"Home sweet home." I thought to myself wistfully as I opened the door leading to my apartment. The mental image of my bed, and music blasting through my speakers as I sleep was enough to give me strength to push open the door and walk further more despite the protest of my body. Having strained all my muscles for working out six hours straight with Ssabu - nim can do that to you. Make you feel like a walking corpse I mean. But I can't really complain especially when I was the one who brought this on to myself.

Right after the Incident happened, I stayed with Teddy and Tablo to start working on the songs I was producing for myself. Most of them are just compositions I came up with at the spur of the moment without any proper arrangements yet with rough drafts for lyrics. It was a good excuse to bury myself in my work and forget about everything that happened, especially the constricting feeling I got when Norah agreed to go out with Sehun and that damn affectionate smile of hers. It was a good plan in the beginning but I didn't take into account the fact that Teddy and Tablo would start acting like girls around me while doing so. I couldn't stand those two pestering me to admit what I REALLY feel, dropping not so subtle hints on what they think I should do instead of what I was doing at the moment. What the hell. It's like those two started channelling my mother who consistently reminds me nearly everyday that she's not getting any younger and that I better start having children soon. So as expected I wasn't able to sulk as I work because two annoying girls were there disturbing me peace. I tried to ignore them but by lunch time I couldn’t take it anymore. A guy can only take so much nagging from overgrown men for so long. I needed to get out of there, and be on my own but considering it’s the middle of the day already, I’m positive the entire building is already busy with people milling around and I wouldn’t be able to find something else to occupy myself. I had no choice but to head over to the gym to work out because I wasn't all that ready to go home yet. Working out six hours straight did what I wasn't able to do in Teddy's booth which was to distract myself from remembering what happened this morning. From simple warm up routines to cardio, and finally working on defining my muscles, I did them all to the surprise of Ssabu - nim. I'm not as obsessed with working out as Youngbae but I'm not like Top either who does everything he can to miss a day of working out. I do it, but it doesn't mean that I enjoy it, which is why Ssabu - nim didn't know what to do with me when I asked him to watch over my work out session for six hours straight. He was in between being happy at the same time bewildered at my sudden enthusiasm to tone my body. What? It's like hitting two birds with one stone. I get to distract myself from thoughts of Norah as I get to have a more defined and healthier body.

I was starting to regret this idea as I felt the throbbing pain that follows after a lengthy and strenuous work out. I suppose I should have stopped when Ssabu - nim suggested that I could stop already for the day but I wasn't ready yet to go home yet and possibly encounter Norah who's over the moon about some kid from EXO. I haven't gotten my together yet and despite what I said to Norah's four pseudo - brothers, I still didn't have a concrete plan in mind on how to face this issue. But since I decided to seclude myself inside the gym, I got to mull things over, and even if it took me six hours to do so, I was able to get my bearings straight.

Sort of.

I really wanted to sleep already but I hadn't had any food in my system since breakfast and my stomach's been grumbling since I started exercising, opting the dumbbells instead of eating lunch. So before I could go to bed and sleep till noon the next morning, I made a detour to my kitchen to see what I can eat quickly.

An empty fridge and pantry met me, and I had the urge to throw Seungri out the window. What is his deal with buying the ing grocery? Is it that hard to drive to the supermarket, get a ing cart, and grab food and other items we'll need at home? It's not like I'm asking him to get me a ing mountain. I shut the door of the pantry and stalked off to maknae's room only to release an angry growl when I remembered that he was out because he was going to meet his friends from university. I sat down at the couch wondering if I should order and have food delivered here or to force myself to go out and eat at a restaurant when I remembered that I had a brilliant cook as my neighbor. A brilliant cook with a fully stocked fridge and pantry might I add. Starvation apparently enables a man to forget his initial decision on avoiding the girl he likes when food is involved when he has to see the said girl. I stood up from the couch and headed to Norah's apartment next door to get myself some of her home cooked meals but when I rang her doorbell, no one answered. My eyebrows furrowed and tried once more as well as calling out Norah's name to try and grab her attention. She can't be out. Her training ended early today. Don't tell me she's... My line of thought was disrupted when I felt my phone vibrate inside my pants' pocket. I took it out and saw that I got a message from Norah herself.
 

From: Norah Spencer (Tank Girl)
Received at 19:02

Oppa, did you forget the password to my apartment? Didn't I tell you about it already? It's 082876. Just go inside. I'm in my room.
 

Oh right. I forgot. Right after she debated with my haters, Norah asked me why I didn't just go inside her apartment if I really wanted to talk to her face to face. Aside from the fact that I'm not that type of person (I was raised with manners thank you very much) I also admitted to her sheepishly that I didn't know the pass code to her apartment's lock. Without missing a beat she grabbed her phone and texted it to me while stating that I shouldn't feel hesitant to go inside her house. Apparently, I'm just welcome to her home as she is in mine. It also explained how I might have accidentally got inside her apartment when I was drunk since the number combination is close to my birth date that I used to have as my own pass code to my apartment.

I punched in her pass code and pushed past the door to go straight to her room. I've been here only a couple of times (not including the sleeping incident that I will never tell ANYONE, EVER) and every time I step inside her room I feel like I should shut up because it feels like a library. IF libraries didn't have any bookshelves and tables in it. That’s because Norah's room only consists of a queen sized bed decked with tons of pillows and a duvet, a table filled with her make - up and toiletries, a wardrobe and books. Hundreds, no thousands of them. Ok, I'm exaggerating. It's just more than a hundred. Maybe around 999 of them. They were scattered about her room, piled up together in odd combinations along with her shoes and bags. After I glanced through her room, I spotted Norah in the middle of her bed with her laptop propped up in front of her.

"What are you doing?" I asked her as I approached the side of her bed. She looked up and gave me a sideways glance before returning to what she was doing with a distracted hum. I plopped down next to her and leaned back against her headboard next to her just to see what she was up to. As I looked at the screen I saw Fresh Prince of Bel Air being played which explains what got Norah so preoccupied all this time to the point that she doesn't leave her bed to answer her own door. When the episode finished, Norah stopped the media player for awhile and turned to face me. "What's up Oppa? Did you need anything?"

I flashed her my most charming grin before replying (knowing full well what her answer is going to be, especially now that I know she's in the middle of one of her series marathons), "I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me. I'm planning on eating out and I didn't have anyone to come with." She nodded in understanding but frowned and said, "I bet Seungri Oppa still hasn't done your groceries, yeah?" I bobbed my head and gave her a pitiful pout to "convince" her to come with me. "I know you're in the middle of your series marathons but I really don't want to eat by myself. You don't have to pay, I'll treat you." I added still making full use of my puppy dog eyes and pout. Norah bit her lip and looked back and forth between me and her laptop. Finally she came to a decision and I had to prevent myself from punching the air with my fist when she said, "Oppa how about I cook you dinner? I just stocked up my pantry a few days ago. Don't you think it's better for you to relax here than eat dinner outside? You look tired enough as it is. How does tomato pesto and cheese sound to you?" I pretended to mull this over when in fact I've already decided before seeing her that I'd rather have her cook me dinner than eat out by myself. "It's alright." I told her, pretending to concede with her suggestion. "But are you sure it's not a bother? If you're busy I'm fine with eating by myself."

"It's fine really. I haven't eaten since lunch to be honest. It's a good thing you came by or else I would've forgotten again and I'd probably remember far too late already." Norah told me with a wave of her hand as she stood up from her bed and make her way towards her kitchen. She wrapped her duvet around her shoulders, after tugging it underneath where I was seated at her bed, and let the sheet trail after her as she walked out. "Besides I owe you for causing too much trouble this morning." Norah added, her voice being drowned out by the noise she was making as she took out pans and utensils she'll need for cooking our dinner. I scowled at the reminder of Oh Sehun serenading her but composed myself as I followed after her and settled myself in one of the chairs in get kitchen. "It's not your fault I got wrestled to the ground by Bom Noona and the others. In fact I think you should be more sorry for Top Hyung and Maknae. They were not only wrestled to the ground by Bom Noona but they were bound and gagged too. At least they just dragged me to Teddy Hyung's studio and let me be." I told her in a humorous tone, trying to make her feel less guilty and to steer the conversation away from the reason why the girls from 2ne1 actually did those things to us. However internally I was blaming everything on Oh Sehun for disrupting the peace in our lives by asking Norah out on a date. Norah tried to suppress a smile at the image of Top and Seungri being tied up together but failed miserably when a giggle escaped past her lips. "CL actually told me about that. She called me awhile ago as she apologized to me for organizing this whole mess. By the way, why WERE you headed to the dance studio this morning? I assumed that you were out for the count in your bed when I went out, that’s why I didn’t ask you to drive me to work after all." She said as she opened her fridge to grab the ingredients she'll need for our dinner. I tried offering my help when I saw her start cutting up the tomatoes but she waved me off and had me sit down instead to simply watch her cook our meal. "I forgot something yesterday at the studio. I didn’t know someone would be there confessing to you when I went there to grab it before people started coming in for work. Actually CL apologized to me too awhile ago before leaving Hyung's studio about that. I guess she regretted doing this behind our backs. I suppose she means well, that’s why she did it." I replied to her as I toyed around with the jar containing the tomato pesto, opening and then closing it repeatedly. "Hmm." Norah murmured with a shrug as she turned away from the counter to check on the pasta that she was cooking. "But really, I wish they hadn't done this." I raised an eyebrow at this comment, surprised in hearing this from her when a couple of hours ago she was blushing the same color as the tomato she was cutting up right now. "Ok, fine. I didn't mind the serenading part but it’s kind of embarrassing to have your friends set you up together. Am I THAT desperate for them to go to such lengths, just so I can start dating?"

"I don't think that they see you as desperate. I suppose they just want to see you happy. And they think that you'll be genuinely happy if you experience what it's like to date. Like I said, they just mean well." I told her but not really giving much sincerity to my words. Apparently Norah caught on to my poor attempt at giving the girls the benefit of the doubt. She snorted at me and frankly said, "Yeah right Oppa. Bom Unnie told me that you think they were being busy bodies the entire time you guys were spying on what was happening to us at the dance studio."

"I still do." I said automatically without thinking and forced myself not to have an urge to hit my head on the kitchen table in annoyance. So much for being the indifferent party here. Norah threw me an amused look before turning away from me, her hands balancing two plates that contained the ingredients she'll use for the sauce. "Just because I don't approve of what they're doing doesn't mean I don't understand why they're doing it in the first place." I added in a pathetic attempt to save my face which Norah replied to by mumbling, "You don't really know why."

"What?" I asked her with a frown trying to decipher her indistinct muttering but she just glanced at me with a smile, her hand reaching out for the jar of pesto in my hand. "I said pass me the pesto." I passed the jar of pesto to her with a skeptical look on my face. I'm positive that it wasn't what she really said but if she doesn't want me to hear what she was saying, I'll let it drop. Our conversation after that was steered towards other topics like what I was working on and what she's been doing in her training until she finished cooking the pasta.

"Tada! It's done. Oppa do you want to taste?" Norah exclaimed happily as she finished stirring the tomato pesto and Parmesan cheese to the pasta. I stood up from my seat and approached her. Grabbing the fork she offered me, I twirled it a few times on the pan to get enough pasta to taste before shoving it all inside my awaiting mouth. Norah waited by my side as I contemplated how to react to the dinner she prepared for us. Before she can egg me on, I raised a finger, deliberately chewing slowly to make her wait even more for my reaction. She rolled her eyes at me and stated, "If you don't like it then you can order or eat out Oppa." As she grabbed the handle of the pan to lift it from the stove, my eyes widened and I gripped her wrist before she can remove it from the stove top, and swallowed thickly. "It tastes really good. I like it." She simply smirked at me and pried my fingers from her wrist, finger by finger, so that she can take out the pan from the stove top completely. "Do you mind if we eat straight from the pan? I don't want to wash tons of dishes later." She asked me while holding up the pan full of pasta in front of her. I grabbed two forks with a nod and questioned her on what drink she wants me to get for her. "Just Vitamin Water. I've got a six pack there if you want Oppa. Let's eat at my room instead, yeah? I wanna continue what I was watching awhile ago." Norah called out to me since she was already halfway inside her room, still carrying the pan containing our dinner. I grabbed two bottles of Vitamin Water (I refuse to get drunk anywhere near that girl, who knows what I'll do) and followed her inside her room.

Two towels were folded together and was placed below the hot pan which was placed next to Norah. She was propped up against the headboard of her bed, a pillow behind her back and her duvet wrapped around her legs. Her laptop was now elevated in the small foldable wooden desk she bought from IKEA in front of her, and the other half of the bed was now cleared off of her dozens of pillows save for one. This is where I settled myself after kicking off my shoes, and offering her one of the forks I took from one of her cabinets as well as her own bottle of Vitamin Water that she requested. "What season are you in?" I asked her when I was already settled in my seat, on the other side of the pan, full of pasta. "I'm at the first season." She replied in between chewing, her eyes glued to the screen in front of her while she forked more food to . "I'm rewatching everything again. I couldn't wait for Mina Unnie to watch it with me so I started everything by myself."

"You could've invited some of us over to watch it and not just Mina Noona." I suggested to her, my own mouth filled with pasta. She shrugged at me without giving me a second glance at this comment, which made me sigh and do the same thing. No point in having a conversation if the one who's going to answer is yourself as well. After awhile though my eyes started drifting away from the laptop and started observing her room further more. This isn't exactly a chance I get often, so while I'm here, I'll make use of this opportunity to learn more about Norah through her room just as her brother once advised me. Nothing new from what I've seen already of her room came up after giving a second glance around her room but when my eyes landed at her wardrobe's door, the dress hanging limply by the hanger caught my attention. "Norah?"

"Hmm?" She replied, looking up to me as she ate another mouthful of pasta from the pan in between the two of us. I pointed to her wardrobe using my fork and she turned away from me to see what I was referring to. "Oh. That? It's just the dress I made as a gift for Minzy." She told me flippantly, her attention now drawn back to the laptop in front of us. My eyebrows rose at this and I stood up from the bed to approach the dress she made. I grabbed the hanger and raised the dress to my eye level.

"Norah this is amazing." I murmured to her as I turned the navy blue dress over and over as I looked at how detailed it was. "How did you do this?" She glanced at me and eyes the dress with a contemplative look. "I bought the fabric at Hongdae with Sophie and then I borrowed CL’s sewing machine. I sketched a few designs for Minzy and made her choose what she liked then I took her measurements and cut the pattern I made from the fabric and sewed them all up together."

"You make it sound so easy." I told her wryly still impressed by the dress she made from scratch apparently. "It's an inborn talent. But seriously that took me three tries to make it look that particular way. And I had to sew by hand some of the details there, like the design on the collar and all." She added, sheepishly admitting at her difficulty. I shook my head in disbelief and returned the dress back to where it was hung originally to return to where I was seated awhile ago. "Still, that looks amazing Norah. Minzy will love it." I told her with a smile as I sat down next to her once more. I grinned at the fact that this compliment made Norah blush completely and reveled in the fact that I don't need to serenade her to have this effect on her. No one can beat me at charming the hell out of a woman that's for sure. The pillow slapped in front of my face caught me by surprise though and made me step down from my conceited bubble. "It's not going to work Jiyong Oppa. Compliments won't get you anywhere, especially dessert."

I gaped at her and started pestering her if there was in fact dessert but she just smirked at me and ignored my whining for the rest of the night, opting instead to eat pasta and watch Will Smith do his ridiculous antics. By the time I got tired of making odd noises to catch her attention, Norah already finished one episode since she resumed watching the series and was already halfway through the next one. I gave out an indignant "Hmph." and decided to watch the rest of the episode with her in silence. She gave me an amused smile when she noticed this but decided against on commenting at my actions. The next two episodes were spent in silence except for when we would laugh at Will Smith and his cousins or when we'd try imitating how Will Smith would react with each other.

To be honest, although the day started out pretty badly and I couldn't wait to just end it, by night time things turned for the better quickly. I glanced down at Norah's lolling head since she fell asleep after a few episodes of watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I took the pan and the towels in between us and placed it down beside the bed before inching closer to Norah to wrap around her shoulders and let her head fall at the crook of my neck. I kissed the top of her head softly and stared at the laptop in front of us. To be honest I wouldn't mind doing this every single night. Cooking dinner at home, then sitting up together watching shows together. The feeling that I get spending time with her like this can't really be put to words but if I did try I would probably say I feel content. I feel happy. I don't want to do anything else than spend an evening with her kidding around and eating together in companionable silence. I really don't need fancy dinners or several dates to figure out that I like Norah more than as a friend. The simple idea of doing this with her all the time, every single night, is enough for me to figure that out. Didn’t they say that it means something if you can see your future with someone already? I have that with Norah and the idea of someone else getting that opportunity to be with her makes my heart constrict at the thought. It may be selfish and I may not have the right (yet) to call her as my own but it doesn't mean I would let anyone steal her away from me. "I'm not going to back down." I murmured to her hair while squeezing her shoulder in my hold, firmly.
 

Hello :)

Here's an update for you. I'm sorry it took awhile but I hope you like it. Thank you so much for reading this, it means so much to me. I would love to hear what you think so feel free to comment. :D for the next update I'm dropping another bomb hahaha I hope you like it. THANK YOU GUYS <3 YOU ARE GOLDEN. You make writing this story so much fun :3

- Rexiefauliks

PS. Also if you want to see what I imagined for the dress that Norah made for Minzy, click here to check it out.