Kang Byung Wook grins when he sees his daughter, Seulgi, who has a bewildering look on her face. “Seulgi-ya, aren’t you going to give your appa a hug? I miss you so much,” He opens his arms widely to welcome Seulgi. It’s been a while since she last saw her daughter.

“Appa…” She slowly walks towards him, but she can’t even hug him properly. She’s nauseous from his smell but she doesn’t say anything. She reminds herself that it’s just all in her head. “It’s been a while…” She says weakly.

Byung Wook hugs her daughter tightly but Seulgi can no longer hold back her nausea, anytime she is about to vomit in front of him. She’s almost retching because of the strong pungent smell. Seulgi lightly pushes her father away from her, covering her nose and mouth. Eleonor is worried about Seulgi’s state. So, she asks her if she’s alright. Seulgi tells them she won’t be able to join dinner because she’s not feeling well. Her father is worried about her. He thought she was sick of something, he understood what her daughter has gone through, and so he lets her stay in her room. It makes him sad that he just came back from work and it’s been a while. “Is she regularly taking her meds?” Byung Wook asks Eleonor, worried.

“She takes her meds regularly but it’s the first time I saw her being nauseated from what she smelled.”

“I see…” Byung Wook nods. He just hopes her daughter will get well soon.

Two hours later, Eleonor knocks on Seulgi’s door. The latter opens the door and got surprised that Eleonor brought her food. She is thankful for Eleonor’s kindness. “Oh, Eleonor, you didn’t have to.”

“Seulgi, I know you’re sick. I’m worried that you skipped dinner. You must eat, even just a little to fill your empty stomach.”

Seulgi lets Eleonor in her room; she puts the tray of food on Seulgi’s desk. “Call me when you need me. I got some medicines in the bathroom if you feel nauseous.” Seulgi nods, she can feel her sincerity. She watches Eleonor walks out of the room and closes the door. She can’t explain it but it feels nice when Eleonor is around. Eleonor’s presence comforts her.

After Seulgi finishes eating her dinner, she goes down to put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. She remembers they didn’t have a dishwasher before because her mother wanted her to wash the dishes in an old fashion way. Her mother thought it was a better practice cleaning things without relying on machines. Her mother would sometimes nag her and she gets irritated, and now that her mother had passed away, she couldn't hear her nagging anymore. She’s forever gone. She misses her mother. She leans her back on the island counter table and sighs, grasping the thought that she’s finally back in her father’s house, living together with his new family. She doesn’t think it’s bad. She likes Eleonor and her half-sister, Elena. She just feels weird coming back to the place she grew up, but adjusting to it again.

Seulgi hears the squeaking of the door being closed and the sound of car engines running. She goes to the living room to look at the window of who is outside the house. She sees her father's car drives away and she looks at the time; it’s 8:58 PM. She wonders where her father is going at this hour but she brushes it off and closed the curtains. She thinks he could be out to buy something. She sits on the sofa and clicks the remote control to turn on the TV. There isn't any specific TV program that she wants to watch. She just switches channels whichever catches her interest. She stops switching at Animal Planet and sinks on the sofa, trying to shove off the anxiety. Watching animals on TV is quite interesting. She doesn't have to think anything besides why do animals behave like how they behave? – It’s fascinating for her.

“Seulgi?”

Seulgi looks at the person who was calling her name as she walks into the living room. It’s Eleonor who is in her red silk nightdress. Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun. She thought Eleonor is gorgeous in her nightwear. “Yes?” Seulgi looks at Eleonor's expression who’s a little agitated.

“Oh, it's nothing,” Eleonor pauses. “Don't forget to turn off the lights later, ok?” She smiles, and then she goes to the kitchen to get a glass of water and walks back to her bedroom.

Seulgi silently observes Eleonor as she left, then she goes back on watching Animal Planet. She watches the baboons gathering together and one is sniffing the other's red . She finds it funny, but then she realizes her sense of smell isn't sharp, foul, or fragrant. It’s back to normal – just how the house usually smells. She closes her eyes in relief. She looks at the time, 9:36 P.M. She wonders why her father isn’t back yet? She decides to turn off the TV to go to bed. She passes by the painting of her mother and looks at it. It looks dark and gloomy. She wonders how her mother felt when she painted the portrait of a woman who looks weeping in darkness with different colors surrounding her.

Later that night she dreams about people. She can’t see their faces clearly, but she sees the color within them, different colors of blue, red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and black. She asks them, but when she talks, she can’t hear her voice. She can see the people talking to her but she can’t hear them. She can’t understand or hear what they are saying. They started yelling at her, there weren’t words but they were loud. They were hovering around her, she struggles hard to get away and when she tries to push them away from her, they disappeared into thin air. She can still see colors without their forms. She fans away from the surrounding colors and they won’t disappear or go away from her. At first, the colors are mellow until they become vivid and start to swirl around her. She runs, shoving them away from her, and they began to go violent. In a panic, she tries to outrun them, but the moment she tries to run as fast as she could she can feel her speed was in slow motion. She looks behind her, tensed. The colors finally catch her and enter her nose. She kneels, coughing, and choking. She struggles to get them out of her. She tries to spew them out until she’s able to identify the smell. They were sweet, fragrant, citrusy, minty, toasty, nutty, resinous, chemical, fruity, pungent, woody, and decayed. When she smelled the odorous ones she began to struggle and choke from them. She holds her neck to grasp some air. And she wakes up from her nightmare.

It was just a dream.

Seulgi sits down and catches her breath. She looks at the clock. It’s 1:59 AM. She drinks the water bottle on the bedside table. She feels the dream was too realistic.

She massages her forehead, recalling her weird dream.

Seulgi feels her sinus is throbbing again.