Climbing up the stairwell, Zane saw his neighbor, Atsugi, that he only interacted with by a wave of hand or a nod of his head. Zane only knew his neighbor's name due to his neighbor's mail being incorrectly placed in his mailbox. They kept to themselves and never bothered each other. This was the perfect neighbor in Zane's opinion.
They were quite similar as they both lived alone, but his neighbor was different as he had a girlfriend. Zane was rather jealous, as he had to blast his headphones to keep away the heavy moans of the couple from the thin walls of the apartment on the nights of the weekend.
Seeing Zane, Atsugi was about to voice something, but refrained and nodded his head. They've never spoken a word before, but quickly thinking, Zane decided to now initiate conversation as he could acquire more information from Atsugi on the alien situation.
"Hi. Um. Kinda weird to introduce myself now seeing how we've been neighbors for years. But I'm Zane, nice to meet you."
With a relieved look, Atsugi replied, "Hi, I'm Atsugi! Yea, I didn't want to intrude on your space. You're a good neighbor who doesn't make much noise, and you looked in a rush most of the time so I didn't want to hold you up."
Zane almost wanted to say, "Yes I don't make noise, and I wished you would lower the volume of your love-making too!" But Zane refrained. He knew himself that once the juices get flowing, there was no thinking about something stupid like volume.
"No worries," Zane smiled, covering up his hidden complaint, "you get the whole game-like blue screen too?"
Reeling with excitement, Atsugi enthusiastically responded, "Hell yea!! I got the Sage job!"
A slight prick could be felt in Zane's heart.
Taking a closer look at Atsugi, he noticed his neighbor had good looks with a slim body. He wasn't athletically built, but his looks were a notch above Zane's. Cute would be the word that comes to mind when looking at his big round eyes, sharp nose, and thin lips.
Feeling jealous, Zane sighed. His neighbor had it all. A good looking face, pleasant personality, a sexy curvaceous girlfriend, a happy sex life, and now he was a 2nd class citizen with the job Zane desired.
"You ok?" Atsugi asked, looking at Zane's crestfallen average-looking face.
Zane sighed while semi-lying to his neighbor, "Yea. I'm just thinking about my job and class."
"Oh. If you don't mind, what did you choose?" Atsugi innocently asked.
Zane simply replied with a half-truth, "I tried to get the mage job, but i failed midways and only got to be a mage apprentice." His sunken shoulders made his pity story more believable.
"Hey! Don't get so down! We gotta stick together during these tough times. Always willing to help a bro out." His neighbor said, trying to cheer him up. Zane appreciated the good nature of his friendly neighbor and his kind offer, but they were too far apart in class. If he was in the same class then Zane thought there could be a chance to cooperate, but they were too far apart. The portals were already separating the different classes. Zane could only guess his fate at this point.
"Thanks man. I appreciate you saying that but we're going to different portals. We might not even see each other again." Zane pointed out that fact that Atsugi overlooked. His eyes widened as he just realized the possibility.
"Oh shit! Lily! I couldn't contact her because my phone died! What do I do?" Atsugi was having a breakdown, and Zane wanted to ask more about his experience with the trials, but an angelic voice he was familiar stopped Zane from posing his questions.
"Did you call my name, babe?" Zane's beautiful colleague appeared confused after hearing her name. Coming out of the stairwell she stood behind Zane. "Is that you from earlier? Do you live here too?" Atsugi cut Zane off before he could say anything.
"Liliy-bun!!!"" Atsugi rushed past Zane, almost knocking him down. His slim neighbor would seem to be much stronger than he appeared. "Lilly-bun! You're here! You're alright! Let me see! Are you hurt anywhere?! Any cuts or bruises? We need to get you bandaged up!" The panicked boyfriend was already dragging off his girlfriend who had yet to respond. He stopped however, when he noticed Zane and remembered their conversation.
"Babe! What class did you get? We have to go together! I'm not going anywhere without you!" Zane just stared silently at his neighbor's true nature and thought to himself.
"What do you call someone with a girlfriend complex? I don't know if they have a word for that?" Zane's pondering was interrupted by the last person he wanted to see near his home.
"Hey happy slave! You see those clips of those worthless 6th classes. Don't worry, I won't be that bad of a master." Zach sneered as he came out from the starwell.
"Why are you here? Do you even live around here Zach?" annoyed this time, Zane responded in an irked tone.
Zane's negative reaction seemed to set something off in Zach as he continued to taunt and pester him. "A slave can't be too far from his master." Zach's comment infuriated him.
"Stop with your sorry excuses, you're just stalking Lily. Can't you see she already has a boyfriend. Layoff." Zane's blunt comment really set-off Zach as he exploded and grabbed him by his collar and slammed his hard against the wall.
"Reality check, happy slave." Zach swung hard at Zane's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. Zach took delight in the pain of the guy who took his limelight.
"I always get what I want in the end. The bosses may have liked you better but did you know? My family owns that company you work for. This whole time they were working for me, but the shit heads always asked you for your opinion. Their stupid reports made my father tell me to build connections with you! You! A happy slave!" A fiery burn of hatred and jealousy scorched in Zach's eyes.
"I'll do what daddy dearest wants. I'll make you a real slave, and you can continue working your pathetic life for me until the day you die!"