Return of the Boy Next Door

Chapter 4

Are you sleeping? Hongki's text read.

Dahyun had just finished drying her hair and was about to take some medication to help her sleep when she saw the text from Hongki. Replying to the message with a simple 'No,' she put her phone back on the bedside table and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. When she returned to her room, she saw a missed call from Hongki.

She returned the call after taking two pills and went to the living room to look out the window again. It was a routine that she rarely broke.

"Hi," he said as soon as he answered the call.

"You called me?" She asked, sitting on the sofa and looking at the dark sky illuminated by the moon.

"Yes, just wondering how you felt about today."

Dahyun hummed, "Are you asking about Jaeyoung?"

There was a short silence before he replied, "Yes, what do you think of him."

"He seems nice, but I don't think he's the one for me," she said.

"I see," he said, and there was another silence.

"If there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up now," she said and was about to end the call when she heard his voice.

"Wait, I'm downstairs. Can you open the door for me?" Hongki asked, and Dahyun widened her eyes in shock.

"Ring the doorbell," she said as she walked to her video intercom.

She tapped on the screen once it rang, and as he said, he was at the front lobby of the apartment complex. She tapped to unlock the door at the front entrance and waited for him to reach her main door after hanging up the call.

"Why are you here?" She asked in confusion after he entered her apartment.

"I don't know. I was driving around after dropping off Boyoung but found myself here," he said as he went to sit on the sofa.

Puzzled, she asked, "Shouldn't you be at Boyoung's house instead of mine?"

She sat beside him, but her body was facing him.

He didn't respond to the question. Instead, he declared, "I'm going to sleep here tonight."

"Huh?" She dumbly responded.

"I just feel like sleeping here tonight. Is it okay?" He asked and was finally making eye contact with her.

Dahyun frowned, it was only his third time here, and it already seemed like he made himself comfortable in her home. Then again, he had always done things his way, and Dahyun wasn't one to make a fuss over anything. She was someone who'd go with the flow, but he was undoubtedly the first person who came to her apartment and whom she asked to stay overnight, except for her parents.

"I don't mind having you stay overnight, but you know that if Boyoung finds out, she'll be upset, right?"

Looking away, he said, "I broke things off with her."

Dahyun felt her heart beating quicker at the revelation, "Why?"

"I don't feel anything for her."

With a sigh, Dahyun turned her body and leaned against the backrest of the sofa. Lee Hongki's love life wasn't her concern, and it was silly of her to feel excited just because he broke off with his current fling. It wouldn't take long for him to find another girl too.

"Are you going to stay overnight once in a while?" She asked, looking out the window while hugging her cushion.

"Maybe, if I feel like it," Hongki said.