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Finally, after a long moment of silence, Luhan couldn't avoid the rising curiosity in his chest, and it had resulted into him asking Ahreum a question that seemed to bother him to no end. Without hesitation, he asked, "Your life looks so splendid, but you look so miserable. Why?" He peered at her as he sat nonchalantly on the window sill.

Surprised by how sudden he acted, Ahreum titled her head at him. She bit her bottom lip and sat down on the bed, watching her hands on her lap. No one really had the heart of asking why Ahreum was the way she was. Many had assumed that her life was the epitome of perfection; which, in many ways, it may have been so. But looking at it in Ahreum's perspective, it sure was great and had its charms, but at the same time it was very lonely. 

"It's just... very lonely." She finally spoke, quietly and carefully. Seeing that Luhan had not moved and stared at her intently, she continued. "My parents are never home, neither is my older brother, I have a hard time opening up to people, and my best friend - well, used-to-be best friend - acts as though we have never acquainted ourselves with one another. But the worst part is; I act as if I'm okay, when really, I'm far from it." Ahreum finished, glancing at the plush. She suddenly began to chuckle. "Why am I even telling you all  this?" She exclaimed frustratingly, running her hand through her wavy ebony locks.

Luhan turned away. Since he wasn't able to remember what his old life was like before having his soul transferred, there wasn't much to say. He couldn't exactly feel what loneliness was like, but he had a feeling that it was terrible. 

Before he could stop himself, Luhan blurted, "Maybe you just needed to let your feelings out. How long have you bottled them up?" 

Startled by Luhan's sudden question, Ahreum quickly looked away, mentally trying to answer his question on her own. After a few moments of an unpleasant period of awkward silence, she finally responded. "No one will be willing to listen. I guess that's why I bottle them up." Before Luhan could ask or even speak to reply, she quickly added, "But that's okay. I don't even like talking about my feelings to others because for the most part, many will most likely shower me with sympathy or try to help with advice that doesn't even make sense."

Once the words that slipped through Ahreum's lips reprocessed inside Luhan's head, he turned his head to glance at her. "Then why tell me any of this?" He asked and turned away once he saw her lips beginning to move. She paused for a moment. For the second time today, the little deer managed to freeze both her tongue and brain with cunning questions that seem to have popped out of nowhere.

"I... don't know." She answered verbally, but mentally she wondered if it was because of how much faster seemed to react without any help of comprehension from her brain. It was strange.

"You sure are opening up a lot to me. Are you aware of that?" Luhan asked, fearless now. He hopped off the window sill and landed on the silk beige comforter of the bed. Ahreum glanced at Luhan with a small glint her eyes and held him carefully in her hands. Luhan involuntarily shivered in her hold. He was not used to being held with such care and warmth.

"Yes, I am aware of that," she answered. "But it feels right to tell you. I mean, you mean no harm, right? After all, you're only in the form of a stuffed animal." A smirk dared to spread across her face. Luhan scoffed and struggled out of her hold. "Like I didn't know that already. I know that I'm in the form of a stuffed animal. And I don't even know why." He mumbled, whispering the last part to himself, sighing inwardly. 

Silence began to consume the room. Neither had anything to say. They both knew that they were a mess - Ahreum dealing with her teenage angst, and Luhan with his unsettling soul transformation. 

Without another word, Ahreum gently placed Luhan down on her bed beneath her fluffy pillows, grabbed her Polaroid, and stepped out of the room. Luhan watched her figure fluttering away from his sight. Once she was gone completely, he shrugged to himself and sunk into the softness of her pillows and fell asleep, not quite realizing the surprise he was to be greeted with.

A loud thud interrupted Ahreum's sleep in the middle of the night. As an automatic response, she simply turned herself on the other side of the bed and tried to ignore the noises evident within her bedroom. After all, she was the only one in the house, was she not?

Another thud came in contact with Ahreum's eardrums. This time she groaned and threw the pillow that was resting on her face across the room, frustrated and fearless. Whether if it was a burglar, , or some type of serial killer, she didn't care. She just wanted to go back into her blissful dream of frolicking on the beach shore with the bias.

"Woah! Calm down." A sweet, soothing voice cried out. It sounded oddly familiar. At this, Ahreum shot up in her bed. "W-who's there?" She asked, her voice filled with obvious fear.

"It's up to you whether or not if you believe me, but I'm your velveteen deer - in human form, that is."

Ahreum squinted her eyes to adjust her vision to the inky black darkness. With her poor night vision, she managed to see a fairly tall silhouette of what seemed to be a slightly grown man. An audible gasp slipped past her lips. Panicked, with clumsy movement, she hastily grabbed for a nearby object that would suffice as a weapon - a hair brush. Without missing a heart beat, Ahreum threw it at the direction of the silhouette but missed terribly by a landslide.

Suddenly, the light flickered open.

Ahreum squeezed her eyes at the sudden intrusion of light flooding into her vision. She brought her forearm to cover her eyes. The brightness of the light hurt her eyes.

"My name is Luhan, if I haven't formally introduced myself before." The same soft voice from before spoke.

Upon hearing such a peaceful and soft voice, Ahreum decided that the stranger was of no harm and cautiously brought her forearm down. Once enough light had flooded into her vision, she was able to see clearly now. She looked around to see that her room was in tact. Only a misplaced pillow, badly thrown blush, and slight mark on the wall from the thrown brush were the only present changes. Finally, with the smallest bit of courage, she raised her head slightly to see who owned such a soothing voice. 

Ahreum gasped. In front of her was a beautiful man. His hair was a nice caramel brown. He was dressed in a clean cocoa, white and baby blue color block varsity jacket with a simple white tee and some jeans that complimented his legs nicely. Her eyes carefully trailed over his facial features. She glanced at his perfectly shaped nose, his slightly pouty lips, and finally, his eyes. His beautiful, beautiful eyes. He was, without a doubt, handsome.

Abruptly, a smile graced Luhan's face. 

All of Ahreum's insides melted at the sight. Her jaw was now slightly slack open. Her eyes wide with surprise. Her palms began to perspire. He was just too handsome to handle and being within the same room as him was just as overwhelming.

Luhan.

The name repeated itself inside her head more times than needed. The name itself was quite endearing, leaving an impression on Ahreum's mind. 

Timidly, Ahreum smiled, greeting herself quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's nice to finally meet you, Luhan-sshi. My name is Ahreum." Luhan smiled a little more and bowed.

Strange. He acts so differently when he's in his 'human form.'

"Why have you," Ahreum started, but paused, mentally trying to get her thoughts together. "Why are you in human form?" She finally asked after several moments of silence. Luhan titled his head to the side, his mouth parted and his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "I have no idea. I'm still trying to figure this out myself. It's weird. One moment I'm a plush toy, the next I'm a human. It's crazy." Luhan chuckled half heartedly.

With blank eyes, clearly tired, Ahreum glanced at the clock that rose high above the fireplace. She squinted at the hands of the clock, desperately trying to ignore the watchful eyes of Luhan, who was now curiously staring at her with wide doe-eyes. 12:18 a.m, the clock read. Ahreum mentally groaned, burying herself in her bed.

"I'm truly sorry for having you wake up upon my behalf." Luhan spoke under his breath after seeing Ahreum slump back into her bed. Ahreum softened and got up to walk over to Luhan. "It's fine. Would you like to eat anything?" She asked as soon as she was at least a foot in front of him. 

"If it isn't too much trouble." Luhan said cheekily. Ahreum nodded and turned around, hoping that he hadn't seen the blush spreading across the apples of her cheeks.

I had no idea that such a handsome human being exisisted.