next door apartment neighbors where one always sings in the shower and the other can always hear through their walls
I physically jump a little when the silhouette of another person appears as I close the door to my apartment. Their own seems to just have shut as well.
The guy notices me and smiles, if not a bit confusedly. "Um... good morning."
"Morning," I reply, then mentally strangle myself for the tired rasp in my voice. A second that feels like an hour passes, and I awkwardly add, "Didn't know I, uh... had a neighbor."
He laughs a bit. "Well, I only knew that I had one who likes a lot of pop music. It's nice to finally meet you."
"You... can hear? Through the, um..."
He hesitates, glancing away, as if hesitating whether to admit it or not. "Yeah... almost every night."
The world sways in my vision, and my head feels oddly light. Oh... am I fainting?
But then he's clearing his throat, and I realize that—unfortunately—I am not. "You're pretty good," he says, as if it's any comfort. There's also an awkward edge to it.
I try to laugh, but it sounds like a strangled cough.