Short Stories-Kai Ships Only! Volume 3

Tyunning- The Boy Next Door

"Okay. That's it." Kai turned around when noticed the same person had been following him for the past ten blocks home. At first he thought it was a coincidence. Maybe they just had similar routes? But when the concerned feeling didn't go away, he figured he'd better be safe than sorry. "Is there a reason you've been following me?"

Taehyun gulped. "I wasn't trying to..."

"Then what is it?"

Taehyun nervously pointed at the house at the end of the block. "I just moved there..."

"Oh." Kai looked at the house then looked at his own. They were right next to each other. "That... that makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah um. Wanna start over? I'm Taehyun. You?"

"Kai. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I was actually worried I was stalking you at one point too!"

"I mean..." Kai smiled to himself as he watched the way the shorter's eyes enlarged like a cat expecting food. "Anyways, you want some help moving in?"

"Oh. You don't have to. I'm sure you have something better to do."

"I don't but suit yourself."

"If you really want to then I'm not gonna say no!"

Kai's grin drew to his ears. The shorter was exactly his type. Having him live next door was almost too perfect. When Beomgyu told him he'd really like him, he wasn't kidding. "Let me grab a knife and some gloves and I'll be right back."

Taehyun raised his eyebrow. "A knife and gloves?"

"To protect my hands and to cut boxes open."

"Oh! Right! Sorry. I'll start unloading the truck. You can put the boxes anywhere inside the house. Doesn't matter."

"Sounds good! Be right back!"

Taehyun began unloading a mountain of boxes onto the sidewalk. His new house was small but truly beautiful. He couldn't believe the price, especially for the neighborhood it was in. An inspector assured him nothing was wrong with it too. The place was a steal. Almost too good to be true. Small lawn, decent sized living room, master bathroom and a walk in closet. More than enough for himself. He had to get it before someone else did and luckily, he got it.

Kai ran back with rubber gloves on his hands and a box cutter in his pocket. "Hey! So you said anywhere right?"

"Yeah. There's a couple pieces of furniture in the back if you're willing to help me move that too!"

"Sure. How'd you get them in the truck?"

"My parents helped me. My dad threw out his back trying to do it. I was worried I was going to have to hire movers so thank you for offering to help. You're my angel."

Kai picked up the first box on top of the pile. It was heavier than he expected it to be by a couple of pounds. Naturally, he pretended like it weighed nothing as he faked a smile. "Angel is a first."

Taehyun smirked while he watched him walk away. Sweat was beading down his brow under the summer sun. The humidity outside didn't help either. After this was over, he promised himself some ice cream and a cold beer.

The pile of boxes kept growing higher and higher. Kai tried taking in two at a time but his speed still didn't match the expanding cardboard mountain blocking parts of the sidewalk. With every trip, he wondered how much stuff one person needed. On the 5th trip, he asked "is someone else living with you? This is a lot!"

Taehyun wiped more sweat off of his brow. His shirt was practically soaked from the brutal workout in the ninety degree weather. The truck feeling stuffy inside didn't help. "No. I just have a lot of crap! I didn't think it was that much!"

"Shit." Dehydration began setting in when hour one of moving approached. "I have some ice cold water bottles inside my house. You want one?"

"Yes. Please."

Kai practically ran inside to grab two from his fridge. The first one, he chugged down in less than ten seconds. He then took another two minutes to enjoy standing in air conditioning. While he cooled off, he texted Beomgyu "he better be worth it. I'm not moving anyone's shit ever again."

"You're moving boxes for him?"

"A mistake I'll never make twice."

"Good luck dude."

Kai grabbed two more bottles for Taehyun after he peaked out of his kitchen window to see him finally helping him with the pile.

Taehyun's eyes glimmered when he saw the bottles being presented to him. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem."

The first bottle was downed as quickly as Taehyun could swallow it. He then wiped his lip off and asked "so anything I need to know about the other neighbors? I'm not too familiar with the area."

Kai joked "they're not the friendliest. Most of them stay away from me."

"Why?"

"Don't know. I'm pretty open about my sexuality. Maybe they have a problem with it?"

"Really? I thought I saw a couple pride flags when I pulled into the neighborhood."

Kai grabbed another box after setting his water down on the bed of the truck. "No idea then. Maybe it's just me."

Taehyun joked "yeah maybe." Hour two of moving approached. All of the cardboard boxes were inside of the house. What was left was the furniture. The two agreed to not take any breaks to get it over with faster. Taehyun profusely thanked Kai over and over for helping him out. He promised him dinner or tickets to a game. To his surprise, the taller wanted nothing from him.

After they were finally done moving, Kai practially collapsed on the floor. His eyes closed as Taehyun laid next to him. The cool hardwood felt great on their backs. "I won't be going to the gym tonight. Holy fuck."

"Have I said thank you enough?"

Kai was too out of breath to laugh. "Have you? I don't remember you saying it at all."

Taehyun laughed when he saw the taller struggling to sit up. He happily helped him to his feet then grabbed his keys off of the hook. "I gotta go return the truck. I'll pick up some pizza on the way. What kind do you want?"

"Pepperoni is fine. Thanks."

"No problem. I'll be back in ten minutes." Taehyun dropped off the rental truck with a full tank of gas. He then got into his car and drove to the closest pizza shop to him. After he placed his order, he requested a sharpie so he could write another "thank you" on the box as a joke.

To make small talk, the cashier asked "this pizza a gift or something?"

"Yeah. One of my new neighbors helped me move."

"Hope you didn't move to the house on Bloomington Street."

Taehyun stopped writing out of concern. "I did. Why?"

"You haven't heard? The last three people who lived there were murdered. It's cursed! But I don't think that'll happen to you though."

"Murdered?"

"In that house!"

"What the hell?"

"Yeah some guy who lives next door was suspected of doing it but they could never prove it. He was found not guilty when all of his alibis checked out. What was his name? Kai?"

Taehyun's blood ran cold. The cashier ran to grab his pizzas before he could ask anymore questions. He didn't know what to do next as he was handed two boxes. He blankly took them. With the food in his hand, he robotically went to his car and sat down completely still. Taehyun didn't know if he should go home or not. He was terrified.