The Neighbours (Sahyo)

That was unexpected!

"Oh my God, that note was yours."

"Huh?"

"'Hello, I'm sorry'?!" Sana barks. "Are you kidding me? That's your idea of an apology?"

"Woah, so fierce... Bu-but Her lips are really appealing ", Jihyo starred.

"Is something there on my lips now? ", Sana thinks.

"My eyes are up here", Sana shoots her finger towards her eyes.

"Okay, wait." The short woman holds both her hands up defensively.

"I told you I came by in person, but it's not my fault you're never home! What do you even do anyway? Normal people come home for dinner, not just y'know, to go to bed in the middle of the night. No wonder you're so grouchy all the time."

Sana bristles with indignation.

"Who is SHE to make judgments on how I lives my life?", Sana groans.

So what if she works a lot? She's happy to. She works at one of the most prestigious research and development firms in the country, Park Consolidated, and -

Her rambling thoughts come to a screeching halt as she's hit with a sudden, spine-chilling revelation.

"HOLY CRAP", Sana is looking at the short woman.

"Wait, what are you doing with your face? What'd I say?" The short woman mildly concerned voice sounds like it's coming from far away, like Sana been dunked into a water tank, as she starts figuring it all out.

"This face"

God, is she -

There's a reason why her annoying neighbour seems so familiar, she realises. A real, concrete reason .

"I've seen this short figure around the building".

"You're Park Jihyo," she whispers. "Park Jungwon's Step-daughter. Oh my -"

Jihyo's head tilts sideways. "You didn't know who I was?"

Sana's eyes flick up to Jihyo, startled. She licks her lips. "No?"

"Right. But you know who Jungwon is."

It's a little reassuring that Jihyo seems just as perplexed at the situation as she is. Both of Jihyo's hands are deep in her pockets, and her forehead is scrunched up like she's working out a rather complex puzzle.

"I know who you are, obviously. I just - didn't recognise you," Sana clarifies.

"Christ, this is so embarrassing.Fuck,first it was my screwing Pinka Hamster and now her... Someone up there is making my life complicated as always", Sana screamed internally.

"At first. 'Cause you were all... drunk. And to be fair, I only have tabloid pictures to go by, and half the time they're blurry and out of focus and you're stumbling out of club, or into a car, or with a bunch of women all around you -"

"Okay, fine. I get it," Jihyo interrupts tersely - seriously? - Jihyo has the audacity to sound annoyed with her?

"You don't get to be frustrated with me, Miss," Sana grumbles. "I'm annoyed with you now. All I want is some nice, uninterrupted sleep, and here you are, keeping me up all night with your shenanigans and it's not cool, okay?"

A glimmer of a smile ghosts over Jihyo's lips. "I have other ways of keeping you up all night if you prefer," Jihyo leers at Sana.

"This bitch, I swear I'll rip her mouth ", Sana eye rolls.

"Seriously, I mean it," Sana sighs. Now that she knows who this woman is, she tries to keep her rage to a low simmer. There's no way she's jeopardising her career in the off chance this... fool decides to make her life a living hell at work.

"Like I said, this time it's because I thought it was the only way I'd get to see you to apologise," Jihyo shrugs. "And I was right - it worked, cause here you are."

"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?", Sana groans.

"As ridiculous as your Hamster onesie?", Jihyo smirks.

Sana's cheeks get really hot. "I will pay you to forget you ever saw that."

"Nope."

Sana scowls. She'd figured as much. Trust her to make such a great first impression on her boss' daughter. She has a dozen insults to throw Jihyo's way, from her own choice of attire (the lack thereof), to Jihyo's half-assed apology, for being an inconsiderate neighbour, and a few pointed comments about her life decisions in general - but Sana decides to take the high road.

This time.

"Can you at least promise not to blast stupid music in the middle of the night then? 'Cause I really do need the sleep. I work really long hours."

Jihyo taps her chin with her finger, as if she actually needs to consider the pale woman's very reasonable request.

"The only reason I was playing music - by the way, how amazing was the song I found, totally appropriate, right? Fluffy Hamster? - "

Jihyo takes Sana's disgruntled glare in her stride and beams proudly at the pale woman's before continuing,

"- is because I wanted to apologise for being an asshole the other night, and I have. So, you can go get your precious sleep now. I won't bother you anymore."

Sana will blame it on her exhaustion, but as much as she doesn't want to, she's starting to find Jihyo to be quite endearing. He looks earnestly at her, quite pleased with himself, and she shakes her head before letting out a snort of laughter, wholly unbidden.

"Somehow, I don't believe that," she challenges. As if Jihyo's going to magically stop having raucous, obnoxious parties just because Sana asked her to. She's PARK JIHYO.

"Look, it's been a rough couple of months and I've been letting loose. But not anymore. I'm making some changes in my life," Jihyo explains. Her eyes go wide and she blinks a couple of times at Sana like she's caught herself unaware. "Not that you asked for an explanation, of course. But if it helps to make you less angry with me, that's why."

Sana suddenly remembers seeing a news article about a car accident involving someone from the Park family. Her sister, maybe? A twinge of sympathy travels through Sana. Family problems that make you act out irrationally? Yeah, she can relate. Kind of.

So maybe shorty not that bad after all?

"Won't happen again, okay?" Jihyo reassures her. "I think I've got all of it out of my system now."

Sana purses her lips skeptically. "Okay," she eventually concedes, because she doesn't know the woman, and this woman doesn't have the same issues that Sana does with her family, so it's not her place to doubt the short woman. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Park Jihyo bestows a nice smile upon Minatozaki Sana , wide and toothy, and Sana feels her cheeks heat up.

"Ugh... That freakin smile from those full lips, aish", Sana glares at Jihyo.

Again, wholly involuntarily, because Sana traitorous body clearly hasn't gotten the message that as attractive as Park Jihyo is, she absolutely cannot go there.

"Anyway, I'm gonna-" Sana jerks her thumb at the elevator as she steps backwards. "- get back to bed."

Jihyo nods. "You do that. It was nice meeting you, again. Officially," She says with a little wave.

Sana enters the elevator, waving back at Park as the doors slide shut. The rest of her trip back to her apartment is uneventful, and she immediately collapses back into her bed, with nothing but the familiar, comforting hum of her desktop surrounding her.

That was a long day.....

"PINK FLUFFY HAMSTER", Sana hears once again.

********
Jihyo is annoying 😂 but Sana likes her regardless.

Happy Chaeyoung day 🐯

Thanks for reading.