Kicking the small stones out of my way, I refused to lift up my grumpy face while my best friend, Kang Soyou hooked her arms onto mine and continued her ramblings. All I could think of back then was scene of both Joong Ki and Hye Yoon enjoying their time together in the café. Hye Yoon had always been bugging Joong Ki to teach her some baking skills.

 

Would she take the chance to pester him about it again today?

 

“….So shall we go over to your place now to set up the website?” Soyou’s voice snapped me out of my train of thoughts.

 

Huh?

 

“What website?”

 

Finally realizing that I was not paying attention to what she was saying all along, Soyou stopped in her track and furrowed her eyebrows at me angrily.

 

Opps.

 

Kang Soyou may be the sweetest girl for most of the time, but when she gets upset, that spells trouble.

 

Think, Bora! Think!

 

“Ah! Your online shopping store? Of course! Let’s go now!” I put on my brightest smile and dragged her up the slope by her arm.

 

Then again, I really must have been in a deep thought. Because it was only then, did I finally realized that we were just few steps away from the pathetic old building of my rooftop house.

 

“Is Shin Ho in? It has been a while since I last saw him…” Soyou was saying when someone from a distance caught my attention.

 

Why is that person waving at me? And smiling so idiotically with a monke- fac –

 

OH CRAP.

 

“TOP?!” I blurted out loud absentmindedly, which startled Soyou.

 

She looked up at the sky. “What’s on top? I don’t see anything?”

 

I wasted no more time to turn Soyou around, making sure she was facing me and not TOP. “What’s wrong with you?” She asked, wincing in pain from my abrupt grip of her arm.

 

“I- I need to get some groceries from the supermarket! The refrigerator is almost empty.”

 

Such a lame excuse.

 

But that was the only thing I could think of right then.

 

I dug my hand into my bag and fished out the keys for Soyou. “Wait for me at my place first, alright? I’ll be back really soon!”

 

Thank God Soyou was easily convinced. The moment she disappeared up the stairs, TOP’s voice questioned from behind, “Looks like someone is trying to hide me away?”

 

//

 

“YA! Do I look like a dog to you?!” TOP was struggling to get off from my grip ever since I had dragged him by the collar of his sweater all the way till the supermarket nearby. I grabbed the green basket from the counter and shoved it into the annoying loud speaker’s hands. “As if a dog isn’t bad enough, now I’m a man slave?!”

 

I bet a hundred tubs of Kimchi, he was glaring at my back in disbelief before chasing up next to me.

 

Oh wells, ignorance is bliss.

 

“Am I such a disgrace to you? Why must you turn your friend away right after you saw me just now?” TOP refused to let me have a moment of peace. As we were walking down the rows of shelves, I spared no mercy too; throwing all my groceries into the basket which he was holding. “YA! Are you deaf? I’m talking to you! SHIN BORA!”

 

I stopped abruptly and swung around to face him. “YOU–” Pointing my finger right in his face, I continued, “Do you know how you look like right now? How do you expect me to introduce you to my friend? Oh, he’s the burglar whom I whacked outside my doorstep and because I’ve a heart of gold, I decide to let this burglar stay until he recovers from his injuries. Is that what I’m supposed to say to her? She’ll think I’m crazy! CRAZY! C.R.A.Z.Y!!!”

 

God knows where my sudden outburst came from…

 

My chest was heaving in and out heavily from all the anger. I felt weird stares coming from all corners of the supermarket; excluding the culprit in front of me. Covering my embarrassed face with the packet of chips in my hand, I shoved TOP out of my way and headed straight to the cashier.

 

“35,000 won please.”

 

The lady at the cashier said after putting all the groceries in the plastic bags. I handed her the exact amount in my wallet and gathered all the bags together. That was when TOP snatched most of the bags off my grip and walked out of the supermarket, leaving me dumbstruck behind.

 

I followed him but maintaining a short distance between us. Staring at his tall silhouette from the back, I couldn’t help but to feel my heart twisting. Was I a little too harsh on my words back in the supermarket? His face was, after all, almost disfigured in my hands… and the frying pan.

 

“Y– YA!” I shouted. He held back his steps and looked over his shoulders at me. “I didn’t mean to say all those to you…” For some reason, my voice was almost squeaking.

 

“I’ll take that as a ‘Sorry’,” TOP said as he made his way back up to me. I only saw the smirk on his bruised face when he finally came under the orange light of the lamppost beside us. “Shin Bora Sshi, you’re forgiven.”

 

WHAT…

 

“Don’t put words in my mouth!” I snorted, resisting the urge to punch him in his face.

 

TOP chuckled in amusement before we continued our way back to the apartment. “Anyway… What time will your friend leave?” He asked.

 

Oh! I almost forgot about Soyou!

 

Aish… How is TOP able to get into the house when Soyou is still there?

 

Biting down on the corner of my lips, I narrowed my eyebrows and muttered, “I don’t know…”

 

“Get Won Ho to find me under the apartment when she leaves.”

 

What? Did he just offer to stay out in the cold winter night until Soyou leaves?

 

I couldn’t help but to stare at him again.

 

Maybe…

 

Just maybe…

 

TOP wasn’t that bad after all.

 

//

 

“Noona! You’re finally back?” Won Ho, who was watching some movie on the television, greeted me in surprise the moment I opened the door. I looked around the living room but there was only the two of us. As though he was reading my mind like a book, Won Ho explained helpfully, “Soyou received a call and left soon after I came back home from school.”

 

Oh… Phew.

 

All exhausted from the long day, I dropped the groceries down on the kitchen counter and headed straight for my bed.

 

I was totally knocked out for hours until I felt the sudden coldness filled the room. Stirring up from my bed reluctantly, I lifted my heavy eyelids and caught the sight of snow outside the window. ‘It’s snowing…’ I mumbled, still half asleep.

 

“Get Won Ho to find me under the apartment when she leaves.”

 

The familiar voice echoed at the back of my head, jerking me wide awake.

 

OH. NO.

 

Nononononnooooo!

 

I grabbed my baby pink parka and dashed out of the house, accidentally tripping over the coffee table which caused the mug at the edge fell off and shattered into pieces on the floor. “Aish!” I cursed, but couldn’t care less.

 

By the time I reached the ground floor, the tiny walkway in front of the apartment was all covered in white. ‘TOP was only in a sweater just now! He would’ve freeze to death at this rate!’ I hurriedly put on my parka and combed the whole walkway in hope of finding a homeless man sleeping somewhere. To my dismay, there was not a single soul around.

 

From a distance, came the sirens of an ambulance.

 

Could it be…

 

I ran down to the end of the walkway where the main street was and saw the ambulance parked by the side. A small group of onlookers were crowding someone. I swallowed the lump of emotions that was choking me as I pushed my way into the centre of the crowd. There, lying motionless on the ground, was a guy in a navy blue sweater which TOP had on him.

 

Despite not being able to confirm his face as he was facing the other direction, I was pretty sure the person was TOP. I mean, what are the chances of finding someone who shared the same built and outfit as him, right?

 

“T– TOP Sshi -?” I swore I almost peed in guilt.

 

“Do you know him?” One of the paramedic asked. I could barely nod to acknowledge. “Please follow us back to the hospital.” He instructed before pushing the body up into the ambulance.

 

My vision was completely blurred by my tears as I cried out sinfully and held onto his icy cold hand in the ambulance, “I- I’m sorry, I’m so sorry...”

 

“That’s why I say, you shouldn’t have left your father out in such cold winter night...”

 

“I- I know... I’m sorr–” I paused. FATHER? Almost immediately, I sprang up from the seat and hovered over the body to take a good look at the face.