|chapter seven|

I open my eyes and immediately regret it. Last night was a disaster. I roll onto my side to see SeungMin sprawled out on the floor. He never left. He stayed by my side all night.

I sigh as I peer over the edge of my bed at him. His face is so peaceful. Puppy dog. That's what they used to call him in school. He was known as the weird girl's puppy dog. It's kind of nice to see it hasn't changed. He's never once even thought about leaving my side.

I overheard him talking to SaeRon about it before. We were only in middle school back then, but he told her that he was going to marry me. SaeRon insisted he was insane. She was only in elementary school at the time, so she was truly disgusted when he told her.

SaeRon refused to acknowledge that I could ever be married to her brother. She hated me back then. She hated that SeungMin loved me so much. I was ruining her reputation.

I remember the exact words she spoke to me when SeungMin forced me to go to his house. SeungMin had slipped away to get something for his mother when SaeRon stood above me with wicked eyes. She poked me in the forehead and scowled.

"Stay away from my brother. He's too good for you. You're just a no good loser who wants to bleed him dry. You'd better never come back here again. In fact, don't even think about him after you leave." SaeRon had threatened me back then. I took it to heart.

I did everything I could to avoid SeungMin for a week straight, but when I had a meltdown in class, there was nothing I could do. He was the only one who knew how to handle me. Even the teacher was clueless as to how to handle me. In fact, SeungMin was the best at calming me down and keeping me and everyone around me safe. My parents never tried. They gave up long before I was even in school.

"Stop staring at me and get me a blanket or something. It's freezing down here." SeungMin mumbles as he reaches up to tug on my blanket.

"Get up and get it yourself. I'm hungry." I toss my blanket aside and get to my feet. I delicately step over SeungMin and head toward the door.

"You're a pain." SeungMin groans as forces himself to sit up.

"That's my specialty." I smile sheepishly at him before reaching out to take his hand.

"You're cooking today, right?" SeungMin asks as I pull him to his feet.

"If I'm cooking you're getting cereal and no milk. I can't even handle pouring milk." I chuckle as I use my lack of cooking skills to get him to make me something good.

"French toast—do you want it made from cinnamon bread? Bacon or sausage?" SeungMin questions as we walk side by side into the kitchen.

"Yes. Sausage. Don't forget fruit!" I slide onto the nearest stool beside SaeRon.

"You're in charge of cutting the fruit." SeungMin grabs a few apples from our fruit bowl and sets them in front of me along with a cutting board and a knife.

"You have a letter, Byeol. Don't know who it's from, but it has your name on it." SaeRon slides a light blue envelop toward me, careful not to set it too close to the fruit as I cut.

"A letter?" I mumble as I reach out to take a dishcloth from SeungMin to wipe my hands off.

I pick it up and turn it over in my hands. There's a return address, but not a name. I hesitantly slide my finger under the lip. I pull the letter out and carefully unfold it. I take a moment to read it. The further I get into it, the warmer my cheeks become.

"Who's it from?" SeungMin asks as he begins putting everything together to make the French toast.

"MinSung." I mumble as I quickly slip it back into the envelope. I slide it under my leg before SaeRon can grab it from me.

"What's it about? Who is he? How do you know him? Do we know him? Is he cute?" SaeRon begins asking a million questions as she props her head up on her hands.

"I don't know. I've never met him before." I sigh as I continue cutting the apples.

"You've never met him before yet he has your address and knows your name." SaeRon hesitantly questions.

"It was the wrong address, wasn't it?" SeungMin asks as he glances over his shoulder at me.

"Yep. So as soon as we're done here, imma go walk out into traffic or something." I state calmly as I place the cut apples into a bowl and get to my feet.