Lifetime

Neighbors

"Look mom, we're getting new neighbors." I called out from the living room. She was busy entering some accounting data for dad's business, paperwork covering the kitchen table as she organized.

"Stop being nosy." She replied, making me laugh. I let go of the single strip of the blind I pushed down to see across the yard.

I pulled a banana from the bunch we kept on the counter, angling myself so I could see more comfortably out of the open window in the kitchen. I watched as three men pulled piece after piece of furniture from the truck, finally seeing two other people emerge from the house who I assumed were the residents.

"There's a woman and a teenage boy. I'm not seeing anyone else. I've only counted two beds being unloaded so maybe it's just the two of them." I narrated the scene to her. "Oh there's a little girl too." I commented just as the girl ran out of the front door, carrying a pile of Barbie dolls that she dumped onto the sidewalk.

"Mind your business, Seline." My mom's mouth pressed into a flat line, the glasses that sat at the tip of her nose giving her expression even more annoyance.

I left the window, moving to sit across from her at the table. "Since when are you anti-neighborhood gossip Ma?"

"Teenage boys are surrounding our house." She kept her eyes on her work, almost muttering the words to herself. When she looked up, pushing her glasses to her eyes, she was serious. "I just don't want you getting boy crazy. You already have Hoseok and now you've got your eye on another one. You need to focus on your studies, not having a million boyfriends."

Her comment stung and I knew where it was coming from, my eyes dropping as I contemplated whether to call out her dread over my apparent multiple soulmates that were floating around out there. "Don't worry mom. No guy has ever even liked me as more than a friend so I don't think we have to worry about anything." I said instead.

I stood from the table, turning to walk to my bedroom when she responded, completely ignoring my statement. "Speaking of studies, you should get a head start on the reading list for your English class. I need to run to the restaurant with your dad for a few hours." I helped her gather all of the papers from the table and she kissed my forehead before leaving.

The view from my window told me that Hobi wasn't around, his car not in it's usual space, so I dived into a book, deciding that reading the fanfiction I was currently entranced with sounded more appealing than anything on my school reading list.

When there was a knock at the door I peered back over to Hobi's to see that his car was still gone, my brow pulled together as I opened the front door, rarely getting a visitor other than him.

The boy from across the street stood in my doorway, a shy look on his face that told me it wasn't his idea to come over. "Hi, my family just moved in." He turned to point at their new home. "I was wondering if you have a torque wrench?"

Now that we were up close I noticed his unavoidable full lips and the way he fumbled with his small hands, a curtain of dark hair that practically covered his eyes. "My dad might have one in the garage." I answered, stepping outside and closing the door behind me. We walked to the side of the house together and I pushed the button for the door to slide up, revealing my dad's shed of things I couldn't identify if I was being held at gunpoint.

He stood back, waiting for me to bring the tool to him and I laughed, turning to wave him inside. "You'll have to pick it out yourself. I have no idea what any of this stuff is."

He nodded politely, going over to a section of my dad's tool collection that held wrenches. He found what he was looking for easily, glancing over the metal shelves that lined the garage. "Thanks, I'm Jimin by the way." He held out a hand.