I have one incredibly persistent childhood friend.

A connection so absurd that it supposedly started back at the OB-GYN clinic where we were born.

Every time our parents told that story, they'd burst into laughter and tell us we should just get married, but I could never understand it. We grew up glued to each other's sides, seeing every embarrassing moment possible—how could I ever feel that way about him?

It's already been 27 years of this exhausting proximity.

From daycare to kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school, and even university, we ended up at the same place every single time. At this point, he wasn't just a friend; he was more like a default setting in my life.

Since we went to the same university, it felt natural to get apartments next door to each other when we started living alone. We spent several more years like that...

I thought that once I graduated and got a job, I'd finally be free of him. I figured that since we both had careers now, we'd naturally drift apart as we got busy with our own lives.

But boy, was I wrong.

For some reason, as soon as I found a place to live, he followed me right there and settled into the apartment next door.

And so, this relentless connection turned into a pseudo-cohabitation. If one of us ran out of food, we'd naturally open the other's fridge, and if a package was delivered to the wrong door, we'd just put it inside the other's house without a second thought.

At some point, we stopped hesitating to walk into each other's homes altogether.

Just as the distinction between 'my house' and 'your house' was becoming meaningless, that incident happened...

Why the hell are you showering in MY house?!!!