“Are you going back for dinner soon?” Taehyung asks. The sky is darkening and the street lamps are slowly coming on.

 

I shake my head. “I’ll hang around for a while more. You can go back first.”

 

“Haven’t your mother cooked? Won’t she be worried?”

 

“She can’t cook,” I say. “Not that she bothers anyway.”

 

Taehyung is silent for a while. The sad expression on his face leads me to think if I’m being pitied. Why did I even tell him that?

 

“I’ll just get food on my way back,” I reassure him.

 

“You want to come over to eat, then? I’m sure my mum won’t mind. She usually makes a lot of food. Come on!” He rattles off on his own and suddenly grabs my arm. Linking arms with me, he pulls me in the direction of our houses.

 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I tell him for the fifth time. We’re already in the lobby of our building and waiting for the lift to take us up.

 

“Nonsense! Mum loves having people over.”

 

The lift dings and we enter. I press the button for our floor and when we reach, Taehyung excitedly pulls me by my hand over to his unit. He keys in the passcode and when he opens the door, his mother waits inside.

 

“Hello,” I greet formally with a ninety degree bow.

 

“Mum, this is Sera from next door. You won’t mind if she joins us for dinner, right?” Taehyung removes his shoes and prompts me to do the same. I remain rooted in embarrassment. Shyness?

 

Taehyung’s mother smiles warmly at me. “Nice to meet you, Sera. Come on in.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.” I step out of my shoes and arrange them nicely on the rack.

 

Taehyung nudges me to follow him in and when I do, I see that their house is very simply furnished. Despite so, it gives off an unfamiliar yet undoubtable warmth of a family. I mentally pull up images of my own house. What’s the use of an expensive leather sofa if there’s no one to sit on it? Our dining table has too many chairs around it, our kitchen utensils rusting from disuse.

 

“Make yourself at home,” Mrs. Kim tells me. “Dinner will be ready in a bit.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

She smiles again. “Don’t be so formal with me. You can call me Auntie like Taehyung’s friends all do.”

 

“Yes, ma’am. I mean, yes, Auntie,” I say. With a satisfied nod, Auntie disappears back into the kitchen. In the living room, Taehyung huddles over his workbooks on the coffee table.

 

“Homework?” I ask, sitting down beside him. I glance over at this workbook and see that he’s doing Math. He stares at the question as if it’ll work itself out. “Need help?”

 

Taehyung looks up at me, and back down at his question. I pull his book over to read the question. “Listen carefully,” I tell him as I pick up his pencil. I slowly explain the steps to solve this question.

 

Luckily, Taehyung is a fast student. Nodding at me, he answers the question as I’ve taught him and continues to finish two other similar questions.

 

“Next time, I’m doing all my homework with you,” he says, his signature smile on his face. “Mum, Sera is a genius!”

 

I turn over to look at Auntie who’s just bringing dishes out. “I’ll help you.” In the kitchen, I wash cutlery and bowls just as the front door opens. I politely greet the man I assume to be Taehyung’s father.

 

“You must be the girl from next door,” he asks me. Looking at the elder man, I know now where Taehyung got his smile from.

 

“Yes, sir. My name is Sera.”

 

“Sera, yes, I’ve heard Taehyung talk about you-”

 

“Dad!” Taehyung cuts his father off, causing laughter from both adults.

 

“And Sera, don’t be so formal. Just treat this as your own house and be comfortable.”

 

“Alright, children,” Auntie calls us for attention. “Wash your hands, dinner is ready.”

 

I follow Taehyung into the bathroom where we take turns washing our hands. At the dinner table, Uncle sits at the head while Auntie and Taehyung sit on either side. It’s a square table so I end up sitting opposite Uncle.

 

“Thank you for the food,” we say before digging in.

 

“Have some fish,” Auntie says as she puts some meat onto my spoon of rice.

 

“Thank you.” I eat the meal gratefully. If not for this family, I would be snacking off potato chips for dinner. 

 

After dinner, I offer to wash the dishes so Uncle tasks Taehyung to help me. Standing in the kitchen, I soap the dishes and Taehyung rinses.

 

“What’s your school like?” He asks me suddenly. I think for a moment.

 

“I’m not really the type to mingle around so I’m not quite sure,” I say honestly. “But overall it’s not bad. Why?”

 

“Ah, we just finalised my transfer over. I officially start school coming Monday.”

 

“Cool, did they tell you what class you’ll be in?”

 

“2-2, I think.”

 

“Oh, that’s my class!” A sudden excitement overcomes me. My brain struggles to decipher the unusual emotion.

 

“Really? Wow, I can finally breathe now. You’ll have to take good care of me, classmate!” Taehyung smiles and hold out a hand which I shake with my own soapy ones.

 

I stay for a while more before leaving for my own house.

 

“Thank you Auntie and Uncle,” I greet at the door.

 

“I’ll see you back!” Taehyung prepares to come out but I raise a brow at him.

 

“I just live next door.”

 

“Oh, right. See you tomorrow, then.” He waves.

 

“Have a good night.” I bow to the elders before turning away. Taehyung closes the door behind me and as soon as he does, a figure steps out of the shadow.

 

“Namjoon?” I call out.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he says.

 

My forehead creases. “How did you know where I live?”

 

“Is he a new friend?”

 

“How did you know where I live?” I repeat my question.

 

He stares into my eyes as if to look for answers of some sort. “I followed you back last night.”

 

A harsh wind blows and Namjoon visibly shivers. He’s wearing but a thin coat, his jeans ripped in many places. I sigh, looking away to key in my passcode.

 

“Come in.”

 

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