“Kim, I’m home!” Her mother closed the front door and shrugged off her raincoat. “It’s raining like crazy today.”

 

Kim turned to look at her mom from the couch, a few pieces of chips in her hand. “It’s been raining all week.”

 

Her mom threw her bag and keys onto the kitchen table. “Did you eat already?”

 

Kim raised her bag of chips. “Can’t you see I’m currently feasting?”

 

Her mother laughed. “You need to eat some real food.”

 

“This is real food! It’s potatoes!” Kim continued munching.

 

Her mother stared at her, about to reply with how that was definitely not real food, however the phone rang.

 

“Hello?”

 

Kim glanced at her mom, a little curious to who was calling her at midnight.

 

“Yes…Oh! How have you been?! It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other.”

 

At this, Kim’s ears perked up. ‘Last seen? Who is this person that she sounds so happy to hear from again?’

 

Her mother walked upstairs continuing the conversation. Kim slowly placed the bag of chips down, as she sneakily tried to make no noise going upstairs. Her mother’s voice could still be heard up until she closed the door.

 

Kim clenched her fist. ‘Damn.’

 

~             ~             ~

 

“Kim.” Her mother walked downstairs.

 

No reply.

 

“Kim.”

 

Kim turned to glare at her mom. “What?”

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She sat down next to her daughter. “I just have something important to tell you.”

 

Kim turned her attention towards the TV, but nonetheless continued hearing.

 

“So I just got off the phone with an old friend.” She placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “They lost their house due to flooding.”

 

Kim gestured for her to keep going.

 

“And, since I’m the only person they know here, they asked if it would be fine for them to stay here until the rain stops and their house can be rebuilt.”

 

“How come I have never met this ‘friend’ of yours? And how many people would it be?” Kim tucked her legs under her.

 

“Well, it’d be my friend and she just recently married and moved here, so including her husband and step- son.”

 

Kim relaxed her tense shoulders. “Oh it’s a family.”

 

“Yea…and I told them yes, that they could stay here.”

 

Kim stretched out against the couch. “Five people in the house.” She suddenly sat up. “Wait! I’m keeping my room right?”

 

“Of course! We have two spare rooms in the house. I was thinking, the couple can have the guest room downstairs since it has a queen sized bed, and her step- son can use the room next to yours.”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Kim rose her hands up. “That room shares a bathroom with mine.”

 

“Oh Kim you can learn to share.” Her mother waved her off.

 

“And how old is this son?” Kim raised an eyebrow. She was already awkward enough she didn’t need to feel uncomfortable in her house.

 

Her mom scrunched her eyebrows. “I believe she said seven? Yea seven, I couldn’t hear that well because of the rain’s interference.”

 

Kim nodded. ‘That’s why she went upstairs.’ “Wait! I have to share my bathroom with a little kid?!”

 

“Kim it won’t be that bad.” Her mom reached for the chips. “Just make sure to pick up your undies and all.”

 

Kim shook her head. “When are they coming?”

 

“Oh yea, tomorrow morning! They’re staying in a hotel tonight.”

 

“Mom! I need to clean up!”

 

Kim ran up the stairs and her mother laughed. “Remember to pick up your undies off the floor!”

 

~             ~             ~

 

“They’re here.” Kim’s mother ran to the door. She e last time to look at
Kim. “Be nice.”

 

“I’m always nice, mom.”

 

Her mom smiled and opened the door. “Haeun!” She embraced her longtime friend. “Come in! Come in!”

 

Haeun waved over to the car. “They’ll be here in a second.”

 

“Haeun this is my daughter, Kim.”

 

Kim awkwardly offered her hand. “Hi.”

 

“Oh my goodness! You’re so pretty!”

 

Haeun and her mom exchanged that “reminiscing when we used to be that age” look.

 

“Hello ladies.” A man, who must’ve been Haeun’s husband walked in with two large suitcases.

 

Kim’s mom led them to the living room.

 

As the adults greeted each other, Kim analyzed them. Haeun was a petite woman, barely above her own mother’s height, but nonetheless beautiful. Her husband, was a handsome tall well- built man that seemed to contrast his wife’s figure.

 

‘Nice couple’ Kim walked over to greet the man.

 

“Very beautiful daughter.” He said, shaking her hand. “Let’s see what Jungkook thinks.”

 

Haeun slapped her husband’s arm. “Don’t start making things awkward.”

 

“Oh! Where is your son? Did you leave him alone outside?” Kim’s mom peered over at the door.

 

Haeun turned to look at the door, seeing that he still hadn’t come inside. “Yeah, he was on the phone. He’s probably getting his luggage right now.”

 

Kim and her mom looked at each other.

 

“W-well, here this will be the room you’ll be staying in.” Kim’s mom showed opened a room that was a few feet away. “And I was thinking Jungkook can stay in a room upstairs. I was assuming he wouldn’t be scared sleeping alone.”

 

“Oh no, he’ll definitely be fine. It’d be weird if he wanted to stay with us at that age.” Haeun’s husband laughed as he placed the suitcases inside. “I would actually kick him out, with all the video games he plays.”

 

“He also plays a lot of music so feel free to tell him to turn it down. I know how he can get.” Haeun replied, as they exited the room.

 

“It’s so nice he’ll be here though! It’s been a while since a kid has been running around the house.” Kim’s mom mused.

 

Haeun smiled. “I’m not too sure if he’ll be running around.”

 

At that moment the front door opened.

 

Haeun smiled. “Ah there’s Jungkook!”

 

The teen walked over to his parents carrying his suitcase and backpack.

 

“What took you so long?” Haeun patted her son’s shoulder.

 

“I was talking with Jimin.”

 

“Anyways,” Haeun turned to look at her hosts. “This is my son Jungkook.”

 

Jungkook reached out a hand to Kim’s mom first. “Nice to meet you.”

 

“Oh my goodness! I thought you said your son was seven when we spoke on the phone!” She laughed.

 

“Oh no, he’s 17!” Haeun laughed.

 

Jungkook offered his hand to Kim. “Hi”

 

“Hi.” Was all Kim could muster to say.

 

This was not okay. She was expecting an elementary school boy that would be playing kid games all day! What is this?!?!

 

“How old is Kim?” Haeun asked.

 

“She’s 17 too.”

 

“Yup.” Kim awkwardly nodded and swayed her arms beside her. “Well, I’m going upstairs.” She kept her gaze slightly down. “Nice to meet you all.” She swiftly waved her hand once and began walking upstairs.

 

“Kim why don’t you show Jungkook his room while you’re headed up?”

 

Kim turned to look at her mom. ‘Damnit mom!’ “Uh yea, c’mon.” She waved him up.

 

Jungkook excused himself following Kim.

 

“He seems like such an educated child.” Was the last thing Kim heard before her heart beat began taking over her ear drums. She wasn’t exactly the most social person in the world. She spoke when spoken too most of the time and rarely left the house. And now here she was living with a freaking hot guy under the same roof! To make matters worse, he was going to stay in the room right next to hers!

 

“So, uh, this is your room.” Kim flailed her arm towards the door. “The bathroom’s connected to mine, so if you use it just lock it please.” She didn’t make eye contact and waited for him to speak.

 

“Alright thanks.” He opened the door and walked inside.

 

Kim immediately began walking briskly towards her room, making sure she had closed the door on her end.

 

Seeing it was, she laid out against her bed. ‘He seems nice…as long as he doesn’t disturb me I’ll be fine.’

 

~             ~             ~

 

“Kim!” Kim’s mother yelled for the umpteenth time. She shook her head. “This girl probably fell asleep.” Her hands were full of honey since it had spilled while she was cooking.

 

Haeun looked around too, in the same predicament. “Jungkook.”

 

The boy looked up from his spot since he was sitting in one of the high chairs of the island. “Yea?”

 

“Can you go call Kim please? You saw where her room was right?”

 

“Yea go ahead Jungkook, her door’s probably open.” Her mom answered, rinsing off the rest of the kitchen top.

 

Jungkook nodded and walked towards Kim’s room. He contemplated knocking at first but decided to just open the door. He peered inside and saw Kim tangled up on her bed with the sheets. Once he stepped in he immediately lifted his leg up. All over the floor was completely covered in drawings and candy wrappers. There was also a little pile of clothes in one of the corners, in a failed attempt of keeping them tidy. He carefully walked towards her, careful to not step on anything.

 

“Kim…” Seeing no reaction he poked her shoulder. He poked her again. He sighed. He opted to slightly shake her shoulder. ‘Is she dead?’ He shook her a little harsher.

 

“I’m up!” Kim suddenly raised her head, too fast in fact that it collided with Jungkook’s chin. Jungkook quickly let go and rubbed his chin.

 

Kim placed a hand over . “I am so sorry! Are you okay?!” She stayed still on the bed.

 

He lifted his head up and stared emotionlessly at her, causing her skin to have goosebumps. He put his hand down and walked to the door. “Your mom’s calling you.” He coldly said over his shoulder.

 

“Well then…” she quickly untangled herself from her sheets.

 

She walked downstairs and smelled the air. “Something smells good.”

 

She avoided eye contact with Jungkook and headed over to the moms, curious of what they made.

 

Kim’s mouth watered eyeing the several dished prepared.

 

“Haeun is a great cook isn’t she?” Her mom placed a hand on her shoulder. “If you’re good she might even cook every day.”

 

“Finally there’d be some good food in this house.” Kim sat down at the table as the moms finished setting all the dishes there.

 

“Hey I cook!”

 

“Hush hush~ Let me enjoy the meal.” Kim began eating and everyone else followed suit.

 

~             ~             ~

 

As time progressed, the two families became closer. Jungkook’s father had to suddenly leave on a business trip shortly after arriving, leaving Haeun without a ride to work. Naturally, Kim’s mother offered to be their ride, but that meant she would have to wait until Haeun got off the clock an hour later. This left Jungkook and Kim alone most of the time. Kim would have been fine with it if had been during school, but it was to her joy and dismay, summer. She remained inside her room most of the time and she knew Jungkook stayed within his too. The darn tension of that bathroom connecting them left her uneasy. There had been too many times she had clumsily left herself exposed, forgetting to lock the other side. Thankfully, she had always managed to lock it in time.

 

The moments however, where they had fallen into each other’s presence around the house were anything but peaceful. Scorn, glares, and mutterings under their breaths were heard. It had developed naturally over time, and Kim couldn’t exactly fathom as to why their relationship had become as such.

 

Kim walked, with her basket in hand, towards the laundry room. With more people in the house, the washer and dryer were used more frequently, so days were assigned to each person. Kim’s blood began to boil as she heard the washer being in use. No one other than Jungkook could have done this since it sure wasn’t the first time. Without a second thought she opened the washer and threw his clothes onto the floor. She threw her own clothes in and fixed it to her settings leaving it as that. Just as she turned around, she bumped into Jungkook.

 

“What the hell?!” Jungkook ran to his clothes, picking them off of the floor. “Couldn’t you see they were washing?!”

 

Kim crossed her arms. “And didn’t you remember that today was MY day to do MY laundry?!”

 

“So what? It’s not like you even care about having things clean.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

 

Jungkook clicked his tongue. “Really? You have this huge pile of crusty clothes in your room and you always leave things everywhere in the bathroom! Are you even a girl?!” Jungkook grabbed his clothes and walked out.

 

~             ~             ~

 

Kim opened the door to Jungkook’s room. “What kind of pizza do you want?”

 

Jungkook was without a shirt, having just come out of the shower. “Do you mind knocking first?”

 

“I didn’t know you would be half-.” Kim averted her eyes.

 

“If someone hadn’t thrown my clothes on the floor there wouldn’t be a problem.” Jungkook threw himself on the bed.

 

“Fine! Whatever! Just answer the question!”

 

“Shut up its late!” Jungkook turned in bed, giving her a full view of his toned back. That thought frustrated her more.

 

“Damnit Jungkook! What do you want on your pizza?!”

 

He suddenly sighed. “Pepperoni.” He quietly replied, to her surprise.

 

“Thank You.” Kim sarcastically said, closing the door with a little more force than needed.

 

She finished ordering the pizza and saw that her mom had sent her a message.

 

“What?!” She quickly called her.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Mom! You and Haeun CANNOT leave me alone with Jungkook this weekend! We’ll kill each other!”

 

“I’m sorry but I already told Haeun I’ll take her to XXXXXXX.”

 

“But mom!”

 

“Ah Kim I have to go, tell Jungkook and be good!”

 

Kim couldn’t believe her mom had just hung up on her.

 

Much less leave her at home alone with Jungkook.

 

She sighed and dragged her feet over to the living room’s couch. She stared at a cartoon showing without much interest, until the pizza man finally arrived.

 

She paid the guy and brought the pizza over to the counter. “Jungkook pizza’s here!” She didn’t even know why she bothered telling him.

 

She grabbed two slices and plopped back onto the couch. Soon she heard footsteps running down the stairs.

 

She might as well tell him now.

 

“Jungkook.”

 

Jungkook didn’t reply and walked past her with the plate of pizzas in his hand.

 

“Jungkook, I know you can hear me.” Kim walked after him.

 

He continued to ignore her and walked into his room.

 

“Jungkook!”

 

He turned to look at her, his doe-like eyes staring into hers. She gulped seeing his emotionless face, but nonetheless continued.

 

She cleared . “So, our moms aren’t gonna be here this weekend due to a business trip.”

 

He nodded and turned his attention back to the TV.

 

Kim scratched her head, expecting some sort of rebuttal from him. She furrowed her eyebrows. “Okay…I’ll just leave now…”

 

She closed the door and walked back downstairs. ‘What the heck just happened?’

 

~             ~             ~

 

Saturday, everything was silent throughout the house. The only noises that could be heard were the TV, music, and microwave whenever one of them reheated last night’s pizza.

 

Kim was actually beginning to feel rather uncomfortable with the silence. Sure, yelling and arguing wasn’t exactly the best, but at least in a strange sort of way, there was ‘communication’.

 

She sighed, the day almost ending. She grabbed her pajamas and undergarments, and headed for the bathroom. She was relieved to find everything clear and began undressing. After she finished checking the water, she went into the shower and went about her business.The door suddenly swung open, causing her to jump and lean against the shower wall. Jungkook and her froze staring at each other as their eyes grew wider and wider. Jungkook almost nonchalantly closed the door. Kim's heart however was racing like crazy.

 

~             ~             ~

 

Later that night, Kim couldn’t sleep. She wasn’t feeling tired physically nor mentally so she decided to get some water, hoping it was just thirst.

 

She slowly tiptoed out her door, glancing over at Jungkook’s seeing that it was closed. She went downstairs and took out a bottled water from the fridge. Suddenly a noise behind her made her stop and choke on her water. She made herself turn around and to her relief saw that it was just Jungkook.

 

“You scared me Jungkook!” She frustratingly yelled at him.

 

He didn’t say anything and walked to the fridge too, getting himself some water.

 

“How long are you going to ignore me?” Kim asked.

 

No reply.

 

She gripped his shoulder.

 

Jungkook pushed her hand away and turned his body to look at her.

 

“Do you really hate me that much?!”

 

Jungkook slammed his arms on the counter, encircling her.

 

“Yes I do.”

 

He peered into her eyes with such intensity that she couldn’t look away.

 

“I hate your quirky ways of walking around and always leaving a mess in such an unladylike way! I hate how you always seem to be relaxed to the world around you!” He grabbed her face in between his hands. “I hate how you look so innocent for everything as if you were a child!” He furrowed his eyebrows together. His thumb ran across her lower lip. “I hate how you make me feel…”

 

Kim stayed dumbfounded. She wasn’t exactly sure if he was talking about what she was thinking he was talking about.

 

“Wait, what? I make you feel?”

 

Jungkook groaned. “There you go again.”

 

Not leaving her any room to talk he leaned down and took her lips. It was clumsy and soft, making it clearly evident of the inexperience. However that didn’t stop Kim from finally realizing what he had been feeling all along. The sweet tenderness emitting from the way he was holding her and gentility of his sudden nature had made her realized the true underlying meaning of his harsh exterior.

 

Jungkook pulled away, eyes softly fluttering open.

 

Kim stared at him.

 

“I’m sorry.” Jungkook covered his face with his sleeve. “I’ll leave.”

 

Kim held the back of his shirt. “No, it’s okay.”

 

Jungkook stopped but didn’t turn towards her.

 

“Jungkook look at me.”

 

He shook his head.

 

Kim smiled and walked in front of him. He tried to turn away but she held his face between her hands.

 

“Don’t look at me…” He softly said.

 

Kim laughed. “I think it’s cute you’re blushing.”

 

“It’s embarrassing.” Jungkook suddenly pulled out of her embrace. “I’m going to take a shower.”

 

“Why? It’s the middle of the night.”

 

Jungkook bit his lip and turned even redder. He couldn’t find the words to explain to her, so his impulse drove him to take her hand and place it on his lower region, the both of them blushing profusely. “Exactly.”