I thought I’d just go straight in, shower, and sleep, but I never saw this coming.

Drunk enough to get caught masturbating, and she shows up asking if I need a drinking buddy, like, is she for real?

Could she still be drunk?

I didn’t answer and just stayed quiet, then the doorbell rang again.

Ding-dong.

Knock-knock-knock.

"Don’t pretend you’re not there, I know you're inside."

Now she’s banging on the front door complaining.

No way she’s leaving, the vibe's too set, so I gave in and opened the door.

"I wasn’t ignoring you, I just didn’t want to abandon my delicious chicken and had to thoroughly wash my greasy hands with soap."

I detailed the situation, voicing my displeasure.

I was actually wearing disposable gloves so my hands weren’t greasy at all, but I threw in a little white lie.

She stood at the door in a T-shirt and jeans, holding a small can of beer.

Seriously thinking of drinking?

"Wait, you were plastered at the bar and caused a scene here, and now you wanna drink more?"

I hinted at what happened earlier and her face turned red.

Then, in a rush, she explained.

"Ah.. I drank too much high-proof booze at the bar as a penalty and got drunk quickly... Anyway, I didn’t eat much there."

"And since I just finished my exams and didn’t get to enjoy them, while you were drinking alone, it’s fine between neighbors, right?"

It rolled off her tongue as if rehearsed.

I couldn’t say no, it felt like refusing her would mean never speaking or even making eye contact for the rest of our lives.

Well, I wasn’t planning on sending her away anyway.

How could I say no when such a pretty girl wants to drink together?

"Yeah, let’s drink. Come on in."

We sat across from each other with the chicken in the middle.

Now that we were facing each other, Yoon Hye-yoon broke the silence first.

"Ah, by the way, we haven’t even properly introduced ourselves, right? I’m Yoon Hye-yoon, a sophomore in English Literature at Mirae University."

She introduced herself with a bright smile.

Thinking about it, she’s always just called me the guy next door, the neighbor.

We never actually exchanged names.

"I also attend Mirae University, majoring in Electrical Engineering, third year, Park Woo-jin."

"Ah, there! Do you know Shin Ah-young in that department?"

Shin Ah-young’s name suddenly popped up.

I hesitated a bit, feeling a prick of conscience.

"Yes, she’s there... Do you know her?"

"No, not directly, but she’s quite famous, isn’t she? I bet everyone at the local universities knows about her. She’s really pretty."

With that face and figure, rumors are bound to spread.

Honestly, she’s fucking gorgeous.

Like, ignoring personal taste, 99 out of 100 people would call her their ideal type.

"Haha... She is pretty, but she’s way out of my league, so I don’t even think about it anymore."

"Ah, come on."

We made small talk about college and exams until the booze was all gone.

After sharing the chicken, there weren’t many pieces left, so I stood to go to the convenience store.

"Looks like we’re out of booze, I’ll head to the convenience store to grab some more food too."

"Ah, then I’ll go for you..."

Yoon Hye-yoon started to get up, slightly tipsy and slurring her words.

She had only had one beer, but since she wasn’t fully sober to begin with, she seemed to get drunk pretty fast.

I gently pressed her shoulder to make her sit back down, thinking she might break a soju bottle if I let her go to the store in that state.

"Ah, I’ll go quickly. Can’t send a guest."

I looked at her sitting quietly, grabbed my wallet and phone, and left the room.

'But isn’t it riskier to leave a drunk person alone in my room? Especially when I don’t know what they might do?'

A moment of unease crossed my mind, but I hurried, thinking it would be okay.

Ding-ding.

"Welcome~"

The part-timer greeted me, and I quickly picked out two cans of beer and some frozen pork rinds.

"Thank you~"

Ding-ding.

I left the convenience store with a strange feeling.

Fuck, is this déjà vu?

Why does this feel so familiar?

I sprinted home, beer cans clinking.

I crouched and rested while waiting for the elevator, which was on a higher floor.

"Haah...haah...I wish I could just quietly fall asleep..."

I caught my breath until the elevator arrived.

"Ding, 5th floor."

The mechanical voice announced as I exited the elevator, punched in the door code, and pushed the door open forcefully.

Bang!

But once inside, everything seemed normal. No strange noises, and Yoon Hye-yoon was still sitting where I had left her.

"Ah, you're back? Thanks for the trouble."

She greeted me with a smile and got up to take the plastic bag, starting to unpack the items.

"Wow! I love pork rinds, how did you know?"

I just grabbed the first thing I saw in the freezer.

She cut open the packaging with scissors and popped them into the microwave.

I brushed off my weird thoughts, relieved, and settled back in my spot.

We drank the beers I brought back, cooling down from the running.

But then I noticed something odd in front of me.

A pink cylindrical object with one end open.

It looked like a female genitalia replica.

And it was supposed to be on my desk.

A small onahole was sitting where Yoon Hye-yoon had been seated.

Shit...

Why the hell is that here?

My heart dropped as I turned to look at her, watching the microwave as if she had completely forgotten her actions.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"Why is this here?"

I pointed, and she turned to look where my finger directed, then paused, her face showing surprise as if she had forgotten.

"Oh, I'm so sorry... I was just curious and checking out the room and touched it... You came back quicker than I thought..."

She looked nervous, then added quickly,

"I was so startled I forgot to put it back in its place..."

She apologized again, quietly.

"Really sorry..."

"No, it's alright. Things happen."

I had stayed quiet, trying to gauge her reaction.

I wasn't sure if the onahole was somehow linked to Shin Ah-young, or to Yoon Hye-yoon.

If it were the latter... she would have noticed, but her sincere apology seemed genuine.

'I should still check it later...'

Beep-beep,

The microwave beeped, signaling the cooking was done.

She opened the door and the delicious aroma wafted out, placing the pork rinds on top of the chicken box.

The mood lightened again, and we continued our conversation as before.

About halfway through eating, the earlier incident seemed to still bother Yoon Hye-yoon, and she brought it up again.

"That thing earlier, it's an onahole, right? The adult toy for men..."

"Yes, that's right. Why do you ask?"

"That... does it feel good?"

Obviously, it’s made to make you feel good.

The atmosphere became slightly charged as I answered.

"Yes, of course it feels good, that’s what it’s made for."

She blushed at my answer, then whispered a smaller question.

"So... between that and the real thing, which is better?"

What, do I not look like a virgin? How would I know?

I was about to say just that when I recalled the Bluetooth-connected onahole.

Compared to the regular onaholes I’d used before, Shin Ah-young’s pussy was unbelievably pleasurable.

Having not experienced anyone else's but Shin Ah-young's, I couldn't say for others, but real was definitely better than the onahole.

"From my experience, the real thing was much better."

She waited eagerly for my reply, then sighed softly when I spoke.

Then, with a serious tone as if making a big decision, she started speaking.

"Please don't laugh after I tell you this, I'm being really serious..."

That’s how the conversation, fueled by the power of alcohol, began.

"About a month ago, You came to my room looking for a ghost, right? After that day, It kept coming."

"To be exact, it didn't do anything else, just touched my body... And it always touched me when I was masturbating..."

She became quieter, almost whispering, as if embarrassed.

"But... it felt really good... like a real person was touching my chest... and below..."

"It came every night before I went to sleep, touched me, and then vanished when I left..."

"So... I started getting interested in even better feelings... I even bought a dildo... Oh! Forget I said that last part!"

She waved her hands quickly, embarrassed about mentioning the dildo.

"Anyway...! Suddenly, it stopped coming. Even when I masturbate now, it doesn't feel good anymore... What should I do?"

I hadn't expected her to bring this up; maybe it was the alcohol talking.

If it were me, I would have kept it to myself for life.

She must have been so frustrated to bring it up to me.

'Have I been too indifferent all this time?'

She looked at me with desperate eyes, seeking an answer.

"Well... maybe ghosts have their own world too?"

"Perhaps that ghost was busy with midterms and couldn't come because of that."

The world of ghosts, my ass.

That's not a thing.

I just made that up on the spot.

But she seemed grateful for the response, brightening up and standing from her seat.

"I guess I talk about all sorts of things when I'm drunk... I'm sorry. And thank you for answering."

"My friends wouldn’t even listen if I mentioned the 'ghost' part; they just tell me to stop talking nonsense."

As she packed the trash into a garbage bag, she continued.

"I had a feeling you'd at least listen to me, even if you didn't believe it. And I was right."

"I really appreciate it today. Thanks to you, I was able to relieve some of the weight on my mind and had a great time. I’ll be going now."

Was this the real reason she came over today?

She put on her shoes and opened the door, then turned around and said,

"Oh, and since I saw your onahole today, let's call it even with my dildo sighting, okay?"

With a mischievous grin peeking through the door crack and quickly disappeared.

Bang!

The door closed, and she was gone.