“Oh my god, no way! For real?” JI Eun burst out when Hyosung told her the news about her moving... And the little surprise that went with it.
“Yes way. I’m not kidding...”she replied, looked down while the side of her plastic lunch tray.
“Wow...” she turned her voice into a whisper, “I can’t believe you’re going to be living with a boy from our school!”
“Yeah, I know right...” she didn’t know how to feel. What if the boy turned out to be mean?
“Well... This could be to your advantage,” Ji Eun grinned. “Like, maybe if he’s really nice and a senior, he could help you with homework or something...”
“Really Jieun, really? The boys at Eastwood High School are just too obnoxious for things like that,” Hyosung quickly discarded the idea. She never imagined any of the boys in this school being that nice. Will her housemate even bother to talk to her?
“But what if turns out to be a geek or something...?” Ji Eun kept going through all the possibilities.
“Hmm..” Hyosung thought, “That wouldn’t be so bad... But still, as long as it is any guy my age who’s not blood related to me, I’m going to feel awkward no matter what. Who feels awkward inside of their own home?!” she groaned.
They continued going through all the situations that might happen until the bell rang, signaling that the junior’s lunch time was over.

***

“Hyosung, got all your stuff ready?” her mother called from the parents room.
“Yes mom, almost.” Hyosung had been packing whenever she found time for the last several days. It was short of notice that the teenager found out that they would actually be moving into the new house a mere week after she found out about it herself. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, fidgeting with her black dress a bit before pulling on her khaki colored coat. Today was finally the day that she would meet her mother’s old friends.
“Are they nice?” Hyosung wouldn’t stop with the questions, nervous about meeting everyone.
Her mother responded, “You’ll see when you get there. Now wrap it up, your dad is already putting our bags and luggages in the car.”
“Alright,” the daughter responded, disappointed with the lack of information. She quickly made sure to check if the most important item she possessed, her laptop, was packed in her side bag. It would be pretty boring without a computer over there, well anywhere.
She looked around her room one last time, taking in the pink walls that she had gotten painted as a child, the unicorn decorations and the rest of the furniture that sat there on her wooden floorboards. Oh how much I’ll miss those wooden floorboards, she thought as memories of her and her brother sitting down and playing duck duck goose and other games flooded into her head. This was where her childhood began and now she was to leave the house of where she lived almost all of her life.
With one last vocalized, “Goodbye,” she switched off the light and closed the door behind her before meeting her mom outside the front door to the apartment.
“Ready?” her mom asked, with Hyosung returning with a nod. “You sure?” She nodded once again. “Alright then, we’re locking it, let’s go!”
Dragging her luggage and carrying a side bag with her, Hyosung  made her way to the car where her father put everything in the trunk for her. She checked her watch which read 7:29 PM. It wouldn’t be long before a new segment in her life began. She took one last look at the exterior of the apartment building before the car left the sight of the street. With a sigh, she looked away.

***

“Welcome, we’ve been expecting you!”  a woman who looked like she was in her early forties greeted us after opening the door. Her smile reached from ear to ear and she seemed really nice, making Hyosung feel a bit relieved.
 “Nice to see you Anne!” Hyosung’s mother exclaimed and soon the two women were in each other’s arms, hugging each other like they hadn’t seen each other in years.
A man who looked like he was about Hyosung’s parent’s age appeared in the doorway as well at the sound of all the commotion. “Oh, you guys are here already!” he presented a hand forward for Hyosung’s father to take. They exchanged friendly hugs outside the front of the doorway under the night sky before Hyosung’s family were gestured to go in.
Hyosung and her little brother had been examining the house the whole time, wishing it was daylight so they could get a better look. So far, it seemed pretty nice though from what they could see.
“I’ll help you bring in your things,” the father offered, speaking to Hyosung’s father who replied that there was no need. They fussed around a bit until her father finally gave in and the two longtime buddies chatted as they walked back to the car to retrieve the other bags.
Hyosung took what she could carry into the house with her, a small, brown with pink polka dots luggage and a tote bag. She remembered to take off her shoes out of manners and place them upon the shoe stand before entering.
The nice lady who had embraced her mother in a hug momentarily ago saw Hyosung fidgeting with the bag while going up the stairs and told her, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll get one of the men to help you with that,” she smiled.
“Thank you,” the daughter responded, grateful since it wasn’t easy to carry such heavy weight all the way up the stairs. She propped the luggage up, leaning it against one of the walls near the stairs that seemed to go on forever.
“I see you’ve met my daughter,” her mother seemed happy at the sight of her childhood friend and daughter making conversation.
“Yes, your daughter has grown into such a fine, cute, young woman!” she pinched Hyosung’s cheek making her blush. She was awed by how kind and sweet the folks were around here. Maybe she would like it here after all...
“Ooh, that reminds me, I have to show you your new room!” she gestured at Hyosung to follow her up the stairs. The teenager did as she was told to and her eyes panned around the house curiously, taking in everything. It was quite beautiful, with high ceilings, shiny tiles and decorations here and there.
“By the way, you may a call me Mrs. Lee if you don’t know what to address me as,” she turned around to inform Hyosung when they finally arrived at the door to what was probably her new room after two flights of stairs. “Are you alright with that?”
“Of course,” Hyosung modestly said.
“I hope you don’t dislike the way I’ve decorated your room,” she said making Hyosung’s eyes light up at the hearing of this. They even decorated her room for her? How nice of them!
“Of course I wouldn’t!”
Mrs.Lee chuckled, “Alright, the moment of truth,” she said, turning the knob of the door and pushing it open in slow  motion. Suddenly, she let it go and the room came into view, making Hyosung let out a gasp.
Following the kind woman into the room, she looked around in amazement. Everything from the bed to even the wall was decorated. The bed was covered in white bed sheets with laces all over the place and extra small pillows. There were stuffed animals lying around and cute, princess style furniture everywhere. She smiled in delight at the sight of all the walking space along with her own desk and a chair with wheels.
She forgot where she was and felt embarrassed when her eyes met with the mother’s again, who had been watching her. “Like what you see?” she seemed satisfied with Hyosung’s reaction.
“Oh my, thank you! You didn’t have to do all this,” Hyosung felt like hugging the petite woman but held back since her awkwardness took over her.
Mrs. Lee chuckled, “Don’t worry about it dear,” and then took the girl’s hand to pull her over to a seat on the bed.
Looking deeply into Hyosung’s eyes, she spoke, “I’ve always wanted to have a daughter whom I could have done this for so it was fun decorating your room. I hope you enjoy staying with us.”
Hyosung was too taken back with all of this to know how to respond when suddenly, she spotted a pair of eyes peeking through a crack by the door. Her mother turned her attention to where the teenager was staring and suddenly shouted out, “Yah! Woohyun, don’t be so rude!” she ran over to the the door and pulled what looked like a boy by the back of his collar into the room.
“Say hi to your new housemate, Jeon Hyosung,” she demanded of the boy who looked like he was about ten years old. So this is their youngest son. She stared at him, trying to figure out why the young boy whom she never met before looked so familiar.
“Hi...” he muttered, looking away as if embarrassed.
“Hi Woohyun,” Hyosung replied back. As soon as his mother let go of his collar, he ran out the room in rush.
“Don’t mind him. He’s just shy,” his mother excused the boy.
Hyosung let out a small laugh. “It’s okay.”
“Alright then, I’ll give you some privacy to get settled down. Come down for dinner whenever you’re ready,” the mother said before leaving and closing the door.
Hyosung let out a breath after finally being alone. She wasn’t sure how she felt but so far, it was pretty good, better than expected. The parents were just too kind and she didn’t ever imagine being able to sleep daily in such a beautiful room like this before.
She unpacked a few clothes from her tote bag and placed them in drawers. To make it feel like home a bit more, she took out her her hair supplies, cosmetics and other beauty products. She settled them down upon the dressing table before finally deciding to go down for dinner, not wanting to make them wait too long.
Hyosung took one last look at the room before pulling open the door and departing it. However, as soon as she started taking a step outside of the room, she immediately pulled her foot back when what she saw made her retreat back. Her eyes went wide at the sight of a male, in front of her. She stared at the toned male before her, standing there with only a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair wet. He was in the middle of stepping into his own room when the girl’s footsteps reached his ears, causing him to turn around. However, as soon as she got a glimpse of the side of his face, her heart leaped and she immediately turned around and ran back into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Hyosung slid down the door until she was crouched with her arms around her knees. She couldn’t believe it.... She knew that a boy from her school would be living with her... But nobody told her that it would turn out to be her very own crush!
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Annyeong! Sorry for a later update than usual this time... I wanted to write  at least a chapter a day but there was just too much homework and a project to get done  yesterday so I wasn’t able to... But I hope I can make it up for you with a longer chapter than usual! :D