Kim Taehyung glanced out his window when he heard a shout, watching as his neighbor, Chanyeol, was tackled by no less than four of his friends, dissappearing under them.

Shaking his head, he sighed and went back to what he was doing. He was currently writing an essay about Stephen King and his books and he didn't need to get distracted. He just needed to pass his writing class and he'd be done with college and able to continue his own writing career. 

"Hey, get off of me!"

Another shout caught his attention and, despite himself, he looked through the window again, watching as a laughing Chanyeol pulled himself out from under his friends. There seemed to be several more now, all pouting and trying to pull him back. 

Taehyung wondered idly what it was about his neighbor that everyone liked. His own few encounters with him hadn't been all that spectacular. The tall redhead had seemed friendly enough but he was also nothing but a goof. A lovable goof, it seemed, but he also seemed to have no goals in life other than to have fun.

****

Chanyeol glanced up towards the window of his neighbor's house, expecting to see the blond glaring at him before lecturing him - again - about the noise. But this time he seemed to be ignoring him. 

"Come on, guys, this isn't funny anymore." He grumbled, dragging himself from under Jungkook and Sehun. The rest of his friends were mostly leaving him alone, thankfully. Though it would have been nice if they'd helped. Baekhyun reached down, holding out his hand. He elbowed his boyfriend, Minhyuk, in the side, eliciting a yelp from him before he also bent down to help Chanyeol up. 

"Thanks." The redhead told them, taking their hands and standing up. He turned around to watch as Jungkook pulled Sehun from under Yixing and Kikwang while Hyunsik and Kyungsoo untangled themselves from Junmyeon. "You guys are ridiculous. What is this, pile on Chanyeol day?"

"Yeah." Kikwang told him cheerfully as he pulled his shoes back on.

"We were hoping to lure your neighbor out." Yixing replied, straightening his clothes and brushing the dirt off.

"....Why?"

"Because he's cute." Baekhyun ignored the playful glare from Minhyuk. "And a little uptight. He should come and relax."

"He's in college." Chanyeol muttered. "We shouldn't bother him."

"Ooh, a college man." Sehun spoke up. "What classes is he taking?"

"I don't know." Chanyeol shrugged his shoulders. "We don't talk much."

"Well, that . He's really cute." Baekhyun said.

"Looks aren't everything." Minhyuk told him.

****

Taehyung groaned softly, hitting save on his essay. He was finally done with the blasted thing. Hopefully he did a good job on it, he thought as he opened an email and typed in his professor's email, attaching the essay.

Hitting send, he smiled in satisfaction and shut down the computer. Normally, he would've opened the book he was working on but this time he was too worn out to write any more. 

Picking his phone up, he called one of his friends, Daehyun. 

"Hey, Taehyung! Finally finished your essay?"

"Yeah, I have. Want to go out to eat? My treat."

A few minutes later Taehyung sat down in his favorite Chinese restaraunt with Daehyun. 

"So, what's the big occasion?" Daehyun asked, looking over his menu at him. A strand of his silvery-grey hair fell into his eyes as he talked though he ignored it. "And don't tell me it's because you finished your essay."

"What, you don't believe that I'm celebrating finishing it?" he asked, looking through his own menu. "That took me a week to finish. Eight pages long - or more - about your favorite author and how his or her books affected your life. My professor is lucky I didn't just bull my way through it."

The other man snorted, turning his attention to his menu. "I still don't believe it. I know you, Taehyung. You don't just spend your money on stupid things like finishing your homework."

"What are you going to eat?" Taehyung asked him.

"Nice subject change." Daehyun replied. "I'll probably go with the shrimp fried rice. What about you?"

"I'll go with the..." Taehyung hummed as he thought about it. "Chicken fried rice and wonton soup. Want to share the soup? It's good."

"Sure. Now tell me why you invited me to come with you."

The blond made a face, putting his menu down. "Nothing gets past you, does it." He replied. "Fine. If you must know, I was feeling lonely."

"Feeling lonely, huh? You haven't got a pet like I suggested?"

"I've got a cat." Taehyung replied with a shrug. "But that's not what I mean."

"Ah." A gleam appeared in Daehyun's eye. "You want a date."

"What? That's not-!"

"Shush. I know just the person for you, Taehyung."

The writer slumped down in his seat. "...He'd better not be married."

"He's not, I promise you. Siwon was just a fluke."

"He was wearing his wedding ring and kissing his husband when you tried to set me up with him."

"Shush. We're attracting attention." 

Taehyung flushed when he heard a throat clearing, glancing up at their waiter. "Ah, hi. We're ready to order now."

****

Taehyung tapped his fingers against the bar, looking around the small restaraunt. Daehyun had called him and told him to be there at six, as well as wear something red.

He'd chosen a red wristband, worn on his left wrist. It paired well with his black jeans and blue tshirt. His date was going to be wearing a red rose, he'd been told, which sounded rather cliche. But he'd shown up anyways, feeling curious about who Daehyun had set him up with.

The door opened, a tall young man walking in. He ran his hand through his black hair, pushing it away from his face as he looked around.

Taehyung blinked, recognizing the other man. It was his neighbor, Chanyeol. He must've dyed his hair recently, considering that it was no longer red. What was he doing here?

Then Chanyeol shifted, the leather jacket he wore slipping to the side to reveal a grey tshirt with a red design on it. As he walked further into the restaurant, the design became clearer, showing a red rose.

"Oh, no.." Taehyung muttered, reaching back to grab his jacket. Daehyun had set him up with his loud-mouthed neighbor. There was no way he was going to stay for this date now.

His movement had been the wrong thing to do apparently. It caught Chanyeol's attention and he looked over at him, his eyes lighting up when he saw the wristband. He hurried over to Taehyung with a smile. "It's you! You're my... Oh." The smile disappeared when he saw that the other man was getting his jacket. "You're leaving. I guess it's not you."

The blond bit his lip, releasing his grip on his jacket reluctantly. "What's not me?" He asked, wondering what he was doing.

Chanyeol sighed, looking over at him. "My friend Junmyeon told me to come here, that I had a date. He said he'd be wearing red, like me. I saw that you were wearing red and hoped..." He forced a smile, looking at Taehyung. "Well, doesn't matter what I hoped. It's not you, after all."

"Actually.. It is me." He replied sheepishly. He'd recognized the name of Daehyun's boyfriend. "Daehyun told me to wear red and that my date would be wearing a red rose."

The other man lit up again when he heard him before biting his lip. "But... you were going to leave. Do you really dislike me that much?"

"I don't know you that well. Why would I dislike you?"

"Well, you're always yelling at me for being too loud, telling me to turn down my music." Chanyeol sighed. "I figured you disliked me because of it."

Taehyung was starting to feel really bad. He'd always assumed Chanyeol simply didn't care; he never acted like he was hurt by how he talked to him. He was always smiling and laughing - sometimes singing and dancing - when he saw him. "Chanyeol... I don't dislike you. But, I need quiet sometimes when I write. You know I'm in college."

"Yeah, I know that. But it's not like I was being that loud, mostly it was my friends. Yet you always yelled at me."

The writer flushed, looking down at the bar. "Ok, yeah.. I wasn't being very fair to you. Can we start over?"

"Start over?"

"Yeah." Taehyung bit his lip, looking over at Chanyeol before holding his hand out. "Hi, I'm Kim Taehyung."

Chanyeol stared at him for a minute before taking his hand to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Taehyung. I'm Park Chanyeol. I believe I'm your neighbor."