Living with roommates means learning to share space, but it also means respecting each other’s basic needs.

What would you do if your roommate was coping with a breakup by blasting loud, emotional music late into the night, keeping you from sleeping?

Would you confront them directly?

And what if that didn’t work? Would you stay quiet until it boiled over?

In the following story, one young man finds himself in this very situation and does just that.

Here’s how it all played out.

AITAH for asking my roommate to stop playing sad music late at night?

I (21M) share an apartment with my roommate (22M), who recently went through a breakup.

I’ve been supportive, talked with him, brought him food, gave him space, etc.

But over the past two weeks, he’s been playing extremely sad, emotional music every single night from 11 p.m. until 2 a.m.

I don’t mean like in the background either, it’s blaring so loudly that I can hear absolutely every word in my bedroom, and it prevents me from sleeping or concentrating if I’m even trying to do schoolwork.

I tried to drop subtle hints like, “Hey, could you turn it down a bit? or maybe use headphones at night?”

Fed up, he lost his patience and yelled at him.

But he would dismiss it with a chuckle or just tell me that it helps him cope.

The previous night, finally, I lost my temper and I exclaimed, “I mean, I know you’re hurting, but your heartbreak is disturbing my sleeping pattern. Listen to headphones or make it daytime.”

He got very quiet and said that I was insensitive.

Now I’m the bad guy.

I didn’t intend to dismiss his feelings.

I just want some peace and quiet in my own home.

Some friends say I was too blunt.

Others say I’ve been patient enough.

AITA?

Yikes! It’s easy to understand both sides of this, but staying calm can go a long way.

Let’s see what advice the readers over at Reddit have to offer him.

This person thinks he should kick him out.

Here’s someone who thinks the roommate is insensitive.

Excellent way to look at it.

He does need to respect the shared space.

There’s no wonder that happened! He tried asking nicely, but that didn’t work.

So, the roommate messed around and found out.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.