When Hoseok mentioned skipping work for the day, he was serious. He even urged Jiah to mute her phone as he turned off his own. They started by spending time at the arcade, playing games until they were satisfied. After leaving the arcade, Hoseok treated them to gelato. It was amusing to watch Jiah getting teased by a Italian man while she only stood there smiling, unsure of what to do.

With their gelato in hand, they returned to the car, and Hoseok suggested going to a nearby park. Upon arrival, they had finished eating all their desserts, so they strolled around while chatting. Their conversations mostly revolved around hilarious stories they had witnessed at the boutique. There wasn't a single moment when they didn't laugh, reminiscing about the antics of the Bejiwoo staff. They also discussed the store's shortcomings. Their time at the park was cut short when it closed.

As the park announced its closure for the day, Hoseok drove the car to his housing area, which consisted of apartments with different levels. Near the gate stood colorful tunnel slides, swings, and spring animals. In a separate section near the playground, there were built-in workout equipment, painted with grey and yellow handles. Children shrieked as they chased each other, while a senior citizen exercised on one of the pieces of equipment. On the red concrete path that separated the playground from an apartment block, pregnant mothers and mothers with strollers walked by, chatting with one another.

If Jiah hadn't known Hoseok's life story, she might have perceived their neighborhood as peaceful. But how many of these people had heard his parents fight at night?

The car came to a stop, and the brake pedal creaked. "We're here," Hoseok whispered. He clicked the button to unfasten his seatbelt, which slid back into place as he took out his phone.

Jiah unfastened her seatbelt and asked, "Which one is your house?"

Hoseok looked up from his phone and pointed at a unit with seven floors ahead. "There. My house is on the fifth floor."

Nodding, she looked out the window again. She was watching the children running around in the car park when she saw someone familiar walking toward the block Hoseok had pointed out. "Hoseok-ah," she whispered audibly.

"Yeah?" Hoseok lifted his head from his phone.

"Isn't that your father?" she asked, and Hoseok looked up from his phone.

"Ah, yeah."

"Your father is handsome," she said. "I can see why you're handsome too! You inherited his genes."

A slow smile curved on her boss's face, his eyes still fixed on the phone as his thumbs swiftly touched the keyboard on the screen. "You think so?"

Jiah hummed in agreement.

"Okay," Hoseok spoke softly, his smile still on display.

"Is 'okay' all you'd say?"

With raised eyebrows, he put down his phone and looked at her. "What am I supposed to say? 'Thanks'?"

"No," the woman with the high bun hairstyle drawled. "You can say 'I know I'm handsome. It runs in my blood.' You've got nice red hair on your head, make good use of it!"

Hoseok chuckled. "I'm not Seokjin hyung. He can say that better than me."

"I do not agree. Anyone can say that!" Jiah expressed with a motion of her finger. "Look at me." Placing her palms under her chin, her fingers waved as she cooed, "I am pretty."

Hoseok stared at her in disbelief, his lips

holding back a grin before he snorted and shook his head, looking out the window. Finally, the grin unfurled on his lips.

Jiah's hands dropped to her lap as she playfully hissed, "Aish. You're making me embarrassed."

"See? No one told you to do that."

Jiah let out a deep breath groan before making a face and looking out the window. They sat in silence for a while, letting it fill the car space. After watching the children stop playing and head to their respective buildings, she realized they hadn't left the car. "Why aren't we getting out yet?" she asked, looking at Hoseok.

"We're waiting for Aunt Soojung," Hoseok said.

Checking the time on the dashboard, Jiah assumed Aunt Soojung was already on her way home. Considering that Hoseok's family was going through troubles at the moment, he might have thought it wouldn't be a good idea to bring her to his house. Judging by the distance between Aunt Soojung's apartment and his family's, she assumed they were possibly side by side.

Silence accompanied them until there was a knock on Hoseok's side window. Grinning, Aunt Soojung greeted them. Her hands carried a bag of groceries, while her son carried two. She then mouthed, "Let's go now," prompting both Jiah and Hoseok to pull the door levers and leave the car. Jiah smiled and bowed to the middle-aged woman.

Replying with a smile and a nod, Aunt Soojung chuckled. Then, she said, "Now, come!"

**********

To reach the fifth floor, they took the elevator. Jiah had never seen the inside of an apartment building before, and she found the path to the doors narrower than she had imagined. The doors were arranged as she had assumed, with two doors side by side intersecting with the corridor of the elevators, and two doors located ahead of them.

Turning right, they arrived at Aunt Soojung's house. As Wooshik pulled out a key to unlock the door, Jiah noticed her boss sigh softly. She caught him stealing a glance at the other door, leading her to presume that it was his own home. Curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn't help but look at the other door.

There wasn't much difference between the doors, except that Aunt Soojung's door had a doorknob that required a key to unlock it, while Hoseok's house had a doorknob with a passcode. The corridor echoed with silence and faint movements, but the stillness near the door next to Aunt Soojung's felt darker and eerie.

Finally, the door was unlocked, and Aunt Soojung slapped Wooshik on the back of his shoulder, causing a resounding slap in the corridor. "That took you so long!" she chided.

"My hands are full, uhmma! You should've held the bags for me," Wooshik retorted.

Aunt Soojung seemed flustered by her son's response. Then, she said, "Huh! Get in. Quick!" Both Jiah and Hoseok chuckled at the scene.

They entered the house, and the entrance light automatically turned on as Wooshik removed his footwear. He hurried into the living room and placed the bags on the dining table. The sound of water rushing from the tap and drumming against the metal sink indicated that he was washing his hands.

After Aunt Soojung removed her sandals, she spoke to her guests, "Come in, come in. Don't be shy. There are candies in the living room. They're in a jar. Help yourselves if you'd like."

"Oh, alright!" Jiah replied with a light grin.

While Aunt Soojung and her son prepared dinner in the kitchen, Jiah and Hoseok made their way to the living room. Looking around, she assumed that Hoseok's house might have a similar structure.

The apartment had three rooms and two bathrooms, although she wasn't sure about their size. But the living room was quite spacious for a family of five. There was a floor-to-ceiling sliding window that led to a small balcony. From her seat, she could see pots of plants positioned against the railing. Three separate brown leather sofas were placed in the room—one in the middle and the other two positioned slanted to the left and right. In front of the sofas was a small coffee table, and there sat the jar containing candies. A television mounted on the wall remained off, while under the television was a channel player with remote controls placed on top.

The sound of water drumming against the sink and a loud thump of a knife against a cutting board made Jiah turn her head toward the kitchen. Aunt Soojung and her son were cooperatively preparing dinner, prompting Jiah to stand up and walk toward them. Hoseok noticed her actions and asked, "Where are you going?"

She paused her pace and said, "I want to help them."

"Oh, then I'm with you." Hoseok placed his phone on the table and walked to the kitchen with her. Jiah placed her hands on her back, turning her body side to side, while Hoseok leaned his palms on the table. Together, they watched Aunt Soojung.

Upon seeing their presence at the kitchen counter, Aunt Soojung, with a soft tone, asked, "What is it? Do you need anything?"

"No," Jiah said, shaking her head with a smile. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Ah," the middle-aged woman muttered, staring and peering at Jiah. Waving the hand with the knife down, she said, "It's okay. This will be done in no time! Just sit in the living room. Go, turn on the TV."

Staring at the woman, Jiah let out a soft whine, her lips slightly jutting out. She said, "It's a weekday today. There's nothing fun at this hour."

Hoseok said nothing, only raising his eyebrows at her. He seemed surprised by her behavior.

Aunt Soojung chuckled, putting down the knife and resting her hip on the counter. Humming briefly, she then said, "There's the pork belly grill in the storeroom. It's in a box. Go get it, will you?"

Jiah removed her hands from her back and quickly answered with a big smile, "Yes! Which one is the storeroom, though?"

"The door without a curtain."

As she made her way to the door without a curtain, she stood there and spun the doorknob, pushing the door. If it weren't for the moonlight and the nearby city buildings, there would have been no light illuminating the room. Her hand searched for the light switch beside the door frame. When she felt something, she pressed the thicker side, and it clicked. Soon, the light from the ceiling showered the space.

The room was filled with stacked boxes of utensils and devices, both for business and personal use. There were boxes of various sizes, in different colors. On her left was a big wooden cabinet, also filled with boxes, and some stainless steel pots on top. A ladle handle poked out from the pots. She stepped into the room, placing her palms on her hips once she reached the center. Then, she shouted, "What's the color of the box?"

Aunt Soojung shouted back, "It's a black and red one. Medium size. There are small gas cans beside it. Bring those out too, please."

It didn't take her long to spot a medium-sized black and red box with a pack of gas cans resting beside it. However, it was on the cabinet, and there were steel pots and an old colander on top of the box. She looked around for a stool. When she found one, she took it and positioned it in front of the cabinet door. She took the cans first and put them down on the floor.

First, she planned to get the pots and colander one by one. Unfortunately, the stool was too short for her to reach them. That left her no choice but to shift the box slowly while pushing the pots to the back. She felt a sense of unease as the boxes on both sides of the pots moved when she pushed them. Seeing the boxes with an expensive brand of kitchen set, she grew even more anxious. She hoped the boxes were empty. Thinking she was a big, independent woman, she needed to figure out how to solve this herself.

She was too focused on pulling the box with the pots still on top that the other boxes fell to the ground at last. A loud clang came from the boxes' contents, and the ceramic lid wrapped in a thick layer of newspaper startled Jiah. She almost screamed.

Hoseok came rushing to the room. "What happened?" he asked, his face filled with worry and concern. He entered the room, holding her shoulders and turning her side to side to look for injuries. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Jiah assured, stepping down from the stool.

Aunt Soojung and Wooshik appeared at the door, looking worried as Hoseok asked, "What happened?"

"I was trying to get the pots down, but I couldn't. So I pushed the pots, and these boxes just... fell."

Hoseok's tone turned dark, yet with a hint of softness, as he said, "You should've called me."

"I almost got the box –"

"How dare you still sound like you weren't risk getting hurt? It doesn't matter if you got the box. What if these boxes had something heavy and fell on your head?" he snapped, his eyebrows deeply furrowed, catching Jiah off guard.

"I," Jiah paused. They locked eyes, and Jiah realized this was the first time she feared her boss. The expression and tone he displayed were intimidating. Despite Aunt Soojung and her son's presence, the stillness between her and her boss almost made her shiver.

"Aigoo, aigoo," Aunt Soojung interjected, shattering the coldness. Their gaze broke as well when the owner of the items entered the room, pushing the boxes with her foot to make a path. "My pretty child, are you okay?" Jiah nodded in response. "Aigoo," she drawled, her face contorted. "You almost gave me a heart attack, my child. You should've called Hoseok-ie for help. I am short too, my child. I always have Wooshik to stack and remove these things."

"I'm sorry, uhmeoni," Jiah whispered sadly, bowing down.

"Ah," the older woman muttered. Patting the younger one's back, she added, "It's okay, it's okay. As long as you're fine, these things don't matter. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Leave these things, get the grill down. Wooshik-ie will arrange these," Aunt Soojung said. Then, she turned to her son, who was standing at the door. Smacking him (he yelped), she scolded, "Why did you stack heavy items so high?"

"You told me to keep them on the cabinet," Wooshik replied, his eyebrows furrowed.

Aunt Soojung wanted to smack him again, but she held back, hissing a silent curse. "Don't you have a brain? You could've told me that wasn't a good idea."

Her son calmly retorted, "Isn't it you who has no brain, uhmma? I only followed what my mother asked me to do."

Aunt Soojung bit her lips, holding back a curse. Letting out a fast sigh of defeat, she walked past him to return to the kitchen. Wooshik suppressed the urge to laugh before turning around to face Jiah and Hoseok. To Jiah, he said, "Don't worry about these. I'll clean them."

Looking at Wooshik woefully, Jiah once again bowed down and muttered an apology.

"It's okay. Come out now. Since you want to help, you might as well help us grill the pork belly and kimchi."

Jiah brightened up a bit as she said, "Ah, okay."

"Don't forget to wash them before use."

"Yeah."

Wooshik left both of them with a light smile. Once again, the room was filled with silence. The silence felt new. She had never experienced it, even when they spent a lot of silent moments in the office. This made her look down at the floor.

Hoseok stepped on the stool behind her and easily grabbed the grill's box. He passed it to her, prompting her to take it. He stared down at her height before whispering, "You scared me, do you know that?"

Jiah uttered another apology.

"When hesitation comes to you, you should look for help," Hoseok said, causing Jiah to glance at him. He was no longer furrowing his eyebrows. "Don't do that again."

Intimidated, she droned, "Yeah."

Glancing at her again, he caught him twitching a smile before saying, "Out. I'll switch off the lights after you."

Guilt and intimidation still nestled in her heart and mind. Nonetheless, she brought herself out of the room with her boss behind her. She worried about how she might have ruined the day, but the mother and son, and Hoseok seemed to have let it pass. As they grilled the pork belly and kimchi, they engaged in a long conversation and laughter, wiping out her worries.

Dinner was served, and the conversations continued. When Aunt Soojung asked about their first meeting, Jiah didn't know whether to be honest or to tell a filtered story. But Hoseok told her an honest story, which bewildered Jiah, causing her to glance at him with widened eyes. He didn't even cover the fact that he swore he wouldn't like Jiah.

"Now you have some chemistry, I see," Aunt Soojung cooed, smiling at both of them.

Hoseok chuckled. "It's been comfortable working with Jiah."

"You get comfortable working with her. Of course. As far as I've observed her, she's likable."

Jiah bashfully smiled and giggled when Hoseok looked at her, his lips holding back a smile. "She's likable to the point that I know one of my male staff might hit on her," he said, looking at Aunt Soojung.

"Who? Who among them? Who?" the older woman asked, exchanging glances between Jiah and Hoseok.

A brief silence followed for a few seconds with Hoseok staring at her. When she caught him staring, his gaze remained fixed. She mouthed, "What?" but he answered Aunt Soojung, "I don't know. I just have a feeling."

"Eyh," Aunt Soojung muttered. "Aren't you going to make a move?"

Jiah could feel heat spreading across her face because of the question. Nevertheless, she hoped no one noticed as she kept feeding herself the food.

Her boss let out a brief chuckle and answered, "We'll see."

**********

After dinner and a brief chat, Jiah and Hoseok said their goodbyes to the mother and son. Aunt Soojung reminded them to visit her stall more often, eliciting chuckles from both of them and a promise to do so.

As they rode the elevator downstairs, Jiah broke the silence with a blissful sigh. "Ah... I'm so full. The food was delicious!"

Hoseok grinned in response but remained silent. The elevator let out a loud 'ding,' signaling their arrival on the desired floor. The doors slid open, revealing Hoseok's father standing by the elevator. The older man lifted his head, clearly surprised by the unexpected encounter. His gaze then fell upon Jiah.

Hoseok's grin faded into a tight smile. Wanting to be polite, Jiah quickly bowed ninety degrees and softly greeted him with a "hello." His father replied with a gentle smile.

Hoseok gently took her wrist and guided her out of the elevator as his father entered. There was a scent of soju around his father, making Jiah wonder if he had been drinking at a nearby stall. However, it seemed he was still sober.

Once they were outside of the apartment building, Hoseok released her wrist. He took something out of his hoodie pocket and pressed a button on a small remote control. His car emitted a loud chime, indicating that it was unlocked. Jiah hurriedly walked to the front passenger seat, still feeling intimidated by the incident in the storeroom. Remembering his family's story, she worried that he might be feeling down soon.

Sitting in the passenger seat, she glanced at her boss, who had just entered the car and casually slammed the door. "Hoseok," she called out, prompting him to face her. "You okay?"

He let out a soft sigh along with a gentle smile. "Yeah."

She mirrored his smile and said nothing. During the journey back to her house, they didn't exchange any words. Moreover, Jiah was already in a food coma.