Back in college, when a friend moved into a new place, a few of us decided to crash his apartment to tease him a bit. His place was pretty typical for a college student—not brand-new, but not falling apart either.

It was a three-story apartment building. There was a narrow flight of stairs near the entrance, with a hallway in the back leading to the first-floor units and what looked like a bicycle parking area beyond that. My friend’s room was the corner unit on the second floor.

It was drizzling that day, and a group of us barged into his apartment carrying bags of booze and snacks we’d bought at a nearby supermarket.

As we set our things down on the entrance stairs to fold up our umbrellas, one of my friends let out a sudden gasp.

"Whoa, what? What’s wrong?" "...Sorry, you just startled me."

Following the awkward look on my friend's face, I peered down the hallway leading to the bike rack behind the stairs, and my heart skipped a beat.

Standing under the dim light fixture in the hallway was a woman. She looked to be in her thirties or forties, with long, pitch-black hair, and was dressed entirely in black. With the dark bicycle area behind her, her pale face almost seemed to float in the gloom.

She just stood there, motionless, looking in our direction. Or rather, her face and eyes were turned toward us, but she wasn't actually looking at us. Her gaze seemed absent, staring off into the distance.

Thinking to myself that she really gave us a scare, we gave her a brief, polite bow of apology and headed up to our friend’s place on the second floor. The moment we stepped into his room, we brought up the woman downstairs.

"There was a pretty creepy person downstairs." "Seriously creepy. What is she even doing down there?" "Wait, isn't she an actual tenant?"

If she lived in the building, why wasn't she in her own apartment? As we were discussing it, the friend who lived there pouted and said, "I just moved in, stop telling scary stories like that."

Drinking the booze we bought and playing games, we completely forgot about the woman. The night wore on, and by midnight, we ran out of alcohol. Two of my friends volunteered to go to the convenience store on a run. I stayed behind with the host.

But less than five minutes later, the two who went out came rushing back.

"Let's all go together." "That woman is still down there. It's creeping us out."

No way... The host friend was unnerved, but since we had a few drinks in us, we decided to treat it like a courage test and go together.

As we walked down the stairs, I took a quick glance into the back hallway, and sure enough, she was still there! She hadn't moved an inch since we first arrived, standing in the exact same spot, staring blankly off into space. How many hours had passed since we got there? Had she really stayed in the same pose in the same spot the entire time? Even for a living human being, that wasn't normal.

On the way to the convenience store, we talked about who she could possibly be. I suggested that we say hello to her on the way back. The alcohol was making me bold.

But when we returned, the woman was gone. My friends found it strange, but inside, I felt relieved.

I ended up crashing there that night and went home the next morning without anything else happening.

A while later, the friend who lived in that apartment told us he was thinking about moving out.

"Moving already? Isn't that a bit fast?" "...It's because of that woman."

According to him, whenever it rained, she was always standing under that hallway light. She'd vanish once the rain stopped, but it freaked him out to no end. Remembering how bizarre she was, I could understand his fear, though moving out over it felt a bit extreme.

He told us he had actually tried talking to her. I thought that was pretty brave of him.

"I said, 'Hello, I just moved into the second floor. Sorry if my friends and I were loud the other day.' But she didn't say a word. She didn't even look at me. She just kept staring fixedly up at the ceiling, so I couldn't even have a conversation with her."

He even contacted the property management company, but they couldn't do anything about it. Whenever it rained, morning or afternoon, she was always there. She wasn't doing anything other than standing there blankly, but it was so bizarre and terrifying that he just wanted to move as soon as possible.

"She isn't a ghost. I'm pretty sure she's a real person. But isn't that even scarier? Just standing there the whole time whenever it rains. What is her deal...?"

In the end, my friend moved out after only about six months. I never found out who that woman was. Maybe on rainy days, she's still standing under that dim hallway light.