Gavin
After talking with Ben and Bryce, Shu and I began packing to go home for the holidays. Shu is going back to Japan for Christmas and then he's coming to spend time with me on New Year's. But the whole time I was packing I kept reminiscing on how Shu and I began dating.
When we moved in, we didn't talk at all. I had heard him talk with his family on the phone and I didn't know what language he was speaking or what kind of Asian he was.
I had first assumed he was Korean because he was obsessed with K-pop and had hung posters on BTS, BLACKPINK, and Stray Kids. He would play their music and dance around, which kind of drove me crazy. Plus he would always respond to me or talk in his language.
When Ben and Bryce started fighting, I would hear them but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I wondered what happened because they were friendly with each other at first. I became curious as to why they were fighting and maybe help them get over it. But every time I tried to listen in on the wall he would yell at me and since it wasn't in English, I couldn't understand what he was yelling at me for.
"I don't speak Korean," I would respond, "I don't understand a word you're saying."
One night I went to the RA to see if I can change roommates and she had told me that Bryce was looking to switch.
"What's their deal?" I asked the RA, "They were fine one day and then they end up fighting?"
"I have no idea," the RA answered, "But that Bryce is a rude little punk. He was here requesting a room change and wouldn't say why. Clearly I need to put the reason for the move since the housing office put it in as a requirement this year. Oh, hi Shu." She suddenly looked at my roommate with googly eyes, like a love struck teenager.
"Kon'nichiwa," he said and then turned to me, "Heya ni modotte kimasu ka?"
"Shu," pleaded, "I don't understand what you're saying."
"I was asking you if you were coming up?" he asked in English.
"You can speak English," I asked him, "Why didn't you say so to begin with."
"Are you coming up or not?" he asked, clearly annoyed.
I was about to answer until Bryce came down from his room, clearly upset and Ben right behind him. They had another fight. "You go on up," I told Shu, "I want to check on our neighbors."
"Fine," Shu said, he turned to the RA and said to her, "Kare wa sugoku sensaku sukida."
The RA laughed and said back to him, "Watashi wa tōzen shitte iru?" They both laughed and suddenly I felt like they were talking about me.
"Later, roomie," Shu told me as he went back towards our room.
After another fruitless attempt to find out why they were fighting, I went back to the dorm to find a deathly pale Asian ghost in my dorm room looking at me, "Ah!" I screamed, "Korean ghost!"
"I'm Japanese, you asshole," Shu angrily replied, "Anyway, where were you? I was getting worried."
"I was following our neighbors, Ben and Bryce."
"Why are you interested in them?" asked Shu.
"I want to know why they're fighting." I said.
"And why are you getting involved?"
"I just don't want them to kill each other," I replied, "Besides if this continues, We might not be able to study for our classes with all that bickering."
"Use these then," Shu handed me a pair of ear buds, "And please, stay out of their business."
The arguing between Ben and Bryce felt like a yo-yo. Some days they were ok, others they were at each other's throats. It was almost like they were a couple. I had warned Bryce about being careful when it comes to hating someone. I was always raised never to hate because you always end up bound with whatever, or whoever you hate.
Weeks passed by and one night I heard them again, this was during Bryce's online scandal. I heard Bryce yelling about something, some mumbling then I heard crying. I really wanted to know what was going on so I pressed my ear to the wall, when my crazy roommate butted in.
"When will you stop sticking your nose in other people's business?"
I turned and looked at Shu, "Well, I'm worried about them. I heard some yelling but I think I heard crying."
"And," Shu responded, "Why is it any of your business?"
"Shu," I said, "I'm worried about Bryce. That damn scandal has spread all over campus. Everyone's talking about it."
Shu sighed and asked, "So what do you think? You agree with what they say about him?"
"I don't know," I answered, "I have nothing against gay people, but I don't think Bryce is like that. Sure he's blunt and swears a lot, but I don't think he would deliberately hurt someone. I think they're just causing problems because he refused them. I'm tempted to go next door and check in on him."
Shu put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye, "Before you worry about others, you should start worrying about yourself. How many F's are you going to get this semester?"
"Hey," I replied, "I'm not failing anything."
"Even if you don't care about yourself," Shu said, "I still care for you."
After Shu said this I felt like he was hinting that he liked me more than just a roommate. I couldn't confirm this until I heard something interesting a few weeks later from Ben and Bryce's room.
I pressed my ear against the wall and I heard moaning. Then I heard a rhythmic banging and I put two and two together. Shu noticed the banging and saw I was listening in.
"So you're into that?" Shu asked.
"Wha-what?" I asked him. Shu had a weird look about him. He approached me and asked me the one question that changed our relationship.
"Do you wanna see if we can be louder?"
Shu
The moment I saw Gavin on our first day in the dorm, I fell in love with him. I found him so cute that I was too nervous to talk to him. I kept forgetting to talk to him in English and he had to remind me that I was speaking Japanese.
After he called me a Korean Ghost, I got annoyed with him. But he was too damn cute to stay angry with him. Even when he became obsessed with Ben and Bryce. But after hearing their bed banging against the wall, I saw Gavin listening in and I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Do you want to see if we can be louder?" I asked him.
Gavin looked at me like a deer in headlights. "Wha-what do you mean?"
I sighed, "Gavin, I have liked you since the first time I saw you. What will it take for you to notice me?"
"Shu," Gavin said, surprised by my confession, "I'm not gay."
"Neither is Bryce," I said, pointing out what I noticed about our neighbors, "But that didn't stop him from falling for a guy. I just ask that you give me a chance."
I planted a kiss on his lips, fully expecting him to push me away and call me names. Instead, he pulled me closer and kissed me back.
"You're a crazy, K-pop obsessed freak," he said to me with a smile, "And I love that about you. I don't know how to feel about this, but I don't hate it."
"We can take it slow," I assured him, "At your own pace."
"So are we boyfriends now?"
"Do you want to be?" I asked Gavin.
"I'd like to give it a try and see where it goes."
I kissed him again and laid my head on his chest. Gavin and I heard the moaning and the bed banging and knew our neighbors were together.
"So," Gavin broke the silence, "Who's the top and who's the bottom?"
"Bryce has to be the bottom," I said, "he's the one moaning louder."
"Which are you?" he asked me.
I honestly told him, "You'd be my first. I have never done anything with anyone. You are the only person I have ever kissed."
"You'd be my first too," he said, "Well, first guy anyway."
That is how I ended up with my American boyfriend. I stare at the picture we took together before heading home for the holidays. As I sit in my seat on the plane, flying back to Japan, I can't help but miss my cute, nosy boyfriend.