Eric dropped you and Hyunwoo off at the library, searching your expression for any sign of conceding. Nodding softly at your resoluteness, he farewelled you both, and you headed into the library together.

“Your friend doesn’t like me,” Hyunwoo mentioned as you made your way towards the town archives, and you glanced at the man beside you before laughing.

“Eric doesn’t like me most days, either.”

“So, you are not together then?”

“You labelled him my friend, and that is what he is. My best friend. And my assistant.”

“A male assistant and a female boss? Very modern.”

“Let me guess, that’s too much for your traditional standpoint?”

 His lips twitched with the ghost of a smile before he suppressed it. “Actually, I believe in equality. It’s a shame not many others do even in these times.”

“Huh. I didn’t expect that.”

“Because I’m prickly and cold?”

“Something like that,” you mused, pointing to the area you had arrived in. “They’re in here. Let me just find the folder that I found them in. I believe it was in nineteen-oh-five.”

“If they’re the originals, they ought to be in eighteen-ninety-six,” Hyunwoo immediately responded, and you glanced up at him. He nodded. “That’s the year the house was completed.”

“How strange, the history for the home doesn’t appear until the twentieth century,” you said, going over to the binder and plucking it from the shelf.

Hyunwoo sighed. “It’s not strange at all, given how things played out.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about this house and the town back then.”

“I ought to,” he answered, and you waited for Hyunwoo to add on why. He didn’t, so you turned your attention back to the files and flipped through the plastic sleeves gently.

You were about to turn a page when Hyunwoo stopped you. “One moment.”

“This has nothing to do about the house-”

“The people around this time are just as important as this home,” he mentioned, and you gazed at the newspaper article.

It was about a young widower who was to marry again. You scanned the article quickly. “Wow, that’s so tragically beautiful. She lost her husband to a farm accident, and yet the Galloways were kind enough to extend their reputation towards her and her young daughter.”

“She married him, after all,” Hyunwoo breathed, his expression unreadable and his tone strained. You realised his body had grown tense.

“Amelia Galloway was the second eldest son’s wife. So, they weren’t the ones to live in the quarry home. That went to Michael Galloway, right? The eldest.”

“It was her home first,” Hyunwoo muttered and then looked away. “Let’s find the blueprints. I’m getting bored.”

“You look anything but bored.”

“Humour me and flip the pages before I have to,” he instructed, and you nodded, turning several more pages before stopping, letting out an aha when you landed on the blueprints.

Hyunwoo’s mood changed, and he smiled for the first time. Although the gesture wasn’t at you, but the papers before you, you couldn’t help but soak in the expression. Tilting your head to the side, you watched him as your own smile crossed your lips.

“See? Here it states that the house was, in fact, completed in eighteen-ninety-six.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And it has all the dates for the additions made to the homestead before that date also.”

“Sure.”

“The reason the sketch for the nursery was documented was because I—are you listening?”

“You know, you’re beautiful when you’re not scowling.”

“What?” Hyunwoo asked, and you blinked out of your reverie.

“Huh?”

“Scowling suits someone like me better,” he mentioned, though his lips curled up again.

“No way. Your eyes don’t look nearly as sad when you smile, Hyunwoo.”

“Let’s go.”

“Wait. That’s all you wanted to do? You’ve barely looked at them.”

“All I wanted was five minutes longer,” he answered, and you waited for an explanation. Not receiving one, you nudged Hyunwoo, and he was startled by your contact. He pointed to a sign on the wall. “Alas, it says the library will close soon.”

“Ah. Of course. When can I see the panelling? Tonight?”

“Daylight is better to inspect it in,” Hyunwoo refuted as you both headed for the exit.

You rolled your eyes. “It’s not dark yet.”

“You’re far too eager, you know?”

“Of course. I’ve been dreaming of this moment.”

“Dreaming?”

You nodded. “Well, of the outside of the house in its prime time. Every time I get towards the door, I well…”

“You?”

“I wake up with a jolt and feel cold all over.”

“Perhaps you should take heed of my warning and not come back.”

“You promised me. A fair exchange.”

Hyunwoo rocked on his heels, glancing around the intersection before staring back at you. “Have you ever thought about the reason why no one comes in?”

“I told you, I don’t-”

“Someone died there, you know.”

“Michael Galloway.”

Hyunwoo was silent as he continued to stare at you. “Those rumours don’t tell the whole story.”

“Will you tell me then?”

“Where do you live?” Hyunwoo asked, and you balked slightly at the question. Lifting a hand to the back of his head, he rubbed it before adding on why. “Your friend Eric didn’t leave you with transportation to get home.”

“Oh, right. My car is at the office.”

“Shall I walk you back there?”

“What a gentleman,” you replied, nodding happily. After travelling an entire block in silence, you glanced up at Hyunwoo. “What’s your story?”

“My story?”

“How did you become tied in with the quarry home?”

“I am its caretaker.”

“I get that,” you answered, watching as he guarded his expression. “There’s more to you than meets the eye.”

“I have a feeling you want to uncover every secret of my house.”

“Would it be wrong to?” you wondered, and Hyunwoo stopped walking, his gaze searching yours intensely for a moment.

He eventually let out a slow breath, contemplating how to deal with you.

“It’s not wrong. But I don’t think you realise just what you’ll be getting yourself into.”

“What do you mean by that?” you wondered, and Hyunwoo pushed forward with a quick pace, causing you to jog to catch up with him. “Hyunwoo?”

“The quarry home has been quiet for a long time now. Why stir up the old dust within?”

“Spring is around the corner. It could do with a deep clean,” you responded metaphorically, and Hyunwoo smirked, nodding softly.

“It’ll take more than a deep clean to rid it of all its dark secrets.”