"You have your meals for the whole week prepared already, alright? I've told you how they're arranged inside the refrigerator. You've memorized the markings placed on the microwave, shower, and heater, right? If you need something, just call me. First button on your phone."

I stayed on my bed, looking up to the ceiling as if I can see something there. My brother continued to blabber on the phone, saying things I've already memorized as he said them for the hundredth time already.

"Saerom? Saerom-ah? Can you hear me? Or you turned mute, too?" He asked sarcastically.

"I'm not mute, definitely not deaf, oppa. " I replied in a cold tone.

"Okay, Rom-ie. Call me, hm?" He reminded, worry evident in his voice. I hummed a response. He waited for a minute until I heard the call ending.

For a good thirty minutes, I laid on my back, not minding the time ticking. As if it will affect me now. I quit work. I can't work in this state. I have nothing to do but be on my bed until I die or my brother slaps some sense into me. Although the latter doesn't seem to be effective as I'm like...living an unlivable life. Being heartbroken is an understatement, I'm more like a broken soul.

I shut my eyes, ready to sleep for the day. And then, three loud knocks woke my whole body again.

The knocks did not stop. I groaned loudly. As if the person outside is insensitive, the knocks were followed by a loud "hello?" Pissed, I got up and made my way to open the door with ease. Good thing I know every nooks and crannies of my house.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked irritatingly.

"Uh, hi? I'm your new neighbor. I live there, just across." The voice was soft, cute, and very girly compared to earlier. The girl somewhat sounded shy, but that didn't change my mood.

"And?"

"I just came by to say hi! And I heard from the others that you're from Busan. I am, too! I came here alone, and it's my first time so I don't really know anyone. I'm glad to meet you!" She said fast, almost choking on her own words. The shyness was replaced by cheerfulness.

I stayed there for a minute, waiting if she still has something to say. When I heard nothing from her, I went back inside.

***

My morning started with my alarm and the voice of my nagging brother. And again, I stayed on my bed, and slowly drifted back to sleep.

"Busan friend! Busan friend!" The loud voice woke me up. I groaned and walked straight to open the door, not caring if I look like as I just woke up.

"It's so early, what do you want?!"

"It's... afternoon already?"

"What do you want? And how sure are you that I'm your friend?" I pointed out, ignoring her reply about the time.

"Uhm... You look like you're around my age so..." She trailed off. I heard her clear and once again she spoke, "Anyway, I made Seed fried Pancake. And these are for you."

"No thanks. I have foods in here." She's getting in my nerves slowly. Yet, I tried to longer my patience and stayed for a moment, stopping myself from closing the door on her.

"But, here, I think I did really well." She boasted. "Here, look. I did well, right? See this?"

"Yes, I can't see. Can't you see that I'm blind?" I said in an almost shouting voice. And pushed the door to close real hard.

Feeling the hunger after, I ate a little bit then went back to sleep. Ever since I became like this, dysfunctional, taking care of myself also became a hard task. I can't see anything, I see no beauty, I see nothing but darkness, as dark as how I live my life now.

***

My mornings were filled by my new neighbor, knocking and shouting outside my house. It's been almost a week and her presence never left my morning (sometimes, noon) life. She's been bringing foods, which she said she made on her own, mostly, recipes of the locals in Busan. And yet, there was never a time that I ate it. She did not stop still, though.

I feel bad, honestly. But I am too annoyed. And I feel like I'm ridiculed by her, especially that one time when she came and brought food. Her voice startled my morning again, and I came to her as soon as possible.

"Oh. Hi, m-my friend. I made F-fried Tofu Pocket." I noticed her stuttering, but I shrugged it off that time.

"Put it there." I said, pertaining to the table outside my house, where she would always put the dishes she made.

"Where?"

"There. At the table."

"Oh, o-okay. But you might want to wear pocket..." She said and I didn't not understand. If it's because of her unclear words or stuttering, I didn't know.

"What?" It was my turn to ask.

"I mean, you must have forgot to put pocket... Ah no!" I became even more confused. I heard her inhale deeply and quickly, she said, "You-must've-forgot-to-put-on-shorts."

And then I realized what she said. A second later! I covered my lower part with my hands, I felt the thin fabric was the only one covering my womanhood. I am in my freaking underwear! In front of this annoying neighbor!

"But don't worry, I did not look!" She said. I hurried back in and put on something comfortable. She was still outside, defensing that she did not see anything.

I went back outside and said, "whatever, ert. What made you disturb me again today?"

"As I said, I cooked tofu and I put it on the table already."

"Oh. Okay."

"Uh, can I take the lunchbox from yesterday now?" She asked.

"Take it there." I pertained to the table again. I know it was still there because I never once touched it. So, I repeated myself, "put it there, and take it from there."

"I know, I just asked so that you'd know. It looks like the dish from yesterday is already spoiled." She chuckled. I felt a pang of guilt but I am not lowering my pride for this.

And so today,

I came outside when I heard her voice. I knew she was not talking to me, but it still irked me and I wanted to shut her up.

"You guys are pretty. I'm sorry you're not getting much attention from your owner." I sensed she was watering them. She started talking to the plants again, so I hushed for awhile. "Omo, you're turning into a zombie!" She laughed at her own line. "I'll try to water you as often as I can, hm?"

"What are you doing?" I finally asked. A thud came suddenly, to which I supposed the water sprinkler.

"I was startled! Don't you know how to say hi first?" She replied with sarcasm, but sounded too cute. Annoyingly cute. She continued, "I was just watering them. They're almost dying."

"Leave them alone, I don't need your help. Those are my plants, my responsibility." I said, making myself sound too arrogant.

"I know but... I just want to help you and—"

"And I said I don't need it. Are you stupid? Did you not understand? Do I have to repeat myself? I don't need you nor your help. Don't you have any other friends? You're a disturbance and I hate it so much." I went back inside. I admit I went too overboard with my words.

That day, my conscience was hitting me from time to time.

***

After what I said, I did not expect that she'd come anymore. But I was wrong, she came knocking again. And I came to her abruptly.

"Oh hey there, I just want to invite you to eat with me. I made Pork soup with rice but I have no one to eat with. But if you don't want to, it's fine. I'm just worried because I made servings that are too much for me and the food might go into waste so that's really—"

"Okay." I cut her off. "Okay, I'll eat with you." And then I proceeded to sit on one of the chairs. Good thing about my house is the table outside, this used to be very convenient when I wanted to eat while enjoying nature. But not anymore.

"What? Really?" She asked, unbelievable.

"Yes. Also, I want to apologize for the things I've said yesterday. I hope you didn't think much of those. I'm really sorry." I tried my best to show my sincerity.

"It's okay. And don't worry, I did not mind. I just stayed up the whole night thinking if I am of any use. I did not mind, really, only a bucket of tears were let out." She said sarcastically. I laughed at her. Isn't she too good to me?

"Silly. I'm so sorry, I hope you did not put poison in the Pork soup, though?" I joked back, then we both laughed.

I sensed her preparing the dishes in front of me. And set something up a little farther.

"Hey, start eating now." So I did. Silence engulfed between us.

Until she broke it herself, "if you feel like poisoned, we're outside, you're free to shout for help." And there I noticed, she wasn't eating on the table as I.

"It's fine, I trust you now. And poison takes hours to kick in, or it might take effect tomorrow so we'll not know yet." I took a gulp of the soup again. The food tasted great, it made me regret that I rejected a handful of her cookings before this.

"This is really good, anyway." I added.

"You know, there's a saying 'the way to a heart is to a man's heart' no wait... 'The man's heart is the stomach is the way' what was that again?" She mumbled some more, trying to build the whole saying. I giggled. She was so clueless, it was adorable to hear.

"You mean, 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'." I corrected her.

"Right! That was it!" And we both laughed again. She was fun to be with.

The meal was silent afterwards. I want to say something, but being an ice breaker wasn't my thing.

"Hayoung." She said randomly. I was confused once again. And as if she could read my mind, "Song Hayoung's my name. September of 1997."

"Oh, I see." I smiled knowingly. I waited for her to ask mine but she didn't.

"Won't you ask my name?" I suggested myself.

"Ah yes, what's your name?" I could sense her smile between the words she blurted out.

"Lee Saerom."

"Oh. Saerom. A name as pretty as you." I would cringe, but my heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, where are you sitting, anyway?" I changed the topic. Feeling too uncomfortable with the feeling my heart made.

"Uh, here. Beside this pretty flower of yours." She cooed the plants lovingly.

"Why are you there? Sit here." I patted the table in front of me, indicating for her to sit across. She replied okay, and shuffled her way to me.

We talked about random things that day. She asked me what she wanted to know about me. When I'd try to ask her, she'd say she has nothing to share. So I let her be. I shared some things. She learned that I was a tour guide, that I have a brother, and I've been living alone for years. I told her I was engaged but called it off because we broke up. I told her a thing about Gyuri: she was almost perfect for me. We talked about Busan, what to love about that place, what we miss doing there, and Seoul—well, it was only I who shared what to love here. She said she wasn't able to go through places anywhere in Korea other than Busan. She said she didn't know how to have fun as she was busy helping her family back in our hometown, and had no time for fun when she came to Seoul alone.

She wanted to come to a variety of places. Namsan Tower, Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Garden of the Morning Calm, and in Han River. Even in public bath! Can you believe that? She wanted to go to a sauna.

"And I want to explore them now. If you don't mind, can you be my tour guide? But don't worry, I'll pay you!" I found her statement ridiculous, I chuckled it off.

"Are you serious? Can't you see me?" I asked, pointing to my eyes. "Can't you see that I can't see? I'm blind, Hayoung." I added, still chuckling at her idea.

She scoffed. "And so what if you're blind? Then I will be your eyes."

My breath hitched. I kept mum. I was taken aback. I did not dare to speak, I know she would break the ice again.

"What I meant was, just guide me. I don't know a thing about the places here, so you'll be in-charge with that. In return, I'll be your eyes and see the beauty of those places for you. I'll help you see them, too." She explained although I did not ask. I assumed she noticed my reaction earlier.

And so, I agreed to be the tour guide.
 

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A/N: Hello, hi, hi. This came a little later so I apologize for that. This was really hard since Hayoung is not anywhere near Tonyo but still, here it is! Two down, one more chapter to go! If you have any fic requests for Harom, you can comment down. You can include other ships, too, like ChaeKyung, GyulSun, WonSun, or etc. and I'll try my best to make it.