“Baekhyun oppa, what are you doing?”

“I just go back from work. How about you, Ji?”

“Me too. I’m walking toward home right now. Just a few meters away, I’ll be arriving at home,”

“Okay, take care. Good night.”

“Jaljayo oppa.”

Eunji glanced at her wrist watch to found that it was 10 in the evening then she walked toward her home with a smile on her face. But the smile suddenly disappear when she found a guy around her age, was lying down on the wet asphalt road in front of her gate. Eunji stunned first since she felt completely startled with his sudden presence.

“It’s okay Eunji-ya, just make a first move. If he did something bad at you, you just have to scream and all of the neighbors will come out from their house to help you,” she mumbled as she tried to convince herself.

She dared herself to walk closer to him, and that was when she could clearly see the guy’s face. She startled as she could recognize that the guy who was lying down with some wounds on his face and still panting hardly, had a handsome face. He had a red hair colored. His brows were thick and carved in a perfect curve. His nose was strong, and he had a perfect curve of pink lips. Staring at his face, made her heart suddenly beat faster. Suddenly, the guy was opening his eyes, and Eunji directly could see those pair of dark brown eyes was staring at her direction. That guy with all of his strength tried to get up and stood in front of her.

“Who are you?” Eunji was saying almost whispering when their gazes met each other. “Are you in a fight before?”

***

Eunji is a kindhearted girl. Everyone who knows her would admit it. And this time, she showed her kindness by letting the strange guy that she found was dying in front of her gate, to come inside her house.

Actually, she felt creepy when her head unconsciously nodded when the guy asked for her help. And then, she brought him into her house. Now, the strange guy was already sitting on her dining room. Eunji suddenly appeared out from the kitchen while carrying a tray with hot milk. The strange guy was watching her every movement silently. He couldn’t help but to take a second to glance at her exposed neck. He suddenly stuck out his tongue as he his bottom lips slowly.

“You must be thirsty, aren’t you? Here, I bring hot milk and some cakes for you,” Eunji said as she set down the tray in front of him.

“Thanks…” a deep soft voice was out from his lips.

“Where are you from?” Eunji asked again.

“I…”

“Are you living near this neighborhood?” she cut his words before he could give an answer.

He took some seconds to think before he shook his head.

“So, how could you come here with some wounds in your face and you looked like a dying man in front of my house earlier?”

Eunji’s endless question marks were making the strange guy frowned.

“I… was running away… from my house…” The guy stuttered. “My stepfather was always abusing me and treated me unfairly, so I decide to run away…”

Eunji startled as she could clearly see the sadness from his eyes.

“Are you having a job?” she asked with a lower tone this time.

The strange guy once again shook his head.

“How poor you are,” Eunji worriedly eyed him. “Now you don’t have a place to live, and you also don’t have a job. I will try to call my male friend, who knows that one of them can help y—“

“No, you don’t have to do that,” he was suddenly avoiding Eunji to dial her friend’s phone number.

Eunji was furrowing her eyebrows as she could see that guy suddenly staring at her with pleading eyes.

“Please let me stayed here for a few days,” he asked carefully and made Eunji’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry for asking you this. But please, let me stay in your house for some days. You can trust me, I’m not a bad person or I’m not a criminal or a . I just wanted to ask your help for letting me stay in your house till… I get a job…”

Eunji didn’t say a word while she still tried to scrutinize the poor guy in front of her.

“As a return… I will clean up your house and I will be up all night to protect this house since you are living alone…” he said still with pleading eyes. “Don’t you mind?”

***

Eunji was a girl with a weak heart. It was right since she had brought a total stranger into her house. A stranger that she still doesn’t know who he really was and she still didn’t know his name. But instead of being afraid, Eunji was pitying him.

“I will call father and ask for his help if that guy suddenly do some bad things toward me,” she mumbled. “But, I don’t think he is that kind of person.”

She talked to herself when she already layed down on her bed. It was already an hour passed when she had a small conversation with the strange guy that she had found earlier.

“Ah, I should ask his name,” Eunji suddenly got up from her bed and was about to going out from her room.

But suddenly, she held her pace as she decided to peek from her door first before went outside.

She could clearly see that the strange guy with the red hair was sitting in front of the big window in her house – still with sadness in his eyes.

“Looks like he’s so freaking lonely…” Eunji mumbled to herself while staring at him from behind her door secretly.

But suddenly, that guy slowly turned around and with a speed of light, Eunji immediately closed her door.

“Oh no… Please don’t say that he knew that I was staring at him secretly…” she said to herself while tried to tame her wild beating heart.

“And… what’s wrong with this heart? Why it suddenly throbbing so hard like this? Oh come on Jung Eunji, I knew that he is so damn cute. But remember, you already have a fiancé,” she reminded herself as she walked toward her bed.

***

In the next morning, Eunji woke up and walked toward the kitchen. Her eyes were busy to capturing the presence of the strange guy that had stayed in her house since last night.

“Good morning,” the soft deep voice suddenly echoed from her back and it made her almost jump from her place. Eunji was turning around slowly and then she found him was already standing with only a towel that covering his lower body.

“Kyaa…!!!” Eunji immediately screamed and covering her face with her palm as she saw the sudden scene.

“Ah, I-I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be a ert. But, my clothes were already dirty and I just remembered that I didn’t bring any shirt here. So if you don’t mind… I wanted to borrow your shirt…”

Eunji who was still cupping her eyes with her palm suddenly groaned. “Go to the room beside mine, and you can take a shirt there,” Eunji asked him to go to his older brother room, Jung Jinwoon. Her brother worked in US, and he only came back to Seoul once in a year, so she thought that it will be okay if she let the strange guy to borrowed his shirt.

“Okay, thank you very much. And I’m so sorry once again,” he bowed to her before he ran toward the room that she had mentioned before.

Eunji heaved a sigh as she didn’t thought that the ‘things’ could happen in her life at this early morning. She immediately went to the kitchen to cook some omelet for her breakfast. But suddenly, that guy’s presence with only a towel earlier lingered in her mind.

“Jung Eunji, you are a ert!” she cursed as she hit her own head.

10 minutes later, he walked more slowly than before since he was afraid that he will make her startled like earlier again. Eunji who noticed his presence, suddenly moved her gaze and found that the guy was already standing in front of her with an awkward smile on his face.

“Thank you for the shirt. I will wash it and put it back to the previous place when I’ve already buy the new one later,” he said.

“It's okay. By the way, let’s having a breakfast together,”

“Breakfast?” he blinked.

“Yes, breakfast. Did you want an omelet? I’ll cook for you,” she asked.

“Oh, n-no, you don’t need to. I never take a breakfast at my home. Thank you,” he refused politely.

Eunji frowned for a while before she shrugged. “Okay. If you feel thirsty, you can get some milk or juice in the refrigerator. Don’t feel hesitate, okay?”

“Thank you very much, um…?”

“Eunji. My name is Jung Eunji,”

“I’m Mark. Mark Tuan,”

“Oh… Nice to know you, Mark,” Eunji curled a smile on her face, and it took some second to him to copying that smile. And Eunji didn’t know why her heart suddenly beat strangely again when she catches the smile on her gaze.

“I will go to the fashion store and buy some clothes. I’ll be back so soon,” Mark was about to turning around, but Eunji suddenly called him.

“Wait,” she got up from her seat. “I’ll go with you. It’s Saturday and I’m free today. So, please wait for me till I finish my breakfast, okay?”

***

Eunji’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the same time, as she found out that Mark was buying 10 pair of branded clothes in one of the biggest mall in Gangnam-Gu.

“Are you sure that you are a jobless?” she asked in disbelief as her eyes were gluing on the shopping bags that he brought.

Mark chuckled. “You don’t have to worry. My mother will pay it all for me,” he said while curve a wide smile on his face. And once again, Eunji was blushing madly because of the endearing smile.

They walked side by side with Mark lead their way. Suddenly he stopped and made Eunji bumped into his back.

“Oops, sorry,” he whimpered as he noticed that the girl was rubbing her temple because of him.

“What’s wrong Mark? Why were you suddenly stopping?”

“Um… Are you hungry?” he asked while rubbed the back of his neck.

Eunji blinked by his sudden question and it made her suddenly touched her stomach. “Um… I think I am,” she grinned and Mark could not help himself but smiling by seeing her innocent side.

“Okay, let’s go to grab some lunch before we’re going home. Kajja,” he said and signaled her to follow him.

“So, Mark… Why don’t you eat something? Aren’t you hungry?” Eunji furrowed her eyebrows as they already took a lunch in one of the fine restaurant near the mall.

Mark shook his head. “I’m yet hungry. I only eat when I’m totally hungry.”

Eunji frowned. “No wonder your face looks so pale and your body was skinny,” she scoffed.

Mark only curled a thin smile on his lips as he heard her remark. A pregnant silence suddenly built between them, before a phone call suddenly echoed. Eunji immediately took her cell phone from her bag and found that it was a call from her fiancé, Byun Baekhyun.

“Yeoboseyo, oppa?”

“Hi, Ji. I just woke up from sleep and the first thing that I remembered is you,”

Eunji chuckled by her fiancé’s cheesiness. “How lazy you are. You know that it’s already 12?”

Eunji could sense that Baekhyun was groaning. “It’s weekend babe. You don’t have to protested, okay? By the way, where are you now?”

“Um… I’m… I’m with Bomi. We’re in Gangnam-gu to taking a lunch together,”

Mark’s eyes suddenly met her as he noticed that the girl had lie.

“Oh, okay. Take your time with her. I’ll call you later, bye Ji,”

“Bye, oppa. Have fun with your quality time,”

After Baekhyun ended the call, there was an awkward silence between her and Mark. Eunji didn’t know what to say since she knew that he caught her lying.

Mark cleared his throat to break the silence before he spoke out. “So… you already have a boyfriend.”

Eunji gulped as she faked a laugh after. “A fiancé. He is already being a fiancé of mine.”

Mark nodded in understanding. “You’re still 23 but already having a fiancé. Wow…” his smile suddenly rose.

“Actually… It’s an arranged marriage. Our family was living in a same neighborhood since they were young. So, my father and his father agreed to make the marriage decision,” she shrugged.

“So… You want to say that you don’t really love your fiancé?” Mark asked carefully, and it made Eunji mentally slapped herself.

“I… don’t know. I loved him since he’s being my childhood friend. But, I don’t know if it’s a kind of love toward a friend or…” she stopped as she looked down.

“Okay, I know. You don’t have to talk about it with me. I’m sorry. I’m talk too much,” he said as he noticed her sudden mood changing.

Eunji’s eyes back to him which now looked sorry. “No, it’s okay, Mark. You don’t need to feel bad at me,” she smiled thinly.

Another awkward silence was created between them, and once again Mark tried to break it.

“What is our next plan for today?” his deep voice sounded.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean… How if I help you to clean up your house? I think it will be faster if we do it together,” another smile was formed in his face, and once again it was successfully beating her heart.

“O…kay… Let’s go back to home after I finished my meal,” Eunji immediately moved her gaze to her food, as she tried to handle her beating heart.

Mark rested his chin on his palm with his elbows supporting his hand. He was staring at her, and he could not help himself for not smiling as he secretly could capture her charm.

***

It was 8 on the night, Eunji and Mark finally finished their jobs to cleaning up the whole house. Eunji was sitting on the couch while panting hardly. While Mark took a glass of cold water and he handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said before drank it. “Aren’t you thirsty? I didn’t saw you drink anything since earlier.”

“Um… I already drink a glass of water earlier. Yeah, I did it when you were too busy to clean up your own room,” he said while tried to avoid her gaze.

“Oh really?” Eunji furrowed her eyebrow. “And I didn’t see you sweating. It’s so weird since you can see how much I was sweating because of it,”

Mark chuckled. “Every human have a different hormone, Ji. I thought we already learn about it when we were still studying in the middle school, am I right?”

Eunji looked down as she felt embarrassed by her clumsiness. “I… I’m hungry. I want to make some ramyun. You should eat too since you didn’t eat anything since earlier,” Eunji suddenly got up from her seat, and she ignored Mark’s flinched.

“I can make it by myself later, Ji. You don’t need to---“

“No, I want to make it for you so we can eat together. You don’t need to feel hesitant anymore at me, Mark,” Eunji said as she was starting to drop a boil of hot water to the ramyun’s cups.

Accidentally, she knocked the cup and it made the hot water spilled out. Eunji suddenly panicked and made Mark immediately ran to her.

“Eunji, are you okay?” Mark suddenly grabbed her hand to check for her condition. Eunji startled as she felt that there was something strange from his touch.

It was not because of the sudden skin's skip that he had made, but she sensed something ‘different’ from his skin.

“Mark, you…” she cut her words as Mark was suddenly releasing his grip from her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ji. I didn’t mean to touch you,” he quickly avoided her gaze. “Let me cooked the ramyun for you. You should go back to the dining room and take your seat, while I will make it for you,” he immediately walked toward the kitchen and cooked another hot water for the ramyun.

Meanwhile, Eunji - who was still stunned at her previous position, was deciding to obey his command. She took her seat but her mind was still thinking about the sudden skinship that they had earlier.

“His skin… Why his skins were isn’t hot nor cold like a normal human being does?” she mumbled to herself as she was frowning harder.

“Ramyun is ready…!” she snapped out from her reverie as she heard the deep voice had echoed from her kitchen.

Eunji already put a big grin on her lips since she decided to ease her curiosity toward him.

“Thank you, Mark,” she immediately took the cup from him and directly eat it since she felt very hungry before.

“Be careful. It’s hot,” Mark said, while put his ramyun cup in front of him.

“Why don’t you eat yours?” she asked and pointed her gaze to his ramyun.

“It’s still hot. I cannot eat it,”

“It’s taste better when it’s still hot,” Eunji whined.

“I know. But, I prefer when it’s already cold,”

Eunji frowned. “You’re so weird…” Mark chuckled as he heard her remark.

“I know I am,” he smiled thinly while stared at her with a deep gaze. And Eunji didn’t know why she was always getting weak by it.

So, she decided to quickened eat the ramyun, then she can go back to her room immediately and ignored those deep gazes and the endearing smile.

Less than 5 minutes, Eunji had finished her meal. She got up from her seat and was about to walked toward her room. But, suddenly she turned around and faces him.

“Don’t skip your dinner. You’re not look good if you’re too skinny,” she said and it made suddenly startled before he curled a thin smile on his face.

“Thank you for your concern to me, Ji,” he said while threw a meaningful gaze toward Eunji. Again and again, it was successfully made her heart skip a beat.

“Good night. See you tomorrow, bye,” Eunji quickened her pace before she closed her room’s door.

***

The next day, Eunji had an appointment with her best friend, Yoon Bomi to go to the theme park. She didn’t ask Mark to join her since she didn’t want to make her heart beat uncontrollably when he was being near her. And the guy didn’t mind with it.

She left him alone in her house from the morning till the night. Eunji thought by avoiding him, she would forget about the thoughts about him. But she was wrong, since his endearing smile was always haunting her mind when she was spending her time with Bomi. 

When she arrived at her house, it was 7 PM and Mark was welcoming her with his usual endearing smile on his face.

“Hi, Ji. How’s your quality time?”

His sudden question made her feel sorry. “Yeah, it’s good. I should bring you to that park with my friends later,” she said as she felt that her heart beat faster again. She cursed her heart for being so weak, because she surely knew that this guy would break her ordinary live. And she was surely afraid with the possibil