Iseul’s POV

“Coming!” I yelled as I raced down the stairs to open the door.

I was not expecting anyone, therefore when the doorbell rang I was pretty surprised.

“Who is.. Oh. Hi, Doo~” I smiled when I opened to the door to find him standing there.

He pushed passed me and headed straight in.

“You… you didn’t tell me you’re coming.” I said.

He turned to stare at me.

“I mean, if you let me know earlier, I would have went grocery shopping so I could cook you your favourite food.” I quickly said.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Stay for dinner. I’ll just go to the store down the street and grab some extra ingredients.” I said.

“Don’t bother. I’m just here to see Eun.” He said quietly.

“Well, I got to cook anyway. Eat with… Eun. Eat with Eun. She misses you feeding her.” I said. Sorry, Eun, but I have to use you as an excuse.

He said nothing and started looking around the house.

“Eun’s upstairs. She’s asleep, but I think she’s going to wake up soon. I’ll leave her to you, I’ll be back quick. See you.” I said, hurrying out, not giving him a chance to say no, but then again, when it comes to Eun, not like he would say no.

I took my time to shop since I knew he felt better without me around. As much as I wanted to spend time with him too, I rather him come often just for Eun than not come at all.

When I got home, I saw him lying on the floor with Eun trying to walk on his stomach, with his support of course.

“Omo~ My strong princess~” He grinned when she stomped her foot excitedly on his chest.

“I’m home.” I said.

He looked up at me, and then returned to smile at Eun.

“It’s almost time for her milk. Do you want to feed her?” I asked.

“Is my princess hungry yet?” He asked Eun, tickling her.

She squashed his cheeks with her little hands and started laughing.

“I’ll go cook dinner.” I said, going into the kitchen.

While cooking, I stole occasional glances at them. Although I was not involved in their bonding, I felt happy just by seeing them smile.

“Put her down for a bit. Come and have dinner.” I said to him.

“I’ll be back, princess.” He said to Eun, kissing her on her forehead before letting her go wild in her playpen.

I pulled out the seat for him, but he did not sit down.

“Why aren’t you sitting?” I asked.

He did not answer me. He scooped a few dishes into another bowl, and together with his bowl of rice, he headed to where Eun was to eat. I stared at his back, shocked by his actions. I bit down on my lower lip to control myself.

‘It’s okay. At least he is here.’ I told myself before sitting down to eat dinner alone.

***
Like in the past, Doojoon would come every night for dinner as well as to play with Eun. The only difference from last time and now is that in the past he would let himself in, but now he rings the door bell, and also in the past we were best friends, but now we are strangers.

His attitude towards me got so bad to the point he would not even bother to tell me when he leaves. He just walks out of the house after saying goodbye to Eun. It was really as if I did not exist at all.

Every night I had to tell myself the same thing; ‘It’s okay. At least he is here.’, but the more I tell myself that, the more it sounded like a lie. My mind is starting to doubt it already. It is not okay. I do not like how he is treating me.

I know I am not in the position to feel this way but I was starting to get tired of his attitude towards me. I rather he tell me everything in my face, and then we can decide from there whether to remain as friends or not, than treat me so coldly, leaving me hanging like that.

But each time I plan to tell him off, I could not bring myself to say those words to him, so I end up it up and accepting his cold attitude. After all, I deserve it, do I not?

I came out of the toilet just in time to hear the front door close. Eun was in her playpen, smiling at me.

“Did Doo left already?” I asked, picking her up in my arms.

She snuggled her cheek against my chest, clutching tightly onto the neck of my shirt. I sat on the couch with her lying against me, patting her back gently.

“Eun ah, I don’t like how your Doodoo is treating me. It hurts.” I said to her.

“I miss our closeness. I took him for granted in the past, didn’t I? I thought our friendship was everlasting. I never thought that this would happen, Eun ah~ But more than that, I never knew it would hurt so much. I never knew a person could hurt this much.” I said, allowing my tears to flow.

As if she knew I was crying, she looked up at me, and then rested her head against my shoulder.

“Eun ah, now that Doo is only willing to be close to you, you cannot abandon him, okay? You got to make him really happy. You are his only hope, his only ray of light, do you know?” I said.

I played with her for a little while more before bringing her to bed. I was tired too, therefore I decided to coax her to sleep earlier.

“Where is elephant friend?” I asked her, looking around the room for the soft toy.

I remember putting it at the side of her cot in the afternoon while she was taking her nap, but it is gone now. The elephant soft toy was not the only thing of hers that have gone missing.

Recently, her bib, handkerchiefs, one side of her socks and mittens has mysteriously disappeared. It was as if the washing machine ate up her stuff. I might not have notice if both sides disappeared, but only one side disappeared, which was really odd.

“Maybe elephant friend went to sleep in the closet or whatnot.” I muttered as I rocked her gently.

She fell asleep faster than I thought she would. I kissed her on her forehead before putting her down. I washed up and went to bed early.

I was asleep when I heard some noises coming from outside, as if someone was in the house. Initially, I thought I was dreaming, but when I sat up and heard the noises again, I was certain I was not dreaming. Did someone break into my house?

I got out of bed when I heard shuffling outside my room. I thought about Eun instantly. I had no idea where I got the courage from, but I headed outside with nothing to defend myself.

When I got closer to the door, the noises got clearer. Out of fear that whoever outside might hurt Eun, I opened the door to reveal myself. It was dark outside but I could see a shadow-like figure. I hit whoever it was with my bare hands until the person cried out in pain. I stopped because the voice was so familiar.

I hurried to turn on the lights. I almost screamed when I saw Doojoon crouching on the floor, looking scared.

“DOO! What the hell!?” I yelled, feeling both angry and shocked.

I was about to scold him further for being such a creeper when I saw that he was perspiring a lot and shaking badly.

“What happened?” I asked, kneeling down to his eye level.

He said nothing, except stare blankly at me.

“What… Wait.” I muttered when I heard my phone rang.

He grabbed onto my arm, not letting me go answer me.

“My phone is ringing, Doo. It might be the boys. Do they know you’re here?” I asked.

“Don’t go.” He said, digging his nails into my arm as he grabbed onto me tightly.

I had no choice but to drag him along as I went to grab my phone.

“Iseul! Did Doojoonie call you!?” Yoseob asked worriedly.

“He’s here in my house. What happened? I asked, but he isn’t saying.” I said, looking at Doojoon who was looking somewhere else now.

“I supposed he had a horrible nightmare. We were all awoken by his screams. We managed to hush him back into sleep, but when Kikwang woke up again to check on him, Doo had disappeared. Gave us such a big scare, this idiot.” He said.

“I’ll take care of him. You boys go back to sleep.” I said.

“Thanks, Iseul.” He said.

“He’s my best friend, remember?” I said before ending the call.

I turned back to Doojoon.

“Look at you.” I said, wiping the perspiration off his forehead.

He pushed my hand away. I almost shouted at him, but I swallowed my anger.

“So, do you want me to sleep with you or do you just want to claim my bed?” I asked, arms crossed.

He stared at me for a while, and then crawled into my bed, occupying one side of it. I climbed in, sitting next to him, staring at his sleeping body. I looked over when I saw him clutching something in his hands; Eun’s elephant soft toy.

“How did that get here? Was it here all along? But why didn’t I see it?” I asked myself, puzzled by the reappearing soft toy.

I smoothed his hair and rested my chin against his shoulder, feeling his body rise and fall as he slept. I lost myself watching him sleep.

“What do I do, Doo? I think I like, like you. But is it too late now?” I asked. But he could not hear me.