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One step, two step, three-

"Did you really think moving was going to get rid of me?" barked Jaewook from behind me. "Did you really think getting fame would make me back off?"

I felt my face become cold with fear. "I- I thought we were done. I thought you had enough-" I cried.

Jaewook gave a toothy smile with a hint of anger in his eyes. "Your fame doesn't scare me. I wasn't finished with you when you decided to leave me."

No....no. I turned around, running as far as I could from him. Where was I? I was in a home with a tin roof and brick walls. I was back- I'm back at the home where I was destroyed.

No matter how far I ran, I could hear the footsteps of Jaewook become closer with each passing second.

I saw a door in front of me, I reached out towards it, but two cold arms enveloped around my waist. "LET GO OF ME!" I screeched.

It was too late, Jaewook had me trapped. No matter how much I struggled, I wasn't going to be freed from his grasp. He pulled me further into the house and further away from the door...

"Let go of me!" I screamed before I sat upright in a flash; sweat dripping down my forehead.

My heart sped up, thumping in my throat harder than usual. I wiped the drips of sweat from my cheeks and looked around me. "Where am I?" I whispered before I realized I was at my new apartment.

Manager Jay had brought me here to Grapevine Apartments the night before. Memories of Manager Jay sloppily placing me onto the mattress came back to me.

I'm home, my new home.

My subconscious was hiding in the corner, her eyes closed in fright. The dream must have shaken her to death.

I don't have time to be afraid. I can't be afraid. it up, it's been years since you have last seen him. There's no way he'll pop up again, not unless he's crazy enough to go to jail... I reassured myself.

I lazily hoisted myself up on my elbows, glancing around my new room. Boxes were mounted on other boxes. There was no furniture in the room besides the mattress I was laying on.

I get off the bed and walk towards the living room, finding a sofa in the middle of the living room with moving boxes stacked on top of it. I could already feel my body aching by just looking at all the things I have to move around; I'll start with the kitchen. That seems easier.

It takes about thirty minutes to find the boxes filled with kitchen appliances. I clean the countertops and the wash the utensils before placing them in drawers.

Ding-dong-dang~ I placed the wet dishes I had washed down and walked towards the door. Where's my phone? Did I leave it in Manager Jay's car? I bit my lip, slowly opening the door.

A bright dinosaur smile appeared before me. "Hey, you must be our new neighbor-" the smile on the boys face was frozen as he took a good look at me. "I had heard you weren't from here..." he trailed off, immediately staring at the floor. "Well, um, I'm Kim Jonghyun- mostly known as JR."

I opened the door a little wider, looking at him from up to down. "I'm Yoo Areum." I bowed, silently waiting for what he came for.

"Ah- well, you see- I saw that your movers brought in all your furniture, and I thought maybe we could help you?" JR smiled shyly, his eyes brightening.

My subconscious was jumping up and down, delighted that he asked. While she looked happy, I could feel the strained smile on my face. "'We'?" I cocked my head to the side, glancing around him.

"My members." he chuckled, as if I were playing a joke on him. "Please let us help you move your stuff around. We are neighbors now, we would like to become close to you." does this kid even know who I am? Why would he want to become close with a has-been? as if he could read my thoughts, he became flustered and began to stutter. "I- I heard you were an actress- actually, I saw one of your dramas, you were great." he chuckled nervously.

My subconscious was glaring at me from behind JR's shoulder. I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Ok. You can help. I guess I'll need some help moving the big furniture." I smiled softly, opening the door wider so he could walk in. "Where's the others?"

JR shot a thumb to his right, making me glance to the left. Four peculiar boys were rustling with someone in a huddle, the sound of paper between them was loud. "Hey, what are you guys doing? Come and help." JR shyly walked in, his face flushing as he took his shoes off to enter the living room.

"Hi! I'm Minki, call me Ren!" a pretty boy with brunette hair giddily held my hand. "I watched Foreign Innocence; you were so awesome!"

Foreign Innocence. my subconscious cowered behind the sofa, eyes watering. "I'm Aron, the eldest." a boy with blonde hair bowed to me, eyes sparkling. "Welcome to Grapevine Apartments!" he rushed inside, taking off his shoes and joining the other two.

"I'm Dongho, you can call me Baekho." his eye smile nearly melted my heart. "It's very nice to meet you Miss Yoo." he politely bowed and walked inside, a boy with light brown hair following right behind.

"I'm Minhyun." his smile showed teeth, a whiplash of last nights dream almost caught me off guard. No, stop it- think happy, think of now. "Uhm- here." he held out a card.

You're our neighbor! How about we become friends since we'll be living by each other?

Below the card, all the boys signature was placed on it with smiley faces. I felt my heart thump heavily. Was this the first time I was welcomed so warmly to a new place? "I'm sorry I don't have any food yet, I was going to go grocery shopping later." I closed the door behind me, all six of us crowded in the living room. "Are you guys sure you want to help?" they all nodded enthusiastically. "Ok, then be prepared, once we start I'm not letting any of you go until we're finished."

I ordered them where to place the furniture and the boxes, I began to wipe the walls with a cloth. "...so young when you acted in Foreign Innocence. Truly, I'm a big fan!" I had not been listening to Ren's conversation, but the mere mention of that drama's title brought back terrible memories.

"Hm? What drama is that?" Aron was wiping the windows. "How old were you?"

"She was 26 when she acted in it..." Ren went on and on about it as he unpacked the boxes full of couch pillows.

Foreign Innocence- a secret documentary of my dead youth. A story about a foreigner arriving to Korea with plans- only to have it ruined by her abusive boyfriend. The drama ended happily, but my life was just beginning when I left that horrible man. "Tell me, what group are you guys in?" I turned to JR, wanting to change the subject before my mind went astray to the horrible memories.

JR coughed, his cheeks turning bright pink. "We're from NU'EST." Baekho crouched beside me, a small smile tugging at his lips. Boy this guy is handsome and cute, too bad I'm like, three years older... "We come from Pledis Entertainment." he chuckled.

"I've heard of that name before..." I tilted my head to the side.

"Areum Noona, all finished." Minki shyly walked over to me, my subconscious hugging his waist securely as she admired his face, I blushed just thinking about doing that myself. "There's a market a few minutes away, want me to go pick up some food?"

"Hey, today could be like a warming party." Minhyun pulled me up by the forearm. "Instead of partying here, why don't we go to our apartment? We've got movies, food, entertainment-"

JR cleared his throat, as if inviting me over was out of the question. I didn't want to come over anyway. I chewed my bottom lip. "No, it's ok. Thank you for helping out, but I don't think it's OK to invite me over so soon." I apologetically smiled at him.

All four boys besides JR sulked, "We don't even have our own place clean, how can we let her see our dump?" he explained.

"It's all Baekho's fault that it's messy..." Aron whispered to Ren, who nodded in agreement.

Baekho was smiling wholeheartedly at me, but his left leg made a quick swift move to Aron's ankle. "I'm more creative with songwriting when there's piles of stuff in a room." he defended himself, glaring at JR. "Where did you come from?"

"America." Ren patted my back, crouching behind me. "She's hispanic, but she was born in America."

Is this kid my fan or what? I stared at him in amazement. "Yeah..."

"Hey, are you her brother or what? Let her speak about herself!" Minhyun pushed Ren playfully. "Don't in!"

"I'm quite informed of her THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Ren pushed him back. "Oh, I was curious by the way, why did you move anyway? Did you not like your old place?"

My subconscious was on the couch, deep anger in her eyes. "Anti-fans." I bluntly blurted. "Apparently my fans died off and I was kept with anti's." I placed the rag I used to clean the walls with on the floor. "Anyway...is it safe for you guys to be in a girls apartment since your famous and all?" I questioned, looking at all their innocent faces.

"There's no one to report about this." Aron said in English, throwing the members off. "We're free to walk into any apartment without spreading a rumor about." he sat on the couch, glancing around the living room.

"What time is it?" boy do these guys each talk randomly...

"Four thirty." Baekho stood up.

"When did we start?" I felt my heart get stuck in my throat. I didn't even have my phone on me to know the time...I didn't even know what time I woke up.

"We started at eleven." Minhyun chuckled. "Should we buy you a clock as a housewarming gift?" he jokingly ruffled my hair.

It's only been five hours telling them where to place stuff, and this kid already acts like we're close friends. I guess that takes the load of awkwardness and silence off our hands. Should I play along? Acting like we're friends could be nice... "Maybe a dog clock." I joked back.

"You like dogs?" Aron lifted an eyebrow. "I have a dog! Her name is Mel and she's-"

Ding-dong-dang~ the doorbell rang.

"I think we should get going." JR told them.

I felt my chest tighten, it's so nice having real people around me instead of Manager Jay and coworkers. Honestly, even though I just met them- I wanted them to stay.

I walked over to the door, all five boys on my tail. I opened the door and a guard from downstairs handed me a package. It was a small rectangle with curved edges. I bowed to the guard and whispered a 'thanks', I opened the package right in front of the boys-

My subconscious screamed, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

It was a frame that was sent to me. A photo of me staring blankly into space with tattered clothes in a brick room was within the frame. It was a photo taken of me at age 22- a photo that he took of me.

"Oh, did a fan send this? It looks like a scene from Foreign Innocence!" Ren looked over my shoulder, "You look so concentrated on something. The photo looks so nice!" innocent Minki touched the glass frame, tracing his fingers over the old photo.

"Areum- hey, are you OK?" Baekho placed both hands on my arms, his concern deepening as my face turned cold. "Hey, is something wrong?"

He knows where I live- Jaewook knows. Ohmigod, this is bad- this is so bad. The memories of my dream from last night came back.

"Did you really think moving was going to get rid of me?" was what Dream Jaewook had said. "Did you really think getting fame would make me back off?"

"Can I...Can I be left alone?" all four members tried to make me give them eye contact, but I was already walking to my room. I heard the thud of the door being closed; I fell onto my bed, staring at the authentic photo in my hands. I searched for my phone, but it was nowhere to be found. Panic overcame me as I walked around the soundless home.

"Do you promise to be mine and only mine?" the voice of Jaewook's old phrase was ringing in my ear.

"Only if you dedicate yourself to me and only me." my playful response came right after.

The worst mistake of my life was saying those words, promising myself to a man who only knew how to lay hands on a woman. I suffered because of my own mistake. "No...it wasn't your fault- you didn't know." I reassured myself, my subconscious looking at me in sympathy. "I didn't sign up for it, I didn't read the Terms and Conditions before promising myself to him." I nodded.

The silence of the house and the echo of my voice only made me shakier with remembering. I went into the bathroom and took a cold shower, shaking off what dared to overcome me; fear.

I tried forgetting, so I changed into my pajamas after the shower and tucked myself into bed, rehatching the day. The boys were an entertainment to be with, which made it easier to think happy thoughts. The boys were all handsome and each had their own charms, but one boy in particular had stood out to her- JR. He was quiet, attentive, and shy.

My subconscious hid herself under the blanket as she blushed. I placed the blanket over my lips as I tried hiding a smile.

I really should get to know those boys better. Since I'm their neighbor and all... "Tomorrows...Sunday." I muttered before closing my eyes. "...I'm definitely...going to make friends." I've been lonely for so many years despite the publicity I got- meeting these boys was refreshing.

I began counting sheep before falling asleep, but the neighbors were singing loudly to a song the lines of 'kkeodae, kkeodae, kkeodae, cham kkeodae~'. The voices were so nice, so melodic, it was almost like a lullaby in my ears. I giggled as I recognized it was Baekho's voice. I fell into a deep slumber with a dream of me in a room with those five boys, all of us trapped in a room with six beds on the floor and on the ceiling. For some reason, I didn't question the beds on the ceiling, I was just happy that I felt safe with them around me- where no harm could be placed on me.

But in the room, there was a mirror and as I looked into it, I saw Choi Jaewook reflected on the mirror; he was walking around with a belt and whip. , now how do I run? was my last thoughts before my dream became black.

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