"Explain to me, exactly, how an 'early sunrise' smells, Hei-Ryung." Resting her fists on her ample hips, Mrs. Hong peered down at Hei-Ryung. Chewing nervously on her bottom lip, Hei-Ryung tried to use every creative fiber of her being to come up with a suitable description of the scent of an early sunrise. Rather than stepping up to the challenge, though, Hei-Ryung's brain would shrink away a little further every time Mrs. Hong's voice cracked down on her like a whip. It was a toxic environment for a creative mind. "Perhaps it is a metaphorical statement, and the 'sunrise' is a wild fire that casts an orange glow on the sky early in the morning?"

     Hei-Ryung didn't know whether to be impressed by Mrs. Hong's surprisingly articulate answer to her own question, or concerned that the woman was heading down a path that Hei-Ryung would end up disliking. Granted, the entire conversation thus far had been one big train-wreck as far as the tentative hermit was concerned.

     "Because that is certainly what it smells like, Hei-Ryung!" She resented the fact that Mrs. Hong refused to refer to her by 'Ms. Cha'. Hei-Ryung was an adult now, and she hated being treated like a rebellious teenager who had been running rampant through the apartment building. Besides, it was one candle that she had carefully placed away from any vents so that the smoke didn't disturb the other residents. Mrs. Hong had superhuman senses when it came to- in this case literally- sniffing out Hei-Ryung's wrong-doings, however, and always managed to find a reason to come knocking on her door. No matter how Hei-Ryung tried, she could never defeat the Sherlock Holmes of nosy neighbors. "Your poetic candle is pouring smoke into every crevice of this building, and I am growing tired of smelling burnt matches wherever I go!" As she spoke, Mrs. Hong leaned forward so that her face was in Hei-Ryung's, but the effort was thwarted by Hei-Ryung sliding, ever so slightly, backward. One foot was already through her apartment door- if she could just get the other one inside without drawing Mrs. Hong's attention, she might be able to close the door and, though it would be difficult, hide inside her apartment until the woman went away.

     "So much for being an adult," Hei-Ryung thought, her face contorting briefly into a grimace. Sharp as ever, Mrs. Hong picked up on the expression and used it as fuel for her already flaring anger.

     "If you are going to have a scented candle, then you need to close the vents! Simply putting it a few feet away isn't going to stop that horrific smell from escaping your room and bothering everyone else! I'll have you know that Mr. Kim downstairs is trying to get his asthma under control, and your smoke is certainly not helping the poor man! You may be a big shot author who can afford to stay inside all day and never interact with the people around you, but we do still exist; try and show a little-"

     "I'm very sorry for causing trouble! I'll go and extinguish it right now!" And with that, Hei-Ryung all but threw herself backwards into her apartment and slammed the door behind her.

     "And open a window! Otherwise the smoke will escape down the vents!" Mrs. Hong called out as a reminder. The lock to Hei-Ryung's apartment door clicked. Once again, the young lady had estranged herself from society. Shaking her head, Mrs. Hong patted a few flecks of dirt off the knees of her pants- she had been on her way back inside from working in the apartment's rooftop garden when she caught wind of the candle in Hei-Ryung's apartment- and turned to continue on to her own apartment.

     It wasn't as though she disliked Hei-Ryung. In fact, the young lady seemed like a relatively decent sort of person when she wasn't holed up in her apartment for weeks. Recently, Mrs. Hong had even been surprised to hear the girl quietly mutter hello when the two passed in the hallway, a big change from the avoidant silence Hei-Ryung had always used before. Maybe it was a result of how firm she had been with Hei-Ryung- after all, with an no-nonsense policy in place, the girl had no option but to-

     "Excuse me, but do you know where this number is?" The voice caught Mrs. Hong, who had thought she was alone in the hallway, off guard. Turning to look and see who had addressed her, Mrs. Hong allowed one hand to fly up to her heart- leaving a faint dirt imprint of the gardening gloves she was wearing- and the other to clench into a fist in case she needed to defend herself from the intruder. The young man she ended up facing seemed relatively harmless, though. He was peeking his head around the precariously balanced tower of boxes he carried and extending, to the best of his efforts, a slip of paper he held in one hand. Glancing down at the paper, Mrs. Hong realized that it had an apartment number scrawled across it- if she remembered correctly, the couple that had been living there had recently moved out after they broke up. She wasn't aware that the place had already been rented out to someone, but Mrs. Hong had never interested herself much in the comings and goings of the others in the building- except for Hei-Ryung, of course. That girl needed to be kept on a consistently tight leash.

     This young man looked as though he would be trouble as well. Not only did he show a lack of common sense by attempting to carry so many boxes at once- many of which were close to bursting because of how poorly they had been packed- but his hair was obviously dyed. No adult would change their hair color to be so unnatural unless they were trying to rebel against society. Closing her eyes, Mrs. Hong pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

     "And what business do you have with that apartment, might I ask?"

     The moment she finished speaking, the young man moved to dip into a ninety-degree bow, but thought better of it as the boxes he held began to tip. Straightening his back, he settled for a nod of his head before looking at Mrs. Hong with a bright grin. "I'm moving into their today," he explained while hefting the boxes into a more comfortable position. Why this building- and especially this floor- attracted all the problem children of the world was beyond Mrs. Hong. "My name's Jung Daehyun. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he then introduced, awkwardly extending one hand to Mrs. Hong.

     "It's nice to meet you, Daehyun. You can call me Mrs. Hong," shaking his hand briefly, Mrs. Hong also took the piece of paper he had handed her and glanced at the number, despite already knowing where his apartment was. "The one you're looking for is down there," pointing down the way she had come, Mrs. Hong smiled tightly at Daehyun.

     "Thank you, ma'am," sensing that he wanted to be on this woman's good side, Daehyun tries his best to sound respectful. It appeared to work, too, because Mrs. Hong quickly perked up and relaxed her smile.

     "If you need anything, my apartment is right here. Feel free to come to me with any questions or complaints- especially if that crazy hermit starts bothering you." Raising one eyebrow, Daehyun wondered exactly what kind of neighbors he was going to be surrounded by. "The woman seems nice enough, but you wouldn't know it until recently. Before now, she wouldn't look you in the eye or speak to you unless you forced her to. She didn't even bother introducing herself when she moved in. And I've never seen her leave her apartment except when she has run out of food, but even then she deliberately chooses times when there is a low chance of her running into anyone. There has been a young man coming around recently that she's left with, but I'm not entirely sure it's of her own free will. I think he's a part of her company. That's another thing: she claims to be a writer, but I've never seen a single book published that has her name on it. If I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting her equally useless editor, I would think she was lying through her teeth- it wouldn't surprise me. The girl is a lot sneakier than most people think," with barely a pause to breathe, Mrs. Hong launched into a long list of the irksome qualities of Daehyun's new neighbor.

     Quietly, Daehyun leaned back on his heels and listened to her ramble on about the hermit Daehyun would be moving in across from. Once or twice he attempted to excuse himself, but Mrs. Hong never took notice and continued to speak as though he weren't standing there with his arms about to fall off. Slowly, so that she didn't notice, Daehyun lowered the boxes he was carrying to the floor to give his arms a break. Who knew that sheet music and some clothes could be this heavy?

     "I'm sure that she will be so busy hiding inside that apartment of hers that you'll never notice she's there, but if she does prove to be an annoyance come talk to me and I'll handle it." Sensing that this was the end of their one-sided conversation, Daehyun nodded fervently and prayed that his intuition wouldn't prove to be incorrect. With a smile, Mrs. Hong tugged off her gardening gloves and tucked them into the left pocket of her apron. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Jung. I hope we'll be able to get along well," as she spoke, she extended her hand to Daehyun for another handshake. Mumbling a pleasantry of his own, Daehyun accepted the woman's hand before bowing slightly to her.

     Leaving Daehyun to move himself in, Mrs. Hong her heels and marched into her apartment. From inside, Daehyun could faintly hear a male voice greet her, then become muffled when the door shut. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that the woman had a male companion- she did use "Mrs.", which would suggest that she was married. Leaning against the boxes, Daehyun wondered how hard it would be to simply scoot them across the floor instead of trying to lift them again and carry them the few feet he had left to travel.

     Turns out, it was relatively simple. Using his hands to balance the top boxes and keep them from toppling over, Daehyun shifted the boxes along with his foot and, with minimal struggle, managed to bring them to his new front door. And Youngjae had told him that moving everything on his own would be difficult. "I'll be busy in the morning, but I can help you move in the afternoon. Wait until then," he had said, as though Daehyun were incapable of carrying a few boxes on his own. Besides, Youngjae had none-too-subtly informed Daehyun that he had already been a major inconvenience when he spent the night in the former's hotel room. It wasn't Daehyun's fault that Youngjae had let him order so many drinks, though. The two had known each other long enough for Youngjae to know that he was a light weight when it came to drinking. He should have stopped him before things got that far.

     Shaking his head, Daehyun pushed aside the foggy memories of that night and focused on trying to find his key. "Maybe I'll go out for lunch today. There was a bar nearby, they probably have good food... and beer," Daehyun thought as he patted down his pockets. In the back of his head, a tiny voice told him that drinking wasn't a good idea, especially this early in the day, but an even louder voice in his head told him to ignore the little one. That little voice just kept getting louder and louder, though- and then it switched topics entirely.

     "-she acts as though she's in charge of me. I am a grown woman, Mrs. Hong! A grown woman! You are not my mother and you are not my editor, so you really have no say in my life- especially in my choice of candle!" Behind him, the click of a door, along with the increasingly agitated voice, announced that somebody was leaving their apartment. "And then she goes and calls me a crazy hermit... although I can't exactly say that she was lying." So this was the woman Mrs. Hong had been warning him about. Curious to find out more about this neighbor, he turned just slightly enough to peek at her from the corner of his eye while still pretending to be busy searching for the keys to his apartment.

     When he recognized the woman's face, Daehyun couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. "Ms. Kang Kae Cha Hei-Ryung!" He exclaimed, turning fully so that she could see who was addressing her. Obviously not expecting anyone to be in the hallway, Hei-Ryung startled noticeably and slammed the door shut. Chuckling, Daehyun wondered if he should knock and apologize for scaring her. Hei-Ryung quickly opened the door once again, though, and poked her head out to see who had spoken. When she saw Daehyun, her eyes widened in surprise and she silently slipped out into the hall.

     "D-Daehyun," she stammered, blinking owlishly at him as though she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. Grinning, Daehyun nodded and patted the boxes he had stacked beside him. "Oh... you're the one moving in?" Her face visibly fell as she realized who Mrs. Hong had been gossiping with. "I won't deny what Mrs. Hong said, but I'm not nearly as bad as she makes me out to be, I swear! There are a few things I do that may not be acceptable, but I'm honestly trying my best to solve any problems that are caused by my-"

     "We've already met before, so I know that you aren't as insane as that lady was trying to make you seem," Daehyun assured Hei-Ryung, finally discovering where his keys were. Hooking the ring that held them together with his index finger, Daehyun pulled them out of his back pocket and unlocked the door to his new apartment. "Besides, you're friends with Youngjae, aren't you? He's a pretty good judge of character, so I'm sure that anyone he's associating with is just fine." Carelessly, Daehyun scooped up one box and tossed it through the door, letting it roll across the floor before flopping sadly onto its side. Hei-Ryung winced at how callous he was being with his belongings.

     "I suppose so," she agreed quietly, shuffling over to stand beside Daehyun. "Would you like any help bringing your things inside? Or maybe unpacking?" she offered, stepping aside when Daehyun reached over to grab another box.

     Pausing just before he tossed it into his apartment, Daehyun though about what exactly he had in these boxes. He hadn't been very careful about packing things up, and had just sort of thrown things in wherever they fit. Which would suggest that there were a few things hidden somewhere that he wouldn't exactly want Hei-Ryung to see. It was improper for a young lady to see a man's boxers- at least, the pairs that he wasn't wearing. "Thanks, but I've got it." And with that, he tosses the box into his room. Wincing, Hei-Ryung tried not to think about the possibly delicate things Daehyun had in there. She would like to think that if he had packed something fragile he would treat it with care, but up until now that hadn't been the impression Hei-Ryung had gotten of Youngjae's friend.

     Sighing, she resigned herself to protect Daehyun's things against the man's wishes, and lifted one of the boxes off the pile. She staggered over to the door, surprised at how heavy the box actually was, and was about to step inside when she felt two arms wrap around her and pull the box out of her hands. Startled once more, Hei-Ryung let out a tiny squeak before immediately whirling around and opening to apologize. Daehyun appeared amused rather than annoyed, though, and after sliding the box through the doorway he straightened up and patted Hei-Ryung's head. Stiffening at his touch, Hei-Ryung shuffled back a few steps and leaned away so that he wouldn't be able to touch her again.

     "Really, I've got it," Daehyun assured her, scooping up another box and letting it fly. "Although, would it be alright if I ate lunch with you?" Hei-Ryung's jaw dropped, but she quickly attempted to disguise it as a yawn. Grinning, Daehyun proceeded to continue moving his stuff inside and pretended as though he hadn't seen her reaction. "As you can see, I'm just barely moving in now. Before today I was living in a hotel, and they wouldn't let me order room service and then bring it with me here." Daehyun paused briefly enough to look sincerely disappointed that he hadn't been allowed to bring food out of the hotel. "I haven't had time to go shopping yet, either, so I have absolutely nothing in my refrigerator. It would take too long to go shopping and then bring back some stuff to cook with, too, and I don't really want to eat a late lunch. So, I was thinking that you could let me come over for today and we could eat lunch together. We're both friends of Youngjae, which means that in a way we're friends, too. And friends help each other out- not that I expect you to do this for free, of course. I'll be more than happy to owe you a favor in the future."

     Hei-Ryung felt as though she were being conned, but she couldn't quite place why. Swallowing, she avoided looking at Daehyun's expectant grin and tried to think instead on what he had just told her; something about lunch and them being friends... "We're friends?" It wasn't that she was opposed to becoming friends with Daehyun, just that she had never thought about it before. They had only met twice, but already he was suggesting that they were much closer than most people would be after such brief encounters.

     "Don't you agree?"

     "Well, if that's how you feel, then I'm not exactly inclined to disagree-" rubbing her hands together, Hei-Ryung briefly wondered if the only reason Daehyun was calling them friends was so that he could get a free meal out of her. The thought didn't last long, though, because he was soon interrupting her and asking if he could wait in her apartment. "I guess, but wouldn't it better for you to start unpacking?"

     "That can wait," he assured her, shutting and locking his door. "Come on, I'll help you cook if you'd like," he offered, marching toward Hei-Ryung's apartment door and opening it. "Do you have any alcohol?"

Author's Note

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