The key turned in the lock, opening the door soundlessly. The woman pressed the door knob and walked inside the apartment. She took a deep breath, inhaling the vague smell of still fresh paint. She examined the walls and those few framed pictures hanging on them. There was still room for more to come. 
Nicky kicked off her shoes and threw herself on the couch. She laid down and looked at the ceiling, smile getting bigger on her lips. She crossed arms behind her head and let out a loud sigh. That was it. That was finally it. After all those years she had her own space, her own apartment filled with her stuff only. She could do anything she wanted without having to pay attention to anyone else. She was her own mistress and she felt free. Free at last. 

"So, how's your new place?", Nicky's friend asked after calling her on friday evening. 
"It's great", the woman answered, opening the fridge and scanning its content. "It feels like home already, as tacky as it sounds."
Alice laughed on the other side of the line. 
"Good. Now think about the house warming party", she said.
Nicky snorted, as she took some vegetables out the fridge and prepared them for chopping. 
"What house warming party. Please."
"The one when the three of us lay down the couch and drink a lot of alcohol", Alice explained, faking a serious tone.
"Oh, that one", Nicky grinned, as she held the phone with her shoulder, using both of her hands to peel the carrot. "But you actually meant us two and Diane being drunk before the end of the third beer", she corrected and both of them laughed at the accuracy of her predictions. 
Cooking was one of the things she enjoyed the most after getting her own apartment. Now, with no one to share the kitchen with, she could take her time and use as many pots and plates she wanted without the need to clean it immediately after. The newly gained freedom visibly influenced her cooking skills- she was definitely getting better and more creative. She also really enjoyed herself, which was even more important. 
The only inconvenience of Nicky's new appartment was the house policy forbidding washing machines inside the flats. Every inhabitant was obliged to keep them in the washing room situated in the basement. She heard of places like that, she also watched movies where these kinds od laundries were common, she just never imagined she would have to use one herself. Nicky wasn't a particulary jumpy and easily scared person, but the dark and empty hall of the basement made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She tightened the grip on the laundry basket's handle and sighed. The corridor was long, walls painted in the dark shade of green. 
"It's like ing Dark Water", she cursed under her breath, heading to the door at the end of the hall. 
She was almost at the laundry entrance, when she saw the light in the crack of the door. She was also pretty sure she heard the laughter coming from the inside of the room. 
Nicky shrug and mentally beat herself up for having such a vivid imagination. It was already late, but it didn't mean that she was the only one making her laundry at night. A lot of people lived in the building and she was sure some of them preferred the night life as well. With such reasonable thinking she pushed the door and entered the room. Unlike the corridor, the laundry was bright with neat white walls and blue floor. It wasn't big, but big enough to fit dozen of huge steel washing machines. Woman scanned her surrounding and laid her eyes on the source of the laughter she heard before. Three pair of eyes looked into her direction, being visibly surprised by her presence. 
"Hi", said one of the boys, folding a huge red t-shirt and giving the girl a wide smile. 
"Um... hi", the woman answered hesitantly. 
She looked at the other boys, who waved at her shyly. The effect was quite comical, since one of them was inside the laundry cart, and the other sat on the washing machine, his head almost hitting the ceiling. Nicky didn't know any of her neighbours, except for the old lady from the ground floor who offered her homemade cookies the day after she moved in. She could only assume that one of the guys, if not all of them, was living in this building. The late hour and the fact she was holding a basket full of her dirty clothes didn't encourage her to make new friends, so she headed to the washing machine on the opposite corner of the room and started loading it. She was relieved no one tried to talk to her and she could set her laundry peacefully. 
"Goodnight", she heard when she was about to hit the "start" button. 
"Goodnight", she answered, turning around. 
The boy sent her another wide smile before disappearing behind the door with his laundry. His friends followed him, the orange-haired waving friendly and the taller one bowing nervously. Nicky the washing machine and followed their footsteps shortly after. 

It was pouring outside and Nicky practically run from the bus stop to avoid being soaked. She reached the gate and jumped over the threshold, barely catching her breath. She called on the elevator and waited while trying to make something out of her messy hair. The woman was currently struggling with one particulary stubborn hair strand when the front door opened and a person appeared in the hall. The man took of the hood and shook his head, getting rid of the droplets of water covering his bangs. He lift his gaze and looked at Nicky, his big eyes disappearing with a smile; the same wide smile she saw earlier in the laundry. 
"Hi, again", he said and let her through the elevator door. 
They moved up in complete silence, both looking down their feet. When they were almost at Nicky's floor and she started preparing herself to leave the cabin, the elevator made a loud metalic sound and suddenly stopped. The woman hit the wall with her back and grab the handle to keep herself from falling. 
"What the hell?", she said out loud, her voice cracking at the verge of panic. 
She looked at her companion in misery as if looking for an answer. To her surprise the man wasn't fazed in any way and calmly leaned over the elevator's wall. 
"It happens sometimes", he said, feeling her questioning look at him. 
"What do you mean it happens?", she asked, her eyes getting bigger with the mix of shock and anger. 
The man turned to face her, once again sending her that big smile of his. 
"They were supposed to repair it, but it's taking them long. Don't worry, it usually doesn't take more than an hour."
"An hour?", something that was meant to make her calmer only caused her to sweat nervously. She wasn't claustrophobic per se, but being locked in a box hanging at the height of sixth floor placed her way out of her comfort zone. 
She looked around the elevator as if searching for a way of escape, when with the corner of an eye she saw her companion sitting on the floor and looking for something inside of his bag. Nicky watched him with an unreadable expression, until he finally found what he was looking for.
"A strawberry?", he asked, handling her a box of fruits. 
The woman didn't know how old he was, but at that exact moment he looked like a five-year-old child sitting in the sandpit and offering his plastic shovel to a kid next to him. 
"Seriously?", Nicky asked, raising an eyebrow. 
The guy shrug and took one strawberry before putting it in his mouth. 
"We can't do anything, anyway", he said matter of factly. 
As much as Nicky wanted to disagree, she had to admit he was right. They were stuck in an elevator and all they could do was wait for the service to come and fix the problem. The alarm gone off the moment the cabin stopped and it was just a matter of time before someone would show up. 
The woman sighed and sat down on the floor as well. The man nodded his head at her and once again handed her the box of strawberries. 
"You sure don't want any? I'm Taehyung, by the way", he said. 
"Nicky", she answered and reached for the fruit. 
Later she wondered how would she react if she was alone when the elevator stopped. The presence of Taehyung and his strawberries calmed her down enough to stop the panic and made her focus on something other than being locked like a rat in a cage. There was something about him that caused her to lose the tension and relax. Both his voice and smile were soothing, pushing the worries to the back of the head. 
It turned out he lived right above her. He moved in three months before her and had now a good relationship with a lady from the ground floor. 
"Her cookies are one of the bests. Right after my mom's, of course", he stated. "She used to be a violinist at the filharmony, you know? Her fingers aren't the same as before, hence she doesn't play anymore, but she likes to listen to music. I sometimes play for her."
"What instrument you play?", Nicky asked.
"Saxophone. I used to play as a kid and now I'm trying to get back to it", Taehyung explained.
"Oh, so it was you I heard! For a moment I thought I am delusional and just imagining sounds", she laughed, remembering that time she woke up in the morning and felt like the pipes were vibrating in the bathroom.  
Taehyung tensed. 
"I'm sorry if it bothered you..."
"No, it's ok", woman interrupted him. "Especially now that I know I don't have hearing problems."
Time is always relative. An hour can be both short and long period. When it comes to gathered information and amount of said words, an hour in elevator with Taehyung was definitely long. But when it comes to the speed of passing, it was like a blink of an eye. Nicky was rather easily stressed and even her closest friends had difficulties calming her down, yet her neighbour didn't really have to try. He had the natural ability to make people relax. 
"Sorry it took so long. The mechanism really stuck this time", said the man from the service, when the elevator was finally opened and the people trapped in it recovered safe and sound.
"I'm not gonna get in that again", Nicky said, after the guy made sure both of them were fine and disappeared to, as he said himself, yell at some people. 
"You live on a seventh floor", Taehyung noticed, walking up the stairs by her side.
"Yup", Nicky nodded. "At least I'm gonna be fit as hell."
The guy laughed, his eyes turning into two crescending moons. Nicky had to admit he was charming and, objectively speaking, really handsome. 
"So... see you around, I guess", she said after reaching her floor. It was somehow weird to say goodbye so simply. 
"Yeah, definitely", he grinned. "Have a nice evening", he waved at her and disappeared at the stairway, heading to his floor. 

Once she got to know him, she started to bump onto him every now and then. Their coincidental meetings eventually turned into deliberate ones and Nicky grown to be really fond of them and Taehyung's company. His cheerful and somewhat random personality was something she found different yet appealing in some way. He was a really sweet guy and being around him made her feel at ease. His boyish charm never failed to amuse her, even when she was stressed and tired after work.
The phone buzzed singalizing a new message. Nicky reached for the device and checked its content. A smile appeared on her lips once her eyes laid on the screen. 
"What's up?", Alice asked sipping tea from a mug she held in both of her hands. 
"Nothing", Nicky answered, putting the phone aside while trying to act indifferently. 
"Mhm, and that's why you're smiling like you just saw a puppy playing with a fluffy ball", said Diane, rolling over the couch to look at her friend. 
"What kind of comparison is that?", Nicky asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't change the subject", Alice cut her off. "There's something you're not telling us."
Nicky rolled her eyes.
"A lot of things, probably."
Two pair of eyes were shot at her with disapproval. Nicky sighed and held her hands up in a sign of surrender.
"That was my neighbour. He sent me a picture of, well, his friends' puppy..."
Diane yelled something incomprehensible, throwing hands in the air in the sign of triumph. 
"A neighbour, you say", Alice smiled mischeviously. She heard something and she had no intention of letting that one go. Nicky cursed herself in mind. 
"Yes, a neighbour. It's a big building, you know, I have neighbours."
"...who send you pictures of puppies", Diane added.
"Is he hot?", Alice shot another question, caughting Nicky off guard.
"What?!", the woman almost chocked on her cocoa. 
"That means he is", Diane stated from her couch. 
"What is going on here?", Nicky asked rhetorically. 
"We're asking basic questions", Alice said, taking another sip of tea. "So you're saying he's hot."
"I did not say that!", Nicky protested, feeling the ground slipping from under her feet. She knew what her friends were capable of, she wasn't saint herself when it came to teasing them as well, but this time they took her by surprise. 
"He's not?", Alice wasn't giving up.
"No! I mean, he is, but...", Nicky started and bit her tongue immediately. Another one of Diane's triumphant screams filled the room.
"I hate you both", Nicky said grumpily. 
"Does he have any friends?", Diane ignored her, changing position on the couch. 
Nicky sighed, giving up.
"He does. But they're all younger than you and loud as ", she said, remembering the time she met Taehyung's friends. Up till then she didn't know that seven people could be so loud and all over the place, talking one over another and constantly making fun of each other. 
"Hook her up with the youngest, I am sure she'll be thrilled", Alice suggested, sending a look to Diane.
"Ha-ha-ha, very funny", the girl retorted, making a face towards her younger friend. "You're making fun of me and you missed the fact she already met his friends", she pointed out, shoving Nicky under the train once again. 
The woman rolled her eyes, preparing herself for a long night of teasing and ual remarks- two of her friends' special talents. 

Nicky didn't mind the teasing, in fact it was one of their usual ways of communication. Normally she would find a way to turn the things around or at least make some jokes herself. This time it was different, though. She found herself unable to bounce the ball and was just sitting there, taking in everything they said. After a while she stopped listening. Her mind was elsewhere, trying to get a grip of an ever-escaping sensation inside her head. It was like catching a bunny- right when she was sure she cought it, it somehow managed to slip away. 
"Nicky, are you with us?", Diane asked after not seeing any reaction from her friend. 
The girl shook her head, snapping off her thoughts. 
"Yeah, yeah. You guys want something more to drink?", she asked, getting up. 
"Unless you have a vodka, I'll pass", Alice said, jokingly. To her surprise Nicky came back with a bottle and placed a glass in front of her.
"Be careful what you wish for", she said with a grin. 

The Christmas was getting close. Men and women dressed as Santas and Angels addressed people at every corner, offering some goods, or asking for money on charity. The lights were everywhere as well as christmas trees. Everything smelled like brandy and gingerbread. 
For Nicky Christmas meant a very welcomed break from work and an opportunity to sleep off. Unfortunately it also meant all of her deadlines getting dangerously close to the point she started considering moving to her office to save some time on travelling. Time. Time was something she didn't have and something she needed desperately. She couldn't start preparing herself to the holidays, she didn't have a single gift, not to mention a ticket back to her hometown. She was constantly working, trying to meet consecutive deadlines and she felt like running out of the last reserves of energy. What bothered her, was that during the last couple of weeks she had barely seen or talked to Taehyung. And the fact it bothered her at all was making her even more annoyed. 
Nicky took of her laundry from the dryer and put it to the basket. She sighed and strightened her back aching from constanlty sitting in front of the computer. She tried to tie her hair, but the tie broke in her fingers. She cursed loudly, throwing the pieces to the floor with anger. 
"Wow, what did it do to you", Taehyung asked, entering the laundry and looking at the woman with wide eyes. 
"It screwed up", Nicky answered between her teeth. 
She was in a really bad mood and the growing pain pulsing in her temple was only making it worse. 
"Shame on you, hair tie!", Taehyung scolded the broken item, pointing and index finger at it and faking a serious tone. 
Normally Nicky would laugh at his silliness, but she was to tired to even flinch. She grab her clothes and attempted to leave the laundry. 
"Have any plans for the evening?", Taehyung asked, before she reached the door. 
"Trying not to die", she answered bitterly. 
"What? What happened?", he asked, frowning with concern. 
"Nothing. Everything. Life is a , just because."
The man pouted. 
"Don't say that. It can't be that bad. Life's not that bad."
Nicky laughed sharply. For him the world was beautiful and full of kittens and blooming flowers. He was so optimistic she hated him for that at the moment. 
"I'm glad you think that, but you have no idea what my life looks like", she snapped at him. 
She knew she was being harsh and unfair, but she couldn't stop herself. She was on a verge of breaking down and he was conveniently at hand to take it out on him. 
The man looked like she just hit him with something heavy. He curled like a hurt puppy, making Nicky feel even worse than she already was. 
"I'm going to sleep", she said and stormed out of the room, not sparing a look back. 
She was tired, stressed, her head was exploding with pain despite the painkillers she took earlier. She felt like everything was falling apart and she didn't have any strenght left to prevent it from happening. Nicky reached her apartment and slammed the door behind her. She threw the laundry basket on the floor and fell next to it, hiding face in her palms. She felt tears burning in , but she was to exhausted to cry. 
The light knock could be heard in the room. Nicky didn't react, still curled up with back pressed to the cold wall. After few seconds the door opened soundlessly and someone slipped inside the apartment and sat on the floor next to her. She lift her head and looked at Taehyung, surprised. The man smiled at her warmly, his eyes tender and filled with care. Even after how she treated him just minutes ago, he was there, still bright and supportive. He didn't say a word, just lift his arm and embraced her, pulling her closer. Her first instinct was to pull back, but once she felt the warmth of his body, she realised how much she needed that. How much she wanted to be hugged and for once feel that she wasn't alone with all the obstacles she had to face every day. To lean on someone's shoulder, hear his steady heart beat and let it all go. Just once. Just this once... 

Nicky opened her eyes slowly. The room was bright, the dim light slinking from behind the courtains. She lift her head only to realise she was still sitting on the floor with Taehyung's arm thrown across her shoulders, supporting her neck. She looked up and saw the man looking at her from under half-closed eyelids. 
"It's morning already", the woman stated, strightening her back. "You didn't go home? Why?", she looked at him, puzzled.
Taehyung yawned, strightening his arms. He rubbed his eyes and shrug. 
"You were sleeping", he said, as if it was an obvious answer. "Feeling better?", he asked, hopefully. 
"I... I am", Nicky answered. It wasn't a lie. Oddly enough she did, in fact, feel a lot better. 
"I'm glad", he said, sending her a bright smile, the one that always made her smile as well and did not fail this time either. 
The man got up from the floor and reached his hand to help her stand up. Nicky grab his palm, feeling his long fingers under hers. He lift her up easily, laughing at her struggling with the balance. 
"You're cute", he said and patted her head. 
Nicky's eyes widened. She was called many things, but never cute. She felt like protesting, but before she could open , Taehyung spoke again. 
"I'm hungry", he said, putting a hand on his stomach. "Want something? I'm gonna go and grab it."
Nicky looked at him attentively, trying to figure out how did she end up in a situation like that. How from yelling at him couple of hours ago she was being offered a breakfast with a smile brighter than the sun. Normally people would leave her alone to deal with the stress, not wanting to be scolded and dragged down with her. And yet here he was, unfazed by her behaviour and charming as always, even after night spent sitting on the floor. 
The woman shook her head and laughed. 
"What?', Taehyung asked.
"Nothing", she answered, smiling. "I just feel like eating strwaberries right now."
That was the best breakfast she ate in a long time.