Kim Siwon underlines a section of his workbook before putting his pen down. During a brief break, he picks up his phone to find a message from his grandmother. It was just a simple check-in with no real news.

Siwon sends a short reply and is about to turn off the screen when he opens the message again to check it one more time.

"I wonder if Halmae is doing alright..."

Back in the countryside, she was someone he saw every single day. Since moving to Seoul, checking in via calls or texts had become the new normal. After graduating from Gyeongseong University and leaving the dorms, he stayed in Seoul and had already spent two years in this old Gosiwon Room 307 preparing for the police exam.

When he first came to Seoul, everything seemed massive. The roads, the buildings, the people. It was incomparably vast and complex compared to the scenery back home.

But living here, it felt strange.

"Seoul seems big, but it's awfully cramped."

There were people everywhere, and every building was stuck right next to another. In the Gosiwon, he had to live his life side-by-side with a stranger, separated by a single thin wall. Even in the middle of vast Seoul, the distance between people was strangely close.

That day was no different.

Stepping out into the hallway to get some water, Siwon ran into a stranger in front of the water purifier. It was a face he hadn't seen before. And behind them, Room 306. It was definitely the new person who had moved into the empty room next door.

Siwon looked at the person for a moment before naturally averting his gaze. He could have just walked past, but this was someone who would be living right next to him from now on.

"You're the new person in 306, right?"

His speech was close to standard Korean, but a distinct Gyeongsang-do accent was slightly mixed in.

"I'm in 307. Kim Siwon."

After a brief introduction, Siwon took a sip of water.

"Since you'll be in the next room... let's at least say hi when we run into each other."

Perhaps because he chose standard phrasing to look sophisticated, it sounded somewhat awkward.

Siwon put down his cup and looked at the person.

"What's your name?"