Natalie’s POV:

Three months had gone by, and nothing has changed. I still took on two jobs at the bookstore and club, and went on my evening jogs like usual on the weekends. The only “exciting” thing was that my 20^th birthday was nearing—which was never really exciting for me. I’m sure I was the only one that thought this way but birthdays always made me feel older and a year closer to death, so there was no point in celebration.

It had been three months since I had last talked to GiKwang. The night I found out about my entire life was also the night we stopped talking. I realized that I had unintentionally flaked on him and was extremely guilty for that, but I also wanted to use it as an excuse for us to completely stop communicating—for the sake of both our futures. I texted him an apology letter and tried calling him a few times, but he never replied or picked up. I guess that was a sign too.

It had also been three months since I last saw Yongguk. I haven’t seen him since the first and last night we met each other. Although chances of seeing again were slim, some part of me still hoped that maybe we’d bump into each other again—under different circumstances. Maybe by then, we wouldn’t be affiliated with gangs or any of that anymore. Maybe by then, we’d be able to be friends.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Saturdays were the days I would longue around in my pajamas and watch TV all day.

I woke up, slipped on my pink bunny slippers, and began my morning routine.

When lunchtime arrived, I decided on cereal and milk—like usual. I was always too lazy to go out to buy something to eat or to make anything, so I always settled for cereal.

I switched on my television and began flipping through channels when I heard the doorbell ring.

I opened the door to find no one there. A package was left on my porch. It was a plastic bag containing milk tea, popcorn chicken, and a bowl of salad. On top of the salad bowl was a sticky note that read: “Stop eating cereal. It’s unhealthy for you. Here’s a nutritional lunch. Enjoy. –B.”

Freaked out, I quickly looked around once more, but once again, saw no one.

I dropped the plastic bag back to its original place and ran back inside, making sure to look the doors tightly before continuing with my lunch.

Today would be the tenth day of this occurrence.

The tenth day that I that I will be receiving lunch from “B”—whoever the hell that was—on the weekend.

For the past nine days, every time the doorbell rang, I would open the door to find only a package sitting on my porch along with a cheesy yet freaky sticky note stuck on the bag.

Today, I was determined to find out who this person was. I got up a little bit before lunchtime and stood by my door, spying through the peephole.

After what seemed like forever, I spotted a man walking towards my apartment. I quickly unlocked my door and waited for him to come closer before busting it open and screaming.

“AHAHHAHAHAAH! I CAUGHT YOU THIS TIME! WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO POISON ME YOU STALK—“

I immediately froze when I realized who was standing on my doorstep.

It was Yongguk.

I scratched my head, embarrassed at what just happened.

You pabo! How could you not tell? “B” obviously stood for Bang. BANG YONGGUK!

“So, uh, do you wanna come in or are we like... OH WAIT. Sorry, uhm, but do I know you? WHO ARE YOU?!” I quickly changed attitudes when I remembered what Yongguk had told me on the night we met.

All of a sudden, he burst out laughing, although his laughter was slightly compressed by the stupid mask he was STILL wearing on his face.

“No, it’s fine. They’ve been busy with Jin lately. They allowed me to take a few days off so I could ‘think’ about a plan to help him escape from custody while they worked on some weird escape route for future missions. I don’t really know, but I’ll be free for a while so I thought I’d buy you a REAL lunch, but I guess someone thought I was poisoning them…” he told me as he held in his laughter.

“HEY! You could’ve given me a warning beforehand… Wouldn’t you be suspicious too?” I growled.

“Yeah… I would to be honest. But anyways, wanna go out?” his eyes sparkled.

“Go where? Shouldn’t you be thinking of a plan or whatever? I mean, I don’t think—“

“COME ON GRANDMA! LET’S GO!” Yongguk rolled his eyes before grabbing me the wrist and pulling me towards his car.

Throughout the car ride, he blasted “The Baddest Female” by CL, and continuously replayed it over and over and over again. The worst part was he kept singing along to, and his voice was NOT cute.

“UNNIEEEYOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!! WOOH!” he bellowed on the top of his lungs.

“CAN YOU PLEASE NOT,” I hollered over the music.

“WHAT? CAN’T HEAR YOU! NOW DO DA UNNIE NOW DO DA UNNIE!” he continued to scream as he nodded his head to the beat.

I rolled my eyes and watched the scenery blur past me as we drove on, trying my best to tune out Yongguk’s obnoxious singing and taste in music.

-----------------

“OKAY!” Yongguk grunted as he spilled all the video games and consoles onto the counter. “I want all of these!”

The cashier stared at him strangely and then darted his eyes over to me.

I shrugged hopelessly.

I let out a sigh of exhaustion as I dropped all the bags of video games onto the floor.

“Did you really have to buy this much? We’re not even going to get through all of them today…” I groaned as I plopped onto the couch.

“Who said we were only going to play them today?” he smirked at me before inserting a disk into his new gaming console and pressing play. He threw me a controller and grinned competitively.

“Ready to get beat by the BEST gamer in the world?!” he asked excitedly.

Halfway through the game, I found myself even more interested in the game than Yongguk was. As a matter of fact, he was already dozing off while I viciously pressed away.

“YEAAAAH! LOOK WHO BEAT CHA!” I shouted in victory and looked over to find him fast asleep.

“What a loser…” I mumbled to myself before carelessly throwing a blanket over him. With that, I began stacking and organizing the video games he scattered messily all over the floor.

By the time I was done, I found myself falling asleep to the sound of Yongguk’s consistent breathing.

I woke up to find myself lying on my couch with the same blanket I placed on Yongguk on myself.

I sat up and looked around, but there was no trace of him anywhere. The aroma of freshly cooked rice filled my house, causing my stomach to growl. I went out to the kitchen to find a bowl of rice, kimchi, bulgogi, tofu, and seaweed soup all neatly placed on the dining table. On the side of my utensils, I found a sticky note that read, “Thanks for bearing with me today. Enjoy. –B” in a familiar handwriting.

An unstoppable smile suddenly began to play on my lips as I sat myself down and began eating my first dinner cooked by Bang Yongguk.