Everything aches.

Chaeyoung tries to open her eyes.

Everything is shaky and uneven, so she just focuses on the girl in front of her.

Long blonde hair and pretty lips.

The throbbing in her head gradually slips away, replaced by something she can’t name.

Chaeyoung tries to blink. A single tear slips down her cheek.

A girl — no — an ethereal woman is looking directly at her.

A damp cloth is suddenly pressed against Chaeyoung’s forehead. She hisses at the cold.

A slight frown etches on the other woman’s face.

Driven by her haze, Chaeyoung reaches for her face in an attempt to smoothen her frown, but as soon as her fingers touch her skin, an image of a bloodied girl jolts her awake.

“Who are you?” Chaeyoung jerks away.

The overwhelming headache returns because of how abruptly she stood up. 

“Relax,” the beautiful stranger tries to placate Chaeyoung.

“Answer my question, or I’m calling the police!” Chaeyoung scans the room for anything, literally anything she can use against this girl.

“I’m Mina, Nayeon’s friend. I live here,” the girl explains hurriedly. “In the basement I mean,” she adds sheepishly. 

Chaeyoung’s body immediately relaxes upon the mention of her grandma’s name, but she’s not easily fooled. “What do you mean your Nana’s friend? You had blood on your face, spilling everywhere and—”

Suddenly, Chaeyoung’s voice is cut by a ring.

It’s her phone.

With her eyes locked on the suspicious girl, Chaeyoung picks it up. 

“Chaeyoung? Thank God you picked up! How are you? Mina called me. She told me you out. I was so worried!” It’s Sana unnie. Her voice is filled with genuine concern but,

“Mina?” Chaeyoung asks, still disoriented and confused. 

“Yes, Mina, she stays at the mansio—Hey! I told you to photocopy the first page, not the…” Chaeyoung tunes out the other girl.

Being a lawyer in a high-end firm isn’t a piece of cake.

Chaeyoung looks at the other girl in the room instead. She looks awfully sorry (and pretty), just sitting on the bed. 

“Chaeyoung?” Sana calls her name, breaking their stare.

Chaeyoung turns slightly before hissing. “Someone currently lives in Nana’s house, and you didn’t think of telling me before? Seriously, I think you wanted me to faint.” 

Chaeyoung hears a shuffling noise across the line.

Sana has tried to find a quiet place before she replies: “I’m sorry Chaeyoung-ah. It completely slipped my mind. If you’d told me you had a plan to visit the place this year, I would have properly briefed you about the mansion — in person! You know that.” 

Chaeyoung releases the breath she’s been holding.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s Chaeyoung’s own fault for travelling impulsively at night, without telling anyone first, that got her to this mess, but there’s just something about tonight that made her instantly pack and go.

Nonetheless, Chaeyoung relents with a sigh. “Okay, okay. I forgive you. And I’m sorry, too, for worrying you I mean. Just,” Chaeyoung lowers her voice, “—just promise me you’ll visit here asap, okay?”

Chaeyoung feels better when she hears Sana hum, but just a tad. She still feels nauseous. 

“I promise Chaeyoung-ah. In the meantime, take care of yourself, and please, please be good to Mina. She’s actually a good friend of your Nana, and not a renter or a caretaker. She actually lived there with Nayeon before, moved out when you turned 20, but agreed to come back when I asked her because your stubborn refused to visit last year, so be good to your housemate, okay?” 

Chaeyoung looks at her "housemate" and thinks how can a young girl, almost her age, be her Nana’s friend when her grandmother didn’t even mention her once? The girl also lived in this mansion together with her grandma, but her grandmother didn’t say a thing, not even a slip of the tongue. But then Mina stares back at her so intensely that she had to look away.