Hanna jolted up from her bed, panting and sweating despite the cool winter air. She looked around her room that was barely lit up by the slowly rising sun and as she swallowed, she felt the parchedness of as if she had ran endlessly in her dreams. Perhaps, she did. Hanna tried to recall the smallest details of the dream she just had but ultimately failed. The only thing she could remember from it was a girl she once knew—which might be an understatement. She didn’t just know the girl, she loved her. Hanna opened slightly, her lips quivered when she attempted to utter her dead lover’s name. She couldn’t even get past the first syllable when she felt her chest tighten like locks. Hanna began to cough, something she made up herself in order to recollect her senses whenever she starts dwindle down a dark episode. She sat in bed, paralyzed by the ghost of her past—or maybe, she’s the ghost of her present as well.

            Once stable, she went out of bed and as soon as her feet met the floor, the thought of yesterday was brought to her mind. Ji Eun, the stranger, the warrior from the book, the woman she allowed to sleep in her living room couch—was any of that even real? The questions barged into Hanna’s mind like soldiers setting up camps, invading every space it could, bombarding her ears with their heavily rubberized shoe soles.

            “Only one way to find out, right?” She told herself quietly and stood up from her bed. Slowly, she walked towards her door and opened it carefully trying not to make a creaking sound. The wholeness of her apartment was quiet just like it had always been. She left her room and the answer to her questions was there in flesh, sleeping soundly on the couch.

            She stood there without making a single movement. Her eyes observed the rise and fall of Ji Eun’s chest, serene, even, and in peace. Hanna wasn’t thinking but she eventually walked nearer to the sleeping girl, she sat on the floor so she could see her face at eye level. The features of the girl’s face were soothing, her eyelids looked delicate, her nose that has a gentle curve, and her lips that seemed so soft. In a normal scenario, Hanna would be flushed with queries inside her head, she would be thinking of the next thing that could go wrong or she would be looking for red flags, for signs of anything negative that can happen, her heart would be beating tirelessly like a man banging at the walls of her chest. On a usual morning, she’d be having a rundown of the things that won’t go her way, but on that day, there was none of that. It was just her and the amnesiac stranger. Hanna’s eyes lingered for a while and without her noticing, she found solace at the tranquility of the girl’s sleep.

            By the time Ji Eun came to, Hanna had already finished cooking. She woke up to the smell of something she couldn’t name, but it’s something pleasant to her senses anyway. The girl stretched her limbs and scanned the place, felt the cushion softly hugging her back. She’s not in the forest that she created with her own mind. The fact that Ji Eun slept on a mattress with a roof over her head wearing clothes that aren’t hers but are comfortable to be in either way makes her feel grateful. When she was done with getting used to the sight of her new world, she left the couch and turned to see Hanna placing the plates on the dining table. The owner of the apartment flashed a quick smile and subsequently bit her lower lip. Ji Eun tried to respond with a smile back but Hanna had already transferred her gaze from the girl to the table, making Ji Eun suppress the curling of her lips.

            Hanna sat down and Ji Eun eventually approached the table. Their eyes meet but part connection as soon as it began. Hanna partly blames herself for being so awkward, Ji Eun on the other hand, wonders why she could not look at the dimpled girl for more than a few seconds.

            “Breakfast?” Hanna asked with a rise in her tone. She had been mentally preparing to talk to the stranger ever since she began cooking and yet still failed to establish an eye contact.

            “It’s not in a box,” Ji Eun remarked. A tone of surprise and sarcasm blended with her observation which made Hanna laugh.

            “No, not this one because I cooked it,” Hanna replied with a soft chuckle. “Have a seat.” She gestured at the empty chair in front of her and Ji Eun sat down.

            “This is an egg!” The other girl squealed but immediately cleared to hide her excitement. It’s not because she’s finally going to eat a meal that didn’t come from a box but because she finally had a food in front of her that she can recognize.

            Hanna’s lips curled up at how adorable Ji Eun looked like. Her eyes looked mesmerized by the simple meal and innocence filled her being. In her thoughts, Hanna wanted that too—to be innocent once again. The smile slowly faded and she shook her head to snap her back into reality.

            “Dig in,” she told Ji Eun who reached for the spoon and started to eat. Hanna observed her without being too obvious, but as Ji Eun sat there eating bread and “the strips”—how she calls bacon inside her head, she couldn’t shrug off the burning feeling of Hanna’s eyes glued towards her direction.

            “You’d punch a hole through me.” Her words were muffled by the chunk of bread in and she gave Hanna a quick glance just to make sure that the other girl was looking.

            Caught in the act, Hanna darted her eyes elsewhere and felt the heat rise up on her cheeks. “I uhh—I was just you know, I just uhm… I wanted to tell you something.” Ji Eun looked at the stuttering mess that Hanna is.

            “You can’t tell me if you’d just keep on looking,” she replied modestly and Hanna nodded slowly, taking into consideration what Ji Eun just said.

            “Well,” she began to say, “I’m going to have to teach you to move around the house since I can’t always be with you.” She adjusted herself against the chair and straightened her back. Ji Eun leaned in and stopped eating for while to listen to the rest of Hanna’s statements.

            “After you’re done eating, we can begin touring around the apartment… not that there’s a lot to go to anyway but you know what I mean.” She paused for a moment, “Right?” She asked her in an unsure manner.

            Ji Eun simply smiled and nodded, “You can stay?” She inquired carefully and saw the puzzled look on Hanna’s face, “I mean, you were rushing to work when the sun began to rise yesterday. The sun’s rising up now but you’re still making plans on teaching me things.”

            “Oh, that. Yeah, I can stay in today since I took the day off. Basically, I don’t have to go to work today… and the next two days.”

            Hanna observed the girl in front of her nod in understanding with puffed cheeks full of food. She caught herself smiling but bit her bottom lips to stop it halfway. She took a sip of water and called Ji Eun who lifted her head to see the owner of the house.

            “By the way,” Hanna prompted, “I need you to know that I have never had any teaching job or anything like that so I might at it later. But, you don’t have a choice because I’m currently the only person who knows you exist.” She spoke in an upbeat rhythm and finished it all with a forced out smile. Ji Eun barely curled her lips and uttered an okay. Hanna looked at her with anticipation, waiting for a sign of affirmation from the girl in front of her who seemed preoccupied in eating.

            After a minute of silence, Ji Eun swallowed a mouthful of rice and said, “I don’t want choices anyway… I need you to know that.” Hanna, though she tried to play it cool, choked on her water which made her cough slightly with what the other girl just said. Moreover, she was stunned at how smoothly Ji Eun conveyed the words.

            She turned with her heels and finished with a small stomp. “Let’s begin here,” Hanna declared, clasping her hands together like a tour-guide would dur