6/5/18

Jimin checked the time on the oven's little built in timer that was set for the however long the baked spaghetti was supposed to be in the oven for. Jimin thought it was a disgrace to make baked spaghetti for any occasion other than a late night or a quick meal but in this case, he decided that making a non-extravagant dish for his neighbor would put him out of Jimin's thoughts. He didn't even know why he was thinking of the guy. He didn't even know his name. He should be glad he didn't know his name. If he knew his name, it meant that the guy could possibly be roped into his whole issue. The issue was another thing Jimin wished he could stop thinking about. He was away from it now. He had taken precautions and was very careful about it. He shouldn't worry, but he shouldn't not keep barriers.

Jimin took a deep breath and picked up his phone. Hoseok's over-happiness always cheered him up. He entered the said male's number and patiently waited for the older's voice to come over the line. After about two rings, the line finally clicked and Hoseok's voiced chirped a happy, "Hello, Jiminie!"

"Hi, hyung!"

"Now what have I told you about calling me hyung?"

"I'm not calling you oppa, Hobi."

"...Damnit."

Jimin laughed.

"So, what are you doing today, Jiminie?"

"I'm making some baked spaghetti for the neighbor."

"Baked spaghetti? Don't you hate baked spaghetti?"

"Mhm."

"Then why are you making it for your neighbor?"

"No reason." Jimin lied.

"Is this about why you moved?"

"No-"

"It's not going to be an issue anymore, Jimin. You're safe now and that guy next door will be too if you do actually want to talk to or get to know him."

"Thank you, hyung." Jimin mumbled.

"Now what did I say about hyung?!" Hoseok shrieked.

Jimin smiled as his timer went off. He set the phone on the counter and slid his oven mitts on. He opened the oven and quickly removed the baked spaghetti dish and pulled aluminum foil out of one of his cabinets before grabbing his phone and turning on speaker phone.

"-and that's the story of how my mom lost me in the women's section of Belk."

"Sorry, Hobi, I would ask you to repeat that but I really don't want to know."

"A 'I'm sorry, Hobi, I didn't hear that' would've been sufficient."

"Alright, I'm sorry, Hobi, I didn't hear that."

"That's okay, Jimin. I was just talking about how my mom lost me in a store this one time." Hoseok said in a taunting tone.

"That sounds terrifying." Jimin covered the top of the dish in aluminum foil.

"It was, the female mannequins had no clothes and no heads. It was weird."

"This is why I said what I originally said."

"Well what you originally said was rude."

"What I originally said may have been rude but at least it was honest."

"Fine, I'll give you points for honesty."

"Yay." Jimin said, sarcastically as he pressed the aluminum foil to the sides of the dish.

"How's the baked spaghetti looking?"

"Pretty good. I'm getting ready to take it over." Jimin responded as he slid his tennis shoes on.

"You have to at least talk to him when you give it to him. Maybe this will spark a new friendship." Hoseok gasped. "Or a ship!"

Jimin swiftly, without another thought said a stern, "No."

Hoseok let out a disappointed sound, "Alright.."

Jimin grabbed a sticky note and ignored Hoseok's constant "What are you doing"s while he wrote out a quick note to his neighbor.

"I'm not doing anything, Hoseok. Chill out. It's not even likely that the guy will answer the door when I knock." Jimin said as he stuck the note to the top of the aluminum foil.

"Why not?"

"The guy is odd, Hoseok. He doesn't come outside for anything except his plants."

"Doesn't mean he won't answer the door."

Jimin sighed, "Alright, you be optimistic."

"Gladly."

Jimin stepped outside and closed the door behind him, the baked spaghetti on one arm, his phone in the other as he walked towards his neighbor's house.

"The house is pretty dark." Jimin commented as he came closer.

"He might still be in bed." Hoseok responded.

"Then I shouldn't disturb him."

"No, no. It's past 10:30. Unless he's not a morning person, it's about time he should get up."

"Okay, okay. I'm at his porch, stop pushing."

Jimin knocked. No response. He knocked again. Still no response. After his third knock still was met with nothing, Jimin set the dish down in front of the door.

"He's not responding, Hoseok." Jimin walked around the porch.

"He might be a deep sleeper." Hoseok paused for a second, "Jimin, you're looking through his windows aren't you?"

"Umm.. No?" Jimin said as he peered through the living room window, "Alright fine, I am, but I have an excuse. He might be hurt and I could help."

"Excuses, excuses."

"This guy has these weird curtains, like they're partially see through. What's the point in having curtains if the light can still get through them!"

"Jimin, don't judge the poor guy for his curtains."

"No, but I think I can for his living room." Jimin said his eyes squinched as he continued looking the room over.

"What's in there?"

"Just shelves and shelves of stuff. Like I mean things just everywhere. There's no books, no things that are actually appropriate to keep on shelves, just a bunch of weird items. I have no other words for it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I think this guy is a hoarder, dude."

"You live next to a hoarder, Jimin. That can be something you introduce yourself as." Jimin started walking down the porch steps towards his own as Hoseok spoke, " "Hello my name is Park Jimin, I work at a bookshop and I used to work as a barista and I live next to a hoarder" how cool does that sound?"

"I am never going to ever say that. Ever."

"Man, you really are no fun. You know what Jungkook said his friend once said-"

"Don't you dare."

"Jimin, you got no jams."

"I'm going to kill you."

"It'll be an honorable death." Hoseok cleared his throat, "Have you noticed anything else?"

"No, I left. I'm on my own porch. I don't want to be around when he catches me looking through his windows."

"True."

A sound was heard and Hoseok gave a quick, "Gotta go." before he hung up, leaving Jimin to stare at his phone confusedly. Jimin sighed, he sometimes wondered why life gave him the people he has. He's grateful he has them but sometimes he can't help but be worried that he made the wrong impression with life and it gave him friends that he in no way deserved. Jimin looked out at his surroundings. It truly was pretty, it was just too far out in the middle of nowhere for him. He enjoyed the bustling city but he just couldn't live there anymore. He loved his old job too, but that was in the past as well. He had to move forward, even though it really was a shame.

Jimin glanced up at his neighbor's house. He really did want to meet this weird guy that had taken his interest and never ending curiosity. Jimin shook the thought away. Even if he would love it, the results could be horrible and Jimin didn't want to be responsible for it.

Jimin was surprised as he watched the glass door that covered his neighbor's front door swing open and two white long sleeve covered arms with two pale hands reach out and grab the dish, taking it in quickly with the glass door following behind. Jimin smiled. He was glad he had caught that. He couldn't wait for the guy to try his food, even if it was the worst type of food on the planet.

Jimin opened his front door and looked back at the house next door and said quietly, "Just wait, Mr. Hoarder, we'll talk soon." before slipping back into the cool of his house.

Word Count: 1372