Early morning arrived in a haze of light drizzle and clouded sunlight. Jeongri lay silently in her bed with her blanket pulled over her head. She’d been awake for a few hours now, but without a purpose, without familiarity, she hadn’t moved from her spot. Kyungsoo was still asleep. She heard him when he shuffled into his bedroom, well into the early hours of the morning and wondered whether he always slept that late. She was never allowed to sleep that late back home. Faint memories of being scolded at by her father lingered in her mind.

   Her stomach grumbled, interrupting her thoughts. Jeongri hadn’t eaten since Kyungsoo made her dinner last night, but she didn’t want to wake him up for something so trivial. Finally giving in to the hunger, she sat up and stretched out. Pulling over one of the oversized jumpers that he’d left for her, Jeongri quietly left her room, careful not to make any sound as she made her way downstairs.

   As she walked into the living room, she remarked at how large the house was for just one person. Without the presence of people, it felt so empty. Jeongri walked around the living room, eyeing everything in curiosity. She stood behind the sofa and eyed the half-empty bottle of scotch again. It felt like nobody lived here, at least not often. As she walked by the television, she ran one finger across the top of it and pulled a face at the amount of dust that she’d collected. It looked like it hadn’t been operated in a while.

   Thoughts of Kyungsoo kept swimming in her mind. She’d never been alone in another man’s house. There were times in the past when she’d visit her friends, but that was different, they were kids. For a second, she frowned as images of Baekhyun swam into her mind again. She remembered going to his house often, hanging out every weekend playing stupid games. Shaking her head, she picked up a lone photo frame on the fireplace. It was one of Kyungsoo and an older man, perhaps his grandfather. They looked close, and Kyungsoo looked beyond happy. The atmosphere in the picture was so far from the tone in this house. Jeongri looked away solemnly. There was no sign of another person living here. Softly, she placed the photo frame back on the mantelpiece and headed to the kitchen.  

   The kitchen was just as empty too apart from a few essentials. Jeongri had been so caught up in her own nervousness that she didn’t realise how hollow it all felt. Everything was clean and tidy, almost like a showroom. She shook her head. Even though she had grown up sheltered, she knew that no one should live like this. So devoid of life, devoid of colour.

   At least he was living, came a small voice in the back of her mind. Kyungsoo might not have seemed like the most exciting person in the world, but he was living independently. Something she couldn’t say she’d done. What was she going to do now? With no money, no experience, no skills it seemed Jeongri was at a dead end. Her stomach rumbled again, interrupting her thoughts. For now, she’d have to eat and think about what she was going to do next later.

   About an hour later, she heard the dull footsteps of Kyungsoo walking around upstairs. Jeongri wiped her hands across the handtowels hanging from the kitchen sink and stood back, eyeing the modest ham sandwiches she’d crudely cut in half. She wasn’t very good at cooking, but it was hard to screw up a sandwich. Right?

   All of a sudden the sound of scuttling startled her as she felt something running around her feet. Looking down, she found herself staring right into the big eyes of a beagle puppy. It barked at her and ran around her feet again, rubbing itself along her calves.

   “Hello there!” Jeongri said with a laugh, a little surprised.

   She bent down to pet its head but it ran away from her, only to reappear a few seconds later with its food bowl held in its mouth. It dropped it in front of her and moved about excitedly, its tail wagging furiously from side to side.

   Jeongri looked around, “Oh, I don’t know where your food is, let me have a look, okay?”

   “It’s in this cupboard here,” came Kyungsoo’s tired voice from behind her.

   She turned to see him standing in the doorway, dressed all in black just like yesterday and visibly tired. Yawning, he walked over to the cupboard near the fridge and pulled out a large newly opened dog food bag. He filled up the bowl before walking over to Jeongri.

   “Good morning,” he said to her, stretching out, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were up. I would have prepared breakfast for you otherwise.”

   “Oh don’t worry about it,” she waved her hands, a little embarrassed at being such a burden, “I actually made us some breakfast...”

   Her voice trailed away as she looked at the sandwiches she’d made. They weren’t even cut symmetrically. Her cheeks began to warm out of embarrassment, this was such a bad idea. Before she could reach for the plate, Kyungsoo sat down and