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Wonwoo wasn’t expecting to visit his new neighbor with a last minute housewarming gift that day. What he was expecting was to warm up his little piggies with the new toe socks he bought the other day, specifically to wear during fall. They were equipped with Heat Tech too, a new thermal technology he was dying to try out in the comfort of his own apartment, eating through the bags of candy corn he ordered online.
That was one of the perks of loving Halloween — as much as candy corn is seen as the staple candy for Halloween, kids nowadays don’t have the refined palate to truly appreciate candy corn. Which is why most stores sell it with a half priced discount especially during this time of year. Wonwoo never had a problem with ordering his favorite candy online, in fact, there was usually a shit ton of stocks when he started ordering due to the fact that its popularity gradually decreased by each passing year.
Wonwoo reckoned he must have been a little too excited ordering his bags of candy this year – which was why he was staring at a parcel addressed to a Lee Jihoon instead of him. Confused, Wonwoo looked at the address and the realization slowly creeped up on him. He frantically snatched up his phone and scrolled through his past online orders and upon scrolling, every single ounce of consciousness left his body. He should definitely double check his address before purchasing anything. Hang on, then that would mean..
His neighbor’s parcel felt heavy in his hands as he stared at it, somehow hoping the name would change and this was all a dream and he’d get to chow on his candy corn very soon (it didn’t work). Guess he isn’t the only dumb one to key in the wrong address. Chuckling to himself, he decides to jog his way to his neighbor’s house, whistling a happy tune on the way there.
Funny. Now that he thinks about it, Wonwoo has never even introduced himself properly to Jihoon. Yeah, he knows that he’s his neighbor on the occasion they share the same lift ride up to their floor. But other than that, he knew nothing about him. There’s a first for everything then. He could squeeze in a Halloween greeting as well as a warm invite to his place sometimes. Judging by the few times they’ve bumped into each other, Jihoon seemed as if he were Wonwoo’s age.
Arriving at his door, Wonwoo suddenly feels nervous and stops right in front of his doormat. Two cats were intertwined as patchwork on the mat, their tails making a heart shape. His cheeks turn warm at such a cute image, his nerves suddenly gone as soon as it appeared. He could do this, the dude was his neighbor. What’s the worst that could happen?
As Wonwoo reached for the doorbell, the door suddenly swung open causing a gust of wind to almost knock him down due to the impact of how fast it opened. Wonwoo blinked slowly, eyes squinting to catch a glimpse of his neighbor. Two eyes stared back at him, pupils slowly dilating at the realization of the situation. Well, this was awkward.
“Hi.” Jihoon breathes out.
“Hello.” Wonwoo countered his reply as calmly as he could. He hoped he sounded calm.
“Ah,” Jihoon’s eyes beeline towards the parcel in Wonwoo’s hands. “You’re aware of the whole mix-up. This is great! Let’s swap our parcels and call it a day.”
In Jihoon’s hands was a parcel too, slightly larger than the one in Wonwoo’s hands. His mouth started watering at the thought of being able to devour his multiple bags of corny goodness in the warmth of his home soon.
“Oh! Well, uh. Yeah, we could do that. Or.. we could start all over? My name’s Wonwoo and I live in 812, right beside you.” Grinning at Jihoon, Wonwoo practically shoves his hand in Jihoon’s, feeling mortified as he wasn’t usually the one to initiate anything first.
“Right, right, where are my manners? Sorry Wonwoo, I was actually kind of embarrassed because of the mix-up to be honest… I’m Jihoon, living in 813.” The two of them shook clammy hands with each other.
Wonwoo's face was definitely heating up. He could feel his cheeks flare up into flames, hot to the touch. It was at least comforting to see Jihoon as nervous and shy as he was though (he doesn’t comment on the apparent blush on Jihoon’s pale skin but instead pockets it at the back of his mind to ponder on a bit later in the comfort of his own room).
“I also want to apologize.. I was too excited thinking it was my parcel that I accidentally opened yours..” Wonwoo notices that there’s a small tear in his parcel as Jihoon is speaking, evident matching up to Jihoon’s story. He does not want to think of how cute Jihoon must have been being all excited to open his parcel (unfortunately for him, it’s not the only thing stuck on his mind now).
“It’s really fine, I totally understand you! I was really excited to get my parcel too. Well. Now you know that I have an addiction to candy corn.” Jihoon giggles at that statement, eyes crinkling up into mini crescent moons. His giggle is all airy too, lifting Wonwoo up his head feels a little too light, a little hazy. Good grief . Wonwoo feels like he’d die of a heart attack before getting back to his place.
“You haven’t opened my parcel yet so I feel like you’re fine, buddy.” Jihoon reaches over to try and get his parcel out of Wonwoo’s grasp but fails instead. Cute. He thinks he can get out of this after saying that?
“Ah, ah, ah! Now I’m curious as to what’s inside here.” If Jihoon wasn’t blushing before, he’s definitely blushing now, right up to his ears, the tips tinged pink.
“Now that isn’t fair. Wonwoo .” He lets out a stern voice that almost deterred Wonwoo and threw him off course from teasing him. Emphasis on almost.
Sighing to himself, Jihoon takes a firm grip onto the parcel and rips it open immediately. A soft, furry sensation is suddenly filling up Wonwoo’s hands. A plushie of Jiji, the black cat from Kiki’s Delivery Service, stares back at him.
“If you can’t tell already, I like cats. A lot. Specifically black ones.” Wonwoo thinks Jihoon is staring at the floor but his eyes suddenly avert towards the doormat. Could his neighbor get any more cuter?
“That’s… adorable. Do you like Ghibli movies? We’re automatically best friends now Jihoon, I don’t make the rules.” Jihoon’s strawberry pink ears perk up at the mention of his favorite film genre.
“You’re amazing. Uh, I mean,” Jihoon fumbles with his words. “Do you want to come in? We could spend Halloween watching Ghibli movies while eating your candy corn. If that’s okay with you.”
Wonwoo smiles. He was thinking of inviting Jihoon to his place first but… this works too.
“I am very okay with it. Happy Halloween neighbor.”