Chapter 1

 

Jessica Jung watched the cars pass by. It would be her first year in Korea by herself, and she was feeling quite anxious about it. 

One could not tell her anxious state just by looking at her. With her feminine features and expensive clothing, they would think she upheld herself above others; they would find her rather intimidating. With that assumption, they were incorrect. 

The public transportation stopped at a bus stop. A few students and busy workers were getting on. It was then that Jessica's eyes caught a glimpse of a running dark-haired woman. This woman in particular was rather short, wearing her long hair in a ponytail. 

She was running like her life depended on it. Sweat trickled down the side of her face and neck, but she still pushed forward. 

Jessica glanced at the decreasing line up towards the front of the bus. Most of them have already boarded, and it made her wonder if the running midget would make it in time. 

Right after the last passenger boarded, the midget appeared at the foot of the door. She bent down with her hands on her knees, obviously trying to control her breathing. 

"Thanks for holding the bus for me." an old lady came out of nowhere. She boarded the bus, leaving behind a panting midget. 

"W-wait." Taeyeon called, but the door had already closed. The vehicle itself was already moving. 

Jessica frowned. She eyed the bus driver, who seemed to have completely disregarded the midget. 

"May I sit here?" the old Korean woman from earlier asked. 

Jessica pretended not to hear, pushing her earbuds deeper into her ear. 

"Breathe" by Lee Hi was playing. 

"You can sit here." a male high school student offered. "The sun will hit you there." 

The old woman showed her gratitude with loud praises. She sat down and the high school student stood by Jessica. 

"What a ." a few students sitting behind her gossiped. 

Jessica merely turned the volume up. 

Taeyeon sat at the bus stop for a while. She stared at the sky as the music played in her ears. 

"Breathe" by Lee Hi was her current favorite song. 

A deep sigh escaped her lips as her burning eyes closed to protect itself from the cold wind. Her bangs blew opposite from the direction of the wind. She didn't bother fixing it. 

Towards the end of the song, she sighed once more before walking towards her destination. 

... 

Jessica wrapped her earbuds into a neat bundle. She stuffed them in the small pocket of her purse and checked the name of the boarding house once more. 

Rabbit House 

It was the name of the place she'd be staying at for the rest of the year. She contacted the owner/manager, and the old woman seemed pretty nice. 

She dragged her black suitcase behind her as she walked towards the house. An old woman with white hair in a bun was watering the plants out front. She saw Jessica and the suitcase. 

"Oh! Are you the new girl?" 

"Yes." 

"I'm the owner Mrs. Lee. You have the key code right?" 

Jessica shook her head. She lost it somehow. It might have fell off when she was making a stop someplace. 

"Well go ahead right on up. It's just upstairs. First door on the left. I think one of the girls is home, so she'll open it up for you." 

She bowed to show her respect before heading up. The inside was clean, cleaner than the pictures she saw online. She hesitated in front of the door. This door would lead her to her new life with different people in the house. How many? She didn't know. It's something she didn't think to ask until now. 

Jessica pressed a button on the intercom. It was the door bell button, she hoped. When a loud ding sounded, she knew for sure that it was. 

A certain red headed girl panicked. She was in the middle of watching videos and wasn't prepared to face anyone. 

Tiffany shot up in her bed. She hurriedly threw on some clothes and ran towards the door. 

She saw an unfamiliar face in the live-video intercom. The girl seemed to look a bit like a foreigner, possibly Korean mixed with something else. 

It hit Tiffany when she remembered a new girl would move in with them today. She opened the door and came face-to-face with Jessica. 

"Hi!" Tiffany greeted. 

Jessica knew right away what Tiffany had been up to. The disheveled hair and faint scent gave it away. 

"You're Jung Soo Yeon right? Mrs. Lee told me about you." 

"Yeah." 

"Ah! I'm Tiffany Hwang! Come right in!" 

Jessica pulled her suitcase into the living room. The door beeped as it clicked shut. 

"Do you have the key code?" 

"Um, no. I lost it." 

"Wow! That ! The key code is 0805. Can you remember that?" 

Jessica shook her head. "I'll jot it down on my phone."

"Just remember it as a date; August 5. That helped me when I first moved in." 

The living room and kitchen was pretty simple. There was a green padded couch, two armchairs, a coffee table, and a normal-sized TV. The kitchen consisted of a short bar, a microwave, a blue refrigerator, stove, oven, and large sink. The floors itself was a wooden brown. To the side towards the door was a rack of slippers, shelves of lined-up shoes, and a coatrack that seemed as if no one ever used. 

"Your room is—" 

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. An excited grin appeared on her face when she checked the message. It was from her boyfriend. 

I'm bored. Wanna come over babe? 

A squeal caught in . She happily texted back a quick reply before returning her attention to the new housemate. 

"Sorry! I have to go!" Tiffany said while slipping on her shoes. She hurriedly explained the absence of the other housemates. "Taeyeon is out working, Seohyun is studying at a library, Sooyoung is doing community work, Hyo and Yuri at a party, Yoona on a date, and Sunny is in Jejudo." 

Jessica stepped aside before Tiffany could accidentally stumble against her. She didn't recognize any of the names, but kept listening. 

"Anyway they all should be home soon, except for Sunny. I'll be home in a few hours so help yourself!" 

Tiffany opened the door and waved a goodbye with a cheery eyesmile. 

"Wait where's my—" 

"It's on the left!" 

The door closed shut with a beep, leaving behind a confused Jessica. She awkwardly scratched her head. She didn't know what to do after unpacking. 

The first thing she tried doing was to look for her room. There were two rooms on the left and another one at the very end of the hall. 

Jessica hesitantly opened the very first door. Inside was a bunk bed and two separate desks, one with a mirror. The room looked a bit empty, so she assumed it was her own. 

She opened the armoire to find it filled with clothes. Instantly, she panicked. 

Jessica was sure she rented a room alone, but with her listening skills, she wondered if she didn't after all. 

She closed the armoire and checked the other room. 

The middle door led to a bathroom. The door was open and she saw the sink and mirror.

Two rooms down, one to go. 

Inside the very last room was a single bed and a large desk on the opposite wall. There was also a large window that offered a view of one side of the neighborhood. The room and everything in it was entirely empty when she checked. 

She unpacked her things and put everything in place. When she finished, she checked the time. 

9:05 P.M. 

Surprised was an understatement. She didn't think unpacking would take her more than three hours. Jessica wondered when any of her housemates were coming back. Tiffany should have been home by now. 

She sighed. Her stomach was growling due to her not eating anything besides breakfast. She decided to check the refrigerator for something to eat. As expected, every container was labeled with names. 

The items in the fridge varied from different types of alcohol, street food, foreign snacks, bread, takeout from restaurants, a bag of sweet potatoes, and vegetables. 

There was nothing available to eat, and it would be impolite to take someone else's food. Jessica decided on eating the snacks she came with for the night. She was too lazy to go out and wasn't feeling like calling a delivery service. 

When she finished eating, she took a long shower and got ready for bed. It was almost 10 by the time she laid in bed. She drifted off to sleep. 

...

 

"Jessica!" someone called. She turned around to see a girl with red hair. It was her little sister. 

"Where are you going?" Krystal asked.  It was 2 A.M. and Jessica was slipping on her high heels. 

Krystal noticed Jessica was wearing a short dress with her s almost pouring out. It was a wonder how Jessica still managed to look classy though. It must have been her graceful aura. 

"None of your business." 

"Does mom and dad know you're going out?" 

"Obviously not." 

"Don't go outside, Jess. You'll get in trouble." 

Jessica ignored her little sister's warning. She scoffed and opened the door anyway. Standing in front was an older man. He was wearing a floral shirt with dress pants and leather shoes. The side of his face had a jagged scarred line running through. His jaw was structured and sharp and his eyes were focused and menacing. 

"Jessica Jung?" 

Krystal stood in the back in shock. 

...

It was 10:30 P.M. when Jessica woke up from a disturbance. felt dehydrated and sore. 

She picked herself up and decided to go out to the convenience store to get something to drink. It was late, but she was really thirsty and drank all the water from the water bottle she brought. She also didn't want to take anything out of the fridge. 

The door beeped when she walked out into the short hallway. Someone was home, and she guessed it was no one other than Tiffany. She was mistaken about her assumption. 

Instead of a familiar redhead, it was a girl with messy blonde hair. She struggled to slip on her slippers before walking into the living room. She mumbled something about cursing a girl named Yuri for leaving her at the party. Her eyes caught on to Jessica's. 

"Who are you?" 

The words were slurred, but focused and interested nonetheless. From that, Jessica could tell the blonde girl was drunk. 

"I'm Jessica. I moved in today." 

The once grumpy drunk became a cheerful drunk when she heard that. Her eyes and face lit up with a huge grin. 

"Oh! Are you an American? Your name is!" Hyoyeon laughed as she said that. She was stumbling over to the first door. Her hand rested on the door knob. 

"I was born there."

The drunk girl suddenly stumbled forward and landed on the chest of a younger girl with brown hair. She caught the drunk. 

"Hyoyeon, you're home so late!" 

Jessica stood there, watching the taller but seemingly younger girl lecture the short one. 

She wondered when the brown-haired girl ever got home. She didn't hear anyone come in at all, but was it possible she came in while Jessica was sleeping? 

The brown-haired girl seemed to have been surprised also. Her eyes widened when she saw Jessica, a little knot atop her eyes forming. 

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" 

Jessica was getting tired of answering this question. She was asked this about three or four times today, but she answered anyway. She met a new person after all. 

"I'm Jessica Jung, your new housemate." 

"Ah! I'm Seo Joo Hyun!" Hyoyeon practically fell on the floor. Seohyun looked apologetically to Jessica. "Um, please wait a while." 

The door shut while Seohyun tucked her older roommate into the bottom bunk. Hyoyeon actually slept in the top bunk, but there was no way she'd be able to carry Hyoyeon up the ladder. 

She opened the door to find Jessica still awkwardly standing in the same place. The door carefully shut behind her back. 

"May I ask when you got here?" 

"I got here sometime in the evening." 

"Oh then I think you met Tiffany? Is she sleeping now?" 

"She said she was going to go out when I came over. I don't know if she's back yet." 

Seohyun didn't have to ask for anymore detail. She knew Tiffany went to her boyfriend's house. 

"I came back home at around 8." 

"That was when I was unpacking my stuff in the room." 

It was surprising how Jessica never heard anything that signified the return of her housemate. Seohyun also never heard Jessica come out of the room. It was amusing to both ends. 

"Did Tiffany go over the rules?" 

Jessica shook her head. She didn't really think there were any rules besides "don't touch other people's stuff." 

"The first and most important rule is no guys. Second is don't touch other people's stuff without permission." 

This was all common sense; perfect sense for living with a group of different people and sharing the same bathroom and living room, although others probably shared rooms. 

Jessica paid extra to rent a whole room to herself. She wondered how many rooms and roommates are there in each. She didn't do much exploring. 

"Third rule is everyone has their own assigned task of cleaning certain areas or specific chores. Clean up after yourself when you do something in the kitchen, dining area, or living room." 

"Got it." 

"And this is kind of personal but unplug anything you're not using, turn off lamps and lights. Don't turn lights on if there is any kind of moonlight or sunlight still shining through." 

Why am I taking personal orders from a younger girl? 

The older girl believed Seohyun was a bit too mature for her age. Sure, she was a college girl but she seemed a bit too uptight—not a fun person at all. She thought Seohyun needed to loosen up. 

"Also try not to disturb anyone in the morning or at night. We're all students here. We need to study in peace."

Jessica remembered the two people she met earlier. Tiffany and Hyoyeon didn't seem the type to study at all. Then again, she remembered Tiffany listed a whole bunch of girls when she was rushing out. Perhaps they were the studious people. 

She wondered if she picked the wrong place to stay at. The price wasn't too bad and the area was good, even the place was nice. The amount of people however, was a factor that led Jessica to consider looking at other boarding houses. 

"That's all. I'm sorry to keep you up. I hope we'll get along in the future." 

"Wait," Jessica called out, "do you happen to know a nearby convenience store?" 

"Yes but why are you going out? It's pretty late." 

"I wanted to get something there." 

"Okay. The nearest convenience store is about a five minute walk from here at a normal pace." 

Jessica rose her eyebrow. While Jessica had short legs, Seohyun had longer ones; thus, longer strides. In order for Jessica to match Seohyun's "normal" pace, she'd have to walk faster. In other words, their definition of a normal pace wasn't the same. 

"Make a right when you exit the building, go straight until you see a stop sign, go left, and then you'd see the convenience store." 

"Thanks." 

Seohyun nodded and bid a goodnight. She closed the door behind her and climbed into Hyoyeon's top bunk. 

"Oh," she said to herself as she looked at the door, "I forgot to tell her that Taeyeon works there." 

...

A girl wearing a blue vest sat behind the counter of a convenience store. Her eyes were glued to a book for dispensing opticians. She studied different kinds of lens and the personalization behind them. A middle-aged man settled his items on the counter. Taeyeon closed her book and checked the man's items. 

"Trying to become a dispensing optician huh?" 

She shook her head and corrected him. She wasn't going to become a dispensing optician, but an optometrist. 

In a timid voice, she replied, "No. I'm going to be an optometrist." 

"You know I studied to become one." 

Taeyeon's attention was caught. The man didn't seem like an optometrist at all, nor did he appear he'd ever have any interest in that field. In fact, he looked more like a plumber. 

"I hated my job. I quit and now I'm working as a part-time plumber at my friend's company." he laughed but continued on. "If you're really sure on that profession, good. I hope you make it. But if you don't like it very much, don't waste your precious youth on it. Do what you want to do." 

"T-thank you. I'll keep your words in mind." 

"A shy one eh? Hahaha! Make sure you have friends by your side kid. Friends are the most important around your age. If you guys stick together, life will be more interesting for years and more years to come." 

He grabbed his stuff and waved a goodbye. Taeyeon bowed as she always did every time a customer left. Although she's heard that many times throughout her life in cliché movies and dramas, the trite morals he just recited somehow didn't seem very trite anymore. She stared at the man's back. It got smaller and smaller. 

"Excuse me." Jessica spoke up. She had been silently waiting for the worker to pay attention and scan her water bottle so she could hurry up and leave. Taeyeon turned her head around to face the customer. 

Wow. 

Jessica thought the worker looked familiar. She had her dark hair in a ponytail, dark bangs covering her forehead, a jawline that could cut a finger if one dared touch it, and—

This is that midget I saw when I was on the bus! Jessica realized. 

Taeyeon noticed Jessica's expression change. It looked a bit sour. She guessed it was because the customer thought she was weird for staring at her. Taeyeon couldn't help it though. Jessica is definitely a beauty. The midget's face turned a bit red. 

"S-sorry." 

She scanned one water bottle and told Jessica the exact amount. The latter paid and without another word, left. 

"Do I look weird?" Jessica mumbled to herself when she exited. "She was staring at me like I had something on my face." 

She started back to the boarding house b with curiosity about the midget. 

Why is she working there so late? I would probably take an earlier shift if I were her. And why was she running so late this morning? 

Taeyeon opened her book again as if nothing happened. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder why Jessica looked as if she ate something bad when she was looking at Taeyeon. She pulled her vest as she continued reading, although not with the same genuine interest as before. 

On the calendar beneath the glass atop the counter was a quote for the day. 

Curiosity stems from interest.

...

 

A/N: Just wanna say real quick that this story is meant to be a bit slower-paced. It would take time for Taengsic or any other Soshi couple to become a couple, but I also don't want to make this story too long. I hope everything will work out as I planned when I first came up with the idea. Every detail leads up to a development, or that's what I'm hoping. If I made any grammatical errors, I apologize. Now about curiosity, one doesn't exactly have to like a person to be curious, am I right? For example, when you're watching a movie and there's an evil character, you may wonder things like "why is that person like this and that" correct? Or more accurately and more commonly said "what's wrong with that dude?" Just because Taeyeon and Jessica were curious doesn't mean they "like" each other yet. However, they will soon enough hehehehe. Taeyeon in this chapter towards the end, unsurprisingly, was awed by Jessica's beauty though. I hope you enjoyed!