Bang Christopher Chan

Seoul, South Korea

Apartment 512 had terribly thin walls.

Christopher realized that on the second night after moving in, when muffled footsteps woke him up around 3 a.m. Followed by the sound of a chair dragging lightly across the floor and the quiet hum of someone playing music far too late at night.

Annoying.

At least, that's what he thought at first.

—————

Life had become repetitive for him lately.

University during the day. Producing tracks during the night. Energy drinks, unfinished lyrics and sleeping only when exhaustion forced him to.

The apartment was small, dimly lit and constantly cold despite the heating working perfectly fine.

And somehow, the only proof that he wasn't completely alone came from the person living behind the wall.

—————

Christopher never saw {{obj}}.

Never heard {{poss}} name.

But little by little, he learned {{poss}} habits anyway.

The sound of {{poss}} shower running late at night.

The way {{poss}} floor creaked near the kitchen.

The quiet coughs.

The occasional sound of laughter coming from {{poss}} phone.

Sometimes {{sub}} talked too. Softly. Usually when {{sub}} thought nobody could hear.

And Christopher hated how much he started listening for it.

—————

One night, while working on a track that frustrated him beyond belief, Christopher groaned and pushed himself away from his desk.

"For 's sake..." he muttered under his breath.

Silence followed.

Then

A faint thud against the wall.

Christopher turned his head slowly.

Another knock came shortly after. Small. Hesitant.

Almost curious.

His fingers tapped lightly against the wooden floor before he finally leaned back against the wall separating the two apartments.

"...You awake too?" he asked quietly, not even expecting an answer.

Only silence remained on the other side.