Leaving Baekhyun’s apartment was weird – neither of us particularly knew how to say goodbye. He had kissed my cheek and held my hand as I walked out of the threshold but the inner part of me wanted to hold him to me and tell him that I didn’t quite want to leave yet, even though I had too. Something in me told me that he felt the same; with his lingering hold on my hand before I walked away and the way he looked at me with what I felt was admiration in his eyes. But I was snapped out of our little reality the moment I got to my car. Checking my phone for the first time since I called my mom the night before, it revealed multiple texts from my friends, Sehun in particular.

wanna hang tonight? – sent at 8:50pm

wtf since when does it ever take u this long to respond to texts - 9:30pm

u don’t even leave ur house – 9:31pm

Which is one that makes me roll my eyes because he is true.

nvm just called ur house phone and ur mom told me u were at a ‘friends’ – 10:00pm

😉 😉 get that lmaooo - 10:02pm

I scoff and close his chat. The other few texts were from university friends, asking if I remembered to do an essay or whether they could copy out a few of my notes. Deciding to ignore them until I got back home, I toss my phone aside and begin to drive. Baekhyun’s apartment wasn’t so far from my university, so it was an easy drive home. Absentmindedly, I tap on the wheel as I get to a red light. Even now, I couldn’t get the kiss out of my head. It was just one kiss but at the same time, it was so much more. I had never had anybody take so much care after me, care so much about what I want and how I feel. Whether that’s in Baekhyun’s nature because of his profession or it is genuinely in his personality to be so doting; I am not sure. But having an older man, someone who is so gentle and respectful, is so heart-warming for me. It is so hard to not like him, even if we have only known each other for a short time, because of how much he cares towards me; shown through not only his speech but his actions.

As soon as I reach home, I walk up to my room to change out of Baekhyun’s clothes that I was still wearing, instead just throwing on an old t-shirt of mine. I grab a handful of pyjamas to wear once I get out of the shower. Delicately placing his clothes on my table so I remember to wash them once I have showered, I move to my bathroom where I bump into my mom who is making her way out of her own bedroom.

“Have a nice night?” she hums, preoccupying herself with the laundry pile she is holding in her hands. It is around midday so I presume my father is already at work, leaving the place to my mom alone. I don’t like her being at home on her own for so long so I am glad that I did leave Baekhyun’s apartment as early as I did.

“I’ll tell you about it later, mom. Put the laundry down and I’ll do it after I shower,” I offer, partly because I definitely do not want her to see the clothes I came home in last night but mostly because I don’t want her to tire herself out too much. I know she wouldn’t be mad at me having his clothes – of course she wouldn’t when she was more excited than I was at the prospect of us staying together; but I didn’t need her teasing me. I also know she doesn’t want me to trouble over her so much, but I can’t help but do so most of the time.

“Don’t be silly, sweetheart. Just have your shower and come talk to mom after, hmm?” she tells me and before I can even argue with her, she makes her way down the stairs, laundry pile still gathered in her hand. I blink at her sudden absence, but return to my previous task and walk into the bathroom.

I take my time in the shower, unlike the one I had the night before. I get out only about 30 minutes later when my skin begins to wrinkle under the sheer amount of water, signalling that is time for me to get out. Flipping my hair to wrap it in a wet bun, I throw on the hoodie and pyjama pants that I brought into the bathroom with me and make my way to the living room. My mom is sat on the sofa, sorting through the laundry and placing the clothes into coloured piles whilst watching the television. Joining her on the sofa, I watch the rerun of a drama I see she is watching. For a while, we sit in a comfortable silence, her busying herself with the chores.

“You’re going to catch a cold if you don’t dry your hair, darling,” she cautions, knowing my habit of not wanting to dry my hair because it’s such a boring task. “But I guess you have a handsome doctor to take care of you now, huh?” she giggles to herself and I almost choke on my own saliva at her comment. There is a gleeful smile on her face even as she looks down at the clothes, shaking her head with happiness as she fleets her glance up to see me watching her. Getting over my shock, my wide-eyed stare turns into a glare at her teasing.

“He’s your doctor, mother. You have him to take care after you,” I refute her comment, wanting her to not get the wrong idea, even if it is a nice idea.

“I’m not twenty-two years old, sweetheart. He also doesn’t invite me to stay the night at his house,” she laughs when she knows I am about to get defensive over her comment. I know she is simply just trying to wind me up, so I grab a pair of rolled up socks that she has piled and throw it in her direction to annoy her instead, purposely missing so I don’t hit her. She chuckles at my childish action, tutting when it lands by the front door.

“Go and get it or I won’t feed you tonight,” she shakes her head, pretending to be angry with me, a fake scowl on her face even though she isn’t doing much to hide her ever growing smile. I roll my eyes but do as she tells me, trudging towards the front door to retrieve the item.

“How was your day yesterday?” I ask her, settling back onto the sofa but this time, actually helping her. Usually, my mom has a client on the day where I have a 4pm lecture. “What dog did you get?”

“He was huge,” she recites, dropping the clothes and holding out her hands to portray the size of the dog she helped. “But he was a good boy. He slept most of the time, I think he liked it when I brushed his fur.” I coo, being a complete dog person and loving to help my mom with her job when I have the chance.

“What else did you do?” She has now abandoned her chore, as have I, invested in our conversation.

“Nothing much,” she shrugs, leaning completely back on the sofa so her neck is rested on the felted cushion. “Your dad and I ordered in some food and we had some wine. Well, he had some. Not me.” She smiles and I am happy that my parents had some time for themselves and they spent it well. My mom rarely drinks because she doesn’t want it to affect anything, also because she simply doesn’t like the taste of alcohol. I take after her, too; I can’t handle my alcohol, nor do I particularly like drinking it. “Sehun rang, too. Asked after you.”

“Yeah, I know. I got his text this morning, he wanted to hang out or something,” I shrug. Mom begins to massage her neck, twisting it around like she is uncomfortable or in pain. I frown, wondering if she has hurt herself or something. “Are you in pain?” I ask, eyebrows furrowed, not liking her like this.

“I think I just slept funny,” she groans, putting weight onto the gap between her neck and her shoulder. “Or I’m just getting old,” she chuckles and I shake my head when she welps after applying too much pressure.

“Turn around, mom. I’ll massage you.” I offer, and my mom would never refute. I work my fingers into the muscles at the top half of her back, feeling lots of knots formed. Maybe she was working too hard. She guides to where she is in pain the most and I lightly apply pressure with my thumbs, careful not to hurt her.

“So,” she strikes up another conversation topic as I am still working on her massage. “How was last night for you?” she asks, no tease in her voice and that is how I know she wants a serious answer.

“It was fun,” I honestly tell her. She hisses when I dig into her back too hard, and I apologise by smoothing it over lightly. “I got us some chicken after my lecture and we watched movies and all. It was nice. A break for him, I think.”

“Did he treat you well? He didn’t force you to do anything, did he?” she worries, her protective side taking over her. Even though I think she is aware Baekhyun is more than likely not that type of man, I am still her daughter, so she worries.

“Of course not!” I quickly respond, and as I do, move my hands so that I am now lightly hitting her back with the side of my hand. She hums and I decide to tell her that we did kiss, not wanting to hide anything from her. “He – we, we kissed,” I start and she pulls away from my hands, turning around to face me, eyes wide. “But he asked before! And I said yes, mom. Don’t worry, he didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do.” I fret in case she gets the wrong idea. Her wide eyes turn into crescents, genuine happiness now showing on her face. She turns back around, demanding me to carry on with the massage I was giving her. I scoff at her demanding, but do as she asks.

“It was nice, mom. I feel comfortable around him.” I mumble, now paying a lot more attention to my hand movements than her.

“As long as he makes you happy, darling, then I have nothing else to say. Other than he’ll be the one needi