He wasted no time in getting off the couch. He shook Jan Di's shoulder lightly, despite her peaceful expression as she rested. These were the kinds of moments he wanted to spend with her, where the two could be affectionate with one another. With another gentle shake of the shoulder, Jan Di groaned.

"Yah, what's the deal?" she mumbled, swatting his hand away. "I'm tired, Ji Hoo.."

"That's why you should sleep in your bed," he murmured quickly, helping her into a sitting position and then pulling her onto her feet. However, despite his urgency, she stumbled onto her feet, hardly able to balance herself properly. She simply fell back onto the couch, shaking her head.

"Fine, fine," she mumbled, waving her hand at him dismissively. "I'll get up.. Just give me a couple minutes, okay Ji Hoo?"

There's no convincing her.

"Good. Now that you live with me, I think it would be unfair to leave you on the couch," he murmured, forcing himself to smile at her. "..I'll...be right back. I'm going to step outside for a moment and get a fresh breath of air," he added quickly, remembering the urgency. With her phone in his pocket, he spun around without waiting for her answer and moved to pull on his jacket and shoes. Without bothering to zip up his jacket, he rushed out the door, glancing around rapidly. He peaked once more at her phone, to examine the photo once more quickly. The photo sent to Jan Di's phone appeared to have been taken a couple feet away.

But how..? How did I not notice anything?

Jogging further out a couple more feet, Ji Soo spun around, searching all around him for that person. But at every angle, at every corner, Ji Hoo was unable to find the person who lurked around his home. The winter air sent a shiver down his spine and Ji Hoo found himself rubbing his palms together for some kind of warmth. For seconds, he remained outside his home, waiting and watching for any movement. But as the moments passed, Ji Hoo wasn't any closer to finding the one who had his phone. After a couple more seconds, Ji Hoo shook his head, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jacket and making his way back inside; giving only one more glance behind before closing the door.

The warmth of his home surrounded him, providing some comfort after his failure. He turned his attention to his now-empty couch, where Jan Di was no longer to be seen. He strolled out of the room and towards Jan Di's room, where he knocked gently on the door. When there was no answer, he opened the door slowly, peering inside. And there slept Jan Di, still in her clothes and laying on top of the sheets. With a small smile, he entered her room quietly, taking a seat on the floor beside her bed. With his back against the wall, he lifted his gaze to the ceiling, staring blankly as he recalled the moment he received those text messages.

The ones sent from his phone.

The phone that he lost.

It doesn't make sense.

A part of him didn't know what to do. He sat; still, quiet, with a smile that soon faltered. He soon lowered his gaze to the floor, hiding the vanished smile that once proudly graced his expressions. Now, he frowned, brows narrowed and eyes foggy with uncertainty.

I was careless.

So much didn't make sense. Ji Hoo had far too many questions, but zero answers. No one could answer his questions. No one, except for one person who he had no knowledge of. What made the whole situation worse was that they said something to Jun Pyo, his closest friend; yet, he didn't even know what was said.

Ji Hoo pulled out Jan Di's cellphone, which he held onto secretly so that he could deal with the situation on his own. He didn't want to worry her nor stress her out further; after all, she endured far too much. After unlocking her phone, he opened up her message app once more and went on to contact the mysterious person. He inhaled sharply, rapidly tapping letters on the screen.

You: Who is this?

You: Why do you have that phone?

The messages sent and were delivered, but Ji Hoo stared at the screen, tapping his fingers against the back of the phone as he waited for a response. What felt like forever for a response took only a few seconds in reality. He received an immediate reply from the mysterious thief.

Ji Hoo: Yoon Ji Hoo

Ji Hoo: Isn't that what the contact says

Ji Hoo: I have this phone 'cuz it was lost and I found it

You: A liar...and a thief.

Ji Hoo chewed on his bottom lip, shaking his head.

You: I won't press charges if you return my phone.

Ji Hoo: If you want it you will need to come and get it

You: Fine. Location and time.

Ji Hoo: How about … that cute 'lil diner you took your gf to

His fingers froze at the response he received. Briefly, Ji Hoo paused, setting the phone down and rubbing his forehead. How, he thought, how would anyone know about that? He breathed out quietly, hesitantly picking the phone back up to type up a response.

You: A liar, thief and a stalker.

You: Who are you? What do you want?

Ji Hoo: None of your concern right now, I'll let you know when you meet me. It will be a dinner reservation tomorrow for six. Don't be late. I'd hate to send a reminder…

Although hesitant, Ji Hoo couldn't let the suspicious stalker go. Whoever they were had his phone and knew far more about Jan Di and Ji Hoo. They even knew where the two lived. Ji Hoo welcomed her into his home for safety and comfort, which was now being jeopardized. Rather than reply, he tapped on many of the messages exchanged secretly that night and deleted them from her phone memory.

She doesn't need to know.

He would deal with the stranger before Jan Di could find out. Ji Hoo refused to let her live a life of fear. Perhaps it was wrong of him to hide information from her and keep secrets. But to protect Jan Di, Ji Hoo was willing to risk anything. After deleting the messages from her phone, he set her phone on the floor and focused his gaze on her. Somehow, Jan Di managed to sleep through their troubles, though to be fair, she was currently unaware. Short, brunette strands of hair fell in front of her face as she turned onto her side; the side of her face pressed into her pillow. Quietly, Ji Hoo reached over and tucked the misplaced strands behind her ear; careful not to disturb her peaceful sleep. He sighed silently, pulling back right after.

"I will keep you safe," Ji Hoo whispered to the sleeping Jan Di.

Then, he forced himself onto his feet and exited her room, flicking off the light and shutting the door quietly. As he strolled to his room, he peered out the windows of his home, suddenly feeling as though he were being watched. A small shiver ran down his spine at thought, and even more so after realizing how many times Jan Di had been alone in their large home.

Instead of going to his room as planned, he headed to the kitchen. After flipping the light switch, he made his way to the fridge where he pulled out a water bottle. Then, he seated himself at the dining table where he remained silent; staring at the table.

"Well," he murmured to himself, taking a sip from his bottled water, "Here's to a long night."

Jan Di woke up. After waking up initially, she remained laying in bed, though she did roll onto her back to gaze up at the ceiling. Her body felt well rested; however, a bit of drowsiness weighed her down. Her exhaustion was cured, but she couldn't find the energy to get out of bed. She hardly found enough energy to switch positions. So she laid in bed, completely still, in silence.

The house was quiet, which she found odd. Normally, Jan Di would wake to Ji Hoo and his grandfather talking. Not that they were loud, but in a house of three people it wasn't that difficult to hear them. And she would usually join the two, who prepped breakfast. Despite his grandfather's old age, harabeoji was actually dependable. Sometimes he would surprise Jan Di and Ji Hoo with breakfast or dinner, though that itself was rare. Rather, Ji Hoo prepared breakfast with his grandfather helping him along the way.

But now she heard nothing.

Odd, she thought as she turned on her side once more. Her eyes caught sight of her phone, which was sitting on the floor. Blinking slowly, she chewed on her bottom lip and reached for her phone. On her phone were notifications from someone. As she examined all her notifications—which, in all truth, weren't very many—she noticed most of them came from Jun Pyo who had appeared to text her in the middle of the night. A soft sigh was drawn from her and she rolled back onto her back, phone grasped firmly in both hands as she examined the texts.

Jun Pyo: Laundry girl

Jun Pyo: Answer me

Jun Pyo: I will spam you

Jun Pyo: if you do not

Jun Pyo: answer

Jun Pyo: me

Jun Pyo: You're underestimating me

Jun Pyo: Here's a small piece of advice: don't

Jun Pyo: I will get back to you

Jan Di closed out of the texting app and locked her phone, setting her phone aside as she stared up at the ceiling in disbelief. What does he want now, she wondered to herself. After a couple seconds of dozing off, Jan Di finally forced herself upwards and off the bed. She strolled quietly and slowly out her room, making her way towards the kitchen where she planned to have some breakfast. She assumed no one was home since the entire house was eerily silent.

Dreadfully quiet.

But the second she stepped foot into the kitchen, she froze in place. Her eyes locked onto Ji Hoo, who was seated at the kitchen table, water bottle beside him. His arms were folded across each other on the table and his head rested against his arms.

Is he sleeping?

She tilted her head slightly to the side, puzzled. Briefly, Jan Di wasn't sure what to do.

Should I wake him up?

While she thought waking him up would be appropriate, she also knew how much Ji Hoo valued his sleep. She easily recalled their days at Shinhwa High when he would sleep at their 'hideout' and criticize her for being unnecessarily loud. Rubbing her arms briefly, she stared at him for a moment longer, pondering on what her next action should be.

I guess there's no avoiding it. I'll wake him.

Jan Di approached the sleeping Ji Hoo, who hardly moved an inch in his sleep. Gently, she tapped his shoulder, which received no response right away. Puffing out her cheeks, she tapped his shoulder several times before nudging him a little bit. Finally, as she shook his shoulder gently, Ji Hoo stirred and slowly lifted his head. He brushed aside the hair from his eyes and turned his groggy gaze to her. Despite having slept in an odd position, his hair was surprisingly perfect. Sure, some of his golden strands were tangled and pieces were out of place, but he still looked good. At this point, she wasn't surprised, but somewhat envious. He looked like a prince, even after sleeping, which couldn't be said for a lot of people.

"Ah, I didn't mean to wake you," began Jan Di, blinking at her own response as she realized how contradictory her statement was. "Well I mean, I did mean to wake you, but not to disrupt your sleep. I just wanted to make some breakfast, but I also didn't want to disturb you. Actually, now that I think about it, sleeping here doesn't seem very comfortable, Ji Hoo. Why are you sleeping here?" She began to ramble on, unnecessarily. "Did you not sleep well?" she finished.

Ji Hoo gazed up at her as she stood over him. As he stared at her silently, she began to feel a little self-conscious. She averted her own gaze and dared to look at her own clothes. To her surprise, she still wore her clothes from the previous day, which made her feel embarrassed. Even her hair was probably a mess, because unlike Ji Hoo, she wasn't a princess. Sometimes she even forgot that she and he both lived different lives at one point. Where she lived, she was able to care less about how she looked in the morning as she ate breakfast. But for Ji Hoo's lifestyle, he always had to look presentable. She felt even more embarrassed for not realizing or even bother in changing her habits.

"If...if you're still tired," she began once more, glancing away briefly to avoid further embarrassment. "You can go on to your room. I'll even make you breakfast and bring it to your room!" she offered, smiling slightly to reclaim some pride.

He lowered his own gaze briefly. Jan Di shifted nervously in front of him. Finally, he spoke to her. "I'm not tired," he told her, lifting his gaze and smiling back at her. "I think I came out here last night to grab something to eat and I must have fallen asleep. I feel refreshed now, though."

Jan Di's smile faltered slightly, but she remained quiet. Her eyes drifted over to where the water bottle sat alone on the table.

I could be wrong, but if you were really hungry last night and fell asleep after grabbing a snack, I'm sure there would be some evidence, like that water bottle.

She didn't bother to question him.

"I think...we were both very tired," she noted, strolling away from the table and to the kitchen counter. "A good night's rest was all we needed."

She hardly felt refreshed, as Ji Hoo claimed to be. Again, Jan Di grew slightly envious of her boyfriend. He led a perfect life without awareness of it. A life Jan Di strived to live, but was unable to. It seemed that at every corner she passed she met an even greater challenge or another obstacle that would ultimately drain her. Sometimes she wondered if Ji Hoo were the same, though at the same time doubted it.

"What do you want for breakfast?" she called, opening the fridge and peering inside. "Ji Hoo?" she repeated, closing the fridge and peering over to the dining table when she didn't receive an answer.

Ji Hoo was now facing her in his seat, gazing at her with glossed over eyes. Like always, he wore an unreadable expression and for a moment, Jan Di began to worry over him. "Did you hear me? I asked about what you were craving for breakfast—"

He pulled himself out of his seat and approached her. The following, unexpected word caught her off guard.

"You."