“@703, you are young, you should have basic manners! Hurry and say sorry to Gale! Stop bothering everyone!”
“You’re really like a bit of dirt that ruins a whole pot of food. The whole building can’t rest because of you! Isn’t that awful!”
Seeing the blame and harsh words in the group chat, I was so mad that my hands were shaking.
From the first day I moved in, every single day I stayed home, I had been very careful.
The whole apartment was covered with carpet. I lived almost without sound, walking lightly, scared to cause even the smallest noise.
Just because Gale said she slept lightly, I lived in my own place like a thief, not even daring to chew potato chips.
And now, only because I used the toilet in my own place, I had turned into a rude animal in her words, a person blamed by the whole building.
Shaking all over, I typed my explanation into the group chat.
“I didn’t make some sounds on purpose!”
“I only got up late at night to use the toilet and flushed once. She came upstairs to yell at me and then used a vibration device on me!”
The second I finished sending it, Gale quickly sent a full one-minute voice message.
“So you fucking think you’re right for getting up to use the bathroom late at night?”
“Can’t you drink less water?”
“Can’t you wait until morning?”
“If you really can’t, why don’t you wear a diaper when you sleep?”
“You just have to make noise and bother me?”
“Do you even know how loud the toilet flush sound is?!”
“I already have neurasthenia. If you scare me into something serious, can you take responsibility?”
“You have zero public sense. I truly don’t know how your parents brought you up!”
The moment she finished, people in the chat quickly replied again.
“703, hurry and say sorry to Sister Gale. Stop torturing all of us!”
“That’s right. You caused this, so hurry and fix it!”
“I need to wake up early tomorrow. If this mess affects my job, I won’t let it go!”
The crushing roar of the vibration machine, mixed with the screen packed with blame on my phone, made my vision darken from pure anger.
The one who was acting wrongly after doing something bad was not me.
The one hurting everyone was not me, either.
Why should I be the one who would take the blame and say sorry?
I knew Gale moved into this place before I did, so the people in the group chat likely knew her better.
But I never thought every single one of them would be this unfair.
Knowing there was no use talking to them, I simply muted the chat and endured it until morning.
As soon as daylight came, I went straight to the community management office.
The one who met me was the manager, Cornelius Guerrero.
Holding back my anger, I explained the whole situation to him.
After hearing it, Cornelius slowly took a drink of tea.
“We already know about this issue.”
“But even a fair official cannot easily judge household problems. Neighbor conflicts usually need you to talk it out yourselves.”
I was completely confused. “But this isn’t a simple conflict!”
“She attacked me on her own using a vibration device; this is against the law!”
“She seriously disrupted my normal life and threatened the safety of my home!”
Cornelius waved his hands away.
“Hey, you cannot say it like that.”
“We also checked Gale’s side. She said you often caused sounds late at night, and she only used this way because she couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“And she also said you made especially strong sounds last night.”
I stood completely speechless.
“Because of her, my whole place is carpeted. I have never made even a tiny sound at home. Last night I only went to the toilet and flushed once, how could that turn into such a big scene…”
“Enough, enough!”
Cornelius interrupted me, annoyed.
“Gale has lived here for many years, and she’s also my cousin. I know what kind of person she is; she wouldn’t cause trouble without a reason.”
