He could feel his heels burning as he stood outside the coffee shop. 

A cigarette in his right hand as a good excuse to stall upon pushing the glass door and entering. 

An inhale, his lungs inflating. An exhale, the smoke withering in the wind. Another inhale, his eyes closing.

You can do it. 

Exhale.

I can't. 

He turned abruptly on his burning heels and what greeted him was the sight of the busy street. Busy people walking along their paths, who went home, who ran errands, others going to work. He just wanted to vanish. 

Another inhale, the heavy feeling of smoke filling him up, he closed his eyes, the traffic light in front of him disappearing. He let the blackness calm him down, still keeping inside the smoke, the heaviness. 

The jingling bells of the door opening behind him, a thunderous laugh —recognisable— from the buzzing inside. 

He opened his eyes, turned again on his heels and walked into the cafe. 

***

The sight of his waving friend was what greeted him as soon as the warmth of the coffee shop engulfed him, door closing behind his back. He couldn't see anyone beyond Soohyuk as his broad shoulders hid whoever sat in front of him, and curiosity pushed forward, knocking off his dread towards that encounter, and he walked towards the booth. Head held low, a posture he was now accustomed to wear.

Although he wished the opposite, space ran out and he found himself standing in front of the booth, reminding himself not to fidget and to keep his composure.

«So, Lee-ssi, let me introduce you to your neighbour and also my close friend Kwon Jiyong» Soohyuk breached through the silence surrounding them and with his introduction, forced Jiyong to look up towards the man he was being introduced. 

A pair of big eyes and bright smile greeted him, and he felt stunned by the enthusiasm the stranger seemed having by just meeting him. He noticed a while after that Lee-ssi was holding his hand to shake it, and he then understood what Soohyuk told him previously. The guy had a mannerism that wasn't asian at all. From the fact he didn't bow at him but went for a hand-shake, to the fact that he didn't smile at him tightlipped as their costumes would teach them, he was obviously been raised with Western Costumes, probably from English states as he didn't go for a kiss on his cheek.

He didn't let this fact falter him, as he had grown used to different cultures by his previous life. In fact, although the first time a kiss landed on his cheek from a complete stranger, did shock him, now he was more than ok with this kind of greeting, especially since years before he went for long periods of time to Paris to meet people like Karl Lagerfield or Donatella Versace. A whole different life from the one he was leading now.

He held the other's hand and shook it gently before looking at Soohyuk while releasing the hold.

«so you said it's about the contract, right?» one fluid motion. One strap of the band-aid. It may hurt but it's fast and less painful in the long run. 

If his neighbour wanted to sell the apartment, it's none of his business. Well, it was, but not in the meaning that he should have cared about it. Besides, were those less lonely nights going to change him? Yeah, he found himself enjoying listening to his neighbour's choice of the day regarding movies, videos and such, but although it was less lonely, he had no reason to feel upset. Yet...

«actually, Kwon-ssi, it's not the reason why I asked to meet you» the man talked, diverting Jiyong's attention from Soohyuk's eyes, and gathering all of it towards him in a matter of few words. 

Admittedly, it felt strange to hear his neighbour talking directly to him, instead of a screen or a friend of his, and Jiyong couldn't help but take note of how smooth and calming his voice was. Melodious, like the hum he heard him sing the first night, and it was perhaps for his habit of a lifetime of listening to voices and picture melodies, but he thought that most certainly, his neighbour had a beautiful voice that would perfectly fit a ballad. 

Habits, habits, habits. He silently reprimanded himself for letting the door he had shut on that world, easily open and reveal a small gap. 

He shut it close with the blink of his eyes, and went back to think about the statement, instead of stupidly letting those thoughts invade his mind. Who cared if this guy had a nice singing voice? He sure didn't.

Wait.

The words that finally sank in his brain, left him surprised and dumbfounded. 

He wasn't there for the contract?

His confusion might have been written all over his face as the man with black hair let out a quiet chuckle.

«don't look at me like that, Kwon-ssi!» another chuckle «it's just—could you sit down please?» the man said so while sitting back down as well, and set his eyes over the empty spot Soohyuk had on his left. Jiyong nodded silently and made to sit, but as he was about to do so, Soohyuk's phone that was placed on top of the table, begun ringing loudly, before Soohyuk swept it and brought it hastily to his ear. 

«Jagi, I'm in the middle of a meeting, can you—»

«you can take it, hyung, there's nothing to worry about» the neighbour, Lee-ssi, said with a warm smile that almost hid his irises, baby-bags forming small crescents right underneath. 

Soohyuk slowly brought the phone down and placed a hand to cover the speaker with a worried glance.

«ah, there's no need, I can—»

«really hyung, don't worry, I won't eat Kwon-ssi if that's what your concern is about» he turned briefly to smile at Jiyong, before looking back at Soohyuk. «he's not made of bamboo — or strawberries, so no worry for that» he chuckled lightly at his own joke, and Jiyong watched dumbfounded as Soohyuk chuckled as well.

«right. Because you're a panda» Soohyuk jokingly deadpanned while the neighbour pouted.

«that's what Tabi-hyung says» he commented with a light roll of eyes «anyway, hyung, go talk to your sweet-heart, you're making her wait» 

Soohyuk bit his lip in thought and looked at Jiyong, waiting for his consent as well, as he knew perfectly well Jiyong's trouble with strangers, but Jiyong smiled away his concern, and although it left Soohyuk surprised, he thankfully nodded and walked out, leaving the two neighbours alone.

***

«so, Kwon-ssi, I'm sorry to have tricked you» Lee-ssi said as soon as Jiyong finished ordering his drink. What he said, though, caught completely Jiyong's attention, and for a second, he felt scared. 

Tricked? Did that mean that his neighbour had bad intentions? He didn't look the type, but then again—

«The reason why I asked to meet you was merely to understand why you wanted to buy all of the apartments of the building... you know, it wouldn't be strange if it was to rent them out, but, as far as I know, we're the only two living in the building...»

Jiyong stared in silence the man, pondering deeply. What could he tell to the man sat opposite to him? That it was for privacy reasons? To defend that little alone time he had? That when he begun having his doorbell ringing at 3 am in the morning, he begun to feel actually scared for himself? That he couldn't even have his family over without risking for them to be followed back to their own places and bothered?

«it's... complicated» he ended up saying. 

He was looking at his hands, the irregular shape of his bitten nails, his fingers bony and slim, the bones clearly visible on the back of his hand, the slightly faded tattoo of the smily face in between his index and thumb, then the dollar sign, the "F", the heart, the peaceminusone imprinted on the side of his middle finger—

«have you eaten?» he was abruptly brought out of his revere by the question thrown at him, and he looked up at the other, finding him staring at his hands as he was doing a second before.

«I... I always skip breakfast» he murmured watching as a frown grew on the other's face.

«I didn't mea