Apartment 218 had been vacant for a few months. The last person who lived there, a mysterious songwriter who was seldom seen or heard, moved out two years after Jimin moved in. Although Jimin never got to know him, he missed him. He was quiet enough that it almost didn’t seem like he had a neighbor.

The new neighbor, on the other hand, made sure his presence was very well known. He stayed up all hours of the night and played video games. The volume was always loud enough that Jimin could hear it in his own bedroom, which was probably attached to the same wall of the room that his neighbor was playing games in. He was thankful, at least, that it was video games and not some wild nights with whatever gender preference the guy had. Jimin had yet to meet this neighbor, and he wasn’t really sure he wanted to.

The noise was annoying enough on its own, but Jimin tolerated it after buying a pair of earplugs to help him sleep at night. The new neighbor wasn’t bothersome in the slightest until Jimin came home after a long day of work at Burger King, and he found his patio furniture missing. It wasn’t much—just a small table and two chairs with a small potted plant on the tabletop, but it was always there on the right side of Jimin’s door. None of the other neighbors ever bothered it, and the apartments were blocked off well enough that Jimin knew he never had to worry about the wind carrying it away. So why it was suddenly missing confused him for a moment. Until he looked over to the left of apartment 218 and saw his furniture sitting outside of his neighbor’s door.

“What kind of disrespect,” Jimin mumbled and slowly brought the furniture back to its proper place, outside of the apartment of the person who bought it. Once he was sure that it was back to just how it was before, he unlocked his apartment door and went inside to shower and get ready for bed.

The next few weeks would happen the same way. Jimin would occasionally find his patio furniture outside of his neighbor’s apartment when he came home from work, and he would just have to drag it back its rightful place. Jimin never could understand why the guy couldn’t go and buy his own patio furniture. It wasn’t like Jimin’s was luxurious. In fact, it was a cheap piece of junk he had gotten out of a yard sale, but it was his.

After this happened for a few weeks, Jimin came home fuming and angry when he saw the empty space next to his door on his way up the apartment stairs. His patio furniture would be found outside of his neighbor’s apartment. What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was his neighbor to be outside, sitting on the furniture.

“That,” Jimin said, pointing to the table, “Belongs to me.”

The man was sitting in the chair, and it looked like a set made for a little kid with a giant like him sitting in it. He held a cup of tea ever so delicately in one hand, and he calmly took a sip as he looked up at Jimin. “Would you like some tea?” He asked. “I can make you a cup.”

“What I would like is for you to stop stealing my patio furniture,” Jimin demanded. He stomped over to his neighbor, and he grabbed the empty chair. It was the only piece of furniture that wasn’t being used at the moment, and he dragged it back to his own apartment and sat down. “I want the rest of it when you’re finished.”

The man laughed and he stood from the chair. “Let’s come to a compromise,” He said, sliding the table across the concrete floor. He stopped when he got to the space in between their apartments, and he brought the chair over before sitting again. “It can be in the middle so we can both use it.”

“It’s mine,” Jimin demanded. He folded his arms over his chest, and he huffed angrily. “There will be no compromise.”

“I don’t see why not,” The man said with a soft smile. He was lucky he was pretty. Otherwise Jimin wouldn’t be so nice. “You are one person with two chairs. Has anyone ever sat in the second chair?”

Jimin opened and closed his mouth a few times, having no words to respond to that with. He wasn’t the most social person, and he didn’t have many friends. There weren’t even very many boyfriend’s in the picture for the last year, but Jimin was sure that he had someone for the second chair at some point in time. Just maybe not recently. “Only when they’re invited,” Jimin stated, but said nothing else.

The man smiled, and he set his cup of tea onto the table. “I’m Kim Taehyung,” He said, “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Park Jimin,” Jimin said in return, and he slowly slid his chair over to the table so that he and Taehyung were sitting together. “Likewise.” He said, looking over the railing and down the stairs instead of at Taehyung. “You’re weird.”

“Funny. Some people call it friendly,” Taehyung said with a laugh.

Jimin found himself smiling and not able to stop, and he shook his head. “So stealing my patio furniture and deciding to come to a compromise is what you call friendly?” He raised an eyebrow at the other.

“Would you call it mean?” Taehyung questioned, and he raised an eyebrow, too.

“Probably not,” Jimin mumbled. If he really thought about it, Taehyung didn’t do anything to hurt Jimin by sliding the patio furniture down to his apartment. It was still where Jimin had access to it, and it eventually got them to talking. A few days of meeting Taehyung at the table between their apartments would assure him that he really enjoyed the other’s company.