The next morning, Haerin had woken up early to prepare dishes for the neighbours on her floor.  School doesn’t start until 8 and she’s pretty sure that people would be awake before it.  She and Yunjae rings the doorbell of the apartment right on their left and a man in a suit and tie opens the door.

“Hi, morning, we’re Son Haerin and Son Yunjae, we just moved in next door, please take care of us,” She greets.  “Here’s a little bit of food,”

He flashes them a smile and takes their food, setting it down on the table by the door.  “Hi, I’m Doojoon, and late for work,” He chuckles.  “Thanks for the food though, I’ll eat well,” And with that, he zooms down the corridor and into the elevators.

The fresh scent of his aftershave and cologne lingers in the air and Haerin glances at Yunjae to share a laugh.  “Kyungsoo will flip if he knew that someone like him is staying beside me,”

There were 6 other people living in the floor with Haerin, and so 6 times did she repeat her words and introductions.  She came to the end of the hall and checked the time, to see it show 06:30 AM.  “Okay, last one,” Her finger presses the doorbell and to her surprise, a topless man comes to the door, hair tousled and belt loosened.

Haerin blinks repeatedly at him and looks away quickly.  “Uhh, I- we- it’s-“

“This is my house.  Don’t answer the door for me,” A woman (as disheveled and suggestive as the man who had just gotten the door for her) pushes the shirtless man away and looks at Haerin lazily.  “What do you want?”

“I’m Haerin, this is Yunjae, we just moved in.  Brought you some food,” Haerin clears , with difficulty trying to avoid looking at the man who is standing by the door.

“Whatever,” The woman says, waving away Haerin’s food offering harshly.  “You,” She points at the man.  “Go home,”

He frowns in confusion.  “But babe-“

“Don’t babe me,” She snaps.  “Home.  Go.  Now,”

Shirtless and all, the man leaves her apartment as she slams the door on his face, just like that.

“Okay, that was-,“ Haerin shudders and kisses Yunjae’s head as she bids him goodbye before rushing downstairs for the bus to school.  At least most of her neighbours are friendly.

***

Haerin settles among the boys at lunch time, joining in their conversation.

“Oh, noona,” Sehun smiles at her as he sits down, immediately biting into his sandwich.  “You moved out yesterday, right? Out of hyung’s house,”

“Right,” Haerin nods.

“How’s that going for you?” Suho asks.  “Do you need any help with anything? Because…“

“…I’m sure you kids are not gonna help,” Haerin finishes his sentence for him and everybody laughs.

“We are perfectly handsome, reliable men, thank you!” Baekhyun presses a hand to his chest in mock surprise.

“Kkaeb..?” Kai starts.

“Song,” Chanyeol finishes.

“Really, though,” Sehun chuckles.  “If there’s anything we can help, we’ll try our best, noona,”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Haerin shrugs.  “Got settled in a jiffy,”

Kyungsoo then comes to sit on the table as well, waving hello at his girlfriend.  “How are the neighbours, Hae?”

“They’re…nice,” Haerin answers.  “There was this woman though, she, uhh, she’s one of those women who, you know, does ‘it’ like ‘it’ was nothing? There was a shirtless man coming out of her apartment and she was- they were looking like, you know,” She grimaces at her awkwardness and the awkwardness of having to retell her encounter this morning.

The boys stay silent for a few seconds before they erupt in ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s of understanding, simultaneously scratching the backs of their heads.  “Are you sure that place is safe, noona?” Kai grimaces along with her.

“She’s just one of the 6 nice, friendly neighbours, so, yeah, I guess,” Haerin laughs, shrugging.  “Don’t worry, I like them already,”

“Any pretty girls in that neighbourhood of yours that we could, you know,” Baekhyun wiggles his eyebrows playfully and Haerin flings a ball of crumpled wrapper onto his head.

“The only pretty girl aside from that woman, is me,” Haerin flips her hair.  “And as you know-“

“She’s taken,” Kyungsoo smirks smugly.  “ being single, huh, Baek?”

Baekhyun makes a face at Kyungsoo and stands to leave with Chanyeol.  “There are a lot of pretty girls in this city, noona, those much more prettier and skinnier than you!” He calls out.

“The question is, Byun Baekhyun, do they want you, out of all the handsome, charming men in this city?” Haerin answers and in playful rage, Baekhyun rushes out the cafeteria, dragging Chanyeol along with him.

“You know,” Kyungsoo trots to catch up with her as she makes her way to class.  “There are times when you look amazingly attractive, to me, that is,”

Haerin laughs at his sentence and leans towards him.  “And when is that, Kyungsoo?”

“When you talk,” Kyungsoo shrugs.  “When you smile, when you laugh, when you blink, when you breathe, when you-“
Haerin rolls her eyes.  “Okay, Do Cheesy, quit it,”

Laughing, Kyungsoo closes her locker door for her.  “I’m being serious!”

“There are times when you’re gorgeous as well, I think,” Haerin looks up to the ceiling in thought.

Jumping excitedly like a child, Kyungsoo nudges his girlfriend with his elbow repeatedly.  “Tell me when, tell me when,”

“When, let’s see, hmm…”

“When…?”

“Sorry, let me correct that; not ever, really,” Haerin sticks out a tongue at him and grins.  “Kkaebsong,”

***

‘You missed him by a hair’s breadth, Haerin,’ Mrs. Do’s voice comes through the line, worry colouring her tone.  ‘He came to the house, yesterday, for an extra consultation time.  We have this “anytime, anywhere” policy, as psychologists, so our workplace can be anywhere, including our house,’

Haerin blinks repeatedly in surprise and had to clear to get rid of the shaking in her voice.  “Was Kyungsoo there?”

‘Yeah, he was,' She answers.  ‘He didn’t tell you?’

Haerin shakes her head.  “No, he didn’t.  Probably didn’t want to make me worry,”

“Who didn’t want to make you worry?” Kyungsoo suddenly pops out in front of her face and Haerin scrunches her nose at him.

‘It’s you, idiot,’ She mouths, then returns to speaking to the phone.  “Yes, I’m properly settled, Mrs. Do, thank you.  Yes.  Sure, of course, of course.  Send my regards to Mr. Do!”

As Haerin waits for Mrs. Do to hang up and then locks her phone’s screen, Kyungsoo scratches the back of his head while he shuffles his feet.  “It’s mom, isn’t it?”

With a punch onto his arm, Haerin sighs.  “Yes,”

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo glances tentatively at her.  When he sees her expression, he slumps.  “You’re right, I didn’t want to make you worry,”

Haerin no longer needs to contemplate her boyfriend’s decision of not telling her because he was right; if he had told her before, she would worry like hell.  “It’s fine,” She stands on tiptoes to peck his cheek.  “It’s fine,” She walks away, chuckling to the surprised expression on Kyungsoo’s face.

Kyungsoo, meanwhile, wonders if deciding things on his own would make Haerin show him more affection.  She is lacking so much in that area, he sometimes thinks that she’s running out of feelings for him.  But he would remember the words she had said to him that day he helped her move in.

“Kyungsoo-yah,” She starts.

“Hm?”

“Do you know how much I want to tell you I love you right now?”

Kyungsoo had to swerve out of another car’s way in surprise before he could reply to what Haerin had said.  “W-what?”

“Just know that so far, I’m not saying it because I’m taking proper care of your feelings and insecurities,” Haerin checks the back seat for Yunjae’s condition and smiles when he gives her a thumb up.

And that would blow all of his worries away.

He hears a series of rushed footsteps behind him and counted to three before stepping aside quickly, letting his followers stumble onto the ground like the idiots they are.  “The hell..?” He glances around the bus stop to catch people staring and takes Haerin’s hand.  “We don’t know them,” 

Haerin laughs and squats by the rest of the boys.  “What are you guys up to, now?” She reaches out to brush the dust away from Sehun’s hair.

“We want to visit!” Chanyeol stands up first and pulls his buddies up.  

“And we brought housewarming gifts,” Suho grins.

Kai grins at her and Kyungsoo.  “And we’ll stay over and cook for dinner,”

“So you can expect to have the best dinner you’ve had in your entire life,” Baekhyun finishes, raising the plastic bags in his hands to show Haerin that they really had bought gifts and were really meaning to visit her house, only a day after she moved in.

“That’s cute, but I’m not eating anything you guys make,” Kyungsoo puts his palms out.  “The last time I did, I ended up becoming the person-forever-in-charge of cooking,”

“They’re that bad?” Haerin whispers and glances at them when Kyungsoo nods.

The bus hisses to a stop and everybody files in, making their way towards Haerin’s new place.  She looks to the row of seats at the back of the bus and grin.  It felt nice, to have people over.  It’s a first, too, remembering that it’s also her first time having a house to herself.  “Not too much noise, though,” She puts a finger to her lips.  “I just moved in, remember?”