Days turn into months and Haru is left with only two weeks before college ends. The only thing in her mind is to secure a job right after finishing college. She met Lay a few times after the incident, and they said nothing but exchange awkward greetings. It still hurts, she thought.

Having one sided love really , even when you have friends and performing well in studies but when you think about it, suddenly you feel alone.

Every fairy tale follows a certain pattern.

Once upon a time, is when the story would take place; in a land of fantasy b with rainbows and sunshine, and all the riches of the world. A beautiful, shimmering world with no apparent blight.

The heroine is always a person of good character, embodying values such as kindness and innocence. She is polite and hard-working. She seem to deserve all the love the world could give, yet are facing some sort of hardship or adversity that makes her pitiable. Despite that, she always persevere and choose to believe in hope, leading her to prevail and triumph over all evil.

And then, she’ll meet the prince with land, wealth and power. A hopeless romantic, who promised her nothing but ethereal love and happiness.

And when they meet, they both fell in love and live happily ever after.

What a joke. Not all stories have happy endings. There is absolutely nothing good about love. Nothing but pain and misery.

Sehun and Minzy are very helpful in diverting her mind from the horrendous memory. Minzy invites her to sleep over every once in a week and Sehun does his part in his own way. She regretted giving up the part time job in the convenience store. She thought it might help her to clear her mind a bit.

“Hey, are you listening?” Sehun asked, looking at her. He was holding the brochure in his hand, the corners of his eyes creasing. She was walking to the college cafeteria with Sehun, and he seems to be excited about something, but Haru couldn’t wrap her mind about it.

“No,” she shakes her head apologetically, “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was talking about this aquarium in Lotte World,’he said, handing her the brochure. “Do you want to go this Sunday?”

Haru wanted to refuse the offer, but the thought of her spending the weekends alone, wasn’t an attractive option either.

She looked at the brochure, trying but failing to read the contents. “Okay, I’m in,” she said reluctantly.

“Great,”he said, “We can try the rollercoasters too, I’ve never been in one,”

The mention of rollercoasters brought her back to the conversation, “No!” she jolted, “Not rollercoasters, they scare me to death,”she pleaded, but from her miserable, resigned expression, he knew that she could already tell that he would not yield.

“You’re scared of heights?” he drawled, “We should really give it a try then,” he smirked.

Her immediate, visceral reaction was to let drop open as she stared at him in unmitigated horror. His grin widened as he watched her. When she finally spoke, her voice was low, and incredulous. “Don’t you dare, Oh Sehun,” she blinked, stifling a wry laugh.

“You’ve been so out of it since this morning,” he laughed, “In a bad mood?”he asked.

Haru fell silent, sobering up a bit, “No, I’m not. But thank you,” she said, not looking at him, “And sorry, I get moody a lot these days. I must be the most boring person you know,”

“On the contrary, I find you rather exciting. You cry on one second, and laugh the next. Strange, but exciting.”

//

Weekdays came to an end quickly that she thought it would. Haru the telly and the first thing she saw was the Friday political news. Thousands of people rally around the area of Gwanghwamun to show support for the impeachment of the President.

There were a lot of teenagers protesting alongside the road, carrying banners and flags. She sighed long before turning the telly off.

She turned to face the large window and stared at the night sky for long. - Life comes in flashbacks, moments of her life pieced together formed a never ending montage. Reckless feelings, random memories, horrible losses, mistakes and even bigger mistakes, friends who have become more than family, people she never thought could get along became closer.

Life.

You’ll meet some unexpected people. Some stays, some doesn’t.

She in the cold air, and closed her eyes. A noise from the ground diverted her attention. She heaved in annoyance when she looked down from her window and saw the landlord’s strange son staring up at her. She nodded quietly at him and turned to close the window.

**

She'd barely slept that night. She couldn’t remember the last time she got 8 hours of sleep. She woke up with a splitting headache when someone knocked on the door loudly. She looked at the clock and it shows 10a.m..

She walked away from her bed, grunting, and opened her door slightly to see who it was. She gasped when a dark looming figure behind it, smiling creepily at her.

 “Hi, Haru, right?” The landlord’s son asked. “I’m Jung Hun Chul,” he introduced himself. “Did I disturb you?”

He stared at her weirdly, eyes narrowed and then it flickered down to her body, taking in the camisole and the boy shorts she slept in. She gasped and hides herself behind the door, only her head out to see him. “Is there anything?” she asked politely, her voice still hoarse from sleep.

“No. I just wanted to have a talk,” He smiled, “We don’t really know each other.”

“What?” she asked, dumbly, blinking.

“I said we should get to know each other,”

She was lost for a moment before picking herself up, “I’m sorry but I’m quite busy at the moment,” She smiled forcefully back, “Bye.”

He’s strange, she thought. He had short black hair, thick straight eyebrows, and he is probably a few years older than her. Then she remembered the previous flatmates warning her not to talk with him in private. She was told that he likes to take advantage of girls who lives in the flat and he had previous record of abusing his ex girlfriend.  

She shifted on the bed, pulling the sheets around her a bit, fiddling. She then hear a series of knocks again. What is it this time?

She opened her door a little, with the door chain still locked, and he was standing behind it. He stalked towards the door, and she straightened her back. “Yes?”

“I was thinking,” he muttered, “Maybe we should get some lunch together?” he suggested.

Her face heated, though she wasn't sure if that was more due to anger or more due to his strange stares and weird behavior. She was leaning towards the latter. “No. I said I’m busy at the moment.”

“That’s a pity,” he said, his voice cold. “I wanted us to be friends.” He stopped in front of her, his eyes pointed at her, and she stared at him back. He glanced at her shoulder, and she felt frightened and her face went bright red.

“Is there anything else?” she asked him, tightly.

“No.” The terseness of his reply made her wince. “But I hope we meet again. Goodbye for now.” He cut in, eyes hard.

She shut the door, and her breath comes in short pants. She was terrified, her body trembled, and her heart was racing fast. She wasn’t going to lie, he scared the utter crap out of her.

**

She was starving but she was too afraid to step outside her house. She glanced through her window, and saw him sitting on the bench outside the flat, smoking a cigarette. She scoffed looking at him behind her curtain. She walked towards the kitchen and bend slightly to open her refrigerator. She sighed long and hard when her fridge was almost empty with nothing but a bottle of blueberry jam, some canned tuna for her kittens and a few mineral bottles. She glanced at her kitchen counter and saw a few slices of bread remaining.

She sat down and spread the jam across the bread and ate them hungrily. She stopped after two slices, saving them for the next day, in case if she’s stuck in her house again. She gulped down a few glasses of water to keep her full. She wanted to call for food delivery services, but apparently most of the fast food restaurant were closed on that day due to the protest.

//

Sehun was fighting an internal struggle. His heart twitched and ached every time he remembered how broken Haru looked that day. His good side wanted to yell at Lay for breaking her heart, but there is a part of him that felt relieved, happy even. It was pathetic.

He had an internal turmoil before, when he realized he’s getting serious about her. He kept saying to himself that she is nothing, that she was always nothing, nothing more than just a distraction. 

Love had been an idea, or a concept. Now it was real—a feeling he would carry inside himself for the rest of his life.

Blood was rushing to his face and he’d looked like he’d been slapped, but he knew the real reason his face was burning.   

He remembered the time he slept with her, holding her hand. At that moment, in the middle of the night having been so happy, he felt as if he's going to be left all alone. And he thought “She’s going to disappear.” All of a sudden, he got that feeling.

He woke up several times that night, thinking that all of it was just a dream, but to see her sleeping peacefully beside him, it filled him with an unspeakable amount of relief.

They were supposed to go out together to see the Aquarium, but due to the political rally, Lotte World was closed temporarily. So instead, he just wants to go and simply see her.

He looked at himself in the mirror, checking his reflection. He combed his jet black hair to perfection, and finally dressed himself in a black flannel shirt and in a pair of black jeans after trying on 2 different shirts. He seems to give more attention about his appearance recently, wanting to look good in front of her.

He reached for his expensive cologne and sprayed it on himself before grabbing his car keys.

//

He parked his car outside the flat and took the stairs to her unit. He knocked several times, but there were no response and she didn’t open the door. He took his phone out and called her. She answered it almost immediately.

“I’m outside your house,” he said, “You are not in?”

Haru ran towards the door, looking visibly shaken. She quickly opened her door and let out a breath of solace, her face turning bright when she saw Sehun, looking at her quizzically.

“Thank God, it’s you.” she whispered softly, and it sounded almost like a prayer.

//

“So there is a crazy stalker out there disturbing you since Friday night, and you said nothing to me?” Sehun asked, in disbelief, when Haru told him what happened the day before. “Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” His black eyes, were cold repressed with fury.

“I don’t want to trouble you,” she said, looking away from him. After enduring his glare for upwards of a minute, she spoke. “And he’s my landlord’s son. I can’t complain.”

The trembling in her voice mortified him, but it seemed to calm him a bit. He was still angry, she could see that, but he pulled back, forcing his face to be calm. It was eerie, watching him collect himself so that he looked nonchalant and unaffected while his eyes looked so damning and  visibly angry. He marched to her kitchen to drink some water. He froze mid-motion, his hand clasped around the glass.

He looked at the counter and saw the jam bottle and the bread, “What did you eat yesterday?” he asked.

She shut her lips tight, nodding to confirm his obvious guess.

“Just bread?” he asked perturbingly. With a sigh, he said. “I’ll buy you something to eat.”

He paused at the doorway of the kitchen, shooting her a supercilious look over his shoulder, “Don’t open the door unless you hear me calling your name.”

 Haru could only stare at him as he disappeared. Her face suffused with a tiny hint of smile, realizing she does have someone to depend onto after all.

//

“You got it? At all times,” Sehun commanded to his personal driver, asking him to guard on Haru's flat, before ending the call. He collapsed on his sofa, his hands running through his messy hair. He then stood up, walking back and forth in his room, relentlessly, biting on his finger nail.

“Something bothering you?” the secretary asked, when Sehun didn’t even realize that Mr Han walked into his room.

“I want you to do something,” Sehun’s voice lowered when he sees him. “I need you to find a house, with full on security, with guards, and CCTVs,” he stuttered, “With no chances of burglary or crazy stalkers.”

Mr Han stood in silence for a few seconds before replying with a smile, “I think you have the answer, right here in this room.”

“What?” Sehun asked him back, annoyed. The secretary pointed out the small wrapped gift box on top of the piano; the gift his father had chosen for him.

“That’s a key to a house in the central of Seoul. Completely furnished, with tight security and everything else you asked for,”

“Great,” he exclaimed, relaxing infinitesimally, walking towards the piano and grabbing the small gift, “ Now I want you to give this to a person, but she cannot know that this is from me,” he said, “Try to come up with something, I don’t want her to get suspicious.”

“Is this the same girl you offered scholarship to?” Mr Han asked subtlety. “You look like you fancy her.”

At his words, Sehun inclined his head, his mouth opening slightly to say something, “Father need not know.”

“Your father won’t know.” The secretary assured him back. Blinking up at him, Sehun detected a hint of sincerity in his voice that he couldn't remember ever having heard before. “You’re turning to be a better man. A good man.” Mr Han observed.

“I’m not good, I don’t always have the good in me.” he spoke, “She don’t know anything about me.” Sehun said softly, “It feels good to be with someone who’s not involved with any of this. Who speaks genuinely, without lacing anything with lies.”

“But do you think she’ll be happy if she knows you’re doing all of this?” Mr Han asked, his lips curling to form a tiny smile.

“She won’t,” Sehun admitted, as he walked towards the secretary and handed him the small box, “But, I don’t expect anything in return. I just want to see her happy and I want to protect her. And I’m doing this the only way I know how. She won’t like it, but this is the least I can do.”