The dark garden of the huge estate Seung now calls home had a charm of its own. The tall trees and beautifully kept ground was enchanting when surrounded by the little lights that have been installed across the garden. The almost dead dark house was less grand with all the lights turned off. With no one awake the whole place was ghostly quiet . . .the only sound was the slowly falling water of the fountain.

" you didn't eat dinner" as she wrapped and tied her gown, Seung started walking towards the man sitting by the bench in front of the path leading to the garden.

" Drinking on an empty stomach is not good for you," she added as she slowed her steps towards the figure sitting at the edge of the bench.

" Huh," she sighed as she noticed the half drank wine bottle sitting next to Jae and the almost empty cigarette pocket next to it.

Brushing his hair back, Jae kept his eyes on the dark horizon. The short-sleeve shirt and pants he had on were pitch black, his favorite color to sleep on. His messy hair the wind has been playing with added to his slouched shoulder, Jae didn’t seem that bother to be caught by Seung as he didn’t even fix his posture or turn around to make out who was talking to him. His feet gently placed against the cold grass were receiving the right sensory sensation it needed to keep Jae calm. Seung, just like Joon, had observed Jae carefully enough to notice how much he liked to walk on grass and sand with his bare feet. It was used to deal with one of his sensory issues from childhood but none of them knew about that.

Wrapping her arms around her gown Seung sat down next to Jae. The soft but cold wind that brushed against her skin was not intimidating enough to send her back to her warm bed.

" I knew you'd be here," she added as she tilted the wine bottle to make out the mark. She could easily tell what he's feeling based on what he chooses to chug down his empty stomach. This wine not being one of his favorites not even in the top 3, meant he just grabbed whatever was closest and just walked out.

It only took two weeks after getting back to Seoul to realize Jae’s new habit of staying outside by himself while everybody else was amidst their lovely dreams in their warm beds. It was one of the new weird habits he developed. The small to no time he spent with them was filled with silence . . . he preferred silence over everything. That was why he would rather stay up and enjoy the quite nice and nice breath rather than lay down in his bed and get the rest his body is aching for.

" Huh” she placed the bottle down as she slowly turned her apologetic eyes towards him. His face that has turned white was a great indication of the amount of hours he has sat letting the nightly wind attack him mercilessly. His dark eyes she could easily read were trying to avoid her as he kept them away from her.

The whole ride home was a torturous 15-minute journey filled with cold silence. She knew he was mad at her. It was better when people yell and scream at you and get it over with. That’s what she was used to. That’s what she grew up around, which explains why she hated silence. His silence and the disappointed look on his facrb was nothing she wanted to see on Jae.

There is a very short list of people she never wants to disappoint and the one sitting next to her was number one on that list.

" I know you're mad at me " unable to take the silence she whispered out, but the answer she was waiting for never came as Jae just leaned back and picked his wine glass up. His small dimple she always finds interesting to stare at had her attention as he slowly took a sip and placed the glass back down.

1

2

3 the minutes went by as they sat in silence. Seung bringing her legs up to the bench wrapped her arms around them to keep herself warm. Even Though she couldn’t explain why there was something claiming about the night.

" You used to be honest with me " Jae whispered out softly. Her eyes returning to him found his eyes that were glued to the distance, turned towards the ground. His hair slowly falling back to his face covered half of his face. His thin necklace and the two beauty marks down his neck were finally visible.

She knew there was getting away with this without telling him the truth

"I was at a party. They were nagging me about not drinking. I took some shots" turning her ashamed and sad eyes to the ground and started telling the story that led her to the jail cell.

" They then wanted to go to the bowling alley "

" I was driving. They were smoking in the car and one of them must have dropped it, " she added as she started playing with her ring.

" things got crazy there so I left "

" I was rushing to get home, " she finished as she slowly raised her eyes. Jae was still not giving her the chance as he kept his on the ground fully covered by his messy hair.

" Why did you do it?" He asked as he sent his hand to the wine bottle and started pouring more to his glass

" It was just some ridiculous thing" she tried to play it easy as she followed her words with a silly smile.

Jae brought the wine glass up and took a sip. Just from his body language, she could tell he didn't buy that

" I'm 22 we do dump " she added with more weird and playful smiles.

" i' m sorry, " cutting all her smiles out, she whispered out.

Her little smile was missed as Jae kept his eyes to the group and the small shadow of the figure sitting next to him. He might not know much about parenting but his job was to keep these children safe and he seems to be failing at that.

" I don't like it when you don't say anything " her frustration and guilt slowly turned to anger she spoke out.

The reaction she got was unfortunately not for her as Jae brought his wine glass back to the pavement and sent his eyes to the garden.

" Please say something"

" Can you just scream at me and I can go to sleep?" she added, leaning forward to catch his eye.

Her wandering eyes from his hair he just brushed away went to the thick line of the shirt he had on to his arm sitting on his leg. The veins she can make out running down his forearm were the only lively thing about his lifeless state.

"I don't know anybody here. '' Being completely ignored by Jae was a trigger she hasn't learned to deal with and it often leads to frustration and anger that quickly boils

" I don't even have one friend," she added, opening her arms and pointing out 1.

"I had some friends and I used to go out and have fun” remembering the life she left behind in California Seung started recalling all teh nice memories

" We came back because of you" Jae didn’t give her enough time to reminisce about what she left behind as he whispered out the reason he is back in the cursed place.

"I know"