THE NEIGHBOR EFFECT

Raven likes three things: silence, sleep, and being left alone.

Unfortunately, the universe placed CJ directly across the hallway from her.

He's the kind of guy who says good morning like it's a full-time job, knows everyone in the building, smiles at strangers for free, and somehow has endless energy before 8 AM. Basically, a walking public disturbance, at least from Raven's perspective.

She hates him immediately.

CJ, on the other hand, thinks Raven is interesting.

She wears headphones like armor, answers with eye rolls, slams doors like punctuation, and looks at him like he personally invented inconvenience. Which, honestly, is kind of funny.

What starts as hallway wars, elevator revenge, accidental rescues, and across-the-hallway irritation slowly turns into something neither of them planned.

Because sometimes, the person who ruins your peace ends up becoming part of it.

THE NEIGHBOR EFFECT: where one loud sunshine boy meets one sleep-deprived menace girl living right across the hall.

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A tagalog story.