Notice: this is a double update, go to chapter fourteen!

The events of last night after Raon fell asleep behind those boxes are what she can't recall. She can't remember everything from last night and it is driving her mad. She knows that at one point, she did wake up, half conscious. There was one clear face she saw in front of her: Byun Baekhyun. The contents of the conversations in her head between them are muffled. She definitely didn't walk back to the car... so that means...

"No way," Raon slaps her palms on her cheeks, "h-h-he don't tell me he carried me!"

She lifts the covers of her head to wallow in her own self-embarrassment. She wants to think that hey, maybe Baekhyun ordered Taehyung or Joohyuk to carry her instead, but no, the image of Baekhyun's annoyingly stunning face is still flashing in her mind clearer than daylight. And not only that, the way he looked at her! Raon rolls around in bed, her ovaries are about to explode soon. She is pretty sure he had a lazy smile on the whole time he was responding to whatever she was asking him. It was really a smile that showed how at peace he seemed to be.

Raon sits up straight as she pushes her hair back. "What else was there? Come on, come on." She squeezes her eyes shut before opening them straight after. "Wait, is that even important? No, it shouldn't matter to me, it's not as if I like No! Never!"

She decides to satisfy her grumbling stomach first, because she feels like food will be able to help her take her mind off trivial things. Exiting her room, the first person she happens to see is none other than Baekhyun. The boy is seated at the dining table, too focused on slurping on his instant cup noodles to take note of her presence. It is nine in the morning which is normally an unusual time to find him awake.

Raon stays fixed to her spot, silently admiring him. His hair is messy, with his bangs covering his eyes, yet he still manages to look so attractive. He is dressed in a grey sweater that is a little oversized for him from how he has to roll up the sleeves. She watches as the the spiciness of the noodles causes his face to turn red and he pulls away from the noodles to fan himself, which is when he turns his head and they make eyes contact.

At Baekhyun's stare on her, the small smile she had been having on a few seconds ago, disappears. She widens her eyes, she must have looked like a creep. Raon's cheeks start to heat up and it is super obvious at how red it is. On the other hand, Baekhyun's face is now a shade redder than before? The both of them clear their throats at the same time, looking away.

"Good morning," Raon greets him with a straight face as she takes the seat opposite him.

Baekhyun blinks and nods in return. "O-oh, good morning." He slides an already prepared cup of noodles next to him across the table. "Here, I added the water five minutes ago so it should be good to eat."

"Thanks," Raon picks up the pair of wooden chopsticks. "Does your face hurt?"

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, a confused expression on is face until she points at her own face to remind him of his bruises. "You mean these?" The tip of his fingers graze over the band-aids covering them. "It doesn't hurt at all. I almost forgot I had them."

"That's good then, remember to put ointment on them. I can help you later "

"I'll do it myself," Baekhyun interrupts and Raon lets out a tiny 'okay' which she isn't sure if he heard or not.

They continue eating for the next two minutes in absolute silence.

"Sorry for falling asleep last night, I know I wasn't supposed to but I couldn't help it," she bows a little, "You must have been tired yourself, but you had to carry me all the way to the car. I wasn't that useful last night either, we almost got in trouble because of me."

"If you realise your mistakes, then buy us dinner tonight," Baekhyun stirs the soup of his noodles with his chopsticks. "Yes, you did act rashly which was something you promised me you wouldn't do, but I can kind of understand why you acted the way you did. I would have wanted to beat the out of the person who conned me too the minute I saw him. It's fine, we succeeded in the end anyway. The three of us agreed to let you off for this one if you treat us to barbeque," A smirk trails on his lips. "And money shouldn't be an issue now, right?"

Raon's eyes light up as he nods frantically at him. "Mhm, I'll definitely buy dinner tonight. You guys deserve it."

Now that she has gotten back her money, she wonders if it is time for her to start making plans about leaving Baekhyun's place. He's going to bring it up at one point since she can't continue staying here and although Raon does feel hesitant to leave because she is worried that Baekhyun will go back to his old ways of instant food every day Mongryong might miss her too much. Two months ago, Baekhyun was the eager one to have her leave and she wonders if he still feels the same about it now.

"Hey, Byun Baekhyun..." She starts softly. "Remember when I first came here, we were eating instant noodles like this too."

"How can I forget that? It was after you woke up on my couch and thought I was a ert," he gives her a judging stare. "And you threatened to report me to the police if I didn't let you stay here."

"I was just joking back then! I guess the situation was a little tense then. Your fault for taking it too seriously," she waves her hands in front of her defensively. "You know, I promised you that I would move out once I got my money back and never disturb you again "

"So what? You're going to move out?" Baekhyun stops eating his noodles to stare at her. "It's only been two months, and you said you'd stay for three. Plus, it's not like you can find a penthouse right now and move in instantly."

"I know, but still, I feel like I'm burdening you too much "

"You're not a burden," he replies instantly, eyes gazing at her. "I'll help you find a nice penthouse, so stay for one more month. Please?"

Please? The way he is looking at her, the glint of hope that flashes in his eyes just as she is about to say something. Maybe she can put her plans on hold for one more month, it is not like staying here is restricting her from anything. Baekhyun has a knack for getting things done fast so after this month is up, she trusts that he will be able to find her a penthouse.

There are other reasons for her wanting to stay for longer too. She doesn't want Baekhyun to feel alone. The thought of him having his meals outside by himself, is now something that dampens her mood. Two months ago, she would not have cared. She wonders if she has made any significant changes in his life, in the his behaviour, which she thinks is unlikely. Since meeting her, she wonders if he has smiled more often, if he has should she even be uselessly thinking about these things?

"One more month," she thinks again for a full minute before she sighs. "Okay, but you really have to find me a new penthouse."

Baekhyun finishes the remaining bits of his noodles before raising the cup to his lips and drinking the soup. He sets the cup down, letting out a refreshed exhale of air. There is a triumphant smile on his face, as if he is proud of his efforts to make her stay. Raon wishes for him to stop acting this way because she can almost feel a swarm of butterflies about to erupt in her stomach the more he smiles at her. She doesn't want to know what will happen the moment they explode.

"That's great," he declares, walking over the trash can to toss the styrofoam noodle cup. "Don't worry, leave your penthouse searching to me. There's a zero percent chance that you'll get scammed."

"Yah! Byun Baekhyun!" She yells at him as he saunters back to his room, lazily raising a hand at her.

In the middle of the afternoon, Baekhyun is carelessly tossing a bag of several tupperwares, some with rotten side dishes and some empty, in the backseat of his car. Being a week in to January, he figured that cleaning was necessary. These side dishes had been sitting in the upper shelf of his fridge for close to eight months. His only solution now is to get rid of them before Joohyuk, Taehyung and Raon mistake it for edible food (after his warnings) and sue him for food poisioning after that.

He realises that proper etiquette would want him to wash the tupperwares first, but he feels really unmotivated to do it now. The fact that he is even thinking about making a trip there in the first place ruins his mood. Baekhyun gets in the car still parked in his underground parking lot, relaxes in the comfortable drivers seat and contemplates about it for five minutes. I guess it's now or never. They raised a troublemaker you, after all. Inserting the key in the ignition and stepping on the gas, he is off in the blink of an eye.

Finally, he will be making a visit to his parents.

A drive from Seoul to Bucheon takes twenty five minutes. It isn't far at all, but Baekhyun never has the time or the will to travel there. Number one: as a con artist, he is extra busy with schemes which require his small team of three to research about their clients, sometimes going for two all nighters in a row so they are well informed on how to deal with the matter. Number two: personal reasons regarding the past that still haunt him today.

The trip feels shorter than twenty minutes. Before Baekhyun notices, he is on the street of his old neighbourhood. He passes the familiar houses that he used to always pass by on his way to school in elementary and middle school. These streets bring back a myriad of good memories; practising Hapkido m