the normally peaceful evenings of level 23 are disrupted only two days after park joy is added to the list of its residents.

yerim's brows furrow in frustration as she squints at the computer screen. "sorry, i can't hear you." she says apologetically into her headset for the fifth time, her mouse still clicking furiously as her left hand flies across the keyboard. the trap music playing next door is pounding agonizingly in her head as she attempts to concentrate on her video game.

when she hears the sudden sound of fifty people screaming simultaneously through the wall, however, she decides she can't quite take it anymore.

"seungwan unnie!" she shouts, slamming her laptop closed and opening the door to her room to see son seungwan digging through the cabinets for ear plugs.

"yerim, have you seen my ear mufflers?" seulgi groans from the beanbag. "i didn't know rich people partied like this."

"you think we should call the police? it's eleven p.m. it's already past lawful hours." seungwan shudders, holding her head in her hands.

"screw what time it is. this decibel level in itself is unlawful." yerim says, brushing back her blonde locks in exasperation. "here, hand me the ph-"

suddenly, the music stops, leaving the girls in a comfortable volume of noise. sure, there is still some commotion, but it seems as if joy's party is finally ending.

"nevermind." yerim chuckles before rubbing her temple. "i guess they either got stopped by someone downstairs or they have a sense of shame."

"yeah, thank god." seungwan exhales in agreement, in appreciation of the silence.

ten minutes pass, and the girls are beginning to relish in relief when there is a knock at the apartment door.

"what now?" seulgi grumbles as she opens the door, only to see a seething park joy.

"you know, you guys really know how to spoil a party." joy holds a hand to her hip, an unreadable smirk on those blood-red lips. "calling the police, huh? not exactly a friendly way to treat a neighbor."

seulgi's eyes widen, slightly intimidated. the brunette didn't have great self-esteem to start with, and it didn't help the situation that joy was the tallest out of all four girls.

"we didn't call them." seungwan approaches the door to come to seulgi's rescue with a scowl. "i wouldn't be surprised if all twenty-four levels in this apartment building heard you, so i don't know what makes you think we did it."

"you really think i don't know?" joy's cheshire grin widens as she hums menacingly. "don't lie. the cop literally told me the person who filed the report was from the same level."

yerim's fist curls at her side. if this was a video game, park joy's face would've already been blown to smithereens. kim yerim doesn't have the patience to deal with good-for-nothing es tonight, especially not when she's had her fair share of them in college. being best friends with jeon jungkook had its downsides, of course. once, yerim had even suggested jungkook date one of the girls that harassed her if he really wanted what was best for her, but the taller boy had simply frowned and left her to her own devices from then on.

"kook, didn't you say you'd do anything to protect me?" yerim asked as she thumbed through a javascript textbook. she tossed the book she had held previously in her hands to him, in favor of a different book which caught her eye.

it was yerim's sophomore year in college, and they had decided to study together for midterms even though jungkook never studied. yerim had always assumed he started tagging along with her at the library to sneak extra glances at lalisa manoban, the famed campus beauty.

"of course," he answered quickly, a charming grin tugging at his lips as he re-shelved the book for her.

"well, can you start dating one of these girls then?" she said to his utter surprise as she shoved her phone in his face. "there are about forty of them. all of them are decent-looking, so take your pick."

jungkook practically choked on his own saliva as he saw the twitter thread practically filled with pictures of him, captioned with 'i love you, kookie oppa' and various heart emojis.

"i told you, princess, i'm waiting for this one girl." he replied sheepishly. "as much as i want to help you, i'm not going to start dating some random chick just so people will stop sending you hate messages. baby, those people don't matter anyway."

"what a great best friend i have," yerim grumbled, shooting him a disbelieving glare. "you know, i'd really like to meet this girl who's keeping you waiting so long. i don't get it, jeon jungkook, you have so many girls begging to date you and you only have eyes for her. at this rate, you're never going to get laid."

"well hell," jungkook scoffed cheekily, "why don't you do your best friend a favor and solve that problem for him, then? help me get a girl. preferably someone that you know. someone who is as amazing and pretty as you. someone who is exactly like y-"

yerim sighed impatiently with a roll of her eyes. "that's exactly what i've been doing, coconut-brain. take tzuyu and lisa for example-"

her sentence was broken before it could even finish when jungkook tore the book out of her hands and shoved it back onto the shelf.

"damn it, kim yerim, you're driving me crazy." he hissed as she stared at him in shock. "i don't even have to be jealous of ing jung jaehyun for having two classes with you. you don't even pay attention to me as much as you do a ing book."

"i already said, we didn't call them." seungwan insists through gritted teeth, bringing yerim back into reality with a jolt.

joy lets out a vicious chuckle. "are you really-"

an unfamiliar voice cuts joy off.

"it was me." the owner of the voice says, and joy's jaw drops.

seulgi, too, closes to keep it from gaping widely. yerim's eyes widen just as seungwan cranes her neck to get a better view, only to be thrown into a moment of stupor.

the woman standing outside apartment 2301 is drop-dead gorgeous, like a model that had just walked out of a magazine. she looks so perfect and beautiful and ethereal that seulgi almost thinks she's seen the human representation of a goddess.

joy is the first to recover, naturally. "who are you?" she asks, eyes narrowing at the stranger.

"it doesn't matter who i am. all you need to know is that i live in apartment 2301." the woman says, pointing to said apartment as she continues, "but even if it was them who filed the report on you, they have a right to do so anyways."

joy gawks at the woman-now known as the mysterious resident of 2301-in sheer disbelief.

"if this happens again in the future, i'll be happy to call the police again." the mysterious beauty warns, a single eyebrow raised. "and if you have a problem with it, feel free to sue me." she says before walking away and leaving joy utterly, utterly speechless.

meanwhile, the door to apartment 2302 hurriedly closes and leaves the three girls within quite shocked indeed. (but not as shocked or humiliated as joy probably is, of course.)

"so," seulgi says, as they stare at each other in wonder, "that creepy neighbor who installed an extra security camera is actually not a paranoid old man after all?"