Lee Heeseung, at the very edge of his twelfth year of life, had learnt the cold, hard truth that karma, for a fact, was a bitch.

And the aftermath of his deeds was especially effective, for it came in the form of a lizard.

Heeseung lets out a demonic scream yet again, instantly stumbling backwards and tripping over Heeyeon's designated broom in the process and falling butt first right next to his sister. Motor skills or not, Heeyeon is the next one to mimic her brother.

"What?" He yells at her.

"I don't know," his sister yell-whines. "What happened to you?"

"Lizard," Heeseung cries at the very top of his lungs. "There's a lizard behind the box."

Heeyeon's face visibly loses more blood. "There's a lizard too?"

The only thing Heeseung could do was to nod.

A clear squeak, and Heeseung, who seemed to have lost all strength in his limbs- jumps onto his feet immediately. Just like in the horror movies (or home alone, it didn't matter as much all of a sudden), the Lee siblings initiate a harmonised scream of horror. Another squeak, a failed act of throwing the nearest box to shoo it away and a number of brave (or defensive) steps from the final boss slash enemy (lizard)- and the kids charge towards the only escape on sight.

The door.

The damn door.

Heeseung, more terrified than his sister at the moment, is the first to get his hand on the doorknob. Hoping that it would unlock within a second, he twists it- fair and square.

And by the wicked twist of fate, he realises it won't open. Even more panicked than he already was, Heeseung hysterically tries to open the door yet again and of course, it does not open.

"What happened," Heeseung yells, too sure they were living in a horror movie at the moment.

"What," Heeyeon yells back from right behind.

He pulls on the doorknob for the nth time.

"The door won't open!"

"What?"

"I said," Heeseung sucks a breath. "The door won't open."

He watches his sister's eyes widen for a moment before she pushes him far apart from the doorknob with all her might.

Shocked, Heeseung forgets to scream or complain for a moment. The twelve year old watched in horror as some sort of realisation dawned upon sister and the girl's hand shot up to pull down the lock at once.

The Lee siblings stumble out of their new apartment, one on the ground and another barely maintaining its balance and thus, barely avoiding an even more embarrassing fall.

Heeseung, the one who hadn't had the luck or balance to be in the latter spot, was the first one to see it. Or more accurately, feel it.

Heeseung had just let out a weak yell and slid backwards towards the wall that faced the entrance when he felt his back meet with a warm feeling of flesh and blood. A pair of hands flew to grab hold of his shoulders and helped straighten his back. Devoid of all feelings, Heeseung follows the hand's lead and helps himself up.

"You okay?" You ask him as you move on stand by Heeyeon, who had silently slid down to seat herself on the ground with her back firmly pressed against the door.

"What-" it takes a second for him to process what it was all about, and barely any of it when he replies with a "Yeah, no."

"Figured as much."

He doesn't know what you mean. For the nth time ever.

"How are you here?" Heeyeon asks the basic question that had easily slipped her brother's mind.

You spare her a look of disappointment. "My mum drove us here?"

"Well I see no mum!" Was what Heeyeon replied with.

"Seriously Heeyeon?" Heeseung, feet planted stubbornly on the ground, but much more stable, scoffs.

You pay no heed to any of the Lee siblings say. Heeseung finds you eye the door curiously, often sparing them a glance or two suspiciously. He can hear the gears in your head running, he hears the loud twists of trials and errors and thus, can't help but feel embarrassed of himself.

You seem to wait for your mother, who was nowhere to be seen. Heeyeon asks you if she'd really come, to which you only replied with an "of course" every time.

Your mother does appear a good twenty minutes later. Her shy laugh echoes through the long hallway as she finds a place right next to her daughter.

"Oh sorry," her laugh was magical, Heeseung thought, "I got....a little lost!"

It was magical how the tension that heaved their shoulders had dissolved as soon as she came, like a refreshing spring breeze. He thinks it's the magic of being older, an adult at that- having an almost natural way with the world. Heeseung watches you from his periphery, and the thought of you growing up to be just like her crosses his mind.

That's when he feels a feeling grow in his stomach. He imagines you in a blue t-shirt, smiling at everyone you pass, the hair you had finally gotten around to grow past your hips tied into a neat low bun because keeping it down is always a hassle- and the feeling spreads like a wildfire in the woods. Heeseung suddenly finds himself wishing that you smiled more, that you were more like your mother- cheerful and bright.

His continuous inner monologue was put to a halt by your mother's clueless question, "Why's everyone outside?"

Heeseung doesn't say anything. And Heeyeon, who apparently had an ounce of dignity left in her, only blushed in reply.

You look at the two of them and at your mother.

"I don't know," you shrug. "Ask them."

"Oh?" Your mother quirks an eyebrow, visibly confused. She had probably thought you were the one forcing them to wait outside for her.

"Have you lost the keys, then?" She asks and you turn to them. Your eyes are demanding the same answers.

Heeseung shakes his head.

"You left the keys in and locked the house?" Your mother was visibly worried now.

Heeseung violently shakes his head.

"Is it open, in that case?" You ask. Eyes trained on Heeyeon.

Your mother scoffs. "Oh, don't be silly, Suae. Why would they-"

"It is!" Heeyeon cuts in.

Your heads shoot in her direction. Heeseung watches you take a step forward to hold his sister's hand.

Your mother then asks the most obvious question. "Then why aren't you all inside?"

You shrug, rolling your eyes at Heeyeon.

"They don't want us here, mum."

"No!" The siblings yell, earning a small laugh from your mother.

So you wait for none. And the next thing Heeseung knows, your hands were on the doorknob, quickly twisting it. The door opens with a click and you turn back at them, your eyes telling them to follow you inside. But Heeyeon is the one to pull you back, yelling again. A scream escapes him as well. Horror was an embarrassing look on the Lee siblings.

"Don't go in!" They yell in unison, taking you and your mother aback.

"Why?" She coaxed. "Is something wrong, Heeseung sweetheart?"

Heeseung runs out of words to say.

"There's a lizard inside," Heeyeon doesn't. She widens her eyes, bringing her fingers closer to each other and pinch down an imaginary size in the air, "and a cockroach this big."

Heeseung feels bad for lying.

The calm your mother carried herself with dissipates in a jiffy. Fear takes over her features as the smile morphs into horror.

"A what?" She sounded alarmed.

Heeseung wasn't done mustering up the courage to do a double take of his answer, when you had swiftly opened the door- not wasting a single word.

Horrified had never been this much of an understatement. Two Lee's and an Ahn let out the most blood curdling scream known to mankind as soon as the large lizard appeared in sight. You, Ahn Suae, on the other hand, were as indifferent as ever.

You silently plucked the broom from Heeyeon's hand. In front of you, the enemy squeaked rigorously.

Your mother, shaking, had helped Heeseung and his sister up on their feet behind you. She held them close to her body and all of a sudden, Heeseung didn't feel as scared anymore. The fog of terror dispersed a little in his head, and his muscles relaxed for the first time in a while.

But none of it stopped him, or the two other ladies surrounding him continuous screams of terror.

A loud thud and a few squeaks shuts them off as you finally catch hold of the reptile. You grab the dust pan lying nearby and scoop the now unconscious being in it.

"Where's the window?" You ask Heeyeon.

Petrified, the girl can only point.

"The nearest one is that way-" Heeseung blurts out, words from his own mouth feel foreign to him. He watches you follow his finger that now pointed at the balcony.

"That....wouldn't be the nicest place to throw it away," you comment. "Y'know, can fall on someone's head or something."

Heeseung gulps down the acidic embarrassment that burns his throat, and promises to act less frigid around you.

"Then there's that one," he points at the one right behind a half assembled dinner table that his father left right where their new couch was supposed to be set up.

You study the rather wide window, the broom in your hand tightly pressed over the dustpan. Heeseung wonders if the reptile was still alive (which he hopes it wasn't), but his thoughts were met with a truck face first.

The space exploded with cheers when you chuck the lizard off into the abyss (out of the window into the real world) and all Heeseung could feel through his own yells was a warm maroon seeping into his heart. At some point, the cheers turned into hysterical laughter and he swore he saw you snort at the view in front of you, too.

Heeseung was too close to thirteen, when he'd realised Korea wasn't going to be that bad after all.