“It’s literally four legs and a flat surface.”

“That sentence is exactly why I don’t trust you.” 

He ignored her and sliced the tape open with his keys. The cardboard flaps sprang apart dramatically. And immediately revealed approximately one thousand pieces of wood. (Not really, but it looks like it)

IU blinked slowly. “Why are there so many parts?”

Y/n picked up the instruction booklet. It unfolded once. Twice. Three times. “…Okay,” he admitted. “That’s excessive.”

IU folded her arms. “We should’ve paid for assembly.”

“And let strangers rob us of this bonding experience?”

“Yes.”

He laughed and started pulling pieces from the box anyway, laying them across the carpet in messy piles. Wooden boards covered half the living room within minutes.

The apartment already looked chaotic from moving in together two weeks earlier. There were still unopened kitchen boxes near the wall, hoodies draped over chairs, and random cables neither of them claimed ownership of.

Adding furniture parts into the disaster somehow made it look worse.

IU sat cross-legged on the floor with the instructions in her lap. “Okay. We need panel A, screws labeled three, and the short brackets.” Y/n grabbed a board confidently. “Wrong one,” she said immediately.

He frowned. “You didn’t even look up.”

“The labels are colour-coded.”

“…Oh.” She smirked slightly. That annoyed him more than it should have.

For the first half hour, things went surprisingly smoothly.

IU organised every piece neatly into categories while Y/n handled the actual building. Or attempted to. “Can you hold this?” he asked.

IU grabbed one side of the table frame while he tried attaching the support beam underneath.

The second she let go, the entire thing collapsed sideways with a violent clatter. Both of them jumped.

Y/n stared at the fallen wood. “That felt unnecessary.”

IU looked at him flatly. “You didn’t screw it in.”

“I was about to screw it in.”

“You said hold it, not perform a miracle.” He snorted a laugh and reached for the screwdriver again.

————————————

wenty minutes later, the mood shifted completely. Mostly because Y/n had quietly stopped following the instructions.

At first IU didn’t notice. She was sitting cross-legged on the carpet with the booklet spread across her lap, carefully separating screws into little groups while occasionally reading out directions for him.

“Okay,” she said absently, tracing a finger along the page. “Now attach support beam C to the inner left side before tightening the–”

A loud clunk interrupted her. 

IU looked up. Y/n was already halfway through attaching an entirely different piece. Her eyes narrowed immediately. “…What are you doing?”

Without looking up, he answered, “Building the table.”

“That is not the next step.”

“Yes it is.”

“No, it literally isn’t.”

“It felt right.”

IU stared at him for a long moment. “You’re not reading the instructions anymore, are you?”

Y/n finally glanced up with the kind of confidence possessed exclusively by people about to make terrible decisions. “I don’t need them anymore.”

IU blinked slowly. “Excuse me?”

“I understand the vision now.”

“The vision?”

“Yeah.” He gestured vaguely at the scattered wood around them. “You know. The structural narrative.”

“The structural– what does that even mean?”

“It means I’ve evolved beyond the booklet.”

IU lowered the instructions into her lap very carefully, like she was trying not to start a fight. “You skipped a step,” she said.

“No, I didn’t.”

“You definitely did. Like 5 of them”

“I’m using intuition.”

“You cannot freestyle a table.”

“Furniture is just confidence.”

IU stared at him in complete disbelief. Then slowly lowered the booklet another inch. “That is maybe the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”

“That’s dramatic.”

“You attached the left support backwards.”

Y/n froze. For the first time in several minutes, he actually looked underneath the table frame. “…Okay,” he admitted cautiously. “Maybe slightly backwards.”

“Slightly?”

“It’s barely noticeable.”

“The holes are facing the wall.”

“That feels cosmetic.”

IU let out a long, exhausted breath through her nose. Y/n watched her carefully. “Why are you reacting like I crashed a car?”

“Because this would be easier if you had crashed a car. At least then we’d call someone else to fix it.”

He laughed immediately. She didn’t.

That only made him laugh harder.

IU held her hand out silently. Y/n looked down at it. “What?”

“The screwdriver.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“I trust you emotionally.” She wiggled her fingers impatiently. “Structurally? No.”

“That’s hurtful.”

“That’s accurate.”

He handed it over while muttering under his breath, “This is a dictatorship.”

IU ignored him and crouched beside the table. Y/n watched as she immediately flipped the support beam around, tightened the screws properly, then adjusted another bracket he hadn’t even realised was crooked.

All in under thirty seconds.

He frowned. “…You knew how to do that way too fast.”

“I read the instructions.”

“That sounds fake.”

IU smirked a little without looking up. “Maybe if you tried literacy, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Wow.”

“Am I wrong?”

He opened his mouth. Then closed it again. “…That’s not the point.”

IU sat back on her heels triumphantly. “Thought so.”

Y/n narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re enjoying this.”

“A little.”

“That’s evil.”

“What’s evil is pretending you know what you’re doing.”

“I do know what I’m doing.”

The table chose that exact moment to wobble violently. The entire frame tilted sideways with a horrible wooden creak that sounded deeply concerning.

Both of them froze. IU looked slowly at the table. Then slowly at him.

Y/n stared back with forced confidence. “…It has character.”

IU tried not to laugh. Really tried. She pressed her lips together and looked away, shoulders shaking slightly. “There’s nothing funny happening right now,” she said weakly.

“The table almost folded in half.”

“It’s adjusting.”

“To what? Gravity?” He snorted. 

That ruined her composure completely. A laugh escaped before she could stop it. She immediately covered it with a cough and looked away. “No, it doesn’t.”

Y/n grinned triumphantly. “There it is.”

“There what is?”

“The laugh.”

“I did not laugh.”

“You absolutely laughed.”

“That was pity.”

“That’s even worse.”

IU rolled her eyes, but there was a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth now. Y/n noticed immediately.

And unfortunately for her, that only encouraged him. He leaned back against the couch smugly. “Admit it. You’d miss me if I wasn’t here helping.”

She looked at the dangerously unstable table. Then back at him. “…Honestly? I think I’d feel safer.”

————————————

Another hour passed. The living room became progressively more disastrous. Screws rolled under the couch. The instruction booklet had somehow torn in the middle. Y/n had lost the Allen wrench twice. And IU was beginning to look personally offended by the existence of furniture.

“There are missing screws,” she announced suddenly.

Y/n looked up from tightening one of the legs. “No there aren’t.”

“There should be sixteen left.”

“There are sixteen left.”

“There are eleven.”

He counted them. “…There are eleven.”

IU closed her eyes slowly. “You lost them.”

“I didn’t lose them.”

“You absolutely lost them.”

“How do you lose screws in a one-bedroom apartment?”

She pointed around the room. “Look at this place.”

He looked around. And he signed and muttered “Fair.”

Wood panels leaned against the couch. Tiny hardware pieces littered the carpet. There was cardboard everywhere. One table leg was somehow underneath the television stand.

Y/n rubbed his forehead. “Okay. Nobody panic.”

“I’m already panicking.”

“Don’t do that.”

“You told me this would take an hour.”

“It’s only been,” He checked his phone. “…three and a half.”

IU looked genuinely betrayed. “We could’ve bought a finished table.”

“And miss this quality time?”

“There is nothing quality about this.” Y/n laughed. IU did not. Which made him laugh harder. “Oh my god,” she muttered. “You think this is funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

“You used a kitchen knife instead of the proper tool earlier.”

“Because I’m adaptable.”

“You’re a safety hazard.”

He leaned back against the couch grinning while she aggressively searched through the hardware bags again.

Then suddenly.

“…Wait.”

Y/n looked over. “What?”

IU froze. Very slowly, she reached into the pocket of her oversized hoodie. And pulled out five missing screws. Y/n stared. 

IU stared at the screws in horror. Then at him. “…Don’t.”

He immediately started laughing hard. Like full-body, can’t-breathe laughing.

IU threw a cushion at him. “I said don’t!”

“You blamed me for like half an hour!”

“I know!”

“You called me irresponsible!”

“You are irresponsible!”

“You hid the evidence in your own pocket!”

She covered her face with both hands while he continued laughing on the floor beside the half-finished table.

Eventually her embarrassment cracked too. A laugh escaped her. Then another. Until both of them were sitting in the middle of the messy apartment laughing so hard neither could breathe properly.

The irritation dissolved almost instantly. Y/n looked over at her, smiling helplessly. “You know we’re never living this down.”

IU groaned. “Please don’t tell people.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely telling people.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“…I hate that you’re right.”

He grinned triumphantly before pushing himself back upright. “Okay,” he said. “Final step.”

Together, they flipped the table upright. And somehow, miraculously, It actually looked like a table.

A slightly uneven table. A somewhat questionable table. But still. A table.

Both of them stared at it for a long moment like they’d just survived a war. Y/n placed both hands on his hips proudly. “See? Perfect craftsmanship.”

IU walked around it slowly, eyeing the wobble in one leg. “It’s leaning.”

“It’s rustic.”

“It’s one argument away from collapsing.”

“Negative attitude.”

She pressed both palms against the surface carefully. The table creaked. Y/n immediately looked nervous. “That sound felt personal.”

IU bit back a smile. Then she looked up at him innocently and said, “You want to test the stability?”

Y/n blinked. Slowly. “…Do you mean that?”

IU stared at him for two full seconds before realization hit. Her entire face turned red instantly. “Oh my god,” she groaned, grabbing the nearest cushion again while Y/n doubled over laughing again.

“You said it like that on purpose,” he accused between laughs.

“I DID NOT.”

“You absolutely did.”

IU smacked him with the cushion repeatedly while he barely defended himself, laughing harder every second.

Behind them, the table gave one ominous creak. Then one of the legs snapped sideways. The entire table collapsed to the floor.

Both of them froze.

IU looked at the wreckage. Then at Y/n. “…So,” she said carefully. “Stable enough?”

That sent him laughing all over again.

“Call someone to set it up. I'm not going through this again” She said while walking to the bedroom.

“Yes Ma’am” He said as he pulled out phone.

"I'm gonna head to bed early tonight" y/n's eyes followed as Jieun moved to stand up from her place on the couch.

"hey are you alright?" Y/n questioned. Jieun flashed a fake smile, and y/n knew it was fake, but usually that meant she didn't want to talk about it. Instead she left to go lay down and by the time you got done watching TV she was out cold.

The following morning, y/n woke up early to make breakfast and while doing that she was listening to music. Jieun sluggishly walked into the kitchen and wrapping her arms around y/n with a pout.

"this is a new song, who's it by?" Jieun asked not familiar with the song that was playing.

"oh it's Sunmi's new album. It's really good-" by the time y/n went to finish her sentence she felt Jieun slowly release her small hold, whispering an "oh" before walking back to their shared bedroom.

At that point, y/n knew something was going on and she didn't like how sad Jieun had been for the past few hours. Turning the stove and oven off, she made her way to their bedroom where Jieun sat at her vanity just staring at herself in the mirror.

Y/n let out a sigh as she sat down on the bed, turning the rolling chair, that Jieun sat in, towards her. "baby, what's wrong? Please talk to me."

Jieun looked up with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I don't know, I just feel jealous that you stay up late to watch your ex's performance, and you listen to her album while cooking. Not to mention she's prettier than me- nevermind I'm just being silly." Jieun sighed.

Y/n stood up, lifting Jieun out of the chair, wrapping her arms around the other's small frame. "You don't have to be jealous, Jieun-ah. You are gorgeous, and kind hearted, you care for everyone, you're super silly, and you give the best cuddles. I love you so much, baby" you loved watching her face heat up and turn as red as a tomato.

"I wasn't jealous" Jieun obviously lied, trying her best to make it seem believable. You just laughed at her response,

"come on let's go get some dinner, what're you in the mood for?" This time her face lit up, doe eyes widening before getting excited about the mention of food.

"I feel like shit" y/n groaned as she tried to sit up but immediately laid back down. Her eyes were watery from the severe migraine and her body was burning up like a hot box.

Jieun ran her small hand over y/n's face and neck before sighing, "you have a fever. No work today." She said punctuating the last part.

Y/n argued, "but I have to finish this paper-"

"no."

Jieun left the room momentarily and came back with a wet rag and medicine. She pressed the cool towel against y/n's face and neck and laid in bed with her until.

"I'm sorry for not taking care of myself, I'm just so tied up with work" y/n whispered.

Jieun lightly smiled at the apology, 'you're okay baby. You just need to take care of yourself and set reminders for that if you don't remember. And I'll always be here to help you" despite y/n being sick, Jieun gave her a kiss before she drifted off to sleep.

While y/n was asleep, Jieun took the time to disinfect the house and make soup for when she woke up. She had made sure to follow y/n's grandmothers recipe being that y/n talked about the soup her grandma made constantly.

Jieun took care of y/n even if it meant she would get sick in the process, which she did. Once y/n started voicing how she was feeling better, that was when Jieun started sleeping in.

"baby you don't look too good" Y/n's brows curved, concerned about her girlfriend.