the next morning, joy heads straight to the apartment complex's parking garage, with business to settle.

"ah, there it is." she muses when she spots the car she is looking for. her eyes glimmer with amusement as she snaps a picture of the license plate with her phone.

the car in question is a porsche 911, worth well over three times the cars around it. joy recalls with a snicker when she had seen that audacious woman from 2301 park the porsche next to her own bmw.

that day, joy had practically gawked at the sight for five minutes, refusing to believe that someone with such a luxurious car was living in this apartment. to see someone equally as affluent, or perhaps more, voluntarily live in what joy thought was a rat hole had definitely been an eye opening experience.

joy scoffs at nothing in particular as she scrolls through her contacts, searching for a particular do kyungsoo.

she suddenly regrets not taking up her parents offer. a penthouse suddenly sounds more appealing than a slice of her favorite ice cream cake.

at least with her own private property, she wouldn't have to deal with being humiliated by the old lady next door. (who is anything but old, by the way, but that only serves to make joy more irritated than she already is.)

hell, the only reason joy is living in this dump and not her family's mansion is because the whole thing is a part of one of her grand schemes. what the scheme hadn't called for, however, was for her few months of living the lower-class life to be such torture.

heck, it'd only been three full days since joy moved in, and her life was already falling apart thanks to those neighbors of hers.

however, joy knows giving up isn't an option. especially because this time, her plan has quite a lot at stake.

said plan, of course, being the culmination of joy's efforts to gain her grandmother's acceptance and inherit her rightful share of the company. (joy had learned quite early on that her grandmother was not a force to be messed with. after all, it was that old hag who had kicked her out to an overseas boarding school in the first place.)

besides, joy always follows through on her plans, because that's just who she is. park sooyoung always knows what she wants, and exactly how to get it.

this time is no exception, as disheartening as the situation may be.

shaking her head, joy frowns, reminding herself of the task at hand as she sends the image to kyungsoo.

yes, joy is here for ulterior motives. definitely not because she likes it here, no, not at all. especially when the neighbors aren't understanding in the least.

can't they let a girl have some fun?

with a roll of her eyes at the thought, joy waits for the message to deliver before she dials yet another familiar number.

she climbs into her convertible while she's at it, setting the call on speaker mode.

"chanyeol? yeah, i'm probably going to swing by at your place later, but that's not the reason why i'm calling you right now." joy quips immediately when her cousin picks up, not one to run circles around what she truly wants.

typical park sooyoung.

deep red lips curve into a smirk that bears anything but good intentions. fire engine red nails drum against the wheel as she says, "tell kyungsoo i sent him the license plate of a red porsche 911. i need him to find all the info he can on the owner a-s-a-p."

joy pauses as chanyeol's voice can be heard in the phone, "i see you're already digging around for blackmail even though you've literally been in korea for one day." he says, and his voice is as she's always remembered, deep and rhythmic like jazz music. "is something happening with-" he begins, only to be interrupted.

"no, my dad's not having an affair." joy snaps as soon as she catches wind of where the conversation is going.

at least, not yet, she thinks to herself quietly. the park family is complicated. they've always been quite the dysfunctional clan, but that is a story that park joy decides to reminisce another time.

"it's just some lady who called the cops on me yesterday." she informs him. "you know how i am. as usual, it's time for some payback."

"aw, you got the cops called on you?" chanyeol snickers mockingly. "i don't expect any less of my cousin."

"shut it, yeollie." joy mutters, though inwardly she is pleased with chanyeol's reaction. growing up under the same, complex, too-rich-for-their-own-good family dynamic, the second generation parks were quite close and fond of each other. "just get it done, mkay?"

chanyeol chuckles. "of course. kyungsoo says it'll be a matter of seconds."

"ah, tell him i said thank you." joy says, earning a murmur of astonishment on chanyeol's end.

"someone is feeling quite generous today, isn't she?" he muses. "i swear i've been your loyal henchman since you were born, and i've never heard a word of thanks from you." chanyeol teases again, "i guess being booted to america really did a number on you."

"park chanyeol!" joy shrieks just as a notification appears on her lock screen from kyungsoo.

"you are so not getting away with this, you little dip." she hisses as she hurriedly swipes on the text message. "but duty calls. i'll let you in on the details once i get to the bottom of this lady."

chanyeol, used to being threatened, however, is unfazed. "see you, doong-doongie."

joy rolls her eyes at the nickname before tapping the red button to hang up the call. she pushes her prada sunglasses up farther so they rest atop her hair as she scrolls through the plethora of information kyungsoo has gathered.

do kyungsoo has a talent when it comes to finding such things. truthfully, in the modern world, there isn't much privacy at all. in fact, joy finds the word "privacy" quite deceiving, because it's something she has trifled with for quite a while-

something her enemies will never truly enjoy.

her delightful smile soon grows wider when she sees the name of the owner.

"kim namjoon?" she laughs out loud, even though she is sitting all alone in the closed doors in her car. "oh, oh, oh." she giggles dangerously.

bingo, she thinks. this is a game too easily played.

though park sooyoung isn't truly the type to ruin someone completely, she's mischievous to the core. it's simply her nature: like a rose with thorns, completely despicable yet admirable at the same time.

joy exits her car with a large grin plastered on her face, her five-inch heels making her taller than ever. she practically glides into the lobby, entering the empty elevator and rising up, up, up.

when the doors open at level 23, she goes into her meager little apartment (though it's considered luxurious to many) and waits, patiently.

then, at exactly eight a.m., joy is back out the door, and there she is, waiting for the elevator just as joy knew she would be.

the woman is dressed in a perfectly matched pinstripe gray suit, with long, black hair that is perfectly parted in the middle and pulled into a low pony tail at the base of her neck. a few strands of shorter, baby hair frame her perfectly flawless face, and her barely-there makeup is perfectly applied.

everything about the woman is so utterly and completely perfect, in fact, that joy feels oddly threatened as she approaches her.

joy is about to greet the woman in her best fake-enthusiasm when the door to 2302 opens, the three residents of the shared apartment filing out. eyeing each of the girls, joy's previously modest smile widens even farther to reveal pearly-white teeth.

the more the merrier, she chuckles inwardly to herself, striding over to join the crowd waiting for the elevator.

"morning, ladies," joy chirps, receiving a polite smile from seulgi (ever the kind-hearted one) and a stiff greeting from the other two tenants of 2302.

the resident of 2301, however, remains silent.

"hey, no harsh feelings." joy laughs pretentiously when the elevator dings and the door slides open.

all five girls enter the enclosed space while joy hums nonchalantly to herself. when the doors close, however, the atmosphere shifts as joy crosses her arms over her chest and turns to address the woman from 2301.

"you know, i actually fell for your act when you said you called the police on me last night." joy begins, a smug simper on her lips. "acting like you were some high-class elite, when you're really just some rich guy's mistress pretending like she belongs."

22.

seulgi's jaw drops for the second time in the past twenty-four hours. yerim simply stands in the back, glancing up at the two in disinterest before returning to scrolling through her emails. at the end of the month, there would be an opportunity for interns to become employees, and yerim fully intends to take advantage of it. so if it means skipping out on whatever melodrama her apartment complex had turned out to become, yerim accepts quite gladly.

21.

"just because you're embarrassed, doesn't mean you have to attack her with baseless rumors you probably made up while crying your eyes out last night." seungwan says, blunt as ever.

20.

son seungwan may be a pretty sight to the eyes, but sometimes that tongue of hers isn't. seulgi may lack a mind filter at times, but seungwan can't sugar-coat anything to save her life.

"oh, hush, buttercup." joy shoots back with a raised brow towards seungwan before turning back to the woman. "i found it suspicious when someone in our apartment was driving such a nice car. turns out it wasn't even theirs in the first place. kim namjoon may not be married yet, but-"

19.

"you know kim namjoon?" the woman asks out of the sudden, finally turning to look joy in the eye.

"no, but aren't you his mistress?" joy asks with a smirk, and the woman goes back to ignoring her.

18.

"it's fine if you don't want to talk." joy sighs airily, "if i were you, i wouldn't want to talk either. secrets are hard to keep nowadays, aren't they? and some people are simply shameless, especially those driving sports cars that some rich man gave them as hush mo-"

17.

that's when the elevator shakes uncontrollably and joy is knocked to the side by a flailing kang seulgi, who lets out a shrill yelp in turn.

all five girls scream as the sound of metal against metal screeches in the air, and yerim swears she feels her heart pause just as the sound of the elevator's reel snaps to a sickening stop.

"holy ." seungwan curses under her breath as she clings to the side of the elevator, an apprehensive hand to her chest.

"i don't want to die yet!" seulgi panics, clinging onto yerim, who, in turn, squeezes her eyes shut to brace for the worst. suddenly, the blonde thinks to that day at the amusement park with jungkook.

"i'm fine with rollercoasters," yerim begins, her eyes closed as she digs into her fried icecream.

jungkook laughs. "so what's wrong with riding 'scream queens' with me?" he asks, referring to the ride nearby that is practically piled full of people waiting their turn.

it was spring break, and the two friends had decided to go to the amusement park together. jaehyun was supposed to come, too, but somehow, he had bailed out last minute. (courtesy of jungkook's threatening, of course, but yerim would never know that.)

"well, i can't do rides that go up and down." she confesses, before adding with a full mouth of food, "by the way, this stuff tastes like heaven."

when she spoons another hefty portion into , for a moment, jungkook is distracted from the topic at hand. "let me eat it off your lips." he suggests from beside her with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "then it'll really taste like heaven."

yerim smacks him on the shoulder with a snort. "i don't know why the hell i put up with you." she says, and he nestles closer to her with a doe-eyed face that can melt the hearts of all girls within a kilometer-wide radius.

(except yerim, who doesn't quite fall for his antics.)

"you love me. enough to ride scream queens with me." he pouts, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "it'll be fun, i promise. kind of like a broken elevator."

yerim almost chokes at the impact of his arm landing on her smaller frame.

"gee, that's very convincing." she huffs, practically screaming with sarcasm. she, does, however, let his arm rest on her begrudgingly, even though jungkook really did have a heavy arm.

they rock-paper-scissors, and jungkook loses. but in the end, however, yerim lets jungkook have his way, so that she doesn't seem like a scaredy-cat.

when it's finally their turn, they sit side by side in their seats, their hands swinging beside them at their sides, unattended.

suddenly, yerim regrets her decision.

"jungkook, i lied." she gulps. "i actually am a scaredy-cat. and if i'm honest with you, i'm actually really ing scared."

she glances at his expression, expecting him to , but he doesn't.

instead, he touches her arm fleetingly before his fingers slide in between hers, and when yerim looks down, they are holding hands.

"don't worry, princess peach." he says sweetly, and suddenly she's drowning in the abyss of his night-sky eyes.

yerim doesn't have the chance to argue, "for the last ing time, it's yoshi, mr. kooka troopa." before the ride starts and she's screaming for her life.

and when the ride ends, jungkook is watching yerim gasp for air in laughter, their fingers still intertwined.

"oh god." seulgi wheezes from beside yerim, shaking her out of the memory.

it seems like hours pass by in the minutes when, slowly, the shaking diminishes to minor aftershocks.

until finally, the elevator is dead silent.

all five girls direct their vision to the glowing red text displayed above them in muted horror.

17, it still reads, and when the number still doesn't budge after a full minute, joy is the first to clasp her hands together and pray to whatever god there is out there that she'll live to see another day.

realization settles among all of them all at once.

they are stuck.