The Girl Next Door
“Ah… this weekend doesn’t feel like a weekend at all…”
The half-hearted mutter slipped out on its own. It was a day off, and yet here I was, awake early, staring blankly into the living room. Sleeping in until I was a boneless heap was usually how my weekends went. Waking up this early on a Saturday felt like something I hadn’t done in a long time. And I’d gone to bed pretty late last night, too…
In the end, yesterday had closed out with me jerking off, crashing into post-nut clarity, and finishing the day with some games. It was supposed to be a fiery Friday night… and it had felt more like a wet one. Well—I’d burned it off with my hand, so I’d call it a fiery Friday and leave it at that.
And then…
“That Nabi bitch was hot as hell, too…”
Another mutter, unbidden. Watching Nabi’s filthy little masturbation show had gotten me so worked up that I’d put on a show of my own at home—an audience of zero. That was the day I’d rationalized it all away. Calling it self-justification was generous; it had been closer to outright denial. Still… I’d gotten off to something hot. It hadn’t been bad. The comedown had just hit hard, that was all.
“Ah, the trash is piled up like crazy… haah…”
The bin in front of me was stuffed to overflowing. Laziness rolled in before I’d even stood up. All I had to do was stomp the bag flat and haul it down to the villa’s recycling area. Simple. But stepping outside felt like too much work. Even the single step of putting on shoes at the front door felt like too much work. The reason was simple enough. It was the weekend. A weekend made for sprawling around and doing nothing.
“If I had a partner to work off this libido with on a day like this…”
Self-pity tumbled out of my mouth again. Not that it meant anything. Grumbling alone never changed a thing. If I actually had someone, I wouldn’t be sitting here. Whether it was a motel or my own place, a woman’s moans—bordering on screams—would already be ringing out loud enough to nearly spill into the hallway.
“Is it supposed to rain today…?”
I went to the window and looked outside. Not a cloud in the sky. Brilliant, glaring sun.
“Wow… look at how clear it is…”
Honestly, even bad weather wouldn’t have stopped me from taking out the trash. I’d just been fishing for an excuse—something to justify staying put. But the weather outside was too good to use as a cop-out. Almost a shame not to go out. Just looking at it made you want to take a walk.
“Fine. I’ll just dump it and come back.”
The laziness was still there, but the weather was good enough to outweigh it. My mind had changed. Since I was already up early, and the day looked this nice—getting a little air wouldn’t hurt. I cut off the idle thoughts at the window and got moving. I stomped the overflowing trash bag down as hard as I could, gathered everything else that needed to go, and stomped it again. Halfway to the front door with the packed bag in hand, something occurred to me.
“Oh, right. Cigarettes.”
Nice day like this—might as well have a smoke. I grabbed the pack and lighter off the desk in my room, headed back to the entryway, put on my shoes, and opened the door.
Click.
Creeeak.
Beep-beep-beep.
The handle turned, the front door swung open, and a short metallic scrape, a clack, and the door lock’s chirp all sounded in sequence.
Click.
Beep. Beep. Beep-beep-beep.
Click.
The door shut. The lock engaged with a solid, final sound. I’m the suspicious type. Even in a villa with only two units per floor, I always made sure the door was fully closed and that I’d heard both the lock’s beeps and the latch catch before I started down the stairs.
“Ugh… this damn villa… no elevator is way more of a pain than I thought…”
I muttered the complaint under my breath. Four floors. No elevator. Of course.
“They could’ve just spent a little more and put one in…”
Petty grumbling kept spilling out. Anyone watching would probably write me off as a constant, petty whiner… but whatever. No one around to hear it, so it didn’t matter. I trudged from the villa entrance toward the recycling area. Empty. Was I the only one being productive today…?
I pulled out my phone and checked the time. April 20th, 2024. 10:00 a.m. A bright spring morning, the day after a Friday night, and I was out here taking out the trash…
“Maybe I should… put up a listing…?”
The SM community I hung around on flickered through my mind. If I found a partner somewhere people actually recruited… maybe this hollow feeling would go away. With that thought trailing after me, I shuffled up to the recycling area.
Creeeak.
I opened the wooden panel. Inside, pay-as-you-throw bags were piled into a mountain.
Whoosh.
Thud-thud.
Pat. Pat. Pat.
I tossed the bag in, dusted off my hands. Ah… what game should I play today… or should I just go hit a sex shop alone…? I was halfway back to the villa, lost in idle thoughts, when a voice called out.
“Oh? Hyunwoo-ssi!”
I turned toward the voice.
“Ah…! Hyunji-ssi…!”
An attractive woman stepped into my line of sight. Kang Hyunji. The woman who lived next door. We were neighborly enough—running into each other around the villa now and then, exchanging greetings, making small talk. Mid-twenties, if I remembered right. Around 165 centimeters, with a figure that filled out in all the right places and tapered where it should. And, speaking frankly as a man—her chest looked like a solid C-cup at minimum. Her face had a faintly feline quality to it. She was definitely attractive. But we didn’t have the kind of connection that would lead anywhere. That was about the size of it.
How nice would it be if something actually developed with someone like her… On the other hand—what would it feel like to have sex with someone like her in bed…? Looking at her face, empty, dangerous, filthy thoughts rose up on their own.
“What brings you out? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you outside this early. Haha.”
“Ah… yeah, right? Haha. Weirdly woke up early today. Figured I’d clean up the trash at home and take it out.”
“It’s a Friday night hangover—shouldn’t you be out all night instead of stuck at home?”
“Haha. True… Friday nights are supposed to burn, and I just got doused instead. Haha.”
We traded pointless small talk and thawed the air between us. As neighbors, we chatted whenever we crossed paths—but nothing ever came of it that might turn into a real connection. For one thing, I didn’t particularly want one. Face and body alone, she was the kind of woman you’d want to make a move on. And yet, strangely, she didn’t pull me in. It wasn’t that she lacked charm. It was more that… she just wasn’t what I was looking for. Hard to put into words, but deep down, what I wanted was someone with a certain inclination. Maybe it was my own buried tastes—I only ever watched SM porn, after all. Just yesterday, the only reason I’d been able to unload a load thick with raw desire was Nabi’s vulgar video. Looks and a body mattered, but if the sexual chemistry and play style didn’t match, it always fell apart in the end. I’d learned that the hard way more than once.
“So you’re just staying in today?”
“Yeah… nowhere to go, really. Haha.”
“Haha. I don’t have any plans either today… Ah! In that case, are you free later by any chance?”
“I’ll probably be home all day, so that should be fine. Why?”
“My… computer’s acting up…! I don’t think it’s broken, but the internet just won’t connect…”
“Ah… doesn’t sound too complicated… I’ll come by later and take a look!”
I answered her request without hesitation. I wasn’t planning anything. She lived next door, after all. Neighbors helped each other out. That was enough.
“Great—then I’ll come find you later!”
“Okay! Or actually, I’m cleaning my place right now, so once I’m done with that I’ll head over.”
“Ah! Sure. I’ll be waiting at home!”
After that, she walked into the villa first. Well… she was the neighbor. Helping her out wasn’t hard. I told myself that, and under it all, some part of me might have been hoping a visual-novel-style event would trigger.
“Hoo…”
Thud. Thud.
I breathed out, soaking in the bright weather, and walked toward the smoking area. Not far from the recycling bins. A few steps out, I already had a cigarette from the pack between my lips.
Slide.
Click. Click. Click.
Fwoosh.
“Sss… hoo…”
I lit up, took a drag, and exhaled. First cigarette of the day—my head spun a little.
“That should about wrap it up.”
Cleaning hadn’t taken as long as I’d expected. Ran the vacuum through the whole place, threw the backlog of laundry into the dryer, gathered the clothes I’d left scattered around, folded them, and put them away. For a guy living alone, that level of cleanup had to put me in the top seven percent… Honestly, there hadn’t been that much to tidy. Even so, the nothing-special effort filled me with a baseless confidence.
“Ugh… what time is it…?”
I stretched out my stiff body and turned to check the clock. It was racing toward 2:00 p.m.
“Guess I should head over.”
Still—going to someone else’s place looking like a slob felt wrong. I put on a crewneck T-shirt and jeans, pulled on socks, and stepped out the front door.
Click.
Creeeak.
Click.
Beep! Beep! Beep-beep-beep!
The moment my door shut, I pressed the doorbell next door.
Wheee!
The chime inside was faintly audible.
Click!
“Ah! You’re here?”
“Yeah. Cleaning the place took longer than I thought.”
“Come in!”
“Sure.”
The door opened. She stood there in something a little more casual, welcoming me in. Following her lead, I stepped inside.