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"Maybe because you weren't around much, Y/n... You're always busy with work, endless deliverables and reports right here and there, and whenever you do get home, I rarely see you still awake! You're either passed out on the bed or sometimes on the couch." Yelena's voice, your ex-girlfriend, boomed through the speakers of your phone as if the call was on loudspeaker.

You rolled your eyes at the audacity of her to guilt trip you for something out of your control. You were in London for that job. You met Yelena a year ago and started what was supposed to be a loving relationship because of that work. If you quit, you'd have no choice but to return back to America to live with your parents, long-distance affairs be damned.

"And so you see fit to cheat on me rather than talk to me about it?!" you shouted back through the mic, knuckles turning white as you clutched hard against the throw pillow you had in your hand. "I fucking trusted you!"

"Babe, it was just a one time thing, okay?" Yelena reasoned out, her voice softening when she heard yours getting louder. You had never raised your voice at her like this before. Not to call yourself a pushover, but you and Yelena just fitted perfectly together until the day it didn't. "Just come home already, and we can talk about this... You're acting like a child right now-"

"Go to hell!" you interjected, close to screaming. "And don't you ever, ever attempt to call me again!"

You immediately ended the call even when Yelena was still talking on the other line, hearing words like putting it all behind.

Heart threatening to explode with uncontrollable emotions, all bad ones, you threw your phone to the nearest corner, making a loud thud against the wall. You probably broke it but you didn't care, especially when it was Yelena's birthday gift for you. You didn't want anything that had something to do with your ex-girlfriend.

With only the smart television installed on the wall earlier, you connected it to the wifi and searched through your Music Library the loudest song you could find, clicking play when you found Helena by My Chemical Romance.

Tears started to stream down your face like a broken dam, hoping the music was drowning all your sobs. You tried to scream into the empty space but you only ended up with a hoarse one, having exhausted all your strength from crying every night since you caught Yelena last week with another girl on your shared apartment, shamelessly having sex for God knows how long. And to think that you asked from your boss to log out earlier from your shift to surprise her made you feel more shitty and betrayed.

Tired. Drained. Both physically and emotionally. Your heart broke into a million pieces you didn't think was possible. You had never thought you had yourself a fragile heart until the incident. You used to love crying at angsty stories you had read in books or watched on television shows, never thinking you would get real life firsthand experience.

It hurt. Getting cheated on by someone you thought was the one hurt.

Surely, you had some doubts on your relationship with Yelena. You certainly avoided some red flags from her just to make it work, thinking you might have some red flags too, making the whole thing a compromise. But never in your head had you thinking that a sweet girl such as Yelena, who would pout whenever you didn't give her a kiss before going to work or who would jump like crazy during a Taylor Swift concert you surprised her for her birthday, would do that to you.

Having to work midshift at a corporate job would likely take a toll on you. You couldn't blame Yelena when she felt lonely waiting for you to finish your work because she had regular 9-5pm shifts unlike yours. But she didn't have to resort to other women. You weren't lacking in that department. You had made her cum in under a minute with a strap she sort of knowingly requested you to buy.

You moved out the very second you caught a glimpse of the other woman's naked ass in between your ex-girlfriend's thighs. You didn't even have to wait for them to get dressed, or mind them dressing in front of you. You just grabbed whatever clothes you knew was yours and dumped it all in a luggage, ignoring a hysterical Yelena trying to explain it wasn't what it looked like when it was exactly what it looked like.

After a week of searching and living with your officemate/only friend you got in London whose name was Steve, you were lucky to find an apartment within your budget near your work. Even when it was in a dodgy area, you quickly grabbed the opportunity. You didn't want to burden Steve, of course. Plus, he was a guy with needs and constantly bumping and starting small talk with his one night stands every single night while having yourself a cup of coffee wasn't ideal.

And now, here you were. The new place was at least decent. It was a half-furnished one-bedroom apartment with a single window facing the busy streets downstairs. Decent enough for the meantime, although, you could tell the building might be infested with mice the moment you saw small holes from the walls on the way up the stairs. And the building didn't even have an elevator, so living on the fourth floor was a challenge.

Your thoughts were suddenly silenced the moment you heard a faint knock on the door. You thought you were imagining it so you lowered the volume from the television, and the knocks only got louder.

When you peered through the peephole, you could make out a figure of a woman with dark brown hair on the other side, her arms crossed against her chest. You hurriedly wiped the tears from your eyes and cheeks and exhaled through your mouth, not wanting to scare your neighbors thinking there was a mentally unstable tenant in the building.

After plucking up the courage to make small conversations, you then opened the door. Your breath was knocked out for a second when you saw someone ethereal standing before you, sporting a glowering look. The peephole didn't even do her beauty justice. She was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that would render anyone speechless at first sight. The type that would make you think God had his favorites when it came to granting good genes. She was so beautiful. Even more beautiful than Yelena. Even more than any woman you have ever met in your entire existence.

Although, the glare she was directing towards you from her shiny piercing emerald eyes were sort of intimidating. And you knew intimidating girls weren't your type. You wouldn't even get a chance to talk, much less flirt.

But then she spoke in a sexy accent you immediately recognized as Russian, having an officemate who also talked like her.

"Oh, good, I thought you didn't hear me knock with the loud music you've got going on," she jeered, her voice laced with venom. You thought she was adorable, her lips pursed in a tight forced smile.

"W-What?" Was the only thing you managed to stutter, swearing you could feel beads of sweat forming around your temple even when it was snowing outside.

"I am trying to finish my manuscript in peace and you're a little bit too loud for my own liking...," the woman continued, gesturing her hand towards the other doors on the floor. "Don't you have any empathy towards your neighbors, what if they just wanted a good night sleep or some silent meditation in preparation for tomorrow's activities... You might be new here, but I know you're not a stranger to good manners and right conduct!"

"I...," you swallowed a nervous lump, your throat still dry from crying. "I'm sorry-"

"Well, apologies are just words if you won't do anything about it," she went on. "Have a little compassion please... Just think that your neighbors might need a peaceful night themselves too..."

Then the brunette stomped her foot, abruptly stopping the conversation  as she entered through the door literally beside yours, figuring it was her apartment. Your neighbor.

After a few moments of finally gathering your bearings, you closed your door behind you then leaned your back against it, slowly descending until your ass landed on the floor.

Not feeling like crying anymore, you replayed the short interaction you had with your neighbor in your head, how drop dead gorgeous she was and how fierce she looked. And you thought moving on from an awful breakup was going to be this hard, but damn, how you wished she was your girlfriend instead.

Shaking your self from such a silly thought, imagining unimaginable things about your neighbor, you began chuckling alone, your shoulders shaking.

Having a crush on your neighbor should be the last thing you would do.

But no. You couldn't believe it either. That you instantly had a crush on the girl next door.