Awkward | BTS ✓

4

Chaos.

That's what I see when I walk into the living room.

Because do you know what I heard fifteen seconds ago?

Achoo.

And I didn't sneeze.

I run into the living room after hearing him sneeze, and what I see can only be described as, like I said a moment ago...

Chaos.

My coffee table is in flames. The smoke detector is screeching. Namjoon is frantically trying to put out the flames that are starting to spread to my couch.

All I can do is sigh in exasperation.

I walk over to the kitchen and grab the fire extinguisher from underneath the sink and make quick work of putting the flames out.

Namjoon opens the windows to let the smoke out of the confining space, and I decide we'd better leave before we both die from smoke inhalation.

Because knowing our luck, that will definitely happen.

Once we're out in the hallway again, my neighbor immediately greets us with a judging expression.

"What'd you do this time?" she asks, rolling her eyes.

"Burned food," I say dismissively, pulling Namjoon with me as I turn to walk down the hallway.

"My bad," he says.

I scoff. "Yes. Your bad. Now I have to get a new coffee table and a new couch."

"I can buy them. I was the one who destroyed them, after all," he says.

I nod. "Okay."

"Wait. What?" He asks, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

I stop too and glare at him. "Buy them for me then."

"You were supposed to argue and say that it's fine!" He exclaims.

"But it's not fine, you fire-breathing jerk! It's the least you can do," I argue, folding my arms across my chest angrily.

"Fine," he sighs. "Let's go to my place and I'll order them online. Deal?"

"Deal. But I swear if you try to kidnap me-"

"Isla!" He groans. "I'm not going to kidnap you."

"Excuse me if I have reservations about trusting someone who just set my coffee table and couch on fire."

"Accidentally," he points out.

We walk in silence until the question that I've been dying to ask slips out of my mouth.

"Hey, how did you get your powers, by the way? I really hope you didn't come out of the womb sneezing flames and being partially invisible," I say as we begin to make our way down the stairs very, very carefully.

"I ate some bad shrimp," he says, shuddering. "I hate seafood now."

"So you just started sneezing flames after you ate some bad shrimp?" I ask, holding back laughter.

"Yeah. The worst part about that was when I sneezed flames for the first time, I covered my mouth with my hands," he says, cringing.

I snort in laughter and I have to grab the railing to keep myself from tumbling down the stairs. "You really are as bad as me."

"Maybe we're soulmates," he jokes and I feel myself blush.

I smack myself in the face. Do not let yourself get flustered, Isla. Play it cool.

"So how did you go to the bathroom when your hands were burnt to crisps?" I blurt out and then I realize that I wish I was dead.

Namjoon laughs and I glance over at him. Ugh, those dimples.

"I managed," he says, still laughing wholeheartedly as we finally make our way out of my apartment building.

I clear my throat. "So what about the first time you turned invisible?"

"I was on a date and she tried to kiss me. I got nervous and well... then she couldn't see me anymore," he explains and I nearly pop a blood vessel in my head trying not to laugh.

"Except your left arm could still be seen, right?" I ask, looking straight ahead as we walk through town towards his apartment building. I can't look at him or I know I'll start laughing.

"Yep. And then she freaked out and beat me half to death with her purse," he sighs.

Don't laugh, damn it.

"So you turn invisible when you're nervous?" I ask, remembering that he turned invisible when he undressed me in the café.

"Some people blush. I disappear," he says, and I can hear the annoyance in his voice.

"That must be hard to explain and deal with," I say, feeling the need to laugh disappearing as I realize how hard he must really have it.

"Yeah, it is. But you're the first person who seems to be almost okay with it."

I scoff. "I am very much NOT okay with it! You are a walking disaster, honestly. But I'm not afraid of you."

He hums in response.

"Besides, it's not like I have a ton of people lining up to be my friend when I have my uh... episodes."

"Episodes?" He repeats and I can hear him holding back his laughter.

"What? I used to be normal! Then a year ago, I started having horrible luck. I would always end up in awkward situations and weird things kept happening. I'd always find a way to get out of whatever happens, but it was still weird that so much started happening out of nowhere."

"Wait. A year ago?" he asks, pulling my arm to make me face him.

"Yeah. Why?"

"That's when I got my powers!"

"Except I don't have powers. I'm just unlucky," I roll my eyes.

"Dumbo, listen. I wasn't clumsy before all of this. I was normal. Now I am horribly clumsy, I sneeze flames and I can turn mostly invisible. The holy trinity of weird superpowers."

"Okay, first of all, I'm not a dumbo, asshat," I snap. "What are you getting at?"

"Did you eat seafood a year ago?"

"Do I look like I remember something I ate a year ago?" I ask.

"Think, Isla! What did you do the day before all of this started happening?"

So I think. Really hard. Too hard. Ouch, I think I pulled a muscle.

Oh wait.

Seafood.

I did eat some shrimp from a questionable-looking restaurant the day before I got stuck in the elevator for the first time. And that same day, I accidentally threw my phone out the window when I watched one of those jump scare videos.

Oh. Shit. Am I a superhero with dumb ass powers too?!

And if I am... what are my other powers?