Sugar Across The Hall | J. H.

I.

♫- MIA, Sunshine

You expected a lot of different things after deciding to live alone in Manhattan.

Suspicious sounds late at night from your neighbors? Sure.
Only being able to buy as many groceries as you can carry? A given.
Even the borderline ridiculous rent didn't surprise you.

The shirtless man that stands in front of your apartment door however? Not on your bingo card.

You gape at him, nail file dangling from your fingertips as you curse the architect that gave this entire building doors without peepholes. It was a Thursday night, so you were doing your self care ritual(painting nails, Grey's Anatomy, pad thai from across the street), which usually includes a dress code of your gray bathrobe and whatever flannel pants were clean at the moment. No one ever sees you like this, save a couple friends on urgent facetime calls.

And now could not have been a worse time to be caught.

Because the man in front of you just happens to be the poster boy for rom-com meet cutes. Light brown hair that's been darkened from what you can only assume was a shower from his toned bare chest, warm brown eyes that are wide for reasons that you hope have nothing to do with your messy hair, and plush pink lips that were being pulled into a smile until just a second ago.

You glance past him, taking note of the wide open apartment door behind him and the blue light spilling out from inside.

So this is how you meet your number neighbor.

"Oh my god- I'm so sorry," he suddenly says and the tension finally breaks, no thanks to you and your tendencies to get hopelessly distracted by shirtless men with towels around their necks. "I swear I thought I saw a guy move in here-"
"My brother," you blurt out and then immediately regret cutting him off. His voice was soft, and you don't think his face could have suited it any better. "You probably saw my brother; he was helping me move the furniture."
"Ah," he nods his head in understanding, and for a second, you disregard the fact that you still don't know why this gorgeous man is on your doorstep.

"Right, so-" he clears his throat awkwardly; thank god the feeling is mutual. "I just got back from traveling like an hour ago, and I just realized that I left my only toothbrush in LA."
The blunt delivery and the sheer absurdity of his statement makes you slap a freshly manicured hand over your mouth, not wanting to laugh in his face.
"And so I was wondering, since I'm tired and it's pouring outside," he says, half laughing to shake off the embarrassment, "if my neighbor would be willing to spare me one of hers. Please."

He's smiling at you now and god, the way his eyes start to disappear once he reveals his perfect set of teeth nearly has you swooning. Your brother told you to be wary of creeps on your floor but surely, he wasn't talking about this man. Creeps don't wear thin beaded necklaces.

"Sure, I'll go grab it for-"

Dammit.

Your extra toothbrushes are kept in a drawer in your bathroom vanity, which normally, wouldn't be a problem, if you were still living with your parents. You left the organizers that separated all of the miscellaneous items in that drawer with said parents, because you wanted to buy the cute clear ones that were plaguing the department store shelves.

Unfortunately, because you use an electric toothbrush now, that drawer is out of sight, and the containers have not crossed your mind since unpacking. Which means it's exactly the kind of mess that would ruin the manicure you spent the last two episodes of Grey's Anatomy on.

This stranger is cute, but you'd never risk that for someone you just met.

"Actually, follow me." You turn on your heels before you lose the nerve to and he reluctantly follows, leaving his slippers at the door. Immediately you view your apartment like a stranger would. A few dishes left in the sink, a lone pringles can on the counter, a box or two in the hallway. You silently thank your past self for keeping the place relatively clean.

"Oh wow, what season are you on?" The man behind you pipes up, and you nearly drop your nail file.
"You watch Grey's Anatomy?"
"I watched four seasons with my mom," he says sheepishly as you duck into your bathroom.
"I'm on season three. And no spoilers- this is my first run-through." You pull open the drawer to reveal a mess of travel-sized floss containers, mini toothpaste bottles, and assorted cords and toothbrushes.
"These are drying, so..." you wiggle your nails and he understands quickly, pulling out an orange toothbrush and closing the drawer.

"Thank you again," he says once you both reach the door, and while you assure him it's not a big deal, he insists on returning the favor. A small giggle escapes you at his persistence.

"This isn't how I imagined my first neighbor interaction would go."
"First? You haven't met anyone yet?" Something strange flashes across his expression as you shake your head, and he steps into the hallway. "What's your name?"
"Y/n."
"Welcome to floor seven, Y/n." He smiles one last time and you try your hardest to burn it into your retinas. "It was nice meeting you!"

You give him a wave goodbye before he disappears behind door 717, and it takes a solid minute for you to realize that you never caught his name.

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧

"I'm pretty sure I've watched this exact scene in a hallmark movie."

You shake your head as if the person on the other end of the line can see you, before closing your mascara tube and assessing your appearance in the mirror.

An upgraded version of the girl from last week looks back at you, ready for bottomless mimosas with your friends. For a moment you wonder if you might run into your neighbor before leaving the building, before your friend's voice cuts through the air of your apartment.

"I'm in the lobby- why aren't you down here yet~"
"Quit your whining Haechan, I'm literally in the elevator," you lie, grabbing your keys and bag and swinging your front door open.

You nearly trip over yourself trying not to step on the tupperware container in front of your door.

On the floor of the hallway, you warily crouch down to retrieve the suspicious package, quickly deducing that it is in fact chocolate chip cookies before reading the sticky note on top.

I'll wear a shirt next time, sorry XD
- Joshua Hong