"When was the last time you took a break?"

Mika sighed as she looked up from her notes, meeting the eyes of her roommate. "I'll do it later."

"You don't get it – you might miss him!" her roommate whined. 

Him? The mention of someone else made Mika pause from flipping to the next page in her notebook. Her roommate grinned widely, knowing that she had the other's full attention. 

"Remember that old grouch from across the hall? Well he's gone and we have a hot guy moving in across from us!"

Mika lifted a shoulder in a shrug and turned her attention back to her notes. Perhaps it seemed rude, but if she was in their new neighbor's position, she'd want to focus on moving boxes to their apartment, versus chumming up the neighbors late into the night. It was an unusual time of day to be moving in, given that it was going on 7 PM. 

"Cool, then you can go welcome him or something," Mika replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. She heard her roommate walk over and the ginger-haired girl lowered her face to Mika's level.

"What's so important that you can't show a little friendly neighborly behavior?" the other girl asked. 

"Because I have an exam to take tomorrow morning, Cheyenne," Mika sighed. 

Cheyenne crossed her arms over her chest before murmuring that she thought that Mika was taking an online class. Mika nodded and patiently explained that this exam was timed and she had to prepare, as it was half multiple choice and half essays. Leave it to Cheyenne to realize that online classes didn't always equal easy...

"Five minutes," Cheyenne pleaded as one hand gently tugged the notebook off Mika's lap. 

"Hi new guy! Look, I brought my roommie!" Cheyenne announced as she flagged down someone. 

The young man looked over his shoulder from kneeling to put a box down in his apartment. He smiled politely before straightening up and walking out into the hallway. He extended a hand to the pair and Cheyenne took it first, introducing herself. She pointed to Mika and introduced her by her full name, Mikayla. 

Mika shook her head and raised a hand, "Just Mika. Welcome to the complex."

The young man shook Cheyenne's hand and turned his attention to Mika. He dropped his hand slowly and introduced himself as Yuri. 

"You go to university?" Cheyenne asked as she leaned against the wall. 

He nodded and allowed his gaze to drift toward the staircase. "Yes, I'm doing my undergrad. I'm entering a bit late because I was doing mandatory service back home."

"Oh? Where's home?" 

"Russia," he explained. "Well, my family's there. I did live in Korea for a bit and that's how I picked up my job."

Mika watched as Cheyenne continued to fire questions off, eyes moving from her roommate to Yuri. She noticed there were a lot of boxes stacked up in his space, but not a lot of furniture. She had a feeling he probably had a lot of work ahead and poked Cheyenne in the arm. 

"We won't keep you," Mika interrupted. She gestured to his apartment and remarked that he seemed busy still. "Let us know if you need anything."

Yuri gestured to the stairs and explained he only had a few more boxes left. "I need to get my cat too, but I'll bring him in afterwards. Don't worry, I've got it."

"Ooh I love cats!" Cheyenne blurted out. She looked eagerly at the stairs and asked about his cat. 

Mika resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she quietly bid Yuri goodbye and slipped back inside the apartment. 

"FML..."

Mika peered over her laptop to see a tall young man sinking into the seat across from her, hiding his face in his arms folded on the table. She snorted and nudged the sullen male, waiting for him to sit up. 

"What, you answered something wrong on the exam this morning?" 

The young man lifted his head and shook his head. "This new guy's getting on my nerves. Please tell me you haven't been affected."

"Does he have a name Johnny?"

"Yuri. Yuri Park," Johnny huffed as he stretched his arms out on the table in front of him. "That guy came in a few hours ago and everyone's talking about him."

Mika frowned as she saved her work, then closed her laptop. She rested her hands on top of her computer gently and asked for his description. "I ask because a guy named Yuri moved in across the hall from me. Didn't give his last name though."

Johnny made a face and lifted his head slowly from the table. "Tall, dark hair, has a little mole/mark thingy under his eye?"

Mika nodded and Johnny groaned dramatically, slumping in his seat. She shook her head and began to pack up her laptop. As she secured the padded sleeve around it, she reassured Johnny that eventually everyone would calm down. 

"I mean, everyone gets this way when someone new comes in," she reasoned. "Besides, be lucky that you don't have a roommate who is already bugging the poor guy with her incessant questions."

Johnny slowly sat up and watched as Mika began packing up to head to her next class. He pointed a finger at her and warned that he didn't want to hang around her if she started swooning about the new guy too. 

"Fat chance John Boy," she snickered. "Although it's sort of funny to see you seething with jealousy."

Despite days turning into weeks, Mika found herself hearing more and more about their new neighbor from everyone. She avoided the topic around Johnny and his friends, all of whom came to vent their frustrations about girls flocking to the handsome new boy. Her roommate wasn't any better, as Cheyenne had taken to chatting the poor guy's ear off whenever she spotted him. 

"I'm pretty sure she's going to break up with me over him," Jaehyun moaned. 

"Jae don't be so sure," Mika reassured him as she patted him on the shoulder. 

"All she wants to talk about is him! She didn't pay any attention to our anniversary surprise I planned for her a few days ago!" Jaehyun complained, throwing his hands up. 

Johnny and Lucas comforted the other boy, while Mika observed Yuri walking from the gym to the cafeteria. She spotted Jaehyun's girlfriend stopping him with her friends in tow, the trio giggling as they addressed him. 

"Don't look up," Mika muttered as she watched the scene unfold. She couldn't hear what was said, but she watched as the girlfriend touched Yuri's biceps and batted her eyelashes at him. He politely removed her hand and bowed his head. He spoke with a calm expression and Mika raised a brow as the girlfriend's face went from happy to hurt in seconds. Before she could try to say something else, Yuri excused himself. 

"Let me guess, she is two-timing me and he said yes," Jaehyun said in a muffled voice, his head buried in his hands. 

"Actually...he said no I'm guessing because he took her hand off his arm and excused himself," Mika noted. "She looks upset."

The reply made Jaehyun snap his head up in surprise and he raised a brow at Mika. She nodded and gestured to his girlfriend, who was trying not to cry as her friends comforted her. Johnny glanced over his shoulder at the trio and shook his head. 

"I'm sorry Jae, but I'd dump her now," he said. "If she's trying to get a date out of someone else, it's time to move on. Bet she didn't say she had a boyfriend already."

Lucas glanced thoughtfully at Yuri, who was going through the cafeteria line to buy food. "I don't know man, but maybe he's not as evil as we make him out to be."

"Mika is it true?!"

She sighed as she pulled a glass from the cupboard and turned to see Cheyenne standing in their kitchen, face flushed with wild eyes. 

"If you mean the rejection of Jaehyun's girlfriend, then yeah," Mika replied. "Serves that right – I always thought she was after Jae's money."

Cheyenne dropped her bag on the floor and blinked a few times, lips parted in a small 'o'-shape. She closed and shook her head, murmuring that she couldn't believe it. 

"Oh not that Yuri said no, but that she had the nerve to ask him out when she's got someone already!" Cheyenne clarified. "I mean, you're right, she did Jae dirty. Didn't he buy her Tiffany jewelry too?"

"Tiffany and Cartier. Spent way too much on her, the ," Mika grumbled. "I told you she was a gold digger. Jae didn't listen to me because he was blinded by her beauty, but now he can find a real girl who gives a damn about more than his bank account."

Mika filled her glass with water and took a sip from it. She heard Cheyenne grab her own glass and moved so the other could get the pitcher from the fridge. 

"Why's everyone excited about him?" Mika asked. 

Cheyenne put the pitcher back in the fridge and ticked off the obvious factors: new, handsome, ripped, and charming. She closed the fridge door and moved the glass to her other hand. "He said he models too."

Mika nearly spit out her sip and snapped her head toward Cheyenne. This guy sounded fake to her – no way did he actually juggle school and modeling. Unless it was the sketchy kind...

"Yeah remember he said he got a job in Korea?" Cheyenne reminded her. "He was scouted by an agency to model in shows and magazines. He's only doing it part time so he fits classes in, but yeah! Apparently that gets him a bit of money to pay for expenses here. I did see some magazine ads he was in and it's legit."

"Honestly I don't get why everyone's obsessed," Mika muttered under her breath. 

"You know, he's kinda cool," Lucas admitted. "I walked a show with him recently and he's really nice."

This comment earned a look from Mika and Johnny, who were busy multitasking studying for a pop quiz and eating lunch. Johnny mumbled through a mouthful of food that he was unaware that Lucas modeled too. 

Lucas nodded and explained that he did it as a favor for his friend, who happened to scout the talent for shows and magazines. "One guy dropped out and I happened to be the same measurements," Lucas explained. "Wasn't that hard honestly. They paid me and the designer actually let us pick something to keep afterwards. I guess that's not normal, but I think they liked all of us."

"Guess we should stop hanging out with him if he's on another level with this modeling business," Mika teased. She shot a sideways look at Johnny who pretended to agree with her. 

Lucas threw his hands up in frustration and begged the pair to stop joking. "C'mon guys, it was one time! Swear! I mean, Yuri's done it longer, so it's not like they're gonna ask me back again, unless it's an emergency!"

Johnny fiddled with his phone and pulled up a song. He used his thumb to scrub to a part in the song and smirked as he hovered his finger over the Play button. "Let's see this amazing model walk then."

He pressed Play and set his phone down as part of Lady Gaga's song "Bad Romance" blared through the speakers. He gestured to Lucas who looked at the phone, then at the sideway near their table. He sighed with a shake of his head as he dusted himself off, moved away from the table, and took his place on the sidewalk. He walked in time to the song and Mika bit her lip as she watched Lucas walk away from them. 

Johnny pretended to be holding a camera and clicked pictures, loudly calling out commands for Lucas. "Look over here, no stand up straighter!"

Mika rolled her eyes and nudged Johnny hard in the arm. "Ignore him. In all seriousness Lucas, you look good. I mean it."

Someone cleared their throat and Johnny and Mika looked up to see Yuri standing by the table, fingers wrapped around his bag strap. "Hi um, are you guys holding some kind of audition or something?"

Johnny shook his head and turned off the music. "We were dying to see his walk – he's holding out on us that he was a hotshot model for some show recently."

Yuri nodded to show he understood and he glanced over, greeting Lucas with a wave and a friendly smile. "Are you walking in two weeks?"

Lucas rejoined the group and shrugged, explaining that his last stint was a temporary one. "It was a favor to a friend," he said. "I don't know if the guy's gonna be better by then or if I'm even a possibility this time."

"That was your first time? It was pretty good," Yuri replied, turning to face Lucas. "I was hoping someone I knew was going to be walking the next show. It seems like they asked a lot of agencies this time and not many people were pulled from mine."

Lucas tried to look modest and he waved it away as no big deal. He retrieved his bag from his place at the table and hoisted it onto his shoulder with a groan. He checked his watch and apologized to everyone, saying he needed to run to his next lecture. 

"What building? I have class in a bit," Yuri said. 

Lucas pointed out the building and Yuri gestured to the neighboring one, explaining that he had a dance class in a few minutes. The pair excused themselves and headed off to their respective classes, chatting along the way. 

Johnny sighed as he clicked out of the app for the music on his phone and stowed it into his b