‘Once again my book was successful. I can pay back my loan now!’ Jia thought to herself while she had a huge smile plastered on her face. She was beginning to be more and more popular in Korea, even though it wasn’t where she originally was from. Her Korean was though still flawless and most of her books were also in Korean. She wrote fiction in form of children’s books, teenage romance stories and +18 horror stories. Then she also wrote biographies, where famous people requested her to write for them. So you could say she had a good wide span of areas to write about. She was genuinely proud of her own skills. On the top of the fact that her job was her dream job, she could also do almost everything from home. She only had to attend a few meetings with the publishers once or twice through a project. Jia being a person, who never really liked other people, thought it was completely perfect. It wasn’t that she had trouble talking with people, people actually found her charming and good company. She just didn’t feel like being around them more than necessary. Jia had always been the loner type and she liked it that way. Of course she had some friends, or one friend, Kevin. They had known each other since junior high, where Kevin saved her from the class bully. They had been best friends ever since. They also used to live together but Kevin got engaged to his girlfriend, so Jia decided to move out so they could get the apartment to themselves.

She has been living by herself for about a week now and so far it was going good, even though she was missing Kevin and his concern for her workaholic nature. She promised to invite him and his fiancé over when she was done with moving in, but it was taking longer than planned. Jia had decided to move right before the deadline for her new book, so the only thing in her new apartment that was done, was her office. She hadn’t even gotten her bed placed yet. But now that the book was done, published and selling well, she could start getting her home in place. ‘Before I go home I need to get groceries. Should I make chicken-potato pie tonight?’ Jia’s was so absorbed in thoughts of food that she didn’t even notice that a little kid was following straight behind her. When she suddenly stopped the little boy walked into her and she turned around, now noticing the little cute kid behind her. “Hey there.” She said while getting down to his eyelevel. To her he looked around three or maybe four years old. He had big brown eyes and dark short hair. “Are you lost? Or are you waiting for your parents?” she patted the boys head while he looked back at her and lifted his little arms, as if he wanted her to carry him. Jia looked puzzled at the kid but decided to pick him up, since he looked like he would cry if she didn’t. He instantly wrapped his little arms around her and nuzzled up against her neck. “What’s your name?” She talked gently to the little boy she was now holding in her arms. The little boy spoke with an almost soundless voice “Dongho.” She looked at the boy and got him to face her. “Well Dongho, we need to find where you belong. So don’t you think you should tell me who your parents are or where you live?” Jia smiled kindly at the little boy as he looked up at her with his big eyes and said a line of numbers, which Jia assumed must be the phone number to one of his parents. She decided it would be best if she took him back to her place, since her phone was lying at the kitchen counter there and it was getting kind of late. When they arrived she immediately got Dongho to say the number again so she could call it.

A man’s voice picked up. He sounded concerned. “Hello? Who is this? I don’t know your number.” Jia took a deep breath before answering. “Hi uhm, I’m Jia Williams. I have reason to believe I’m standing with your son in my kitchen. He gave me this number to call. His name is Dongho.” Jia heard a loud relieved sigh at the other end of the phone. “Thank you so much! I thought he had been kidnapped.” “Well I kind of did. I mean, I took him to my place without any of his parent’s consent, which is called kidnapping.” Jia stated. “But I’ll give you my address and you can come and get him. If you’re at work or something I can easily look after him.” She heard a chuckle from the man, she couldn’t help but smile. She gave him her address and he sounded surprised. “3^rd floor to the right you say? I live to the left.” There was a long pause. “Huh!? You’re my neighbour?” Jia exclaimed. The man laughed. “It appears like it. I’ll be over in about 5 seconds or less.” He hung up.

After about 5 seconds as the man had said, Jia’s doorbell rang. She quickly opened the door and found a quite attractive man standing on the other side. He looked to be well build and had amazing brown eyes. His hair seemed to have been dyed in a lighter colour then its original colour, since the root of his hair was darker. He raised his hand. “Hello again. I believe I forgot to introduce myself over the phone. I’m Shin Soohyun.” Jia just stood there, mesmerized by this good looking neighbour she never knew she had. Soohyun just looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

She suddenly got torn out of her trance when Dongho came running from the kitchen, yelling daddy. He jumped to his father’s embrace. “There you are!” Soohyun said with a calm fatherly voice. “You must never just take off like that ever again. You have to stay with the babysitter!” ‘Babysitter? Isn’t that something you use when you go out at night? Is he rich or something? Or doesn’t he have enough time for his son? Maybe Dongho doesn’t have a mother?’ Jia’s thoughts went wild. Soohyun saw her thinking expression and spook up. “I’m an only dad. This little guy has a babysitter who takes him to kindergarten and back home again.” Jia did an “oh” face to show her understanding. Dongho suddenly decided to speak. “Jia.” Jia looked a little shocked to hear the little boy call her name. “Yes Dongho?” Dongho looked down like a little shy kitten. “Read me a bedtime story.” He looked at her with big pleading eyes. Both Jia and Soohyun’s jaw dropped. Jia just met this kid, how could he get this attached already? Soohyun spoke. “You should ask nicely, otherwise she might not want to.” Jia smiled. “It’s really okay. I’ll read him a bedtime story. If it’s okay with you of course.” Soohyun looked at his son in his arms. He gave a nod as agreement. Dongho jumped victoriously in his father’s arms. They turned around to go the opposite way of Jia’s place. Jia followed them into their apartment.

They lived neatly and it was all designer furniture. Jia felt herself getting a bit jealous of Soohyun's great taste, now that her's was kind of dull. “I’ll just get him ready for bed. Feel free to look around.” Soohyun said while walking towards the bathroom. Jia didn’t hesitate and went right for the big bookshelf in the living room. Books had always been her big passion and she knew that books could tell a lot about a person. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw what books were there. He had her entire collection of +18 horror book series. ‘So he likes horror. Mmh, Good choice. Uh he also has all my biographies on K-POP stars. He’s into K-POP too? That’s a funny mix.’ She turned her attention to the hallway when she heard footsteps. Soohyun now came with a slightly tired Dongho in his arms. She followed them into Dongho’s room. It was filled with toys and he also had a bookshelf where all the children’s books Jia had written stood. She smiled once again. Dongho made a sign that he wanted to look at his books, so Soohyun put him down. Dongho then ran over to the shelf and took his favourite book out. The little prince and the world. Jia sat on the bed and made him come over to her. “Oh. That’s a great book you’ve got there. You want me to read that?” She took him onto her lap and opened the book. Dongho then nodded and leaned into her chest. Just like a mother and her son. “Your book.” Dongho said and looked up at Jia. She smiled and nodded. After about 10 minutes Dongho had fallen asleep in her lap, so she gently laid him under the covers of the bed and walked out of the room with Soohyun.

Soohyun then turned to her. “Thank you for doing this.” Jia shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me, I like reading to kids. I do it once a month in the library anyway.” Soohyun didn’t look surprised to hear that. “It’s not like him.” Soohyun said while looking blankly out of the window. “He hates women. I don’t know if he even had a relationship with his mother.” He sighed. “Since I became alone with him, he for some reason been scared of every babysitter, every woman who got one step too close to him. But with you, he just…” He became silent. Jia didn’t know what to say or do, so she put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t think too much about it. Maybe he’s just starting to get better? I don’t know what happened between him and women, but I’m sure it will sort itself out at some point. We all change, one way or another.” She looked at him with caring eyes. What was this she feeling? She wanted to hug him. Hold him tight. She just met this man, how could she want to do this already? Soohyun gave her a weak smile and just patted her hand. “Come, I’ll take you home.” Jia couldn’t help but chuckle at his comment, since she lived like 2 meters away. They walked out together.

Jia was searching her pockets for her key, but it was nowhere to be found. “Oh come on!” she exclaimed. Jia took her phone from her pocket and dialled Kevin’s number. “Hey Kev, it’s me Jia…. So I kind of locked myself out of my apartment and since I gave you a spare key, could you come over with it?.... Oh…. Not it’s fine, I’ll just stay somewhere else until Sunday…. Yeah don’t worry…. Give Yuna my best…. I love you too…. Bye.” Jia let her arm fall to the side. What was she going to do now? She had no other place to stay.

Soohyun was standing behind her looking concerned. “You can’t get in?” Jia nodded. “My key is on the dresser in the hallway, on the other side of this locked door.” Soohyun thought for a bit. “What about your parents? Couldn’t you stay with them?” Jia’s eyes darkened. “My parents don’t really want to see me and I don’t really want to see them.” She simply stated. Soohyun felt bad for bringing it up, since it looked to be a sensitive subject. “Well if you don’t have anywhere else to stay.” He paused. “You can stay with us. I mean I need someone to take care of Dongho now that the babysitter failed, again.” Jia looked back at him with a stunned look. ‘Stay with him!? No I couldn’t. Could I? What is this feeling I’m getting?’ Jia didn’t know what to do. Soohyun saw her inner concerns and a sudden feeling of protection took over him. He just took her hand and led her back into his apartment. Jia didn’t even understand what was happening until she was standing in his living room once again.

“I need to repay you for being so good to my son, so please stay here until you can get your key from your boyfriend on Sunday.” He was still holding her hand, and he was standing quite close to her. Jia could feel her blood rushing to her face. She mumbled a barely noticeable “Okay, but he’s not my boyfriend.” Soohyun thought to himself. ‘So she’s single? Sweet! Wait what?’ Soohyun suddenly noticed that he was still holding her hand and immediately let go and saying a sorry in the process.

There was now an awkward silence in the room. Soohyun cleared his throat. “Uhm, how do you feel about movies? I mean the time is like only 8pm so..” Jia just looked up into his amazing eyes and smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes. I hope you like horror, because I do.” She looked down. “Well I write gore horror stories, which I see you have the entire collection of. So I LOVE horror.” She gave a sarcastic glare. Soohyun chuckled at her respond. “I thought there was something familiar about your name, Jia Williams. Now I know what.” They exchanged smiles. “Why don’t you pick a movie and I’ll get drinks. They are on the shelf under the TV.” Jia gave a nod and went straight to the shelf. Soohyun watched her as she sat down in front of the TV. “What is it about this girl? Why do I find her so damn attractive!? Oh my god dude, stop staring at her !” Soohyun snapped out of his thoughts, blushing with a dark shade of red as he went to the kitchen to get the drinks, wanting to think about something else.

Jia found Soohyun's collection of horror movies amazing! He had all the classics, like Halloween, The Exorcist and her absolute favourite, Friday the 13^th. So of course she chose that. Soohyun came back into the living room and saw the movie in Jia’s hand. “Great choice! That’s by far my favourite movie.” Jia’s eyes got wide. “Really?! It’s mine too.” They once again exchanged smiles. Soohyun the TV and Jia put in the movie. They sat down right next to each other on the couch. So close that their thighs almost touched. They sat in silence, concentrating on the movie.

Soohyun kept looking to his left, to make sure Jia was enjoying herself. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her happy expression while watching the movie. He thought it was cute. Jia heard his chuckle and turned her attention to the older male sitting next to her. “What’s so funny?” She glared at him. “Nothing. You just look cute when you’re happy.” He was looking straight into her eyes, smiling. Jia blushed from the sudden comment and turned to face the TV. She could feel her heart beating faster than before. Not long after Jia felt a hand cover her own. She looked down to find that Soohyun was now holding her hand. ‘What is this!? Oh god I’m nervous! What do I do? What do I say? Do I even say anything? He’s making my heart beat so fast. Can he tell I’m nervous? , he’s looking at me again!’ Jia just turned her attention to the movie again, trying her best not to seem out of it. Soohyun noticed. He got afraid of making her uncomfortable so he took his hand away.

While removing his hand he suddenly felt Jia grab it and take it back down. She shyly looked at him. “I like holding your hand.” She simply said. This comment made his heart skip a beat. ‘How can she be this damn cute and y at the same time!? I shouldn’t have let her in my home. I’m going crazy! I need to calm myself, like now!’ He took a deep breath and turned to the TV, finding that the movie was now over. Now they were just sitting there, holding hands, not saying a word.

 Soohyun broke the silence. “Would it be okay if you slept in my bed, next to me? I mean, I could of course sleep on the couch!” “No it’s okay, we can both sleep in the bed. I don’t… Really mind.” She was blushing like crazy. Soohyun’s face lit up. “I’ll just find something for you to sleep in. Is an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants good enough?” “Yeah, but I don’t need the pants though.” He looked at her with a surprised look. “What? It’s uncomfortable sleeping with pants.” She just stated and looked back at him with an -it’s not a big deal- look. Soohyun thought nothing more about it and went into his bedroom to find a shirt in his closet. He came out with a blue V-neck t-shirt and handed it to her. She said thanks and disappeared into the bathroom, so she could change.

Soohyun sat back down on the couch. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Please don’t be wearing y underwear.” He said to himself. After few more minutes she came out. His plead didn’t work. She was wearing a pair of red lace and red was his favourite colour. Soohyun stood there, staring. He was completely mesmerized by the beautiful younger woman standing before him. Jia tried to stretch the shirt enough to cover her bottom half, but without luck. She cleared . “Do you by any chance, have a spare toothbrush or something?” Soohyun snapped out of his trance and nodded. He went out and found one. When he handed her the toothbrush he whispered in her ear. “You shouldn’t wear this in front of a man. He might not be able to keep his hands off of you.” His word sent shivers down her spine. This man was turning her on. Jia didn’t say anything and just took the toothbrush, their hands touched slightly. She quickly went back into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. ‘This is going to end badly! I should have said yes to the pants, why didn’t I say yes? How could I forget I was wearing the lace underwear set that Kevin gave me? Urgh!! Wait… Did he just imply that he thought I was y?’ Jia felt her heart pound out of her chest. ‘Don’t think about it Jia!’ She brushed her teeth and went out and into the bedroom.

There she found that Soohyun was changing his clothes. He was standing in the middle of the room, not wearing a shirt. She turned around to look the other way. Soohyun saw her action and smirked to himself. “You know.” He said with a devilish tone to his voice. “I don’t sleep with a shirt on, so you might as well just get use to it.” He walked a few steps closer to her. He was standing quite close now. Jia gasped when she could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck. She turned around to find him standing closer then she first thought. Their faces just inches apart. They stood there for a while, looking deeply into each other’s eyes. Soohyun took the first step and moved his face even closer to Jia’s as he palmed her face with his right hand. Jia liked the feeling of his soft hand on her face. When their lips were just about to connect, they heard Dongho cry from his room. They both jerked away, clearing their throats. Soohyun rushed to his son, while Jia hurried under the covers of the bed. Her face was blood red and her heart was pounding like crazy. “Oh dear” was the only thing she could say.

After a few minutes Soohyun came back into the bedroom with Dongho in his arms. “He had a nightmare. You don’t mind him sleeping here, do you?” Jia shook her head. “Of course not. It’s your home, remember?” Actually she was relieved. Then Soohyun and her wouldn’t be able to take things to a higher level, which pleased her. Truthfully, she was scared of this. She never had a relationship before and if she got one, the other person would have to learn about her past. A thought she feared. But she wanted to try this relationship thing with Soohyun. She had no idea why, since she just met him earlier that day. This was making her go out of her mind. She was taken out of her thoughts when a pair of small hands griped her face. It was Dongho. She softly smiled at him and put her arm around him. Holding him like he was the most precious thing she had. “Goodnight Dongho.” She said softly. “Oh and goodnight to you too, Soohyun.” Not wanting to forget him. Soohyun lay himself down on the other side of the bed and also but an arm around Dongho, lightly touching Jia’s arm as well. “Goodnight.” He whispered with a kind fatherly voice. They all three dozed off to sleep. Looking like a happy family.