𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃

2 | no. 7

"I-I'm sorry, I'll remove it." I stammer and grip the handle. It makes a rolling sound as one of the wheels breaks down and the whole suitcase makes a scrapping and screeching noise against the floor's tiles. Well, that's embarrassing.

"Shit!" I whisper-yell and the girl comes forward. She closes the door of her building and runs over to me, her wavy blonde hair shining under the sun. I'm too busy trying to adjust the wheel back to the base of the suitcase but the stupid thing broke and I don't have another replacement wheel.

"I see the wheel broke." She says. I nod and just when I thought that she'd help me out she adds "I just hope you're on the ground floor otherwise this will be hard to carry around."

No shit.

"So, you're the new tenant?" She questions.

"Yes,"

"What's your name?" The blond woman asks, her jade green eyes putting me on the spot.

"Park Jimin." I answer and she snorts.

"Another poor lost soul," she mutters. "One more person to expect late payment from"

"Is there a problem with that?" I raise a brow.

"Oh, don't get me wrong-it's just that the other guy that lives here is total douche and I want to punch him in the neck."

"Is he late with his payments?" I inquire.

"Most of the time but I'm used to it."

"Okay,"

"I'm Nox." She says and I extend my hand. She looks at my palm weirdly.

"What's wrong?" I pipe. "Do I have something on my hand?"

"No," Nox replies. "You've got tiny hands."

I don't know how to respond to that.

"It's cute don't worry." She says and finally shakes my hand.

Well, this isn't awkward at all.

"Okay, maybe not tiny, but childlike." Nox continues.

This isn't getting any less weird.

"Let me help you with your stuff." She says.

"Ah, no it's okay." I say tentatively.

"What number are you?"

"Seven."

"Oh well, you're on your own then."

My eyes widen in disbelief. "What! Why?"

"You're on the top floor and the elevator is out of order." She says simply as she walks away. "You're on your own buddy."

"You said you'd help me!" I cry.

She spins around and grins. "Oh, so now you want my help?"

Looking down on the floor, I nod.

"Next time don't say things you don't mean." She says and goosebumps rise on the nape of my neck. There was an unintended sharpness on the tone of her voice.

"Okay," I breathe and she turns to the pile of boxes on the floor. She takes two together and I'm amazed at how she can carry them.

"Relax princess," she coos. "I can handle the weight."

I grab two boxes and then we climb three flights of stairs in silence. When we finish carrying the final boxes along with my suitcase, I mentally slap my forehead.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

"I forgot to look for the apartment manager." I say. "I need my key."

"About time you asked." She mumbles and heads towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Don't you want your key?" She asks, her jades slicing through my ordinary brown orbs. "Come on, I'll give it to you."

It takes me moment to process what she just said. "Wait, you're the manager."

"Yup."

As we go down the stairs I begin to pay attention to her long blonde hair. The sun rays get caught in her cascading waves lighting up each and every follicle on fire. That's when I notice that her hair isn't blonde at all. There are specks of red in it and a knot is created in my stomach.

Fucking great. I moved from one place to another only to find an Evelyn lookalike.

Only, she didn't look like Evelyn at all. Okay, they might have the hair thing in common, but Nox' hair isn't as red as Evelyn's. Also, Nox is quite tall. Almost as tall as me, but if she wore heels she'd definitely surpass my height. She's wearing an army green jacket, a pink stripped T-shirt and jeans. Her brown boots are ankle high and she seems like the type who prefers comfort over the fashion standards. She's wearing eyeliner and natural pink lipstick. Her eyebrows aren't very thick, in fact they're kind of scarce and straight unlike Evelyn's full arched brows. One brow is slightly arched, as she gives the impression that's she's a challenging personality. Her lashes aren't particularly long either, but at least she doesn't put any stupid fake plastic extensions that would make her look like a doll. Nox wants to be real and true to herself. But she's also brutally honest and blunt and that comes off as rude to others. She doesn't seem to care though.

When we go down to the front yard, we walk past the water fountain and head towards her place on the ground floor. She unlocks the door and walks inside only to close the door to my face.

"Um, oh okay." I mutter and after several seconds, the door opens again and Nox appears with a single key hanging on her forefinger. Her nails are almond shaped, light pink nail polish making the surface smoother so when she hands me the key, her soft nails unintentionally caress the inside of my palms delicately.

"Since you're new here, you've gotta follow a few rules." Nox starts. "No. 1 no re-arranging the furniture. Everything is in place and you won't have to change a thing. Property owner's orders. No. 2 no smoking in the apartment otherwise I will have to kick your ass out. No. 3 if you want to fuck a girl or a guy you don't do it here." She then taps the wall next to her. "Walls are thin. No. 4 no loud music after 10 pm. But don't overdo it during the day either. No. 5 if you damage anything that doesn't belong to you, you pay. No. 6 open the door after you shower or the bathrooms window so that the steam escapes. We don't want mole on the walls. No. 7 if you want to do something—I don't know sketchy make sure that I will not find out. Capiche?"

I nod. "Understood."

"Alright, now if any problems occur during your stay, you come to me. It's my job to manage and monitor things around here, which means that I am responsible for keeping track of your payments as well. I expect you to be on time with your rent."

"End of the month 1,395 dollars." I say.

"You're learning fast. That's good Park." She smiles thinly. "You get three passes with your rent by the way. Don't worry, we will try to be lenient if you're facing any serious financial issues but don't take my patience for granted."

"I won't." I croak and she smiles more like a person this time.

"Alright," She mutters. "See you in the end of the month then." The door shuts with a light click.

Nox definitely is not a people person. I wonder how she got this job.