GHOST LOVER

The Listening Wall

What Selin didn’t know was that Kerem had his own concerns about the woman across the hall. Something wasn’t right. The temperature drops, the empty chairs she seemed to talk to, the way she’d sometimes reach for empty air with such tenderness.

One evening, as he stood in his own apartment with his ear pressed to the shared wall, he heard it clearly: Selin’s voice, talking to someone. But there was never a response. No second voice. Just Selin, having a one-sided conversation that sounded disturbingly intimate.

“I should mind my own business,” he told himself. But he couldn’t. Because he cared about her. And because something was clearly wrong.

The next day, he called Melis. They’d exchanged numbers during one of the group hangouts.

“Hey, it’s Kerem. From across the hall from Selin? Look, this might be weird, but… is Selin okay? Like, really okay?”

Melis was quiet for a moment. “Why are you asking?”

“I just… I hear things sometimes. Through the wall. It sounds like she’s talking to someone, but no one’s there.”

“She’s grieving, Kerem. People process in different ways.”

“I know, but—”

“Look, if you like Selin, that’s great. But you need to understand—she lost her fiancé two months ago. She’s not ready for anything. And she might not be for a long time.”

“I’m not trying to date her. I’m worried about her.”

“Then give her space. Let her heal in her own way.”

After he hung up, Kerem stood at his window, looking out at nothing. He should drop it. Melis was right. But something nagged at him. The way Selin sometimes looked at empty space with such love in her eyes. The way the temperature dropped around her. The way she seemed to exist in two worlds at once.

Either she was losing her mind, or…

Or what? Ghosts were real? It was ridiculous.

But then again, so was falling for your grieving neighbor. And yet here he was.

Back in Selin’s apartment, she had no idea that her secret was drawing attention from an unexpected source. She sat on the couch, Murat’s presence beside her, completely unaware that across the wall, someone was starting to piece together the impossible truth.

“Do you think Kerem suspects anything?” she asked Murat.

“No. How could he? We’ve been careful.”

“You’re probably right.”

But for once, Murat was wrong. And that would change everything. ## Chapter 16: The Third Person at the Table

In the kitchen, Selin stirred the béchamel sauce for the lasagna with one hand while showering instructions at Murat with the other. Murat sat cross-legged on the counter, thoroughly enjoying watching Selin’s kitchen mishaps.

“Look, Murat, tonight is very important. When Kerem asks something, you’re not going to lean into my ear with your famous ‘this guy talks too much nonsense’ jokes. I need to not laugh, understand?”

Murat grinned, moving his hand (or rather, his essence) over the lasagna pan. “Love, the guy’s been looking around strangely since he walked in. If I tell him I’m not talking to myself, I’m talking to you, he’ll call a psychiatrist immediately.”

She waved the ladle in the air. “That’s exactly why you’re going to be quiet! He’s my neighbor, my father’s eyes and ears. If we convince him, they’ll leave us alone.”

The doorbell rang. Selin took a deep breath and opened the door. Kerem stood there with an elegant box of chocolates and wearing his “world’s most innocent neighbor” smile. “Hey! The smells reached all the way to the elevator. Is that lasagna? I hope you like it well-done because I love it!”

“Welcome, Kerem, come in,” Selin said, arranging her most “normal” smile on her face.

Lasagna and the Laughter Crisis

When they sat at the table, Kerem was directly across from Selin. Murat, however, sat at the head of the table, right between them. Kerem began talking cheerfully—about his new project, his morning jog along the shore, the ice cream incident…

“You know, Selin, that ice cream still hasn’t come out of my sweatshirt. I think there was some kind of curse on that day,” Kerem said with a laugh.

Murat immediately leaned into Selin’s ear: “Not a curse, buddy. ‘Ghost Jealousy.’ It’s a technical term—you’re a software engineer, you should know.”

Selin barely managed not to spit out her water at Murat’s comment. She pretended to have a coughing fit and drank some water. Kerem immediately jumped up to pat Selin’s back.

“Are you okay, Selin? Drink slowly!”

Just then, Murat materialized right in front of Kerem and swept his hand (that is, his cold air) directly at Kerem’s face. Kerem suddenly paused, a shiver running through him. “Wow, there’s a serious draft in here. The windows are closed but…” he said as he sat back down.

Selin frowned at Murat as if to say “Don’t do that.” But Kerem took this look personally. “Am I boring you? Did I talk too much?”

“No, no, not at all,” Selin quickly recovered. “It’s just… the lasagna’s a bit hot, went down the wrong way. So, Kerem, I heard you met with my father?”

Kerem smiled somewhat sheepishly. “Yes, your father was a bit worried about you. But I’ll tell him that you’re quite cheerful, full of life, and make amazing lasagna. And also, that you’re very mysterious…”

Murat got up, moved behind Kerem’s chair, and whispered toward the man’s neck: “Not mysterious, tiger. Taken. Just so you know.”

While Selin inwardly laughed at Murat’s possessive attitude, she turned to Kerem. “I’m just trying to get back to my life, Kerem. Murat… he’s always in my heart, but now I want to smile instead of mourn.”

When Murat heard this sentence, he paused. He looked into Selin’s eyes. Selin had said this both to convince Kerem and to send a message to Murat: “I’ll live while hiding you, but I will live.”

At the end of the evening, as Kerem said goodbye at the door, he gently squeezed Selin’s hand. “Thank you so much for tonight. I haven’t had such an enjoyable dinner in a long time. I hope we can do it again?”

“Of course,” Selin said. The moment she closed the door, she leaned against it and burst out laughing. “Did you see that, Murat? He didn’t suspect a thing. He literally thinks we’re ‘buddies.’”

Murat materialized in the middle of the living room. With that mischievous and loving expression, he looked at Selin. “Buddies? The guy was looking at you like ‘when’s our first date?’ But I have to admit… I was really good with that draft joke.”

Selin walked over to where she felt Murat and tried to hug him. “My crazy, jealous ghost… We’re going to pull this off.”