ha stared at him for a few seconds before he shook his head in disbelief, a small smile forming on his lips.

"You slept here all night because of a spider? You're an idiot, Kija-kun."

"I'm not an idiot", said Kija, frowning at Jae-ha's teasing. "I was going to try to kill it! But it disappeared. It's probably hiding in there."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"What? You were the one who told me to never wake you up again because of this kind of thing!"

That seemed to catch Jae-ha off-guard, because he stopped laughing and stared at Kija. When it was clear that the other was being serious, Jae-ha sighed, getting up from the crouching position he'd been in.

"You shouldn't take everything I say too seriously, Kija-kun. Especially if I'm still half-asleep." Kija opened his mouth, an indignant look on his face, but Jae-ha cut him off before he could speak. "I'll go kill the spider now. You can't just avoid your room forever."

Kija got up and followed Jae-ha, keeping some distance from the bedroom door as he tried to peek inside.

"Where did you say it was?"

"I don't know. It was on the door, but then I lost sight of it."

Kija could hear Jae-ha searching through his room. He felt tense, waiting for the moment when he would be freed of his tormenter, but then Jae-ha said the words Kija had hoped to never hear.

"I can't find it."

"What?"

"It's probably gone already."

"You can't know that!", Kija said, his tone higher than usual as the familiar fear started to grow. "How am I supposed to go in there when that - that thing - could be hiding anywhere?"

Jae-ha looked at his trembling roommate, clearly terrified of entering his own room, and said, "You have to leave for work soon, don't you? I have the day off. I'll get you some clothes so you can at least change before you go, and then I'll use my free time to find the spider. If it's still here."

Kija was quiet for a moment; he never got used to this kinder side of Jae-ha, especially when it was directed at him. Despite them being roommates for months now it was still difficult for Kija to conceal how much these moments both filled his chest with warmth and hurt him, because he knew he shouldn't read too much into it.

"Thank you", he finally said.

Jae-ha made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It's nothing. Go have breakfast, I'll get your clothes."

Kija went through his routine without paying much attention, his body moving on its own as his mind wandered. He felt relieved to know that Jae-ha's threat of moving out wasn't serious, even though he couldn't help but be annoyed at the worry it had caused him - and a good night's sleep. Maybe if he'd called for help right after finding the spider Jae-ha would've killed it already and he wouldn't have pains all over his body from sleeping on the couch.

It was too late to think about that, though. Kija could only hope that, when he came back from work, news of the spider's death would be waiting for him.

When Kija got home, he was greeted by the sight of Jae-ha sprawled on the couch, looking defeated. He didn't even have to ask to know that the search for the spider had been fruitless.

Damn that thing. Am I never getting my room back?

"I looked everywhere, Kija-kun. It's not in your room", said Jae-ha, raising an arm to cover his eyes. "It must've gotten out through the window or something."

"The window was closed", protested Kija. He sighed, moving towards the kitchen to get dinner. "It's fine. Thanks for trying, anyway. I'll just sleep in the living room again."

"Now wait a minute", said Jae-ha, straigthening up to look at Kija. "I still think this is stupid, but there's no way you're going to sleep here again. You can come to my room, my bed has plenty of space."

"What? N-no, Jae-ha, it's... hm...", Kija stuttered, taken aback by Jae-ha's suggestion. "I can just, hm..."

"I'm not going to attack you or anything, if that's what you're worried about", Jae-ha said. His voice sounded strange, but when Kija looked at him, his expression wasn't any different from the usual.

"That's not it, I...", Kija averted his eyes, trying to find a reasonable excuse but failing. "Okay."

"Great. I'm going to take a shower", said Jae-ha, leaving the room before Kija could say anything else.

What just happened?

Trying to ignore Jae-ha's strange behavior, Kija decided the best thing would be to act as if nothing happened, and he set out to find something to eat. As he rummaged through the kitchen, he could feel the nervousness threatening to take over, but he tried to calm himself down. There was no way he'd be able to pretend everything was fine if he was a nervous wreck by the time they went to sleep.

His efforts turned out to be useless. As the night went on, Kija got more and more anxious, unable to focus on the reports he had to write down for work. After getting out of the shower, Jae-ha was acting mostly normal, but sometimes Kija caught him staring at him with a strange look on his face and that only increased his worries.

It was late when they decided to go to bed. After both were under the covers, Jae-ha reached out to turn the lights off. Kija was almost painfully aware of how close they were, even if the bed was big; a heavy silence hung between them until Jae-ha broke it with a sigh.

"Goodnight, Kija-kun."

"Goodnight."

Kija closed his eyes, turning so that his back was to Jae-ha. He tried to will his body to relax, but every time he felt Jae-ha move he tensed up; after a while, he felt Jae-ha's foot brush against his leg. It was quick, just an accidental touch as the other shifted around, but Kija nearly jumped out of the bed and he felt Jae-ha go still beside him.

"Kija-kun?"

Kija didn't move.

Please, think that I'm asleep.

"I know you're awake. You're barely breathing."

Kija turned to face him, but he couldn't make out Jae-ha's expression through the darkness.

"Jae-ha, I-"

"Is it that bad?", Jae-ha asked.

"What?"

"Sleeping here with me. Do you hate it that much?"

Kija wondered if he'd fallen asleep at some point, because nothing Jae-ha was saying made sense to him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Even when we've been living together for months, and have known each other for even longer... Do you really think I'd do something to you if you didn't want it? Are you that... afraid of me, that you can't even sleep in the same bed?"

Kija's head was buzzing. Jae-ha had never spoken like this, never sounded like this before. His words were spit out, sharp, and Kija sat up, trying to get a glimpse of his face.

"Afraid of you? Jae-ha, of course I'm not afr-"

"You can barely touch me!"

"That's because I'm afraid of myself!", Kija said, his voice louder than he intended. "I'm afraid because I can't hide anything when we're this close, and I don't want you to hate me for it!"

Kija's rapid breathing was the only thing that could be heard in the silence that followed his outburst. He hadn't thought before speaking, and he already regretted his words; all those months of pretending meant nothing now that Jae-ha knew the truth. As more time passed and there was no answer, Kija started fidgeting, his eyes burning with tears that threatened to overflow.

I knew it. He hates me.

"Hide what?", Jae-ha asked, and suddenly Kija could feel his breath close to his face, a hand coming up to caress his cheek.

"Why are you doing this?", he managed to whisper. His heartbeat drummed in his ears, and he kept fearing that he'd wake up and find out this was nothing but a dream.

"Hide what, Kija?", Jae-ha asked again, forgoing honorifics this time. "Tell me. I want to hear it."

If it was a dream, Kija hoped he wouldn't wake up soon, but if it wasn't, he was already too far gone to care.

"That I'm in love with you", he said, and the words had barely left his lips when Jae-ha kissed him.

Kija threaded his fingers through Jae-ha's hair, relishing at how soft it felt. He commited to his memory the way Jae-ha's lips were soft and gentle as he deepened the kiss, the way his hand never stopped its caress on his cheek even as the other went to his hip to pull Kija closer, the way he could feel his smile against his mouth. More than anything, he commited to his memory the words Jae-ha whispered after their kiss ended.

"You should've said that sooner, Kija, because I'm in love with you too."

The following morning, Kija woke up with his head buried in Jae-ha's chest. As soon as he moved, the arms that had found their place around him during the night tightened their hold, and he looked up to find Jae-ha already awake.

"Have I ever told you you look adorable with bed hair?", he said.

"Shut up", said Kija, but he couldn't help the smile that made its way to his lips.

"Good morning to you too", Jae-ha laughed, and leaned down to give him a quick kiss. "Sleep well?"

"Hmmm", was Kija's answer as he let his head fall back on Jae-ha's chest. He'd thought the morning would be weird, after their sudden confessions in the middle of the night, but it felt right to be like this with Jae-ha.

"As much as I'd like to stay in bed with you all day, both of us have work today, and we're gonna be late if we don't get up now."

Kija groaned, but Jae-ha had a point. He slipped out of bed, feeling the other's eyes on him the whole time as he walked out of the room-

And screamed, running back towards the bed and a startled Jae-ha.

"The spider! It's there, in the corridor! Quick, Jae-ha, kill it! Kill it before it runs away again!"

Jae-ha got up, grabbing one of his shoes that had been lying on the ground and taking a look at the corridor. There was, indeed, a spider there, and with two steps and a well-aimed blow Jae-ha managed to squish it.

"You're safe now", he said, laughing as Kija peered around him at the remnants of the dead spider.

"I can finally enter my room again", he said, relief clear in his voice. He was halfway through the corridor when a thought crossed his mind, and he turned back to look at Jae-ha. "You know, your bed is a lot more comfortable than mine."

"There's always enough space for two", Jae-ha said with a wink, and Kija smiled before heading towards his own bedroom.

He felt almost thankful for that spider.