"I'll wait for another five minutes." Jaekyung said to herself, looking at her watch while puffing her cheeks. She was all dressed up in her simple maroon dress, covering bare shoulders with a cardigan and puffed up just a little bit so that she wouldn't look pale. She sighed and looked at her watch, knowing well that she had been waiting for almost an hour, just sitting at the balcony, waiting for Hoya to show up and she had been standing up and checking his balcony, to see if she could see the inside of his house but she had a huge letdown every time. She was thinking that perhaps Hoya had missed what she wrote on the back of the note, about the promised time but then she thought it was impossible since she had written it big enough for even an elder to read without wearing reading glasses. After 5 minutes were up, she buried her chin in between her knees and pouted. "I'll give you another five minutes..."'

Once the second five minutes were over, she stood up and got inside and closed the balcony door. She changed into something more comfortable and sat at the kitchen table, writing lesson plans but she couldn't deny that she was upset to even come up with ideas, leaving her frustrated. So, she closed her notebook and took out her laptop, and watched a drama instead, barely able to concentrate and finally she dozed off on the couch. When she woke up hours later, it was already dark and she stood up with a dizzy head trying to switch on the lights.

Still feeling drowsy, she scanned her house with an empty mind but furrowed deeply when she looked at the balcony door. She stomped towards it, and was about to open it but she stopped herself.

"Why am I thinking so much about it when he's only my neighbour?" She asked out loud to herself, and then she shook her head and after just staring at the balcony door's lock, she retreated away from the door. That's right, she thought and shrugged, I don't even know him anyway.

"Park-ssam! Park-ssam!"

"Huh?" Jaekyung looked up and saw Hwayoung was waving her hand in front of her face. "Oh... I'm sorry." She sat up straight, fixing her hair blindly.

"You keep on spacing out today. Is something bothering you?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Not really." She said, with a pretense tone in her voice.

"Is it a guy?" Jaekyung shot her a disapproved look and she bit her tongue before saying, "Anyway, Park-ssam, the other day, I went out with that guy I was talking about." She giggled a little, and her cheeks turn a little red.

"The guy you don't even know? Yah, isn't it dangerous to go out with people you don't know?" Jaekyung asked, and she couldn't hide the edge in her voice, even when Hwayoung had gone a little pale.

"But... he's not that much of a stranger. I mean, he's my father's worker... And Woohyun oppa knows him as well." Hwayoung said, fiddling with her pen.

"Woohyun knows him as well?"

"Uh-huh. So it's safe! Don't worry!"

"Even someone you know might hold back intention towards you, you know."

"Park-ssam is very sceptical about people?" Hwayoung asked, looking at Jaekyung by only lifting up her pupils.

"I'm not. I'm just asking you to be more careful with the people around you." Jaekyung sighed and looked elsewhere. "Even a person you don't know is able to disappoint you."

"Park-ssam is talking from her own experience." Hwayoung stated, and put her cheeks in her palms, staring at Jaekyung. Jaekyung stared back, looking uncomfortable but she was unrelenting. "Who is he? The person who made Park-ssam felt disappointed?"

"It's no one, really." Jaekyung said, finally looking away, and was then flipping through the pages of the manual under Hwayoung's intense gaze. "We've covered a lot today. I think you can go home now."

"So soon?" Hwayoung asked, surprised. "But I don't want to go home yet!"

Jaekyung took a deep breath before sighing. "You should go home while you still can Hwayoung-ah. When you've become an adult and leave home to study or to work someday, you will miss it."

"What to miss about that house?" Hwayoung said, quietly. "It's always empty anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Jaekyung asked, studying Hwayoung's desolate face.

"Father is always busy with her work and Mother, well, she's always not in the country..." She said, laughing wryly and she kept on tapping the book on the table with her pen.

"What about Woohyun?"

"Oppa comes and goes. When he's there, he's there but most of the time we don't see each other much." She shrugged and tapped the book slowly.

"You don't have any other siblings?" Hwayoung shook her head. "There's just oppa and... me." She ended her sentence with a little hesitation in her voice. She sat up straight suddenly but she didn't look at Jaekyung. "I'm sorry for keeping Park-ssam here. I'll go home now."

"Oh... Okay." She watched her packing up her stuff and when she was about to leave, she said, "Hwayoung, are you alright?"

"I'm okay." She replied, giving her a little smile. "But Park-ssam, you know something? I think it's better to be let down by a stranger because when someone you know disappoints you, it hurts even more, don't you agree?"

"Hwayoung..."

"I'll be going home. Take care." She bowed, and made her way to the entrance after paying for her drink leaving Jaekyung sighing while scratching her head, feeling a little guilty.

"I want to walk today." Hwayoung said to her driver who was waiting at the corner of the street as usual. "I want to walk alone." She said, when the man didn't move from his stance, waiting for her to walk. "No one's going to kidnap me, you know. And even if they do, you think my father would actually care and use his money to save me?" She asked with a loud voice, and the man looked a little apprehended but he said nothing, just bowing his head. "Ugh. You guys are just..." She walked off, leaving the man behind her who quickly got into the car and followed her closely by driving it slowly. Hwayoung sighed and walked down the streets, trying to think about something that could cheer her up and her mind quickly drifted off to Hoya. She smiled to herself and took out her phone excitedly, and dialed a number.

After walking for some time, she finally gave up and got in the car, and headed towards home. Woohyun was sitting in the living room, reading something on the sofa, so Hwayoung stopped to greet him. He smiled brightly when he looked up from his book.

"How was school today?"

"Just as usual." She replied casually, hoping that he wouldn't expand on the topic. "It's rare to see oppa at home at this time. Are we having any occasion?"

"You make it sound like I'm only home for occasions." He sighed and closed his book slowly. Hwayoung only shrugged and gripped the straps of her backpack tighter. Woohyun stood up and walked over to her and put his hand on top of her head. "I just want to see my Hwayoung from time to time too."

Hwayoung let out a sinister laugh and glared at him, though not in a hostile way. "Instead of 'from time to time', why can't you be at home 'all the time'?"

"Omo. Is our Hwayoung angry?" Woohyun asked, and placed his palms against her cheeks, raising her face. "Hwayoung-ah, you know that I need to work and everything... But it seems that you're upset. So how about we play house and I'll be your husband just like how we played it when we were kids?"

"I'm not a child anymore." Hwayoung said, and peeled off Woohyun's hands from her cheeks, quickly looking away. He pouted a little, still looking at her and tilted his head so that he could see her better. "I'm going upstairs first." She said, without raising her face, and headed to the stairs, knowing well that Woohyun was still watching her. She let her bag dropped onto the floor, and climbed onto her overly sized bed, quickly taking out her phone. She read the text from Jin and smiled to herself. "Thank you, ahjussi~"

Hoya was gobbling down a bowl of street side ramen when his phone vibrated. He quickly fished it out from his jeans and furrowed at the unfamiliar number on the screen. Unconsciously, he looked to the left and right, to see of anyone was watching. It was really a habit that he needed to shake off because it made him looked suspicious but he couldn't help it at times. He picked up the call before the last ring.

"HOYA!"

He almost choked on air, and was awfully relieved that his mouth was empty at that time or else