Chapter 5: Strange Neighbor 05

The night was utterly silent.

Outside the poorly insulated door came the sound of another door opening.

Followed by soft footsteps.

Moments later, a breeze rustled thin sheets of paper, as if someone were flipping them between their fingers.

A somewhat prolonged pause followed.

Then a few more footsteps.

Next came the crisp click of gears turning inside a lock—a sudden snap that echoed like ripples through the empty hallway.

—The door closed.

“Huh? What?” Yan Jing, his ear pressed tightly against the back of the door in a twisted posture with his butt sticking out at an angle, was dumbfounded. “He closed the door? That’s it?”

Yu Bai, who had been holding a rolled-up magazine to his ear like a makeshift listening tube, pulled it away and frowned in confusion.

He waited a little longer. There were no more sounds from outside, and peering through the peephole revealed no one in sight. It seemed the Room 1204 neighbor had no intention of knocking.

“Did he just pretend he didn’t see it?” Yu Bai mused. “That’s a pretty normal reaction, I suppose.”

If it had been him stumbling upon something that bizarre, he would have done the exact same—ignored it completely and asked no questions.

“Fine then.” Yan Jing slapped his butt and straightened up, reaching for the door handle with evident excitement. “I’ll go grab the watermelon. I haven’t had enough yet.”

“You’re still gonna eat? Aren’t you afraid of waking up in the night and getting chewed out by your mom?”

Yu Bai tossed out the jab casually but didn’t try to stop him.

Rubbing his eyes, he yawned and headed toward the bathroom to wash up and brush his teeth before bed.

He hadn’t slept at all the night before, and after devouring so much watermelon earlier, exhaustion was hitting him hard.

“Pfft, who cares? I’m off tomorrow, so I’ll crash on your couch tonight. What if there’s more ghost stuff? With me here, you’ll feel super safe. Go ahead and sleep easy—how’s that for brotherly loyalty…”

As the door creaked open, Yan Jing’s rambling cut off abruptly, the final syllable stretching into a long hiss.

“Hiss—!”

Yu Bai turned in surprise.

The door was half-open, and Yan Jing stood there sideways, staring out as if he’d been struck by lightning, his face frozen in utter shock.

“What is it?”

A familiar sense of dread washed over Yu Bai.

He hurried over and looked out into the hallway.

It was still perfectly quiet—no people, no strange objects. Nothing at all.

…Nothing. At. All.

The floor by the door to Room 1204 was completely empty.

That massive half-watermelon—the size of a yoga ball—was gone.

Yu Bai blinked in disbelief, closed his eyes, and opened them again. Same thing.

The glaring A4 note taped to the neighbor’s door had vanished too.

Yu Bai fell silent for a moment before stating the obvious in a calm voice. “Looks like he took it.”

Yan Jing, however, stared in wide-eyed incredulity, his gaze frantically scanning the short hallway that he could see end to end in one glance.

“No way!” His voice cracked with agitation. “There wasn’t any sound of him moving it!”

The tranquil hallway immediately filled with the echoing “iiiiiin” of his outburst.

Yu Bai yanked him back inside and shut the door.

“Keep it down,” Yu Bai said. “We both saw it. The watermelon’s gone.”

“This isn’t scientific!” Yan Jing’s face flushed red as he argued his case. “There wasn’t any sound of moving stuff—not even heavy breathing. How did he get that watermelon inside?”

“Do you know how heavy a watermelon that big is? If I wasn’t in such good shape, I couldn’t have hauled it down from the rooftop. Someone like you? You couldn’t even pick it up!”

Yan Jing immediately spread his arms to flex his muscles, then pressed eagerly. “So, what does the neighbor look like? You haven’t described him properly yet. What’s his build? Are his shoulders broader than mine when he spreads them? How big are his muscles? Show me with your hands—”

…

Yu Bai cut off his chatter cold. “Doesn’t look like a musclehead. About my size. But he picked it up easy as pie.”

“Done.” Yan Jing slammed his fist into his palm. “He’s not human!”

“Quit with the sour grapes.” Yu Bai smirked. “Face reality.”

The two locked eyes, their stares clashing silently in the air.

Then they both toppled backward, collapsing onto the sofa in exhaustion.

“What do we do now?” Yan Jing muttered to himself. “How the hell does that guy train…”

“No idea.” Yu Bai tried to reason it out. “He just took it? No other reaction?”

“Yeah, why didn’t he come knock and say thanks?” Yan Jing couldn’t fathom it. “If it were me, I’d totally do it—carry the whole watermelon over here, all casual-like, and rap on your door.”

“So he’s not normal.” Yu Bai sighed, worry clouding his thoughts about the future. “So many empty apartments, and he picks the one right next to mine?”

“Beats me.” Yan Jing racked his brain for alternatives. “Maybe we’re both losing it? Hallucinating the whole thing? Maybe there was no giant watermelon, and he never took it?”

“Could be.” Yu Bai grabbed a hug pillow and hugged it while reflecting. “I shouldn’t have waited at the door for him today… No, I shouldn’t have taken that elevator. Shouldn’t have chatted with Master Wang. Shouldn’t have eaten fried chicken and cola.”

“You had fried chicken today? That doesn’t cause hallucinations, does it?” Yan Jing pondered seriously. “I had mushrooms for dinner—my dad made mushroom soup. Tasty stuff, just regular button mushrooms. But what if they weren’t fully cooked? Could cause trips? Maybe I got poisoned, and it spread through the air to you.”

“Mushrooms? What are you babbling about?” Yu Bai’s eyes grew heavy-lidded. “I’m getting sleepy just listening.”

“Yeah, undercooked mushrooms causing hallucinations.” Yan Jing’s voice trailed off too. “No way he moved that watermelon…”

The two, talking at cross-purposes, curled up on the sofa and drifted off to sleep one after the other.

That giant watermelon had been insanely sweet.

The high concentration of sugar coursed through their bloodstreams, dragging them into deep slumber.

That night, Yu Bai had a dream he would never forget.

The air in the dream was syrupy sweet. Faint cries echoed on the wind. Golden, crispy fried chicken dashed down the road, towing a rope made from twisted-together plastic bags. At the other end of the rope was an enormous watermelon carriage.

Inside the bright red watermelon carriage sat two cans of cola. Peering out the melon-shaped windows, they saw a massive silver-gray rectangular palace drawing nearer. Its grand doors slowly swung open as the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” floated through the air. The colas bounced in excitement and clinked glasses, foam spraying everywhere.

In this dreamlike fairy-tale scene, the fried chicken pulling the carriage picked up speed. Its golden crust gradually darkened to brown, the heat making oil sizzle and smoke—then a faint burnt smell wafted out.

Suddenly, there came a thunderous boom.

The elevator palace exploded, birthing a massive, undercooked mushroom cloud.

Yu Bai’s eyes snapped open.

His mind cleared, and he found himself back in his familiar apartment. The living room curtains were open, sunlight pouring in brightly.

“What the hell was that noise?” Beside him, Yan Jing bolted upright, wiping drool from his mouth in a panic. “What blew up?!”

Without thinking, Yu Bai blurted, “The elevator palace exploded.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was off.

That was straight out of his bizarre dream. How had Yan Jing heard it too?

“Huh? What the heck?” Yan Jing stared blankly before sniffing the air. “You smell that? Burnt smell?”

“It’s nothing. I smell it.”

Yu Bai was fully awake now. He stood, neck aching, and hurried to the kitchen.

A thick burnt stench hung in the air.

Both gas stoves sat empty—no pots, no flames.

The smell wasn’t coming from his kitchen.

Yu Bai relaxed and pulled out his phone to check the time. Past noon already.

He’d slept a long time.

Yesterday had been so packed it had worn him out completely.

Yan Jing followed, nose twitching like a bloodhound.

“The smell’s coming from this direction.” He eyed the innocent stoves, puzzled. “But nothing’s on. What’s burning?”

Yu Bai glanced at the half-open kitchen window. “Probably some neighbor scorched their food, and the smell drifted over.”

“They’ll need a new pan for sure. What a bang—that woke us both up.”

Remembering their earlier exchange, Yan Jing asked curiously, “Oh yeah, what was it you said exploded? Some construction site? Basement site?”

…

Yu Bai brushed past without a glance and headed to the bathroom. “I’m hungry. Order takeout. You go get it.”

“Why me? I already hauled that watermelon yesterday!”

“You said that doesn’t count as takeout.”

“Fine, I’ll get it. Hey, were you talking in your sleep? What was that about a basement site? Or elevator power? Drip enemy? Little brother, little brother?”

Yu Bai finished brushing his teeth, ignoring Yan Jing’s grinning word-guessing game as mere background noise while he washed his face.

Until another massive boom shook the air.

Boom—!!

His hands froze mid-splash, and Yan Jing’s mouth snapped shut.

They both whipped toward the kitchen.

The sound had come from that direction.

“Holy shit, is it war? Did a plane drop a bomb?”

Yan Jing’s terrified voice echoed through the kitchen, which remained bright and spotless, everything perfectly normal.

“Or did something explode? Should we run for it first?!”

Yu Bai poked his head out for a look, his tone growing heavier by the second.

“It might be even worse than that.”

Under the clear blue sky, the window of the neighboring apartment in Room 1204 was shrouded in a hazy gray fog. Thick smoke billowed out, punctuated by flashes of orange firelight and the clattering crash of pots and pans. A pungent burnt stench wafted through the air.

“Whose place is that? What a disaster,” Yan Jing said, leaning in close and clicking his tongue. “They blew up their whole kitchen just trying to cook.”

Yu Bai’s face remained expressionless. “The one that carried off the watermelon without breaking a sweat.”

His own kitchen shared a wall with the kitchen in Room 1204 next door.

“Oh.” Yan Jing’s tone shifted abruptly. “What terrible cooking skills!”

Jealousy was one thing, but he still whipped out his phone right away, ready to call for help.

The question was, which number to dial first?

Yan Jing scratched his head, then leaned out the window and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Hey, neighbor! You okay over there? Still alive? Want me to call 120 for you? Or should I get the fire department? Police work too—”

Yu Bai’s ears rang from the sheer volume of Yan Jing’s voice.

But once the shouting died down, it wasn’t just his ears ringing anymore.

Yu Bai stared at the scene unfolding before him, feeling as if his brain itself had been rattled.

There was no response from next door, but the view changed silently all the same.

In the blink of an eye, the smoke, the flames, and even the burnt smell vanished without a trace.

The neighbor’s kitchen was pristine. Through the glass, Yu Bai could see a gleaming bucket of cooking oil on the counter, a brand-new iron wok, and several bulging plastic bags whose contents were a mystery. The furnishings were simple and sparse, but there wasn’t a single scorch mark anywhere.

It was as if time had rewound to before the kitchen explosion.

“…Holy shit.” Yan Jing looked dazed, stumbling back a couple of steps. “This mushroom poison is no joke. Why am I still hallucinating?”

Yu Bai said nothing.

He calmly returned to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and cupped a handful of cool water to splash on his face.

With the refreshing chill brushing his cheeks, he passed by the kitchen again. There stood Yan Jing, frozen like a statue at the window, and the air now smelled fresh and clean.

This was no hallucination.

Without hesitation, Yu Bai opened his front door and stepped into the hallway.

The door to Room 1204 was as empty as it had been the night before.

But on the floor by his own door sat a small round ball.

Before Yu Bai could bend down to pick it up, a sudden gut feeling struck him, and he whipped his head toward his own front door.

A huge note the size of an A4 sheet was plastered to it.

It read:

This is a gift. I like watermelons. Thank you.

—Room 1204 Neighbor 🙂

The handwriting was different from Yu Bai’s, but the format was identical—even down to the simple smiley face at the end.

…That was the doodle he’d added just to make his own note look even weirder!

And now things were definitely weirder 🙂

A powerful wave of absurdity crashed over Yu Bai.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and rapped his knuckles on the door.

This time, when he heard footsteps approaching from inside the neighbor’s apartment, he didn’t duck away.

The door swung open, and sunlight flooded the hallway in an instant.

Yu Bai stared unblinkingly at the figure silhouetted in the light, the question burning in his mind spilling out.

“Excuse me… are you human?”