Yoon Jeonghan walked out his apartment building and onto the street; one of the few separating his apartment and his work at 10:04, the all day breakfast café where he spends far too much of his time. Jeonghan barely dodges a figure swaying under the weight of 3 boxes balancing precariously in their arms as they unloaded from a moving van. Jeonghan calls back a quick sorry and contemplates stopping and offering the stranger a hand, but he had already promised Seungkwan that he would relieve him of his shift early so the boy could visit his mum.

The door jingles as Jeonghan pushes the door to 10:04 open, his nose being assaulted with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and waffles, even though it’s 4pm and the place is empty.

“Ah, my saviour is here!” Seungkwan loudly announces as he whips off his apron, runs out from behind the counter and embraces Jeonghan in a hug not reciprocated, “You my dear sir, are an angel.”

“You do realise he’s already covering your shift so there’s not much point in kissing his now right?” Seungcheol calls from behind the counter.

“Investment for the future,” Seungkwan answers bluntly.

“You are indebted to me for life,” Jeonghan calls after Seungkwan, just in time to see him raise a half hearted wave as the door closes behind him.

“Learn to say no for once,” Seungcheol teases, chucking Jeonghan an apron.

“You know I can say no,” Jeonghan huffs. Jeonghan doesn’t believe himself to be cocky, but he does know he’s good looking; with his long dyed silver hair especially receiving constant envious comments. And so it only makes sense that he’s turned down quite a few hopeful guys and girls during his time working at 10:04. They all have, actually; it’s just what happens when the entirety of the staff is made up of male college students.  

“He may not act like it but you know he does appreciate it,” Jeonghan hears Seokmin’s voice first before he eventually pops his head out from the door that hides the kitchen from the public eye. 

“You’re not due on until 5?” Jeonghan queries, taking in Seokmin’s wide smile and his brown hair streaked with something that looked like flour.

“Me and Soonyoung have been experimenting for some new menu items,” he explains with a laugh, “But right now Soonyoung is sulking because my apple turnover was a lot nicer than his.”

“Excuse me?!” A loud voice comes from the kitchen area, slightly muffled.

Suddenly, a boy with shockingly blonde hair comes rushing through the kitchen doors, his hair looking even more chaotic than usual with it pushed back in a colourful headband. The boy stops close enough to Jeonghan that he has to step back to avoid being bowled over.

 “Try it!” Soonyoung says eagerly, as a fork is shoved towards Jeonghan who instinctively opens his mouth.

The piece of apple turnover is deposited into his mouth before he could protest, and no matter how much better Seokmin claims his dessert may have been, there is no denying that both Soonyoung and Seokmin were amazing cooks. They just had the habit of turning everything into a competition: testing new milkshake flavours lead to the creation of the maple-syrup and bacon milkshake, which is now one of the most popular items on the menu and the testing of new breakfast burger combinations lead to a burger stacking competition; which consisted of 52 patties being used, 47 ending up on the floor, and 13 of those being engulfed by Mingyu; a fellow worker whose appetite couldn’t handle food going to waste. There was a reason Jeonghan spends too much of his time in this little café; it was always eventful.

Jeonghan’s shift this day however passed by relatively uneventfully; apart from a boy who came in and ordered 17 waffles to go just as 10:04 was about to close and when asked about his strange order, acted like there was nothing weird about a teenager buying 17 waffles at 9:00pm on a Wednesday night.

Jeonghan made the quick walk back to his apartment. By now the moving truck was long gone. He wondered what apartment had moved out. He would have to ask Mingyu; who not only worked with him, but lived in the same apartment complex.

Jeonghan had lived in the Pledis building for just over a year now, yet he didn’t even know the name of his neighbour; who he has never even seen. In reality, the only occupants he really saw around was the boy from down the hall who could always be found wandering late at night. Jeonghan thought that he might be a musician as he could always hear various instruments leaking out from behind his door, and the boy had that sort of pink hair that would never be seen on a normal person’s head.

For once, however, the pink haired boy’s apartment was quiet and the music he heard was not coming from 112 as expected, but from 116; the apartment right next to his own. Music was coming from the apartment that he had never heard a peek out of for the entire year he’s lived at Pledis. The apartment Jeonghan assumed must have been occupied either by someone who works long hours or an old decrepit recluse. And so naturally, Jeonghan was curious. Why was this particular bit of music so important that it was ending nearly a year of silence?

And so this question is how Jeonghan ended up with his head against the door of 116; his ear squished against the painted wood, trying to hear what was going on inside. Jeonghan was so curious that he didn’t even pay attention to how strange this must look to anyone walking past.

The music sounded like a guitar and Jeonghan was trying to adjust his ear against the crack of the door when the singing starts. The voice was soft and delicate and Jeonghan was mystified. Is this them singing? Who lives here? Why is this the only sound I’ve ever heard out of them?

Jeonghan couldn’t turn away. This was the neighbour that he spent nearly a year trying to find out about. He originally thought they had been murdered after Seokmin put the idea in his head after explaining the situation at work one night. And then after the landlord promised that no murder had occurred and shut down Mingyu’s attempts to get information for Jeonghan, he turned to the cup against the wall method. But nothing. And now…this.

“Uh, did you lock yourself out or something?” Jeonghan’s attention was snapped back to reality with a jolt, his head smacking into the door as he quickly straightens.

“Uh, uh…” Jeonghan massages his head as his brain whirls, trying to think of a reasonable excuse for why he’s listening at a stranger’s door.

“I-I was feeling faint. I was feeling faint and needed to rest.” Jeonghan could hear the waver in his voice and wanted to hit himself for his inability to act or come up with believable lies. Why couldn’t he be Seungkwan, who was amazing at coming up with things on the spot or Seungcheol who could make anything sound convincing.

“Right…” Jeonghan saw doubt clear on the boy’s face as he runs his hand through his shaggy brown hair, replacing a cap over it.

“So, I should go…go and lie down…” Jeonghan starts to ease himself away from the door, hoping that the boy would walk away because Jeonghan didn’t need him to know what apartment was his, he didn’t want to be known as “that apartment with the weird guy, yeah we stay away from that one.” Especially as he knew the news would make its way around to Mingyu, which means it would make its way around 10:04.

Out the corner of his eye, Jeonghan sees the boy’s gaze  shift and Jeonghan follows his line of sight to see that the door to 116 had opened. And standing in the doorway, was not what Jeonghan had expected. He was not an old scary recluse, nor a lawyer always out on the job; he was just a normal boy, who looked much the same age as him. And he was attractive, very attractive. With ginger slicked back hair despite his tan complexion and the late time and a soft, kind face; his lips pulled up in that kind of constant smile.

“Hello,” he said politely, but Jeonghan could hear the slight confusion in his tone, “did one of you guys knock?”

Jeonghan froze. His mind trying to come up with any excuse, any reasonable excuse that could get him out of this situation as quickly as possible. The boy cleared his throat, and Jeonghan snapped to his senses, realising that he was still waiting for an answer.

“Uh, sorry. It was an accident?” Jeonghan tries to explain.

He looks behind him at the snapback guy, hoping for some backup but instead the boy just shrugs at him, throwing a quick wave and a “sorry man” as he walks away, leaving just Jeonghan and the stranger.

“Are you lost? Are you looking for a certain apartment?”

“No. I-I just live next door and my mind was elsewhere. I must have got our apartments mixed up,” Jeonghan lets out a nervous laugh and once again curses his inability to make up believable stories. Now he just looked like someone incapable of even finding their own home; just what you want the attractive neighbour to think. The boy however, didn’t look phased; instead his face faintly softened and the corners of his mouth turned up even more.

“Oh, okay. Well…it was nice meeting you. I should probably start unpacking some boxes I suppose,” he says with a quick look behind him into the apartment.

Jeonghan quickly says goodbye and doesn’t look back until he is safely inside his own apartment.