Being a junior software developer, you were one of the first to be sent home when the first signs of the pandemic came up. While you thought that it’d be fun to hang out at the house while everyone else was at work, it soon became evident that everyone else would follow suite. By the end of the next two weeks, all five of you were working from home.

At first, it was nice to have that time off, almost fun. You won back a couple of hours per day which you would have normally spent commuting. As a Londoner, you spent a mandatory forty-five to sixty minutes travelling to work every day. You decided to use that time to get extra sleep, meditate, work out, all good things. They made you feel good. Motivated. Driven.

Also, you started doing more things togethe as a house. Communal lunches, dinners, movie nights, game nights. It felt like you were getting closer with your three female housemates and, given that you were all single, you were hoping that maybe something would happen between you. Your only competition was Jake, the fifth housemate. Like you, he had just graduated from university last year and was currently working as a marketing graduate in a medium-sized company. Average built, blonde hair, around 5’8. However, unlike you, he always seemed slightly effeminate. You were certain he was straight, but he seemed to take too much pride in his looks and spend that extra little bit of effort to make sure he smelled good, his skin was always smooth.

And so, the first month passed in relative ease. You started getting bored by the end of it, but you knew you could wait a bit longer. It’s not as if the lockdown would last for the entire year, right?

Then, the news came. The virus was evolving, mutating, spreading faster than anticipated. The lockdown got tighter, the people started getting uneasy. The government said that they had a grip on the situation... but did they? It certainly did not seem like it. Still, you remained calm. As long as you had food, water, shelter, you would be fine. You could get bored, but there are always ways to entertain yourself. That’s what you told yourself and that’s how you braved the restrictions. It would be okay in the end...