It All Started With a Bang

They Meet Again...and Again

Joanna was sick and tired. It was almost like every time she left her apartment this creepy Hoseok guy was there with a huge smile, waiting to talk to her about some new irrelevant topic he thought of at 3 am. Even though he stopped throwing obnoxiously loud parties, Joanna has come to realize that the older man was just naturally fucking loud....and obnoxious. Just all on his own. He's so goddamn annoying.

The walls were naturally thin and sound travelled magnificently through the aging pipes so the moment she woke up, instead of having a peaceful time without the terrible two stumbling around, she now hears him singing old Korean ballads in the shower

and while getting dressed

and while cooking breakfast

and while getting his stuff ready to go

and while heading out of the door.

Joanna swears she can even hear him humming while brushing his teeth and gagging around his toothbrush. If only she didn't know how round and teary his eyes got when she yelled, she wouldn't hesitate to run up the steps and tear him a new one. Alas, Joanna was a kind and forgiving young lady. She could handle some singing that honestly wasn't that bad once she got out of her 7 am anger haze.

She totally wasn't avoiding confronting him in fear of finding him cute or funny again.

Nope.

Not even a little bit.

Joanna knew men were trash and that a crush would only distract her from her scholarship and several jobs. She had no time for sexy men-babies who got stuck in elevators and ranted when nervous and certainly no time to be getting caught in the hallway by him...again.

"JOANNA, HEY! LET'S WALK DOWN TOGETHER, BUDDY!" Hoseok's eyes were wide and his smile showed off his perfect teeth and pink gums, making Joanna scoff and roll her eyes before turning around slowly.

"Hoseok, it is 7:31 in the morning. Your volume is simply astronomical and completely unnecessary. I'm literally right here in front of you." She watched as the buff guy began to blush pink from his neck to his ears, the spare hand not carrying his bag came up to rub the side of his neck.

"I'm sorry, ahaha, I just get so excited in the mornings. The birds are chirping, the shower was hot, breakfast was a delicious acai bowl, and now you're here. How can this day get any better?" He was damn near fluttering his lashes and he lightly swayed side to side with a dreamy grin on his face.

Joanna was completely unimpressed.

"What type of pretentious shit do you eat? Fuck is an acai bowl? Where I grew up, breakfast was three marshmallows or a handful of ice cubes." Joanna stared incredulously at the man before her as he started to frown.

"Joanna, that sounds so unbelievably unhealthy. I heard that chewing ice grinds down your teeth, too. Maybe that's why yours are so small and cute. Teehee!" Hoseok began to walk towards the stairway and Joanna had no choice but to follow.

"Yeah well I'm still alive aren't I? And excuse me sir, my teeth are not small...or cute. They just never fell out. I listen to you brush your teeth for like tens hours everyday, I'm surprised they aren't grey by now." Hoseok took the liberty of ignoring the grumbling girl behind him, choosing instead to move on to the next topic flying around his head.

"I'm flattered that you take time from your busy schedule to listen to me brush my teeth," Hoseok giggles a bit. " Anyway, my first class is cancelled for today so I was wondering if you would allow me to accompany you to your school? We should get to know each other more, I really want to be friends!"
Joanna was slightly stunned at how earnest the man looked as they exited their huge apartment building and started the trek towards the train.
"Hoseok, why are you so stuck on being my friend? Aren't you popular in school? You had about a million people at that party just a few weeks ago. "
"Of course I have other friends but none of them are as interesting as you. You're different and I like that. Back in Korea, all the girls were so focused on acting polite or cute but you don't care about any of that. "