You woke up in the comfort of your own bed, the same bed you had slept in all your life before you went off to college. It wasn't anything fancy, but something about the bed suited you just right. You loved the way it formed to your body and the way the sheets smelled of your mom's laundry detergent. You missed that smell. You'd have to ask her what kind she used.

                You rolled over in bed, wanting only to drift back off into sleep land before you suddenly remembered your interview that was just two days away now. You shot up in the bed and slapped yourself awake. You needed to stay sharp and focused. You couldn't be sleeping in all day or thinking about laundry detergents right now.

                The get together for your grandmother was later that night so you had to use your time before then wisely. You snatched your note cards from the nightstand and made as if to start going over the questions right then and there.

                But then you realized that you kind of needed to use the bathroom... and brush your teeth... and you were a little hungry too... a tiny bit thirsty....

                You put your note cards back down, giving them a pointed look along with a promise that you'd be back before you shuffled out of your room. You were wearing your old pajamas from high school and they still fit you just right, even if they were a little embarrassing. The pants were covered in cute bunnies and carrots and the legs always bunched up around your knees while you slept for some reason. On this morning only one pant leg was hooked up around your knee and you just left it like that. It wasn't like you needed to look presentable right now in your childhood home with only your parents there to judge you.

                Still the fact that you would soon be a business professional was always in the back of your mind, making you feel slightly self conscious. As you made your way to the bathroom you ran your hands through your hair and at least tried to work out the knots that formed while you slept.

                After using the bathroom you sought out the kitchen to see if there was any food to be had. It was Saturday morning and your mom usually made a big breakfast. Before you got to the kitchen your nose confirmed your suspicions. Your mouth watered as the aroma of cooking meat reached you and made your stomach grumble. You turned the corner into the kitchen and let out an indecent groan.

                "Feed me all the foods now," you let out instantly, unknowingly slipping into your cute act you used on your mom sometimes to get your way.

                But as you stepped in the room you saw that your mother was distracted as she stood at the open front door.

                "No. Nonsense. You have to come in," she was insisting to someone outside that you couldn't see. "I just finished making breakfast, you should have some."

                "Mom?" you called to her as you stepped closer, squinting your eyes to fight off the light from the outside world. "Who are you talking-"

                You stopped before finishing the question as you saw exactly who she was talking to. Standing outside your door was the young man from the night before.

                "Hip hop guy?" you questioned dumbly, not even realizing you had said the words out loud until you noticed the way his lips twitched into a small smile.

                He looked you up and down for a quick second, still seeming amused, maybe even more amused now. You felt very self conscious now in your old pajamas.

                "Do you know Howon?" Your mother asked brightly, she was so excited about the prospect for some reason.

                Howon... so that was his name...

                "Hoya," he spoke up then, his eyes only on you.

                You realized then that it was the first time you had heard his voice. He had the country dialect you knew well and his voice had an interesting tone to it, there was something about it that you found unique. You couldn't put it in words... but it was like his voice had its own texture that differed from all other voices you heard before it.

                "You can call me Hoya."

                You couldn't respond for a moment. For some reason you felt like if you did speak your voice would waver.

                "Have you met my daughter before?" your mother asked then, luckily not catching on to your weirdness when faced with this... Hoya... person. "This is-"

                "We've met," he said then and smiled at your mother politely, his eyes gleaming at her.

                 Unlike the little smile from a moment before this smile was full blown and radiant, revealing his straight white teeth. For some reason you found yourself openly staring at him, practically gawking. You had noticed the stranger was handsome the night before, but he was somehow even better looking while smiling.

                Like his voice, his teeth had character too. He had large canines, almost like that of a handsome vampire in an old movie. You also noticed that one of his two front teeth had a tiny chip in it, so tiny you weren't sure why you noticed it. Were you staring too much?

                "Honey?" your mom was questioning beside you.

                Yup. You were definitely staring too much.

                "Yes?" you asked quickly and shook yourself, looking away from the handsome boy at your front door and trying to appear normal, your arms crossed under your s now. "Sorry was I spacing out? I must still be a little tired..."

                Your mother reached forward to tap your head in admonishment, giving you a disapproving scowl.

                "Don't mind my daughter," your mother said to the guy... to Hoya. "She doesn't know how to act around boys. She's always too busy studying."

                "Mom!" you cried out in embarrassment, feeling betrayed.

                You swung your eyes over to Hoya for just a second to see he had turned his face to the side, the back of his hand up over his mouth. Was he hiding a smile? Was he laughing at you?

                Your mom went on with her betrayal as she just scoffed at you and muttered something disapproving about your city accent before she reached out to grab Hoya's wrist.

                "Come in Howon. Eat breakfast with us-"

                You took a step back from the door... and also Hoya... on sheer impulse, feeling sudden dread fill you. You wanted to protest your mom's invitation on the grounds of how awkward it would be alone, but before you could speak up Hoya beat you to it.

                "No really mam I can't," he apologized quickly, not budging from his spot outside the door. "I have more deliveries to make."

                "Alright alright," your mom relented as she let his wrist go. "I wouldn't want to stop you from doing your job. But you wait right here for a moment."

                Your mom gave Hoya a threatening finger point as she left the door and shuffled over to her fridge for some reason, pulling out carefully wrapped containers.

                You looked from her to Hoya questioningly and saw that he wasn't looking at you anymore and was instead pretending to be staring at something outside, off to his left. He had a hand behind his head and scratched at it awkwardly as he waited. The smile was gone from his face and you realized that he was the one that was embarrassed now.

                You didn't even know what was happening or why he seemed unsure of himself but you felt oddly smug and leaned comfortably against the opened door as you watched him. You were the one smiling at his discomfort this time.

                Your mother was back a second later and she had a big smile on her face as she handed him three wrapped containers of what you could only presume was food. Hoya accepted the gift with his eyes pointed down.

                "Eat it well," she said sweetly and received a bow from Hoya. He still kept his eyes down as he backed away, bowing one more time before turning and leaving quickly.

                You scoffed at his disappearing back and then closed the door, still feeling smug.

                "Weird guy," you commented only to receive another hit on the head from your mother, this time a little harder.

                "Ow mom what the-"

                "Bad girl," your mother chastised. "I didn't raise you to judge and look down on people."

                "I wasn't looking down on him..." you grumbled weakly. "I mean sure he's a little short, but he's still taller than me."

                Your mom held her hand up again as if to hit you and you put your hands up in surrender, claiming to just be joking, poorly.

                Your mom gave you one more admonishing glare before she turned away and went back to bustling around the kitchen and prepping plates for breakfast.

                You chewed on your lip for a moment as you debated with yourself whether to continue talking about him. You had a lot of questions now, but you didn't want to seem too interested either. Not that you were all that interested in Hoya of course. You just... were a naturally curious person... that was all.

                "So... how do you know that guy Howin..."

                "Howon," your mother corrected instantly and scowled over her shoulder at you. You knew it was Howon, but luckily she had fallen for your ploy.

                "Yeah Howon whatever his name is," you muttered, sounding bored as you took a seat at the table. "What's the deal? What was with the food you gave him?"

                Your mother sighed heavily as she busied herself with cleaning and cutting fruit for breakfast.

                "Howon has been delivering our milk to us every Saturday for the last few years," she replied.

                She sounded oddly... sad? You shifted a little in your seat with discomfort.

                "What happened to Mr. Lee?" you asked, remembering the older man that used to deliver the milk back when you lived here.

                "Mr. Lee is Howon's father," she informed you quietly. "He had a a few years back and he isn't able to work anymore."

                You felt an odd pit form in your stomach. You tried to chalk it up to hunger.

                "And the food you gave..." you began to ask, but you didn't need to prod your mother any further. As was usual, when your mom was upset about something she began to talk all on her own, getting all of her thoughts out.

                "It's not right how his wife left him," she started out angrily. She was cutting the fruit like it had offended her now. "What kind of wife leaves her husband when he's sick? What kind of mother leaves her child like that? Who cooks for them and makes sure they're fed now? Who does the laundry? The shopping? The cleaning? Is that sweet boy supposed to do it all?"

                You looked down at the table top for a moment and tried to ignore that gnawing feeling in your gut. You would have never guessed from your small encounters with him that his life would be so difficult.

                "So you give him food every week?" you asked quietly.

                Your mother didn't answer and just continued to cut her fruit, a bit violently now. She was letting out soft mutterings of anger under her breath.

                You smiled sadly at her for a moment. "I love you mom."

                "Say it in your real accent and I'll believe you," she shot back to you hotly.

                You sighed and rolled your eyes before doing as she asked.

                "I love you too," she said back. "Now come get some food and eat up. I need your help setting up for this party tonight."

                "But mom you said there wouldn't be any distractions and I really need to-"

                Your mother turned to you and gave you one of her serious looks, a hand resting on her hip.

                "Do you love me or not?"

                You looked in her eyes for a long moment and fought with all your might to not throw a sassy remark at her before you finally gave in.

                "Fine. What can I do?"

                When you had agreed to help prepare for the party you had no idea what you had been signing up for. It hadn't occurred to you that this party would be any different than the other birthdays for your grandparents in the past. You thought you'd just have to wrap some gifts, bake a cake, maybe make some appetizers or clean the house a bit.

                 But instead you found yourself running around town buying supplies and checking in with caterers. You had to go to a bakery, a flower shop, and finally the town square where the party would be held. You needed to put up banners and decorations. You had suddenly been transformed into a party planner. Your mother had wanted for her mother's 80th birthday to be an extra special one.

                Before you knew it the sun was going down and the guests were arriving. You naturally fell into a hostess role and took care of everything you could. You had long since forgotten about your interview at this point and decided just to help your mother make this a great party.

                As more people arrived in the town square and started seating themselves at tables you took a step back. Something was off. Something was missing. The chatter was dim and it was too quiet.... there needed to be music.

                "Mom!" you shouted to her as she stood with your grandparents and other random family members you hadn't seen in years. "Mom! Music?"

                You couldn't imagine this country town had much to offer as far as DJs or bands went, but the party desperately needed something. You would've settled for a boombox even...

                Your mother simply pointed behind you in response and went back to her small talk. You turned around and tried to figure out what she had pointed at. Party goers were milling around in your line of sight so you stepped out of the riff raff to get a better look.

                After a moment you spotted speakers set up on the outskirts of the party. They were on a contraption that set them up a bit higher and there was a small table between them. Someone was over there setting up, his back to you. You could only see that he was wearing a pair of black dress pants and a white long sleeved shirt that was tucked in, the arms of his shirt pulled up to his elbows as he worked away.

                You were relieved to see you weren't the only one there that was dressed up in something that was nice, but a little less formal. Most of the older town folk had worn their finest traditional garb. Parties like these weren't exactly common in your small country village so everyone had taken the chance to put on their best finery.

                But you could only settle for what you wore now, which was one of the only dresses you had in your closet. It was a deep purple color that you found very pretty, although the cut of the dress was a bit flirty for your tastes nowadays. You tended to dress in a more reserved fashion now. But when you were a teenager you had a phase where you wanted to wear things that were a bit more y, in this case a little low cut. You just had liked the way clothes like that looked on you. You liked how it had made you feel and the attention it had given you... even though some people would maybe take it the wrong way or even openly stare.

                 It wasn't like it was too revealing though, it was still appropriate enough for this occasion, but it was definitely not your taste anymore. It was a dress you wore to a dance in high school, a night you barely remembered because of how drunk you got. In fact you were so drunk that night you barely remembered wearing the dress at all. It was almost like you were wearing it for the first time. You shook your head as you thought about how young and foolish you had been back then.

                You put thoughts of your past life behind you as you began making your way over to the DJ to see if he had everything he needed. You weren't sure you could be much help if he was missing anything, but this is what you'd been doing all day. You felt a responsibility to make sure everything ran smoothly now.

                "Do you need any help?" you asked lightly as you came up to the small dance floor that had been set out in front of the speakers.

                You didn't notice the dance floor until you heard your heels click on it. You were looking down at the floor beneath your feet when the DJ answered.

                "I've got it covered."

                Your head popped up quickly as you recognized that voice. The DJ was going around the back side of the table now and you saw clearly that it was Hoya. He wasn't looking at you as he busied himself with his sound mixer, but still you suddenly felt self conscious. You found yourself wrapping your arms around your body, your forearms under your s, which you neglected to realize made them stand out more. You brushed your hair behind your ear uncomfortably and looked back towards the rest of the party that was only feet away, yet suddenly felt like it was in its own separate world.

                "So you're a DJ too?" you asked awkwardly.

                Hoya still didn't look at you. His eyebrows were stitched together as he focused on his sound system.

                "I'm whatever I need to be," he said shortly.

                You were beginning to wonder if you were annoying him in some way. There was a weird vibe you were getting now, as if something was wrong. He seemed to have a lot on his mind. You decided the best thing to do was to just step away from the situation altogether.

                You had just turned around when you heard his voice again.

                "You look nice."

                You turned back in surprise, but found he still wasn't looking at you. He was still focused on what he was doing like nothing had just happened. Did something just happen? Were you hearing things?

                "You haven't looked at me," you said boldly, your voice only wavered slightly.

                Hoya still refused to look up, but you saw now that there was a wry smile on his face. You stared blankly at that smile and waited for him to say something, anything.

                After a few seconds of silence the speakers suddenly came to life, making you jump in surprise. You instantly cursed yourself for being so jumpy and anxious around this guy all the time. Luckily Hoya most likely didn't hear your surprised mutterings as an old traditional folk song began to play.

                You quirked your head at the speaker in disbelief, listening to the lyrics for a moment.

"Just as there are many stars in the clear sky,

There are also many dreams in our heart."

                You hadn't been expecting him to play music like this. You had known him as the hip hop guy at first, but whether he actually liked the music he played now or not, he cl