"okay, so where you're about to enter right now is a very secretive place and you are not supposed to tell anyone about it. It's location or what it looks like. It's supposed to stay a secret. You're the first person I'm letting inside this place, or near it actually, and I trust you and hope you will keep it a secret from our families and friends.." Haneul said before opening the door
Ash shook her head, "what's the big deal about this place?" she asked trying to enter but Haneul stopped her
"it's..important to me, this place is very important to me and I was going to keep it all to myself but due to some unavoidable reasons you're here too..so this.." he pointed at himself and then at Ash, "will um.." he thought, "I guess this says something..because you're the only one I have no problem with coming here.." he said as he opened the door
"..because of some unavoidable reasons?" Ash joked as she walked inside
"yeah..I guess you can call that reason unavoidable..because.." he gave her a pair of fuzzy indoor shoes,
"because?" Ash asked as she took her shoes off and wore the ones Haneul had given her
"because we're good friends.." he replied briefly as he walked further in and spread his arms open and turned around, "welcome to my small but cozy abode.." he said
Ash took small steps inside and looked around, her mouth dropped with surprise and fascination, "wow..this place is.." she looked at the ceiling, "not really as you explained.." she said as she touched the decoration pieces on a shelf
"what do you mean? It's not nice?" Haneul asked, a little offended
"..no, it's not nice, it's really nice. Really nice, actually..really big and not cozy at all, it's more.." she moved her hand vaguely, "sophisticated and too neat..and bright..and it smells nice as well..it's a one bedroom apartment?" she asked, throwing her bag on the couch
"hm? yes, that's the only room.." Haneul pointed towards a door in the corner
"then what about upstairs?" she asked, climbing the stairs with much enthusiasm
"up there? my action figures, books and collectables.." he said
Ash touched every single action figure on the shelves and came down, "Oh you have an aquarium as well..but it's empty?" she asked
"yes, it's because I'm rarely at home to feed them.." he scratched his head
"oh wow! look at all these machines in your kitchen! you have every single machine.." she exclaimed as she opened all the cabinets and drawers, "except a rice cooker.." she pointed out
"yes, um I don't eat rice..it wasn't required.." he said as he closed the cabinets behind her
"and you bake?" she asked
"No.." Haneul replied, not sure as to why she was asking that
"so why do you have a dough mixer?" she asked as she made her way to the lounge again and threw herself on the couch
"..oh that.." Haneul gave a small smile, "It's really old, I don't use that, it probably doesn't work now either.." he replied as he sat next to her
"why don't you throw that away and buy a rice cooker instead?" she asked, taking her phone out of her pocket
"..I'll buy a rice cooker if you want it so bad but I can't throw that out.." he got up again, "you can freshen up..the bathroom's there, I'll go get something for you to wear.." he pointed towards the bathroom, "I can't promise if it'll fit though.." with that he went inside the room in the corner
Ash took a look around once again before going to the bathroom
"he calls this place small..I wonder what his big is like.." she whispered as she locked the door.
~
"Ash.." Haneul knocked at the bathroom door after she had been in there for 30 minutes, "is everything alright?" he asked
Ash opened the door, "oh!" she jumped when she saw Haneul in front of her, "what were you doing here?!" she asked as she pushed him aside
"I was..you were in there for half an hour or so.." he fixed his shirt, "I was worried that you suffocated or something since it gets steamy-" Haneul shut his eyes and raised his hand, "nevermind. Here you go the clothes, you can use the room to change into them.." he guided her towards the room, "I have changed the sheets in case you felt weird, but know this, I don't sleep on the bed, if I ever come here I sleep on the couch, but I thought they might be dirty because you know.." he closed the window, "pollution." he drew the curtains and walked towards the door, "I'll prepare dinner, I'll call you when it's ready.." he excused himself and closed the door behind him.
Ash came out of the room after a few minutes, Haneul was busy in the kitchen, following recipes from his phone, step by step, cutting vegetables
"what are you doing?" Ash asked, sitting on the counter
"hey hey! off the counter! I'm making food here!" he said, helping her off the counter
He suddenly stopped, he was holding her hands as he thought but he was actually holding the sleeves of her shirt.
He laughed, "why are you laughing? your arms are long!" Ash whined, pulling them away
"hahaha, no no.." he tried controlling his laugh, "you look cute..show.." he turned her around, "oh it's not that bad..this shirt originally has long sleeves, I fold them like.." he pulled her forward and folded the sleeves, "..this..see.." he smiled, "they look perfect now.." he folded his arms in front of his chest as he backed off, "you look cute, I like this style, you can go with this style after marriage if you-" he stopped midway,
there was an awkward silence before the frypan caught fire, "oh my!" Ash exclaimed as she instinctively picked it up and threw it in the sink.
Haneul was standing in the corner of the kitchen, he looked really shocked,
"are you alright? it's alright, it happens, the.." Ash pointed at the ingredients randomly, "the water and the oil...sometimes catch fire.." she took a good look at Haneul before walking towards him, "nothing happened so calm down..no one's hurt.." but he was still breathing fast and his eyes were still wide with shock, he nodded slowly,
"come here.." Ash whispered as she pulled him in for a hug but he broke it quickly, "Ash..you must be hungry right? we ate noodles and the sun's went down a long time ago, I'm sorry I couldn't cook something for you but we can call delivery.." he quickly walked to the phone, "what would you like? chicken? pizza?" he asked
Ash narrowed her eyes, "Haneul.." she said ever so softly, "I'm not hurt..I'm alright..okay?" she asked
Haneul nodded, "no Haneul..say okay.." Ash said
Haneul sat down on the couch as he took deep breaths, "what if you had gotten hurt..it would've been my fault..what if the fire hadn't been small-"
Ash put her finger on his lips, "nothing happened..none of that happened..so stop thinking about it.." Ash said as she gently rubbed his back
Haneul took a deep breath and gave a sure nod this time, "you're right.." he blinked a few times as if to wake himself up, "what would you like? pizza? I know a really good place that delivers in time and has the best pizzas.." he said
Ash stuck her lips out, like a small pout, like she always did when she was thinking, "sounds good! call!" she said with a popping sound, that made Haneul laugh.
While he was busy ordering, Ash couldn't help but think that now she was exposed to another side of Haneul, the innocent and scared side, she felt sad wondering what made him like that, so hurt and broken..
~
"he was already hurt but something broke him..shattered his little heart..why is life so cruel? what did he do to deserve all this?" Ash asked herself as she sat outside the hospital, sipping her coffee, no matter what she did she could not stop thinking about what happened last night. She couldn't stop seeing Haneul's scared and empty face.
