“Come on in,” Hwayoung said, as I was still admiring the interior of the house. It’s not as clean and bright as the rooms in heaven, but the design was cozy. I saw a long row of family portraits. I could instantly recognize Youngjae as the boy with the bright smile in all of the pictures.

“That’s Youngjae,” she pointed out, “He’s the owner of the house. Well his dad is the owner, but… yeah you get me, don’t you?” I nodded in response.

She went into the kitchen and I gripped my bag tighter as I made it to the living room. I could see more pictures and one of them made me smile. It was a picture of a 6 years old Hwayoung around her father’s arms.

“Hey Hwayoung! You look cute here,” I let out a small laugh. A second after that, I heard a shattering plate.

I rushed to the kitchen and found her picking up the broken pieces of the porcelain saucer, “Hey, you alright?” I helped her clean the mess and looked at her, worried.

“Never better,” Hwayoung smiled, “random thought though, how do you know my name?” her smile vanishes.

I mentally slapped myself. Stupid Daehyun couldn’t control your stupid mouth! “I uh…” I stopped, turning my Equinox brain mode on to find a legit reason, “You’re pretty popular in this neighborhood,”

Hwayoung rolled her eyes, and I regretted my answer. she must’ve thought I knew her past, “I didn’t know about your past though. About your mom or your dad or…” real smooth Dae… real smooth, “sorry,” I looked at her apologetically. I was ready for her to stomp her way out of the kitchen and ignore me, but instead she laughed.

“You’re funny, you know that?” she said in between her laughs.

“I get that a lot,” I winked.

“Okay then Mr. you-think-you’re-handsome-enough-to-attract-me,”

Man… I swear she’s getting hotter every second.

Dinner was amazing… well at least the food looked amazing. I met the BAP boys for the first time, and they were quite the eater. I never tasted human food, and was a bit scared of them. You’ll never know what kind of minerals and vitamins my Equinox body couldn’t stand, and I wouldn’t risk my life tasting the deliciously looking food that was set up on the table.

“Gee, it’s a waste you didn’t try the pasta. Hwayoung’s the best chef in town,” Jongup said. The rest of the BAP boys nodded in agreement.

I smiled, “I never was a big fan of pasta. Or cream, tiny chopped bacons,” I stopped there. I was never a big fan of meat, celery, even salt and pepper. I never was a big fan of any kind of food, but it isn’t human-like to tell them that, is it?

“Then what do you like to eat? You like Korean food do you? I’ll see what I have left in the fridge,” that was Hwayoung.

“Hwayoung, get the samgyupsal, I’m sure he’ll never resist your home made samgyupsal,” That was Mr. Yoo, Youngjae’s father, the owner of the house, Hwayoung’s step father, and soon to be my step father too. Okay, I’m thinking too fast.

Hwayoung was half standing up when I stopped her, “No need. I’m not a big fan of pork,”

“It’s no surprise if he tells us he doesn’t eat,” Youngjae joked. I nodded in agreement and the BAP boys just stared at me, confused obviously, as to what kind of stranger are they facing now.

“What?” I looked at the staring faces. I could see Hwayoung and Mr. Yoo smiling.

“You’re weird… you know that?” Youngjae said.

“Yeah… I get that a lot,”

A few minutes before…

Hwayoung and I was preparing food for Mr. Yoo and the boys who occupied the house when Hwayoung told me some information about the BAP boys. She told me they’re not just boys. They’re the BAP boys. Best Absolute Perfect boys. Tacky… but catchy at the same time.

The leader of this Best Absolute Perfect group would be Bang Yong Guk. Aside from being the oldest, he’s the most sensible too, although he got a childish side too. He got a deep voice that anyone would recognize in a nick of time. He likes war movies and got a deep passion for music. I like this dude. He’s pretty cool from what Hwayoung described him.

Next comes Himchan. The mother. Hwayoung swore although she’s the only girl in the house, Himchan is the better mother in taking care of the boys. Well that was something different. I smiled imagining Himchan in aprons and oven mitts.

Then it’s Youngjae. The owner of the house. The closest one with Hwayoung. The only guy that could make me jealous. I envied this boy’s relationship with Hwayoung, ever since Hwayoung’s 13. If I was ever human, could I share a relationship as loving and close as his with Hwayoung? Maybe not. This guy’s too much.

The last two are Jongup and Zelo. Both young and have amazing talents. I envied them too. Not because of their relationship with Hwayoung, but their impeccable talents. The two of them made me feel so small. They’re so lucky to have such talents that could entertain Hwayoung at any cost.

I sighed, maybe a little too loud because Hwayoung stopped cutting the vegetables and looked at me, “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“I…” I wanted to tell her that I liked her really, really much, but it’s not a smooth move for someone who’ve known her for only an hour, “I’m fine,”

Hwayoung let out a smile, “If you have anything to say, or a problem you need to talk about, I’d be happy to lend my ears to hear them,” she said. God she’s making my heart melt, “It’s not something rare for the boys here to talk about their problems. Like there’s this one time Yongguk Oppa was so heart broken that I had to stay with him in the living room for 6 straight hours. And that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that I had to deal with his tears while he’s watching a melancholy drama I didn’t even know existed. I swear he’s funny sometimes,” She laughed.

Ah Hwayoung and her endless stories. I was there looking at you when Yongguk hyung cried a bucket of tears, I thought as I gaze into her soft eyes. She giggled and continued her cooking, shaking her head as she recalled the memory.

The thing about Hwayoung is that she’d be kind and open in front of strangers. I wondered why she didn’t have any friends (excluding the BAP boys, but she wouldn’t let them get near her in school because she thought it would lead her into bigger problems, forcing the boys to believe her). Now that I’m here, I vowed not to make her sad anymore.

It was not long after that when the BAP boys came barging in the front door with baseball bats and soccer balls in their hands, creating quite a scene. We greeted each other, and as I predicted, Yongguk hyung pulled me into a deadlock in his arms. I choked, grasping for air. He released me at once and apologized for being too hard, but I told him I was fine and it was a joke, then the BAP boys gave me a good nudge in the back.

Then Mr. Yoo came back from work. We shook hands, I bowed and I thanked him for accepting me in the house. “Once you’re a member of the Yoo’s rental house, you will forever be my son and family to us all,” he said. I could feel a feeling of both calmness and emptiness inside of me. I felt so warm and loved, but at the same time I thought about the crude life of an Equinox. Not to experience this lovely warmth for thousands of years.

My mind drifted to Youngmin and Kwangmin as I thought about Equinoxes. I bet they’d love to be loved like this. They are still kids after all.

I smiled at the sight of the BAP boys, Mr. Yoo and Hwayoung helping out dinner. I joined in and ended up with a great memory.

Then dinner started. I swallowed my saliva as I stared down at the foods. Human foods. “I’ll eat it well!” they cried in unison, smiles lighting up their faces. I gulped. This isn’t going to end well.