In a quiet housing area of Chungcheong, everyone was fast asleep the moment the clock struck midnight. In fact, they were already asleep even before twelve in the morning. If a plane happened to be flying over the town at night, at the housing areas, passengers would only see the dim lights of the street lamps, lighting the path for lone cars on the road. But in the houses, all lights were turned off.

However, if one were to have a telescope and would look closely, they’d see a very small, almost faded, flicker of lights in a single room in one of the houses. The light belonged to a small torch, stuck in the corner of Hyunyoung’s mouth, as she steadied the light onto her lap, where what seemed to be a sketch book was placed on her lap. She was sketching with a pencil in her hand, careful with her , making sure she didn’t draw too hard in case of a mistake.

Earlier in the night, when dinner was done and all the plates were washed and put back into their respective place in the cupboards, Hyunyoung prepared for bed. When she was done bathing, she hung her towel on the towel rack and took her sketching pad out. She flipped to a fresh page and grabbed her pencil, wondering what she was going to draw. After five minutes of just staring at the blank page, she got out of bed and stuck her head out to the hall, looking around.

Her brothers and father were in their respective room. She could see lights shining from under Woohyun’s room and knew he was playing video games before going to bed. The lights under her elder brother and from her father’s room were dark, which meant they were probably asleep. And other than the faint sounds of Woohyun’s cheers to indicate his was winning, the house was quiet.

It was just like how she liked it, to be honest. It was very serene and peaceful. She closed her room door and crawled back into bed. She grabbed her sketchbook again and began drawing.

Hyunyoung concentrated hard on the drawing of a swan she was attempting to draw. Closing an eye and sticking a tongue out in full concentration, she carefully drew a curve perfect for the swan’s neck from the head down to its body, with only the dim light of the torch to guide her eyesight.

She didn’t know how long she drew, but it must’ve taken a long time because by the time she had drawn a beautiful swan with its wings stretched out, with the background (a pond, trees, other swans, along with the shading to make it look more believable) as added details, she heard someone trudging into the bathroom.

She quickly turned the torch off and lay down in bed quietly, hoping that whoever it was would not come into her room. She held her breath as the footsteps came closer . . . and closer . . . until it faded away, down to the stairs. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned her head to check the time.

Her eyes widened, but there was no mistaking of the time. There, on her digital clock, clear and big, were the numbers 06:55 A.M. Her alarm wouldn’t go off until 07:00 A.M.

She had stayed up the whole night once more.

Hyunyoung shrugged and decided to get out of bed, anyway. Five minutes earlier wouldn’t kill her. And she was awake, anyway. What could she say? Insomnia was a and ever since she came home from Seoul, insomnia accompanied her every night.

Sure, she was tired, but it was a wonder she hadn’t collapsed yet. Stifling a yawn, she opened the door, grabbing her towel off from the hook behind her door, and trudged her feet to the bathroom. She took a cold shower to make sure she doesn’t fall asleep, to freshen her up, and then headed back to her room.

She quickly dried her hair before slipping into her school uniform. Then she grabbed her sketch book and stuffed it inside her backpack before she went downstairs for breakfast. She could immediately smell the pancakes.

“Good morning, Hyunyoung-ah,” Jaewon greeted his daughter as she stepped inside the kitchen. “Did you have a good sleep?” He eyed the dark rings under her eyes and sighed. “Or did you stay up drawing again?”

“How did you know?” Hyunyoung slipped into a chair by the counter as Boohyun gave her a plate filled with pancakes. She thanked him gratefully.

Jaewon only rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath like, “The lights from under your bedroom.” He cleared his throat. “Good morning, Woohyun. Did you stay up late playing video games again?”

Woohyun looked like a raccoon as he groggily trudged himself onto a stool besides his sister. He was too disorientated to have heard his father as he wolfed the pancakes down. “Mm, good morning.”

Boohyun shook his head in wonder. He glanced at his father and grinned, pushing his plate back. “Well, I’m off for work! Hyunyoung, Woohyun, do you guys need a ride to school today?”

“I do,” Woohyun mumbled through mouthfuls.

Hyunyoung shook her head, chewing slowly. “Um, Myungsoo sunbae offered to fetch me to school today,” she said quietly.

“Are you guys a thing now?” Boohyun asked, raising a brow. “You were pretty quiet when you came back from your date last night.” He was amazed when Hyunyoung didn’t deny that it was a date and only blushed in response. He smirked. Aha, so something did happen, he thought to himself.

The doorbell rang and Hyunyoung gulped her orange juice down. “I’m off! Bye, Appa! Bye, Boohyun oppa! Bye, Woohyun oppa!” She grabbed her school bag and dashed off to the front door.

Woohyun shook his head. “I’m telling you, they’re together, alright.”

Boohyun only chuckled.

“Nam Hyunyoung!”

Hyunyoung’s eyes flew opened and she sat up with a jolt. She looked in front and blushed ferociously when she realized her teacher was glowering at her from the front of the class, and her classmates were snickering.

Uh oh, she thought with a sinking heart, I’d fallen asleep again. Can you blame me, though? This class is boring.

“What time did you sleep last night?” her teacher wanted to know. He narrowed his eyes at her severely.

“Um . . . twelve . . .” she lied.

He raised an eyebrow. “Wha