kang seulgi does not want to die.

one, she's too young to die.

and two, falling to one's demise in a broken elevator is really, really not a good way to die.

"guys, there's no signal in this elevator." yerim's voice is as grim as her expression as she holds her phone high in the air, inwardly cursing t-mobile for being an ungrateful .

seulgi feels a shudder run down her spine. all those terrible things she used to read on the internet about elevator deaths reel in slow-motion before her eyes. in fact, the brunette begins to shake visibly as she eyes each of the other girls, spotting the flashes of panic which surface on each of their faces.

with the exception of joy, of course, who is surprisingly peaceful while she prays to satan. (she'd previously been praying to jesus, but when that didn't work she left any hope of redemption in the afterlife in the dust.)

the woman from 2301, meanwhile, is pressing the operator button in concealed frustration. "no one's answering." she says softly (almost as if to herself) while pressing the button again.

seulgi begins to hiccup in dread. no, kang seulgi absolutely does not want to die. heck, she hasn't even found her true love yet. (and, yes, seulgi does believe in soulmates.)

"maybe they're on a bathroom break?" seungwan offers, taking seulgi's hand in her own in effort to help calm her down.

it's merely a second after seungwan gives seulgi a reassuring look that the operator's voice finally speaks into the elevator.

"hello? how may i help you?" comes the frantic voice of a young man on the verge of losing his job.

"the elevator is stuck on level 17. we think it's broken." seungwan speaks first, and when seulgi recovers from her momentary stupor, she begins to conclude that seungwan does indeed have a knack for summoning.

"we're so s-s-sorry for the inconvenience!" the operator stutters, "i've notified the building's on-site repairmen and they will be on their way to fix the situation shortly. please stay calm while i-"

a static-filled argument between the apartment security and the apartment complex's manager could be heard in the background.

"what the ?" joy squawks loudly, hands on her hips in irritation. "i don't pay taxes and donate to the poor for this service quality." she grumbles loudly.

"look here, honey, put a lid on it, will you?" seungwan quips, leaving the rest of the girls to blink in shock. "i'm so sorry that the elevator surface isn't reflective enough that you can't see how stuck-up you are being right now."

seulgi practically chokes on her own spit. "seungwan, i don't think this is a good idea." she whispers none too discreetly, with a nervous glance at a now-fuming park joy.

"seulgi, who's side are you on?" seungwan huffs, "it's not my fault that even bob the builder can't fix her over-inflated ego."

this time, it's yerim's turn to cough uncontrollably. "unnie, you're even worse than seulgi." the youngest out of the five finally says.

the elevator is once again silent for a full two minutes before the voice of a different man blares into the elevator.

"please remain calm. the elevator is stuck between levels sixteen and seventeen. please brace yourselves as the repairmen manually lift the elevator to level seventeen."

"manually lift?" seulgi barely manages to exclaim before the elevator heaves upwards and all five girls are once again screaming for their lives.

the elevator lurches to a stop, before continuing again in a similar fashion a few seconds later.

"oh my god." joy staggers to the side of the elevator, pressing herself against the cold metal wall.

suddenly, joy finds her hand in the grasp of a frightened kang seulgi.

surprisingly, joy doesn't attempt to retract her hand from the other girl's grasp, but instead gives a grateful nod. for the moment, even the great park sooyoung is just as vulnerable as all the other girls.

seulgi's other hand, in turn, connects to seungwan's with a tight hold. seungwan then reaches out to yerim, who accepts gratefully.

the blonde then extends her hand uncertainly to the resident of 2301.

"thank you," the woman says, "i'm-" she begins before the elevator ascends upwards abruptly again, cutting her sentence short.

"i'm irene." the woman finishes when the elevator stops once more, and yerim nods, too dizzy with motion sickness to say much.

all five girls try their best to stabilize one another during each turn of the reel, their hands linked and their eyes shut tight until it seems they are finally at level 17.

when the elevator doors finally open, all five girls are seated on the floor, each still holding the other's hand tightly.

seulgi groans as the apartment staff help her out the elevator, seungwan, yerim, and joy behind her.

yerim glances back to see irene still on the floor of the elevator, chugging down a bottle of water given by the staff with her eyes closed. the blonde doesn't need to ask to know that irene was probably more frightened in the entire situation than she let on.

"irene-ssi, are you okay?" seulgi asks.

the brunette walks back to the elevator and helps the older girl out, just as seungwan and joy begin to question the apartment staff on reparations for the elevator.

irene doesn't give anything else a second glance as she walks across the hall and pushes the door open to the staircase, with yerim and seulgi following behind apprehensively.

however, instead of collapsing like seulgi thought she would, the older girl simply sits on the stairs in silence. it isn't long before seungwan and joy join yerim and seulgi, all four girls standing and watching the resident of 2301 in concern.

"hey, about earlier today." joy pipes up, clearing . "i'm not going to exactly apologize-"

seungwan rolls her eyes before joy continues.

"but i tried to get some revenge on you and you're not exactly the worst person, considering you didn't bash my head in for saying those things-"

"jesus, joy, how badly elevated are your self-assurance levels that you can't even apologize?" seungwan cuts in, receiving a weak glare from joy.

"okay fine. i'm sorry." joy spits out like the very word hurts her, and seulgi laughs.

suddenly, all five girls join seulgi to burst out in laughter, both at the situation which they had just encountered earlier and the fact that park joy actually had the ability within her to apologize.

"yah!" joy exclaims in between her own bouts of muffled snorts. "now that we're all good now, there's no more or you four ganging up on me, okay?"

"as long as you don't fry my eardrums." comes yerim's answer, and joy lets out an exasperated nod.

"okay, fine." the heiress says, patting down her mussed raven hair. "i guess i'm the one who started this weird neighbor fiasco, so let's start anew, shall we?" she suggests, and seulgi holds a thumbs up in approval.

"i'm park sooyoung, but call me joy. i'm twenty-five." joy introduces with a bright smile, this time, a rather genuine one.

"kang seulgi. also twenty-five." seulgi continues with a smile as well, albeit a much smaller one.

"son seungwan, twenty-eight. you can call me wendy if you want, but these two might not be used to it." seungwan gestures to seulgi and yerim. "it's a western name i picked up for my job recently two years ago."

yerim nods, tucking a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear. "i'm kim yerim. twenty-three. people in my age group call me yeri."

finally, it's irene's turn. the beautiful woman, although shaken, doesn't look the least unkempt in her image.

"bae joohyun. thirty." irene says shortly, "i moved here from america, and i'm used to going by irene."

the four other girls nod at this new information.

"you're so pretty, irene." seulgi confessed before asking, "but what's with the security camera you installed? it's kinda scary if you ask me."

irene chuckles, shrugging guiltily. "sorry if i come off as weird. i'm used to living alone and i like my privacy."

"can't relate." joy chimes in, as per usual. "but since we're all similar in age, we can fix that."

an ingenious twinkle could be seen in joy's eyes as she instructs, "everyone pass around their phones and enter your contact info. we're totally starting a level 23 group chat, es."

there is laughter at the staircase once more, and the girls comply happily.

when the process is over, yerim glances down at the notification on her phone.

you've been added to a group chat with kang seulgi, son seungwan, park joy, and and bae irene.

joy has named the group chat: level 23.

"i've got to go to work now." irene announces with a glance at her watch. "but it was nice meeting you guys."

"me too," joy says in unison, before glancing at the three from 2302. "need a ride?"

"seulgi and i are going to sit here for a while." yerim answers for the both of them, and seungwan nods.

"i'm going head out to work as well." seungwan says as she leaves, "i have my weekly appointment with yoongi soon. be safe on the road, yerim."

both girls nod at their roommate's words as she disappears down the stairs and around the corner.

a comfortable silence settles at the staircase when seulgi speaks.

"yerim?" seulgi says in between deep inhales and breaths.

"yeah?" the blonde answers, still leaning against the wall, eyes closed.

"do you know anything about dance classes in the area?"

yerim raises an eyebrow.

"today's near-death experience made want to do it." seulgi explains before yerim can ask. she shakes her head. "i think i'll regret it if i die before i get to try it out."

yerim lets out a soft chuckle. "at times, i really admire you, kang seulgi." the younger girl taps her chin as if in deep thought.

at last, she says with a wide grin, "you're in luck, seul. i think jongin knows a place."