9.

I didn't know what to feel the moment I arrived at the front door I'd last seen over the weekend.

Should I have been nervous? Frightened? In disbelief of my actions? I never would have imagined I'd be knocking on a stranger's door in search of answers. But my current circumstances had given me no choice but to resort to such measures; how unnerved I was around Hansol's friends and their uncanny, bizarre relations to the accident significant reason for me to be standing outside the ranch door.

It was in the dark of the night when I'd first seen it. But in the light of day that Friday afternoon after class, I couldn't help but stare in wonder at... well... how misplaced the home looked. Amidst the typical suburban houses half a main street away, the house was surrounded by a clearing of short grass and shrubs, flanked further out by the tall pines of the forest. If not for the tar road branching off into dirt – the route still difficult to see if you're not looking for it – the house could be considered completely isolated from the rest of the town and civilisation in general.

Despite the solitary plot of land it was on, however, the home was a sturdy piece of architecture. A fenced porch that went all around the rectangular home, wood and bricks to construct it, an arching gable over the second floor, and a contrasting grey stone chimney on the extreme left made it seem like a cosy country home I'd seen online and in lifestyle magazines.

The front door was a single one, bordered by panes of glass that created an arch over and around it. I had been standing idly staring at it for the past few minutes long enough to come to the assumption the home was built not too long ago. I had been here before, despite the unassuming circumstances. Certainly, I shouldn't have been as apprehensive as I was. But the fact that they were still strangers was a glaring one; my feat overwhelming if perhaps I was here without reason... but I was. And recalling the entire purpose of my visit, I mustered the courage to knock.

The chances of anyone being home were slim. It was, after all, a Friday afternoon. People worked. Had plans. Rested. All sorts of possibilities went through my mind, and the moment I considered between knocking again and taking my leave to try for another day, the clatter behind the door startled me.

'You're back.'

It was Jaehyun. Unlike the other night, he was now clad in a T-shirt, cardigan, sweatpants, and what looked like slippers. He looked so casual that the sight was hard to take in when compared to the last, very different circumstances we'd met in.

'Hello. Is this a bad time?' I asked, observing the home that was uncannily silent behind him.

'I could always come back...'

'No,' he quickly said; eyes widening at his own fast response, it seemed. 'I mean, you came to see Dongyoung today, right?'

I nodded after a moment, uncertain of how he would go about making this happen, when Jaehyun stepped aside. I stared at him thereafter but all he did was proffer an encouraging set of gestures to enter. And uneasily; questioningly; I accepted his invitation.

After all, I was not here on casual visit terms.

The moment I set foot into the home, I heard the clunk of the front door behind me as Jaehyun closed it. The foyer was decked in stone walls and floors a shade of brown. Wooden accompaniments like a table against the wall on my left, a matching framed mirror above it, and bulky trusses at the very top gave off a much cosier theme than I recalled from the other night.

'He's working,' Jaehyun quipped from behind, making his way ahead of me, compelling me to follow him. 'He shouldn't be long, but...'

'It's OK,' I interjected, raising a hand in his direction. 'I don't mind waiting.'

Jaehyun smiled for the first time since I'd met him. I couldn't help but notice the laugh lines and dimples around his mouth as well as the crinkle of his eyes as he did so when we reached the living room, and again, he gestured for me to take a seat wherever I liked. He was good looking. Certainly someone I could imagine Gayoon fawning over.

Opting for the only wingback in the room, once I was in it, I was once again reminded of how homely the cottage was despite only being in here once before.

There was a recurring theme of low trusses and gables in the home, I noted. More stonework carried through to the chimney beside me, flanked by the leather chair I occupied before. Further ahead was a low coffee table decorated with an indoor pot plant and other leisure books; directly across from it was a comfortable white three-seater couch. Unlike the three bedroom home in the suburb I lived in, the wood and stone marvel I was now in seemed enticing to the point where I felt I could stay longer than I intended.

It was an odd desire. One I couldn't make sense of, and one that ended abruptly the moment I noticed a form in the doorway, startling me out of my skin.

He seemed to notice, because almost immediately registering my alarm, he threw one hand in the air as if in surrender.

'Sorry,' he said; voice low, soft, familiar. 'I didn't mean to startle you. I hope you don't mind, but I brought you something to drink.'

'Oh,'

I stared at the steaming cup in his hand as he placed it tenderly on the coffee table at my knees. Accompanying it was a jar of sugar cubes and a porcelain milk jug I instantly felt a pang of guilt for.

'You didn't have to.'

'Seeing you left so quickly the other night, I sort of did.'

I moved to look at him at that comment, instantly placing the brunette hair and the voice I recognised the moment I heard it. A soothing voice, inviting aura, a hot drink... the familiar memory of that night returned to me in an instant. I could only manage a sheepish smile, falling into an inexplicable sense of comfort in his presence despite having only met once; then too was it during terribly informal circumstances.

'I'm sorry about the other night,' I finally apologised, holding his gaze in search of his name. 'Um...'

'Please, call me Taeil,' he continued to my relief. 'And no need to be sorry. I don't blame you for taking off. Anyone in your position would have done the s