After their first (or technically second) encounter, Chorim didn’t see as much of Taehyung outside of the apartment complex as she thought she would because he tended to shut himself in most of the time. On the odd occasion, they would meet at their doors and Taehyung would always have a slight smirk on his face after seeing her ‘after’ look. It was slightly unnerving to Chorim who felt like he was mocking her, maybe because she knew that he had already witnessed how bad her natural ‘before’ look could get. When she was caught in her 'before' look, Chorim was always in her natural state - without any makeup, having a head of long tangled greasy hair and wearing clothes that would make people think she lived on the streets. She frequently cursed excessively and loudly enough for Taehyung to hear from even his own place, something which she would absolutely refrain from doing in public. Considering the amount of times he saw her not being 'perfect', whether it was on the balcony, at the door, or at the bins, Chorim started suspecting that he was intentionally seeking her out when she was most vulnerable and secretly devising a plan to blackmail her. After all, she didn't know anything about him or what he did all day. It was an odd feeling for Chorim who was so used to guys falling for her at first sight but then again, his first sight of her wasn’t the ideal it usually was.

~

Even if she was just going outside to do the grocery shopping, Chorim had to make sure she looked perfect albeit appearing more ‘homely’ than she usually would look when she was going out or heading to college. She opted for tight blue jeans and a pink hoodie but she made sure her makeup was still flawless. As she was strolling down the aisle with a shopping basket hooked in her arm, Chorim stopped to check the expiry dates of some biscuits. Out of no where, two tall guys with face masks on ran past her, each carrying a load of snacks in their arms. She watched them as they passed her and dumped the snacks into a trolley attended by another guy and girl and ran off again. What on Earth…? She shook her head and chuckled to herself. Her eyes lit up when she saw that carrots were on a special sale. She rushed over and saw that only one bag was left. Today is my lucky day!  Just as she reached for it, the bag slipped right under the tip of her fingers and was popped into another person’s trolley. Chorim briefly stood there in awe and looked up to see Taehyung with his usual face-covering fringe and daggy clothes.
“Oh, Taehyung!” Chorim said out loud with a friendly pat on his arm. Wow, he actually does go outside. “What a coincidence to meet you here.” Chorim laughed obnoxiously loud. She was well aware that she was outside the comfort of the apartment complex so she had to be the ‘sweet’ Chorim. Taehyung just ignored her and continued on his way. At least, he tried to escape but Chorim grabbed his arm and yanked him back.
“Ah, seems like there was a misunderstanding." Chorim said sweetly, “I was actually just going to pick this bag of carrots up so...”
“Really? But it’s in my trolley,” Taehyung bluntly stated, “which means it's mine.” Chorim was taken aback by his surprisingly deep voice and realised they hadn't even had a proper conversation since their first meeting.
“Oh, you’re so silly.” Chorim hid her growing anger with a sweet giggle. She reached over and grabbed onto the bag but was stopped by Taehyung as he also pulled it back. They ended up in a tug-of-war situation with neither of giving up and letting go. Chorim had a wide smile on her face despite boiling with rage inside whilst Taehyung had a smug smirk that would not waver.
“These...fxcking carrots...are...mine.” Chorim growled quietly, making sure no one else heard her. She had an inkling that he would just give up and let her have it but she was so wrong. They were stuck in stalemate for quite some time, each tugging at the bag, until someone called out, “Chorim!” from afar. The voice made Chorim freeze up. She turned her head and was met with one of her friends from high school heading towards her.
“Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you in months!” The girl excitedly exclaimed.
“Ooohh, Jiwon...hello~” Chorim had switched back to her calm and collected sweet tone and the anger on her face was swept away with a bright smile. “It’s been ages, how have you been?” She immediately, albeit reluctantly, let go of the bag of carrots and acted like she was glad to see her friend instead of wanting to continue her tug-of-war battle. Well aware that Taehyung had smugly left with the carrots in his trolley, Chorim couldn’t help but keep cursing at him in her head as she tried her best to hold a conversation with her friend.

~

A little while later, Chorim had come back home from shopping and after putting everything away (or at least trying to, considering her place was a pigsty), she decided to head out to the balcony with her phone to calm herself down. Chorim leaned against the balcony railing and started scrolling through Instagram. Amongst a dozen or so photos of food, drinks, outfits and selcas, only one managed to catch Chorim’s full attention - Kim Seokjin. Chorim's eyes lit up with excitement. Omo, it's been weeks since his last post...!

She tapped ‘like’ instantly and sighed deeply. Ugh, how is he so good-looking? And perfect. Kim Seokjin, who was otherwise known to as Jin, was Chorim’s ideal guy. Well, he was probably every girl’s dream guy. It’s may seem cliche and unreal but he really had it all: he had a ridiculously handsome face, he sported a tall and fit body with enviably broad shoulders and most importantly? He was wealthy. Filthy rich. His father was the CEO of SS Corporations, one of the world’s biggest multinational electronic companies. This was why he had earned the reputation of being the college campus prince. He had probably been fed with a golden spoon his whole life and marrying him would probably mean feeding yourself with a golden spoon forever...and there was no girl on campus who didn’t know that. The only thing he seemed to be lacking was an approachable aura and warm personality. He seemed to have a disinterest in dating which would explain Chorim’s unsuccessful attempt to get any closer to him during the first year of college. She considered herself lucky to be considered an 'acquaintance' due the widespread attention that she had garnered for herself as the angel of the campus. The angel will get the prince... She tapped on his profile and started stalking through his Instagram photos.

Only recently did he start posting selcas up as previously, his posts were either food, dogs and/or Kim Namjoon, his best friend. Although online he came across as a rather warm and fun guy, it was a different story in real life as he exuded a rather callous vibe. But, Chorim was determined to overcome this barrier between Jin and her. As she continued scrolling through, a call from her best friend Suji came through. Suji was one of the very few people who knew of Chorim’s “180” transformations and kept quiet about it. They started off talking about their plans for the week and then Suji brought up the dreaded topic.

    “Oh yeah, you got a new neighbour right?”
“Yeah.”
    “Well? Is he cute?”
“Don’t know.”
    “Um...how can you not know?”
“Well, I can’t even see his face for one thing.” Chorim suddenly recalled their encounter at the grocery today.
“Tell you what though, his personality isn’t cute. He's a total weirdo.”

Not long after, their phone conversation ended and Chorim resumed to checking through her social media, indulging herself with the silence and fresh cool breeze of the night. Chorim suddenly jumped at the sound of loud crunching. Chorim turned her head to see Taehyung nonchalantly standing outside on his balcony, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding onto the carrot he was chomping on. When the heck…? She had been so used to having the upper floor to herself that she forgot that she now had a next door neighbour to watch out for. She was also pissed off at the fact that he was eating what was meant to be her carrots.
“Total weirdo…” Taehyung said, followed by the audible crunching of the carrots. Eavesdropper…
“It’s true though.” She said, stubbornly returning to her phone.
“Maybe, but it’s ironic coming from something who acts like she has multiple personality disorder.” He smirked. Chorim averted her attention on her phone and angrily glared at him.
“What!?”
“Mul-ti-ple per-son-al-it-y dis-ord-er.” He mockingly spelled out to her, accompanying it with the obnoxious crunching of the carrots.
“Yeah? Well at least people can see me face and not think I’m a freak.” She sneered, waving her hand in front of her own face.
“Sorry, who am I talking to at the moment? The fake sweet girl or the brute?” Taehyung put his hand to his ear and waited for Chorim. In a moment of rage, Chorim gritted her teeth and rushed to take one of her slippers off and held it in the air, ready to throw it at him. “You fxcking bast- “
“Ah Chorim! Taehyung!” They both instantly averted their attention to the ground floor and saw Jungha waving back at them. Chorim immediately lowered her slipper and started whacking it against the railings (as opposed to chucking it at Taehyung).
“Oh, hello!” Chorim cried out in a sweet voice and waved back delicately. She glanced over at Taehyung who was clearly amused, leaning against the railing with his arms crossed. She couldn’t see it because of  his hair but she knew he probably had a brow smugly raised up at her right at that moment.
“You two look like you’re getting along.” Jungha chuckled heartily.
“Well actually - “ Taehyung started saying but Chorim snappily interrupted him.
“We are getting along surprisingly well!” She said in a cheery voice and giggled. This guy…!
“That is good to hear, good to hear. Well I’ll leave you guys to it. Don’t mind me!” Jungha waved them off and went on her way. As soon as she was gone, Chorim let out a sigh of relief and calmly put her slipper back on.
“Why don't you just mind your own business?" She taunted, crossing her arms.
“Why don’t you go make yourself some carrot soup? Oh wait…” He jeered and took one final irritating chomp of the carrot before going back into his place. Chorim’s blood boiled as she promptly returned to her own place and quietly conjured up ways to kill her irritating neighbour Taehyung.
 

A/N: I got really impatient about getting this chapter out (hope it's okay!!!) because I'm so excited about this series. Please look forward to the next chapter...ohohoho, I wonder which characters will be introduced next? Hint: foreword character photos. (~‾⌣‾)~  Please do let me know what you think so far~ Anyway, thank you thank you thank you for reading! ｡◕‿◕｡

Also, curious about the two guys running past with snacks in their arms? Click HERE. 💕