‘I will leave once you fall asleep’ was his last sentence before I fell asleep soundly. I heard it again in my dream last night. His deep husky voice sounded so good. I smiled, still closing my eyes while hugging my pillow. I knew I better wake up if I didn’t want to be late for work.

But I gasped once I opened my eyes and saw him right before me, sitting on the chair, obliviously staring at me. “W-what? How? Why are you here?” I hurriedly fixed my messy mountain hair. My long hair looked like a mess every morning, not to mention my bloated face and sleepy eyes.

“Watching you sleep.” He let out a light chuckle. “You look like a baby your thumb like that.”

I gasped. Obviously he didn’t leave as he promised he would. He totally watched me sleep all night instead! Only close friends and family knew my sleeping habits. And it was so embarrassing now that he also knew about it.

“And you grind your teeth too. Cute.”

Someone needed to dig a big hole on the ground so I could jump in! I panicked. I didn’t know why I had to panic. He was just a random man. Well, not really a random man. He might be a bum in the street that entered my room to steal some stuffs and noticed there wasn’t any he could steal. Wait what was I thinking about? Sigh, I blamed his handsome face and hot eyes.

“Aren’t you going to work?”

I gasped like mad while jumping off bed, running in circle for a little while, wondering what I should do; brushing my teeth, taking clothes I should wear, making breakfast, or washing my face first. I didn’t even think of taking a quick shower. My showers were never quick.

“What are you doing?” He blinked, looking at me.

“I’m late!” was all I could say in such urgent time like this.

I could hear him chuckling. “And that’s why you need to get ready immediately, not running randomly like that.” He rose and walked to me, stopping me from whatever I was doing. “Now, brush your teeth and wash your face. I’ll help you preparing breakfast.” He opened my bedroom door and walked me to the bathroom as if it was his own house.

While brushing my teeth, I couldn’t help but smile gleefully. Isn’t this what I’ve always wanted? Seeing my husband’s face first thing in the morning, then preparing breakfast for my husband as he’s getting ready to work, except… I’m the husband here. Wait! What was I thinking? C’mon Bom! Do you even know his name? He could be a serial killer. And omo what the heck I’m doing? I hurriedly rinsed my mouth and got out of the bathroom. My mother and brother could wake up anytime and they would freak out the moment they noticed he was in our kitchen, cooking breakfast.

But the second I closed the bathroom door, the guy approached me. “There’s nothing to make?” He was confused. Well, of course, there was nothing in the fridge. So embarrassing.

“It’s okay I don’t have time to eat anyway. I’ll just buy some milk on the way to work later.” I dragged him back to my room before anyone heard him. I stood, looking at all my clothes I hung on the wall. Yes, I didn’t have walk in closet like any other girls, not even a normal dresser. I put all the hangers all over my room, on the curtain railing, on the nails; on the possible place I could hang the clothes. It was more convenient this way I could see all the clothes right away without having to browse one by one, or it was just my excuse because I knew I couldn’t afford a dresser.

“Okay, I’ll let you change then.” He stepped out and closed the door before I could say anything. Oh, what a gentleman. But seriously, I don’t think I’m normal either. What woman let an unknown guy roam in her house doing whatever he wanted as if they’ve known forever? Was it his hug? Was it the way he consoled me last night? Or was it his soothing voice? If I told my friends about him, I knew they would all say how crazy I was to let him in blah blah blah. Up until now I don’t even know how he got in last night.

So on the way to work – he somehow followed me to work—I got to ask him questions I had in my mind since this morning. “What’s your name?” I asked.

“Seth.”

What? “Sad? What kind of name is that?” I looked at him, furrowing my eyebrows.

But he laughed. “Seth. S-E-T-H.” He repeated again slower, spelling his name. “Seth Harrison.”

Okay, I misheard his name which was absolutely silly. English was really hard. “Se…dh? Why do you have such a difficult name?” No matter how well we could communicate until now, I couldn’t pronounce his name properly. “Se… Forget it, I’ll just call you something else.”

“You’re going to give me a name?” He looked at me in disbelief.

“Yes, that’d be for the best.” I blinked my eyes, was it the right sentence? Since I met him last night, I kept thinking who he came from, who he was, and thought whether my wording and pronunciation were right or wrong, I totally had no time to sulk and cry like I used to. Somehow, I was distracted.

He chuckled. “Looking forward to it. Just don’t call me kitty or bunny.” His facial expression was both cute and funny as he was showing his disgust. “Where do you work?”

“Here.” I grinned, pointing my finger to the building near where we were standing. “So, I’ll see you later, Seee…” I rolled my eyes and grinned again, hiding my embarrassment. “Bye bye.” I waved and turned around, rushing in to the office building. I was still thinking of what just happened while putting my finger on the fingerprint sensor when someone tapped my shoulder.

“Unnie, who were you talking to?”

It was my junior co worker. “Oh… just some guy.” I chuckled. I didn’t know what he was. A friend? Stranger? Definitely not a boyfriend. “Why?” I found it strange why she was so nosy, asking who I was talking to although it was none of her business.

“Hm.. So it’s true. Weird…” She frowned. Sensing my curious look, she explained. “Well, Hyorin saw you were talking while walking here and we thought you were talking on your own.” She chuckled.

“Huh?” I tilted my head, frowning. “Why would I talk on my own? I’m not insane, alright.” I forced a laugh. Why are these girls so nosy? Didn’t they see a hot guy I talked with? I snorted slightly and faked a smile. “Well, then I’ll go to my floor. See ya!” I waved cheerfully and walked away.

Once I walked to my desk, I saw piles of documents and some account books and notebooks. I sighed as I took a seat. As always, this was how I’d always been at work. I was a manager’s assistant. Did I like my job? No. Did I hate it? Not really.

I started working once I finished high school and after I mastered the basic level of Japanese language course. All my friends went to college overseas, pursuing their dreams. My close friends, Dara and Dong Wook, went to Sydney and Melbourne to study. And most of my other friends continued to university in other countries, while some were still studying in Seoul. But me? I had to accept the fact that my family couldn’t afford getting me even into the cheapest college here. I remembered how I hid and avoided my friends for a long while because I was no longer in the same level as them. I belittled myself. I was depressed I couldn’t continue my education. Instead, I had to work immediately to support the family and Jaebeom’s school expenses. It was a miracle I got a job as receptionist in a well known international company with only high school diploma. And in several months one of the directors promoted me to be his secretary and personal assistant I had never dreamed of. However, problems at home often haunted me at work I couldn’t focus. I often skipped work until I decided to resign.

True, I lacked motivation. I didn’t have the strength to carry on. Not to mention I didn’t get the supports I needed from my family. All my mom did was belittling me for not having enough salary, for being the black hole in the family. I didn’t know why I couldn’t get along with her. All we did was arguing over the littlest things. It wasn’t really arguing, but more like my mom blamed me for the things I did, no matter how big or little it was, and I could only defend myself. I wasn’t someone who could just stay still when people nagged and blamed me as if I was the only one who had to be blamed for everything happened in this world.

“Bom! What are you doing? What time is it? You’re still staring into space!” The general manager appeared and shouted, startling me. “Did you check that returned goods I asked you yesterday? I told you it must be done by morning!”

I swear I will report you one of these days, I thought. Well, I could since this company was my uncle’s, but I obviously never did it. I wasn’t that kind of person. “I did it already.” I grabbed the bundle of documents on my desk and handed it to her with bitter face. I didn’t feel I had to pretend to be nice to her anymore. I was sick of her who judged me all the time as if I was some useless employee.

“Well of course you did or I’d have to do your work instead.” There was sarcasm in her tone. “It’s your duty anyway to get your work done.” With that, she left. I didn’t expect a thank you or you did well, but is that how a manager should behave? I thought and all I could do was sighing. I worked as hard as others and sometimes even harder than some of my co workers but they treated me as if I was the laziest and useless worker here.

Seth. Suddenly I remembered him. I remembered I needed to call him something else. I wrote down his name on my notebook. Seth. Harrison. SH. Hm… I swung my pencil as I was thinking. Son Ho, no. Sae Hyo, definitely no. Seung Hyun. “Seung Hyun?” I smiled. “Hold on… the big mystery is not finding him a name, but how…” The memory of last night flashed again in my mind. I was crying and suddenly he came out of nowhere and hugged me from behind. But again, instead of solving the puzzle, I smiled and grinned. It felt nice.

Once again, I came back to my senses. “No, seriously.” I blinked my eyes, focusing. But no matter how I tried to figure it out, I couldn’t think of anything. It didn’t make sense. I needed to know why he came to me and what he wanted from me.

However, the moment I saw him on my way home, all those thoughts magically disappeared. I smiled wide and waved. “Why are you here?” I asked. It was dark but I could spot him standing under the street lamp, folding his arms.

“I’m waiting for you.” He smiled, looking at me. “How was your day?”

I was mesmerized, again. “Ah… Uh n-not bad.” I smiled. I seriously thought his eyes hypnotized me, making me forget all my sorrow and worries. “So where do you wanna go?”

“Wherever you will go.”

He was still looking at me with his charming smile. His gaze was something else I could not describe, as if I was absorbed into his eyes I could not look away. Once again, I was stunned.