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a bath was the only comforting thing she could have at the moment. her throat and stomach hurt since now it was empty again. 

the bathtub provided her with great relief. she submerged her fragile body and closed her eyes. 

and she hoped to see him, maybe his smile or maybe hearing his voice telling her something, anything. 

an explanation about why he hid all these things from her. 

but it was empty and black. nothing.

she sat straight as the drops of water ran freely down and she sighed at the thought of walking out again and having to see kibum's twin brother again. 

gathering her courage she finally did it and thanked the universe since he wasn't around. quickly she went inside her room and closed the door behind. 

she picked a long sleeved dress and a pair of socks and brushed her hair, tying it in a high pony tail. 

it had been the first time she had tied or brushed her hair in months. there were hair knots around but she knew she couldn't go out looking like hell since there was someone else in that house.

she opened the door and glanced both ways and slowly walked towards the living room. 

yuna stopped on her tracks when she noticed kihyun was patiently sitting on the couch. when he noticed her, he quickly stood straight and stared at her with worried eyes.

"gwenchana?"

she just nodded. "sorry... i - she swallowed hard. she didn't know exactly what to say. it was obvious she was throwing up but nobody wanted to talk about it. 

"maybe i am not a good cook after all." he dared to joke. she just chuckled, almost forcing herself not to. 

she shook her head. "aniyo. it wasn't the soup... don't worry."

"now you're empty again." she looked at him with widened eyes. somehow believing it was true. she was truly empty inside, nothing left. but she wasn't exactly thinking about the food.

"it's fine. i am not hungry anymore."

"you need to eat to be healthy, okay?" he asked nodding, she nodded as well. 

"about that - she said pointing to the bathroom and the scene they both shared previously - now i believe that your brother lied to me, a lot." she said nodding as she noticed kihyun approaching her with sympathetic eyes.

"yuna-ssi- he started but she shook her head.

"he hid things from me - she looked down ashamed - and i am sorry for questioning you in the first place. it wasn't right."

he pressed his lips together in a thin line and finally nodded. "you're lawyer, that's your instinct."

she hated herself for chuckling again since she wasn't in the mood for laughing but it was hard not to. it seemed like he'd find witty ways to make her smile even against her own will. 

"hajima." she said serious, turning around and walking to the kitchen. kihyun followed her, leaning on the breakfast table he looked at her.

"why? it's fun." 

"it shouldn't be." she simply said looking for a glass of water. they remained silent for a few seconds until he finally broke it.

"listen... i can't excuse him because i have no idea why he lied to you about these things, especially if you two were about to get married." the mention of it seemed to bother her. 

"but i can say that... we all have secrets that we don't want to share with people, not even the people we love the most." he started. yuna looked at him with curious eyes.

"now... i am not saying that what he did was right but - he sighed - i am sure he had his reasons yuna-ssi... we can't just- cry over the spilled milk, you know?"

his words seemed to make sense but the thought of accepting it now, was hurtful for her. 

thinking that the relationship she shared with him was built on a lie drove her crazy. 

"i am sorry - her eyes were filled with sadness - i can't accept it." 

kihyun nodded, biting his lips. "okay." he simply said returning to the living room. she looked at him curiously.

"what do you say about finishing this? no more mentions of him okay?"

"it's hard since we're putting his things away." she said walking into the living room, arms crossed on her chest. 

he chuckled. "i know, but we'll talk about other things while we clean around, is that okay with you?"

she hesitated for a second but finally agreed. she took her usual spot and he sat across her. "so... what do you?" she asked avoiding his eyes.

"well... i've done many things." 

"like what?"

"when i finished high school i got this part time job as a delivery guy - he said chuckling - i delivered raw fish for one of the stores at the fish market." he said shaking his head.

"then i worked in a call center, it had been the most boring job ever." 

"why?" 

"well... it was basically answering calls all day, and you were sitting most of the time so yeah. it was too tiring... then i worked in a clothing store. that was better since i could move around but i had an adventure with the boss' daughter so i was kicked."

he laughed, yuna smiled looking down. "then i worked on a rental boat company. that was a nice one, at the end of the day, we had to go around making inspections to see if there were any boats forgotten, so i'd hop on a boat and sail around to see if maybe someone's boat had been stuck somewhere."

he shrugged, stacking the magazines in another box. "it was a fun one and i loved watching the sunsets every day - he turned to look at her - that was in busan." he added, passing the box to her.

she was marveled, listening to his stories. he seemed so open about them and as if he actually enjoyed telling them. 

different from kibum who always tried to avoid talking about his personal life, whenever yuna asked for something specifically.

"finally... i started working in an art gallery... that's when i realized that i kind of loved art? so i decided to take a painting course and i'd sell my work online as i also work on a motorcycle workshop. that's what i am on currently." he said nodding.

"that sounds nice. did they give you some time away?" he just nodded.

"vacations." he shrugged. "and i thought about coming here since... i currently don't have a place to live so..." he said putting away some bills and other pages in a bag. 

"you don't?"

"nu-uh..." he said focusing on cleaning around. "why?" yuna was straightforward and she didn't have a filter sometimes.

"hmm... let's say that fixing motorcycles doesn't really provides you with big amounts of money nor selling art online so... this is the only place i can call home. that's why i am here." he nodded, eyes focused in a lost point of the living room. 

she nodded as she tried to understand his current situation. "it's your house after all." she added.

"i guess that - he shrugged, letting out a deep sigh - now it is." his voice sounded sad and muffled. as if he hated the idea of that house being only his.

"you said we wouldn't talk about him." she quickly reminded him.

"you're right - he said pointing at her and standing from the ground - books and magazines are done. what's next?"

she looked around and noticed there were decorations on the shelves and paintings. "maybe all that?"

"got it." he nodded.

"so... you're a lawyer, how come?" he asked, putting all the small decorations that were on the shelves. small action figures and miscellaneous items.

she shrugged. "i always wanted to be one? i guess i love defendind people. standing up for those who can't or don't know how to." 

he looked at her, focused on her brown eyes. "seems very noble."

"i don't see it as a noble thing but as a necessary thing."

"fair enough." he said turning to the next shelve. she noticed he started placing the rest inside the same box.

"actually - she said, making him stop - i'd like to keep that? if that's okay?" he glanced at the small chicken figurine. "sure." he said handing it to her.

she grabbed it in her hands and smiled warmly. "i gave this to him once... he loved fried chicken." she chuckled, turning into a sigh.

"that's... cute." she smiled. "but you're talking about him."

her eyes widened. "right. sorry - she stood from the ground and started stacking the boxes. "i should clean here." she said walking to the kitchen, bringing the vacuum cleaner. 

they organized everything that was exposed in the living room and cleaned around. only the couches were left there at the same place. the shelves were disassembled and put away in boxes for donation, along with the books, magazines and most items. 

the living room was empty now, only a few paintings remaining. 

when she returned from the laundry with fresh towels, she noticed kihyun staring at the paintings. "are those yours?" she asked curiously.

he jumped when he heard her voice but quickly shook his head. "it was mom's." 

the mention of the word mom made her stop on her tracks. the mom word was kind of prohibited for her to ask to kibum. 

he would always refuse to talk about anything past life related, especially if it was about his mother.

"really?" she asked, somehow the flame of curiosity burning with desire of knowing more about the woman. 

"she actually... had an outstanding talent - he turned to look at her, his green cat-like eyes shining towards her - wasted of course, for raising us." he shrugged.

"i think those are beautiful." she said glancing at the beautiful paintings hanging on the wall. he nodded.

"i remember when she painted these... it was during one winter when we came here- she have had an argument with our father and locked herself at the gazebo... i followed her and watched her paint them." he said, eyes focused on the hanging items. 

she stood next to him, his figure towering over her. only now she realized that she remembered kibum being actually slightly shorter. 

"i wanted to tell her that the paintings were pretty and that i loved them but... i wasn't a talker back then." he crossed his arms on his chest. 

yuna looked at his direction and noticed they were wintery-sunsets. the paintings were cold but definitely beautiful. "would you like to keep them?" she asked softly. 

he smiled warmly but then shook his head, turning to look at her. "no. better donate them." he said grabbing the last box and stacking it on top of the rest and then walking out of the house, closing the door behind him.

yuna stared confused as she returned her eyes to the paintings wondering why he wouldn't want to keep them if he just told her such story. 

she finished cleaning around and putting everything away. she looked for her phone and messaged the moving company that was supposed to come and pick up the things. she thought that in a week or maybe two she'd be ready since she still had to go through the rest of stuff in the house. 

time passed and she didn't notice she had been checking her messages for at least an hour. she heard the front door opening and rushed to the living room. 

kihyun walked inside with a bag of oranges, her eyes widened. "where did you get that? the store?" 

he laughed. "not exactly, we have orange trees everywhere." he said washing two of them and chopping them in a plate. "want some?" she just nodded.

"are you hungry? it's almost dinner time." he asked looking at her. she remained silent and simply shook her head.

"jinjja... you need to eat something."

she grimaced and sighed. "i have some ramen." his eyes lightened as he nodded. "i'll prepare it. you'll like it." he said moving around, looking for a pot, filling it with water.

"arasseo... bottom right." she said motioning for the cabinet where the packages of ramen were. he smiled widely when he found them. 

"prepare to taste the most delicious ramen ever." he joked. yuna warmly at his contagious smile. 

for the first time, since he arrived and after multiple failed times, she allowed herself to smile at him, or just smile in general. 

maybe after all and after all this time, she deserved it. 

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