House of Cards

Chapter 3

The neighbours were definitely wondering why you were doing a spring cleaning in the middle of November, the sounds of you vacuuming the entire house breaking the silence of the normally quiet Friday afternoons. You had left work a little early to clean your apartment, even though there was not much to be done since you always kept the place spick and span. First impressions are important and from the short conversation you've had with Jungkook earlier, you'd deducted that he seemed like a nice guy, so you were eager to have him move in. Especially since no one else had answered to your ad.

The house was perfectly tidy, nothing out of place and not a speck of dust to be found anywhere. Brushing your hands happily, you took the small bag of trash and opened the front door to get rid of it. You were greeted by the back of a young man leaning against the railing in front of your house. The rattle of the door opening caused him to turn around in surprise to face you. You were not sure if your gaping mouth was due to the astonishment at finding someone outside your house, or if it was amazement at facing someone so good-looking.

A moment of silence passed as the two of you stared at each other, then the man said, "Are you y/n?"

"Yes," you confirmed. "And you are..."

"Jungkook," he finished your sentence for you. "I was the one who called you earlier." He started to offer his hand for a handshake but you shook your head and held up the bag of trash to show him the reason you had to decline the offer. "Oh, let me take care of that for you."

Eyes wide open at his words, you shook your head and jerked the bag away. "No, I can't let you do that!" Without thinking, you had engaged this handsome man in a bizarre contest of getting the trash. He reached for the plastic bag, his hand following it as you twisted and moved to get it away from him. His reflexes were a lot better than yours, and in no time the trash was in his hand and his body had trapped yours against the wall beside your door.

"One bag of trash doesn't make your place a sty, you know," he teased, his face a scant few inches from your own flushed face before he walked away to get rid of it. You were still leaning heavily against the wall, trying to catch your breath and cool yourself down when he returned.

"Thank you," you breathed, glad that you were able to make the words come out sounding perfectly normal, not like he had the ability to knock the wind out of you.

"No problem," Jungkook flashed you another brilliant smile and held up his hands. "I know I'm a little early, but can I go in? I need to wash my hands now."

"Oh, yes, of course," you mentally kicked yourself for not inviting him in and motioned him to follow you inside. Leading him to the kitchen, you pointed at the sink. "Make yourself at home. I'm just going to change out of these real quick," you motioned at your work clothes.

"Sure," he nodded and turned on the tap to wash his hands while you hurried into your bedroom to change into comfier clothes. At first you were tempted to put on fancier clothes than the ones you would usually wear at home, then you reminded yourself that he was supposed to be your prospective roommate, not your date. So you slipped into an oversized tee and black tights after washing your own hands in the bathroom.

Entering the living room you immediately spotted Jungkook sitting on the one-seater sofa, looking at the photos you had hung on the walls with interest. Upon hearing your return, he wrenched his gaze from the frames and stood up. "Just admiring the pictures," he said.

You grinned at his sudden shyness, feeling more confident now that you were in your home and he wasn't too close to you. "Were you waiting for seven o'clock so you could knock on my door?" His straightforward nod accompanied by an "I don't like being late," resonated with you. "Would you like a drink, or would you prefer to see the house first? Not that there's much to see, there's just the extra bedroom left."