boy next door | chapter one | 1,052

boy next door → lee taemin/kim jongin (kai); pg-13; kai's dream girl isn't what she seems...

a/n: what to say about this...it's a bit of a rocky start
but i hope it'll get better as i continue along. my goal is 
to finish this by the end of spring break and (possibly) write a chapter
every day. i make no promises though, and i have no idea if korean
school has spring break or when they have it but insert my creative
license here. also i stuck to using their stage names because it's easier...
yep.

i'm interested in friending more people - especially exo people.
especially exo people who write fics. because it's lonely not thanking
people in my author notes or leaving spots for them. especially when it's 
spring break and i'm going to be online 24/7. lmfao. oh, and i'm kinda
majorly needy when it comes to writing buddies. i'm like an annoying
pet you can't get rid of jsyk. 

comments are loved. ♥

April 9, 2011 // Front Porch // A Storm Is Coming

It’s spring break right now, but nothing super eventful is going on. Isn’t this supposed to be the part when I find out a secret that will change my teenage life forever (like that I’m really adopted or something?). Or when a new love interest walks into my life? Ha. I must be watching too many of those dramas they air for stay at home moms all day long…

The sky is bright right now and there’s a nice breeze but I think it’ll rain. I can smell it in the air. I think a storm is coming-

And from there you could actually seen where the pen faltered, drawing a thick, black line down the lined piece of paper in Kai’s journal as his grip went slack with astonishment. A moving truck had pulled up to the small suburban house next to his own identical one. This was a big deal considering it had been empty since before Kai had been born; considering that Kai’s childhood consisted of nothing of the usual variety – no local childhood friends, no girl next door; just school, a father he barely knew that was always away at work, and his mother with her tired, sweet looking face.

He was boring, supremely so, or as Sehun would put it, “wasted potential”. The one friend he had managed to obtain and keep throughout his middle and high school career, Oh Sehun, always reminded him that he “was an anti-climactic drama waiting to happen” but that he just didn’t try hard enough at being noticed.

And Kai agreed, well a little.

So maybe being alone had, at times, been his fault. But he was about as socially awkward as they came and his face just didn’t correspond properly – as in his above average looks only worked to make him seem arrogantly aloof or a flat out disappointment. Especially in the girl department. He didn’t really understand the recent boom of beauty products in South Korea all things considered; looks obviously weren’t everything. He was living proof of that.

And yet that did nothing to stop his staring as another car pulled up behind the moving truck, this one a small four door with an ugly sofa haphazardly strapped to the top. A slim, pale calf peeked out from the passenger side and Kai’s adams apple bobbed in response, the appearance feeling wholly too private – like a peep show or something. Two small, dainty feet in oversized brown sandals hit the rough asphalt and the mystery neighbor disembarked with a grace that instantly held the gaping boy captive.

He couldn’t stop the sharp intake of breath as long, auburn hair fluttered in the chilly breeze, when a hand left the pocket of an oversized hoodie to tuck soft looking strands behind a pierced ear revealing a face far prettier than the ones that attended his school. Full lips, high cheekbones, curved eyes, and a nose just the slightest bit hooked. Even the giant sweatshirt she wore couldn’t hide the endless length of her legs and the scowl that stuck to her mouth as she fiddled with her phone, backlit by the slow roll of gray clouds, made Kai’s chest squeeze irrationally.

He’d found her, he’d found his dream girl.

This was the anti-climatic drama Sehun had assured him he was destined for, this was youth, this was spring break and there was no way he was going back to school empty handed – no, there would be stories to tell this time. Kai was certain of it.

Scrambling to his feet, old sneakers scuffing the cracked wood of his front porch in haste, Kai quickly made his way across his front yard. He hopped the rickety fence separating to two houses in what he’d like to think was a rather impressive fashion (not that she noticed this, still engrossed in the screen of her phone that lit her face with a soft white glow), before padding over to her, wiping chipping white paint residue from his hands onto the dark blue denim of his jeans.

At that point Kai was at a loss standing there just a few feet away. He hadn’t really thought past the whole jumping-over-the-fence-and-looking-cool thing. In fact he hadn’t really been thinking much of anything except not missing an opportunity to introduce himself when he’d rushed over.

Clearing his throat, he closed the last few feet of distance between them until he was almost alarmingly close and lifted a hand in greeting. “Uhm hi.”

Kai watched her eyelashes flutter a bit with the shock of his sudden appearance before she turned her brown eyes on him in question. She looked as if she hadn’t even been aware there was anyone around but her. So she was spacey; that was cute.

When they just continued to stare at each other, him a bit dazed and her expectantly, Kai floundered for words.

“I uh, I’m your new neighbor and well…I saw you and thought I could maybe help out, you know, with moving. Carry some heavy stuff for you or something. Not that I’m trying to say I’m strong but I could handle it. If you need me to, that is.” When all this garnered was a raised eyebrow Kai pursed his lips into a nervous smile and stuck out his hand in offering. “I’m Kai.”

She smiled and he swore his heart nearly stopped as her eyes squinted into two adorable crescents. But then she grasped his hand with an oddly firm shake that made Kai’s smile shift into a confused frown before it fell from his face all together.

“Taemin. Nice to meet you, Kai.” She said in a voice that was distinctly male; a little high and a little airy but definitely the voice of a man.

Kai blinked hard, still holding his hand, not sure what to do.

Taemin was still smiling at him all straight white teeth and soft lips and gorgeous eyes, but now Kai’s vision narrowed in on the adams apple that lay below the soft curve of his jaw, the broadness of his shoulders, and the roughness of his palm.

His dream girl next door was a boy.

So much for anti-climatic. Sehun was going to have a field day.