It’s raining heavily in Buncheon. A taxi halts in front of a double-storey house, a brunette steps out from it, not minding to put an umbrella to shield himself from the bad weather. The taxi driver takes out his passenger’s belongings and puts them beside his leg. The passenger is spacing out so the taxi driver taps his shoulder.

“mister?” he says, his hand does not leave the passenger’s shoulder.

The brunette comes back to his sense, he smiles apologetically to the taxi driver. He mutters a soft sorry while paying his fare. The taxi driver scurries towards his car and drives away, leaving a man who is standing in front of the house without any hint to enter despite the rain drenches himself.

The brunette sighs, still contemplating about his decision.  He shakes his head repeatedly from side to side, assures himself that his decision is the best. Without any hesitation, he carries his bags and heading towards the house. He stutters a bit, imbalance because of the heavy copper. Taking a few steps on the stairs, he finally manages to come face to face with the wooden door. the bell is just at the right side of the door so he presses his delicate finger to ring it. after a few rings, no one opens the door for him. He knocks the door, hoping the owner will hear and it works.

“yeah, I’m coming!” he catches the faint yell from inside despite the noisy sound of rain.

Then, a click sound is heard and the door is slightly ajar, revealing half of the body of a middle-aged woman.

“what do you want at this ungodly hour?” the woman yawns while rubbing her closed eyes with the back of her hand.

“hi ahjumma,” the brunette greets and this alerts the woman. The woman abruptly straighten up her limb and  opens her eyes only to be welcomed to the unpleasant sight, at least for her.

“well well well, if this none other than my beloved stepson, Byun Baekhyun.” The woman scoffs, her lips twitching to a smirk.

“welcome back huh? What bring you here,honey?” she asks rather uninterested. If she has her way, she already shuts the door and sprints to her bedroom, leaving her stepson at the doorway. But her logical thinking saying that the boy might worth her time.

“I am no longer staying in Seoul. I’ve been thinking to live back in this house, along with you and Baekbeom.” Baekhyun hungs his head low, heart pounding loudly inside his chest.

The woman is eyeing Baekhyun from head to toe, her eyes seems calculating and the smirk never faded from her face.

“oh honey, I’m not that cruel. Of course you can stay here.” Baekhyun immediately raises his head and his orbs b with happiness at the woman’s velvety responds .

“thanks ahjumma!” he says cheerfully as he expects her stepmother will push him away and neglect his presence.

“you are welcome,Baekhyunie. Only 200 won for a room, including the bills per month.” She simply remarks with a smug smile etches her face.

Baekhyun’s jaw slacks open, not believing his ears. The colour drains out of his face, clearly shocks with the statement.

“but, this is my house too. Why should I pay rent?” he argues back. he tries to sound more polite but the sudden fast beating of his heart rendered his harsh replies.

“oh my god! You are so funny,Baekhyunie! Do you really think your dead father left any property for you?” she gazes fiercely at Baekhyun.

“we both knows how much your father hated you! I remember, you were not allowed to come to his funeral,right? you are no more than a stranger to us,Byun Baekhyun!” her words piercing through every part of Baekhyun’s body painfully.

He cannot deny the hatred his father held towards him.

Instead of crying, he rummages his wallet and gives the moneys to his stepmother. He is already used to such situation since small. However, he would not let his tears break in front the woman, he is unwilling to show the world his vurnerable state. The woman chuckles lightheartedly upon receiving the cash. She directly goes to her bedroom, counting the money along the way.

Baekhyun reluctantly enters the house. He has no choice other than this as it would difficult for him to seek a shelter at this late night hour and in this heavy rains. He is already soaked wet and lethargic, both physically and mentally. He drags his feet to his old bedroom.

“nothing has changed” he mutters to himself. The arrangement of the furnitures, his books and even the bedsheet remain the same as the way he left them back then. He roams around his room and spots dust everywhere.

“I’ll clean them tomorrow” he does not have energy left to deal with the dusty room.

After taking a quick shower and tucks in more comfortable and thick pyjamas, he walks to the kitchen to prepare himself a glass of milk. He drinks it while his other hand caressing his flat stomach endearingly. Then, he makes his way to the living room, not forgetting the pillow in his grip. He lays himself on the couch, his lithe body fit in the small couch. It is better than to sleep in a dusty room. slowly, he drifts to the dreamland, dismissing all the unfortunate events and definitely a certain feature that he does not want to remember.

Baekhyun stretches his sore limb. His hands and his feet feel cramp. Last night, he could not sleep well as the limited space prevented him from getting a comfortable sleeping position. He ended up with a slight wiggle of his body while his arms hugging himself securely. Taking a glance at the clock, he gets up to take showers. It is thirty minutes past six in the morning, it is early to wake up but Baekhyun has a lot of chores ahead of him.

After he has done his hygiene routine, he heads to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Kimchi fried rice is the only dish appears in his mind. Furthermore, there are sufficient ingredients to prepare the meal stored in the fridge and cabinet.

“Kimchi, kimchi juice, gochujang ,soy sauce and sesame oil,” he mutters while placing them on the countertop. He whisks kimchi juice,gochujang and soy sauce until the gochujang is completely dissolved. Baekhyun catches a whiff of gochujang and it triggers his nausea. He covers his mouth, tries to stop the urge to puke. However,as time goes by, the nausea gets heavier,his stomach churns and he starts to feel dizzy by looking at the food. He sprints to the sink and vomits. His shoulder is slumped and his grip at the edge of the sink tighten. Baekhyun’s stepmother,Dasom strides towards the kitchen, where the noisy sound come from. Upon reaching there,she does not expect to see his stepson in such condition. The nausea hits Baekhyun once again, he jerks from his position and heaves but nothing come out. It seems that all the contents of his gut have been emptied. His throat sore,he emits a low groan. Then, he rinses his mouth, still not realizes about Dasom’s presence.

“oh my god! I just know that my stepson is expecting,” she sneers,her tall frame leaning against the kitchen island.

Baekhyun abruptly freezes, sensing his stepmother is standing behind him. He turns his body and looks at her. He keeps mum, waiting for her next words.

“that’s what you had been doing in Seoul right?” she says while pointing to Baekhyun’s stomach.

“actually, I wandered how you managed to settle all the debts and even sent us huge amount of money. Now, I know that the job you did back in seoul. You sold your body and after getting pregnant, you begged to live with us again!” she accuses.

“oh,siwon! Your son had become a e! I pity you,” she mocks while rubbing her non-existent tear.

Baekhyun ignores his stepmother. Arguing early in the morning would not do any good to his already weak state. He walks passed her and proceeds to make breakfast. Dasom eyes him from behind while smirking. She does not even budge from the place.

He puts the vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat until hot. When he tries to add the chopped kimchi into the frying pan, the nausea hits him once again. I turns off the stove and decides to buy take away.

“I hate morning sickness,” he mumbles while starting to wrap up the breakfast preparation within few minutes.

“I’m going to buy us breakfast,” he tells Dasom before exiting the kitchen.

“bring back foods, not men!” she shouts as Baekhyun’s glimpse fading from her vision.