(A/N:) Sorry for the wait!

“I’ll call you when you’re hired!” Woohyun called after you as you started for the door. You turned to smile at him and he waved your completed application in the air before tacking it back on the bulletin board.

“Thanks, Woohyun,” you said before turning on your heel and exiting the bubble tea shop. You surveyed your surroundings and bit your lip, not exactly sure from which direction you came. You scratched your neck and shrugged. “It can’t be that far away,” you thought aloud as you started off in a random direction. You would find the apartment eventually; how hard could it be?

--------------------

“Dammit!” you cried out when your eyes settled on a much too familiar alley. You were all the way back at the bubble tea shop, right back where you started.

You had wandered around aimlessly for hours, hoping you would stumble across some familiar street or building that would ultimately lead you home, but to no avail. You couldn’t even pull up a map on your phone; the battery had crapped out about an hour earlier. You glared hard at the black screen and shoved the device back in your pocket with a grunt.

“I guess I’ll just have to ask for directions,” you sighed. You were never one for asking for directions. You didn’t like the helpless, idiotic feeling that came with admitting you were lost. At the rate you were going now, however, you would never find your apartment.

“Eunmi-ssi?” a voice called from behind you.

You spun around and locked eyes with Woohyun. He was standing halfway in the door, halfway in the alley and held a large, black trash bag firmly in one hand.

He cocked an eyebrow and you cleared your throat awkwardly. “Hello, Woohyun-ssi, nice to see you again.”

The other smirked and stepped out into the alley, smoothly kicking a wooden doorstop between the door and the wall before he could be locked out. He disposed of the trash in a can next to the shop and crossed his arms over his chest. “Sure is. We’re closed, you know?” he gave you a knowing smile and you grimaced.

You sniffed arrogantly and mimicked his pose. “I know that,” you replied nonchalantly. “I was just, um, exploring the neighborhood.”

“This late at night?”

“Yes?”

“You’re lost,” he said matter-of-factly.

You blushed and stuttered out an unconvincing response, “Am not!”

“Yeah, sure,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. You frowned and chewed at your cheek in irritation. “Wait here,” he commanded suddenly, quickly disappearing into the shop.

The door banged against the wooden object and the sound echoed through the mostly empty alley. You heaved a sigh and leaned back against the brick wall of one of the buildings, tilting your head up towards the sky. Not a single star was visible, even the planes passing overhead were hard to make out. You’d have to get used to that. You’d probably have to get used to finding your way around on your own, too.

Woohyun reappeared after a minute and sent the wooden doorstop sliding into the shop with a swift kick, allowing the door to close completely. The neon sign in the window no longer read ‘open’, but instead blinked the word ‘closed’ in red letters.

“Where do you live?” Woohyun asked, strolling over to where you stood. You eyed him suspiciously, not entirely sure if you trusted him enough to lead you home. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. “Unless you’d rather wander around blindly, waiting for some gang to come along and kidnap you?”

“Mountain View Apartments,” you blurted without another thought. The other chuckled and started off in the direction opposite to the one you had decided to take, and you followed obediently. “You know where that is, right?”

Woohyun gave you a crooked smile and nodded. “Yeah, my friend lives there. Maybe you know him? His name is-”

“I don’t even know the name of the landlord,” you interrupted with a sheepish grin, “let alone my neighbors.”

The other shrugged and turned his face to look straight ahead. The two of you walked in silence for a while and you started to recognize the area you were now in. Wow, I really was lost, you thought to yourself, your cheeks flushing with the embarrassment you now felt.

“You got the job, by the way,” Woohyun admitted suddenly, breaking the silence.

“I did?!”

“Yup. I showed your application to the boss earlier and you ‘passed with flying colors’, as he put it.”

You laughed airily and fist pumped the air. Well, that was one less thing you had to worry about. Now that you had a job, you could focus on saving up for furniture and other such necessities. And, once your apartment was furnished and the bills were being paid, you would be able to go out and have fun. Maybe you’d even meet a nice boy? You could only dream.

All of your past boyfriends had been so boring. Well, maybe not boring, but they were never someone you could see yourself having a future with. They all aspired to continue living in a small town and a majority of them had mentioned wanting to start a family while young. They had all, like yourself, grown up on farms and were completely content with continuing to live that way. That was something you just couldn’t accept; why anyone would aspire to that kind of life was beyond your comprehension.

You needed adventure, freedom, life. The city held a sort of dream-like quality, which was part of why you loved it so much. The higher the skyscraper, the closer it was to the clouds, and you wished you could keep your head in the clouds forever.

“Hello? Earth to Eunmi!” Woohyun waved a hand in front of your face, successfully pulling you out of your thoughts. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest and you wondered if that was his favorite pose, or something. “I was talking to you!” he whined.

“S-sorry,” you coughed awkwardly, a little embarrassed that you had zoned out like that in the middle of a conversation. You heard your Dad’s voice calling you a hopeless airhead at the back of your mind and grimaced. “What were you saying?”

The other merely sniffed and turned his nose up toward the sky. “Forget it.”

Your eyes widened and a stunned laugh bubbled out of you. “How old are you? Five?”

“Twenty one,” he corrected haughtily.

You nearly choked on air at this. “There’s no way you’re twenty one,” you gaped, “you look younger than me!”

“Do not!” he hissed.

“Do, too!”

“If I look like I’m five, then you must be a toddler,” he retorted.

You opened your mouth to form a rebuttal, but caught sight of a familiar building beyond Woohyun. “That’s my apartment complex,” you stated dumbly, pointing a finger in the direction of the tall building.

Woohyun threw a quick look over his shoulder and nodded. He turned back to you with a smug grin and chuckled. “Well spotted.”

“You know what? I’ve had enough of your attitude, good night!” you yelled playfully and stormed off in the direction of the apartment complex.

“I don’t even get a ‘thank you’?” Woohyun yelled after you, feigning hurt. “What kind of coldhearted woman are you?!”

You spun around and smiled brightly, waving as you walked backwards, and called out across the crowd, “Thank you, Woohyun-ssi!”

The other waved back and chuckled to himself. “I expect to see you at 8 a.m. sharp!”

His voice was fading, but you managed to make out his last comment and gave a playful salute before facing forward and continuing on like a normal human. You whistled a tune to yourself, very satisfied with your first day in the city.

Woohyun watched as you disappeared into the crowd and his smile slowly faded, his face taking on a thoughtful expression. Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he had hung out with a girl without it turning into something ual. It felt good to genuinely connect with someone on a personal and friendly level, rather than skipping the conversation part and jumping straight to the fooling around. Not that he hadn’t thought of fooling around with you, quite the contrary, he had thought about it many times that day. But there was something about you that set you apart from all the other girls.

He smiled a crooked smile and slowly turned around, extracting his phone from his pocket. He typed away furiously and read over the message before hitting send:

To: Grump

You’ll be proud of me, wanna know why?

I just had a genuine conversation with a girl! ^0^

And guess what?

I walked her home…and didn’t stay ^.~

I can’t wait to see her again!

Well, that’s all; hope you had a good day! >ㅁ< 

With that, Woohyun shoved his phone back in his pocket and whistled to himself the entire walk home. 8 a.m. couldn’t come fast enough.

--------------------

The elevator doors creaked open and you smiled at the sight of your door a little ways down the hall. In a few seconds, you’d be home-sweet-home.

You were practically skipping down the hallway, humming a cheerful tune to yourself, when your neighbor’s door flew open and out stepped the jerk from the day before. You froze in your tracks and stared wide-eyed at the intimidating figure before you. He hadn’t yet noticed your presence, it seemed, for he was reading something on his phone.

One corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile and your heart fluttered at the subtle change in expression. He really was one of the handsomest men you had ever seen. He typed away on the phone screen, which took a little while, giving you ample time to think of some sort of greeting. You realized that you suddenly forgave him for ignoring you before. Maybe he had had a bad day yesterday? For all you knew, he could be a perfectly decent human being at all other times.

A perfectly decent human being with a perfect body, you thought shamelessly. Your cheeks burned a bright red at the thought and, right at that moment, the cold guy placed his phone back in his pocket and his eyes flashed up to meet yours. He froze visibly and stared at you for a long moment. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down and your eyes followed the motion.

“H-hello,” you squeaked unimpressively. You cleared your throat and took a step forward, ignoring the cold expression on the other’s face. “I’m your new neighbor, remember? Kim Eunmi. Um, it’s nice to meet you!”

You bowed ninety degrees and, just as you were straightening up, a cold breeze blew by you. You stood up straight and your eyes turned to saucers at the sight of the empty hallway. Your lips formed a hard line and you whipped around to glare into the elevator where your unsociable neighbor now stood. He stared at you coldly from the small space, his arms crossed over his chest defiantly.

You scoffed and rolled your eyes, turning your back on the elevator and heading for your apartment door. Whatever, you wouldn’t let another failed attempt at a conversation ruin your day.

You thought about the comfortable walk home you had shared with Woohyun and smiled brightly, disappearing inside and leaving all bad thoughts on the doorstep. 

Well, I hope you guys like the update! I actually really enjoyed writing it c:

Please, pretty please with sugar and all that, COMMENT! I want to know what you think, and comments inspire me to write faster and update more often.

Even saying something as simple as "Awww, that was cute!" makes my day. Seriously!

Well, thanks for reading! Until next time!

Annyeong~!