Blackmailing is bad. I know that much. But living in the sauna for two weeks is hell and I would do anything to finally get out of there. I’m done eating all their eggs and soba. Now that an opportunity has showed itself to me, I might as well grab it.

Again, I find myself in a special spotlight of Taeyeon’s glare. I’m not a least bit faze. She can glare all she wants, I’m staying here.

“So where am I going to sleep?” I gave her a friendly smile.

“Outside.” She spit out.

“Yeah right. Make me.” I lay down on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

Her house is ridiculously small. I can’t tell where the separation of the kitchen and the living room is. She only has one bedroom and a short hallway for the bathroom. She doesn’t have many appliances either, just the necessities. All in all, the house is like a box. Just walls and dumps. I can’t tell that it’s better here than the sauna but at least here I won’t get bored.

“I haven’t agreed that you could stay here.”

“But it’s not like you could disagree either.” I turned my back on her and close my eyes. I’m tired.

“Mama.” I heard the kid chimed. “Read this.”

“Okay baby, what’s this?” Her tone changed. It’s all high pitched and squeaky. I smiled.

“Princess.” Taeyeon laughed.

“That’s right. Let’s go to bed and I’ll read this for you.”

I heard light footsteps fading then after that I heard Taeyeon started the story. Her voice was so soft and it was actually lulling me to sleep. I never heard the end of her story as I dozed off to slumber.

I only woke up when someone kicked me in the head, and I tell you, I’m pretty difficult to wake.

“What the hell. That hurt.” The sudden rise I did only worsen the dizziness I’m feeling.

“Who told you to sleep here? Get out.”

“I told you I’m going to live here.”

She scoffed. “Ah seriously. You’re making me crazy. Get out.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Baekhyun, we are not close for this kind of occurrences to happen. We barely know each other.”

“Well, it’s enough that I know your secret.” She pulled her hair irritatingly and I suppress the urge to laugh.

“Just let me stay here. I left home and I have nowhere else to go.”

“Then what are your friends for?”

“I have many but there’s only one I really trust but sadly he lives with his parents and older sister. I can’t trouble his family for imposing.”

“But you’re troubling me.”

“So? You’re a stranger, I careless to what you think.”

“You said it yourself. We are strangers.”

“As long as I know your secret it’s enough. Now let me sleep because I’m really tired. We have class tomorrow.”

“Argh. The way you say it is really annoying.” She stomped her way to the bedroom. “I don’t care anymore. Do what you want.” Then she slammed the door loudly. I wonder if her daughter didn’t wake up because of that.

I grinned triumphantly and lay down on the floor again. I won. No one can really stop me once I want something done.

I woke up because of the delicious aroma that’s been swirling around the house. I remember not having supper yesterday. I stirred to my side and peered at the figure standing in the kitchen. She’s cooking. I looked at the time and was surprised to see that’s its only 5 o’clock. I groaned.

“Why are you up so early?” She didn’t answer. I sat down and stared at her back.

“Hey.” She’s still not answering.

“Do you always wake up this early?” Is she going to ignore me?

“Hey.”

None.

“Taeyeon.”

Still no answer.

“Yah, high school mother.”

“What?!”

I snorted. “You respond to high school mother.” Then I can’t control it anymore. I laughed really loud. I saw her rolling her eyes and then resuming what she’s cooking.

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“When are you planning on leaving?”

“I don’t know. Maybe when I can fend for myself.” She turned around and gape at me. I suppress another urge to laugh once again.

“Don’t think about small matters now. What are you cooking?”

I heard her whispered “small matters huh’ but decided to ignore it. “I’m cooking breakfast and lunch.”

“It smells good. Do I get to taste it?” She just shrugged. I just let the question drop. I’m going to eat that anyway.

“You always wake up at this time?” I thought she was going to ignore me once again because it took her several minutes to respond.

“Yeah, I’m usually cooking at this time. But I wake up at 4 o’clock. I study before preparing the food. Sometimes I do the laundry before cooking.”

“You mean you’ve been awake an hour ago?”

Whoa. What a girl. Isn’t that tiring? She wakes up earlier than my parents before they go to work.

Minutes later she started preparing the food on the table. What are these? It’s all side dishes and there’s only a few of them.

“Don’t expect for anything grand. As you can see, we’re poor.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“But your face is.”

She started eating and I did too. I took my first spoon full of her fried rice. What the hell. “This is good. It’s so delicious.”

She only smiled at me and continued eating. What the hell did she put in here? It’s the best fried rice I’ve ever tasted. the side dishes. I don’t want them. I finished the whole serving in an instant and was disappointed when there are none for seconds. I sigh. It’s not enough.

“Here.” She pushed her plate towards me, and I was utterly surprise by the gesture. “I’m not that hungry.” Then she stood up from her seat and went to their bedroom. Maybe she saw it in my face again. But I really can’t hide the disappointment. It was too good that I ate it too fast. Next time I’ll savor it more.

Taeyeon was showering in the bath when her daughter woke up and walked out of the room. The moment she saw me she started crying.

“Mama.”

I panicked. I tried to approach her, but it only caused her to scream. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m not bad.”

“What did you do?” Taeyeon came out of the bath with just a towel on. Her hair is still filled with bubbles. She picked up her daughter who automatically stopped crying upon seeing her mother. She played with Taeyeon’s hair and laughed.

“You like that huh?” Taeyeon cooed. “Let’s go take a bath together Seohyun.” Seohyun giggled and Taeyeon walked back towards the bathroom.

I was frozen firmly on my place. Seeing Taeyeon on that attire was enough to make my heart explode. It was my first time seeing anyone appears like that in front of me. She didn’t even care that there was a guy present in the situation. I guess you could say that she’s experienced.

I tried to calm down, but it seems impossible. Those white and flawless skin. Her wet look. It’s a shame that’s she’s already a mother. I brushed the thought away. I already have a girlfriend. There’s no point getting upset about Taeyeon. I tried to imagine Hyuna in a towel and it worked I actually calmed down.

“It’s your turn.” I was lost