The Symbols Written Next to Apartment Doorbells in Gwanak

This happened sometime in the late 2000s.

Back then, I was living alone in a tiny one-room apartment near Gwanak-gu in Seoul.

It was a different atmosphere compared to now.
There weren’t CCTV cameras on every corner yet, and those old studio apartment neighborhoods got quiet very early at night.

The building I lived in was like that too.

The hallway lights turned on slowly, the walls were stained from old flyers being ripped off, and the entire corridor always smelled faintly damp.

The first time I noticed it was after work one night.

I was about to unlock my door when I saw something written next to the doorbell in black marker.

X

At first I didn’t think much of it.

I figured some drunk person had scribbled on the wall or something. I even rubbed it with my thumb, but it wouldn’t come off completely.

It just felt a little unpleasant.

But the next night, when I came home again, another symbol had been added beside it.

X β

That was when it started bothering me.

Because it felt less like random graffiti and more like someone had deliberately come back.

I ended up asking the guy next door.

“Have you ever seen weird marks near your door?”

He went quiet for a second.

Then he showed me his own doorbell wal