The Roommate I Never Met

Episode 2: The Hallway Collision

Ji-hoon hummed to himself as he grabbed his laptop from the small desk in the living room. He had just finished writing a furious sticky note reply:

“Your coffee mug smells weird. Clean it or I’m leaving it in the fridge forever.”

Across the apartment, Ha-rin read his note and laughed, shaking her head.

“Your handwriting is impossible. I refuse to negotiate over mugs with a ghost.”

Neither suspected the truth—that the “ghost” was sitting just two doors away.

That night, a sudden power outage threw the apartment into darkness. Ji-hoon grabbed his phone flashlight and stepped into the hallway to check the breaker.

At the exact same moment, Ha-rin did the same.

The hallway was pitch black except for the glow of their phone lights. They both froze—then collided.

“Oh—!” Ji-hoon stumbled back, his flashlight wobbling.

“Sorry—!” Ha-rin’s voice cracked as she tried to regain balance.

They blinked at each other. And froze.

“Wait… you live here?” Ji-hoon asked, his tone half-shocked, half-amused.

“I… uh… you too?” Ha-rin stammered.

Both stared at the same fridge in the dim light, then at each other, then at the sticky notes scattered across the door.

“It’s… you.” Ji-hoon said slowly, realization dawning.

Ha-rin pinched her nose. “It’s… really you.”

After a tense, silent moment, they both laughed—awkward, embarrassed, and loud enough to echo down the empty hallway.

“Okay, we need rules,” Ji-hoon said, still smiling.

“Yes. Rules,” Ha-rin agreed. “First: no touching each other’s food.”

They turned back to the fridge, looking at the notes that had started it all. Somehow, seeing each other in real life made the words even funnier.

From that night on, their sticky note arguments became real-life banter: coffee cups, mismatched socks, and playful teasing in the kitchen.

And neither of them could stop thinking about how strange—and maybe wonderful—it was that they had been living together all along without even knowing.