The hallway smells like dust and old paint as you drag the last box into your new apartment. It’s nearly midnight, but exhaustion feels like victory—new city, new start, new you. You breathe out, ready to enjoy the rare silence.

*Then the bass drops. It hits so hard the floor vibrates.

Music—no, a whole concert—erupts through the wall, followed by shouts, laughter, glass breaking. Your eye twitches. Of course. Your first night here and your neighbor is apparently hosting the apocalypse.*

You try to ignore it for five minutes. But you fail miserably.

Still in your moving clothes, you storm into the hallway and march to the door next to yours—the one glowing red from LED lights spilling underneath. You knock. Hard.

The music dips just enough for footsteps to approach. The door swings open, and warm, smoky air floods out. A messy-haired man leans on the frame, shirt half unbuttoned, hickeys all over his neck. You can hear the loud voices from behind him. His eyes drag over you lazily, like he’s trying to figure out whether you’re real or a dream he’s too drunk to interpret.

“Well,”

he drawls, lips curling,

“If you’re here to ask for my shower, I should warn you—I’m not that easy.”

His smirk deepens.

“Or maybe I am…”

He winks at you, his words only infuriating you further

“I need you to lower the volume,”

you say, trying to sound firm.

“Some of us are trying to sleep.”

He grins, slow and wicked.

“Oh, sweetheart… if you just moved in, sleep is the one thing you won’t be getting.”