When Wendy moved in this apartment she never expected - nor wanted - to have any relations with her neighbours. She wanted a peaceful life with her two cats and her dog, and no distractions.

She moved to this apartment about a one month ago and her life was running very smoothly. The reviews on that site Wendy found a few months ago turned out to be true. Small neighbourhood. Clean streets, empty roads. Quiet. Just what Wendy wanted. Just - perfect.

Wendy was a med student. During their final year of medical school, students started narrowing down their medical specialty options. Neurology was Wendy's favourite, but she had yet to choose.

It is not very hard to become a doctor, people told Wendy. For a smart, hardworking person, becoming a doctor is the easiest part. Go to school, do well on your exams, get good grades, do some more time in medical school, graduate and done, you are a doctor.

Liars. It was Wendy's final year, she had been through so much all these years and she was so close to finally becoming a doctor. But was she strong enough to last another year? She didn't know the answer. That was why she chose to move to this neighbourhood after all. Her new apartment was closer to the university, making it easier for Wendy to get there, since she couldn't afford to buy a car. It was a terrible shame to see her driver's license go to waste.

Another reason that made her move to this apartment was the peaceful and, most importantly, safe neighbourhood. Her old apartment was situated in probably the worst part of the city. Wendy sometimes didn't know whether she should sleep or stay awake the whole night to protect herself in case someone entered the apartment. It was that bad. Obviously, this brought lots of consequences for Wendy's life. Her grades were bad and her lifestyle was a mess. Hadn't it been for her precious dog, she would have been killed in that neighbourhood. Squirt was the cutest husky to ever exist but when it came to Wendy's protection he was scarier than a wolf.

One month since she moved in this apartment and her life was great. First and foremost, she was able to sleep lots of hours, since she didn't have to wake up at six in the morning to catch the bus on time anymore. Also, the beautiful view from her windows made her feel happier, even healthier and that was something even her best friend, Seulgi, had pointed out.

"You look awfully happy since you moved out. Do you have any cute neighbours?" her friend would . Wendy smiled at the thought. Speaking of neighbours, she hadn't met any of her neighbours yet and it felt pretty weird. She could still remember the first day she had moved in her old apartment, when her new neighbours had come to greet her and introduce themselves. It might have been a bad neighbourhood but most people in that building had manners. As much as Wendy didn't want to have any relations with her neighbours, she thought it was kind of rude not to meet them at least once. And there was no way people in this building didn't know someone new had moved in. She did make a huge mess on the lobby when she first moved here after all.

It had been a month and no one had knocked her door, so she decided to do it herself. So, there she was, outside her neighbour's door, waiting for them to open up. Should she knock again or should she wait? She had already knocked twice but the owner of this apartment didn't seem to notice. Wendy hadn't seen anyone go out of this door, but she was a hundred percent sure that someone was living next to her because they happened to be an amazing cook and every day there was this amazing waft of good cooking coming from their place into Wendy's. Also, the person living next to her had a really loud alarm clock that she could hear every morning before leaving the apartment. Wendy wondered how many people lived there.

She checked her phone. She had been waiting for more than five minutes. Sighing, she made a few steps back. The owner probably didn't want any visitors. Wendy went back into her apartment and placed the carrot cake she had specifically made for her neighbour on the kitchen table - first impression always matters - after locking the door. She was used to locking the door even when she was inside the apartment since the neighbourhood she used to live in was extremely dangerous.

Another sigh escaped her lips. She would have to eat the carrot cake all by herself.


(...)


The next morning Wendy woke up surprisingly late. The alarm clock stopped working during the night, and not even her neighbour's loud alarm clock had woken her up. She was half an hour late already, so she didn't have time for coffee. She quickly changed into something presentable, grabbed her bag and left - not before locking the door. The elevator seemed to take forever to come, making Wendy run down the stairs. "It's okay. Morning exercise," she mumbled to herself. When she arrived at the lobby she saw someone checking the mail box. Wendy hoped they wouldn't turn around and she wouldn't have to greet them. Had it been under any other circumstance she would love to greet them but she was in a rush. Sadly for her, the person turned around, shocked by Wendy's presence. It was an old woman, with white hair and wrinkles all over her face. They locked eyes for a few seconds and Wendy wasn't sure if she should be the first one to talk.

"Hello young lady," the woman spoke first. Wendy gave her a small smile, "Good morning miss..." she waited for the old woman to finish her sentence.

"Kim Nayoung. I live on the first floor with my husband. You must be Wendy Son. The new kid," the woman extended her hand for a shake. Wendy politely shook her hand and nodded, "Yes. That's me. Nice to meet you Mrs. Kim."

"Nice to meet you too Wendy. I hope you don't cause any trouble in this building. I've been living here for twenty-five years and no one has interrupted my peace," the woman added, her soft eyes changing into something different, scarier. Wendy gulped, "Don't worry, Mrs. Kim. I came here because I wanted peace and tranquillity too. I won't be a bother," she carefully said. The old woman laughed, "Oh, I'm just kidding my child. You're free to do anything you want. Have a nice day," she patted Wendy's shoulder and wobbled to the elevator with her walking stick.

"You too Mrs. Kim!" Wendy gave her a small wave and chuckled to herself. That wasn't bad at all. She had just met one of her neighbours, she was doing progress! Mrs. Kim reminded her of her long lost grandma. It was nice to have someone old and experienced in the building. Wendy would definitely bake a carrot cake for her.

Suddenly, her phone rang, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Hello?" she quickly answered and started running again. "Where are you? Class is almost over!" she heard Seulgi's voice. Wendy groaned, "I'm probably going to miss this class. Sorry, Seul."

"I thought you moved there for this exact reason."

"What reason?"

"Not being late!"

Wendy rolled her eyes, but she knew Seulgi was right, "Okay, mum."

Seulgi groaned at this, "I have to go. You better not miss next class too."

With that, Wendy ended the call and continued running towards the bus stop.


(...)


Wendy couldn't choose between knocking her neighbour's door or going straight to her apartment. She had been thinking about this pretty often these days, especially when she looked at her neighbour's door before unlocking hers. Hell, the doors were right next to each other, it was a big temptation! She decided not to do so, though, and walked straight into her apartment. She didn't have the carrot cake with her after all.

One of her two cats sat right behind the door waiting for her. "Hello, William," she greeted him. William Shakespaw was marginally more intelligent than a brick, but perhaps not a large one. His head was more of a squashed pumpkin shape than a proper feline skull. Every time Wendy put down cream for him he would it, then bite it, then again. Then he would walk away, stomach swaying from side to side with that angry scowl he had perfected from all his moments of confusion. The only time he unsheathed his claws was when he planted himself on Wendy's lap in the early evenings; she watched television and he purred like a dirty diesel engine to feel his fur repeatedly flattened.

Wendy stepped in the living room and William ran towards her, meowing louder than usual.

The second cat, named Hairy Potter, was sitting on the couch, unbothered by the noise William made. This cat was as independent as the rising sun. Were she not to feed him he would catch his own Wendy was sure. On occasion he would deem Wendy worthy of petting him, but mostly he simply turned his head, arched his back and found a new place to sleep the day away. In that feline head of his he didn't consider himself a pet, but the master of the house, nothing less.

"What's wrong with you, huh?" Wendy asked the noisy cat. The rich ginger cat ran into the kitchen and brought his food bowl for Wendy to see. Wendy's eyes widened, "You ate that already?" she couldn't hide her surprise when she saw the empty bowl. She had filled this less than two hours ago! Rolling her eyes, she took the bag of cat food she kept in one of the bottom shelves - it was too big and heavy for her to place it on the top shelves.

"Oh, come on," she groaned at the empty bag in front of her. William not only didn't stop meowing for a second he also started rubbing his head on Wendy's feet. "Okay! Stop it. I'll go buy you food."

Wendy had waited the whole day for this exact moment. She would finally have some time for herself, but no! She had to feed her fat cat. Thankfully, Hairy Potter wasn't needy. As for her dog, he was large with a black and white coat and an extravagant ruff of leather around his neck and a long tail that curved like the hook of a coat hanger. He nibbled her sleeves and jeans, drunk from the toilet, followed her around the house, barked at anything and anyone outside, lay under the table at dinner time, got on the couch when Wendy got out, put his paw on Wendy's lap when he wanted to go out, desperate to chase squirrels and the list went on. Squirt wasn't the best dog but Wendy loved him.

Wendy put on her shoes once again, grabbed her keys and her bag and went to the pet shop. She was glad there was a pet shop close to her place, because William and Squirt had lots of needs, especially when it came to food.

"Yeri, give me the largest bag of cat food you have."

"William already ate the whole bag you bought last week?"

"Yes. He did."

"Damn, you should get a new cat."

Yeri worked as a cashier at this pet shop. Wendy had already befriended the girl, since she visited the shop almost every week thanks to her lovely pets. Yeri was a few years younger than her but they made a great duo.

"I'm emotionally attached to William, Yeri," said Wendy, "I would never leave him."

The weirdest thing about Yeri was that she hated animals. Wendy had no idea why Yeri was working there. Last time she asked, Yeri said something about 'easy money' but Wendy had no idea what she meant.

"Are you free tonight? Joy and Seulgi are coming over my place. It's movie night."

"I'll be there."

Wendy waved Yeri goodbye and lift the enormous bag of cat food with her small hands. She decided to go grocery shopping on her way back too. Clouds had filled the sky and Wendy could smell the rain coming but it had been more than a week since she last filled her fridge with goods. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about running out of money just yet. Her parents paid her rent and sent money every few weeks. Once she became a doctor, she would lean on her own bank account.

Loaded now with five shopping bags and a huge bag of cat food, Wendy made her way through the entrance of the building. Her fingers were starting to turn red due to the heavy bags. Lifting her head up, she saw a person walk into the elevator.

“Hold the door, thanks!” Wendy grunted as she lugged this week’s grocery haul towards the elevator. To make matters worse, she was soaking wet thanks to a sudden downpour that had begun, basically, the minute she’d walked out of the grocery store. She shuddered, feeling her wet hair dripping down the back of her neck. She entered the elevator and looked up to see who the other occupant was and completely short-circuited as she took the woman in. Deep brown eyes were already looking at her. Her perfectly shaped eyebrows were bunched together in concern as she looked her over in sympathy. In one hand, she held a dripping purple umbrella and in the other, a grocery tote bag of her own.

“It’ll probably get a bit worse before it gets better. Or at least that’s what the weatherman said today," the woman spoke in a soft voice.

“I’m on the fifth floor as well,” Wendy blurted out as the woman pressed the number five, presumably for herself, grimacing at how weird she’d sounded.

“I actually knew that.”

The elevator began its ascent as Wendy looked over at her in surprise. She mentally ran through all of the people she’d met since moving into the building but couldn’t recall ever having crossed her path before. There was no way she could forget her.

The elevator reached the fifth floor before Wendy could open again and the woman walked out first. Wendy stared for a few seconds, then she shook her head, lifted the shopping bags and walked towards her apartment. The woman had already opened her own door, "Have a nice day," she said before closing the door. Wendy smiled, even though the woman had already disappeared. She was happy. She had finally met her next door neighbour.


(...)


"We are not watching a horror film."

"Yes, we are!"

Movie nights weren't supposed to be like this. It had been at least two hours and the four girls couldn't decide what movie they should watch. Even worse, they had eaten all of the popcorn. The arguing had a dull exhaustion to it, like they'd been over the same bitterness too many times before. Yeri and Seulgi wanted to watch some kind of romance movie while Joy wanted to watch a horror one. Wendy on the other hand wanted to go to sleep. It was the first time Joy and Seulgi visited Wendy's new apartment along with their new friend, Yeri. Wendy thought it was a good idea to have this week's movie night over her place, since none of the girls had seen her new apartment. Maybe it wasn't a good idea after all.

"Girls, it's very late and I'm getting tired. Can you please choose a random movie?" Wendy finally complained. Joy rolled her eyes, "It's not even that late. You're such a baby."

"She's a med student," Seulgi - also a med student- interrupted, "She needs lots of sleep."

"And I'm a soon-to-be lawyer. Do I not need sleep?" Joy crossed her arms in front of her chest. Yeri faked a gasp, "I'm a cashier, do I not need sleep?!"

There was no logic to the argument. Wendy closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was going to be a long night. She ignored the three girls and took a sip of her hot chocolate. While the others were fighting her eyes fell on the coffee table in front of them. None of them had touched their mugs of hot chocolate. Wendy pouted. She had put a lot of effort into making these.

The doorbell snapped Wendy out of her thoughts. It had a strangled sound, as though it's battery was somewhat drained but Wendy could still hear it.

"Girls. Pause."

They did as they were told. Wendy stole a glance at the clock. Almost two in the morning. Great, she thought, annoyed neighbours.

As she grabbed her mug of hot chocolate, removed herself from her spot on the couch and made her way to the door, she grumbled about the fact that she was about to deal with what was most likely an old married couple. She found her way around the two sleeping cats on the floor and grasped her hand on the doorknob.

She swung the door open, "I am so sorry. My friends and I were just-"

She stopped short, mug of hot cocoa still in her hands. She felt her heart pumping loudly in her chest as she just stared for a moment. Here in front of her was the same woman she saw earlier that day. She wore a pair of glasses and her hair was a mess. She was standing before her in pyjama pants and an old oversized t-shirt. Not exactly what Wendy had expected. But not complaining either.

"You and your friends were just... keeping me awake?" she stated softly but bitterly, snapping Wendy back into reality.

"Um, yes I suppose so. I'm terribly sorry, we just had... a small fight. I'm Wendy. Son Wendy," she motioned awkwardly to the living room, where her friends were now sitting, finally watching the horror film Joy had suggested. "Those are my friends. I moved here a month ago."

"Yes, I know. We met earlier today on the elevator too," she stated tiredly. Yes, Wendy remembered that. She couldn't forget.

After a long awkward silence, Wendy figured she should break it. "And you are?"

"Irene Bae. I live next door. I'm sorry for interrupting your... sleepover but it's almost two in the morning and I really have to sleep-"

"No! It's okay! Of course. We'll quiet down," she reassured her, quickly throwing a glare at the three girls on the couch, "Again I'm really sorry, it won't happen again," she added, turning back to her neighbour. Wendy was surprised to find that the woman was looking at her. She had finally met her gaze after standing there for what felt like a lifetime. Something changed in her face. She could tell her neighbour was trying to get a few words out, but not managing very well.

"Thanks and um, sorry for being so short with you. But uh, I really need to sleep," she finally replied. Wendy quickly nodded, "Of course! Have a good night."

The woman, that introduced herself as Irene, gave her a tight lipped smile and walked away. Wendy closed the door and leaned on it. She felt so guilty.

"You good?" she heard Joy's voice coming from the couch.

"I've been here for less than a month and I've already messed up," Wendy mumbled mostly to herself but the girls heard her loud and clear. "Don't be silly, Wendy. It's not like we were being that loud. Your new neighbours are a little thin-skinned."

"Joy! Shut up! She lives next door, she can hear you!" Wendy said in a panicked whisper, running to the couch and placing her hands on Joy's big mouth.

"Do you really care about your neighbour's opinion? My neighbours think I'm crazy!" Yeri said, taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

"That's because you are."

"No, seriously! Every time they see me they smile nervously, take a few steps back and when they think they're out of sight they start running."

"That's... creepy," Seulgi frowned. Joy laughed, "This is so cool! Please teach me how to make my neighbours think I'm crazy too!"

Wendy rolled her eyes and leaned her head on the couch arm. It was too late for her to deal with them. She needed sleep.


(...)


The next day Wendy woke up on the couch, still wearing last night's outfit. Her friends had probably left a few hours after she had fallen asleep, leaving the whole house a mess. Both William and Hairy were lying on the coffee table, leaving strands of fur all over its surface. Her eyes fell on an opened bag of chips that lay on the floor from last night. Too bored to stand up, she extended her arm and grabbed the bag. She wanted to lie on the couch with this bag of chips and the remote control forever.

There were at least a dozen episodes of Grey's Anatomy she could be watching on this fine Saturday morning, but Squirt had his doggy eyes fixed on her. His eyebrows twitched from side to side in that way he did when he was trying to figure something out and it just wasn't working for him. For such a big husky of uncertain parentage he was pure cuteness overload. It was why Wendy picked him from all the other homeless pups. Now that she wanted nothing more than to ignore him and wallow there in high fat food and distraction, he was thinking healthy thoughts. He wanted a walk, the longer the better. Then as if he could read her thoughts, his tail started to wag and he jumped up at nothing like he was dancing.

The chip bag crinkled under her closing grasp but her feet were already moving her to stand. Walking in the bathroom, she looked at her reflection on the mirror, and after coming to the conclusion that she didn't need a shower she walked back to the living room. Her eyes flicked to her shoes and Squirt went loopy, racing victory laps around the living room. With a swift move she leashed Squirt, put her coat on and left the house.


It was an autumn day. Far enough from summer to have lost the heat and not close enough to winter to have that bite of cold. The leaves had begun to fall and rain was in the forecast. On her way to the park, Wendy stepped on every crunchy brown leaf, savouring it, knowing after the rain they would be a soggy mess. The clouds weren't too threatening, just a little grey, and the wind was starting to feel more like the blast you get from opening the refrigerator door than the summer breeze Wendy had been used to these past few months.

Squirt buried his head in the crunchy leaves and wiggled his tail. Every walk was as exciting for him as a person being offered tickets to a rock concert, even if he had done the exact same route fifty thousand times before. He thought chasing motorcycles would be fun. The only time he made sense was when the rain fell thicker than chair legs. Then he just turn right around and made himself comfortable by the couch.

When they reached the park Wendy let Squirt free and he immediately ran all over the place. About three seconds later he leaped through the trees that lined the path with a stick in his mouth. With those big blue eyes and his black and white tail swishing like he had just got all his birthday wishes at once, Wendy knew what he wanted. He wanted that slimy stick thrown down the path, and not once, but over and over. The bark was going to leave brown flecks on Wendy's hands, this specimen had fallen from the trees some time ago and had been rained on. Wendy wouldn't be too surprised if it snapped when it landed on the path. But she could never say no to Squirt, he was just too damn cute. So she curled her fingers around the stick and felt the cool dampness. Squirt released it at once and sat. As Wendy's arm wheeled backwards, Squirt ran forwards fast and instead of doing what he expected, Wendy waited until he stopped and looked at her. Then she threw the stick back down the path behind her as far as she could and Squirt hurtled after it. Wendy walked all of six paces and he was back in front of her, eyes still dancing. This time she threw the stick further than before. Squirt immediately ran behind it.

While Wendy waited for him to come back, her thoughts trailed. Her mind went back to her lovely neighbour. How come she hadn't met her until yesterday? Talking of yesterday, Wendy got reminded of how embarrassed she had felt when Irene knocked her door last night. First of all, because Wendy looked like trash in old baggy trousers and a loose shirt in front of Irene who was only in her pyjamas but still managed to look good. Second of all, because she had made Irene come all the way from her bed to her door at two in the morning. Wendy felt guilty. Maybe Irene had a very important appointment today but it didn't go well because of her lack of sleep. She gasped.

"Squirt! Come here!" she yelled and the dog obeyed. She had to apologise to Irene. And there's no better way to apologise than offering a carrot cake, right?

She quickly leashed the husky and jogged back to her apartment. Squirt made soft sounds, indicating that he was sad that the walk was over. "It's okay, Squirt. Next time it'll last longer," she reassured him. And as if he could understand, he started wiggling his tail again.

When they reached the building Wendy let the leash fall out of her hands and Squirt started running up the stairs like he always did. Wendy decided to take the elevator. There were too many stairs for her unfit till the fifth floor. She pressed the button once. No sign of the elevator. The small light on top of the door was surprisingly off. That was when Wendy noticed a crumpled piece of paper next to the door.

'OUT OF ORDER' it read with clumsy letters. Wendy sighed. What did she do to deserve this? Taking a deep breath, she started going up the stairs with half a heart. Perks of living on the fifth floor!

Before she could even reach the second floor, she heard a woman scream followed by a loud thud and a bark. Squirt got into trouble, Wendy could tell and started running up the stairs. When she reached the fourth floor she saw numerous shopping bags on the floor and a woman trying to collect all the fallen goods. It was her next door neighbour. Before she could open to speak, the woman looked up with a terrified expression on her face, "I just saw a dog. There's a huge dog in the building," she said panicked.

Wendy quickly shook her head, "Don't worry! He won't hurt you!" she walked over to her neighbour and helped her gather all the things that fell from her hands.