Days slowly turned into routines.
Morning alarms.
Half-finished coffees.
Office meetings that somehow never ended.
Late-night exhaustion waiting behind apartment doors.
And without even realizing it—
Mira slowly started adjusting to Seoul.
Not completely.
Some days still felt lonely.
Some nights still felt heavier than they should.
But life had at least stopped feeling unfamiliar.
Most mornings started with Ria dragging her toward the office cafeteria while complaining dramatically about deadlines and managers.
Most evenings ended with Mira returning home tired enough to fall asleep immediately after dinner.
And weekends— weekends slowly became her favorite part of the week.
Because Ria refused to let her stay locked inside the apartment.
So they explored Seoul together.
Tiny cafés hidden between quiet streets.
Night markets glowing under city lights.
Bookstores.
Street food stalls.
Random shopping areas where Ria somehow spent money every single time.
Slowly, Mira ended up becoming friends with a few more people too.
Nothing very deep.
But enough to make the city feel warmer.
Less lonely.
Sometimes she clicked random pictures during those outings and sent them to her father.
Pretty skies.
Messy ramen bowls.
Coffee cups.
Rain-covered streets.
Every single time— his reply came almost immediately.
As if he waited for her messages.
And somehow— that thought alone always made Mira emotional.
Some nights their calls stretched longer because neither of them wanted to disconnect first.
Her father would ask if she ate properly.
Mira would lie.
He would pretend to believe her.
And after the calls ended— the apartment suddenly felt too quiet again.
Those nights were the hardest.
Because loneliness always sounded louder at night.
Sometimes Mira sat near the window with earphones in, staring at Seoul’s distant lights while missing home more than she admitted to anyone.
There were moments she questioned herself too.
Whether moving here had really been the right decision.
Whether starting over was supposed to feel this exhausting.
And slowly— so did she.
The strange neighbor incident also slowly started fading from her mind.
Mostly.
Sometimes she still remembered that cold voice and got annoyed all over again.
“A sasaeng.”
Seriously unbelievable.
But since she barely ever saw him after that night, the irritation slowly turned into something distant.
The apartment next door mostly remained quiet anyway.
Sometimes lights turned on late at night.
Sometimes footsteps echoed faintly through the hallway.
And sometimes— the apartment stayed completely dark for days.
Mira eventually assumed he probably traveled a lot because of work.
Which honestly suited her perfectly fine.
Less awkward encounters.
Less irritation.
Peace.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the same city— another exhausting night stretched far past midnight.
The studio lights were still on.
Half-empty coffee cups covered the table while unfinished melodies played softly in the background.
Phones buzzed continuously with schedules nobody had energy to check anymore.
Yejun leaned back tiredly in his chair while Junho worked through lyrics nearby.
The room itself looked exhausted.
So were they.
Days had become repetitive lately.
Flights.
Recordings.
Meetings.
Practices.
Barely sleeping.
Sometimes even home felt temporary.
“You should sleep for at least a few hours,” Junho said casually without looking up.
Yejun let out a quiet scoff.
“You say that like you’re sleeping tonight.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Junho finally looked up calmly.
“I’m naturally wise and responsible.”
That earned the faintest laugh from Yejun.
Small moments like this somehow made exhausting nights easier.
Just then— the studio door suddenly opened loudly.
“Hyung, someone stole my food again.”
Without even looking up from his phone, Yoongi spoke calmly from the couch.
“If it’s gone, Taehyung ate it.”
“YAH.”
Taehyung looked genuinely offended.
“You guys always blame me.”
“Because it’s always you,” Jungkook muttered half-asleep without even opening his eyes.
“I bought that ramen!”
“And I was hungry!”
“That’s not my problem!”
A laugh escaped Junho quietly while Yejun shook his head tiredly.
Nearby, Hoseok recorded the entire argument on his phone while laughing.
“This is exactly why we can’t live peacefully.”
Jin immediately pointed toward Taehyung dramatically.
“No.
HE is why we can’t live peacefully.”
“Hyung!”
For the first time that entire day— the studio no longer felt exhausting.
Just familiar.
Comfortable chaos.
And maybe that was why they endured everything so easily together.
Because no matter how exhausting life became— they always returned to this.
Each other.
Later that night, Yejun finally returned home sometime after 2 AM.
The building hallway remained silent except for the soft sound of his footsteps.
As usual— the apartment beside his still had lights on.
Strange.
The girl next door barely seemed to sleep.
Sometimes when he returned late at night, faint laughter echoed softly through the hallway.
Sometimes Hindi songs played quietly from inside.
And sometimes— he heard her talking endlessly on calls before suddenly laughing at something.
Warm sounds.
Human sounds.
The apartment next door no longer felt empty anymore.
And honestly— that itself felt unfamiliar.
Once, while unlocking his apartment quietly, he accidentally glanced toward the neighboring balcony.
A figure sat wrapped in a blanket near the railing, talking on video call while smiling softly at someone on screen.
For a second— the scene felt oddly peaceful.
Real.
Yejun looked away almost immediately afterward.
But somehow— small things about apartment 507 had slowly started becoming familiar to him without him even realizing it.
And strangely— he didn’t dislike that feeling as much as he thought he would.
Not through dramatic moments.
But through familiar lights in neighboring apartments.
Late-night laughter through quiet hallways.
The comfort of knowing someone else is awake under the same night sky.
Sometimes strangers begin becoming part of our routine long before they become part of our lives.