JIYEON

Last night, I've made the decision that I wouldn't open that sketchbook for now. 

I think the drama we made yesterday is enough for the day, and I think I can't grasp the contents of the mysterious sketchbook with the emotions I had last night. I want everything to be perfect. I want to understand it and interpet everything in a prepared manner.

I'm too confused to process it all now. There are so many things clouding my mind, and I want a break from everything.

And yes, that's what I did this morning. First thing I did when I woke up is to clean the bathroom in my room, which is all dried up and dusty. Then I took a long, relaxing shower which made me think less. At least it does for me.

Then I proceeded to clean both the bedrooms (though the only one I'll use is my own bedroom), then the empty kitchen, and then the living room. I swept, mopped, scrubbed and pretty much arranged all the things to a better arrangement. 

There aren't much furnitures and things to clean, so in no time, I'm mostly done. Just the light bulbs and the groceries.

And I think I need some breakfast too. Deciding that I'll go out and buy the things I need, I walked to the front porch just to see a familiar face.

Of course, it's Seungho. 

With...are those bags of groceries and paint?

"Thought you needed these?" He lifted the bags and smiled. I just stared at him while he walked past me and straight into the kitchen.He looked for where the electricity is . After accomplishing this, he headed to the dinner table and put some sandwich and tea from the convenient store. "I'm sorry I was kind of late." He tells me while he sat down across from me and rested his chin on his palm.

I'm still kind of grasping what's happening at the moment, but I decided to eat so I'll think more effectively.

I eat quietly and slowly. I am not really expecting Seungho to open up a conversation since he's pretty much busy looking at me chewing my food. And so I am the one who started a topic. "So you'll stay here for dinner?" 

Maybe I asked in a different tone, because I saw the hurtful look in his eyes glimmer after I said that. "You don't want to?"

"No." I told him, and I think it made things more complicated.

"No. I mean the paint. That's the reason why I asked." At least after saying this, his eyes regained peace in them.

"I think we should color this house again. The paint's fading." 

I took a sip of the tea. "That would be great. And I think the garden needs some life, too." 

He chuckled. "Yes, it does."

"Have you had your breakfast? You seem hungry." I told him.

"Just seeing you eat made me full." 

I looked at him for awhile, with an 'are-you-serious?' expression, and he laughed at this.

"Don't worry. I already ate breakfast." And with that, I eat my sandwich again.

---

The chair is kind of weak, so we decided I'm the one who'll change the bulbs while Seungho is the one to hold the chair from shaking. It's not that hard to reach, so in no time, I changed every bulb in the bedrooms and the kitchen and the only one left is in the living room. 

And this one's the tricky one. It's stuck and it's hard to remove. 

"You need help?" Seungho asks, ready to assist me. 

"No, it's fine. I should just twist it a bit mo---AH!" I fell down the floor and landed on him.

I bumped my head on his chin and I grimaced because of the pain. I quickly stood up and rubbed my aching head.

It's weird how he isn't reacting at all, so I looked at his face to see his expression.

And yes, he's really weird.

His look isn't one with pain, or with annoyance, but I see him with a disappointed look. His puppy eyes and his pouted lips.

"What?" I asked. 

"It shouldn't be like that." Fiddling his fingers, he continued. "You should be looking at me with blushed cheeks, or better yet your lips should be resting on my ---"

And my laughter cut off his sentence. I laughed hard that I'm nearly running out of air.

"You know, you're pretty hilarious." I wiped away the tears that formed on the corner of my eyes and proceeded to the front porch.

"But isn't it romantic?" He catches up with me.

"It's overrated. I see those scenes a lot in dramas." I took the paint and paintbrushes with me. 

"Okay, then what about a scene where ---" 

"LET'S PAINT!" I said happily, not really paying attention to Seungho's imaginative 'scenes'.

---

It's really hot when we nearly finish the painting of the house. Seungho insisted that I needed to wear a mask because the smell of the paint is toxic but I like the smell of it, so I still took off the mask. And all he did is smile. A knowing smile.

We colored it blue by the way, the color of the sky. It's my favorite, and I'm pretty sure he knows it. Together with the skyblue paint are the colors green, yellow, and peach. 

"Are we going to paint the walls inside too?" 

He nods. "Don't worry. We'll use the blue one for your bedroom." And with a serious face, he reached for the higher parts of the walls.

We proceeded to paint the insides and tada! We're done. We had a mini break and ate some greentea ice cream while sitting down on the veranda's stairs. 

"Ahh! What a lovely summer day." I say as I eat a mouthful of the ice cream and I had to cover my mouth with my hands because I nearly spit it out. 

"Brainfreeze!" Seungho said, and laughed that victorious laugh he has.

I pouted my lips and he laughed more. He's enjoying my hardships, I know.

Now that I noticed it, there's a pickup truck just in front of the house. 

"Is that yours?" I pointed the truck. He nods.

"You want a ride?" He finishes his ice cream and stood up from the veranda's stairs.

I kicked his leg and he stumbles to the front. "Are you crazy? What about the garden?" 

"Geez. There are better ways to say that!" He complained.

Because we don't have any seeds, he went to the store and came back quickly. He keeps on bugging me to ride his pickup, but I keep on saying no.

Sometimes it's fun seeing him pout. It's hilarious, I tell you.

He brought home packs of tomato seeds, cucumber seeds, sweet potato seeds, corn seeds, and some other random vegetable seeds.

"I picked your favorites. And those are summer vegetables." He tells me.

Sometimes it's good that he knows me so much. 

"OKAY! LET'S PLANT!" I shouted with enthusiasm and pumped my fists on the air.

"Do you really have to shout like that?" After he tells me this, I kicked his shin and he jumped from the pain.

"OKAY!" He shouts with his hands on the air.

---

We finished pretty much everything that we needed to do. We stand at the front of the house and admired it. My hands are on my sides and his left arm is around my neck. 

"Wonderful." I say.

"Yes. It's really wonderful." Seungho agreed.

"Thank you for helping me. You're a big help." I tell him and said goodbye. The sun had set already, so it means we should part ways now. The strange thing is he just smiled all the time in the 'goodbye process'.

I was about to touch the knob when he called out. "But what about the paint?"

I turned around. "What paint?" 

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep in your suffocating room with the suffocating smell of the paint." 

"It's okay, I like the smell of the paint anyways." I turned to face the door again when he said these following words.

"Come with me. We never had the chance to enjoy the sunset. Why not witness the sunrise instead? I know you loved it more." He says while leaning on his truck with his hands on his pocket and his legs crossed. 

"What?" 

"Come with me. Let's enjoy tomorrow's start together." 

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A/N