Dahyun had been debating with herself whether to bother Taehyung again for she feared that she had already maximized the kindness of her neighbor.

But I don’t have anyone else.

She heaved a sigh before knocking on Taehyung’s door. There was no answer at first and she had told herself that the second one would also be the last, but in the middle of knocking, Taehyung abruptly opened the door.

The automatic smile that would have appeared in Dahyun’s lips was delayed due to the look of disappointment in Taehyung’s eyes.

“Kid,” he mumbled, “What’s up?”

“Sorry. I must have woken you up,” Dahyun said.

“I’m up anyways so just tell me what you need,” Taehyung retorted.

The somehow cold reply froze Dahyun and Taehyung noticed how she started hesitating.  He cursed himself in his mind for the way he talked clearly showed his dismay in not seeing Joohyun on the other side of the door. But Dahyun had no fault in anything – it wasn’t her fault that he was still waiting for a person who seemed to have no plans of coming back.

“Sorry,” he sighed, “I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. But you can tell me what you came here for.”

“I wanted to go the market…” Dahyun whispered before raising the pen she was holding, “I was here to ask for a sketch for directions. The bus stations you listed in my hand last time helped me a lot.”

When Taehyung merely replied with a stare on the pen she was holding, Dahyun felt herself being engulfed by embarrassment.

“Wait here,” he whispered before closing the door in front of her.

“Is he getting a paper? Would it not fit in my hand?” Dahyun talked to herself as she inspected her palm, “Or maybe he’s getting a real map?”

But it did not take a while before Taehyung opened his door again with his clothes changed into a white hoodie and checkered pants.

It was one of the rare moments that Dahyun had seen him in casual wear for he was always in his office clothes during the weekdays. Nevertheless, he still looked dashing and Dahyun wondered if there were any clothes that would not fit Taehyung.

However, upon a realization, Dahyun looked back at her clothes – she was also wearing checkered pants paired with an oversized white shirt with a cartoon print.

“Ah. I didn’t pay much attention. These were the clothes on top of my pile,” Taehyung mumbled, finally noticing how their clothes matched each other’s, “Should I change again?”

“Where are you going though?” Dahyun creased her brows.

“I’m going with you to the supermarket,” Taehyung replied.

“There’s no need to,” Dahyun refused, “I inconvenienced you enough by waking you up. I can really handle this as long as you give me instructions.”

“I doubt that,” Taehyung replied, “It took you more than a week to memorize the way to the bus stop and back.”

Dahyun couldn’t refute his statement because she didn’t want to confess that the reason she still kept waiting for Taehyung at the bus stop was because she enjoyed his company.

“Come on,” Taehyung urged her to start walking. Then, he asked, “Why are you going to the market? Tired of take-outs and cooked meals?”

There was a pout on her lips as she ranted, “Mom told me to take this opportunity of living alone to learn how to cook.”

“Is it something along the lines of doing it for your future husband?” Taehyung teased.

“It’s for myself,” Dahyun retorted, “Future husband would just benefit incidentally.”

“You can just marry someone who knows how to cook too,” Taehyung suggested.

Dahyun turned to him, “Do you know how to cook?”

“Why?” Taehyung asked as he met her gaze, “Do you want to marry me?”

Dahyun was surprised at his statement but she glossed over her blush with a smile as she exclaimed, “Woah. You have this side too? I should be careful around you.”

Taehyung chuckled seeing her surprised expression.

But then he whispered, “You can’t fall for me.”

Dahyun beamed in reply, masking the way disappointment grew in her heart while curiosity grew in her mind.

Taehyung was about to light up a cigarette when he noticed that there was already an evident burning smell. He looked to the other balcony and in a split second, Dahyun opened the sliding door, releasing smoke while she coughed horribly.

“Is something burning?”

Dahyun shook her head, “Something burned, but I’ve put it out now.”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Taehyung bombarded her with questions as she struggled to breathe.

Dahyun shook her head, “I’m okay but the food I was trying to prepare is far from okay.”

She let Taehyung in her apartment to check upon the meal she was preparing. She brought him to her kitchen and there was an evident furrow in his eyebrows and a frown on his lips as he looked at the tray of fully burnt chicken meat.

“You burned all the chicken meat we bought,” he stated, “It takes some skill to do that.”

Dahyun scoffed at Taehyung’s mockery before explaining, “At first, I really kept an eye and even kept checking it, but it was taking too long to bake that I fell asleep.”

“How can you fall asleep while cooking?” Taehyung scolded her.

Dahyun lowered her gaze down before saying, “Shopping was exhausting.”

“Why do you even have to rush on your quest of learning how to cook?” Taehyung reprimanded her, “You could have started tomorrow.”

“I was trying to practice for the welcoming party I was planning to have,” Dahyun explained.

“Whose welcoming party?”

“Mine,” she answered, “It’s actually just an excuse. I just want to have a sort of gathering. So that everyone in this apartment can all know each other better.”

Taehyung had stayed in the same building for years, but it was the first ti