Mornings in the shared apartment had become a ballet of awkward avoidance. Ren would wake up and pretend not to hear Noa humming in the bathroom. Noa would walk around with averted eyes anytime Ren came out of the shower, steam trailing behind him like a budget romance novel cover.
But today, things broke. Literally.
The water heater sputtered with a dramatic wheeze at 8:03 a.m., just as Noa stepped into the shower. She yelped, slapped the faucet, and screamed, "REN!"
From the kitchen, Ren bolted toward the bathroom. "What happened?!"
"The heater!" she yelled from behind the door. "It's dead! I'm freezing!"
"Did you press the reset—?"
"I pressed EVERYTHING! Just—can you check the panel outside?!"
Ren scrambled to the utility box, flipped a switch, and heard the satisfying hum of the heater coming back to life.
"Fixed!" he shouted.
"THANK YOU!"
He turned to walk away—then heard something crash inside.
"Noa?"
Silence.
"Noa, are you okay?"
Still silence.
Ren hesitated. Then knocked. "I'm coming in."
"WAIT!"
But it was too late. The door wasn't locked.
He opened it just as Noa lunged for the towel rack—which, to her horror, was empty.
Their eyes met. Steam billowed between them. Noa was behind the glass, drenched, hair sticking to her skin, one arm covering her chest, the other clutching air.
Ren froze.
"I—" he started.
"I thought I put the towel here!" she yelled, face bright red. "Why would you take the towel?!"
"I didn't take it!" he yelled back, shielding his eyes and backing out. "I swear I didn't—wait... is that my towel?"
Noa looked at the damp white fabric draped on the floor.
"Oh my God," she whispered. "I grabbed the wrong one."
"Why is your bra in the sink again?!" he shouted through the door.
"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT MY SINK?!"
---
Ten minutes later, they stood in the hallway, each wrapped in a bathrobe. One towel. Two wet heads. Three feet apart.
"I think we need a laundry schedule," Noa muttered.
Ren nodded, still drying his hair with a corner of the robe. "And a towel inventory. Maybe with serial numbers."
"Also, new rule: knock and wait for a response."
"I did knock!"
"Yeah, and you entered at the speed of sin."
Ren choked on a laugh. "The speed of sin?"
"I WAS NAKED, REN!"
"You were *showering*. That's literally expected nudity!"
"You saw a whole lot of expected!"
There was a silence. Then: laughter. Big, chest-shaking laughter from both of them.
It felt good. Too good. Like a reset button.
Until Noa asked, "Did you look?"
Ren blinked. "Huh?"
"Like… during? Did you *see* anything?"
He swallowed.
"I mean, glass was fogged up. So technically? No."
She raised a brow.
"But *emotionally*? I saw everything."
Noa's mouth fell open.
"YOU'RE SUCH A—"
"Truthful citizen! Following the laws of physics and feelings!"
She threw her wet loofah at him. He dodged it and caught it mid-air.
"Is this… mango-scented?"
"Stop sniffing my sponge!"
---
By the time they sat down for toast, both were in dry clothes and pretending like the morning hadn't just included accidental nudity and semi-erotic shouting.
But the air had changed.
It wasn't just tension now. It was awareness.
He noticed how Noa always hummed when she bit into jam toast.
She noticed how Ren's T-shirt clung to his shoulders when he leaned forward.
It was dangerous. It was real.
And it was barely Day Three.
---
That night, they stood side by side brushing their teeth—an act that had become weirdly intimate.
Noa spat. "Did you notice we don't talk about… what happened?"
Ren spat too. "Which part? You mean today? Or... day one? Or the spreadsheet? Or when I found your bra next to my ramen?"
"God, there are so many 'incidents' already."
"We could write a sitcom."
"We'd get cancelled by episode three."
"Probably."
A pause. Minty silence.
Noa turned to him slowly. "You know, if we weren't us… today could've turned into something else."
Ren tilted his head. "Like a full-on shower scene?"
"I mean, not that I'm into that. Obviously."
"Obviously."
Another pause.
Then Noa added, "I'm not *not* into that either."
Ren stared at her. Then laughed, toothpaste foam still in his mouth. "Okay, we need to stop brushing our teeth together."
"Agreed. It's too erotic."
---
Later, in bed (he took the floor again, for safety), they lay in their separate corners of darkness.
Neither could sleep.
Finally, Ren whispered, "Hey, Noa?"
"Yeah?"
"I didn't see anything, really."
A pause.
"Okay," she whispered. "But even if you did… I'm glad it was you."
He smiled in the dark.
And for the first time since they moved in, he didn't mind the cold, hard floor at all.