Area One

25

When Junmyeon woke up, it took him a while to remember what had happened. When everything came back to him, he groaned with frustration. This had been a dream, right? This hadn't really happened.

He buried his face in the pillows- wait. Pillows? Junmyeon's eyes widened and he shot up.

The room was the one the woman had offered them yesterday, so at least this had been real. But he couldn't remember falling asleep on the bed. Hadn't he passed out on the floor yesterday? Luhan still wasn't back. Had he spent the whole night somewhere else? But on the other hand, how had Junmyeon ended up in the bed then?

He got up and made the bed as quickly as possible. If he couldn't pay the woman back, he would at least make sure that everything was tidy. He was not in a rush, after all. If something bad had happened, Luhan would have notified someone.

Would he? He was probably still angry because of yesterday. Even though Junmyeon just couldn't understand what he had done wrong. Luhan was usually a little moody, but it had been a while since he had last been this angry at Junmyeon. And he didn't even want to think about the reaction this had resulted in.

On his way downstairs, he looked for the owner of the house, but he couldn't find her either. The main door was half-open and he heard voices behind it, so he walked towards them and grabbed the handle.

"... and they were kissing?"

His hand froze on the metal.

"Well, no... but they certainly didn't look like just friends either. And do friends corner each other against the wall... with their faces this close to each other?"

The other woman gasped. Junmyeon could picture a middle-aged, married woman, her hands clasped over her mouth and her eyes widened in shock, scandalized about things that didn't remotely concern her. "You really are unlucky with these things... First Hee Jin and now these strangers... At least they won't stay for long, right?" If Junmyeon hadn't felt like someone had struck him into the back of his head with a piece of wood, he might have wondered about the name he had just heard. But fortunately, this riddle was solved when the woman continued. "But your daughter and that... that other girl were young. They had a rebellious phase and everything their families said was wrong to them. I'm sure they were actually normal and just wanted to act like they were special-"

Junmyeon pulled the door open so quickly it hit the inner wall with a loud crash. Both women in the garden jumped and stared at him with their eyes wide open.

During the sudden silence, Junmyeon approached them with a straight face and bowed to the owner of the house. "Thank you for letting us stay the night. I need to go find my friends now so I will not bother you anymore."

He walked past them without waiting for an answer, feeling their gazes boring into the back of his head. An image popped up in his mind: the cows in Luhan's neighbour village had exactly the same silent, incredulous stare.

He hadn't even completed that thought in his mind when he flinched. He wasn't that mean. Why did he feel so upset by those two women he didn't even know?

Junmyeon was so lost in his thoughts it took him several attempts to find the marketplace where they had separated yesterday. He had walked down the same street at least three times and he really hoped the others were already there and hadn't seen him in this ridiculous state.

The downside to his wish actually being fulfilled was that they were all staring at him when he arrived, partly with reproach because he had made them wait, partly with curiosity.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry, I had a... I was talking to the woman who let us stay in her house and forgot about the time."

Luhan snorted. Sehun and Minseok exchanged glances and both raised their eyebrows at him. "Are you sure you're not just still too... tired from yesterday?" His best friend was barely able to hold back his laughter.