it's science

( meme; not accepting! )

          oh, oops! not exactly the reaction aito was hoping for, but honestly, it was one he sort of did expect. that didn't mean aito wasn't hoping it'd be his lucky day, though; maybe, just maybe, shin would be in an extra good mood and let this slide. but truthfully, what were the odds of shin letting the fact aito had let a squirrel into their dorm slide?

          "okay, okay, okay! don't evict the little guy so harshly. my bad for letting him in. but isn't he so cute, though? can't we just, let him stay until it gets dark?"

          no, absolutely not.

( bad idea starters; not accepting! )

          "shin? i love shin! of course i love shin. we've spent so many years together after all. he's really like a brother to me at this point, and it's been that way since college honestly. i don't think i really had a choice since his family basically adopted me the moment we met, but i didn't mind it!" ooh, a chance to yap about his bestie — aito was definitely going to take advantage of this.

          "hm, when we first met, it was during orientation week. i don't think we really properly met at first, it was just more so we kept sharing the same space by being at the same places at the same time. he was quiet, kept to himself, but he'd talk if he was talked to. i guess my opinion of him was pretty good, he didn't really do anything that would have made me think he was a bad guy. after a while, i think shin and i just decided we'd just stick together so we wouldn't have to keep introducing ourselves to other people. and yeah, the rest is kind of history!

          if i could sum up how my perception of shin has changed since that first day, well ... he definitely has a lot more to say than you'd think! you think he's quiet? that's what he wants you to think. man, he sure has a sharp tongue on him, that shin. it's really funny at times, but you know, it's always funnier when it's not you." and it was more often than not always aito.

          "besides that, he can really be an agent of chaos if you let him be. you really wouldn't think it, but shin really just eggs on the worst of ideas, but it's always for the best of times. i'm sure it's calmed down mostly now that we're older but man, if you could have seen all the shit we used to get up to." it was quite a fond memory, all of those experiments gone wrong and those "illegal" races in the dormitory halls. but there was another layer of fondness too once aito began to think beyond college.

          "he was such a fun guy in college, but i think one side i don't really talk about much is how shin is when it comes to people he really loves and cares about. him as a husband, as a father ... i think that's when it really hit me that there was so much more to him that i had no idea about until the opportunity presented itself. he's so strong ... i always knew that, but i really got to see it when his wife passed. ah, what a guy ... i should give him a call. i should go give him a hug!"

( popular text posts; accepting!)

          oh, how aito missed being young and clueless. it truly was a blessing to know less than he did now. less stress, less worries, less cynicism. but he knew takuto wasn’t clueless. no, no, he was much too clever to truly be naive, but he was quite good at paying attention to only what truly interested him. unfortunately for aito, he seemed to absorb everything, even if he didn’t want to.

( some meme i guess; not accepting! )

          "that thing? what thing? i do a thing when i'm stressed?" he's saying this, but right off the bat, aito could think of at least three things he did when he was particularly stressed about his academics that shin could have noticed. was it the fact he hadn't left their room in a concerning amount of time? the amount of fidget and stress toys scattered about his desk? or the mess of papers and clothes scattered on his bed? honestly, even the amount of caffeine he's been consuming could be a reason for concern, but considering this was aito, that was probably more normal than anything else.

          stirring the drink shin had gotten him with the plastic straw it came with, aito sighed before taking a much needed sip. refreshing and a new flavor his taste buds hadn't experienced for a few days now — he really did need this. "yeah, yeah, i know it's not. you're right." as usual.

There he is, Shin thinks.

It's definitely the amount of caffeine he'd been unhealthily consuming, and yes, Shin has no grounds to fault him for that - with the amount of caffeine he too drinks but still thinks that Aito needs some sleep - proper sleep - and not just sustain himself with nothing but caffeine in both coffee-cup and the energy drink forms.

Shin doesn't say much, and he's already noticed the way he hasn't left their room and he'd begun to silently worry about his roommate - not that he'd been seeing him lately; those lab experiments have been keeping him occupied, alongside his teaching assistant gig for the semester and balancing his time with the girl he's seeing. "Yeah, you do that thing when you're stressed." He's noticed this since their second year, when their courses have varied a bit more and shared classes have been less common between them.

On his way back, Shin has picked up a different drink - he'd gotten that soju bottle last week but has not yet opened it and has stayed in the fridge for nearly three weeks now because his obligations required his sound mind and he'd barely breathed too until now. He's remembered that Aito would likely not have left their dorm room still, and it's not much - but for Shin, even the smallest things are big enough.

( perfectly platonic starters; not accepting! )

( buzzfeed unsolved starters pt. 4; not accepting! )

( popular text posts meme pt. 3; not accepting! )