The incessant sound of loud knocks on the door woke Mingyu up with a start, at first, just making his eyes fly open before closing them again sleepily, thinking that it was just his imagination. However, as consciousness seeped into his mind, washing out the grogginess, the sound became louder.

Like any other typical teenager being roused too early in the morning on a weekend, he grumbled, checking the time on his phone which lay on the nightstand. He blindly reached for the device, nearly dropping it, but caught it just in time. He arched a brow at it when he saw that it was barely only a bit over seven. He just had no reason to be up.

Mingyu closed his eyes again, deciding to ignore the noise. If there was anything he was good at, it was tuning out things that he didn’t want to pay attention to at all, but for some reason, he felt guilty having to make the person on his front door wait.

It could be the old man who owned the café across the street. He would usually drop by on Sundays and bring Mingyu bagels. It could also be the landlady although he didn’t see any reason why she would be there when he just paid his rent.

The knocking continued, and suddenly, he felt his guts freeze, making him hyper alert of his surroundings. He shook his head. It can’t be. He breathed in unstably, taking cautious steps towards the window. He knew he won’t see who’s at the door, but he wanted to know whether he would be facing more people. There were no cars parked nearby. As narrow as the streets were, there’s nowhere else whoever was knocking could have parked.

Everything seemed normal apart from the knocking, and he thought for a second that he was being paranoid, but just to be sure, he quietly took the baseball bat he kept from behind his bedroom door and quietly made his way downstairs, oblivious to the state of undress he was in.

He leaned against the door, keeping the bat behind him. The knocking ensued and only stopped when he pulled the door open. The hammering he felt on his chest, anticipating the worst, also stopped momentarily when he saw who was standing on his front door. He felt a smile drawing itself across his mouth, but it dissipated just as quickly when he realized something was wrong.

Hand raised as if poised to knock on the door, Jaera stared at Mingyu with red-rimmed eyes for a few seconds before crossing the threshold to approach him. She held onto him in a tight embrace, shaking as she wound her arms around his bare torso as if he would disappear. The owner of the house, though startled by Jaera’s atypical course of actions, found the will to let go of the baseball bat behind him, but upon doing so, he didn’t really know what he should do with his hands. In the end, instinct dictated that he should wrap them around Jaera, who appeared distressed and near tears.

Mingyu let her stay that way, supporting her with a soothing hand to her back, when suddenly, the owner of the café, bagel man, came out of the shop and waved at him, giving him the thumbs up. Obviously, he was thinking of different things, so he pretended not to notice and shut the door gingerly with his free hand whilst he held Jaera close to him.

Having gained her senses as well, Jaera pulled away from Mingyu, her eyes wide upon realizing that she barged into his house without warning and without even noticing that he obviously just got out of bed, only wearing a pair of boxers. She swallowed hard, unable to help it but stare, which she also tried to cover up by wiping away the tears that always just pooled in her eyes but never fell since she left Wonwoo that morning.

“I…I’m s-sorry,” she stuttered, taking a step back and taking note of the bat. “I’m sorry for coming unannounced…and disturbing your sleep.” She breathed in unsteadily, bending down to take the bat. “But seriously, a baseball bat?”

Mingyu took it from her, snickering slightly to conceal his anxiousness. “I thought you were someone else. I wasn’t expecting you, of course. I’ve never taken you here.” He looked around him and winced. “It’s a mess.”

He started picking up things, took a random shirt and pulled it over his head just so he would appear as decent as he could get at that time in the morning. He started feeling nervous, something he never felt whenever he was around her. Even odder, her felt embarrassed that she had to see him in that state.

As he was piling up clothes and books on the small couch and table respectively, he glanced at Jaera apologetically and said, “You should have told me you were coming.”

Jaera chuckled as she made her way closer to him, leaning on the backrest of the couch. “Mingyu, I don’t mind…” Her eyes, which were fixated on the floor strayed to him with a hopeful look. “…as long as you don’t mind having me here.”

Mingyu straightened to his full height. “Of course, I don’t, but…” He shook his head in confusion, trying to lighten up the atmosphere upon noticing Jaera’s bleakness. “How on earth did you manage to find my house?”

“Our school utility was more than willing to let me sneak in to access the records when I told him it was an emergency.” It was a lie. She just asked around, lucky to have stumbled on the café owner who actually knew Mingyu. She pulled at the strings of her navy blue hoodie, staring off into the view of the street outside the window, suddenly remembering Se Young and the look on her face earlier. “Se Young also lives a couple of blocks away from here.”

Mingyu blinked, not sure whether he should be happy about Jaera making the effort to find his house or what. It just seemed uncharacteristic of her to be doing such things so early in the morning, but then, it was a different circumstance this time. He just remembered that she should be somewhere in Jeju with Wonwoo.

He smiled at the thought of being the first person she wished to see after being off the radar the whole evening. Somehow, it made him happy. “Have you had breakfast?”

Jaera shook her head.

“Alright. I’ll just take a shower and I’ll whip you up some breakfast. American okay for you?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, Mingyu came back for her in the living room and towed her into the kitchen. He stopped right in front of her when they were standing by the kitchen counter, towering over her and leaning his head closer with hers.

“You’re upset about something.” It was a sure statement and Mingyu knew he was right.

Jaera didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.

“Okay.” Without warning, Mingyu hoisted held onto her waist, seizing her with both hands.

“What the –”

Relishing the look of surprise on her face, he lifted her and sat her on the counter. He laughed, earning him a smack on his arm. “Ouch!” He flinched away from her, still sniggering.

“You could have just told me!” she yelled at him, also laughing.

He shook his head. “No. The princess is upset, so I had to.” He stepped closer, still taller than her though she was elevated by the counter which served as her seat as mandated by Mingyu. “So, I’ll do the cooking and you do the talking.”

Jaera slowly met his gaze and the moment her eyes seized his, he drowned into those dark eyes, mesmerized and somewhat feeling intoxicated as she nodded at him. He had to wrench his gaze from her though he maintained a smile, motioning to grab the things he needed to make breakfast.

“So…what happened after you left school with the ex?” Mingyu asked, looking up from his task of mixing the pancake batter, not failing to notice how she flinched. “Nothing bad happened, I hope.”

Jaera shrugged, her gaze outside the window. “Oh, a lot of bad things happened,” she answered, remembering what happened while they were waiting for the liquid nitrogen up to