“Hey, want some help with that?”

The first thing Inha sees are the girl’s weird swirly and geometrical tattoos. As she follows the carefree voice, she takes in the pale skin and chocolate hair, and is then met with a pair of curious, slightly worried eyes.

She realizes that she probably looks a bit pitiful with five huge boxes of stuff lying by her feet and balancing six bags in her hands and under her armpits.

“Looks heavy,” the girl prompts, giving her a once-over.

Inha stutters eloquently before giving her a normal answer, “Some help would be nice, yeah.”

“Which floor are you on?” the girl asks, approaching her and stretching her arms out. Inha passes three bags for her to take, grunting a little while doing so, and nods at the ceiling.

“Sixth,” she replies.

“Well, we just have to survive the elevator ride,” the girl shrugs. Then, all of a sudden, she outwardly yells, “Kai!” and bends down to pick up one of the lighter boxes with Inha’s books. “My name is Dal, by the way.”

“Inha,” Inha mutters, frowning. The main building door opens with a swing and a boy strolls in, playing with a car key in his hand. Inha looks up, hands straining under the weight, to see a man, and damn, he is mighty fine. In the Greek-god type of way that Inha got over several years ago. Mr. Adonis glares at her, and she feels her figurative hackles rise. 

“What?” the man demands and, at that, Inha is confused. Until Dal speaks up, that is.

She rolls her eyes. "Don't mind sour face over here," she tells Inha. "He's just bad at making friends."

"Not true," Mr. Adonis mutters.

"Come on, Kai, this is your new neighbor. Be nice. Or at least civilized."

Kai looks at Dal, clearly disgruntled, and Inha suppresses a laugh. Their silent eyebrow conversation is adorable.

Eventually Kai sticks out his hand. "I'm Kai," he says.

"Inha,” Inha responds, introducing herself for the second time today. “Do you live here together?”

“No, just him,” Dal explains, pointing at the attractive and growly Kai. “Okay, Kai, get your here and help us to the elevator.”

Kai does. He takes all the remaining boxes by literally putting them onto his shoulders. Inha thought it was physically impossible to balance such weight on a pair of arms before, but Kai is apparently Hercules.

*

Yi Subin has a specific Sunday morning schedule: she wakes up, she makes a cup of coffee and, yawning her way into the hall, still in her robe and slippers, she collects the paper. She proceeds to her little box of a balcony and stays there for the better part of the morning.

Today, though, when Subin is bending over (and cursing her back) to retrieve her paper, she hears voices echo up from the stairwell.

"But what's stronger, rope or iron?"

"Iron, ."

Subin narrows her eyes. It’s that new man who moved in across from Hyun last week – Jongjun? Jongin. Jongin and his young girl, the one who is around so often Subin wonders why they do not live together already. Waiting for marriage? Disapproving parents? Who knows.

"But what if you weave in—“

"It's still rope. Iron is always better. Especially if you weave in something fancy.”

They round the corner and Subin cannot help watching them. Their interactions are always… intriguing.

"Iron will hold, okay?" the girl says. "Believe me, I know. Remember the—what was her name? Something tropical. Now that I think of it, she looked Hawaiian. And I always thought Hawaiian people are actually peaceful.”

"Yeah. I remember her breaking the handcuffs."

"But we took care of her. No unnecessary blood was shed!"

Subin stares with mounting horror. That’s the moment the girl decides to see her staring, and she calls out a bright, "Hi, Mrs. Yi!" waving to her. "Nice morning, isn't it?"

Subin can only muster an incredulous look.

"Nice seeing you!" the girl says, even as Jongin is pushing her up the stairs.

"Oh my sweet lord," Subin whispers. She knew there was something strange about those two. They probably are not even a couple – they are probably spies. Assassins.

Subin retreats to the safety of her apartment, locking the door behind her. She is not going out on the balcony today; she does not want to make herself a target.

She will keep her observations to herself until she learns more.

*

"Package for Kim Jongin?”

Yejun raises his eyebrows at the delivery man. "I'm not Jongin," he says, "But I live above him. Want me to sign it for you?"

"Why not," the delivery man grumbles. Yejun takes the pen and signs the man's list. "All set," Yejun says, and the delivery man slouches away, looking tired with life.

The man shakes his head and eyes Kim’s package. It is a fairly large box, shipped from some company in Seoul. Yejun leans closer, curiosity piqued, and sees a label in black lettering on the top of the box: RESTRAINTS.

He jumps back, then laughs. Holy . - new neighbors.

He wonders if he will be able to hear them through his floorboards, two stories up.

Later that afternoon, Yejun is headed down the stairs (the stupid elevator broke again) when he catches Dal on his way up. Yejun breaks into a grin. "Yo, Park!" he says.

Dal blinks back into the present and smiles. "Hey. How's it going?"

"Just headed to my friend's party. Oh, and I signed a package for you and Kai."

At Dal's blank look, Yejun winks and lifts his eyebrows suggestively. Dal gets it and then flails, nearly falling over the railing.

"Thanks! Thanks. Yeah. Kai and I—we need them for… a project," she manages to get out.

"Uh-huh," Yejun says, winking again.

And holy , Dal is blushing again. No, that is not right – Dal is ing dying of mortification.

Yejun laughs and, taking a bit of sympathy for the girl, claps her on the shoulder. "It's okay, friend," he says. "We all got a few of our own kinks."

"I'll go get that package later," Dal manages.

They carry on their separate ways. Ten seconds later there is a resounding crash, a muttered, "!", and Yejun is cackling all the way to the lobby.

*

"Did you really volunteer to watch Woojin's cat again?" Youngsu asks as he and his wife make their way up the stairs.

"We're friends, Su," Kyunghee scolds.

"You don't even like cats," Youngsu grumbles. "You're just watching the cat because you're having an affair with Woojin."

"Come on, Su, if I were ever going to have an affair, I would have done it..."

Kyunghee's reply is abruptly cut off by a loud thud.

"Oh, my goodness!" she gasps.

Youngsu looks up to see the new kid, Kim something. The only way to describe his expression is extremely guilty.

"Um. Hello," Kim says.

"Young man, did you just jump down that flight of stairs?" Kyunghee demands, and oh, that is her mother voice. Youngsu has not heard it since Chunja moved out ten years ago.

The Kim guy glances up at the stairs, then back at them, shoulders slouching. "Yes?" he replies.

"Well, you better stop doing that. You'll ruin your knees and get arthritis ten years before you're supposed to!"

"Yes, ma'am," Kim says contritely, and Youngsu knows that in that moment, Kyunghee is a goner.

"Oh, honey, just be careful, okay?" she asks, melting like ice cream in the summer. "We wouldn't want someone on the ninth floor with crutches."

The Kim boy smiles softly, almost hesitantly, like he is not sure if he is allowed to. "Sure thing, Mrs. Woo.”

They reach their landing, and Su nods at the Kim boy. "You take care of yourself!" Kyunghee calls after the boy. The door to the stairwell shuts, and the woman sighs. "Oh, what a sweet young man," she coos.

"He better not have any cats," Youngsu grumbles and Kyunghee giggles, pinching his side in response.

*

Inha is trying very hard to focus on what Mrs. Kyunghee is saying, but she kinda got stuck around the fifth time she has mentioned someone's cat. She almost wants to take off and run for the exit when there is a sudden clatter of footsteps. The door to the stairwell bursts open and somebody goes running by.

"Who was that?" Kyunghee asks, pausing in the middle of a fierce monologue.

"I don't know," Inha says, already sticking her head out.

"Dal!"

It is Kim Jongin, previously known as Mr. Adonis, and he is pounding on the elevator doors. Inha briskly walks over. "Kai?" she asks. "Everything okay?”

“Dal is in there,” Kai snaps, turning to glare at her for a second. “Do you have the number for the front desk, maybe?” he asks, but since Inha is even newer to the building than he is, he glances pleadingly at Kyunghee.

"Oh, yes,” the woman says, scrambling to get her phone out of her purse. Kai nods tensely, eyebrows drawn low and jaw taunt.

"We'll get her out," Inha promises. “It’s just an elevator. Don’t worry too much.”

Kai opens his mouth to respond when he suddenly his head as if he is listening to something. His fingers curl into fists, and an odd – whimper? whine? – sound hitches in his throat. He begins to pace.

Inha turns, wondering what to do, but Mrs. Woo has wandered down the hall to call the lobby. When Inha looks back at Kai, he has his palms braced against the elevator doors.

"Uh, Kai? You know you can't actually pry open the doors," she says.

Kai blinks, then straightens. "Rrrright,” he drawls. He takes to pacing again, occasionally glancing at the elevator – not at the doors, but a bit above them, as if he knows where the elevator has gotten caught.

A minute more and Kai's pacing starts to get on Inha's nerves. "Dal will be fine," she says.

“I know,” Kai mutters, although he doesn’t look convinced.

Kyunghee returns, and God, why does she have Mrs. Yi and Yejun with her?

"The brigade's coming, darling," Kyunghee tells Kai. Mrs. Yi squints at Kai, looking like she suspects him of doing something terrible, but Inha ignores it. Mrs. Yi trusts nothing but her soju.

Kai nods again, mute.

Fifteen minutes later, it feels like half of the building is gathered by the third floor elevator entrance. Kai's pacing only gets more agitated.

"Oh, this is too adorable," Hana whispers into Inha's ear.

"His pacing is getting on my nerves," Inha replies.

"But he's so concerned about Dal," the girl insists. "Oh, don't you wish someone loved you that much?"

Kai suddenly stops and whips his head around toward the stairs. Inha follows his gaze, and ten seconds later a group of firemen appear. God, what does Kai have, super-hearing?

The crowd makes a path for the firefighters, and Kai immediately approaches the first one. "Can you get her out?" he asks.

The fireman chuckles. "Don't worry, we'll get your girlfriend outta there. This elevator gets stuck from time to time.”

"We need a new one!" Yejun says, and someone (Haruki, maybe?) shouts, "Hear, hear!" Inha joins in the laughter.

Kai is tense for the entire eight minutes it takes to get the elevator to the floor. The instant the doors open, the crowd breaks into applause, and Kai lunges a step forward, only stopping at the last moment.

Dal comes out and bows. "Thank you, thank you!" she says. She then turns to Kai and grins, slugging Kai's shoulder. "Why does everywhere you live try to kill me?" she teases, and Inha laughs. Something in her chest clenches at the same time; it must be something to do with the fond, genuinely worried look in Dal's eyes.

Kai looks contrite yet extremely relieved at the same time. His whole body seems to be leaning in towards Dal, and Inha is surprised he settles for just grabbing the other one's arm. Inha was expecting something more along the lines of a suffocating bear hug with the way Kai was previously freaking out.

"You're never using the elevator again," Kai says quietly, and Dal laughs.

The couple thanks the firefighters, and the crowd begins to disperse. Hana loops her arm through Inha's as they watch Kai and Dal amble to the stairs. Their shoulders brush, but Kai always stays a quarter step behind Dal, as if he were protectively herding the girl.

"They are too adorable," Hana sighs, and Inha cannot help agreeing.

"You best make it up to her tonight, Kim!" someone calls.

Dal trips when catcalls and laughter start flying, but Kai catches and balances her.

"Way too ing cute," Inha agrees, then sneaks away with Hana before Kyunghee can rope her into a conversation about cats again.

*

Junghee is a sweet girl, she really, really is, but Misook is ready to snap at her. This is the fifth time in the last four months that their apartment building has been evacuated because Junghee cannot, for the life of her, remember to turn off her hair straightener. Misook is pretty sure she is not the only one who is getting fed up with Junghee.

Fortunately for Junghee, she is already at work, so the building cannot hold a spontaneous uprising against her.

Misook sighs and pulls her sweater around herself. She had not really anticipated spending her Thursday morning standing outside her apartment building, waiting for the fire department to do what they do and clear the building. She stifles a yawn and notices the new guy, Kai, wrinkling his nose and scrubbing at his face periodically.

"Kai," she says, "Everything all right?"

Kai blinks at her. "I don't like the smell of smoke," Kai says, shifting as if the admission makes him uncomfortable.

Misook nods, hoping to ease his discomfort. "I know what you mean."

The sudden screech of tires has Misook looking up. A white jeep pulls into the parking lot, and in seconds, Dal is spilling out of the driver's side, leaving the door wide open, and running to Kai.

"Kai!" Dal shouts, flying toward him. "Are you hurt? Are you okay? , what happened—“

Dal's hands flit all over Kai, her expression displaying concern so profound it borderlines on terror. Kai attempts to stop her, but Dal merely bats Kai's hands away.

"I'm fine—“

"I heard there was a fire," Dal rushes, words spilling out of , "It wasn't you, was it? Someone didn't try to get to you? , are you hurt, are you—“

"Dal."

Dal freezes, hand still cupping Kai's jaw, and Misook wants to coo at them. They are doing their silent eyebrows-eye-touch communication, and goodness, that must be what true love is: looking at a person like you are drowning in them, and yet, at the same time, he is the only life raft for a hundred miles around.

"Relax," Kai says soothingly, softly pulling Dal's hands down. "It wasn't my place. It was Junghee's."

"Oh," Dal says after a moment, and Misook can see the relief wash through her. She clenches a fist in Kai's shirt, sort of swaying into him, and Kai just wraps a hand around Dal's elbow.

Misook is not the only one who finds them ridiculously sweet. She sees the Chois awing, Kyunghee lacing her fingers through Youngsu's, and Soonja is not very stealthily taking photos on her phone.

A fireman comes out of the front doors. "Building's all clear!" he shouts, and there is a collection of cheers and grumbles. Misook sees Dal jump, as if just realizing she and Kai are in public, and she reluctantly steps away from the man. Kai's fingers linger on Dal's skin, and there is something in his expression that makes Misook's heart shatter a little.

They are too cute to be possible.

*

The most exciting thing about the manager's birthday party is not the food, the cake, or the conversation. No, for Misook, the best thing about the party is its location: Kim Jongin's apartment.

And Kim Jongin’s handsome friends.

She can’t remember the last time she’s seen as much ery as she sees that night, and she went to college. So that’s saying something.

“Hey, tell me one thing,” Hana says at some point, just as everyone is pretty much gathered in one room, music playing in the background, beer and soju pouring all around and the remains of cake are being passed over around the circle. “Did you guys become friends randomly, or are you choosing your new buddies depending on their good looks? Because you look like another Cullen family.”

“Oh God,” the tall, wild-haired boy grunts. “Twilight references. Why is it always Twilight?”

“Should I go with Vampire Diaries?” Hana shrugs.

The room erupts in laughter.

“It is a rule,” Eun says.

“Amber is an exception,” Baekhyun teases, making a face, and Amber slaps him hard on the thigh. In the same second, Kris and Kyungsoo throw popcorn at him, aiming for the face, and Kai tackles Baekhyun right there on the couch. It’s refreshing, seeing him like this.

Inha and Yuuki come to lean over the back of Misook's couch. "Have you guys noticed those eyes Kai has been giving Dal all night?" Inha asks.

Misook looks up, and yes, Kai is watching Dal rather closely as the girl converses with Haruki and Kyunghee.

"Twenty bucks says they're having once everyone leaves," Yuuki whispers.

"Forty dollars says my entire floor will hear it," Inha says.

The girls laugh as Misook wrinkles her nose. "Have some decency!" she scolds, and Yuuki laughs even louder.

Later that night, Misook is the last to leave out of the neighbors. She and a blonde-haired, very polite and very charming guy – Suho - is helping Kai clean up, and she nudges his arm when they cross paths in the kitchen.

"These are cute," she says, holding out a paper plate. It is decorated with wolves, and Misook has to admit she is a bit sad to see it go into the trash.

"Dal picked them out," Suho says.

Misook follows Suho's gaze to the couch. Dal is sprawled across the cushions, out cold, promptly sleeping on top of Luhan, in an octopus-like embrace of Chen. Misook glances at Kai, who is smiling ever so slightly while looking at them.

"You've got yourself a good one," she tells Kai.

And Kai gives her this raw and vulnerable look, causing Misook to feel sympathy well up inside of her. Perhaps there is more to this than there seems. Why else would Kai look so lost?

"Thanks for the party," Misook says. "But I need to head out." She pats Kai's cheek.

Just before the door shuts, Misook sees him drape a blanket over Dal's sleeping form.

And completely covering Chen’s face with it, but who cares.

*

Subin is outside the complex, smoking a cigarette, when the white jeep pulls into the parking lot. Dal tumbles out of the driver's side and stalks toward the front entrance, muttering darkly to herself, holding a... metal baseball bat. 

"You doing all right, kiddo?" Subin asks, frowning.

Dal jumps, then notices Subin. "Yeah– yes, I'm fine." Her expression darkens. "I just need to go talk to Kai."

Subin smiles knowingly. "You tell him what he needs to hear," she advises.

"Oh, I always do," Dal promises. She disappears inside, and Subin pulls her cigarette to her lips again. Ah, young love.

Ten minutes later, Haruki sits down next to Subin. She nods at him, and he grins.

"Did you see Dal?" she asks.

Haruki shakes his head. "Heard them talking, though. Something about Pusheen and a potted plant."

Subin snorts. "You know," she says, "I still think they might be assassins."

Haruki laughs. "No way! Seriously?" Suddenly he frowns. "Wait. I– I can see that."

Subin nods sagely.

"Oh my God," Haruki says, "A few weeks ago, Yejun said he signed for a package labelled 'restraints' for Kai."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Haruki cries, eyes wide. "And – gosh, I can totally see it now. Dal is the brains, the mastermind and the hacker, and Kai is his muscle who does the dirty work–" Haruki grabs Subin's hand. "Mrs. Yi– I'm neighbors with a pair of assassins."

Subin laughs, amused by Haruki's theatrics.

The door swings open, and Dal exits with Kai following him. "Pusheen pajamas? Seriously?"

"Hyoyeon sent them," Kai mutters. His hair is fluffy, unkempt.

Dal snickers. "Hi, Mrs. Yi. Hi, Haruki," she says.

Subin grunts, and Haruki waves dazedly.

Dal and Kai take off down the street, and Haruki leans into Subin. "They're assassins," he whispers, and Subin laughs.

*

Hana sighs, adjusting the trash bag in her grip. Even if she is only on the second floor, she hates having to drag the trash out to the dumpster behind the building. She rounds the corner, wrinkling her nose, and see Kai already at the dumpster.

"Hey, Kai!" she greets. Kai jumps, whipping around with wide eyes. He relaxes, though, when he recognizes her. "Hi, Hana," he says gruffly.

Always a ball of sunshine, that one. "You looked lost in thought," Hana says conversationally.

"Yeah, I guess."

Suddenly Hana realizes Kai is holding bloody bandages.

"Oh, my God, what happened?"

Kai seems to just notice what is in his hands. "Uh – Dal took a fall?" he explains.

"Was that a question?" Hana asks. "Is she okay? What happened?"

"Nothing serious, honestly. She didn't even have to go to the hospital."

"Are you sure?" Hana asks, still unsure. "Because..."

Just as Kai tries to throw the bandages out, they roll open, revealing even more blood and some weird, black dots of fluid, and Hana panics.

"What the... Kai!" 

"I gotta go," Kai says suddenly. "Don't worry about it. It's mostly paint!"

He literally runs away, leaving Hana completely dumbfounded by the bins.

*

Haruki, Yuuki, Hana and Inha are coming back from a very long, very fun night at the club after celebrating their mutual friend’s birthday. Hana is mostly too drunk to notice or hear anything, too focused on trying to hold her puke in, and Haruki is carrying her up the stairs, literally forgetting about the elevator.

Inha and Haruki are both giggling at them, tumbling over the walls in a quest of making it up alive without falling down.

“Did you get it?”

At that, their giggles stop at once. They all stop walking up abruptly, the last echoes of their laughter audible on the stairway as they listen in into Dal’s voice.

“Yes,” a new, adult voice says. Haruki leans over a wall with a grunt and Hana passes out in his arms; he panics momentarily when she begins to slip out of his grasp, but Yuuki catches her from behind. They form a ridiculous human half-tower, trying to keep Hana up.

“Shh,” Inha tells them.

“I can’t believe you got out-witted by a freaking Genie, though,” the same manly voice continues. Inha frowns deeply. Too much alcohol. “You got his blood?”

“Yes, and it’s disgusting,” Dal says again. Right after that, they hear the door closing. They remain in complete stillness for the next few seconds.

“Did I hear that right?” Inha stutters.

“Dunno,” Yuuki mumbles.

Haruki lets go of Hana for a second. The girl hits the stairs with her head, growls, and stretches her arms out just in time for Inha to catch her.

They hear footsteps then. They all look up when a man stops at the top of the stairs, looming over them in a long, black coat, his eyes tired and angry, hands inside his pockets. He just stares at them for the next five seconds before oh-so-slowly hopping down the stairs, one at a time, glaring at them as he passes them.

When they hear his footsteps fade away and then the door finally closing on the ground floor, they look at each other again, this time in pure horror.

"He looks like a drug dealer," Haruki says.

Sadly, Hana decides to puke right at that moment, and any thoughts they had about the mysterious man visiting Dal and Kai go away.

*

“What are they doing?” Kyunghee asks. Youngsu, his curiosity piqued by his wife’s weird tone of voice and the fact that she’s spying on someone in the complete darkness of their bathroom, approaches her and peeks through the tiny window and into the building’s backyard that’s unofficially closed for the time being as they’re doing some kind of plumber installations there.

He squints when he sees two silhouettes on the grass, and goes to get his glasses in a hurry. When he comes back, his wife is still deeply confused, and the silhouettes turn out to be Dal’s and Kai’s.

And Kai is digging.

“What the—?”

"What are we looking at?" someone asks, whispering, and the Woos jump in surprise. Hyun leans over them, then Yuuki joins them. 

"And why are we doing this in such darkness?" she whispers.

“They can’t dig there, can they?” Kyunghee gasps, his eyes fixed on Dal and Kai outside. “What do you think… Oh good gracious, is that a knife?”

Dal throws a literal dagger into the hole Kai just dug out. The boy throws his shovel away, going through his jacket pockets to take out a little bag of something and wordlessly gives it to Dal. The girl takes it, opens the bag, and pours all the contents into the previously dug out hole with the knife in it.

"What is that?" Hyun wonders out loud. "Looks like powder."

"Are they going to blow the place up?" Yuuki gasps, grabbing Hyun's shoulders and basically climbing up onto him.

“Should we call the cops?” Youngsu questions.

“No, wait,” Kyunghee says, slapping him on the chest lightly. “Let’s see what—Oh, heavens.”

Dal crouches down in front of the hole, lights the weird powder she just threw into it, and watches the blue flames go up. The girl stares at them, seemingly warming her hands up with the fire before it dies out.

And then Kai crouches down next to her and takes the dagger out again.

“What did they do?” Kyunghee asks. “Do you think they were getting rid of the DNA?”

"Who's DNA?" Hyun whimpers.

“The only way to get rid of DNA is to burn it,” Youngsu nods. His wife squints at him, though.

“That is not true,” she says. “I’m certain it takes much more than that.”

“What makes the flames blue?”

“Let’s ask Mrs. Yi. She’ll know for sure.”

“Darling, what if they’re—“

Kai suddenly looks right at them. He freezes in his spot, hand hovering awkwardly by his side, his thumb and pointer finger holding the dagger that’s now glistening in the moonlight, and mutters something. Dal snaps her eyes up, seemingly searching for the right window, and the whole group feels their blood freeze in their veins.

Kai lifts his free hand and waves at them.

Dal covers her eyes with her hand, very slowly, as if contemplating her life choices.

It takes some time for the entire block to believe that the Stawberry Couple are not actually murderers.