June 21st. 

“Oh?” Sungmin said, as he looked out of the window overlooking the busy street. “Look at that, Hyuk. I think we have a new neighbour. How exciting!” 

A man wearing nothing but beige and blue pyjama bottoms flopped down on the beanbag beside him. He cradled a cereal bowl in one hand and a milk carton in the other. He peered out the window to see a movers’ van parked below their apartment, with people in uniforms lifting various art pieces and furniture. 

“Oh, so someone’s moving into Henry’s old apartment?” he asked with a spoon in his mouth. 

Sungmin nodded. “I guess so. But I don’t even see him!”

“Or her,” his roommate added. They scanned the area for a new face, but all they saw were uniformed guys and office workers rushing by.

“We’ll have to stop by and say hi sometime,” Sungmin declared. “But first, you need to help me decide what to wear for Ryeowook’s birthday tonight. I thought he was gonna celebrate it with his boyfriend, but he insisted on inviting us. So you better be prepared.”

June 30th.

“You know, it’s been a week since we saw the movers’ van, and I still haven’t run into our mysterious new neighbour. Didn’t you say you wanted to throw a housewarming party for them?” Hyukjae asked. He was sprawled on the living room rug, eyes fixated on the screen as he played MarioKart.

Sungmin, who was in the kitchen, looked over his shoulder. “Yeah, I did say I wanted to throw a housewarming party for them, but I didn’t want to go up to their apartment and knock on the door and be all like, ‘Oh hey, we totally aren’t creeps but my roommate and I were wondering if we could throw a housewarming party at your place sometime because we want to see how your house looks like and if you’re a decent person,’ you know?” He turned back to the kimchi fried rice that he was cooking.

Hyukjae looked at his apron-clad roommate. “Yeah, I kinda see what you mean. But seriously, I find it weird how I’ve never seen him checking the mail, and I haven't run into him in the elevator or anything.”

“Maybe he’s avoiding us?” Sungmin wondered aloud.

July 10th.

Hyukjae was playing with his beloved pet dog, Choco, when he heard a stomp coming from upstairs. Choco looked up at the ceiling, tilting her head curiously. When more stomps and other movements were heard, Hyukjae was intrigued. What the heck was their new neighbour doing? A sudden blast of music was heard, and more thuds were audible through the ceiling.

“Hey, Min?” he called. 

“Yeah?”

“I think our new neighbour is dancing.”

“That’s great,” came the response. “You guys have something in common, then.”

Hyukjae looked back at Choco and her fur. “Isn’t that interesting, princess?” She gave him a short bark in response. Maybe I should take the initiative to go upstairs and say hello? He shook the thought out of his head. I’ll let it happen naturally.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the dancing didn’t stop. Hyukjae would hear the footsteps resonating around his room, and his ceiling light would occasionally flicker when the dancing got more intense. At first, Hyukjae had assumed that their new neighbour had some sort of aerobics routine that they practiced everyday. However, he noticed that this mysterious neighbour never had a specific time when they danced. He would hear the footsteps in the morning, in the afternoon, and even late at night on rare days. Sometimes there were no footsteps. Just music, but it was so loud, and Choco didn’t really like it. Hyukjae heard singing once, but it was overwhelmed by the loud beats and so he only caught a glimpse of it. 

“So….a musician, you say?” Sungmin had asked when Hyukjae told him about it. 

“Yeah,” he said, stuffing his mouth with a large piece of kimbap. “Damn, tell Ryeowook that his cooking is amazing.”

“Will do. But you know what? I think that this whole mystery neighbour thing is really cool. I mean, we only know so much about them. It makes them seem a lot more interesting. I mean, what if we actually met this person and they actually weren’t as amazing as we made them out to be?”

Hyukjae shrugged.

One month later…..

“That’s it!” Hyukjae screamed, storming out of his room and slamming the door. Sungmin, who was watching a movie on the TV, jumped. 

“Hyukkie? What’s wrong?” he asked, looking at the disheveled figure standing before him. His eyes were swollen, and his hair was messed up. His pyjama shirt hung loosely off one shoulder, and he was clutching Choco close to his chest. 

“I am done with our neighbour. He is driving me INSANE.” Before Sungmin could opened his mouth to speak, Hyukjae put Choco on the floor and started ranting.

“I was cool with him prancing around for a few days. Even when it went on for a week, I was like, ‘Oh, he’ll stop one of these days.’ But no, Sungmin. It’s been a month. A whole freaking thirty one days. Has he stopped dancing? No. All I hear is his insanely loud music blasting twenty-four seven.” He walked over to the fridge and opened it, pouring himself a glass of water and shut the door so hard, Sungmin winced. “And his dancing. Even I don’t dance that much. How the heck does he have so much energy? Do you know frustrating it is when you’re trying to read a book but the light keeps flickering every five freaking seconds? I’ll tell you, it is VERY annoying.” He paused for a while to take a sip of water. “Is he some sort of hermit or something? You know, he’s only gone out of his house five times. FIVE TIMES, Sungmin. I’ve counted. I only had five peaceful days over the last month. Even when I turn up my music, his is always somehow louder. This,” he said, gesturing to his current appearance, “is what sleep-deprivation looks like, my friend.” He stopped and headed over to the door, sliding on his slippers in the most aggressive fashion Sungmin had ever thought possible. 

“Wait, where are you going?” He asked.

Hyukjae paused before he went out of the door. “I am going upstairs to give this new neighbour a piece of my mind.” He slammed the door with a loud bang.

Hyukjae was done. He never lost his patience. He didn’t even want to bother waiting for the elevator at this point. He stomped up the stairs, not caring that he was still in his pyjamas. He rounded the corner and rapped his knuckles violently on the mahogany door. He heard the music pause from behind it. Hyukjae took a deep breath. He was so prepared to scream at this ‘mystery’ neighbour’s face. But when the door opened, all of the words that he was so ready to say died in his throat. Because standing in front of him, dressed in a pair of navy and grey pyjama pants and nothing else, was the most gorgeous creature that he had ever laid eyes on. His dark brown hair was still unkempt from waking up, and his body was the most perfect thing Hyukjae had seen. His face was a teensy bit swollen, and he blinked innocently at the strange man who had suddenly appeared at his door. Hyukjae realized he was waiting for him to say something.

“Um…hi,” he finally managed to say. Dammit, Hyukjae, he mentally cursed. 

“Hey,” the guy said, smiling radiantly. He extended a hand out for Hyukjae to shake. 

“I’m Hyukjae,” he said dumbly, as he shook the man’s hand.

“My name is Lee Donghae. Nice to meet you.”