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"Ah, shit."
Muttering some more curses under his breath, Namjoon checks the pockets of his pants and jacket a second time, hoping his keys would magically materialize in one of them if he just wished for it hard enough.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
It's the third time this week alone that he'd forgotten his keys and it's slowly getting a little worrisome.
Namjoon stills for a second to walk himself through his morning routine in his head to make sure that he'd at least forgotten the keys at home where they were safe and not somewhere outside.
Unfortunately, he vividly remembers locking his door this morning, so he probably lost them on his way to uni. Or somewhere on the campus. Or in the cafeteria. Or—literally anywhere and it would be a game of pure chance whether he'd get them back.
Namjoon slaps the wooden banister in frustration, only to add it to the ever-growing list of things one shouldn't do when wearing multiple rings a second later. Rubbing the sore spots on his palm with his hand, waves of pain pulsing though his hand, Namjoon takes the last few steps to the landing. Right in front of him the plain white door leaf belonging to his apartment.
"One day you'll forget your own head, Joon," Jin had said to him once while handing him the spare keys Namjoon had given him in good faith and case of emergency. It was not like Namjoon was infamous for losing stuff on a regular basis (he was more the clumsy kind of unlucky) but three times in one week? Ridiculous.
He sits down on the lower steps of the next flight of stairs before pulling his phone out of his jacket, making sure that it doesn't accidentally slip out of his grip and down through the gaps in the railing. Imagining the ugly sound of expensive tech shattering on old ceramic tiles, he holds on to his phone extra tight.
Namjoon crosses his feet and watches the three dots dance on his screen, patiently waiting for Jin to finish typing. Since he's already out of his depth, Jin's input couldn't hurt. And yeah, maybe he'd have to hit up one of the others and try to get through the weekend on his friends' couches until Jin was back to give him the spare key.
..Why did all of this have happen to him on a friday of all days? Why not any other weekday?
It's when his phone screen suddenly turns black that a wave of panic washes over him.
At first he suspects it's the screen timeout or that he might have accidentally pressed the power button but when his phone doesn't turn back on after two, three, four tries, reality starts to sink in.
"Fuck!"
Of course.
The broken battery he'd been meaning to replace for weeks just died on him. Today. Of all days.
"That's what you get for putting off important things, Namjoon, you had it coming," he mumbles to himself, closing his fingers around his dead phone. Now he couldn't even call a locksmith even if he wanted to (who had the money for one anyway?)
A soft "Oh" from downstairs immediately draws his attention away from his financial struggles. Namjoon turns towards the source of the voice and finds a handsome blonde man climbing the stairs. He looks about the same age as Namjoon and for a hot second, he wonders why someone with his looks lives in a rundown place like this. The rent is cheap and it's admittedly not the worst place in the area but not the best either. Trying to recall whether he's seen the guy around before, it takes his mind a moment to react to the friendly "Hi" the stranger now greets him with.
"Hey."
"Um.. are you okay? Do you need anything?"
"Ah, no," Namjoon shakes his head and gestures towards the door, "I locked myself out. And now I'm kind of waiting for a miracle."
The guy's face lights up immediately, charming wrinkles forming around the corners of his eyes.
"Then," he grins and takes two steps at once until he's reached the landing, "I think your miracle just arrived."
With is mind still trying to catch up, Namjoon looks up at him, dumbly watching him search his bag for what Namjoon suspects —hopes— are his lost keys.
What kind of crazy coincidence would that be, Namjoon thinks, if this handsome guy turns out to have his keys.
"You left them at the mailbox this morning," he explains, briefly glancing up to find Namjoon already looking at him, "You looked like you were in a hurry. I thought you'd come back to get them but you didn't so I took them with me. I wanted to put a post-it on your door telling you to knock on my door to get them back but it looks like I don't have to do that now."
Namjoon draws in a sharp breath, only now realizing that he'd been holding it.
"No," Namjoon confirms, gaping like a fish when the stranger finally pulls a bunch of keys out of his bag, a familiar metallic jingle reaching Namjoon's ears before he can see them.
His hands reach blindly for the keys, the absurdity of the situation only slowly dawning on him. There were a couple thousand ways this day could've ended, most of them amounting to him trying to find shelter at a friend's place or paying a fortune to be able to sleep in his own apartment. But out of all the more or less realistic scenarios, this was the one fate hat decided for him? The 'very unlikely to happen and kind of surreal' one where he meets a good-looking stranger who'd felt responsible enough to keep his keys safe until he was home?
"Th-thanks.." he forces out, realizing that he must've been staring when the man turns away and makes a step towards the door opposite of his.
"I live next door, by the way."
A beat.
"Wang," Namjoon blurts out, immediately painfully aware of his incorrect pronunciation. He'd noticed the new nameplate the other day after a long night out with the others and it had been a tipsy Jimin who'd first made fun of it. Suddenly, Namjoon felt very guilty and even more ashamed.
"Sorry."
"I know it would be funnier if it did but it doesn't rhyme with 'bang'."
Namjoon feels his ears flush.
"Sorry," he repeats, his eyes dropping to the floor, "that was stupid."
"A bit."
A moment passes between them.
"Ahh, anyway, I'm Jackson. ..I've been meaning to introduce myself for ages but I'm kind of.. still moving in and forgot about it."
There's a part of Namjoon that wants to hide under the worn-out rug under his feet to escape the awkwardness and shame he was feeling but knowing that he was stuck here, Namjoon takes a deep breath and shoves all the distracting thoughts aside.
"Namjoon," he finally says after getting up from the stairs, casually ignoring the jarring sound of keys scratching over the screen of his phone, "pleasure to meet you. You really saved my weekend."
Jackson huffs softly and smiles, visibly relieved. "You're welcome."
He can't quite place his finger on it but there's something about his demeanor, the way he talks and the way he holds himself, that makes it impossible for Namjoon to look away. Something about this guy that makes Namjoon want to say something before the both of them go on with their lives as usual — but he's not sure how to put it without sounding too demanding. Maybe he was pushing his luck a little too far?
"We could hang out some time," Jackson eventually says, just loud enough for Namjoon to be sure that he isn't just wishing his words into existence, "I'll bring beer or something. I don't know. Whatever you like. Or not, it's up to you."
Their eyes meet and Namjoon can't help but smile.
"Beer sounds.. good, actually."
"Good."
Jackson's eyes are on him, big and uncomfortably pretty.
He's not sure what gives him the strength and courage to ask but his mouth is moving before he has a chance to think about it.
"Any plans for the weekend?"
Maybe today was his lucky day after all.
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