Notes rang out through the house, played at ridiculous volumes. Soft string harmonies echoed through the large spaces, reverberating and filling the house with warmth. Standing in the middle of his workspace, Jeonghan looked at his large canvas. He was wearing what he always wears while working: a baggy, torn t-shirt and loose jeans, both covered in many paint splatters. His hair was tied back into a loose bun, random hairs flying here and there. Twirling his paintbrush in his hand, he sighed out of frustration. Something just didn't seem right about his painting. Normally he was able to see what was wrong, but this time he just couldn't pin it down. 

Annoyed, he turned the volume of his classical music even higher since he was home alone the whole day. He reached over and grabbed his glass of water on a nearby stool. Gulping it down, he was startled when the doorbell rang. Setting the glass down, he walked through the halls, curious who it could be.

Opening the door at first a crack then swinging it completely open, he was met with three bright smiling faces of little girls.

"Good morning sir!" One said, her pigtails bouncing.

"We are girl scouts from troop 1004. We are selling cookies! Would you like to buy some?" The next said with a lisp, sporting a smile that had one of the front teeth missing. She held out a page that listed the options. 

At first taken aback from the cheerfulness of the girls, Jeonghan started to get as excited as they were while looking at the pictures of the glorious girl-scout cookies. 

"I would absolutely love to buy some." He replied happily, taking his wallet out of the back pocket of his paint-covered jeans. "Could I have... three boxes of Samoas please?"

"Yes sir! That will be... uh.... they're four dollars each!" 

Looking into his wallet, he pulls out a twenty. "Four times three would be twelve dollars. Could you girls make me some change?" He asks, smiling down at them.

Looking between each other, the girls suddenly look a bit frightened. "Uh, yes sir", they reply. Gazing into their folder of money, they mumble to themselves. Then, they start looking back towards the sidewalk frantically. Jeonghan looks around them, wondering if they were looking for their chaperone.

Just then, a man starts walking up to the house. At first confused at how familiar he looks, he realizes that the man is the same as the one from a few nights before who not only had to be told what size of tampons to buy, but also mistook Jeonghan as a girl. 

Not looking at Jeonghan, the man looks into the folder with the girls. "What's twenty minus ten?" He asks the girls.

"Ten!" They reply together.

"Right. Then what's ten minus eight?"

"Two?"

"Yup. So, how much do you give the kind man?" The guy asks the girls.

"Eight dollars!" One of the girl speaks up.

"Yes!" The man smiles down at the girls, his eyes crinkling, somehow sparkling more than Jeonghan thought was possible. Opening the folder for the girls, he helps them count out the right amount of money. For some reason, Jeonghan found that he couldn't stop staring at the man's hands. They weren't anything too out of the ordinary, but there was a certain way that he moved them, almost gentlemanly, that made Jeonghan not able to pull his eyes from them.

"Here is your change, sir!" One girl hands Jeonghan back the money. 

"Ah! Thank you very much!" He stutters out, taking it from the girl. 

"Thank you for your money, sir!" The girl-scout with the pigtails says with a bright smile on her face. 

Leaning down, the man, who still hasn't made eye contact with Jeonghan, whispered something in the girl's ear. 

"Oh! Can we actually get your address here?" The girl scrambles out, pushing a clipboard towards Jeonghan. Taking it from her, he asks quickly for a pen. The mystery man smoothly pulls out one from his backpack and hands it to Jeonghan. Just as he does so, their hands slightly brush against each other. Freezing in place, they mimic each other and look up at the other's face. 

All of a sudden, Jeonghan could hear the background music playing from his living room. It felt as though everything in the world suddenly made sense and time stopped as Handel's Hallelujah started played the chorus at full blast in the background right as their eyes met. He could have sworn there was a beam of light coming from the sky and landing just on them, making the man's eyes twinkle even more. 

Suddenly becoming flustered, Jeonghan smiled, which only made the man's eyes grow wider and his cheeks get rosier. Taking the pen from his hands, he held it up and smirked, chuckling "Hallelujah". Writing down his name and address with shaking hands, he handed the clipboard back to the man. He watched as the mysterious man looked down and read his name, slowly mouthing it. Jeonghan.

Blushing, Jeonghan looked away quickly after realizing he was staring at his mouth for longer than is usual.

"Thank you sir!" The girls chimed in sync. Turning away to run off, they tugged on the man's sleeve, pulling him along. "Come on Mr. Joshua we have to get to the next houses faster!" One girl said.

Gazing after the four forms walking away briskly, he watched as they rounded the corner and were out of sight before finally closing his door. "Joshua" he said out loud, walking back to his workroom. "Joshua" he said again, smiling and letting himself get absorbed into the loud classical music playing. Picking up his paintbrush, he started to paint over what he had been doing before. For some reason, this time the figure in it ended up with slightly upturned lips, sparkling eyes, and gentle hands. 

(Note: Hopefully this chapter isn't too short and makes sense! Johsua is a chaperone for his cousin's girl scout troop while selling cookies. Plus Jeonghan is an artist YES. Also, thank you so much to everyone who subscribed from the last chapter and is reading this! It feels nice to actually have an audience for once. Many thanks to those who commented as well! I still need to figure out how to use this website and reply normally, so until then, THANK YOU!

-Admin Spindle)