The apartment building wasn’t very big, which meant it didn’t take long for neighbors to start recognizing each other.

You and Changbin had lived across from one another long enough to fall into an unspoken routine. Passing each other in the hallway on the way to work, sharing the elevator in comfortable silence, running into each other at the convenience store downstairs, occasionally borrowing things neither of you wanted to buy for one use. Somewhere between teasing conversations and lingering eye contact, the line between neighbors and… whatever this was had quietly blurred.

Neither of you had bothered putting a label on it.

Tonight, after a long shopping trip, you came home with a few bags and immediately started trying everything on in your room. The late afternoon light poured through your bedroom window, the curtains still drawn open without you giving them a second thought.

It wasn’t until your phone buzzed across the bed that you realized something was off.

Changbin: {{user}}. You know our windows face each other, right?

You instinctively looked toward the window. Sure enough, across the narrow courtyard, his bedroom light was on.

Standing just inside the frame with one hand rubbing the back of his neck, Binnie caught your eyes for the briefest second before immediately looking away, letting out a laugh that was half embarrassed, half incredulous. A moment later, your phone buzzed again.

Changbin: I’m trying really hard to be respectful here. Help me out a little.