ALMOST burying her face on her pillow, Irene had no choice but to forcefully open her drowsy eyes and pick up her noisy phone. With her eyes one-third open, she took one look at the caller and cussed loudly.

“Damnit, Francis…” She answered the call. “What is it!?”

“Joohyuuuuunie~~” Irene distanced the phone away from her ear after that loud, annoying call using her real name. “Good morning to you there, Joohyunie~~”

“What the hell, Francis…” Irene groaned as she stretched. “Stop calling me by that name. Also why are you calling me this early?”

Bae Junmyeon, aka Francis, Irene’s twin brother, hysterically laughed at the other line. “You were sleeping, Joohyunie? Sorry, I thought you were experiencing jet lag so I called this time.”

“Well…” Irene forced herself to stand up. She looked by her door and was surprised to see it slightly open again. “I don’t know… I guess bawling in the plane instead of sleeping helped.”

“I bet things didn’t work out, ey?” Francis callously asked. “I heard everything from Mom. About you being bi, which I already had the feeling of, the full-stop cancellation of your wedding that was postponed a million times and you going to Korea to go after a girl.”

“And you’re not even surprised about my identity, huh?” Irene rolled her eyes in disbelief. “You don’t have to narrate everything to me. So, why did you call?”

“Why did I call!?” Francis repeated her question. “Don’t you remember you were the one who sent me a message first?”

“Ah.” Irene took another look at her door. “I did send you a message. I forgot.”

Francis laughed once more. “Signs of aging, Joohyunie~”

“Shut up, Francis! Remember we are twins with a ninety-second interval!” Irene brushed her hair back with her fingers. Talking to Francis is like talking to a five-year old.

“Anyway, is she hot? That stranger that you took in?”

Irene’s eyes widened in disgust. “Are you really more concerned about that?”

“Come on, Joohyunie~ You’re heartbroken. Fate has probably sent that girl in there to distract you from thinking about your miserable lovelife.”

Knots of anger started to form on Joohyun’s forehead one by one. “Thank you, Francis. You’re a very big help. I don’t think I need you here anymore.”

Irene heard more annoying chuckles from the five-year old on the other line. “About that, I can’t actually go to your house now. I’m currently in Korea. I actually just arrived. I saw your message right after I turned off airplane mode and called you right away.”

“You’re in Korea!?” Irene repeated. “What are you even doing there?”

“Take a guess~”

Irene let out a sigh. “Don’t tell me you’re running away?”

“Ding, dong, daeng!” Francis playfully confirmed her answer. “Mom is really freaking out after your failed wedding. All the pressure is on me now, Joohyunie. She’s been setting me up to blind dates here and there but I am not ready to get married yet. I’m still not done with my youth~”

“Understandable.” Irene then stood up and stretched once more. “I guess I’ll have to deal with Suel alone for now.”

“Her name’s Seul? That’s a cute name—wait! You haven’t answered me yet. I was asking if she’s hot! If she is then I will fly back there right away!”

“You’re really stupid, aren’t you? You just told me that you aren’t up to any relationship for now.” Irene walked to her vanity mirror, picked her brush up and started combing her hair with her free hand.

“Come on. I just said that I am not ready for commitment but I am always ready for some bed action!” Francis then started laughing like the ert that he is.

“Be careful, you might catch something else other than commitment.” Irene scoffed. “Also, I won’t let you do anything to Seul. She’s a complete sweetheart and she doesn’t belong to the likes of you.”

“Well, then I guess you don’t really need me there.” She heard Francis let out a sigh of relief. “I will be back after a week, I guess. I’ll go straight to your house just to be sure. Anyway, I want to see Bambi! Turn on your camera!”

Irene’s eyes widened as a loud gasp was heard from her. She almost dropped her hair brush. “Oh my gosh, Bambi!”

“What!? Don’t tell me you totally forgot about Bambi, you bad, bad mother!” Francis shouted on the other line.

“I’ll pick him up later from the shelter. Oh my, thanks for reminding me about Bambi, Francis!”

“Just because you found a new pet…” Francis snickered. “Alright, just call if you need me. I’ll be heading to my hotel now. Have fun with your new pet!”

“Whatever, Francis. Have fun running away.”

“See you later, Joohyunie~~”

Irene ended the call and immediately called the centre where she left her pet toy poodle, Bambi, completely forgetting about her opened door.

AFTER finally setting up the pick up time of her beloved pet, Bambi, Irene went out of her room after washing up. She was surprised to see Seulgi already awake in the living room and the sound of the morning news filling the room.

Irene stealthily went down the stairs, observing Seulgi who was sitting on the couch. The girl’s eyes were fixed on the television, leaning comfortable on the couch with one hand spinning the remote.

“Seul?” Irene softly called but the girl didn’t turn to her. Irene decided to go closer and made her presence known.

‘Look at this girl feeling at home already…’ She stood behind the couch and loudly cleared . This time, she finally caught the girl’s attention.

But Seulgi didn’t seem surprised at all. She looked at Irene with those striking monolids and expressionless face. This kind of took Irene aback.

“D-Do you even understand the news?” Irene snickered as she leaned forward on the back rest. Seulgi’s eyes were still fixed on her. “It says there were two guys found unconscious and heavily injured and those guys were actually wanted robbery criminals. The police are suspecting that it was a gang fight or something.”

Again, Seulgi didn’t respond to her. She just kept staring at Irene.

“It’s been a little dangerous here lately so you better not travel on your own again especially since you're not that fluent in English.” Irene turned to Seulgi and was startled to see her staring intently at her. Those striking monolids staring right through her soul. “A-Are you even listening to me? Why are you even looking at me like that?”

But there was no answer. Seulgi, almost in slow motion, tilted her head to the right as if wanting to take a better look of Irene’s face.

“S-Stop looking at me like that. You’re making me uncomfortable.” Irene quickly pushed herself from leaning on the couch. She crossed her arms and looked down on the other girl like an angry asian mom.

“Also, do you remember that you went to my room last night? Were you sleepwalking again? I know you can’t control it but please just don’t walk out of the house while sleepwalking.”

For the first time, Irene saw a change in Seulgi’s expression. A smile. It was a smile that curved up her lips.

“So…” Irene suddenly felt shivers run down her spine. “You won’t mind if I sleepwalk in your room again?”

This voice. This tone. There’s no mistake in it.

Irene hurriedly bent down and checked Seulgi’s temperature but there was no fever at all. The other girl’s smile widened. “I’ll see you later then, Irene.”

Surprised, Irene pushed Seulgi away. She pushed her so hard that the girl almost fell off the couch. She jumped away from Seulgi, her arms folded by her chest.

“W-What!? What happened!?” She watched how Seul stood up as she just awakened from her sleep. She looked around and froze when she saw Irene.

“I-Irene-ssi?” Seul then looked at her hand that’s holding the remote and the TV that’s on. A loud clicking of the tongue was heard from the lady.

“D-Don’t tell me you were sleeping just a while ago?” Irene asked, her guard still up. She could see the confusion on Seul’s face.

“I-I’m sorry, Irene-ssi… I think I just turned your TV on while I was sleepwalking…” Seul’s grip on the remote tightened. Her jaws clenched and her face all red and Irene thought that it was because she’s embarrassed of her peculiar sleeping habit. But it was a completely different emotion.

“I-I’m really sorry… I will be careful next time.” Seul handed her back the remote with her two hands shaking. “I-I didn’t mean to use things without permission. I’m really sorry!”

Seul kept on apologising until Irene told her to stop because it seemed like she would develop abs with her excessive bowing.

“A-Alright, alright… I understand!” Irene pushed the remote back at her. “I am fine with you using anything in the house but stop freaking me out with this sleepwalking of yours! I don’t think it just ends with walking, you are watching TV and speaking while sleeping as well!”

If only Seul could bury her head on the ground then she would have already gone six-feet under. “I’m really sorry about it.”

Irene let out a sigh. “You better explain more things about this strange condition of yours so I won’t get surprised. Don’t you know that I almost got a heart attack when I saw you staring at me in my room in the middle of the night? That was around 3 AM, you know?”

Seul’s head shot up, her eyes darted to Irene who was rubbing both shoulders because of the goosebumps. “I… I went to your room last night? P-Please tell me that I didn’t d-do anything stupid…”

Irene rolled her eyes. “I called out to you, asked you how you came into my room because I remember that I locked it but you just simply walked out and went back to your room. I even tucked you in your blanket and now I would see you sleepwatching!?”

Seul finally breathed after that confirmation from Irene. “Thank goodness… I thought I did something weird in your room…”

“You coming to my room is already weird!” Irene stomped her feet as she pivoted towards the kitchen. “Come here, lady. We better talk about this weird habit of yours while we eat breakfast. You still need to drink medicine just to be sure.”

AFTER having breakfast, Irene decided to go out. The weather has thankfully cleared a bit even though it's still a bit cloudy. She took Seul with her, thinking that it wouldn't be nice to leave her alone at her house. She's afraid that the girl would fall asleep and actually open her house for robbers.

Their talk about Seul's condition didn't end on the breakfast table. It continued until they reached the Department Store where Irene bought some clothes, including undies, for Seul. Irene somehow couldn't stand that she's wearing Sakura's old clothes.

"Somnam--what?" Irene rolled her tongue when she tried to repeat what Seul just said.

"It’s Somnambulism. Well, technically just sleepwalking." Seul yawned while Irene was casually picking clothes for her. "But my case is really severe. It feels like my body has a mind of its own while I am asleep. I walk, speak, and even do stupid things while I am still sleeping."

Irene was actually observing Seul's face while she's talking about her condition. She didn't trace any malice in her expression but it felt like she was angry or something. Well, who wouldn't be annoyed with a condition like that?

Seul then started spitting medical terms that only made Irene dizzy. Irene then raised her hand to stop her from explaining, lying about fully understanding the situation.

"Okay, I get it now. What should I do then when you enter my room again while you sleepwalk?" Irene asked. She was pretending that she was looking at other clothes but she was actually secretly looking at Seul's clenched, wounded fists.

"J-Just..." Seul gulped. "Just ask me to go back to my room."

"That's all?" Irene followed up, an eyebrow was raised.

Seul took a deep breath. "I might... I might say a lot o