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"All done moving in?"

Minho placed the last box down, showing a content nod towards his new landlady. He wouldn't even consider her the landlady, given that she was merely someone Minho used to know and had a spare available apartment — to him, they were old friends. "Thanks for this place, Soojin. Make sure to thank your mom for me."

"Of course, of course," the girl laughed, gently patting Minho's back. "Anything for an old friend. I must warn you, though — the echoing in these rooms are absolutely terrible, so it's best to become a maximalist to reduce the echo."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm a hoarder," Minho laughed, shaking his head. "I'll get to packing my stuff, hm? See you around, Soojin."

"Take care, Minho."

Soojin waved her hand as she left the apartment, and Minho politely closed the door behind her. He looked back at all he unpacked boxes and felt his mood sink immediately. "Right. I have work to do." As he reached for a box, his phone began ringing loudly. He sat on the floor, answering the phone as he picked up the box cutter. "Mhm, yes? Minho speaking."

"Did you move in already?"

"Yipperdoodle, just closed the door behind me," Minho answered with a playful tone. "You can only visit once I've fully moved in. I'm not ready for guests."

"But you said I could come over as soon as you—!"

"Hanni, come on, let's be realistic — oppa is busy, so you'll have to wait."

"... tch."

"Go annoy Changbin or something," Minho complained, putting the knife to the side as he opened the box. "I'm busy. Don't you have school today? I'll tell Aunty Canh you're calling during school hours—"

"Fine, fine, I'll hang up," the girl on the other end laughed. "I'll be visiting tomorrow with friends, okay? Prepare some snacks for us, okay?"

"Whatever, whatever. See you soon, Hanni."

"Bye bye! Tell me if you meet any boys!"

The call ended before Minho could respond. He sighed, eyeing the books in the box he had opened. He still had online lectures while he was moving in, so he wanted to get his study material out for the cramming he'd be doing for the next week's exam.

"Hah — Hanni can wait."

Minho himself didn't know why he still kept contact with Hanni. When the young girl and her family had moved in next door to his parents' place from Vietnam, they wholeheartedly welcomed them into the neighbourhood. Minho grew closer to the family's oldest daughter, but Hanni had claimed Minho as her best friend at the young age of 11. Even as she turned 18 that year and met her last year of high school, they somehow still remained close.

Minho enjoyed her company. He had even bought her a new jacket on her 18th birthday and they still remained quite close. Minho wasn't fond of the fact that one of his closest friends was literally a highschooler, but Hanni meant no harm and was actually quite a joy to be around.

"Wait, I need to move my bed—"

Minho hated the aftermath of moving out, which was disposing of the numerous boxes and plastic waste materials that arose from all his luggage. He cleared most of it throughout the course of the day, but there were still so many boxes. Against his better judgement, he left it for the next day.

Minho trudged to his bed, barely fitted with a sheet, and plopped his body down tiredly. He was exhausted from the day's work. He stared up at the new ceiling, finally registering the fact that he had moved out into a new apartment. The room still smelled fresh of the white paint on the walls.

"... It's surprisingly quiet..."

Minho closed his eyes, focusing on the ringing silence. He could hear the boiler accompanying the soft hum of the fridge. However, another unfamiliar noise joined the familiar sounds. Someone was crying. He frowned, listening closely to the location of the soft sobs.

He sat up, turning around to face the wall behind him. It came from right behind him. He heard sniffling before the blow of a nose — someone really was crying next door. Minho sat contemplating for a moment, not knowing what to do. The best choice would be to let them be — but Minho was exhausted, and this crying person would definitely keep him up.

The crying suddenly stopped, as if they were aware someone was listening in. Minho held his breath, preparing his guilty apology if the person exposed him. However, only silence passed. Minho was still cautious, carefully lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling again.

Maybe the person had fallen asleep, given that they had been crying. Minho turned onto his side, closing his eyes as he attempted to sleep as well. He exhaled heavily out his nose, finally finding the will to fall asleep. He greeted the night with open arms, ready to embrace and have the best sleep of his life.

Minho yawned, unlocking his apartment door and kicking his shoes out. He closed the door behind him, locking automatically. He lazily slid down the door, picking up his shoes to put them on. He stopped, hearing the beep of another apartment's lock nearby. He looked to his right, meeting eyes with a rather awkwardly placed human.

It was boy of about similar height to his own, messy brunette hair and quite chaotic fashion. His grey sweatpants were tucked into his socks, adorned by a worn out pair of Crocs and accompanied by a large, oversized t-shirt. The two stared at each other for a moment before the boy dipped his head. "O-Oh, hello. You must be my new neighbour."

Minho bowed as well, awkwardly slipping his shoes on without tying the laces. "Ah, yes — nice to meet you, I'm Lee Minho."

"Han Jisung," the other replied politely as he dipped his head again. "Sorry if I make a noise at night, I stream on Twitch sometimes. I might be noisy. I've gotten complaints before, so... just warning you."

Minho simply nodded, patting his buttocks to rid them of any dust. "I'll keep that in mind, because I'm a student at the moment."

The boy laughed in apology, but Minho felt some underlying emotion. The boy lived in the apartment directly next to his — the apartment wherein he had heard someone crying. Minho was about to ask, but decided against it.

"It was nice meeting you, Jisung-ssi," Minho smiled, bowing once more before turning to the elevator at the end of the hall. He looked back once more, watching as Jisung stood outside his apartment for a moment, scrolling on his phone before walking in the opposite direction — perhaps to visit someone.

He had somehow forgotten his shoelaces were still untied.

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