“Hello?” JaeHwan called out as he peeked his head into the open door.

When he got no response, he looked back out into the driveway to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Seeing Lucca and Raelyn’s car there, he knew someone was home, and it was the day that Lucca normally had the car. Crossing his fingers and hoping that Raelyn wasn’t there, JaeHwan carefully stepped into the open doorway and looked around. There were stacks of stuff that weren’t normally out of place around the living room, and he saw that the TV was actually on, but not playing shows. Instead, music was playing out of the speakers.

“Lucca~!?” He called out, loud enough that she could hear him over the music.

Once again getting no response, he sighed slightly. Kicking off his shoes, he started into the house a little further. Before he got too far, he noticed a stack of picture frames and instantly got curious as to what they held. Going over to them and picking up the one on top, he saw it was a picture of Lucca and Raelyn out in an outdoorsy area, but they looked so much younger.

Gently his finger over the younger looking version of Lucca with slightly shorter hair, JaeHwan couldn’t help but smile a little. “Aw, she was still so cute….” He looked at the picture that was underneath, seeing another picture of just Lucca this time. She looked even younger, but he could still tell that it was her. He gasped a little when he saw it, smiling cheekily to himself. “Oh my god~….” He reached down, trading the picture of just Lucca for the one that he was already holding.

Picking it up, he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. She was smiling shyly at the camera, her eyes still the same as they have always been. The biggest difference, however, was how short her hair was. It was almost pitch black, and it fell to about jaw length, just covering her ears. Her bangs were swept over her forehead and to the side in a feathery kind of way. Smiling brightly, JaeHwan couldn’t help but stare at the picture for a while.

“JaeHwannie?” A voice called out, startling him out of his daze.

Looking up, he tried to pretend like he hadn’t been lost and staring at the picture as he looked at the woman who had entered the living room. Lucca stepped over a pile of stuff, her eyebrows scrunched up slightly as she moved closer to him. Holding her hand up, he saw that she had the remote to the TV and turned off the music before moving closer to him. She was wearing a tank top and tight leggings, her feet bare. Her hair was twisted up into a bun, and she was wearing a thick black headband to keep the flyaway hairs up. She looked at what he was looking at and almost instantly groaned.

“Yah! Put that down!” She complained, pointing to the pile that she knew he had gotten it from. “You’re such a snoop.” She whined, hitting his arm lightly.

JaeHwan laughed, smiling at her. “There you are~” he tipped his head, meeting her eyes.

She almost instantly looked away though, her eyes turning towards the mess that the living room had become. “Aish, I should have cleaned up in here before going downstairs….” She muttered, her cheeks turning slightly red. “Or maybe I should have just closed the door.” Glancing at the still open door, Lucca sighed, shaking her head. “Why did you stop by, though?” She asked, carefully straightening the stack of pictures once he put the one of her younger self down on top.

JaeHwan shrugged slightly as he turned and shut the front door for Lucca. “Because I wanted to.” He looked around the living room, then at Lucca. “I just wanted to come by and see you, is that so wrong?”

“No, I guess not…. If you’re going to be here though, you want to help me with this stuff?” She asked, gesturing to the piles of stuff around the living room.

JaeHwan nodded a little as he moved over and picked up a pile of pictures that had been sitting beside the other one. “What exactly are you doing, anyways?”

“I’m cleaning the house up, what does it look like?” Lucca laughed a little, turning away with the pictures in her hands.

“Like you’re making a mess.” JaeHwan couldn’t help but make the small jest, laughing as he followed Lucca down the hallway.

“Oh, ha ha, very funny JaeHwan.” Lucca sent a small glare back at him, but it was counteracted by the small grin that was forcing the corners of her lips up.

“You thought so.” He smiled, adjusting the pictures in his hands and watching as Lucca disappeared behind a door. Following, he found that the door covered up some stairs that led down. Slightly surprised by this, he made his way carefully down the steps to follow her.

“I’m stashing all of the pictures over in that corner of the den.” Lucca stated, pointing towards a random corner with her elbow since she was still carrying the pictures.

JaeHwan looked around the neat and tidy den area, seeing the comfortable looking furniture that created a lounging area. He looked and saw the library of books that were lining the walls, and he could see the corner she was talking about as he got further into the den. It was the corner of the room that was empty and didn’t seem to disturb the lounging area.

They walked over to it, and carefully stacked the pictures on the ground with another stack of them that had already been brought down. Once they were in place, JaeHwan turned and started towards the lounging area. He looked around it, a small smile passing on his lips as he did so. “This place is so nice.” He stated, looking back at Lucca.

She hadn’t really been paying attention to him, and was instead looking at one of the pictures when he said something. She didn’t make any statement in return to him, so JaeHwan shrugged a little. He walked so he was in the center of the lounge area, his fingers gently grazing across the back of one of the recliners for a moment. He looked up at the TV that was mounted up on the wall above the covered up fireplace, and he knew almost instantly that they were never down in this area.

“Why don’t you guys come down here more often? This is so much more comfortable than the living room.” He stated, feeling the material of one of the recliners before deciding to test it out for himself and sit down.

Lucca looked over, noticing that JaeHwan had suddenly made himself right at home. “What are you doing?” she asked, walking over and looking around the den for a moment.

“Wondering why it is you guys don’t spend a lot of time down here. It’s so nice!” He held his hands up and out towards all of the nice furniture and the nice little coffee table in front of him.

Lucca shook her head as she looked at JaeHwan. “Because we just don’t….” She looked around, a sudden awkward air surrounding her as she looked at the furniture. “It’s weird since there’s only two of us ever here….”

“I don’t think there’s anything weird about it…. Two is more than enough company….” He looked up at Lucca, then gestured to the chair that was beside his. “Sit down for a little bit, you look kind of tired….” JaeHwan stated, watching as she awkwardly shuffled in place.

Shaking her head again, Lucca turned and started to walk away. Before she could get too far though, JaeHwan caught her hand and started pulling her back. “Come on, Lucca~ just take a break with me for a moment or two.”

“We’ve barely even done anything….” Lucca tried to pull away, but JaeHwan held on tightly to her hand.

“Come on now.” JaeHwan pulled, bringing her closer to him before tugging her down so she was sitting in his lap.

Gasping, Lucca looked at JaeHwan with wide eyes. She could feel her cheeks heat up, and as much as she wanted to move a little closer to him, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “JaeHwan…!” She complained, fighting to stand and tugging her hand out of his grasp. She backed away from him slightly, not wanting to get caught by him again.

JaeHwan, however, was completely stunned at her reaction. “Lucca….” He blinked, the action of her pulling away so forcefully hurting him. “What’s wrong…? It’s not like I was going to do anything….” He sighed softly, looking up at her with sad eyes.

Lucca was holding onto the recliner that was beside JaeHwan’s, her eyes meeting his in a very unsure way. She shook her head slightly, looking away from him and towards the coffee table. She found that it was a better place to look than at his sad eyes.

JaeHwan looked from Lucca to the coffee table, then at his hands for a moment. “Did I do something wrong…?” He asked carefully, looking back up at her slowly. “You’ve been very…. Standoffish, with me recently…. Did I do something…?”

“No….” Lucca shook her head. “You haven’t done anything wrong….”

“Then what is the problem…?” JaeHwan was hurt even more hearing that.

“The problem is that you haven’t done anything wrong!” Lucca snapped slightly, her hand clutching onto the recliner behind her. “You haven’t done a single thing wrong….” She stared in the coffee table’s direction, but JaeHwan could see that her eyes were not seeing the table.

“Lucca…. That shouldn’t be something you rebuke me for…. If I haven’t done anything wrong, then why are you treating me like this…?”

“You just don’t understand!” Lucca cried, swallowing as she looked back at him. “You don’t understand….”

“Lucca….” JaeHwan sighed gently as he stood up. He walked over to her, his hands shakily reaching out and grabbing onto hers. He let out a gentle sigh when she didn’t let him pull her hands away from where they were grasping onto the recliner. “Lucca, don’t you understand this by now…? You’re the center of my attention…. I would never, ever, want to hurt you…. But, I can’t keep being denied like this…. Every little action I make is turned away….”

Eyes still turned away, Lucca tried not to let him know how much it was hurting her inside.

“I’m here for you…. If something bothers you, tell me…. If something bad happened, then tell me….” JaeHwan gently brushed his thumbs over the backs of Lucca’s hands. “Open up to me, Lucca…. Let me in….”  

Lucca looked around the room, but finally her eyes made it to JaeHwan. She looked up at him, seeing just how sincere he was looking at her. He let out a soft sigh, tipping his head a little as he looked at her. Trying to take a chance, Lucca released the recliner that was behind her. She felt his hands softly curl around hers, pulling them away from the recliner and a little closer to him.

“I…. I don’t know where I’m supposed to start….” She shook her head, a soft breath escaping as she looked down towards their hands.

“Tell me what’s bothering you….” JaeHwan decided for her, gently brushing his fingers over her hands.

Swallowing the large lump that had formed in , Lucca sighed softly. “You’re different…. You’re not like other guys….” She gently grasped onto JaeHwan’s fingers, her eyes staring at his chest. “You…. You’re honest with me, you’re playful, you’re gentle, and yet even when we end up in bad situations, you can still handle it and get through it….” She sighed, looking down. “You’re different from every other guy that has ever been a part of my life….”

JaeHwan hadn’t been expecting this response, his eyes widening just a little bit. He looked down at the way that Lucca held onto his hands, almost like a little kid would their parent’s when they were scared. She clutched onto his fingers, her eyes turned down towards their hands.

Before JaeHwan could respond though, Lucca started speaking again. “I’m so scared of letting you in…” she trailed off, staring at their hands almost intently now. “Every man I have ever let into my life has always me, lied to me, or left me, and I don’t want to get too comfortable and then let that happen all over again….”

It was JaeHwan’s turn to shake his head slightly. He gave Lucca’s fingers a gentle squeeze, leaning down so he was looking up at her face. “Let me be the first to tell you then that I won’t do any of that. I won’t turn on you, I won’t leave you, and I definitely don’t want to lie to you….” He his thumbs over the back of Lucca’s hands.

Lifting her eyes just a little to meet JaeHwan’s, Lucca wanted so badly to believe everything he was saying. She stared at him for a little while longer, her cheeks already starting to burn as she did so. Her every natural defense was telling her to run, but her legs refused to. “I-… I’ll hold you to that….” Lucca finally stated, looking up at him.

JaeHwan smiled before gesturing towards the couch slightly, her hand still in his. “Let’s go sit down for a bit….”

“Okay….” Lucca nodded slightly, giving into him as she let him lead her over to the couch.

As they sat down though, Lucca looked around the lounge area and became silent. She hadn’t spent much time in there at all, and it was weird now. She sat down and felt the presence as JaeHwan sat beside her.

Reaching out slightly, JaeHwan draped his arm just barely around Lucca’s shoulders. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you, just trust me….” He murmured, pulling Lucca a little closer to him. “So tell me then, is there anything else bothering you…?” He asked, looking at her with gentle eyes.

“Being down here bothers me a bit….” Lucca responded after a long pause, her eyes wandering around the den almost longingly.

Looking around, JaeHwan found no reason for the den to be a scary place. “I don’t see why…it’s so comfortable down here.”

Lucca laughed almost inaudibly, but then leaned just a little closer to him. “I guess we can stay down here, it just…. I haven’t spent much time down here for the past two years really….” Lucca told him, her eyes turning towards JaeHwan.

“Why not…?” JaeHwan’s question was full of confusion as he looked at her.

“This was my mother’s favorite room…. I try not to mess with it too much…. I come down and clean it sometimes, but being down here is just a reminder half the time of what happened….” Lucca trailed off quietly, then looked over to the little library area. “That’s her library…. She bought all of those books and I would spend a lot of time with her over there…she put up all of those pictures, and made it her little study area…..”

JaeHwan looked around the den, then to Lucca. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say, and looked around again for a moment. “Then should we go back upstairs…? Is she going to get mad that we’re down here…?” He asked this, but the thought confused him. He did not remember ever meeting or seeing Lucca’s mother around the house.

Laughing almost bitterly, Lucca shook her head. “My mom’s not going to come out of the urn just so she can scold us for being down here…..”

JaeHwan almost laughed at this, but then he realized what exactly it was that Lucca had said. He instantly felt his stomach give way as he looked at Lucca, his eyes suddenly showing his sadness and concern for her. “Lucca….” He murmured, his hand gently holding onto hers.

“It happened a while ago…. Don’t worry about it, JaeHwannie….” Lucca shook her head, but carefully adjusted so she was a little closer to him. He turned slightly towards her, and Lucca took this opportunity to lean in and rest her head against his shoulder lightly.

“Do you want to go upstairs…?” JaeHwan asked, his arm gently tightening around her shoulders.

“No….” Lucca shook her head. “I just want to lay here for a bit…. I’m tired….” She finally admitted, leaning in a little closer to JaeHwan.

“We can lay down….” JaeHwan suggested quietly, unsure of what was okay and what wasn’t.

“Okay….” Lucca nodded slowly adjusting so she was closer to the back of the couch. She pulled JaeHwan gently, urging him to lay down too. Once he did, she leaned down, just barely resting her head on his shoulder and stretching out.

JaeHwan looked at the way Lucca was laying, her head resting on his bony shoulder and her body pressed into the back of the couch. “That’s no way to lay…” He stated, a small smile forming as he reached up and gently cupped his hand along her jawline. Pulling her just slightly, he adjusted so she was laying with her head on his chest instead. “At least make yourself comfortable….”

Lucca couldn’t even argue with him, instead subconsciously nuzzling a little closer to him. Her ear was pressed against his chest, and she could hear the rhythmic pounding of his heart. The sound was comforting, and it made her feel a little safer to be around him. “My mom would like you….”

“I hope so.” JaeHwan sighed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Because I know I like you.” He murmured, resting his head just barely against hers.

Lucca felt her heart flutter a little, but she tried to keep it a little under control. Relaxing and deciding that there wasn’t anything to try and hide anymore, Lucca rested a little more against JaeHwan. “I like you too….”

Smiling more to himself than anything, JaeHwan turned his head slightly. He didn’t know what overcame him, but he leaned in slightly and pressed a tender kiss to the top of Lucca’s head. He kept his arms lightly around her shoulders, almost afraid she would change her mind now that they were already there.

To his surprise though, Lucca looked up at him with a slight smile. She draped her arm over his abdomen, blinking as she looked up at him. Before he could say anything, her one ounce of courage came out and she pushed herself up a little higher to press her lips lightly against his. JaeHwan took a second to get past the shock, but then met the tender kiss.