“Would you rather have wasabi on your cake or your custard bread? “

“Eeww! Wasabi is big NO for me, anything but that”

Well, it’s been almost a month since me and my weird neighbor started that 10pm covert convo, with that wall with a tiny hole separating us. Imagine trying so hard to hear each other speak without waking up the people downstairs, but yeah I guess that floor is really out of the ordinary because no one can hear us, not yet.

“But you have to choose one”

He insisted.

“Cake with wasabi. No one is allowed to do crime to my custard bread”

He laughs, damn that laugh that is keeping me sane every night.

How did it even start?

I don’t really know how but just after that night, I suddenly have this eagerness to come home and later will just found myself on that balcony and it will often starts with him asking

“So how’s your 600 minutes went?”

Weird but it’s like we can actually read each other’s mind. Just like that question, I never once mention to him how I hate that  ‘How’s your day’ Q, til it became a habit of him of asking that 600 mins thingy before firing up our usual late night chatter.

“Why do we always have to choose?” out of the blue, I asked.  We’ve both been quiet, just sitting there on our balconies; yes we often have that ‘calm’ moment yet it was unbelievably comforting.

He let out a deep sigh

“I know, maybe I wouldn’t be here if choosing is not a must”

We talk serious stuff like that too, about life --- but we both knew how to not cross the line.

We agreed that we can hang out and talk every night but NO personal question where we can have an idea to actually know each other personally.

We want to be friends but we have to be totally strangers.

ODD right?

But I guess, that is the safest way.

In that month of spending an hour exchanging talks with him, I realized one thing--- that we’re both running away from something. BIG enough that we found each other in this place where we can both forget.

SAFE HAVEN

“But honestly, aren’t you curious of how I look like??”

We’re actually talking about my work and chasity when he suddenly asked that.

There are a lot of occasions where I found him so peculiar that I actually picture him looking like an ALIEN, that big head, green and skinny one.

“NOPE, As long you’re not a serial killer or something, I’m good with just knowing your voice”

He laughs a big and loud one. He often gives me credits for always making him laugh like that.

Guess, he is really one heck of a lonely guy.

“I assure you, I am not a serial killer but I have to tell you, I’m far from being a good guy”

There he is again, with those words that you can actually feel.

PAIN AND LONELINESS

“I don’t care, we’re strangers right?”

That’s the thing with our set up, we don’t have to please each other coz yeah we’re definitely strangers.