Episode: 04
“baby steps”

Sehun stares at the girl before him and then slowly, very dramatically takes a deep breath. "You need...my help?" A smirk climbs on his lips, "Oh, but you will owe me then, missy. Have you considered it?"

Haneul looks as if she is so done with his behavior but because she is stuck somewhere in life and needs his help, she isn't showing it. The smug expression on his face doesn't leave. The girl heaves a deep sigh, contemplating for the last time whether any other option was left for her. While Sehun waltzed through the mess of his room to grab his shirt, giving her the time to arrange her sentences.

"You know I would love to help you, Haneul," He says, in such a tone that dictates he is enjoying this. Haneul can't entirely trust him because, have they stopped fighting? After the spider, is she supposed to expect a bigger prank? Sehun reappears before her in his yellowest shirt that is painful to the eyes and plops down on his revolving chair. "So, how can I be of any help? I thought I was too lame for that."

Looking down at her fingers, Haneul rethinks. Is it really a wise decision to bring him into her mess? Especially when he just loves to make messy things even messier only for fun, Oh Sehun is probably not suitable for her plan.

"Haneul."

"Huh?"

Sehun studies her surprised face for a while before humming, "What's up? Why are we awake at two in the morning? Are you scared to sleep alone maybe?" The smile that creeps on to his lips is disgusting and Haneul wants to throw things at it. Sehun chuckles heartily, "What is it? Is the Jongin dude disturbing you? I know karate, did you know that? Do you want him to know that too?"

Haneul shakes her head, making his eager smile fade. "I...My sister is getting married."

"Hmm, is the guy rich?"

"That's not...that's not the issue, Sehun. I need to go home because she's getting married..."

Sehun nods, "I won't miss you...no wait, I will. Your yoga..."

"What?"

"N-Nothing," he pretends to be busy with his phone, hiding the red in his cheeks. "So, what do you want me to do about that?"

Everything goes quiet. Haneul doesn't speak. Sehun is forced to look at her. Clearly, whatever she is going to ask from him will be a huge blow to her ego. Sehun sighs, pretending to yawn so that she will speed up and she does. Haneul finally meets his eyes. Sehun comes closer to her, resting his feet on the spot beside her. Haneul gulps once twice and thrice before finally opening .

"You can say no," she clears first. "It's only for a week."

"Mmhmm."

"Will you pretend to be...to be my boyfriend for a week?"

A gasp leaves his lips immediately. And Haneul regrets it immediately. Her shoulders drop and her head falls low. Haneul wants to crawl out of his room now because he is going to make her regret saying those words for the rest of her life. He is going to roast her and then say no.

"I mean...absoinglutely...yes."

"What? You will?"

"Totally." Sehun appears to be delighted...too delighted. Haneul can't help but stare at him with doubt. He is the same guy who thought it would be a nice idea to let a spider crawl all over her body. The same Oh Sehun. Sehun smiles so brightly, it's as if he has won a lottery. "I don't know what you've done that you've come at my feet--"

"Excuse me, I didn't come at your feet--"

"But, yes I will help you. I am an angel, right?" He leaves his chair before hurrying towards his wardrobe. He pulls a compartment and brings out a plastic package. "Oh darling, you're finally gonna breathe," he speaks to it before placing it on the bed right beside her. "I bought this last year but haven't worn it yet and I CAN'T WAIT, HANEUL!"

"Is this a suit?"

"Of course, ," Sehun rolls his eyes, running a hand down his neatly kept suit. "When is the wedding? I need to submit some applications at my office."

"The last week of the month," she says very soullessly. Sehun begins to hum a song as he hangs the suit on the knob of his room's door. "But, why are you so happy? Isn't this the last thing you'd ever do?"

Sehun folds his arms, "Let's see. Free food for a whole week, I hope I get a nice bed to sleep on, maybe a nice holiday too, I'd get to date you, you Choi Haneul. That's the highlight." And he says highlight not only with his but with his wide eyes too. Hanuel quirks her brows at how excited he is. It is off-putting, she doesn't know whether to be happy that he accepted her request or not.

"Highlight...?"

"Don't you know?"

Haneul watches the know-it-all look on his face as he crouches before her. "Don't you know that you're a little pretty?" He brings his pointer to his thumb and shows her the magnitude of her prettiness. And it isn't much but even that is a lot coming from Oh Sehun who most probably hates her. Haneul, realizes the distance between their faces and quickly pushes Sehun away, making the guy fall on the floor, first. "Ouch..." Sehun huffs, "I shouldn't help you--"

"No, no!" Haneul sighs, "No, I'm sorry." A very reluctant hand of help is offered to him to which he smirks. "Just...don't overdo it." Sehun frowns at the wording of the sentence. He takes her hand but pulls her down to his eye level, making her yelp. "Sehun--"

"Define overdoing."

"Don't try to get intimate with me."

"Oh? Shall we show them that we don't actually work well together and that I'm giving you a hard time? Your family won't like it and I'll be the bad guy. Not you," he points out. "We're just pretending. Nothing is real here." That makes Haneul sigh. Sehun can guess that she is in a hot soup but knows that she wouldn't spill the details. Watching her become this way feels very weird. Because Haneul usually always knows what to do. Sehun can only wonder what made her look so helpless.

A spark of sympathy lights his heart. Sehun studies the glum expression on his housemate's face. Letting his guard down, Sehun slowly wraps an arm around her. Haneul's little gasp dissolves in the comfort of his embrace. "I don't know what you're going through but I hope my help will make it go away, Haneul."

Just like he had imagined, Haneul doesn't speak. Her body is stiff like a rod in his arms. Sehun waits for her to do something, maybe give in and take his hug properly. But her body doesn't melt. With an inaudible sigh of disappointment, Sehun lets her go. No surprise she doesn't want to hug him back. After all, he did try to ruin her everyday one way or another ever since moving in.

"I...I guess it's hard to trust me, huh?"

"It is. Very," she replies with a faint smile curling on her lips.

Sehun smiles at the sight. "Well, if it brings any peace to your heart, I am a very terrible boyfriend. Half the time, I don't know what to do. So you won't have to worry about me overdoing anything. I'll probably just be busy with food."

Haneul chuckles lightly, "That is very reassuring, thank you. I just want you to know that...that my family, we're a big bunch. So we have to be careful with what we say to each other all the time. We need a solid plan."

"Can you please tell me the whole thing since we've already come so far?" Sehun asks, touching her arm to lead her on to the carpet from the cold floor. Haneul, taken aback by the action, flutters her eyes and a surprised Haneul is always a sight to behold. She looks innocent, clueless, and...a little pretty too. Sehun blinks at what he has done. Sometimes his hands and legs have a brain of their own. A sudden silence disrupts the atmosphere which Sehun totally can't have so he brings the loudness of his voice back, pressing on the matter. "Why does your family not know the face of your boyfriend?"

"We're...not exactly friends."

"No, Haneul, we are."

"No. I mean...you'd still throw me in the ditch if you get the chance to."

Sehun dares to touch her hands. She is so cold, like a vampire on a winter night, except that she is not a vampire and it's still summer. Sehun's eyes widen. "Hey, you're so cold," he says, feeling up her hand to her arms and then her neck.

"Hey," Haneul yells, pushing his hand away but her annoyance dissolves into her troubled expression. The edgy side to her is suddenly gone. Maybe because it's him that she needs; greatly, urgently, dearly, needs. That's why she is trying to be the gentlest she can be.

"I'm not that kind of a person. You can trust me on this. I can act well," Sehun reassures her in a soft voice, patting her cold hand patiently. "I...guess, it's a sensitive topic. And we're not there yet so we'll talk again in the morning. Okay? I can understand, Haneul."

She is very close to nodding. Haneul looks into his eyes and sees a burst of sincerity. It's not something she has ever seen before but then again, Oh Sehun was never part of her business until now and therefore she hasn't looked at him many times in life. Her cold hands lie in his as his gaze stills on her. Hanuel doesn't understand him at this point of night. Maybe her worries are clogging her brain but she can't relate this Oh Sehun with the one she has been living for so long. "Ah, thank you--"

"Nah, kidding. I was just acting lol," Sehun bursts into a crazy laughter. "See, you bought it!" He points his finger at her, laughing and slapping the ground as if he is the only one living in the entirety of the apartment complex. Hanuel is seen seething at his face for two long minutes as he continues laughing. She can't tell him anything. Rather inconveniently, he has the upper hand here.

"Tell me, please. I'm curious. It's only natural if you lay it all down for me," Sehun begs, smiling as if he is drunk. Hanuel hates that she is amusing him too much. Sitting in his cramped room on a carpet that is never dusted, she feels like a fool who is still falling through the deepest pit. She looks at Sehun's entertained face and sees a long path of doom.

Despite being filled with all kinds of filth, Sehun's room is cold. The coldness seeps into her body and she feels like all the mannequins are staring at her soul. Seriously, how does anyone sleep here? Sehun catches her throwing looks at his dolls and jumps to his feet. "Is it your first time in my room?" Haneul nods. "I see," he clears his throat. "So, starting from here, this is Yoona, Tim, Neptune, Paste and Tape," he flings open the cloths that were previously covering the faces of his mannequins one by one, "Jojen," he points at his cupboard, "Paris," he points at his bed, "Rose," he goes ahead and brushing a hand against the monitor of his PC. "Eunji," he the plastic lamp on his bedside, "Shanghai," he points at his bathroom, "Rajasthan," Haneul is forced to look at the carpet she is sitting on, "and...lastly, Deji." Sehun stops his waltz at his desk. Finally.

And Haneul is left staring at him as if he has been transported from another planet, a very stupid alien. And she looks like she wants to sprint out of this neighborhood altogether, never look back.

"What...is wrong with you?" She asks, genuinely curious and a little scared now. "Why does everything in your room have a name?"

"Um, well, it makes me feel less lonely and miserable about my financial state," he said, shrugging as he sat on his carpet, Rajasthan. "For example, I can say to myself that I am in Shanghai when I'm just peeing or taking a shower. And that I'm in Rajasthan when I'm lying on this carpet. And sometimes I tell my lamp, Eunji, you light up my world like nobody else. See, makes me feel better about my romantic life too. I highly recommend this free-of-cost therapy."

Sehun is quite proud of his creative coping mechanism. Haneul curls further into a ball, bringing her legs to herself as if frightened. "Oh...that's nice," she says but really, she is wondering how exactly he hit his head so hard, at what age, at what place.

"Yes, so feel at home. Right Deji?" He tries to elbow his work desk as he speaks, in the process hurting himself because Deji isn't a very soft creature. Haneul bites back a laugh, her shoulders loosening now. Sehun begins to twist his arm in a hundred different ways to see if his skin is turning purple until Haneul points it out, afraid he'll twist his arm and she'll have to call an ambulance at this late hour.

It is when her finger lingers that Sehun glances at her, forgetting about his wound. Haneul can actually be very pretty when her lips are sealed. She'll open and you'll immediately hate her. Haneul, never minding his shameless gawking, looks out his window.

"You are silly and it gets on my nerves."

Sehun is taken aback by her tone. "What--"

"I don't know how I'll pretend to like you even," she continues. "But...Sehun, I'm grateful for this help. In return--"

"In return, you'll help me buy an ice-cream machine--"

"No, your dog can stay with us."

Sehun throws his hands and feet in the sky like a little child and whines. "But he was always supposed to live with me. I already spoke to the landlady, okay? I want ice-cream machine!" Haneul watches his tantrum with uninterested eyes until he stops at her death glare. "I was saying that it's gonna be summer soon and we can have a comfortable time eating ice creams. You and I, and the whole world will be jealous," he uses this filmy dialogue he has recycled from somewhere. Sehun leans towards her, so close now that the yellow of his t-shirt is truly blinding her. With a firm hand she pushes him away in a very civil manner.

Very used to it at this point, Sehun doesn't even feel offended. "Actually, Haneul, YOU OWE ME MY HAIR. So, you will do what I will say--"

"Or what?"

"I'LL. MAKE. A. FUR. COAT. OUT. OF. YOUR. SHAVED. HAIR. BWAHAHAHAHA--"

"Fur coats are made of fur."

Sehun groaned at the soulless reactions, feeling stupid because his threats are usually so harmless sounding. "I will...I will...INVERT YOUR RIBCAGE."

Haneul nodded, "Okay, that is three out five scary."

His eyes widened, "Imagine I invert your rib cage--OKAY I WILL...I WILL...break your spine and STICK IT INTO YOUR MOUTH AND THEN RIP IT OUT TO MAKE YOU SPIN LIKE A ING BAYBLADE--why are you laughing?"

Haneul has suddenly burst into a laughter after hearing beyblade. Yeah nice, that makes him feel very nice about his threatening skills. Sehun just gives up and returns to his seat on the carpet. The girl is not scared of anything...except for the spider...which is still sitting at his desk right now, staring at them. Haneul reaches out to suddenly ruffle his hair. It's scary when she laughs. It's rare, like a sighting of a ghost. Sehun is torn between sighing against her hand and screaming and running out of the neighborhood. So he remains there, rigid against her touch that is as soft as afternoon rain and as spontaneous.

She retracts her hand, "Sleep. I think we've done enough taunting for one day."

Sehun puffs his cheeks with air, his lips gathering into a pout. "Why do you pretend to hate me, Haneul?"

"What do you mean? I sincerely hate you with all my heart," she chuckles at his face, getting ready to leave the room. Sehun reaches out and slightly pinches the fabric of her sleeve, stopping her. She arches her brows. "What?"

"I know you paid for the shampoo that day...at the salon. I saw you."

"No, you see things all the time, Sehun--"