"How did it go? The funeral should have ended already. It's raining." A middle-aged woman spoke to the phone as her free hand wrapped her other arm, leaning her back and her head against the wall, looking out from the closed window next to her.

"Everything went well, ma’am. I've placed a surveillance bug under the sofa in the living room, one on top of a cabinet in the kitchen, and one under the bed in each bedroom." A man answered from the other line, not long before Seungyoon showed up at the door, looking sorrowful in an all-black suit.

"Good evening, mother." Seungyoon said, almost whispering as he quietly passed by his mother, removing his jacket at the same time. She quickly ended the call after saying an approval and a brief goodbye to whoever she was talking to and waved at Seungyoon.

"You look down today, Yoon. Did something happen?" His mother asked while walking towards the table to get him a cup of water.

"Ah, yes. There's this friend I met at that orphanage you referred to me a few months ago. Her father passed away and they held the funeral today. I just came home from attending it." Seungyoon explained before he received the cup from his mother and was guzzling on it.

"Oh my... Send my condolences to her. That's a huge loss." She commented and placed a hand on Seungyoon's shoulder. He nodded briefly, puckering up a smile at her. Shortly after, she ended their conversation as she told Seungyoon to take a shower and to meet his father, who had been waiting for him to discuss some issues with the company.

"And remember to take your medicines for the day as well." She quickly added. Waiting until Seungyoon left, she walked towards her room. Putting on her earpods, she opened her phone and listened to the surveillance bugs.

A piercing scream woke Taehyung up in the middle of the night.

It could be none other than Minah's.

He shot up from his bed and ran towards her room.

"Minah-ssi, what happened?" He called in front of her room but all he heard back was a series of something that sounded like either gasps or whimpers. He wrapped the doorknob and noticed that it was unlocked.

"I'm going in." He metally counted to three before twisting it open. He peeked in carefully and when he caught sight of her, he dashed in and hopped on her bed, crawling near her.

Minah was breathing heavily. She was curled up at the very corner where the headboard and the wall met. He couldn't see her face as she was burying her head on her knees, which were tucked up close to her upper body. It was like a shield to protect herself from some sort of violence.

Taehyung hesitated for a moment before he rested his palm on her shoulder, squeezing it briefly.

"Nightmare?" He asked gently, "Don't be scared. You are okay. You're fine now."

Minah answered by breaking out into sobbing. She raised her head to get some air after she couldn’t breathe from the narrow space that she trapped herself in. Her eyes were open but filled with tears and they seemed to be directing at Taehyung, though he couldn't tell exactly.

"He was in so much pain," Minah jabbered, but cut herself off as she caught her breath with small gasps, "so much pain that he kept even though he always tried to hide his pain before."

Taehyung took a hold of her hand to sooth it from trembling as he listened on.

"I thought it would be best if he died sooner. I didn't want him to endure those pains anymore. But now that he has gone, I miss him!" Minah squealed out the last few words, the sound echoing inside the house.

"Of course you do," Taehyung said, his hand holding hers tighter, "That's natural. The past few days you were too peaceful. I knew something was off."

"What should I do?" Minah blinked away, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Seek comfort," Taehyung answered almost immediately, like he had always wanted to tell her from the day she acted all composed after that night at the hospital, after crying her eyes out, "go talk with your friends what you have bottled up inside of your head. Also, sleepover at your friends' place, until your nightmares go away."

Minah didn't answer, but she slowly stabilized her breathings.

"If you keep trying to act tough, you'll only end up having a hard time recovering from your loss." Taehyung continued. "Now, go back to sleep. I'll be beside you, okay?"

Minah nodded as she closed her eyes. Taehyung tugged the comforter up for her as she lied back down. He adjusted himself to lean on the headboard, remaining sitting and grabbing Minah's hand until he let his drowsiness take over.

It wasn't until he woke up in the morning that he felt conscious about sleeping "with" a girl on her bed.

Minah had long left the bed judging from the lack of warmth beside Taehyung. The sound of her grabbing her handbag told him that she was leaving the house soon. He decided to wait until she went out before going back to his room, getting ready for a class he had to attend that morning. He checked his phone to see that Minah had sent him a text message an hour ago, which said,

Taehyung-ssi, I'll be staying over with my friends at night today. Sorry and thank you for last night.

He smiled at the text and got out to eat breakfast that was already prepared in the kitchen.

"Hey! Were you cooking?", was Minah's first sentence when she opened the door to their house and caught sight of Taehyung pouring hot food from a pan to a container.

"Yep. It was a disaster though." Taehyung sighed as he looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, "Good evening."

For the last two weeks, it had become a routine that Minah got home after work (or school) in the evening just to take a shower and leave for her friends' place shortly after. She didn't cook since Taehyung insisted that he would be fine by himself ordering deliveries or eating ramen. She didn't do house chores either, as he insisted that he would take care of the house for the time being.

Minah looked around the house and spotted pieces of clothes hanging on the couch, on a chair in the kitchen, and several random things laying around. Everything was kept in their place, however. And the wood floor felt clean under the feet, too. Taehyung did try to make the place tidy, just not as much as she was able to.

"The house is a bit messy, sorry. I'll clean up real quick." Taehyung noticed her observation and scurried out of his way to gather his belongings that were all over the place.

"Don't worry. I think you did a great job keeping the house in shape. Thank you for that." Minah encouraged as she approached the kitchen table. She got a spoon and took a closer look at the food container. She furrowed her eyebrows at the unfamiliar colors of the familiar dish that she knew well and picked up a piece to try. Her taste buds got bombarded with intense sourness and she almost made a sound out of it, but her obvious reaction to the food was shown to Taehyung's clear vision.

"I told you it was a disaster." Taehyung said, pouting when she giggled in response.

"No, it's not bad for the first time. My first dish was way worse." Minah said, clearly implying she knew it was his first time to cook something. "Why the sudden interest in cooking, by the way?"

"I thought the ingredients would be a waste if we left them in the fridge for any longer." Taehyung muttered as he went to his room to put his stuff back to their place, missing Minah's grateful look. The ingredients were never touched on after Minah started going to her friends’ place.

"Oh, right. I've felt a lot better after talking with my friends. And the nightmares have stopped for a few days. I'll be staying home now." Minah announced when Taehyung got back out of his room.

"Oh really?" Taehyung's face lightened up, "You feel better now?"

"Yes." Minah unconsciously copied his expression.

"Or is it because you wanna save the rest of the ingredients?" He half-joked, squinting his eyes at her, making her laugh heartily. She went to check the fridge and there were still a lot of ingredients left.

"Thank god. I wouldn't know what to do with them while you are gone." He continued, walking back to the kitchen. "I'm starving. Do you think you have time to cook now? I'll help with prepping."

"Well, if you don't mind. Let's cook a little first and once we're done, I'll use up all the remaining ingredients. They are not staying fresh any longer." Minah commented while scanning the fridge. As she was about to close it, Taehyung brought the food container half-way inside. She hurriedly stopped him by wrapping on his wrist. "No, we should let it cool down before bringing it in the fridge, because- your hand is burnt?"

Taehyung nodded casually, gazing at the slightly burnt back of his hand, "it's nothing."

Minah rushed to the drawer that was in the living room.

"We put the medical kit here if anything happens, just so you know. The burn doesn't look too bad, but it's best if you treat it so the swelling and stinging go away faster."

"Appreciate it, thank you." Taehyung got a bottle of sterile, a bandage and clean cloth from Minah's hands.

"I'll manage without your help. Go and treat it." Minah instructed Taehyung and after a moment of hesitation, he obeyed.

The doorbell rang at that moment and Taehyung went out to bring his parents in when they heard their voices from the pad.

It was the first time they came over to the Bangs after Minah's father passed away. They asked how Minah was doing while sending their condolences over her loss. Their conversation slowly faded as Minah was left focusing on cooking, and Taehyung's parents started asking him a variety of questions regarding his new living conditions, his studies, his school activities, his health, and his relationships. Basically, every topic that they could ask their son in front of an outsider that was Minah. A bit personal, but not too private.

But Taehyung would occasionally glance at Minah, roll his eyes at his parents' pestering, or simply answer their questions with curt answers.

Of course, being observant as a parent would, Mrs. Kim noticed his burnt hand. She got all frantic and yanked his hand to give it treatment. She asked what caused the 'huge' burn on the back of his hand. But when Minah turned and was about to make any comment, Taehyung shut her down by saying he accidentally made contact with a tool at school.

It was eventually time when Taehyung's parents finished the dinner that Minah had set up (on which Mrs. Kim complimented that she was content her son got to keep eating healthily delicious meals thanks to her), left them a large container of freshly made Kimchi, and bid them goodbye.

It was finally time that Taehyung let out a long heave of sigh.

And that made Minah chuckle.

"Wanna drink soju? Looks like you are in the mood to drink some." Minah initiated, pointing at green bottles at the back of the refrigerator. Taehyung closed his eyes as he nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line as he smiled forcefully.

She brought out the container of Taehyung's sour dish as well.

"I think this will be a great side dish for the soju."

And she was right. The sour taste of the food made the soju a lot sweeter. They complimented each other so well that Taehyung momentarily cheered up.

"I understand that feeling." Minah commented. "My dad is exactly like your parents. Always asking and worrying over everything."

"Except that I have two of them." Taehyung added but panicked when he realized the insensitivity that came with it. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not hurt." Minah waved a hand dismissively. "I could barely feel sad since I don’t really have any memories with my mom. Just having dad was more than enough."

"Still, I sounded so snobby." Taehyung faltered, not daring to look Minah in the eyes.

"Well. I understand where you are coming from." Minah steered back to her original topic, "You must feel frustrated when they watch every one of your steps like you are still a child."

"Exactly." He perked up, taking in a gulp of the last bits of soju in his shot glass.

"They also have high expectations of you." Minah continued.

"Can't be any truer."

"Yeah." Minah chuckled, "But look at me. I'm craving that affection now that my dad is away."

Oh.

"I have been observing, sorry that I sound like a creep," Minah cleared , "and figured out why you said yes to this fake marriage. A new apartment sounds nice and all, but just so you know, you'll probably miss their naggings when you are finally alone. Especially as we are their only child, all attention is given to us and that's natural."

Taehyung hummed, after some thoughts, he nodded. "That makes sense." He was not too fond of the thought that his parents were against him moving out, and they only resorted to offer him an apartment when they needed to help a friend get his daughter married. But listening to Minah unlocked some positive thoughts in Taehyung that were buried somewhere, only waiting to be knocked into sense when someone voiced them aloud.

Minah poured soju on her glass. It was her second shot, but the bottle was already running out of liquid.

"But you know, I actually think we are different." Taehyung pointed out, "They let me do nothing at home. And now, look at me. I'm a lazy spoiled who can only cook ramen or a side dish for soju!"

Minah cracked up at his gritty remark.

"You study hard and are great at it. You are a university board member. Isn't that what matters to someone who's only twenty?"

"Apparently not to others." Taehyung huffed, his cheeks getting redder and his face more expressive the more he consumed soju. They already got to the second bottle. "I feel little whenever I hang out with friends, or my exes and I feel clumsy whenever there is a problem outside of school or activities. I must have missed out a lot while I was studying and doing those mundane club activities! Then I'm scared if I'll really be able to live alone once our deal is over even though I want to live alone!"

Minah chuckled at his rambling.

"You are giving yourself too little credit." Minah said, "You are good-natured, and you are witty! I guess that's why so many people are around you."

He gave her his signature square grin. "Thank you."

"Oh, I have an idea." Minah continued, "You can help me with house chores first, as first steps to becoming independent."

"Okay." Taehyung replied immediately, his face lightened up further, "I can do that."

"Great! I'll take less money from you each month in return."

Taehyung nodded again. He started singing after a while, surprising Minah. His pronunciation was muffled, his rhythm sluggish, but his tone was warm and deep, and his notes were clear as day.

"Wow. You said you couldn't sing!" Minah said, grabbing her phone and started recording, "You are good at singing!"

He posed for the camera, his intoxicated eyes drooping but his smile was still plastered on his face.

"Minah-ssi, let's drop the honorifics. You can call me Tae and I'll call you noona."

She smiled back at him, shutting her phone off. "Okay, Tae."

"Noona!"

And that was his last word before he dropped to the table. She gasped when his head made a thud on the table, but slowly broke out smiling.

"I thought your tolerance was better than mine."

A/N: Oh wells, It was at least cute to me >.<

I started naming chapters so that it would be easier for folks reading the story offline (if any ~)