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“you’re knocking on the wrong door.”
taemin turned, his knuckles resting on the oak door they’d just been rapping on. a man stood behind him, keys in the palm of his hand, wearing a hoodie & a snapback & the brightest smile taemin had ever seen. he swallowed hard, hoping his flushed cheeks would be attributed to the damp & cold.
“why do you say that?”
the man chuckled, flipping the keys in his hand.
“because that’s my door, you have a suitcase, & i’m not expecting company.”
taemin looked back at the numbers screwed into the side of the building & frowned. he was sure he had the right address. as he scrounged in his pocket for the scribbled note the stranger continued.
“you have a suitcase,” the stranger continued, pointing to the rolling suitcase taemin had propped up next to his leg. taemin nodded absent-mindedly as he checked the address on the paper against the numbers by the door.
he turned around to fully face the guy, ripped paper in hand
“this is odyssey avenue right?”
the other man nodded, his brow beginning to furrow in confusion.
“ok well this is the address that i was given. i was told that an old man lived here?”
the man watched him for a moment before bursting out laughing, his head turned to the side & taemin watched as the sharpest adam’s apple he’d ever seen bobbed with delight.
“you must be a friend of kibum’s.” taemin nodded slowly, relieved to hear that familiar name.
“that’s me. ‘old man’ is just a nickname kibum gave me. my name is jinki. and you are?”
“taemin. kibum’s new roommate. i moved in two months ago.”
jinki nodded in acknowledgement. “why is kibum sending strangers to my door?”
“didn’t you get his text?”
“nope. so what’s the deal?”
“minho’s back in town for the week. & i can’t afford a hotel.”
for the second time since he’d met him, jinki burst out into laughter & taemin couldn’t help smiling either. the whole thing was embarrassing & ridiculous.
jinki was still chuckling as he shuffled through his keys, finding the right one &, stepping past taemin, unlocking the front door.
“you must be hungry. lets get you something to eat.”