Song: The Deli - 5.32PM by Dreamwave.

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You woke up at such an early hour today.

Really, there was nothing special about today, except the fact that you suddenly wanted to be a productive person as if it was a New Year's resolution, although you yourself knew that New Year's resolutions never ever remain till the end of the year.

You slid the sliding door of your balcony open, letting the cold air in. Morning air in Seoul isn't exactly the best, but it's fresh compared to the mid hours of the day. You scanned around. All your neighbour's sliding doors were closed tight, even the neighbours on the opposite block. Well, except one; which seemed to be two brothers who were always creating ruckus, like Seokmin says.

One of them was having fun teasing his little brother, who sadly, couldn't reach for the sneakers that the taller one was holding up, high. And they were creating a ruckus. It stopped when one of the elder ladies two houses away from Seokmin yelled at them to shut up. When she noticed you observing, she apologized and bowed.

Everything seems great here, or at least, pretty decent. You picked a nice apartment to live in. That was a good thing.

Your stretching session ended when suddenly, a piece of paper that was tied to a string appeared above your balcony. That freaked you out, of course. But it just looked like a normal piece of paper, and when you came closer to look at it, it had Areum written on it. Maybe it was for you?

Untying the crisp, pink paper from the string, you opened it to read a small note written in cute handwriting.

'Always look on the bright side on life,

here's a ghost hug! You can't see it, but you can feel it :3

Have a nice day <3'

There was a cute doodle of a small ghost with its arms open as if it were to give you a hug, and you laugh. It was creepy, but it was cute. You were convinced that it wasn't a harmful note, so you took it gratefully, taking it as something to make your mornings positive. Could the note be from the person who lived above you? That was a really nice thing to do. Who could it be?

Coming out of the shower fresh and clean, you ignore the food in the fridge and quickly headed down to the main entrance of your apartment, greeting your other elderly neighbours on your way.

There were many other neighbours; like the surprisingly talkative one that lives opposite of Seokmin's house, and the don't-give-two-shits artistic looking shortie who just, well, really, doesn't give two shits about anything.

Then there was the depressed, gloomy looking guy who always sits at his balcony on rainy nights to smoke. Those three were the ones you always saw sitting at their balconies doing their own thing. It was actually quite interesting to observe them. Like, even though the talkative, slaying-people-voiced boy was making a concert with his off pitch singing sometimes, they seemed to get used to it.

It's been a whole week at the apartment and you still hadn't met Jisoo. He seems like he locks himself inside the room and it's so quiet, his curtains always closed and his lights on. Seriously, how could he stand studying all day?

There were loads of things happening on the floor above you on the opposite apartment. Looks like it was even more fun living on the other block, but living on this side you could see all that was happening and it was extremely entertaining.

You had only one class today, and it didn't bother you as much as the other days did, because once you return home from it, Seokmin's got a heck lot of treats for you prepared.

+++

"That's one heck of a line,"

You mutter to yourself, eyes on the long line ahead of you. You yourself was in the line too. That was surprising enough. When Seokmin mentioned he 'prepared loads of treats for you', he didn't mention that you were supoosed to buy them. Sheesh.

"I know right? It's always like this here, everyday, every second. Have you seen the line during lunch hour? Man, it's longer than deez nuts." The boy in front of you chirps in, probably hearing you muttering to yourself. You were taken aback by his joke because he said it so casually as if it were the truth.

And you started wondering if it was true.

"I'm really surprised someone like Seokmin could bake, y'know," he continues, crossing his arms "he looks like the type who would laze in a couch all day and prank call people."

You laughed, "You sure know him well to say stuff like that."

"I sure do," the boy replies with a grin, the ends of his eyes pointing upward, disappearing as he smiles "anyway, college homie?"

"Yeah," you answer "an all girls one."

"You think you could hit me up with one of the girls from your school?"

You thought about his deez nuts joke.

"Uh...not with someone like you.. I guess."

"That's something mean to say to a stranger," he sulks, but in a jokingly way, both of you laughing. After looking at him properly, you realize that he was one of the brothers who often caused ruckus on the other building.

"Hey, are you that new girl that Seokmin bragged about? The one that lives in between Jisoo and Seokmin."

"Yeah.. and you're the one who wakes up all the neighbours with your shouting."

The boy grins sheepishly and scratched his head, probably thinking that he looked foolish in front of a girl he never knew, "I just like to joke around, y'know? Chan's a really nice kid to joke with. Can't help it, really." You just chuckle, assuming that Chan was his little brother.

"I'm Soonyoung by the way! I've been blessed by your existence, it's nice knowing we've got a girl around. I'm tired having those old ladies as eyecandy." Soonyoung sighs, going on about how the ladies keep thinking that he was such a troublemaker.

"Do you come here everyday?" You ask him.

"I'm a loyal regular," Soonyoung answers, putting on a smug face "I bet if Seokmin ever had a VIP card for his Deli, I'll probably get a gold one."

"A gold one?" You ask back. That's probably how often he comes here to get Seokmin's freshly baked goods.

"Yeah, a gold one," he continues "with sparkly gold stars on it."

"You know, you act like a five year old for your age." You comment, laughing. Soonyoung gasps dramatically as if he were offended, putting his hand on his chest as he did his role in being extra.

"Everybody seems to say that," Soonyoung sulks.

Believe it or not, despite all the talking, the next person in line to order was Soonyoung himself.

"Ayo Hosh!" Seokmin and Soonyoung did this fist bump thing that you might think is something they did often whenever they met, because it was like those handshakes that you could never copy.

"Just the usual," Soonyoung tells him, earning a quick nod from Seokmin as he disappears behind the counter. Seokmin even knows what his usuals are, he really is the royal regular.

"Nobody ever gets tired of his muffins, ever. That's why I come here everyday." Soonyoung tells you, scanning the menu of the Deli, loads and loads of baked goods written with chalk on the green chalkboard "well, Chan does, to be honest. But he eats them either way."

Once Soonyoung's order was done, he did the handshake fistbump thing with Seokmin again and left, saying goodbye to both of you.

"Hey, it's pretty girl!" Seokmin says, making fun of your name "what would you like today?"

You were about to open your motuh to answer when there was a sudden tap on your shoulder, followed by a voice.

"Excuse me, but could you let me past first? It's an emergency," a boy about a few centimeters shorter than you looks at you earnestly, although there was no such hurried expression on his face. You had thoughts in your mind that went who is he to tell me to step aside? He should've gotten in line first.

"Jihoon! Goddamit I swear you're late! Areum, if you don't mind could you let him past? He's really, like, REALLY late for something right now." Hearing Seokmin say that pretty much convinced you that the boy was really late for something, so you nod and stepped aside, letting him past.

Seokmin didn't even mutter a word towards the boy, but quickly gets a latte going and packed a few cinnamon buns into a paper bag.

"It's the don't-give-two-shits shortie," you mumble to yourself, 100% sure that it was only you who heard it. But he glared at you, or it was just you who thought it was a glare.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" He asks you in a perfectly normal tone, but it still scared you to death you shook your head furiously, scaring him instead. He fixed his red beanie, acting okay.

Once he leaves, Seokmin turns to you.

"Sorry about that, Jihoon's always like that when he goes overdose with espressos," He says, wiping some crumbs and crusts of the counter "I think I'm done for the day, and there aren't that much customers after you, so why not we sit down and have some tea. I'll get you my best recommendations."

You agreed, waiting for Seokmin to bring a tray of pastries in front of you. His famous chocolate fudge muffin, a normal looking croissant and a sausage bun. They all looked pretty normal, but you were sure they tasted amazing.

They  didn't. They were more than unbelievable.

What the heck did Seokmin put in these? You were probably sure it had all the normal ingredients, but they tasted over the rainbow and you were left with question marks on your head like?? What kind of sorcery??

Seokmin brought a pot of tea with him once he was done, pouring it into the teacups. It was pinkish in colour and it had this incredibly strong rose scent, and you started wondering what kind of flavour it had.

"It's called Dreamtime," Seokmin tells you about the tea, reading your mind "it's my favourite."

"Is it rose tea?" You ask.

"Nope. Well, technically there is a tint of rose but mostly it's apples, apricots, mint and rose. You'll love it." Seokmin smiles and you were convinced. His smiles are always so convincing and sweet. It's really nice to know someone like that.

"These are amazing. No, more than amazing. No wait, there is no such word in the dictionary that could desceibe how incredible these are," You start blabbering about his pastries unconsciously as if you worshipped them. You would, to be honest. So as everyone.

Seokmin laughed, "You just used the word incredible."

"No! That's not it! They're incredible but incredible isn't enough!" You say again.

"Thanks," he offers a smile, sipping some tea "anyway, looks like you've met the ruckus causing neighbour."

"He's literally a five year old stuck in a grown man's body." You comment, making an obnoxious face. Seokmin laughs even harder and agrees.

"Oh, who's Jihoon by the way? And what's he late for?" You ask, not telling him the fact that you've already seen him a few times and labelled him as the don't-give-two-shits shortie.

"Jihoon's late for a piano show. And his class. And his tutoring job. And much more." Seokmin tells you "he's always hustling around. As expected from an art student with so many jobs. He's already lived a stable life even if he's a student though. The kid's rich."

"Damn, he sure does a lot." You say, agreeing. No wonder he was desperate to ask for his turn to go first. He's probably an hour late or maybe half an hour. Who knows.

"Jihoon's pretty stoic at everything but he unconsciously becomes cute from time to time, so don't worry about opening up to him." Seokmin explains about Jihoon, a boy who likes to wear simple clothes with bright colours. The boy who doesn't wear insoles, but might hit you in the face if you tease him about his height.

You spent an hour talking to Seokmin. A few customers would enter his Deli and he always greets them with a sincere smiling face, and he seems to know all of his customers well. While preparing their orders he chats with them often and if the customer was a newcomer he'd give out recommendations too.

You took out your purse to pay for the uncountable amount of treats you had consumed, but Seokmin shook his head and told you that today was an exception, since it was your first time here. You literally wanted to cry and just question yourself why you deserved to meet someone as sweet as Seokmin. God bless this boy.

"Areum, hold on, can you do me a favour?" He asks you, and you nod immediately. Anything. You're already feeling guilty from eating all those sweets for free. He should've told you earlier. You could have slapped some self control into yourself.

"Bring these to Jisoo," Seokmin tells you, putting a small cup of Chamomile tea and a box containing cinnamon buns and other treats; which were all chocolate. You wondered; Jisoo must love chocolate.

"Is he even alive in there?" You ask, knowing that it was a silly question but you just couldn't help it "I mean, he's so quiet."

"He's alive, don't worry. But don't be surprised if a corpse answers the door," Seokmin was purposely scaring you and yes it was extremely ridiculous if a corpse answers the door but you were having sudden second thoughts about it might actually happen.

"Hurry up, he's probably awake at this hour. The boy never eats his meals properly, and I wonder where he gets nutrients to actually have a sexy brain that could store as much information." Seokmin comments. Why use the word 'sexy' for a brain though?

"Alright. Thanks for the food!" You wave and exit his Deli. Eating here really made you feel like you wanted to buy muffins everyday, but that won't ever happen, of course, considering the fact that you had to save up anytime soon.

The walk back home was short considering the amount of sugar you consumed, and no, it wasn't because of the sugar rush. The tea made you feel really sleepy for some reason. No wonder it was called Dreamtime. What a perfect flavour to drink before drifting off to sleep. You made a mental note in your head to actually ask Seokmin to brew you some during stressful days.

Once you were in front of Jisoo's door, you had to think twice about delivering his food. Either way, you had to. So that's what you did.

There was a doorbell and you pressed  it, waiting for an answer.

Five seconds passed.

Then ten.

Then twenty.

You stood there for a whole minute.

You sigh and took a few steps to the side where your door was, ready to enter your house and sleep.

Surprisingly, the Jisoo boy actually opened the door even before you could enter your code number on your door.

"Uh..yes?" He asks in an awkward tone, well, more like a I-was-busy-sorry-so-tell-me-what-you-want tone. You couldn't blame him really. For a top student he must be studying 25/8. How does he even survive?

"H-hi. I just moved in, the name's Areum. Nice to meet you," you bow, and when you actually, properly, set your gaze onto Jisoo, you saw nothing but beauty.

Really. He was just really, really beautiful.

His brown hair was a little disheveled and you couldn't tell if it was bed hair or if he had ruffled it with his hands a few times, and he had a plain white tee on despite the cold. His house probably had a heating system on with high power or something. Jisoo wore glasses, although Seokmin said he wore contacts when he goes out. You've never actually seen him without glasses, but you already preferred the Jisoo with glasses. Why not? Guys with glasses are cute.

"I came to deliver these. Seokmin told me to," You explain, and he gratefully takes the chamomile tea and the box of baked goods "He said you weren't eating properly so he gave you those. You really need to eat more though. At least, don't skip your meals."

After actually stealing a glance at Jisoo's wrists, you couldn't help but nag about his eating. He might slam the door in your face and say that you had no right to stick your nose into his business, but that was better than nobody telling him to eat more. Jisoo wasn't exactly only skin and bones; but he had this pale complexion on his face and his body too.

"Thanks for the advice. I'll try," Jisoo offers you a smile, which made you surprised that he didn't get angry at you for nagging like you were his mother "when did you move in?"

"About a week ago, and I wanted to hand you some rice cakes but you didn't answer the door."

"You probably came at the wrong time. I'm really sorry for not answering it though. So you have rice cakes with you?"

You flushed red. Dear god, you never expected him to ask this question. What should you do? The rice cakes were gone. Why? Because being the careless airhead you were, ate all of them without even thinking.

"S-sorry, I kinda ate the r-rest." You stutter, and Jisoo laughed at the obvious embarrassment that was clearly plastered on your face.

"I'll buy you some next time though!" You added quickly.

"Thanks. We should talk more often." Jisoo says, already taking a sip of the chamomile tea that you hoped didn't run out of heat.

"You look like you're never alive." Those words actually slipped from your mouth, and you mentally slapped yourself. Hard.

Thankfully Jisoo took it as a joke, "I get that a lot. But you should try knocking my sliding door. My study table's right beside it, so I might hear better."

"Sure," you reply with a smile "have a nice study session."

"Screw that, I'm going right to bed." Jisoo chuckles, muttering a quick 'good night' before he closes the door.

You enter your house, throwing all your things away and changed into your normal tee. It was late but there was a tint of pink and orange in the sky, and you thought it was really pretty. You don't get to see that much here. 

There were movements on the balcony above Jihoon's apartment, and you noticed a boy who was watering his plants. His balcony was extremely beautiful. It was like a small greenhouse, plants here and there. What was even more interesting was that the few portions of flowers that were in bloom all bloomed so well.

You were sure he couldn't see you because his bangs were covering his eyes but he did notice, flashing you a small smile and a wave. You flinched though, surprised he was able to see from that far. Well, it wasn't that far to be honest, but he was just so into watering his plants that you didn't think he would notice.

You sat there on your balcony till the sky was no longer pink and orange, and when you went inside, you threw yourself onto your bed.

What kind of people were your other neighbours? You were excited to find out.

But for now, let's think about trying to get to know Jisoo first.

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This was legit 3k+ words I have never written this much in a long time

Again i really hoped you guys loved the music although it was like, for a solid 2 minutes and 30 seconds lmao. I might say that the purpose I wrote this book was to calm people down but everyone just starts to cry like... what-

I'm starting to listen to these type of songs these days and i really like them bc it really helps me write

The previous song in the previous chapter is called we've never met but, can we have coffee or something? by in love with a ghost

Yes the title is literally that long but the songs are amazeballs i just cry

Im having trouble trying to decide what type of people meanie are in here..seriously

All the chapters in this book comes in pairs like muffins & memories, brains & beauty, love & letter, except one; suits, sneezes and smitten

Try and guess who they ;) ohoho

Man i ramble too much in my author notes like i get really ashamed when i read other stories and the authors dont even have author notes im like??? Am i the only one who rambles too much really cee

Look forward for the next chapter; brains and beauty ;)

I think that might be the next one

Hope you guys have a good day ♡

- Cee