Living in an apartment complex meant interaction with tenants, whether it is unwanted or not. Dahyun learned that sometimes, one doesn’t even need to know or see another tenant to interact. 

 

It started when she had just gotten home from a long day of work and she was aching for a warm soothing shower. It was natural for her to sing in there as well, so the first song that popped into mind was from the movie she watched over the weekend with her friend, Momo.

 

I can show you the world 
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

(It seemed childish to her that she was singing Aladdin, but she’s cute so sue her for singing a Disney song.) 

 

Just as she took a breath to start singing Jasmine’s verse, a sweet voice called out from the opposite side of her shower wall.

 

A whole new world 
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
that now I'm in a whole new world with you

 

Naturally, Dahyun was shocked. So shocked that the only thing the pretty voice’s owner heard was the water running through the pipes. After a moment of silence the voice called out expectantly.

 

“Um, Aladdin, your part’s next.”

 

Dahyun doesn’t know what compels her to reply.

 

“I know.”

 

“So, uh, are you gonna sing it…or?”

 

“Um. I guess.”

 

Now I’m in a whole new world…

When Dahyun was lying in bed that night, she found it odd. Odd that she continued to sing, odd that she had a conversation with the mystery woman adjacent to her apartment and sang a duet (or two) with her, nonetheless.

But she finds it in herself that she enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind for another encounter like that.

---

The next day when she was taking a shower, a part of her wished that the woman would once again join her for a duet but only to be disappointed. However, later on when she walked passed her bathroom to go her bedroom, she heard the same beautiful voice echo faintly against her shower tub.

Dahyun realizes that the voice was arriving the tail end of her verse.

 

Gotta do what's best for me 
You'll be ok...
I've got to move on and be who I am
I just don't belong here
I hope you understand
We might find our place in this
World someday
But at least for now
I gotta go my own way

 

Dahyun finds herself hopping into the tub and rushing in to dramatically make her entrance.

 

What about us?

What about everything we’ve been through?

 

Jasmine, as Dahyun's mind has appropriately dubbed her, replies back, just as dramatically. They passionately continue on, dramatics arising.

 

What about trust?

You know I never wanted to hurt you.

 

She hears Jasmine stomp against the shower tub.

What about me?

 

Dahyun  pounds the shower wall.

What am I supposed to do?

I gotta leave but I’ll miss you.

I’ll miss you.

 

She hears the woman giggle. God, she’s cute.

“I’ve always wished to do a duet with that song.”

 

“Glad to fulfill your wish then. Honored, even.”

 

“I’m surprised you pulled through. I couldn’t hear your water running.”

 

“I just happened to pass by my bathroom and I heard you. You got lucky, Jasmine.”

 

“That I did, Aladdin. That I did.”

 

Dahyun hopes they don’t get noise complaints.

---

Dahyun has talked to the voice across her shower walls more than she can count and yet, they haven’t even begun to learn their own respective names. She knows the music taste the woman listens to- even sang with her once and made an effort to harmonize. When they aren’t singing however, they talked about each other’s days and their problems.

They had built a relationship through their shower walls and Dahyun’s water bill has skyrocketed.

 

She doesn’t mind.

 

When Dahyun hears music leaking out of the woman’s door one day, she feels the pull to knock on it.

But here’s the thing.

Taking a step towards that door makes her stomach flip.

When she takes two more and her fist is in the air, she finds that her palms are sweaty.

She can’t believe she’s nervous and falling for a girl that doesn’t even know her name, can’t believe they’ve never met or seen how each other looks when they sing. Can’t believe she likes a girl just because she sang.

Everything about this is odd.

Dahyun welcomes it.

---

Dahyun can’t believe her luck when she runs into Jasmine at the community mailbox.

 

Literally runs into her.

 

Dahyun had her hands full and she was trying to find her key to open the mailbox lock while walking to said mailbox when she was met with a warm body. She never really was good at doing things while walking. (She once ran into the wall and seriously stubbed her toe when she was texting her friend Nayeon. She was texting about Jasmine. Maybe this was some sick way of foreshadowing).

 

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking and I totally bumped into you.”

 

When she looks up, she expects to see a mad gaze or a harsh stare but instead she finds a beautiful woman with bright russet eyes and the look of shock on her face.

 

“Oh my you are so pretty. That is not fair. You can’t have a nice voice and be this stunning. What kinda god blessed you?”

 

It takes Dahyun a moment to register the familiar voice.

 

“Yah! You’re Jasmine!”

 

Dahyun wishes she could be more articulate like she usually is.

 

“I’m actually Sana but yeah. Hi. It’s nice to finally meet you, Aladdin.” 

 

“I’m um Dahyun.”

 

She really wishes her mind would stop failing her.

 

“What a nice name Um Dahyun.”

 

Sana has a cheeky grin on her face and Dahyun just really wants to kiss it off, but she knows her boundaries. She’s not some reckless boy.

 

“I’m usually more eloquent than this. I’m just so shocked. You are so pretty it’s mind boggling.”

 

“I can see the shock in your face. It’s cute.”

 

Finally, her mind pulls through and she mentally fist pumps when she smoothly asks the girl out.

 

“Am I cute enough for a date?”

 

“You’re more than cute for a date.”

 

Dahyun finds that Sana is just as charming as her voice.

 

She now believes that she’s falling for a woman with a beautiful voice, an even more than pleasing body, and a stunning mind.

Dahyun definitely welcomes the feeling of joy that rushes through her when Sana kisses her on the cheek and waves goodbye to her after their date.

 

Despite taking a shower earlier that day, both she and Sana find themselves singing to each other across the wall.

---

Months have passed since they’ve met. It’s been many songs passed since they’ve first sung. It’s also been many dates, kisses and dances (especially one’s where they’re nak*d and not really dancing at all) since the first encounter at the mailbox.

 

Dahyun finds that she has a drawer of clothes in Sana’s apartment, and really what’s the point in having her own place when the only time she’s in there is to cycle out her clothes in said drawer.

 

But she also finds herself in Sana’s shower, whose owner also coincidentally happens to be there too. Ever since their first time together, their duets haven’t been through the wall and rather face to face. Dahyun recognizes that Sana sounds even better without a wall muffling her voice the first time she initiates a duet.

 

All those days watching from the windows 
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here, suddenly I see
Standing here, it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be

And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you

 

Dahyun finds herself wiping water away from her eyes and stepping closer to Sana’s body to avoid the stream of water.

 

All those days chasing down a daydream 
All those years living in a blur
All that time never truly seeing
Things, the way they were
Now she's here, shining in the starlight
Now she's here, suddenly I know
If she's here it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go

 

Their voices meld and entwine together the way Sana does with their bodies. She wraps her arms around Dahyun’s waist and nuzzles her face into the crook of her neck. She presses soft kisses there and Dahyun feels the smile on Sana’s face. When Sana breathes out onto her neck to speak, the goosebumps rise on her skin like they always do.

 

“You have a really nice voice. It makes my ears happy.”

 

“Well, you make my heart happy.”

 

Dahyun can feel Sana’s smile widen.

 

“You make my heart happy too. Especially when we do duets. I’ve always been doing them alone and passionately singing both parts is exhausting.”

 

Dahyun knows she loves Sana- loves her when they’re sleep deprived and talking nonsense, loves her when Sana tells her jokes that never fail to make her laugh, loves her when Sana sings for her.

 

Dahyun knows that Sana loves her too through the way she looks at her and smiles so brightly when they're together. Knows Sana loves her through the way she treats her with the utmost care and sincerity.

 

She also knows that Sana will always sing the Aladdin duet with her, whether they’re sloppy drunk or on the edge of sleep. She knows that Sana will always be there to sing her part and dance cheerily along, twirling her respectively.

She knows that Sana will always be there, their hearts a consistent metronome.