Byung-hee wiped the invisible dusts on his brand new uniform which was hanging on the edge of his couch. He was crazily smiling like some kind of maniac and frequently laughed by himself.

“He’s crazy, I’m telling you,” Ji-hyuk, who was sitting with his hand supporting his head, said to Yoon-hee, who was walking over with a hot pot of noodles.

Yoon-hee chuckled as she put the pot on the table. “Byung-hee oppa, let’s eat first and you can always blow off the dust that I can’t see after your stomach is full,” she pointed out, as she sat down, opposite to Ji-hyuk.

“The way you stare at the uniform, scary. You want to date with the uniform, you weirdo?” Ji-hyuk asked as he got a bowl from Yoon-hee’s hand.

“You don’t know this. This is the same one like my muse wears,” he said as he closed his eyes. Then, he slid down from the couch to the floor, joining the other two on the table.

“Your muse, isn’t she a girl? Should I get you the skirt as well?” Ji-hyuk playfully asked and he started to stuff his mouth.

“Don’t you dare picking on me!” Byung-hee yelled at him while whacking his head.

==========

That night, Soo-ah was doing laundry in her rooftop home, if she could call it a home. She put the clean and wet clothes in a basket, and she headed out through the same door which she had went through for the past few days since her dad left her alone.

She went pass the door and instantly spotted Ji-hyuk, right opposite to her side of rooftop room. She gasped, while her eyes were wide opened. She immediately dropped the basket of clothes and ran inside, in an instant, after she found Ji-hyuk squinted curiously at her.

She slammed her down close and leaned behind it. She took a few breaths, in and out. She turned around, with hand on the door knob. She opened the door and walked to Ji-hyuk’s place.

She arrived there and stood out right in front of the door, breathing nervously. She hesitantly knocked it, with a super simple knocking.

After a few knockings, Ji-hyuk stuck his head out, which shocked the girl in front him.

Soo-ah cleared . “Hello,” she greeted while waving her hand. “I want to ask you for help. I mean, as neighbor,” she continued, sheepishly grinned.

“Oh, you lived there?” he asked back, as he heard the word, neighbor, from her.

She was dumbfounded. “You didn’t know?” she returned the question, as she felt regret of coming up there.

“I thought you’re at your friend’s house,” he assumed, as she cringed and sighed.

She thought about how she shouldn’t come earlier. He was about to close the door at her silence. She immediately stopped his action and grinned.

“Can you still help me?” she asked, as she was searching for his reaction.

“What?” he asked back, without second thought.

“My clothes’ suspension is sort of loose, can you fix that?” she hesitantly begged.

“Sure, come on,” he replied and sniffed, before closing his door and got out in instant.

He made his way ahead to her place, leaving his home, while sniffing due to the coldness. She followed his shadow.

He helped her, making the suspension tighter, with a little effort. He put his hands together as he finished it.

“I’m done,” he said to Soo-ah, who was watching his every move since a few moments ago.

Soo-ah scratched the back of her head as she thanked him. “Thank you. Can we talk for a bit?” she asked, while biting her own lips.

“Okay,” he agreed with a few nods. “Talk about what?” he asked, as he sat down.

She sighed as she squatted down beside him. “About this,” she said while pointing to her door. “I live here, temporarily,” she started hesitantly.

“And what? To keep it as a secret?” he guessed and casually jumped into conclusion.

“Yeah, I want you to do that,” she confirmed with a high-pitched voice and glowing face.

“For free? What are you going to do for me?” he asked, with a straight face, as if he was serious.

The glow on her face suddenly dropped and she automatically scratched her head. “I’m not sure, of what should I do for you,” she honestly replied. “Ah, I’ll accept your apology,” she suggested.

He showed his disagree in his face. “When you spitted gum on my shoes,” she explained as she saw his reaction.

“Hey, I didn’t spit it out. It just popped out of my mouth,” he argued, as he replayed the situation with his hands.

“In any case, it got on my sneakers,” she argued back, as she insisted on it.

Ji-hyuk rubbed his forehead as he said, “Not that, something else.”

“What else?” she asked back, as she furrowing her eyebrows.

Ji-hyuk let out a breath. “Just promise that you won’t play with Byung-hee’s heart,” he said to her as he straightened his position.

“What do you mean by that? He’s the one who playing with me,” she talked back, as she let out a disbelief sigh.

Ji-hyuk looked at Soo-ah’s face and said, “He’s genuine.”

She ran her face as she looked in front. “Byung-hee is a little strange,” she muttered. “It’s peculiar. He looks sad even when he smiled. I don’t know what kind of guy he is. Anyhow, I have never met someone like him,” she continued, analyzing Byung-hee’s character.

Ji-hyuk smiled. “He was like that ever since we were little boys. No one can actually sees his insides. People called him wacko and he’s scary,” he explained as she was listening to every details. “But, once you get to him better,” he continued and finished, “He’s still scary.”

Soo-ah nodded in awe. “I wish I can be more like Byung-hee,” she declared which gained Ji-hyuk’s weird look. “I wish people scared at me, instead of me being scared of what they’ll think,” she explained.

“About what? About moving up here?” he assumed, asking her. “Just announce it,” he suggested. “I mean, they should know. They’re your friends,” he spoke in a matter of fact tone.

“That’s why I’m scared. Because they’re my friends, I afraid I might lose them,” she expressed her feelings.

“Then, you still call them, friends?” he asked, arguing.

She sighed and sat up, giving up on pleading. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, even Byung-hee,” he promised, all of sudden.

She smiled and thanked him, as he sat up, making way towards his own place.