C h a p t e r  S i x

 

 

 

Junhyung went down to the kitchen in the middle of the night to take a glass of water. He couldn’t sleep. Probably due to being too tired until he couldn’t sleep. He’s tired, not sleepy.

 

Everywhere was dark except the kitchen where there was a small yellow nightlight at the corner beside the fridge. Junhyung made his way slowly, careful enough not to bump into anything that would cause noise. He could have just pressed on the button in his room to call Helda or one of his servants to get him a glass of water, not caring whether they are sleeping or tired. But he didn’t.

 

Junhyung accidentally hit the pointy edge of the counter on his side and he hissed quietly, rubbing on his side. He switched on the light in the kitchen so that he won’t bump into any other edges. Making his way to the fridge, he took out a bottle of cold mineral water and poured into one of his mugs. As he was sipping, he stopped halfway when he spot a figure at the entrance of the kitchen. It was her.

 

She seemed stunned seeing him there. As if he was not supposed to be there. Yes, he was supposed to be sleeping but its his house.

 

Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything or move from her frozen spot, he asked. “You want something?”

 

Hyuna pursed her lips and shook her head. If she didn’t want anything, why is she here? Junhyung thought.

 

“Can’t sleep?” he asked again, remembering that Helda told him to try to talk to Hyuna.

 

She nodded carefully.

 

He went to sit by the counter and gestured for her to sit across him. Hyuna just followed.

 

“You want something to drink?” he asked unsure. She shook her head.

 

“You still can’t talk?” he asked.

 

She bit her bottom lip slightly and tried to find some easy words.

 

“Very little,” she said with her voice that was barely audible. But Junhyung still heard it.

 

He nodded thoughtfully. And then it went silent.

 

As it has been said, Junhyung is a man with very few words. He’s the one who usually listens and just smile and nod. He’s not the type to start a conversation. Well at least that’s how he is after his parents died.

 

Hyuna on the other hand, can talk. As in, she can start a conversation. But seeing that the condition of is not that well yet, she couldn’t and all she could do was stay silent. To add on, she didn’t bring her post-it along with her.

 

“You know, you should try to talk more. Well that’s what the doctor said..” he said suddenly.

 

“But.. can you hear?” she asked in a somewhat whisper tone.

 

“Yeah,” he replied.

 

“Can I ask you a question then?” she asked. He nodded.

 

“Why did you buy me?” she said.

 

“I didn’t. I was given,” he said calmly.

 

“Why did you accept?”

 

“Why should I reject?” he said. That wasn’t his answer. The real answer is that he didn’t want her to be at the Slave Market anymore.

 

She kept quiet, looking down.

 

“But you didn’t even use me for anything,” she said, looking up at him.

 

He arched an eyebrow. “Do you want me to use you?”

 

“N-no.. That’s not what I mean,” she stuttered, looking down.

 

He frowned slightly in confusion. “You don’t like it here? Do you want to be freed?” he asked.

 

“Huh?” she asked innocently, looking back at him.

 

“If you want to be freed, you can go. I’m not stopping you,” Junhyung said.

 

“No.. I.. I don’t have any place to go to,” she said.

 

It’s a lie if he said he wasn’t slightly relieved. He’s not stopping her from leaving but part of him hopes that she stays. She had been living under the same roof as him for the past month. He’s used to seeing her around even though they’ve never really talked.

 

He took the last sip of his water and washed it in the sink and placed it back to its original place.

 

“Are you sleepy already?” he asked.

 

Instead of answering, Hyuna braved herself to ask something else in response.

 

“Can I ask you another question?” she said, looking up at Junhyung who was standing.

 

He nodded.

 

“Are you sick?” she asked and pursed her lips together. If he’s angry at her for butting into his personal life, he might throw her out. But any other thoughts of what was going to happen next was thrown out of the window when Junhyung spoke.

 

“No,” he answered almost instantly. Hyuna nodded carefully. Has she thought wrong all this time?

 

“Now can you answer my question?” he said, placing his hands on the counter, leaning closer to her.

 

Hyuna was quite taken aback at how close he was and she moved back a little too quickly that she fell off the stool.

 

She whined softly to herself, rubbing her .

 

Junhyung walked over to her side and squatted down coolly, tilting his head.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked calmly.

 

Hyuna pursed her lips, feeling quite embarassed. She just nodded.

 

“If your answer was ‘yes’ just now, now it must be a ‘no’ right?” he said, raising his eyebrows.

 

Hyuna frowned slightly. Somehow she could feel that Junhyung is amused by the whole incident.

 

When she didn’t answer, Junhyung extended out his hand slightly and offered to help her up as he stood up.

 

Hyuna took his hand and got on her feet.

 

“Just close your eyes and count to hundred. You’ll sleep soon,” he said. Hyuna just nodded. Before Junhyung made his way up back to his room, he turned to Hyuna.

 

“I think you fell because you asked something that you’re not supposed to know. Don’t you think so?” he said with a pokerface, tilting his head as he finished.

 

Without needing or waiting for a response, Junhyung walked back up to his room.