My Neighbor is Slightly Odd.

1: Odd Gifts.

When Izel returned home, he immediately kicked off his shoes, walked towards the living room, and laid on the sofa with a languid air to his temperament.

The flimsy curtains were pulled open and the bright sun shone through the room, causing him to cover his eyes with the back of his arm. After a while, Izel, who felt like he was about to fall asleep, heard a knock on his front door.

His fatigue was still there and annoyance could be written clearly on his face when he opened the door. But when he saw the man across from him, the lazy look disappeared, replaced by a face of awe.

Scum.

The single word unreasonably crossed his mind when he saw the other person. It was the man he saw at the park; judging from the plastic bags in his hands, he was probably here for something...

His face and temperament, with silver-rimmed glasses...he really looked like a gentle scumbag. His brother always warned him to be wary of men like this, and after reading countless novels, Izel actually agreed.

"Good morning, I hope I'm not bothering you. I saw you at the park this morning and noticed that we were neighbors. I just wanted to bring this over as a gift, I've just moved in and I hope I haven't caused any trouble." His smile was amiable, and he lifted the bag towards Izel.

While still looking at his face, Izel silently took the bag. He acknowledged that it was a nice gesture, but he was still slightly grumpy when he thought of how he was woken up when he was just on the edge of falling asleep. The feeling of being abruptly woken up was never good.

But Izel still had to keep in mind some decent manners. He nodded, muttered a soft 'thank you', and closed the door behind him.

"...Haha," The man grabbed his jaw as he let out a breathy laugh. His eyes curled as he recalled the other's soft voice and dazed expression. "It seems I've come at a bad time...You're so stupid, now his first impression of me will certainly be sour."

The man suddenly frowned. "I even forgot to tell him my name...Damnit." He cursed himself while knocking his head, returning to his residence, which was just next to Izel's own place.

Once Izel went back in, he dropped the bag right beside the sofa and attempted to lure himself back to sleep, but after an unknown amount of time of tossing and turning, he finally admitted defeat and sat up.

Clutching the pillow under his arms while glaring at the plastic bag given by his neighbor. His laziness was ignited and he reached for the bag with his foot, using his soft toes as a way to grip the edges. His calves trembled as he retracted his foot, finally using his hands to grab the bag before it fell to the ground.

"Success." He muttered to himself, the laziness in his bones seeping in deeper by the minute. Yet as he finally opened the bag, he suddenly sat up straight.

His hands reached inside and he cocked his head. Baffled at the strange items he was 'gifted'.

A toothbrush, lotion, towels, and...condoms?

Izel frowned, holding the package of condoms to his face. Surely, this was an accident, right? No person in their right mind would ever 'purposefully' give someone a packet of condoms unless they have other thoughts in mind...

"I know I said he looked like a gentle scum, but I was just joking..." There was no way this was on purpose. Well, either way, none of these have any practical use to him anyway since he already has them. Well, except for the condoms.

But...seeing as he didn't have any condoms, perhaps he could keep them for when he brought a girl home.

[Quick author interjection: everybody, laugh at Izel! He's never gonna get laid by a girl! Those condoms are for a MAN! and that certainly isn't Izel.]

Izel pursed his lips and secretly tucked the package of condoms away in his pockets. Getting up, he stuffed the remaining items back in the bag and went to the kitchen, carelessly tossing them into the trashcan.

Since he was in there, he grabbed a quick bottle of juice and returned to his bedroom. Whipping out his phone and entering a familiar interface.

On the screen was a familiar Saintess, surrounded by a handful of handsome men. A blue-haired prince, a red-haired general, and in the distant background, a long silver-haired man. Looking at the game characters again, Izel felt an odd sense of hatred towards them, despite him never holding any previous grudge or distaste towards the characters.

Weird, Izel thought. He felt the same thing this morning too, right when he woke up and saw Alcestis's face. He thought at the time, it was because he was too tired and out of touch with the real world, so he went out for a short walk. But how come...this feeling still hasn't gone away?

Whatever. He tried his best to dismiss these feelings, wanting to go back to playing. But as he progressed further and further, the feelings he felt became too much for him to ignore and he paused the game.

What about a different game?

He went to his computer, opening another game interface instead. This time, he felt much better and completely forgot about his previous discomfort after a few games.

At the moment the screen read 'Tie', Izel's phone rang. He glanced aside and saw the name tag and immediately reached for it, pressing the answer button.

"Brother!"

"Baby!"

The smile on his lips disappeared immediately and he almost hung up on the other party. "I told you to stop calling me that!"

The person on the other line laughed. "Have you settled in the new house yet? There aren't any perverts near you, right? Remember to not hesitate and kick them where it hurts, okay?"

"It's fine, bro. You and Dad were the ones who picked this place, there's nothing but a bunch of old people here. And I'm settling fine, I think the neighbors are nice too, it's just I don't go out a lot to meet them."

A sigh came from the other side of the phone. "It's good you aren't having any trouble, but you should remember to go out for a while, oh! Speaking of going out, I've recently picked up a new movie to film. It happens to be based on a game, I thought you'd be interested to be a part of it."

"A game? Hmmm, I'm not really into acting though, brother."

"I know that. You can just be a background character if you want. They're also planning on bringing along the developer to help direct the film. What was he named again? Al..Alex? Well, it's something like that."

"I guess I could go out more. What city are you filming in?"

"X city, they have an amusement park there so you can entertain yourself when you're done. I'll book a hotel for you as well, remember to call me once you arrive. I'll pick you up." Izel nodded, but after realizing he couldn't see, he hummed.

"I'm hanging up then."

"Alright, baby--" *beeeep*

He tossed the phone aside and resumed another game.

However, unbeknownst to him, something was occurring under the screen of his phone. It buzzed and flickered, before falling back to darkness. But the phone was shut down. After a moment of silence, with the clacking of Izel's keyboard and whispering curses, a familiar arm was suddenly on the black background. The screen glitches as it continues to reach out, a familiar face slowly emerging from a fog of ink.

Noticeable silver hair fell from the man's bare shoulders as his body continued to be revealed. Just when the palms of the other hand seemed to touch the screen, everything disappeared, returning to the black screen once again.

But...the tips of their fingers pierced through the darkness, like a lake, sending ripples around. Its movements continued, pushing through the screen and into reality; just as his wrist passed through, Izel turned around.

"Huh?" Izel glanced at his phone. He picked it up and stared at it, for some reason, he felt like he saw something on it but it disappeared. Probably some dust that hit the light weirdly.

He dismissed it.

Preparing his luggage for the airport.

Author's corner:

Are you guys intrigued? Anything you find interesting, or odd?