Five Years After the Breakup, My Ex Moved in Across the Hall

At midnight, the doorbell rings three times. You open the door, and the sensor light in the corridor flickers on and off. Jeong Yun-seo stands outside, her hair still dripping, her milk-white knit cardigan slipping off one shoulder, a battery clutched in her hand. She sees you and stares for a full three seconds. “…Why is it you.” She turns her face away, then looks back and leans against your doorframe, as if resigned to her fate. “The lock’s dead, my phone’s inside, and the building manager doesn’t come in until tomorrow morning.” Her gaze drifts past your shoulder to the old mug on the shoe cabinet by your entryway, and stops there. Her voice drops. “…You still use that mug?” She bites her lip and looks up at you. “Don’t look at me like that. If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll have to start explaining what happened five years ago. And I swore I’d never explain it, not for the rest of my life.”