Chorong had never been one who was fond of friendly neighbors; she preferred aloof but polite people who tended to their own business without being disruptive or nosy. So when Namjoo, her landlady, informed her that the once empty apartment next to her was finally rented out, she was more anxious than anything to meet the new tenant she would have to share a wall with in the next week. It was quite a disappointment that Naeun had moved out; the woman had been Chorong's definition of a perfect neighbor and they had even shared a few meals together in their earlier days. 

          Chorong sighs heavily at her crowd of thoughts and swings over her bag of groceries into one hand so she can tap in her passcode to her apartment. She’s half struggling to even reach the door knob when she feels a tap on her shoulder. Chorong immediately reacts, screeching a little too loud and jumping back enough so her groceries scatter all across the floor. There’s a second of indistinct mumbles and the figure of an unfamiliar woman in a bright yellow sweater rushing to pick up the fallen vegetables and fruits rolling towards the stairs. Chorong huffs a little at the sight, but proceeds to angrily gather the rest of the things, snatch her cabbage and peaches from the strange woman, and slam the door behind her.

          “What a mess this day is,” Chorong grumbles to herself and digs through her purse to check if she has all of her things; it makes her cringe to think that she might have left her wallet or phone in the midst of that whole mess outside her apartment. 

          It's only when she’s finally settled down on her couch after neatly arranging all her groceries into her cabinets and fridge that she hears a firm knock on her door. She doesn’t need to look to know it’s Namjoo. Sure enough, the bright blonde-haired woman is standing in front of her with a wide grin and round eyes sparkling back at Chorong.

          "Hey Miss Park!” Namjoo tries to peek inside despite the fact that Chorong has barely opened the door. She doesn’t like to give a wide view of her apartment to anyone besides her family.

          "Hello. Is there something I can help you with?” Chorong asks politely, thinking back to all her bills to confirm that she had paid her rent this month. She hardly ever forgot but besides during lunch or dinner time, Namjoo seldom sought her out.

          "I just thought I should let you know that the new tenant moved in last night while you were on your business trip,” Namjoo jabs her thumb sideways to where her neighbor’s apartment resides. Chorong feels her stomach fall.

          "L-last night?” She stammers, unknowingly loosening her firm grip on the door.

"Yes. Why? Is there a problem?”

          "I, uh, I just thought she would be moving in next week.”

"I guess she greatly overestimated how much she had to pack.” Namjoo grins again and reaches out to pat Chorong's shoulder. “From the way you’re reacting, I take it you already met? And on unfortunate terms?”

          Chorong shoots her a glare, but follows it up with a heavy sigh. “I’ll go reconcile with a warm greeting. Thanks for stopping by.”

          "My pleasure, Miss Park.” Namjoo sings before skipping down the stairs back to her own apartment. 

          The second her door clicks closed, Chorong is caught in a flurry of emotions. She’s already embarrassed thinking about how rude she behaved earlier and all she can ask is “why?” To be perfectly honest, Chorong was constantly the most polite person anyone could ever come across. Though she isn’t a social butterfly and it’s unlikely that she’ll be friendly with you unless you have been acquainted for a good amount of time, she’s always made sure to leave impeccable impressions even to strangers she would never cross paths with again. Yet, there was something about that woman from earlier that had irritated her. She couldn’t help but audibly let out a breath of distaste and furiously storm off into her apartment. Chorong ruffles her own hair at the replay of events, chastising herself and cursing her luck.

Knock, knock, knock.

          "Why does no one use my doorbell?” Chorong groans as she kicks herself off the couch again and swings over to check who is at the door. Sure enough, it’s the woman in the yellow sweater. She’s shuffling her feet as if she’s nervous, head hung low and hands stuck in the pockets of a pair of black, baggy training pants. Chorong clears and takes a sweeping glance at her apartment before cracking open the door.

          “Hello! I’m Yoon Bomi and I just moved in yesterday,” the woman blurts before taking one of her hands out of her pocket. It seems as if she’s about to reach out but her hand immediately relocates itself into the tangles of her flaming red hair. She coughs and tries to fix her wandering eyes back on Chorong's unreadable expression.

          "Ah, yes. I should’ve gone to greet you first,” Chorong starts, a soft smile playing on her lips.

          "Well, I thought you would need this back too so...” Bomi quickly holds out a sweet potato she picked up shortly after Chorong flung her apartment door shut earlier. Bomi goes back to looking around at the ceiling and avoiding eye contact. She doesn’t even realize how flushed Chorong is.

          "Thank you. Um…” Chorong blinks and feels her face grow hotter when her hand accidentally brushes on Bomi's when she’s receiving the sweet potato. Bomi recoils abruptly and Chorong wonders just how scared Bomi is of her already. For the sake of her own conscience, Chorong wants to fix that. 

          "Would you like to come inside for a bit? I was just about to cut some fruit.” Chorong breaks the silence with a slight wave back inside her apartment. She’s slightly taken aback by the goofy grin plastered on Bomi's face but gives her an earnest smile when Bomi starts nodding vigorously.

          "I’m sorry about earlier… for scaring you,” Bomi pipes as she casually strides over to Chorong's kitchen table and takes a seat. Chorong feels herself frown, unsure of whether it’s because there is a stranger in her house or because the stranger is apologetic for Chorong's own mistake. Bomi peers up at her again, “I was just trying to say hello but I suppose this is a better way to get to know each other?”

          Chorong freezes at the fridge and feels herself crawl in on herself. “No, it was my fault for being so rude. I don’t know what got into me.”

          "Everybody has their ups and downs.” Bomi says simply, her nose scrunching as she beams endearingly. She peeks at the tray of peaches Chorong has brought over and tilts her head curiously. Chorong is halfway done cutting one of the peaches when she realizes that Bomi is already holding one. She bites through the skin and chomps on it happily, ignoring the perfectly cut slices that Chorong had quickly produced. Chorong holds back a sigh and finishes up neatly aligning the rest of the slices, placing one in shortly after.

          "So what should I call you?” Bomi asks almost tentatively before taking another bite out of her peach. Chorong only then realizes that she hadn’t even told Bomi her name.

          “Chorong. Park Chorong.”

"That’s a pretty name.” Bomi nods thoughtfully before rapidly purling around to face Chorong again, “Is it rude to ask how old you are?”

          “I became thirty in March,” Chorong replies simply.

"Thirty?” Bomi half shouts, her eyes round with shock as she realizes how outrageous the thought is, “I honestly thought you were younger than me.”

          Chorong chokes on the peach she was chewing; it’s not that she hasn’t heard she looks young for age before. It’s just her first time hearing it from Bomi and for some reason, it makes her stomach feel jittery. 

          "So how old are you?” Chorong manages to say though she seems at slight loss of breath.

          Bomi places her chin between the palms of her hand and smiles sweetly at her. “I’m twenty eight!” Was she trying to act cute?

          Chorong is glad she didn’t have fruit in at that moment because there was no doubt that she would’ve choked again and possibly even spit it straight at Bomi's face. Instead, she settles for a giggle and hurriedly looks away. What was it about Bomi that made her so jumpy?

Ding dong!

          And why are there so many visitors today? Chorong tries to hide her annoyance as she trots over to her door. The sound of her bell did not cease though and by the time she had her hand on the knob, she had figured who it was: her pesky little sister. Unwilling to even hint that she has a guest at home, Chorong barely even opens the door enough for her to peek out.

          "What do you want?” Chorong hisses in her low voice of irritation. What she doesn't expect is for her sister to press her weight against the door and force it open. She could never beat her in strength.

          "Are you trying to hide something from me? Why aren’t you opening your door?” her sister all but yells as she casually walks into the apartment as if she didn’t practically knock Chorong to the ground to get inside. Suddenly, her little sister gasps and whispers, “Are you… hiding a boy?”

          "No! My house is just mess––”

"Eunji?” Bomi appears from the kitchen, still holding the pit of the peach and looking overly pleased at the sight of Eunji.

          "Huh? D-do you two k-know each other?” Chorong stammers. She watches helplessly as Bomi and Eunji friendly wrestle with each other, ruffling their hair and throwing soft punches here and there. Bomi ends up in a headlock as Eunji hollers victoriously. Chorong restrains herself from kicking them both out of her house on the spot.

          “So how do you guys know each other again?” Chorong asks again, this time directing her question more at Bomi. Eunji ends up answering for her.

          "She’s my best friend. Maybe if you ever cared to listen, you would’ve known,” Eunji says as she pads over to the fridge and pulls out a can of beer.

          Chorong scowls and attempts to stop her but figures it's too late when she hears the audible pop of the can in a matter of seconds.

          "And how do you know Chorong unnie?” Bomi asks pointedly when Eunji drags her to the couch and turns on the TV. If anyone were watching, they’d think she was the one paying the rent. Chorong doesn’t tear her eyes away from the two friends, only narrowing her vision when Bomi leans in with a sneaky grin towards Eunji before whispering shortly in her ear. Eunji bursts out into raucous laughter and throws Chorong a mocking look. Chorong swears that she saw her stick out her tongue.

          "She’s my uptight older sister.” Eunji relays and takes another swig of the beer. Bomi nods a little awkwardly but beams brightly when her eyes meet Chorong's. It makes Chorong wonder what Bomi had whispered to Eunji. A smirk spreads across Eunji's face as she takes a peek at her friend. Her hand abruptly thuds down onto Bomi's back as she pulls her closer. “Why? Is my sister hot?” Eunji teases; she wiggles her eyebrows only to be shrugged off with a loud wail of complaint.

          "So why are you here again?” Chorong interrupts their second wrestling showdown before it can get any wilder a little too loudly, albeit a little embarrassed for some reason by Eunji's typical playful nature. There’s a beat of silence before Eunji adjusts herself on the couch properly again.

          “Bomi wanted to hang out tonight and show me her new place so she texted me her address. I thought it looked a little familiar but I only realized that it was right next door to you when I got here.” Eunji blinks innocently up at Chorong who is still glaring at her with a skeptical brow.

          "That doesn’t explain why you came to my apartment.”

          "Can’t your sweet little sister come visit before hanging out with her dear friend?” Eunji smiles endearingly, wrapping her arms around Chorong to drag her facedown onto the couch. There are muffled groans of protest. “Besides, it’s not like Bomi was in her apartment anyways. She was here with you,” Eunji finishes before practically jumping off the couch to dodge Chorong's immediate attack.

          "Should we just get going now then?” Bomi asks tentatively, “I don’t want to intrude for too long.”

          Chorong's death glare softens as she turns to Bomi, “Aw, it’s totally fine. You weren’t intruding.” Chorong swivels her head to face Eunji, “She was the one who was intruding.” Eunji holds up her hands in surrender, slowly sliding next to Bomi so that she could use her as a shield if she ended up having to.

          “Yeah, let’s just go now before I get killed, Bomi,” Eunji tugs on Bomi's sleeve.

"Hey… Do you want to come with Eunji and me to the club tonight?” Bomi's face lightens at the sudden idea. Eunji's jaw practically drops at the suggestion.

          “C-club?” Chorong repeats as if in awe but is abruptly cut off by the sound of Eunji's deafening guffaws.

          "MY UNNIE AT A CLUB?” Eunji breaks into horrendous laughter again before gasping, “This conservative grandma has probably never even stepped foot in somewhere like that!”

          Chorong feels her face go beet red; it’s not that Eunji is wrong but her little sister’s mocking chortles pierce her pride. “I can go to clubs,” Chorong snaps, slapping Eunji upside her head.

          “So will you go?” Bomi implores, staring at her bright-eyed and eager.

          It’s a face that Chorong can’t find herself saying no to. “I-I… I’ll go.” Chorong responds weakly, pressing into a thin line as Eunji stares at her in shock and Bomi celebrates with loud hoots of joy.

          “Then we’ll change and meet you outside in thirty minutes!” Bomi gives Chorong an excited thumbs up and clamours out the door with Eunji dragging behind her. The door shuts with a bang and Chorong is left in her familiar silence again. She feels her head spin a little from all the chaos and her knees begin to give out. Soon, her back is sliding against the wall as she droops down in defeat. What. Just. Happened.

          “This day just keeps getting weirder,” Chorong bleats drearily before pounding her head against the wall. She draws back quickly after remembering that that wall was the one she shared with Bomi. She’d hate to have Eunji catch her regretting her decisions. Why had she agreed to this anyway? What charm did Bomi have that made it so difficult to say no? And why, out of all people, was she best friends with her annoying little sister? Chorong wants to scream in frustration but finds herself stomping into her room to get ready anyways. Chorong wasn’t the type to break promises.

-- 30 min later --

          "Woah,” Bomi involuntary breathes when she sees Chorong in a slightly revealing but tight black dress.

          “Agh, my eyes,” Eunji shouts, covers her face with both her hands, and runs off to catch a cab. Chorong and Bomi don’t seem to mind her as they’re both staring at each other, starstruck. Bomi gulps when Chorong puts a hand through her hair and shifts her gaze down to her feet shyly.

          “You clean up nice,” Chorong remarks almost hesitantly. It gets strangely quiet from there and just when it looks like Chorong wants to take it back out of awkwardness, Bomi blurts,“You too! You look really… wow. Wow.” Bomi keeps repeating it for a while, only making Chorong grow redder by the second but she’s glad she looks nice to Bomi. She doesn’t know why she thinks that, but she does.

          “If you’re done googling at my hot best friend, can you get in the cab already? We don’t have all day,” Eunji hollers from the road, rushing them over.

          Chorong immediately scowls bitterly, “Shut up!”

          “Oh, sorry. Did I get it wrong? Was my best friend the one googling at my hot sister?” Eunji teases once more, popping her head back into the cab before either Chorong or Bomi could throw something at her.

          Bomi and Eunji chatter enthusiastically the whole way to the club and by the time they’re there, Chorong is already drained of all her energy. Who knew these two would be such a handful? She’s almost relieved when they arrive because she figures she’ll find some sort of peace and quiet eventually, only to realize the club isn’t any less lawless. In fact, it’s a harbor for people like Eunji and Bomi who turn out to be regulars.After quickly ordering their share of drinks, Eunji and Bomi saunter out onto the dance floor while Chorong slips away to the bar at a safe distance. She’s still watching the pair, but she figures she’ll prefer just drinking away her sanity at a place like this.

          “A friend of Eunji and Bomi?” A bartender approaches Chorong casually, pouring some scotch into one of the glass cups. The ice tinkers against the brown liquid and the bartender gives a crooked grin before sliding it over to Chorong. Chorong peers at the woman curiously. she appears to be young: even younger than herself despite being a lot taller. Chorong cautiously accepts the glass and takes a swig, feeling the alcohol burn pleasantly. It tastes almost sweet today.

          “I’m Eunji's sister,” Chorong feels some shame wash over her when she glances over at her little sister and finds her grinding on Bomi. The bartender laughs lightheartedly at the way Chorong flinches.

          “Don’t be embarrassed,” the bartender reassures, “They’re always like that.”

“Always?” Chorong sputters.

          “Well… In a friendly manner, of course.”

“Oh,” Chorong takes another sip at her scotch and fiddles with the bracelet she’s wearing, “So what’s your name?”

          “Uh, Oh Hayoung.” The bartender remarks, pointing down at her name tag. Chorong nods stiffly and tries to ignore the alcohol beginning to circulate throughout her body. She knows she doesn’t have a high tolerance but it’s going down like water today. Yet, she stops herself so that at the end of the night, she’s only a little tipsy; her self-control was always quite admirable. Eunji and Bomi come looking for her by midnight and Chorong finds Bomi drunk enough to probably have a rough hangover the next morning. Eunji seems sober enough so Chorong lets her carry Bomi out to the front, the chilly air biting their cheeks as they wave frantically for a cab. Two pull up conveniently at the same time and just when Chorong hopes for a nice and peaceful ride home in her own cab, Eunji flops Bomi's half-awake body into her cab.

          “What the– Why are you putting her here?” Chorong protests, trying to throw Bomi back into Eunji's arms. Eunji smoothly clips Bomi's seatbelt over her and pats her head, ducking to meet Chorong's lighted glare.

          “You guys live next to each other.” Eunji says simply.

          “But she’s your best friend!” Chorong argues, “Take her back to your place or something.”

          “No.” Eunji slams the cab door close and despite Chorong's shouts of protest, calmly tells the cab driver Chorong's address before handing him a crisp twenty dollar bill. “Keep the change.” She says and waves before moving over to the cab behind them.

          Chorong is left cursing to herself, mumbling death sentences to Eunji as the cab pulls out of the sidewalk. She can’t believe that she just spent her night at a club talking to some bartender and now is being forced to take her dumb cute neighbor back home. Dumb cute… Chorong stops herself at the realization of what she just called Bomi. Dumb cute. Cute. A weight drops on Chorong's shoulder and she finds Bomi passed out and leaning against her, mumbling something about Eunji screaming in her ear and making her deaf. Pft, this was her little sister’s best friend that she was thinking about. She can’t possibly think she’s cu– For the first time, Chorong gets a good look at Bomi's face when she tilts backwards, the long strands of hair falling away and suddenly, all Chorong can think is that she’s cute. She has a cute nose, cute cheeks, cute pursed lips, and thanks to the alcohol, two cute droopy eyes. Even when she’s drooling, Chorong can’t help but find it lovable.

          They make it home while Chorong is gazing at her new neighbor in curious interest and practically drags her up to Namjoo's apartment on the first floor. She doesn’t know Bomi's apartment passcode and the only way she could drop Bomi off was by getting it from Namjoo. After ringing the doorbell a little more than twenty times, Chorong sighs and gives up after realizing that Namjoo is probably out partying on that Friday night. She shoulders Bomi once more and sets off to her floor, grumbling and cursing Eunji for leaving her to deal with Bomi. Now she would have to face the awkward morning greetings from someone she barely knew and she was definitely not the type of person to allow random drunkards into her apartment even if they were cute. Chorong glances down at Bomi who is blubbering nonsense through half lidded eyes as she hangs tightly off of Chorong's arm. Okay, maybe it helps if they’re cute.

          “Arew wea homee?” Bomi mewls as she takes a sweeping look around the apartment.

          “Not exactly,” Chorong remarks pointedly and leads Bomi into her bedroom. There’s a little bit of struggle to help her get changed, especially because Chorong keeps finding herself blushing every time they brush arms or their eyes meet. After some hard work and coaxing, Chorong manages to tuck Bomi into bed safely. She trots around the room one last time to make sure that there’s nothing she’s forgotten about when suddenly, Bomi peeks out from the covers again. Chorong swears she had a mini heart attack at the sudden movement.

          “Arwen’t youi going to sleewp too?” Bomi slurs but it sounds more like a frightened two year old asking their mom to stay with them during a thunderstorm.“I’ll be on the couch if you need me”

          “No,” Bomi grabs her wrist and flings her back into the bed, tightening her grip around her. Chorong tenses and feels her breath get knocked out of her, knowing that Bomi is practically cradling her at that moment. “Stay with me.”

          Those words ring clear then and Chorong suddenly wonders if Bomi is already magically sober. But even then, why would she ask to stay with her? Chorong waits for Bomi's movements to halt before squirming out of her grasp. It’s difficult to get out of but once she’s untangled herself from Bomi's arms, Chorong takes a second to admire Bomi again. Her soft snores aren’t there anymore but she’s still just as cute.

          “Mmsdfsff,” Bomi murmurs before reaching for a pillow and squeezing it close to her, “I kind of like you. I’m happy you’re not Eunji's girlfriend.”

          What?! Chorong tries not to panic. She’s probably not talking about her. There’s no way she’s talking about her.

          A small pout begins to form on Bomi's lips, “But you’re her sister.”

          Oh my gosh. She’s talking about her. Chorong covers with her hand desperately, muffling the instinctual screams of panic that were washing over her. Could Bomi have asked if Chorong was Eunji's girlfriend earlier when she was whispering in Eunji's ear on the couch? Was that why Eunji had laughed so mockingly and even stuck out her tongue before smugly informing her she was merely her “uptight older sister”? Chorong's eyes dart back and forth when Bomi reaches for her wrist again and before she can pull away, she’s perched on the mattress and inches from Bomi's face. And this time, Bomi's eyes are open.

          “But Eunji was right. Her sister is hot.”

          Chorong feels her eyes shut when Bomi gingerly takes hold of her face and kisses her. It’s a sloppy kiss, Chorong blames it on the alcohol, but it’s sweet and leaves Chorong wanting more. Her cheeks are starting to burn up and her eyes drop back down to Bomi's lips when she realizes what just happened. She… kissed her little sister’s best friend. Oh my gosh, she kissed her little sister’s best friend! Chorong jerks herself off the bed and tears her eyes away from Bomi who has peacefully passed out again and is snoring away.

          “Okay. It’s okay. It’s okay,” Chorong repeats to herself in hushed whispers, pacing a little as she makes her way to the door. She’s got her hands in her hair as she tries to slow down her buzzing mind, “It’s okay. She was drunk. It didn’t mean anything and she probably won’t even remember.” Chorong quietly closes the door behind her and robotically begins to make her own bed on the couch, fluffing up her pillow and sliding easily under the covers. “She was drunk. She won’t even remember.” Honestly, it’s the only reassurance she really has so Chorong mumbles it again and again, hoping, no, begging for the next day to come so she can find out that this was all just a horrible dream.

          Except that it wasn’t.

                    And Bomi did remember.

-- aaannnnddd that's the first chapter! i've written chobom before in my fanfic "New" but it's my first time going more in depth like this so it feels very different. i hope it was still enjoyable~ --