“12 dollars and 50 cents please.” 

 

I look down at my wallet and then to the white bag next to the cash register. It’s contents are simple, a blueberry muffin in a box, light pink napkins folded into little squares sits on top, plastic box indenting the side of the bag. The shop has a sweet caramel lighting to it, the lamps low and warm. People sit in groups everywhere, tucked to the sides of the building in booths. Smiling, laughter fills through the cafe and I bite my lip carefully, glancing to a man standing near a machine. It’s gears are old, and I watch him struggle to crank a lever attached to the front. 

 

“Yeah about that. Forget the muffin,” I say, shaking my hands quickly because the line of zombies behind me growing impatient, their weight shuffling between each foot. “I’ll just take the coffee.” 

 

“That’ll be..” She mumbles slowly, tapping away at the monitor in front of her. “7 dollars.” She says, smiling at me as she holds her hand out. 

 

I gulp, hand instinctively scratching the back of my neck as I, following the crowd, begin to shift my weight to the my left foot nervously. 

 

“I guess, okay well can I order something else because I-“ 

 

“Hi, we’ll take the blueberry muffin, his coffee. And I’ll get an iced caramel macchiato, extra caramel with a ham and cheese croissant please, thank you.” A deep but sweet voice says, emerging next to me with a credit card in hand. Before I can protest, she takes their card and slides it, a smile even brighter on the cashiers face. 

 

“It’ll be about 5 minutes for the coffee.” She says, motioning to the right where tables sit peacefully in between two fake trees. The voice hums, and in a swift movement I see the bag lift from the counter and the shadow figure move behind me, walking across the room. Stumbling out of line I see the people who were behind me trudge forward, mumbling their own orders to the women. 

 

The voice belongs to a figure somewhat taller then me, his smokey silver hair bobbing with each step. He wears all black, aside from his baby blue timbs. 

 

He slides into a chair and sets the bag filled with both our, well. What he payed for but my food along with his inside the smooth plastic. A silky hand motions across from him and I sit, shaking my head. 

 

“You didn’t have to do that.” I say, fiddling with the rings on my hands, not looking up at the stranger. I hear a low sigh and creaking, weight added to the table as he leans in, and finally I glance up at him. 

 

“I was afraid that if I didn’t the women behind me would rip both our heads off.” Slow and sultry the words fall from his mouth and a boxy smile starts to form. I chuckle, glancing back at the line that seemingly has become short again. 

 

“I took longer then intended,” I say, eyes trailing back to his face now. He smiles once more, nodding in agreement. “But really you shouldn’t have paid for my stuff.”

 

He shrugs, mouth pouting as he starts to take our containers out of the bag. 

 

“I wanted to?” He says carefully, looking up at me before turning to smile at the approaching waitress as if on cue. She smiles, setting down the two cups. “Thank you.” 

 

He passes my cup to me along with my muffin. The box crinkles loudly, drowning into the subtle chatter of the cafe. 

 

“So I think,” he mumbles, slurping loudly on his drink for a second. “That I’m amazing, and I deserve to know your name.” He says, and I burst out laughing. He frowns, eyebrow lifted and I smile, grabbing a pink square and tossing it to him gently. He stares at it for a moment before glancing back up. 

 

“You really can’t feel that?” I asked, surprised as i pick up the napkin, leaning my weight forward to wipe the caramel mustache from his lip. He freezes, but not in a cautious way and I see his contact blue eyes soften as I dab the sweet froth from his upper lip. It managed to deep down the side of his mouth, and I wipe that away too. 

 

“My name is Jeon Jungkook.” I say, folding up the used napkin and take a sip of my drink, setting it back on top of it, the pink disappearing under the cup. He smiles, teeth square and white before holding his cup up. 

 

“Kim Taehyung.” He nods, our cups lightly clinking brims. 

 

“So Kookie-ah, do you live around here?” He asks, making a face suddenly at both the grimey nickname but also the face he made.” 

 

“What’s wrong?” I ask, and he sloshes the liquid around in his mouth before shaking his head.”

 

“Bit my tongue. You live around here?” He repeats, and I smirk. 

 

“Nah, well kinda. I just got an apartment, I started moving boxes in last night.” 

 

“Oh cool!” He says, smiling absentmindedly as he gulps down his drink. 

 

Now it’s my turn to shrug. I moved here to have a new start. Cliche, I know. 

 

“But it must be nice to live alone.” He mutters, looking out the window. 

 

“You live with your parents still?” I ask and he shakes his head. 

 

“Roommates. 5, actually. “ 

 

“Woah.” He laughs. 

 

“You guys get along?”

 

“Most of the time, yes. Obviously sometimes we fight, that’s healthy, but I really am grateful for them. I lived alone before, and even though we argue it’s never a dull night,” he whispers that last part, smiling sweetly. “I’m lucky really. I don’t know how to cook, But Jin cooks most of the time. Jimins a pain but at least he cleans up after himself,” his hand goes up to trace his ear gently and I watch as he describes each room mate. “Namjoon and Yoongi aren’t really there a lot, Yoongi especially. And Hoseok, well, he’s there when needed and even when not.” He finishes with a loving smile, nodding at me and I can’t help but smile too. His face lights up with each name, and I can tell that although I’ve never met these five people, they must truly be amazing to bring such a light to his eyes. 

 

“They sound great.” I say, finishing up the last of what I ordered. He nods, pulling his phone out and handing it to me. 

 

“Your number?” He says, and I look down at the open phone screen, ready for a new contact. 

 

“Ah, I suppose I owe you that much.” I smile sheepishly, taking his phone and quickly tapping in my number.” 

 

He gets up to throw away the trash, including mine, VOLUNTARILY MIGHT I ADD, and I watch as his limbs stretch to full potential, fluid in the way that he moves. My heart skips a beat, and the image of his face comes into mind, his sharp but tender eyes, lips slick with his tongue every couple seconds, a small dot not quite center of the tip of his nose. My head gets light, and I bite my lip, shaking my head slightly as he approaches again, grabbing his phone from me and he taps his finger a few times before slowly his eyes trail up to mine. 

 

“So.... maybe we can go start unpacking your apartment?” He says quietly, glancing around as if what he just said was a secret only for them to hear. It’s intriguing, and I can’t help but beam up at him with a nod. 

 

————————-

 

A pained scream erupts from a room down the hall and I stumble, almost dropping my phone onto the kitchen floor. 

 

“Tae?” I ask, calling as his figure stumbles out from what looks like the bathroom but I can’t really tell. 

 

“Why the HELL do you have a spikey dry thing NEXT to the toilet?!” He yells, clutching his red hand. I laugh, stepping over my phone to gently take his hand. 

 

We’re standing in a sea of cardboard boxes, stacked as high as I dared to place them earlier. I look at him in the eyes and his eyes flick up to look at mine. 

 

“That dry thing Tae Tae, is a cactus, and-“ Pluck. A tiny drop of blood pools out of his palm and he frowns, box mouth smushed in an unhappy manner. “The cactus had stuff in front of it so I don’t know how you managed to poke your hand on it.” I say with a laugh, plucking the last of pokeys from his hand and gingerly taking him over to my sink. I let the water run for a minute before placing his hand under the neutral flow. 

 

“I can’t believe how many boxes you have.” He grumbles, shaking water onto the floor before grabbing a napkin off the counter. “Like seriously. You lived at home before I don’t see how it’s possible to have that much stuff, and why do you need three tooth brushes?” He asks, wincing as he opens a box by my seaweed green couch. 

 

“I like to be clean,” I say with a shrug. “I have these containers I put them in to sanitize them.” 

 

“I have one too!” That box smile again. “But I only have one tooth brush. I keep it in my underwear drawer because Jimin likes to use ours when he can’t find his.” He mumbles, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. 

 

“Sounds so clean,” I chuckle, throwing a pillow at him. It knocks him upside the head and he erupts into a laugh, a throaty growl. I laugh, looking at all the boxes we’ve unpacked, as well as the seemingly million we haven’t. A little huff comes from behind me and I glance back at the older male, whose leaving his hip against the marble counter top, eyes trained on his phone screen. 

 

“What is it?” I ask. 

 

It’s silent for a moment, his eyes scanning back over something before shaking his head, bangs shifting with gravity. 

 

“Um... would you like to.. have dinner at my place?” He asks quietly, not making eye contact. I furrow my eyebrows as he finally looks at me. 

 

“You mean, me meet your five roommates?” I ask with a smirk, now leaning my own hips lightly into the counter top in front of him, our faces so close yet so far. His breath hitches, a whiff of mint stings my nose and he stares at me a moment before responding. 

 

“Precisely.” 

 

——————- 

 

Loud music erupts from behind the door. We’re standing on the second floor of an apartment complex, the hallways lit with LED lights. Wind blows in under a few of the doors and I assume the windows are open inside their apartment. The smell of spices wafts out from his neighbors. 

 

“I’m nervous.” He says quietly, turning to face me and leaning his slender back against the door, it’s slow creak adjusting to his weight. 

 

“Why?” I whisper, looking into his eyes, long eyelashes casting a shadow. 

 

“Well.. I shouldn’t be but I’ve never brought anyone to my apartment so I don’t know how they’ll react and-“ he doesn’t get a chance to finish before the door swings open, a figure with chocolate hair standing in the doorway. We’re roughly the same height, and his smile is blinding. 

 

“Whose this??” His voice beams, sweet and high. “I heard your voice outside that’s how I knew you were home!” He says to Taehyung, whose now facing him. 

 

Taehyung opens his mouth but before he can reply another voice bursts from inside the room. 

 

“Hey idiot did you get the tomato sauce like I asked you to?!-“ a smaller figure rounds the corner, stopping in their tracks. 

 

“Guys this is Jungkook,” he says, swiftly stepping back to lock his arm around my elbow, pulling me forward. “And no, I didn’t.” He glares at the short boy. 

 

 

The first boy waves his hand at the shorter before stepping aside to let us in. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you! I’m Jung Hoseok. This is Park Jimin,” He says, motioning to the smaller boy, his cotton candy hair in a man bun. 

 

“This is who I was telling you about.” Tae says to Hoseok, and I watch as his face lights up. 

 

“Oh the one you met at the coffee shop! He ate up a lot of your time today huh T.” Hoseok says with a chuckle, and Jimins head whips around in our direction. 

 

“You JUST met him!” He screeches, eyes flying back and forth between me and Taehyung. Hoseok raises an eyebrow. 

 

“Why?” 

 

“He’s a stranger.” 

 

“Well do you know his name Jimin?” 

 

“Yes.....?” 

 

“Then he’s not a stranger.” Tae says, giving me a soft smile, Jimin huffs, glancing at me before heading off down a hallway and a new figure appears. He’s taller, thin, his face clear and smooth. 

 

“Taehyungie is this your friend?” A subtle voice calls, approaching us with a genuine smile. Hoseok heads off to another room and I smile at the new man in front of me.

 

“I’m Jin.” He says, and I smile, repeating my name back. I remember Tae talking about how good of a cook he is. “Dinner will be fine in about an hour.” He says and I nod, before he heads off to what I assume is the kitchen. 

 

“Come on? Taehyung says to me, leading me with his arm down a hallway. We hear loud shouts and sounds coming from a tv in one of the rooms we pass, Hoseoks cheerful laugh ringing clear through the apartment. 

 

He whisks me into a room and s the door, breathing heavy. The room is dark but not enough to where I can’t see. There’s bookshelves lining the walls, a large tv propped up on an entertainment stand. There’s a few clothes on the floor, but nothing too messy. The room smells of paper and words wrapped in dust. I hear a switch flips and the room bursts into blues, purples bouncing off book spines. I gasp in awe as the light flip through the room. 

 

“What is this..?” I whisper, a welting in my heart. My veins jump with bugs and my heart starts to spin. 

 

“Cool ain’t it?” He says, words flowing along with an exhale of breath. The room is homey, a familiar smell encases us. “I had it installed when we moved in. The light calm me down at night.” Suddenly I feel solid blobs, skinny wrap around my waist, hesitating. Closing my eyes I allow my head to lull back, catching on his shoulder and he pulls me closer. 

 

“It’s beautiful.” I whisper, reds and oranges dance across the walls. He hums, close to my ear and I involuntarily shudder. 

 

“Thank you for coming.”  He sighs, chest moving against my back. I turn around, his arms slowly allowing me to turn before holding on tight again as I nod, smiling. Sometime he must have taken off his contacts because his chocolate eyes are staring back at me now, their depth incredible. 

 

“You’re the first person I’ve actually... talked to since moving here..” he says letting me go to lean against his door. 

 

“Really?” I ask, studying his face as he looks down, thumbs twiddling. He nods, looking up.

 

“They all moved from the same town as me, here. Aside from the guys, I haven’t talked to anyone.” 

 

“So.. why me?” I ask, a rush of warmth surrounds me as I squint, watching as yellow flashes across his forehead. He takes a minute to gather his thoughts and I wait patiently. 

 

“I don’t know.... I just. Felt this kind of connection with you. I know it sounds crazy but I felt this twinge when you were standing in front of me. When I noticed you only had five dollars in your wallet, which why would you only have five dollars when you just moved he-“

 

“Tae..”

 

“Right.” He says, waving his hands and standing up straight now, avoiding my gaze. “You were just cute and I..” He mumbled, trailing off and I smile. 

 

He keeps talking but I drown out what he’s saying, most of it mumbles and excuses, but something else catches my attention. Slowly breathing in, I realize what that smell is. It’s him. It’s Taehyung. It’s his books, his clothes, his ideals, his passions. It’s his circle glasses on his nightstand and his hair care products. It smells sickeningly of him. It burns, filling my lungs. Panic starts to rise from my stomach and he notices, quickly stepping forward. 

 

“What’s wrong?” He says, grabbing hold of my face gently but strict. I shake my head, because truthfully I don’t know, and his tongue pokes out between his lips, eyes frantically searching my face. 

 

Something over comes me, becoming too much. My brain becomes hazy and I step forward subconsciously, catching his lips with mine, his tongue accidentally swiping across my bottom lip. He sighs into the kiss immediately, pulling me closer, lips soft. I can feel his forehead press against mine, the cool numbing my storm. 

 

“Oh.” He whispers. 

 

I’m about to say something, but as soon as I open my mouth I hear an unfamiliar voice come from the other side of the door. 

 

“Dinners done!” It’s raspy and quick, two swift knocks to the door and Taehyung rolls his eyes, hands rubbing soft circles into my back. 

 

“Give is a minute!” He yells, forehead pressed against mine again.

 

“No Tae!” Jimins voice says, cackling down the hallway and I can see the figure in front of me smile, side of his face turning seaweed green, just like my couch. 

 

And for a long time nothing has made sense, but right now, none of that matters.