Aggravated at the workload sitting in front of me, I decide it’s best to take a break and make some coffee to stop me from passing out.  I had been on a killer streak of no sleep for the past forty eight hours, trying to finish the final copy of the webtoon I was working on before the deadline early Monday morning. 

Weary, I impatiently wait for the coffee, complaining to myself as it’s deciding to take longer than usual. I stand with my back against the kitchen counter stretching out the kink in my neck that is screaming at me. The last two days had been strenuous and soul . I had worked long nights before but for some reason this time it seemed to be a challenge for me.  

I smile as the smell of fresh brewed coffee greets my nose. I serve myself a cup of it, but i’m yelling out loud in pain the moment I’m startled by the loud and constant knocking on my door, causing me to spill burning hot coffee all over myself. 

Growing more annoyed at the knocking that won’t stop but instead grows more obnoxious, I quickly grab a damp dish towel and put it over my stinging hand. I make my way to the door and open it, being shoved aside as the half dressed guy from next door closes the door behind him.

“Kihyun!” I call him out.

Ever since I had moved into the building he has been using my house as a shelter from his nightly encounters with strange women he would bring home. Kihyun was known as the boy in the building. All the girls in the building had warned me about him and as my bad luck has settled it, I had managed to move right next door to him. 

“You can’t keep barging in here every single morning” I remind him, afraid that he will just let it go in through one ear and out the other like he usually does. I stare at him dumbfounded as he stands behind the door, looking out the peep hole. 

“Shhh, be quiet!” He whispers aggressively. 

I stare at Kihyun, absolutely shocked that he would treat me like this after allowing him to hide in my apartment from his immature behaviour. I hear the sound of the door beside us close with a loud thud. The sound of high heels hitting the stairs as the girl leaves in her walk of shame.  Kihyun let’s his shoulder relax as he lets a loud “Phew!” sound escape him. 

“You’re unbelievable!” I cry out as I make my way back to my tablet. Unable to deal with him this early in the morning. 

“I’ve been told that many times” He boasts at my comment, clearly misunderstanding the context I meant it in. I didn’t care about his ‘accomplishments’, if you could even consider it that. He follows behind me, taking in my apartment before letting himself fall onto the couch. 

“What are you doing?” I asked, becoming worried that he would take this as an open invitation.

“It’s quite a nice place you got here, super homey apart from the mess” He teases. 

I pinch the bridge of my nose as the sensation of a pounding headache threatens to take over. Definitely, way too early in the morning to be dealing with this. 

“Still no man?” He asks. 

My patience running thin, I glare at him, hoping that he would catch on that he wasn’t welcomed here, let alone wanted. He doesn’t notice it, instead the hint flies over his head like a plane. Too clueless, he’s way too clueless.

“What do you want?” I groan.

He ponders for a moment before sitting himself up on my couch, rubbing his hand over his shirtless chest. I had struggle to understand his habits ever since the first day I met him, and even after a year I still didn’t get him. Did this guy have no sense of remorse or feelings at all ? I admit that I always felt bad for the girls who would participate in his game I liked to call ‘ding dong ditch’. 

“Just checking if you’ve changed your mind about going out on  a date with me yet” He replies with a wink. 

I laugh at his confidence. Kihyun was way too confident. Annoyed at his presence and victory from distracting me of my work, I stand up. I walk to him grabbing him by the hand and dragging him up from the couch. 

“Where are we going?” He asks.

“Out! Get out!” I yell as I push him out of my apartment. He stands outside my door, a smile taking over his face as he and eyebrow before speaking.

“So, is that a no?” 

I let a loud groan escape my lips before I send the door slamming in his face. 

I always admired the confidence he held for himself to even muster the courage to keep asking me out after all the times I had turned him down since I moved in. Don’t get me wrong, Kihyun was handsome and he played that to his advantage. He knew how good looking he was and he also knew the effect he had on women. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that he literally had girls going crazy over him. So it was no surprise when he would bring a new girl home every night, or whenever he could. 

Disgusted at the realization that I’m even erting my mind with the thought of him, I crinkle my nose. Taking the last sip of my coffee, I stretch my arms over my head, feeling proud with the way the final illustration is coming along. I had been working on this specific webtoon for the past two months. It also happened to be a huge deal for me. This was my last chance to prove myself to the company that was willing to publish it. If they approved that meant that my whole career would be taking a turn for the better. I could afford to move to a new place, and far far far away from Kihyun. 

____________

I’m startled awake by the sound of my phone ringing. With my heart jackhammering it’s way out of my chest I quickly answer the call.  Regretting how fast I got up, I feel as a wave of vertigo washes over me, making me feel dizzy.

“Hello?” I ask in a groggy voice, taking in my surroundings I realized that I had passed out at my desk. 

“Mina? Did you forget about our meeting?”  Mr. Oh asks. 

I gasp, pulling the phone away from my ear to check the time. One o’clock in the afternoon, I had overslept by a long shot. I nervously put the phone back to my ear, fearing that I had just messed up my chances with the director at the publishing house. 

“I’m so sorry Mr. Oh! I was caught up with the webtoon. I’ll be there as fast as possible!” I reassure him and hang up on him before he has any time to answer me. 

I quickly get up rushing into the shower, and grabbing whatever clothes are within arms reach. Not even fifteen minutes go by when I’m grabbing my keys and dashing out the door. But i’m trapped as a half Kihyun is standing in front of me. Panic stricken as he is trying to hurry me to open my apartment.

“Please hurry, I heard her get up!” He pleads. I look at him, consumed by frustration I try to push my way past him but he blocks my path. 

“Kihyun, seriously I can’t deal with this right now. I’m running extremely late!” I shout at him but he still doesn’t budge. I send him a death glare, hoping that it’s enough to scare him but instead he does the unthinkable the moment his apartment’s door comes swinging open. 

He comes straight for my face, pressing his lips against mine. I stand still, my eyes wide open in shock as I’m trying to process what the hell is happening. Then it hits me, Kihyun, the boy from next door is kissing me. Repulsed by his sudden advance on me, I push him off  me. Bringing my hand to wipe his kiss off of me. He stands before me, afraid to look away from me. I’m the first one brave enough  to break the eye contact at the realization why he had just done that. A very confused girl stands before us, her eyes wide.

“Ki, who is this?” The girl asks, her heels in hand. 

He clears his throat, before speaking and reaching an arm around my shoulders. Annoyed, I struggle to shake it off but he just pulls me closer to his bare chest. 

“She’s my girlfriend” He replies. 

I glare back at him. His girlfriend? Is he out of his freaking mind?! I watch as the girl’s face becomes bitter and she steps in front of him, sending a hand slapping him right across the face. The sound echoes in the hallway and I stand frozen in place, looking over at Kihyun I can see that he has his eyes closed and jaw clenched tightly shut. It must have hurt, and to be honest he deserved it.

“You !” She screams at him as she makes her leave down the stairs in a hurry. 

He runs his hand over the side of his jaw, trying to massage the pain away. 

“So worth it” He jokes. 

Annoyed that he still finds the time to joke I close my eyes as I register everything that has just happened. But i’m sent panicking when I remember I’m running late for my meeting with Mr. Oh. I don’t have the time to deal with Kihyun right now but he will regret it so much when I get back, because today might be the actual day I end up killing him. I push myself past him, shoving him to the side. 

“I’m going to kill you when I get back. I swear to you, Kihyun!” I call up to him as I descend down the stairs in a hurry. Taking them two at a time.
_________

When I make it to the publishing house panting and out of breath, Mr. Oh is sitting in his office waiting for me. I stop myself before I enter, quickly fixing my hair which i’m sure is an outright mess. Prepping myself up before I step in there I in my breath and straighten my shoulders. I find the courage and lightly knock on the door. 

“Ah, Mina!” He calls out as he looks up at me. “Come in, come in!” 

I step into his office, immediately feeling relaxed as he offers me a friendly and welcoming smile. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late. I was up until really late finishing the webtoon” I answer. 

“It’s okay! Don’t worry about it. I know how tiring that all is, I’ve been there before” 

“Really?” I ask curiously. 

He nods, his glasses sliding down his nose, causing him to push them back up again. 

“Of course. I used to be an illustrator before I landed this job” He sighs as if he’s recalling his younger days. “Anyway! Let’s talk business!” 

I sit anxiously as he looks around his messy desk before he lets a loud “a-ha!” sound that startles me. He shakes off the dust from the paper as he reads through it quickly. I had been called in to talk about the possibility of a contract they were wanting me to sign and the thought of it alone made me extremely nervous. 

“You’re aware about the contract, am I right?” Mr. Oh ask as he slides the document in front of me. I nod. 

“Very briefly” I answer.

I stare at it as I read the document in front of me, Prism Publishing House, in bold lettering catches my attention and I smile. I try to hide the excitement that is unsettling in my stomach. It’s finally happening, my long life dream of having my work be published by a popular company is happening. 

“Well, I don’t know if they’ve explained it to you yet, but they’re wanting to do a two year contract with you” He says, causing me to look up at him. “You would be in a trial period, where they expect you to put at least five webtoons before the end of the two years, and if they do well, you’ll be given a permanent job”

I stare at him, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. 

“Just five webtoons?” 

He nods.

“Yes, they will be checking to see how well they do. It’s what counts in this company” 

I smile. Five webtoons in two years doesn’t sound all that bad. 

“Okay, do I just sign then?” I ask. He nods as he hands me a pen. 

I scatter through the papers, slowly reading everything, and agreeing until I read one specific part. ‘In compliance to the contract, the webtoon artist must be willing to relocate to a central location, provided by Prism publishing house’. Looking back up my eyes meet Mr. Oh’s. His eyebrows furrow at my reaction. 

“Is something wrong?” He asks. 

“I have to move?” 

He nods.

“Yes, its part of the contract, the company will be providing you with accommodation, it’s to make the job easier when you have to attend events. Most of these events take place in the central area” 

I ponder it for a minute. I was anxious to move from my current living situation, mostly because I knew that living out of the central area made it difficult when it came to wanting to publish since all the major companies were housed there. Also, the thought of leaving that apartment behind would mean that I wouldn’t have to deal with Kihyun barging in every morning expecting me to be his saviour from the bad decisions he had made the previous night. Being that it was provided by the company that also meant that everything would be paid for.  The deal was way too good to pass up.