A shrill cry echoes in the apartment and Youjung sits on her bed, staring at Dani and tissues surrounding both females. Youjung thanks the heaven that Donghyuk was currently stuck in the office if not, he would have kicked out the other girl at once. “What’s wrong?” she asks and Dani wipes her mascara away with the tissues.

She passes another box of tissues while figuring what to say when the owner questions the lack in tissues. Dani says something in between her sobbing and no matter how the other strains to hear, it was a mess to her. “I broke up with him and he just walked out on me!” Dani exclaims and Youjung just nods. “Did I do something wrong? Was it something I did?”

As the young girl continues to rambling about her supposedly mistakes, Youjung’s mind drifts to the still-ongoing cold war between a particular grey-haired, now blonde, male and her. She knew the frustration he was experiencing with her lack of emotions and it honestly, bothers her a bit. For someone who hasn’t known her for a long time, the lack of emotions can come off as impending. But it wasn’t the case for Donghyuk. 

He was bothered but not wanting to push her to go back to how they were. It seems like his patience towards her is never-ending. “Youjung ah! What have I done to offend anyone? All I want is a relationship where the guy stays true to me,” Dani rants, leaning against the older girl. “I want true love. Is that too much to ask?”

Youjung looks down and smiles softly before proceeding to wipe the tears and tracks away. “Correct me if I’m wrong,” she starts as the younger looks up to her curiously, “you’ve been with him for at least three years and the both of you have broken up more times than a girl changing her clothes.”

A nod was seen and she continues, “And no matter what, you guys always make up.”

A nod was seen once again and Youjung smiles once more as Dani sits up right, tilting her head a bit. “He’s such an ,” the younger comments with a pout, earning a chuckle from the other.

“Every girl has that one guy she goes back to,” Youjung start, fixing the younger’s hair, “heartbreak after heartbreak. Nobody knows why, not even the girl herself. She just can’t let go.”

“Unnie… Did you experience that before?” the younger asks with a child-like voice.

Youjung shows a force smile before replying with a soft ‘no’ and Dani nods understandingly, allowing silence to envelop both of them. She thinks back to her younger years in high school. All that mattered for her then was boys. Aware of her more than average looks and the glances received from males, she kept her eyes peeled for potential partners.

Though she was quiet, the males made an effort to break her out of her shell and with the constant surrounding of Jungkook and Changkyun, it was double the effort but someone managed to do so – perfectly covering up his true intentions. When they found out, it was too late and Seokjin had immediately withdrew her from school, opting for homeschooling with a female teacher.

A phone dings and Dani scrambles around the room, knowing it was hers since Youjung usually kept hers on silent. The older girl looks away to allow some kind of privacy in the small room but turns back when a tap was felt on her knee. Dani shows the screen to her and she reads the message displayed.

I’m sorry. Please forgive me? I wouldn’t do it ever again. I want you. I need you back, next to me.

“What should I say?” Dani asks in a pleading tone while messing her hair slightly.

Youjung’s gaze trails away from the other as she returns to fiddling with her fingers. “Unnie?” the younger calls out.

“It has to stop…” she starts, biting on her lower lip.

“Stop? Why? How?” the younger questions even though her mind was agreeing.

Youjung looks up and makes eye contact with the younger, a serious look taking over. “Going back to this guy, whoever he is, isn’t healthy for you. I don’t know how he feels but there is a possibility that it is also unhealthy for him,” she continues with a soft sigh. “This could be toxic and it definitely not be beneficial to either of you.”

Dani lowers her head, to break away from the gaze, eyes showing a distant look. “Like I said before, there isn’t an actual reason for you to return to him,” she slowly speaks. “Dwelling on it only ends up two results; continue this on-off thing or the relationship ends terribly, hurting both of you one way of another.”

After an hour of heart-to-heart talk, Dani grew tired from all the crying and toil landed on her for the day. Her eyes flutters shut and soon she was sleeping soundly. Youjung smiles at that fact before getting off the bed carefully. She pulls the blanket over the sleeping girl and charges her phone, staring at the contact name displaying a red heart. Turning on the do not disturb mode, she then leaves the room, not forgetting to flick off the lights.

Youjung bumps into the other occupant who had returned. “Is that Dani?” he asks with narrowed eyes, earning a hit to the chest by the female. “What was that for? I was just asking a question.”

She ignores him in favour for walking to the kitchen to heat up the leftovers that she had cooked for him. He follows her as he releases the tight knot around his neck, throwing it into the laundry bag. Waiting for his food, he takes a seat behind the kitchen counter, disregarding the dining table. When a bowl of rice and dishes were placed in front of him, he immediately digs in, thanking Youjung for the meal.

Having nothing to do, she sits opposite him, grabbing some magazine lying around to flip through them. She rolls her eyes at the rumours of Donghyuk and the girl at the club as she turns to the next page. Her gaze turns bored as she absentmindedly flips through, a small yawn appearing. “You can rest first if you’re tired,” Donghyuk says, chewing something.

She shakes her head, indicating that she was fine. “Plus, we got that pact,” she reminds and he smiles before continuing to dig in.

When she first moved in, they both agreed to some house rules that would help them understand one another better and in hopes of creating a somewhat home vibe in the apartment. One of them was to accompany the other for their meals especially if they were going to have it alone. Another was only being able to sleep when both of them are home. It was the small pointless terms that slowly crept into their lives, accustoming to them that soon becomes a habit.

Usually, they will be chatting away but it doesn’t happen. Youjung is drawn back into her shell, refusing to come out till she felt like it. Donghyuk remembers talking to Kihyun about her behaviour and all he got was ‘You have to be patient with her. After a while, she’ll be okay.’ He took this as a test to expand his patience but even then, it was wearing thin.

He looks up and sees the slick sliver-greyish technology instead of the female’s face. She rubs her eyes with one hand as she types something with the other. “Assignment?” he asks, grabbing more meat.

She shakes her head as a yawn interrupts her talking. “Just some preparation for that successful business test,” she replies, staring at the few dot points written. “But honestly, I’ve got nothing…”

“Didn’t you say that you were using my ‘rules’,” he replies with a curious tone and she bites on her lower lip. 

She notices the empty bowl and avoids the topic by picking it up, walking towards the rice cooker and puts more rice in it before returning it back to him. She stares at the word document and sighs in annoyance. She quits it, ignoring the notification that pops up, swiping to the next screen. Her SNS was open and she scrolls through the timeline with a bored look.

Donghyuk, noticing every action, stands up and takes a seat next to her. He takes the laptop away from her and enters something into the search bar, disregarding the glare sent his way. “Relax, princess,” he whispers when he puts the device in front of them and moves closer to her, an arm placed on her chair’s backrest.

An episode of the latest Running Man was playing, sound adjusted loud enough for the both them but not to disturb the sleeping Dani. Naturally, she leans back and she feels him curling his arm around her, tightening it slightly. He moves even closer, their knees now touching and stares at the screen, ignoring the warmth.

Instead of focusing on the episode, Donghyuk found himself glancing over to Youjung from time to time, watching her reactions. When she scrunches up her nose at something funny, a smile tugs on his lips. He enjoys watching every small emotion crossing her face. A squeals emits from her lips when a heartwarming scene appears. “I thought you didn’t like cliché things?” he asks.

“Doesn’t mean I cannot squeal over them,” she deadpans, embarrassment filling her cheeks.

Donghyuk mutters a ‘cute’ under his breath that doesn’t go unheard. Both their eyes strays from the screen at the same time and makes eye contact. “Donghyuk,” she whispers. “Don’t do this.”

“Why can’t I?” he whispers right back.

Youjung stays silent and his arms encircle her waist tightly as he brings her close to him, burying his face in the crook of her neck. “I don’t want this to end, Youjung,” he whispers with closed eyes.

Her arms hesitantly wrap around him, allowing herself to relax in his embrace. “It will end. But not now,” she replies with a soft and sad voice. “You’ve still got one last thing to teach me, baby boy.”

His grip tightens at the nickname as he takes deep breaths. “There’s a charity function     soon. I’ll teach you then, baby girl,” he whispers out the nickname, cherishing that very moment before she pushes him away and return back to her shell.

She moves backwards and nods before leaving his embrace to wash up the bowl and almost empty plates. He pauses the episode and softly closes the laptop. Plugging it into its charger, he gets up and leaves the kitchen, throwing one last glance at the female. He heads to his room to wash up and when he leaves the bathroom, a towel in his hands as he dries his hair, he notices a presence in the room.

“Dani… is in my room so…” Youjung trails off and Donghyuk nods before she continues, already knowing what she meant.

He puts on comfortable clothing and hands a black shirt, having notice the clothes she was still in. “You’re going to change or nah,” he says when she looks at him with a lost puppy look. “You know where the bathroom is. It’s all yours.”

Once he finishes drying his hair, he places the small towel on a chair neatly before checking his phone quickly. It was already twelve midnight and he knew that sleep was something he needed if he plans to go to the function. He lies in bed, scrolling through useless posts on his timeline as his eyes flutters again and again.

“You could’ve slept,” she draws his attention and he looks up.

“Waiting for you,” he simply says, locking his phone and putting it away. “You look good in my shirt.”

She keeps her head down and slips under the covers before uttering a quick ‘goodnight’. He grins and replies with the same greeting, turning off the lights. Their backs face one another, pushing away their desire to be curled up next to each other. If the thought of Youjung being able to go back to her room to grab her personal clothing and it wouldn’t have even disturbed Dani, it was shoved away immediately.