It’s not that Tzuyu minds having noisy next door neighbor; well, that’s a bit of a lie, it’s more she doesn’t mind having an incredibly attractive next door neighbor who smiles and makes small talk with her in the elevator. A neighbor whose eyes Tzuyu can get lost in, with a voice that calms and excites her at the same time. A neighbor named Park Jihyo, who made Tzuyu feel like she belonged from the very moment she moved in.

A neighbor who she can also hear moan very loudly through the walls of her apartment.

The first time it happened was about a week after Tzuyu had moved in, at about 11pm (not that Tzuyu remembered or anything), when she woke up to the sounds of bed springs creaking and a familiar voice a name she had never heard before.

Mina

Tzuyu hated the name; it was far too short, with no rhythm whatsoever to it, and yet Jihyo still managed to make it sound like part of the sweetest melody whenever she says it. Tzuyu tries not to think about that too much, much less imagine how her name would sound if Jihyo said it the same way, in the same context, as she did with Mina’s.

She “met”, if you could call it that, the other girl the next morning in the elevator; she was beautiful, and Tzuyu understands why Jihyo looks at Mina the way she does, like she’s the whole world. Tzuyu might be trying to fool herself, but she swears Mina doesn’t look at Jihyo the same way.

The months pass, and Tzuyu becomes more and more wary whenever she sees Mina enter the building. She brings gifts more and more often: flowers, small bags from expensive stores, and Tzuyu even saw a hand bound book on classical music. As time passes the gifts get pricer, and Tzuyu doesn’t find herself waking up to the sound of Jihyo telling Mina that she can be a good girl.

Whenever Tzuyu sees Jihyo in the lobby she can tell how much things have changed; she still always greets her with a smile, still makes conversation, but there’s this emptiness in her eyes now. She pauses whenever someone speaks to her, like she was lost in thought or can’t believe it was her they were talking to. It makes Tzuyu want to hold her in her arms and shield her from all the bad things in the world.

Tzuyu wakes up to the sound of Jihyo’s voice, a feeling all too recognizable, but this time it was...different. She sits up and places her ear to the wall; she’s done this before (not that she likes to admit it), but never under these circumstances. It’s hard to hear at first, but as she concentrates she can make out a few words between Jihyo’s sobs.

“Mina”......“how could she”

Tzuyu doesn’t need to hear anything else, she’s already rolled out of bed and has her hoodie on in the blink of an eye; she needs to do what she’s been too scared to do this whole time, at least that’s what she tells herself when she realizes she’s standing outside Jihyo’s door, a box of tea in hand. It’s Jihyo’s favorite, Tzuyu had learned when she invited her over for tea months and months ago. She keeps several boxes of it on hand. Before she can talk herself out of it, she takes a deep breath and knocks.

The crying stops, followed by the longest 3 seconds of silence Tzuyu has ever felt in her life; then she hears the lock turning and her heart is suddenly going 5000 miles an hour when she sees the door open.

Don’t mess this up Tzuyu

“Heyjihyoiknowwe’renotreallyclosebutwouldyoulikesomecompanynowicanmaketeaifyouwant?”

Wow way to go

Jihyo looks confused for a couple seconds, as to be expected when someone knocks on your door at midnight, scanning Tzuyu up and down. Her eyes are red and puffy and she’s still holding a crumpled tissue in her left hand, but when her gaze meet Tzuyu's something in her seems to stabilize.

“Thank you Tzuyu,” The warmth in Jihyo’s eyes is hot enough to make Tzuyu want to melt into a puddle, but before she can even think of her next move Jihyo has reached for the tea in her hands (she’d forgotten she was holding it outstretched like that), “Peppermint….you remembered,” Jihyo looks at the box for what feels like forever, until Tzuyu makes a little coughing noise, when her head snaps back up she’s smiling very wide and her eyes are glassy.

She wraps her hand around Tzuyu’s and pulls her into the apartment.