Home Invasion || Park Jisung

01。the player next door

Tuesday, 3:41 p.m.

Oh god, there he goes again.

Nari sat on her desk, watching the boy from her window. He's in her direct line of vision, but he didn't notice her. Or he's purposely pretending she didn't exist— which was a good thing because for the most part, she did the same.

She never asked for her bedroom window to align directly with Park Jisung's window. When he moved in last year, she never anticipated the sheer infuriation this boy would cause her.

He spun on his chair as a girl came into view. Nari rolled her eyes— right on cue. They both still have on their pretty beige uniforms, almost like a scene from a drama. She scoffed at the fact that they have such aesthetically-pleasing uniforms, while her all-girls high school uniform's a dull shade of grey.

The girl in Jisung's room walked slowly towards him, putting her hand on his shoulder as he sat, looking up. She watched in disdain, the way his lips move. She didn't have to be in the room to know he's seducing the hell out of her.

As much as she hated the boy, it's his choice how he chose to live his life. She's just mad that she was somehow always present while he goes about his player ways. She wondered if that girl knew just the amount of other girls he had brought to that same room to flirt with and seduce. At this point, she had already lost count.

She redirected her focus back on her sprawled textbooks. All she wanted was to focus on her homework, was that so hard? She buried her head into her books, furrowing her eyebrows as she willed herself to finish her task at hand.

However, Nari's curious. Before she knew it, her eyes were up again, boring into the window across from her. She's surprised to find that the boy wasn't in frame, but the girl was, and she's staring at Nari.

Again! All the girls he brought over, they do this— they come over and look at her like she had committed a crime against them. The girl's face was contorted into a bitchy scowl, not breaking eye contact even though Nari's staring right back.

Feeling increasingly awkward, Nari pushed up the rim of her glasses and looked back at her textbook, rolling her eyes. She bet it was his fault. She bet he told them all sorts of vile things about her, things that are not true just so the girls would look at her like this.

"Nari, come down, we're leaving now!"

She heard her mother call her from downstairs and she leapt from her chair, a little relieved for a reason to avoid the stare-down she was receiving. She skipped down the stairs and to the front hallways where her parents were waiting with their luggage.

"I wrote down all the emergency contacts and stuck them on the fridge for you, okay?" Her mother looked at her with a smile on her face. "Are you sure you're going to be okay alone?"

Nari rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah mom, I'm not a baby."

"Alright," her mother sighed. "We'll probably be back from the wedding either tomorrow night or two days from now. Call us if anything happens and if you don't feel safe just call—"

"—call Jisung for help, yeah I know."

Much to her dismay, Jisung and Nari's parents were pretty friendly with each other. She thought it's because both parents were often away from home and like to make sure their kids have someone nearby in case anything happens. It's absolutely ridiculous; what could possibly happen, anyway? Maybe the boy could choke on pizza or something— one could hope.

She definitely didn't need him to protect her, either. When has she ever asked him for help?

Well... She cringed internally as she remembered one instance— a creepy man had shown up on her doorstep and she called Jisung in a panic, telling him that there was a serial killer in front of her house. Safe to say, he was not a serial killer, but just a man who had lost his way in an unfamiliar neighborhood and needed directions.

"Also, there's a pie in the oven," her mother said as they opened the front door. "Share it with Jisung, okay? Poor boy's probably only had takeaway these past few weeks, his parents being away on a business trip and all."

Nari nodded mindlessly as she watched her parents walk away to their car. At the same time, she heard a door close shut from next door. She looked over and saw the girl from before, sashaying down the front path with her little skirt swinging behind her. The girl looked back once and for a brief moment, they made eye contact and, again, it was unpleasant.

That was fast, Nari thought.

"Bye honey!" Both her parents waved from inside the car.

She waved back politely and watched as they pulled out of the driveway and down the road. As soon as their car disappeared from view, she turned around and walked back into the house with a slight spring to her steps. As an only child, people assumed she got lonely when her parents weren't around, but she felt the opposite. She loved having the house to herself, it felt indescribably peaceful.

If only she didn't have to share that peace with the obnoxious boy coming in and out of her view.

She plopped back onto her desk chair, ready to resume her work when she spotted movements from her peripheral view. She looked up and gasped— there he was, pacing his room while tossing a tennis ball in his hand, and he's shirtless.

Heat travelled to her cheeks and she immediately looked away, but not before she got a good look at the high school boy. How could a boy his age be in such good shape? The afternoon sunlight hit his toned torso perfectly, highlighting his athletic build.

She shook her head, trying to relieve herself of the mental image. See, this is another thing she hated about the boy— he's always shirtless! In the morning when she's getting ready for school, he's shirtless. At night as she's putting on her skincare routine, he passes the window with only boxers. Even when she's trying to focus on her favorite TV shows, he's semi-naked!

It felt like she was fighting against herself, pushing her neck not to look up. No, she's not going to spend the rest of her afternoon craning her neck down just so she doesn't have to see him. She stood up, collecting her things in a rush before stomping out of her room.

Down the stairs she went, until she reached her dining table. She spread out her things and sat down, making sure that she wasn't facing his house because she knew well enough that her patio doors also provide her with a perfect view to his living room.

It sucked that both their houses were so exposed to each other, but there was nothing she could do about it. She's stuck living next to the player.

Ugh, fuck Park Jisung.

01。❝ the player next door ❞