Baram stretched her arms as she stepped out of the stuffy office building, ready to head home and call it a day. Rolling her shoulders to loosen her muscles after having sat still all day long, her pace came to a slow halt as she saw a figure approach her in a hurry.

“Baram hey. I was wondering whether you wanted to grab dinner together?”

Lowering his cap, Jaehyun coughed awkwardly as he rubbed his hands together, his eyes weary of potential onlookers.

“Pass,” Baram replied without looking at him. “Don’t want to be caught up in a dating scandal with you.”

Jaehyun extended his arm to grab the girl but Baram was faster and was already jogging towards the tube station, not wanting to give the young actor any more opportunity to strike up conversation. Jaehyun frowned while staring at the retreating back of the girl as she disappeared into the crowd of commuters. Sighing loudly, he took out his phone, scrolling through his contacts.

“Hey Seulgi, sorry to bother you. I was wondering…”

・・・

Once out of the tube station, Baram decided to take a different route home. Going for the least walked passage way, she hummed under her breath and jutted her lips out in curiosity, finding an old secondhand book shop hidden behind overgrown ivies. Stepping inside, Baram inhaled the scent of old books, admiring the rows and rows of books filling up every single nook of the small shop.

Giving the elderly owner a small bow, Baram quietly drifted inside, feeling excited at the discovery of a whole section dedicated to Haruki Murakami. The girl immediately scanned through the book covers, in search of the ones that she did not yet own.

“Killing Commendatore… found you!” Baram exclaimed in excitement.

Soon Baram was leaving the book shop with a bag containing the Murakami novel as well as an anthology of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. Hugging the new purchases tightly against her chest, Baram resumed her journey home, a light skip in her steps. If there was one thing other than rare whisky that could bring a smile to Baram’s face, it was books. Maybe that was why the girl’s favourite scents were the aroma of aged whisky and old books, as both shared the same earthy notes that brought her much comfort.

Her steps wavered however as she approached her building, seeing a suspicious man standing by the entrance. He was wearing a black cap and a mouth mask. His eyes were shifting back and forth along the streets and hands fidgeting in his pockets. Baram reached for her phone though she momentarily hesitated, distracted by a dilemma that she never realised she would be facing. Who would she call if she was in danger?

Until a few weeks ago it would have been Youngjae without a doubt, and if he did not answer — which never happened — then she would call Yugyeom. Now however, her fingers etched towards the name of a certain red haired male. Biting her lip, Baram was too deep in thought to realise that the suspicious figure had noticed her and was now standing right in front of her.

“Jaehyun,” Baram rasped, frowning. “How did you get my address.”

“I took my chances and called Seulgi…” Jaehyun replied, rubbing his neck and not daring to meet her gaze. “Sorry to show up unannounced like this. I just hoped that we could talk. I realised you didn’t want to do it anywhere public so I thought maybe you’d feel more at ease if I came to your place instead.”

“Whatever you need to say, you can say it next time at the company.”

“I didn’t want to risk being interrupted.”

Sensing Baram’s growing unease, Jaehyun removed his mouth mask to share his famous prince charming smile in hopes of reassuring the girl. He should have known better however as she winced in response, not appreciating his desperate attempts to catch her by herself.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Baram glanced briefly up towards her flat, contemplating whether to let the young actor inside — that would indeed be the safest option. However she did not wish to let him into her personal space, not when she had been desperately hiding it from anyone related to her work. With this in mind, she made a mental note to give Seulgi an earful next time she saw her.

“Is this creep bothering you?”

Baram snapped her head around in surprise and suddenly found herself shielded behind a pair of broad shoulders, blocking her from Jaehyun. The young actor stumbled back, feeling weary of the new arrival’s intimidating presence.

“It’s ok Jaebum,” Baram intervened, pulling on the edge of his sleeve. “I know him.”

Turning around to look at Baram’s face to ensure that she was telling the truth, Jaebum stepped to the side, though he maintained his protective stance, while sizing up Jaehyun. Baram too kept her gaze on Jaehyun, almost pitying the male who looked like he was trembling in the presence of Jaebum’s threatening aura. Baram had to bite back a smile, feeling almost moved by Jaebum’s behaviour, surprised that the male would actually intervene and worry that she was in danger. Maybe the male was actually a big softie on the inside. Focusing back on Jaehyun however, the girl exhaled loudly.

“Go home Jaehyun. You’ll only attracted unnecessary attention if you stay here.”

“Please Baram,” Jaehyun begged, an edge of desperation in his voice. “I won’t take up much of your time, I swear.”

Jaebum frowned at the young male’s stubbornness despite Baram clearly displaying her unwillingness to engage in a conversation with him. From Baram’s physicality it was clear that she did not want to let the male in her house. Running a tired hand through his hair, Jaebum placed his hand on Baram’s shoulder and lifted his chin to point towards the direction of Eclipse. Seeing that Baram was not rejecting his silent proposal, Jaebum turned around, his hand still on her shoulder. Mentally sighing, Jaebum wondered just what on earth he was doing and why he had stepped in to begin with. There was only one reasonable conclusion he could think of: just blame it all on Mark.

“Follow me then,” Jaebum grunted.

Jaehyun gave Baram a look of confusion,but since the girl was following the older male without complaint, he too complied, remembering to put on his mouth mask back on. Within minutes, they were standing by the back entrance