Modern Pen Pals

여섯 'yeoseot'

'Not me,' they say in sync.

'That's not fair!' I object.

'You were the last one,' Elisa says.

'I didn't even know it had started. Shouldn't you count to three or something?'

'Were you confused, guys?' she asks, and they both shake their heads.

'Fine.' I pout and stand up.

Damn the time I suggested for one of us to ask the neighbours for lemons. It's two in the morning. I don't think anyone will answer the door.

I observe all the doors on my floor, trying to hear any sound from the inside—any slight chance someone is awake. As I approach one door to listen closer, it opens.

I jump backwards and look down, catching my breath.

'Oh, fuck!' I feel my heartbeat through my chest with my hand. 'You scared me.'

'Sorry, I'm taking the rubbish outside,' the woman says.

I remember that I'm standing in front of her door, preventing her passage, and move to the side. 'Right, I'm sorry.'

She's near the end of the corridor when I'm reminded of the sole reason I was spying on her door.

'Excuse me,' I say, trying to keep my voice low for the neighbours but loud enough for her to listen.

She turns around, and I take that as my cue to keep going. 'Do you, for any chance, have any lemons?'

She chuckles and nods. 'Help me take out the rubbish and I'll give you lemons.'

I smile and run up to her. We stand in front of the elevator for a few seconds, waiting for it to arrive at our floor, and I watch my reflection through drunken eyes.

Did I just run up to a stranger as if I'd known her all my life? And am I really going into a dark alley with her?

Inside the elevator, I have the urge to ask, 'Why are you taking the rubbish at this hour?'

'Why do you need lemons at this hour?' she asks.

'Because I want to drink tequila,' I respond, unlike her, and she laughs.

'I can see that you are a bit tipsy.' The corner of her mouth lifts. 'I like to take out the rubbish when it's calm outside.'

When we arrive at her flat, I stay by the door and she goes in.

'Here,' she says, holding two lemons. 'Is it enough?'

'It's more than enough, thank you.' I lift the edges of my lips, closing my tired eyes. I grab the lemons and before she closes the door, I ask, 'Do you want a shot?'

She smiles back. 'Next time.'

Inside my flat, music flows through the atmosphere and a few laughs come from the living room.

'Did you go buy them?' Elijah asks as I walk into the room.

'No, a neighbour gave me some,' I say, placing the lemons on the table next to the closed bottle of tequila.

'I went to check in on you and didn't see you,' he says.

'Aww, little Elijah was worried about me.' I am definitely drunk, sober me could never.

His cheeks turn red, and he looks down, so I put the focus back on me. 'I helped her take the rubbish out in exchange for the lemons.'

'You should have told us. Something could have happened to you. Do you even know who she is?' Moonie stands up, another person who talks a lot more when drunk.