it was nearing halloween, just seven days away. the leaves were changing color, and people were already hanging halloween decorations that will probably never be taken down until december, just in time for christmas. jimin's mother entrusted him with decorating their house for their annual halloween sp(ooky)ectacular party. she said, and he quoted, "i'm giving you the honor of making this house the spookiest thing on this side of the street because you know the lees across the street always beat the pulp out of us when it comes to decorations, you know it's probably just mrs. lee's face that is so scary, she really was botched, i mean.." okay, we get the picture. anyways, jimin knew by his mother saying "i'm giving you the honor", it really meant "i don't want to do it, but i'm a mother and can't say i'm lazy." he huffed and puffed, made a storm about it, but opened his house door while kicking bags of halloween decorations onto his porch. he slams the door only to hear a shrill voice screaming, "watch that attitude or i'm throwing my slipper so hard at your back i will end you!" 

the poor boy shuddered, opening the door immediately and screaming, "i love you, okay?! i'm sorry, i was wrong, mom!" and a thumbs-up coming out of the kitchen entry way was his sign of a clear coast. he closed the door as meekly and quietly as he could, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as he heard the door close into its normal place. 

"why do we even have to put decorations outside if the party is going to be inside? at most, they'll be in the backyard, not the front yard. who has a party on their front yard?" he blabbed to himself, picking out cute ghosts on a string to start taping them to his porch's banisters. he continued to grumble to himself as he added webs with small orange and black spiders on the banisters as well. 

"talking to yourself again, jimmy?" suddenly, all jimin could here was a bike falling down slowly on his front yard's grass.

"you know what, nams? if you aren't going to help, then at least don't offend me." 

"i'm kidding, i'm kidding. by help, do you mean reach the tall parts for you?" namjoon, one of the very few friends jimin had, said as he picks up a fake witch riding on a broom, with a motion sensor that said, "i cast a spell on you!"

"oddly enough, i don't, but if you want to think that, okay. newsflash, gramps, we have ladders nowadays." 

"ooh, getting a bit of sass in you, aren't we? i'm glad i'm rubbing off on you some. maybe you'll get some of my height too."

"i'm only 17, there's room to grow in this body of mine." jimin said as he started to line up a family of pumpkins on his steps, going from small to big with every step. 

"yeah, of course. hey, speaking of halloween, what are you doing this halloween?"

"my mom wants me to go to her party-" suddenly, he was cut off. 

"ah man, i love that annual party you guys have. it's a tradition." namjoon exclaimed, moving to string up pumpkin shaped lights on the bushes at the parks' house

"yeah, that one. well i don't really want to go but then she'll become a crying mess about how i'm leaving her and there's no more babies in the nest and how it was so good when she was thirty." jimin sighed, stabbing little light-up zombie heads on sticks all the way down both sides of his brick pathway.

"okay, okay, we get it. your mom is having a mid-life crisis. the real detail is, am i and taeber invited?" namjoon egged on the details, dying to know if he made the cut on the exclusive party list that was not all that exclusive. 

"as my lovely mother knows you two are my only friends, yes, you two are invited." he says as he hauls a ladder from the side of the house to the tree, starting to string up orange lights.

"yes!" namjoon celebrated, a little pep in his step as he puts up sticky gels of normal halloween ghouls and words up against the window of the house. 

jimin could not believe that his friend was more excited about his mom's weird annual party than he was. it made him truly question the people he befriended long ago.

jimin, taehyung, and namjoon all met when they were twelve at a very boring PTO meeting at school when all of their mothers could not find someone to watch each kid in time for the not-so-monthly meeting. namjoon was the first to step up to the socializing plate by going up to jimin when all three stood awkwardly outside and saying, "how does it feel to be two feet shorter than every kid out there your age?"

little jimin punched him in the face so hard, namjoon fell over holding onto his cheek. suddenly, a wild taehyung comes running to the two boys, instantly kneeling to observe namjoon. "what's your problem, dude? you could have killed him!" all but a blank stare was on his face.

"you're pushing it. i'm little, i don't punch all that well." jimin said, already tired of the conversation. 

namjoon stood up, brushing himself off before sticking his hand out for a shake. "you know what? it was a good hit, but don't leave your day job to be a fighter, alright?" a slow taehyung took a minute or two to process that, battling in his head the thought, "he looks my age but he has a job? oh wait, you know maybe it's that thing that mrs. min taught us about: sarcasm."

jimin took his hand in his own and shook it, his other hand reaching to pat taehyung's shoulder. "i won't. but hey, you guys want to play some basketball? this meeting doesn't seem to have an end and i'll be honest when i say i don't have many friends." taehyung shrugged, his foolish grin already taking up all of his face as he nodded. "sounds good to me. but uh, what's your guys' names? i don't want to call you puncher and you punchee for the