level 23 / btsvelvet

episode one

a spray of perfume disperses in the air at the slight exertion of a manicured finger. the scent of fanciful flowers abruptly fills the small, crowded bathroom, causing a nearby kang seulgi to sneeze uncontrollably.

"seungwan, you really don't need another spritz. at this rate, anyone can smell you from a kilometer away." the girl, still in her pajamas, says as she rubs a dollop of lotion clumsily into her cheeks.

son seungwan only shrugs as she gazes at her own reflection in the mirror, placing the perfume bottle back onto the white counter with a sigh. "seulgi, don't you have to go to work earlier than i do?" she asks the brunette while adjusting the strands of her own vibrant red hair.

"do i?" seulgi mumbles groggily, still seemingly half-asleep. it takes about a minute for the reminder to fully receive a response, and seulgi is mid-brushing her teeth when she shrieks through a mouthful of toothpaste, "oh my god, i'm going to be late. again."

seungwan lets out yet another sigh as she watches seulgi begin to brush furiously and faster than ever before. she adjusts the lapel of her black blazer one last time before clucking her tongue in exasperation. "calm down, grizzly bear. although yerim's probably about to knock on the door and drag you out at this point-" seungwan's sentence is cut off by a telltale thumping of knuckles against wood on the bathroom door, followed by muffled exclamations of "yah! kang seulgi!"

yanking her toothbrush out of her mouth with a jolt, seulgi sputters in sheer horror at the sound of kim yerim's irritated voice on the other side of the door.

kim yerim may be the youngest out of all three of them, but she is also the most unforgiving. that girl keeps her receipts, and seulgi knows all too well that the brutally blunt kim yerim is absolutely scathing whenever she is in a bad mood. and if there was one thing to put kim yerim in a bad mood, it was being late.

which it just so happened that being late was what kang seulgi almost always was.

"i swear i didn't summon her on purpose." seungwan chuckles as seulgi glares at her in the mirror.

"pray that i don't have to hear her nagging at me during the whole car ride." seulgi groans, even though she knows that even praying would be hopeless by now.

"you know, this would be solved if you got your own license." seungwan suggests, still fixated on perfecting the application of her lipstick despite the seething kim yerim awaiting outside the bathroom door. "or ride the subway with me. you'd have to walk an extra few blocks, but hey, that's better than sitting through morning traffic with an angry maknae, am i right?"

seulgi considers the proposal with a slow shake of her head. "please, seungwan, you know i can't drive for the life of me. i can't help it that i'm clumsy in small spaces and i'd probably get lost on my own. unlike me, yerim has a sense of direction." seulgi laments while hastily pulling her hair into a high ponytail. "and i can't do the subway. you know my parents, they think it's too dangerous-"

"honey, we're out on our own now. i know you've always been daddy's good little girl and you let your mom push you around however and whenever she feels like it, but what they know won't hurt them." seungwan interrupts pointedly. "besides, guys like girls who work out, seulgi. not pig out."

"you're right," seulgi frowns, "maybe i should start up basketball again. i can't run track anymore because the training's too time consuming, and i don't know if there are any gyms with volleyball nets or soccer fields. softball is definitely a no-"

"kang. seul. gi." yerim's muffled voice sounds again, and seulgi can practically envision the younger's arms crossing against her chest on the other side of the door.

therein lies kang seulgi's grave.

"not that kind of workout, seul." seungwan rolls her eyes, "i meant the sexy kind. yoga. zumba. lady-like jogging. anything but the manic, terrifying jock you basically were in high school. granted, you were really good at all of them, but it's time to try something classy, you know? how about a dance class to start with?"

seulgi blinks skeptically. "dance? i-"

"kang seulgi, if you don't come out right now, i'm actually going to be late." yerim's voice interrupts again.

"consider it." seungwan insists, offering seulgi the most convincing smile she can muster as the brunette rushes out the door.

seungwan retouches her mascara one last time before exiting the bathroom. her two roommates are waiting for the elevator at this point, judging by the chatter that comes from outside the apartment.

seungwan sighs for the nth time in the day as she slips on her best glossy black pumps and takes a pair of diamond earrings out of the dresser. opening the box encasing them carefully, she eyes the earrings for a moment before taking one out of the box and putting it in place.

the earrings were a christmas gift from one of her clients, min yoongi. she doesn't know how much they are worth, frankly, but he had insisted she accept at the time, so seungwan had done so quite happily.

yoongi was a nice man, although extremely guarded and at times seemingly emotionless. he was a very vague person, and sometimes seungwan was as much fearful of the shroud of mystery that followed him as she was intrigued. a client, however, was still a client. and who was she to judge, when his alienating lifestyle was clearly working out for him? the numbers on seungwan's spreadsheet didn't lie.

placing the second earring in her ear, seungwan stepped back from the full-body mirror to admire the view.

oh, if only her parents could see her now.

if only they could see how she had carved a narrow path (albeit a rough one) for herself, for just herself in such a vast city.

she smiled smugly at the thought before slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading for another day at work. as seungwan stepped out of the apartment, she glanced up momentarily to adjust her bangs when she spotted a green light in the corner of her vision.

"weird." she muttered to herself when she turned to see a newly installed security camera blinking back at her, over the door that read 2301 in bold, black letters.

"that wasn't there yesterday."

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a/n: hi guys. thanks for reading this if you are! so yeah this is gonna be a wild ride, trust me, but i hope y'all are liking the characters so far.