CHAPTER 10

Was it weird that I wasn’t feeling sad about the fall out with me parents?

I guess not.

Was it weird I felt more safe and at ease with a stranger than I felt with my own parents?

No, it wasn’t weird. It just proved that my parents had done a shitty job at parenting.

We were back in Hongdae, I thought maybe Baek wants to talk back at my AIRBnB but I was surprised to find out that he lived there too with his girlfriend just on the opposite side from where my place was. We made small talk all the way to his place, nothing too heavy or related to fights or my sudden decision. Maybe he was just trying to cheer me up, and well if that was it then it had definitely worked.

Anxiety hit me when we reached the front door of his apartment.

'What if his girlfriend doesn’t like me and he has to leave me because of that?' I thought to myself.

Not that I had any sort of romantic feelings or crush kind of feelings for Baek but I mean honestly... what girl would like her man bringing another girl to their shared apartment?

Especially when the said girl was a complete stranger. I had heard such good things about his girlfriend that I actually really wanted her to accept me as a friend and not hate me thinking I was making moves on her man.

The front door was opened by a woman almost immediately. She was a bit taller than me, chocolate brown hair cut in a long Bob style, she was wearing a light blue sundress and she was someone I’d call really pretty.

Kim Hae-Eun or Grace Kim as she liked to call herself instead of her birth name. My Baek’s lifeline. She was one stunning woman and the minute her eyes landed on Baek, I saw her face instantly light up.

Yes they were hopelessly in love and yes it was very obvious.

“Oh she said yes did she? I’m so happy jagi!!! Now don’t make her stand outside get her in quick.” She said when she finally noticed me standing awkwardly next to Baek.

'Wow okay,' I thought.

So apparently they had already discussed about me and she was somehow fine with the idea of me living with them. I had never experienced this kind of trust in a relationship, like was this even possible?

I guess this is how it should be, love and trust must go hand in hand. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t experienced it. My parents didn’t love each other, they'd just learnt to live with each other and their love and trust for me is a topic I would like to totally ignore for umm..... forever.

Cozy

That’s the word I will use to describe their home. It was really cozy with a small drawing room that had a small sofa set and a flat screen on the opposite wall, there were framed pictures on all the walls surrounded by fairy lights. Most of the pictures were of Baek and Grace, and a few were paintings and quotes. One frame caught my attention instantly, plain white sheet with two separate hand prints.

Now it wasn’t something weird or unique but what caught my attention was that there was enough space to accommodate another hand print right in between the other two handprints. Before I could ask, Grace had ushered me in, made me sit on the sofa and then disappeared off to what I later came to know was the kitchen.

“Here have some water, and feel comfortable yeah? We are both here for you” Grace said placing a glass in front of me and taking a seat on Baek’s lap making me blush slightly at the PDA but it didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. It made me happy seeing them both this way.

“So what happen Rads, you made sudden decision, are you okay?” Baek asked.

I didn’t feel like hiding anything from them. Not that I wanted to play victim but I had read enough books and also had real life experiences to know that if I wanted them to trust me then I had to take the first step and trust them first, and so I told them everything about the conversation with my parents.

I was upset and had a few tears running down my cheeks by the time I finished and was surprised that it was Grace who pulled me into the tightest of the hugs telling me that now that I’m here its all going to be fine.

Comfort.

I hadn’t felt that in so long, and I was so grateful to every higher power there was that I hadn’t been able to rent an oppa and eventually met Baek. Maybe things would actually be better for me in the future now and maybe just maybe I would actually have friends, love, trust, healthy relationships.

Maybe I’d finally have a real home, a real family.