Later that night, I heard a knock at my door. I was in the middle of writing an article for a client in Seoul, but I put my laptop down and went over to the door, curious to see who knew I lived here.

“Who is it?” I called, unwilling to open to door to a stranger.

“Young Jae!” A cheerful voice answered me. “Mrs. Park sent some food over.”

“Oh.” I opened the door to find Young Jae holding about six groceries bags full of containers. “Here, let me help you with those.” I reached over to grab a few bags, but he breezed past me into my apartment, deftly slipping off his shoes. I just stared blankly at his shoes. What was happening? And wow, he had large feet.

“No need!” he called back to me, wandering into the kitchen. He opened my fridge and started putting things away.

“Make yourself at home,” I muttered, annoyed. Yukon kept close to me, guarding me from the stranger in our home.

“Did you say something?” he asked me, poking his head out of my refrigerator. His black hair had fallen into his face; he tried to blow it back into place unsuccessfully.

“Yeah. We just met; why are you so comfortable in my home?” I asked him, trying not to be rude.

“It’s fine.” Young Jae waved his hand at me, as if to bat away all my concerns. “Friends are like this.”

“Are we friends now?” I raised my eyebrows. “When did this happen?”

“When you said you’ll be counting on me.” Young Jae smiled. “Listen, Mrs. Park made you a lot of food; I don’t think you’ll be able to eat it all. Why don’t we eat some together tonight? This kind of food tastes better when shared.”

I sighed. This kind of person was the most annoying type to me. He had a point, though. I didn’t enjoy eating alone.

“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. “Just this once.”

I set the table for two people. I had been craving some company, but not just anyone's.

I missed Jimin. It had already been six weeks, but what was six weeks compared to all the time we had spent together?

Young Jae set to work heating up the food while I sat down and tried to feel happier about my life. Remembering Jimin was not a good way to keep the tears from falling. I had a guest. Young Jae was a perfect stranger in my home; it would be very impolite of me to cry while he prepared our dinner.

“Is it okay if I use this apron?” Young Jae asked me, holding it up. I nodded. “It’s so cuteeee.” he cooed, pulling it over his head. “I feel like a princess with all these Hello Kittys on me."

I stared at him skeptically. He was too tall for the apron’s size; it made him look ridiculous. “You’re an ugly princess,” I told him.

“What? What about me is ugly? I’ll have you know I’m very handsome,” he retorted, flustered.

I studied Young Jae for a moment. He was tall, with black hair, adorable dimples, a nice smile, and a good sense of style.

“Yeah, you’re good looking,” I decided. “But you’re also weird.”

“Am I being weird?” Young Jae asked me. He looked pleased that I called him good-looking.

“This whole situation is weird,” I said bluntly. “Why are you in my house? Why are you cooking me food and wearing my apron? Why are you acting like my boyfriend when I just met you today?”

Young Jae nodded wisely. “Ah, so you’re thinking of your boyfriend.”

“What?!” I spluttered. “I’m just saying this is weird. You’re a strange guy.”

“No,” Young Jae said, stirring the soup on the stove. “You just looked sad and Mrs. Park asked me to cheer you up.” He looked at me kindly. “She said you had just lost someone you loved.”

I stared at my hands. “Yeah," I said quietly, swallowing the sob I felt rising in my throat. “I…um, I broke up with my boyfriend.”

Young Jae said nothing, just continued to stir the soup.

“I thought we were going to get married,” I whispered. My hand moved to the chain around my neck, where the ring was hidden underneath my shirt.

“Well,” Young Jae said, “You can eat this soup and feel better about it. Mrs. Park’s soup always cheers people up.”

He filled both of our bowls to the brim and I filled up our rice bowls.

“And if all else fails…” he continued. “I brought this.” He pulled a bottle of soju out of the fridge.

“The shot glasses are in the cabinet above your head.” I pointed and he obediently took some out.

I poured him a glass and he poured me one.

“Cheers!” Young Jae grinned at me.

“Cheers.” I smiled back.

After the meal, Young Jae helped me wash the dishes. We had become friends over dinner while chatting happily about random things. He told me about his family and his dreams to become a chef while I told him about my work as a freelance writer and why I had moved to Busan the first time. He didn’t pry about my ex-boyfriend and I wasn’t about to tell him that I used to date his bosses’ son.

“So are you feeling better now?” Young Jae asked as he dried a bowl.

“Yeah. Thanks,” I said gratefully. “It’s nice to have a new friend. All my old friends from Busan are married with kids now, or they moved to Seoul.”

“Really? They all got married so young?” Young Jae asked, curious.

I shook my head. “No, just a few of my friends. We were all in school together, but Sul dated a friend who was a few years older than us, so they got married earlier. And Jasmine and Michael are older, too. They got married after college, but I was still a sophomore. I worked as a student teacher when they were full-time teachers. Once I became a full-time teacher, I realized I hated it and wanted to pursue writing. And then my boyfriend and I got serious, and we decided to move to Seoul. Well, actually, he already lived in Seoul. I moved with a friend, but eventually the two of us ended up moving in together.”

Young Jae raised his eyebrows at me. “You guys lived together?”

I flushed. “It’s not so uncommon these days,” I muttered, embarrassed.

“Still…” Young Jae replied. “That’s bold.”

“He had a busy life,” I said defensively. “If we didn’t live together it would have been impossible for us to see each other.”

“What did your parents think?” Young Jae asked. So many questions, really.

“My parents weren’t pleased, but I’m an adult, so they couldn't really stop me,” I admitted.

“Wow, such lenient parents!” Young Jae grinned. “Can I trade mine for yours?”

“No way. Your dad sounds scary. And my parents aren't lenient at all. They've just given up on me.” I laughed. “My boyfriend’s parents didn’t like us living together, but they understood the situation, so they allowed it. Anyway, they thought we were going to get married, so it wasn’t as huge of an issue to them.”

Young Jae was quiet for a minute. “Did you think you were going to get married?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I did. But I didn’t want to get married for a while. It’s actually one of the reasons we broke up. He proposed, and I said no. He didn’t take it very well.” I sighed, recalling all those unpleasant conversations.

“Why didn’t you just say yes if you’re so unhappy now?” Young Jae asked, putting the dried dishes in the cabinet. How did he already know where everything belonged?

“We also broke up for other reasons. Listen, I don’t really want to talk about it,” I said, ending the discussion.

“Wanna watch a movie now that we’re done with the dishes?” Young Jae asked me, all smiles.

“Wow, you really are a terrible houseguest.” I grinned. “But I’m bored, so why not?”

Young Jae finally decided to watch The Godfather, which happened to be one of my favorite movies. Halfway through it, he fell asleep on my shoulder. Yukon lay curled up in his lap, utterly useless in protecting me from a stranger.

I looked at Young Jae, wondering how I had ended up in this sort of a situation.

“Young Jae.” I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. “Wake up. Get out of my house if you’re going to sleep.”

“Lemme just stay here a minute,” he mumbled, snuggling close to me.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Get off of me!”

Young Jae sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Jeez, what are you yelling about?”

“You fell asleep on me,” I grumbled. “Go home and sleep. This isn’t a hotel and I don’t even know you that well.”

“Really?” Young Jae raised his eyebrows at me, mouth forming into a pout. “Don’t you feel like we’ve gotten to know each so much better over the course of the day?”

I just looked at him. “Sure, but not enough to let you sleep in my home.”

“Actually, I knew you from a while ago,” Young Jae said.

“Did you?” I asked, surprised. “I’m pretty sure we’ve never met and I haven’t lived here in a while.”

“Yeah,” Young Jae nodded. “I used to be the gym teacher at the school you taught at. I saw you around, but we never interacted much. I always just thought you were cute.”

“Hmm,” I hummed thoughtfully. “It’s nice that there’s not a complete stranger in my home.”

Young Jae looked at me, laughing. “Why did you let a stranger into your home in the first place?”

I shrugged. “Mrs. Park recommended you and I respect her judgment. And it is lonely to eat all of your meals alone.”

“That’s foolish. I could have been a bad guy in disguise.” Young Jae lectured me.

“Yeah, I know. But I was so hungry; my judgment was affected. I won’t let any strangers into my house and share a meal with them again.”

“That’s good," Young Jae said happily, resting his head in my lap. “You can just share all of your meals with me.”

I pushed his head off my lap. “I’m not comfortable with this,” I told him seriously. “If you’re going to act this way, then we can’t be friends. You need to respect my space.”

Young Jae straightened up and looked at me earnestly. “I’m sorry," he apologized sincerely. “I won’t do it again.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

He got up and wandered into the kitchen. “Do you want some dessert?” he called to me.

“No,” I replied. “I’m not very hungry. Actually, I’m thinking of going to bed.”

Young Jae raised his eyebrows at my not so subtle way of kicking him out.

I shrugged. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Okay," he said quietly. “Sorry for intruding.”

I felt bad for acting so harshly. “You didn’t intrude," I said softly. “I’m just tired.”

Young Jae nodded. He walked over to the door and put his shoes on. I handed him his coat.

“Thanks for the company.” I smiled at him.

“Anytime.” He winked, back to his usual self.

Young Jae turned around before he left and said,

“Listen. You’re going to be just fine.” He smiled kindly at me .

“Thanks,” I whispered.

After he had gone, I washed my face and brushed my teeth alone. I hated doing everything alone these days. It had been nice to have some company for once, but the ache that Jimin’s absence caused never really went away.

I pulled on some pajamas and cuddled into Jimin’s side of the bed. It would always be Jimin’s side of the bed to me.

“I wish it had been you here tonight,” I whispered into his pillow before falling asleep.