Word Count: 1166

The rain spattered across your knees as you waded through the already-forming puddles on the streets. Thunder boomed in the distance, and the falling raindrops made a harsh smashing noise as they hit the pavement in a great torrential downpour.

You put your head up from where it had been curled to protect your face from the wind to look around for any sort of shelter, and — yes, there it was — a bus stop emerged from the gloom. You hurried into the structure, heaving a breath as you took off your hood. Once safely seated on a (thankfully dry) bench, you checked the time on your phone; it was already 10, when you should have been tucked into bed with a good book and a mug of soothing tea.

You were going to kill Taehyung tomorrow. What he’d made sound like “oh, a little favour, it won’t take long..” had actually taken you until ten minutes ago, after which you had hurried out of the office to get home before the forecasted storm came.

Your bus came, and you hopped on, swiping your bus card at the front before making your way to the back seat. 

—

After what seemed like an endless journey of watching raindrops race down the window and listening to the persistent pounding of rain against the bus, you finally got to your stop. 

You made it into the lobby, up the elevator, and all the way down the hallway towards your apartment, when you realized that you’d left your keys on your desk at work.

“Shoot, shoot, shoot…”

You paced around in front of your door, jumping a little from the chill of getting bombarded by so much cold water outside, harassing the door handle again and again, before the door to the apartment across from you was suddenly pulled open. 

“Can I help you?” It was your neighbour, Namjoon. You’d only ever seen him in the elevator, and never in a t-shirt and sweatpants like this. His hair, in contrast to how it always looked in the mornings, was a little tousled, and one side of it had been pressed flat, probably from lying on his side.

“Uh, yes, I- Sorry about that, was I being too loud? I’ll be quieter from now on, you don’t-”

“It’s fine, I just wanted to know why you were standing in the hallway like that, on a day and at a time when you should already be home.” He looked at your shivering and frowned.

“I just realized I left my keys at work..”

“Oh! Uh, you can stay here for the night, if you want — you probably don’t want to go back out there under the storm.”

You stuttered out a thanks, welcoming yourself into his apartment.

It was a lot messier than you’d expected it to be, all dirty clothes and dirty dishes and papers covered in scribbles stacked on every conceivable surface in the house. You’d heard that he wrote and composed music in his free time, so you thought that those must be his lyrics.

“I’ll clear out the guest bedroom for you, I normally use it for a little extra storage.” Namjoon told you before retreating into said room.

Within seconds, you began to hear all manner of bangs and crashes, and then a slightly muffled “I’m okay!” from Namjoon, that klutz. 

You smiled to yourself; this Namjoon was much more fun than the other one, the one that always looked professional and business-like as he stepped into the elevator beside you in the mornings.

When he stepped out of the room, you looked in; everything looked very nice, brand-new. Nothing was out of place, unlike the rest of his home. But judging from what you’d seen of him today, however briefly that had been, you were around 70% sure that he’d just found a closet to stuff everything into at the last minute.

You smiled your brightest smile at him. “Thank you so much for letting me stay here for the night, I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t offered…”

“It’s nothing,” he replied quickly, but you could see the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks.

You were so tired that you fell asleep on the bed without even changing out of your wet clothes, something you’d be appalled at the suggestion of normally, and spent a night of peaceful dreams in Namjoon’s guest room.

—

The next morning, you got up early like you always did, cleaned the house up a little (you cleaned the floor, but left everything on the tables for fear of disturbing some important work), and started looking for ingredients to piece together a decent breakfast; it was the least you could do to thank Namjoon for his hospitality. Right after breakfast, you decided, you’d go straight to work, find your keys, and stay home ‘sick’ for the rest of the day.

—

You were in the middle of pouring the batter for the first pancake when you suddenly felt a pair of warm arms enveloping you from behind. You flinched, startled, but easily relaxed into Namjoon’s backhug. It wasn’t like you’d expected it or anything, but it just felt inexplicably nice.

“Morning.”

“Good morning to you, too. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish up breakfast preparations. I’ve sliced some fruit and put the bowl on what I guessed was the dining table, so you can help yourself to that while you wait for the pancakes.”

“Wow, thanks, I wasn’t expecting you to do this for me! I woke up and I was all ‘woah! My house is relatively clean??!?!’” he laughed heartily, “It’s all thanks to you! You’re too good to me, you little cutie you.”

Since when were you a ‘little cutie’? You had absolutely no idea, but you liked it. You smiled, finishing up the pouring and covering the pan so the breakfast would cook faster.

—

You and Namjoon sat together at the coffee table (it turned out that you’d guessed wrong about which one was the dining table, but the two of you decided to just eat there anyway) and talked and laughed together cheerily; great food, greater company, and an even greater mood made everything so much easier to talk about. 

You were comfortable around Namjoon, something you hadn’t been in a long time, and the feeling was like coming home.

You’d thought yesterday, standing outside your apartment door, that it would be the worst day of your life, but it hadn’t been; Namjoon had been so kind as to take you in for a couple of hours, you’d slept well, and now you were eating a wonderful breakfast at a table with another human being, something you hadn’t really done in a while, being so busy every morning getting to work on time.

You were really enjoying spending time with Kim Namjoon, you decided, and you mentally made plans to meet again.

It had been anything but the worst day ever.