Minho raised his hand to knock on his new neighbor's door but couldn't bring himself to do it. Spinning on his heel, he walked back toward his own door just to turn and walk back across the hall where he just stared at her door for a few moments. He took a deep breath and reach up to knock. Before his knuckles could make contact the door opened and he jumped back, startled.

"Perfect timing." the new tenant said, holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Minho. I'm Eunsook."

"You scared me! How did you know I was here?" 

"You're not the only one with a peephole." she answered with a wink.

He looked down at her hand, and after a brief moment he took it lightly in his own, shook it, and quickly let it go. "Um, yes. Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Choi Minho. I mean, um, you already know my name. Key told you didn't he?"

She watched him wipe his hand on his jean clad hip and smiled a little wider. "Yes. Yes, he did. Hold out your hand, please."

Confused, he stopped rubbing his pant and hesitantly held his hand out to her. She reached out and squeezed something from a small bottle into his hand.

He snatched his hand away and shook the liquid off of his hand, "What are you doing?! What was that?!"

"Hand sanitizer."

"Hand sanitizer?" he sniffed his hand delicately. "It smells like jam."

She held the bottle out for him to read. 

"Winter Cranberry. Antibacterial hand gel. Oh." He blushed a little. "Sorry. I just have a thing..."

"About cleanliness? Yeah, your buddy told me. Want more?" She held the bottle out to Minho again and wiggled her eyebrows. 

Bowing a little at the waist, he held out both hands to accept more of the sweet smelling gel then rubbed his hands together vigorously to let it do it's job.

"Well." She said, turning back toward her door. Come on in. Dinner will be here soon. You can sit anywhere you like."

He followed her into the apartment, and took in the decor with a curious fascination. The apartment was laid out exactly as his own, but it looked completely different. Where his own was cool and cohesive, with simple furniture and stark, white walls, her walls were painted a pale blue and the furniture looked like it belonged in trash heap. There was an overstuffed, patchwork loveseat and an old, denim couch on which a sheet had been thrown over and a pillow and blanket on it as if someone had been taking a nap. Neither seat looked inviting to Minho at all. In fact, it looked dirty. So, he just stood in the middle of the living room; unsure of what to do next. 

"Oh! Sorry." Eunsook said as she gathered up the bedding from the couch. "These were from my last session. Let me just throw these in the wash. Please, sit. I'll be right back." 

He watched her walk down the hall and then turned back to look at the unkempt seating available for him to choose from. He decided the best thing to do would be to trust his nose. 

Minho quickly glanced down the hall to make sure Eunsook wasn't there then he leaned down quickly and took a small sniff of the upholstery on the love seat. His eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. There was no offending odor like he thought there would be. Instead the fabric smelled quite nice. Lovely in fact. He took another, deeper breath, trying to identify the soft scent.

"What are you doing?"

Minho practically jumped out of his skin. He stood up straight and blushed a bright crimson. His embarrassment at being caught smelling his new neighbors loveseat making him stammer out his response. "I.. I.. I'm sorry! I just, um.. uh... I was just...!"

"Smelling my furniture to see if it was clean enough to sit on?" She asked with a smile. "It's OK. Really. You are not the first person to do that."

Taken aback, MInho's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "I'm not?"

"Nope. I have a few clients that share your particular need for cleanliness. So, I use scotch guarded sheets with every client, have all my upholstery cleaned twice a month, wash everything after one use, and," she leaned down and pulled a small bottle out of a drawer in the side table. "I use fabric refresher after every visit." Then she proceeded to spray the couch liberally with the contents of the small, clear bottle."

Minho shifted from one foot to another, his embarrassment turning to relief that she wasn't judging him for his, what his mom always called it, personality quirk. "That scent. The refresher I mean. What is it?"

"You like it?" She spritzed the couch one more time and then walked over to him, showing him the bottle. "It's my fave."

"Millefiori. Perla scented. Perla?"

"Roses and nutmeg." She said as she returned the bottle to the drawer. "Now. Why don't you have a seat and I'll make us some drinks, m'kay?"

With only a little trepidation, Minho took a seat on the freshly sprayed couch and slowly leaned back into the thick, blue jean fabric. It was surprisingly comfortable. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could find them now. The notes of rose and nutmeg. The scent paired with the soft couch hugging his body lulled him into state of contentment.

"Hey, buddy. Time to get up. Dinner is on the table."

Minho opened his eyes. Eunsook was standing over him, smiling. It took him a second to realize where he was and he jumped up off the couch, bonking heads with his host in the process making her fall backwards. He reached out to try to catch her only to fall on top of her, his face firmly planted between her s. For about 3 seconds all he could do was think about how she smelled like clean, ivory soap and something sweet. He took a deep breath and nudged her right with his nose. 'That's it.' he thought. 'She smells cake like. Like a piece of white cake with raspberry filling.' 

"You stay there any longer and I'm gonna have to start charging you."

He suddenly came to his senses and as quick as lightening he was six feet away from her, on this knees with his head bowed, eyes squeezed shut. "I'M SO SO SORRY! OH MY GOD! I'M SORRY! PLEASE, FORGIVE ME!"

Eunsook got up off of the floor and walked over to Minho. She patted him on the head lightly. "You're forgiven. Now let's eat. I'm freaking starving." Then she walked into the kitchen and plopped down into one of two chairs and started to dig into her meal. 

Getting up off of the floor, Minho walked slowly into the kitchen and looked down at the table. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuits. Nothing but fattening foods. 

As if she could read his mind, Eunsook pushed the other chair out with her foot. "It's comfort food, Neighbor. Sit. Enjoy."

He sat down and took a biscuit which he brought to his mouth and took a small bite. 

Are you allergic? Or are you a picky eater."

He blushed and bowed his head a little. "Picky eater, I guess. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. We can just talk while I eat then."

"OK. Um. So, about what happened."

She wiped and nodded. "Yeah. By the time I got back from the kitchen with the drinks you had fallen asleep. You looked so peaceful. I didn't have the heart to wake you. You didn't even wake up when the delivery guy rang the bell."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that too, but what I meant was the whole, um, me being on top of you thing."

Eunsook waved her hand. "Oh, that. Don't worry. I wasn't offended. It was definitely closer than I let most of my clients get to my s for sure, but it was an accident."

"Speaking of clients," he said, biting his lip slightly. "Um, I want to apologize for assuming, you know. That you were, um..."

She picked up a chicken leg. "Choking the chicken to make ends meet?"

Minho blanched. "NO! Well, you know, I just saw so many men come in and out of your apartment. I just assumed.."

"That I was committing -ifying acts of debauchery with them all?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

He hung his head and sighed. "I'm really, very sorry. How can I make it up to you?"

"No. Really. It's OK. You don't have to do anything for me.

He held up his hand to stop her. "No. I insist. I've been a terrible guest and I haven't even done anything to welcome you like a good neighbor. I want to make it up to you. So, just think about it." He gave her a smile that was all positive assurances and perfect, white teeth.

"You're sure?" she asked, side eyeing him.

"Yes. Absolutely. Anything." He regretted the last word as soon as it left his mouth, but kept his smile as he took another bite of biscuit.

She took another bite of her chicken leg and chewed her it slowly, contemplating what to ask for. Something that would help her get to know him a little better. Eunsook was still trying to get a good read off of her new neighbor. He seemed like a decent guy, but rather pent up and stiff. What he needed was a good massage and a warm cuddle... 

A playful smile spread across her face, and Minho's own grin wavered. He didn't like the look of that smile at all. He was almost certain she was going to ask him to commit murder or go bungee jumping; Things that only insane people did.

"I know what I want." she finally said, biting her bottom lip as she tried to contain her excitement.

The biscuit turned to dust in his mouth and he swallowed hard. His eyes locked onto Eunsook's lips that glistened with a light sheen from the oily fried chicken. He couldn't help but notice how cute her front teeth where as they pressed into her full, bottom lip. Minho wondered what they would feel like on his own, while simultaneously he prayed that the words getting ready to fall out of them didn't include any acts of violence or other felonies.

"Let me touch you." 

Nothing illegal there. He closed his eyes and nodded in relief. "Absolutely." Then the words registered and his head snapped up. "Wait. What?"