“Dasom, are you sure about this?”

She had never been surer in her whole life. Dasom nodded, her eyes crinkling as she smiled with excitement at her sister, Hyunseo. “I’m sure, unnie.”

The older female sighed, massaging her forehead since it was pretty obvious by now that she would not be able to sway the younger to not move out of their place.

When Dasom entered university, Hyunseo had become more protective than she already was with her. At first, it felt nice. Dasom always liked the overflowing love and attention she received from her sister regularly, but she eventually reached the point where her sister’s protectiveness ended up suffocating her instead.

“You know what—we’ll talk about this later. I’m running late for work.”

And just like that, Hyunseo once again prevented Dasom from voicing out her innermost thoughts by effectively avoiding their heated conversation before things went downhill.

Hearing the front door close, Dasom sighed to herself.

It’s not that she did not like living with her sister under one roof. She loved it—she actually preferred living with her sister rather than living with her parents. 

She just wanted to make the most out of her undergraduate life. She couldn’t go out of her comfort zone if her sister would not stop watching her every move, constantly monitoring over her shoulder and waiting for her to slip up so she could be easily comforted.

Instead of living in a university dorm, Hyunseo presented the idea of Dasom living with her since Baekhyun just purchased a condominium unit for their new family, with an available guest room that is conveniently suited for her.

At first, Dasom detested the idea. She hated it so much since she did not want to be a part of the newlyweds’ daily life. She wanted to give them the privacy they needed. Besides, the walls in their place were not that soundproof. She did not want to hear her sister and her brother-in-law whenever they decided to do the deed. Lastly, Dasom knew how much Baekhyun had never wanted for her to live with them. To share the same space with them and their future children.

Except when Hyunseo gave birth to their lovely daughter, Dahyun, Baekhyun started to appreciate Dasom’s presence since they needed an extra hand in taking care of their baby due to the piling up of Baekhyun’s and Hyunseo’s respective workloads.

However, Dasom wanted to explore. She wanted to try new things. She wanted to experience similar things being done by her peers—the good things, of course. She felt so sheltered under her sister’s care, so she ran away.

A month later, Dasom received the news of her sister’s ailment.

"Dahyun's favorite pajamas are in the laundry."

Dasom jumped in place, not expecting Baekhyun to find her in such an uncompromising position—crouched down in front of her niece’s closet.

After their visit to Hyunseo’s resting place, Dasom’s parents did fetch Dahyun from Baekhyun’s parents’ place so they could stay with their granddaughter overnight. However, they forgot to come over to get some clothes that’s why they had Dasom scurrying over to Baekhyun’s place to retrieve the kid’s essentials.

Dasom was busy rummaging through Dahyun’s closet so she didn’t hear Baekhyun enter the room.

"Oh," was all she was able to say. Dasom awkwardly stood up as she closed the closet and turned around to face Baekhyun. "How long have you been standing there?"

He remained at the doorway; his arms crossed as he fixed Dasom with a scrutinizing gaze as she placed Dahyun’s clothes inside the duffel bag she brought. “Not that long. Do you need pajamas?”

"Does Dahyun have another pair?"

Baekhyun nodded. "It's in the second drawer."

Dasom moved towards the closet again to find her niece's favorite pair of pajamas. The sooner she finds it, the sooner she’ll be able to leave.

For some reason, she had never found herself become too comfortable in Baekhyun’s presence. She always finds herself at a loss for words whenever it’s only the two of them. When someone else is with them, that’s the only time Dasom would find the guts to answer him back as they engage in a childish argument. She did not hate him that much, just to be clear. She was just not that used to his presence.

Baekhyun noticed Dasom’s struggle in searching for Dahyun’s favorite sleep wear so he approached to help.

“It must be here somewhere,” Baekhyun murmured, his sleeved arm brushing Dasom’s skin since she was currently wearing a sleeveless top. The slight touch gave her goosebumps—it made her temporarily forget what she was even doing in that moment.

Baekhyun always had that effect on her.

Dasom blinked to drive her thoughts away from that sinful place. “Dahyun can just wear another set for now,” she cleared then stood up. “It’s fine, you don’t have to bother. Just go rest up, I’ll clean this mess first then I’ll be on my way.”

Just as she expected, Baekhyun wasn't hard to talk to. He immediately stopped what he was doing and started walking away. But before he completely left, he made sure to remind Dasom about his daughter.

Dasom only nodded, already tired of how repetitive Baekhyun’s words were. She knew how to take care of her niece—she had been taking care of Dahyun since she was a baby! Baekhyun did not have to worry so much. Her daughter’s clearly in good hands.

But then again, she understood why Baekhyun always acted that way. Byun Dahyun’s the only person directly connecting and reminding Baekhyun of his lovely union with his late wife. If something bad was to happen to his daughter, there’s no saying what he would do to himself since it seemed like he still had not completely overcome his grief over Hyunseo even though it had already been three years since her untimely death.

"I got it," Dasom interrupted his talking, "I'll return Dahyun to you by tomorrow, safe and sound."

But Baekhyun was still not finished. "I don't trust you—promises are meant to be broken anyway."

If Dasom didn't know Baekhyun a bit, she'd have been pretty offended by his words. Living with her sister and her brother-in-law, even for a short period of time, helped her know him better. It decreased the number of misinterpretations that could possibly occur between her and Baekhyun.

So, she just chose not to reply and went home.

"Som Som!"

Dasom's eyes immediately lit up as she was welcomed by her enthusiastic niece. She didn't think twice about dropping her bags to free her hands so that she cou