(a/n: idk about you but im ded look at joshua sleeping/lying down; go to sleep little boy ; u ; ily)

When I finished my design, I stretched my arms and legs and prepared to go inside my room when my eyes caught Joshua sleeping already. What an idiot? He’ll catch a cold, for sure, especially because he looks so fragile. Like a cute little boy. Hah.

“Joshua.” I called. No answer.

“Little boy?” I felt excited and laughed when I said that. Because what the hell? It’s funny. I’m so funny.

“YA!” I shouted and he lifted his head, startled.

“Sorry, I meant no harm. It’s just that you were sleeping here outside and it’s cold and you might catch a cold and if that happens you might blame me because I didn’t wake you up and I don’t want to be the bad guy because I’m not and…” I stopped because it seemed like I’m making up reasons just to wake him up? I know, it doesn’t make any sense, this is stupid.

I looked at him and he just smiled and nodded. I don’t know why but I can’t seem to get used to those smiles. They make me uneasy… in a good way. My heartbeats are always so enthralled when he smiles. He got up and grabbed his guitar. I stood still and waited for him to get inside his room. Before he does, he waves, smiles and mouthed, “good night,” and he goes inside. I nodded and went inside my room as well.

It’s 2 AM and I have to get to work by 8 AM tomorrow to present my designs to the client, but somehow, I can’t fall asleep. I stared at the ceiling and kept thinking that I should really make a bento box for Joshua. I smiled at the thought and decided to wake up at 5AM to make a lunchbox for him. With that thought in mind, I fell asleep.

My alarm went off at 4:45 AM and I got up fast. I’m glad that I went to the grocery last week because I could prepare a beautiful lunch. I started preparing the rice and making an omelet and some chicken fillets. While I’m cooking, I was thinking of his smiles and how he would react. His small eyes will probably look so shocked when he sees this, right? Then, he’ll probably laugh a little and nod while smiling… I shook my head and continued on what I’m doing. I finished making everything at 6 AM and I hurried to take a shower. As soon as I’m prepared, I grabbed a post-it and a pen to write a small note…

“Dear Neighbor, for running to give me my keys, for playing beautifully while I was working last night, and for laughing at me when I slipped, thanks a lot. -_-”

Damn, is that good? Anyway… whatever. I’m running late!

I grabbed the lunchbox, the note, my bag, and coat and headed out of my unit. I stopped by to put the lunchbox in front of Joshua’s door and put the note above it. As I turned around, I was shocked to see someone…

“AH!” I gasped.

It’s Seungcheol… should I explain the lunchbox?
“Oh, hey, I’m sorry I was shocked.” I said.

He looked at the lunchbox before smiling at me, “That’s okay. Surprise, I’m here to give you a ride. Good morning.” He said before hugging me and holding my hand.

“You didn’t have to.” I said.

“Well, figured you’d be late.” He laughed and dragged me.

Should I tell him why I prepared the lunchbox? ACTUALLY. WHY DID I PREPARE THE LUNCBOX? I’ll come up with a reason, right? I’ll tell him when we get to his car.

It was silent until we got to his car.

“So, friendly neighbor?” He asked.

“Ah! Yeah, some cute old woman, she’s actually so nice, she let me stay in her unit the other night when I lost my keys so I figured I should do something nice for her, you know?” I lied.

“You lost your keys?”

“I did…”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“Uh, yeah, sorry.” Ugh, I hate this situation. A LOT.

“You didn’t contact me ever since Friday night when I went to your house so I figured I should surprise you.” He looked at me and smiled.

“Oh yeah, because I was cramming for my presentations and all so I was really busy, sorry, really, I’ll make it up to you.” I told him.

“That’s okay. You know, it’s not your fault. I was actually a bit busy too, finishing some paper work.”

Silence… I don’t know what to say, because, duh? I just lied to him. And I don’t know why I lied. Is it because I didn’t trust his reactions because he might start doubting me and questioning me more but I don’t really know… Did I do something wrong? I don’t think I did besides think of Joshua’s smile all the time… But come on! I bet it’s not just me.

We remained quiet through the ride to my office. When I was about to get off his car, he called me.

“Jeong-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s have dinner later?” He smiled.

I don’t know when my heart stopped getting excited for those smiles and I don’t know if it ever actually did. I’m confused. I nodded and said, "Okay to make it up to you." And then I smiled.

“Okay, see you later. Good luck on your presentation. I love you.” He said.

"See ya, thanks. Love you too.” I kissed him on the cheek and walked to my office. I feel empty all of a sudden. Why is my heart not excited?

When I got out of work, I immediately wanted to go home because the client loved my design!

Yes, not my “designs” just “one design” out of the three that I made and that’s the one I made when I was at the balcony with Joshua. I had the strongest urge to tell Joshua the good news so I hurried home.

When I got to my apartment, I saw a note stuck on to my door saying, “Dear Neighbor, thanks for the food, I had to go to work so I just brought it with me. I’ll return the bag and utensils later tonight. I’ll enjoy the food, thanks. – J”

I picked the note and went inside my unit smiling like an idiot. I hope he liked it and that it doesn’t taste weird. But how would I know that? He’s too nice to even say that to my face.

I’m still smiling when I got my phone out of my pocket to surf the internet when I saw 13 messages and 4 missed called. Some messages are from my friends but the latest ones and the missed calls were from Seungcheol.

“Meet you later at 6?” 3:17 PM

“Sorry I can’t go out of work early. Meet you at 7. Where do you want to go?” 4:33 PM

“Should we go to First Round? That place is nice.” 4:59 PM

“Or Red Piano, maybe? We always say we should go there.” 5:19 PM

“I’ll be on a meeting, I’ll be out by 6:15, hopefully.” 5:20 PM

“I bet you’re really busy since you didn’t reply. I’ll just go to our usually Chilli’s and sit at our usual spot. Meet you there at seven. I love you.” 6:35PM

I looked at the time on my phone and it’s 6:59 PM. It’s seven and I’m still at my unit!

I got up and got out of my unit and saw Joshua. I wanted to stay so badly but Seungcheol is waiting for me. He smiled at me and waved although I just waved back and said, “Have to go, talk later,” before I ran.

I arrived at the restaurant at 6:46 PM and saw Seungcheol on the corner where we usually sit. I ran to him and gave him a hug before whispering to his ear, “Baby, I’m sorry I’m late. I went home to get my car.” I lied again.

“That’s okay, I didn’t wait long. I arrived here a little late. Sit down.” He smiled.

“You didn’t. You’re never late.” I said.

“Well, today I was. I told you I had a meeting. I arrived here 15 mins after seven.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. How’s work?”

“The client loved a design and I’m just so thankful since I’m gonna have an increase this month, for sure.” I smiled.

“I see. Tell me about it but let’s order first, I’m starving.”

After ordering, I told him how the client hated the two first designs but loved the third one and we ate a lot after that and he asked me to go sleep at his place for the night and since I’m at fault for being late, I have no right to refuse the offer so I had to say yes.

“Okay, since I filed for a leave tomorrow and my boss was so thrilled that I was able to pull off a big project like that so he permitted me to.” I smiled.

“That’s good. I’m going to take a leave, too, then. So I could spend the day with you. I miss you a lot these days.” He said.

I don’t know why but I kind of felt unenthusiastic suddenly because in my mind, I planned tomorrow to be a day spent with guitars and music on the balcony and probably with lunchboxes filled with notes starting with, “dear neighbor,” and design projects based on meanings behind names. But maybe I couldn’t do that tomorrow after all. Maybe I could do that some other day, just not tomorrow.

I nodded and smiled at him as he kisses my hands. When we finished eating, we decided to go to my apartment first to leave my car so we drove there on different cars. When I parked my car and Seungcheol parked his, I saw Joshua going inside the apartment. I got off my car and went to Seungcheol to ask him, “Hey, I’ll just get some clothes, and my laptop.”

He nodded and smiled and I ran. I wasn’t able to catch the elevator he was in but luckily the other one was at the ground level too.

When I got off the elevator, I saw him opening his door so I called him.

“Joshua!” I yelled.

He looked at my direction and smiled before waving.

“Hey, so uh…”

He raised his other hand that was holding my lunch bag.

“Yeah, was it okay?” I asked.

He smiled, nodded and mouthed, “thanks.”

I nodded and smiled and I don’t know what happened next but he patted my head.

For the past few months, I never heard my heart beat crazily but it’s as if he made a miracle just by patting my head gently because that is how I suddenly felt my heartbeats become thrilled again.

a/n: this is all I could muster for today! i was looking for a song that matches this scene perfectly but i forgot the title. i hope you all enjoy this chapter and like before, i would greatly appreaciate comments, subscribe and upvotes. you could also request a song and i could probably base a chapter out of it. i'll always be trying harder to do my best. thanks a lot!