"Hey, wake up," I heard a voice say with snapping sounds close to my ears, causing me to frown and turn my head in the other direction," Sun Hee, wake up!"

After five seconds of ignoring Hoseok's wake-up call, I finally earned some peace until I found a wave of cold water hitting my face. I gasped and immediately threw my body upward to cough all the water out of my respiratory system.

"You jerk!" I shouted at him as I tried to wipe all the water off my eyes, "I'm going to kill you!"

He threw the bucket to the side then said," Sure, you can kill me later. For now, you have to wake up so we can start working."

I eyed him with anger as he walked to the door, leaving me soaked and panting. This jerk had no such thing as "manners" and it was so evident in the way he chose to treat me sometimes. It was as though all of his "gentleman" acts towards me were being forcefully implemented and if that was the case, then I wouldn't be neither surprised nor disappointed.

I scoffed at my thoughts. You are technically staying at a murderer's place and are complaining about him not having manners when you should be grateful that your soul hasn't left your body yet.

I let out a long sigh then ran a hand through my hair to get it out of my face before finally deciding to get up and start a new day in the company of Mr. Hoseok. Very exciting indeed. From his tone, I could tell that he had some serious business in store for us and it only made me more curious but anxious at the same time towards what he had in mind.

Once I was done with using the bathroom, I realized that I had no toothbrush, hairbrush, and extra undergarments to change into.

"Hey, how am I supposed to-" I paused midsentence at the sight of Hoseok in an apron in the kitchen, opening some glass containers containing side dishes. His hand froze on the sides of the lid as we both stared at each other. I could feel my furrowed eyebrows relaxing back into their normal shape and some of the tension washing off of my body. In all honesty, he looked so homey standing there in the kitchen with an apron preparing breakfast, and it didn't fail to turn me into a nostalgic mess back to the day when Jimin was the one standing there with an apron.

I felt my throat become tight as I managed to look away in awkwardness.

"What did you want?" He asked, his voice indicating that my reaction to his presence in the kitchen got him slightly flustered.

"Uh," I said before rubbing the back of my neck, "H-how am I supposed to brush my teeth?"

He blinked at me before deciding to break the tension by acting like a jerk again, and started acting up while gesturing at me with a wooden spatula," You came all the way over here looking like someone had pushed you off a cliff only to ask me how you are supposed to brush your teeth? What am I? A community dentist?"

I gaped slightly in annoyance at his attitude and crossed my arms, feeling my eyebrows starting to furrow again. He furrowed his eyebrows too and mimicked my body language by crossing his arms before pointing with his spatula," I have extra toothbrushes under the sink."

At that, I just made my way back to the bathroom with slightly red cheeks and a hot face then locked the door behind me. I couldn't figure out the reason behind why he changes his attitude like that, especially that sometimes it completely contradicts all my expectations of him. The way he acted gave off "normal human" vibes and not "psychopath" vibes except that he did possess an eerie aura. Just this fact alone made him appear like a contradicting individual and it pissed me off for some reason because no matter how much I tried to understand, I always failed.

After letting out a sigh and brushing my teeth, I decided to request a hairbrush some other time and just retie my hair into a more presentable bun. Once I got out, I found Hoseok placing a pair of utensils on the kitchen counter across each other with two plates of rice, two fried eggs, and a couple of side dishes. He took a seat at the sight of me and gestured me to do the same. I carefully sat down across from him, not knowing if it was right to be skeptical at that moment. He started eating right away, starting with a mouthful of rice, but I wouldn't let my chopsticks touch anything that he hasn't touched yet, so I just waited for him to grab a piece from any of the side dishes.

He must have noticed that I wasn't eating, so he let out a slight smile and looked down," I know it's not much. I don't really eat at home, so-"

"It's not that," I interrupted him, not wanting the thought of me being ungrateful for his efforts to linger in his mind that much.

He stared at me for a while before he finally scoffed at the realization. He picked up another piece from another side dish and chewed at it with a smile before saying," None of it is spiked."

I put my chopsticks back down and clasped both my hands together, a solemn expression ruling over my face," So? Does that mean I should eat? Just because you told me that it isn't spiked?"

"Why are you asking me that? I made this just to display hospitality, if you don't want to eat then don't," He replied back, his chopsticks parting the pieces of kimchi from the plate a bit more aggressively than before," I can't care any less."

I watched him as he ate at a slightly faster pace, his eyes focused only on the food ahead of him, never trying to even look at me. Honestly, I did feel kind of bad considering the fact that he put in the effort to make this, and I could tell that it did in fact affect him slightly that I wouldn't go near anything he had prepared. At such times I could gladly admit that despite being a well-known doctor, I could be stupid at times, but it didn't bother me a lot because it was only natural for me to feel skeptical, but then again, I couldn't help but watch his unexpected change in attitude.

My trust issues made it hard for me to think that maybe he wasn't being pretentious, that he got a side of him that actually got affected because I wouldn't eat with him, but I still thought that I was excused because he was a murderer and technically a manipulator. However, despite all those thoughts in my head, I still found myself holding the chopsticks and reaching out to pick up a small piece of kimchi to eat with my rice. His eyes slowly rose when he realized that there were another pair of chopsticks other than his in the plates, and I could've sworn that I saw a small smile rise on his face once he looked down to continue eating.

I chewed slowly on the food, ready to start evaluating the taste. Surprisingly, the kimchi tasted good, and the rice was well cooked. He suddenly eyed me while I was tasting the food, and suddenly asked," How is it?"

I never really liked commenting out loud about what I thought of someone's cooking because regardless of how I thought of the taste, a lot of effort and thought was put into making it, so I didn't really know how to compliment someone's cooking skills.

"You made all this on your own?" I asked a bit faintly, then cleared my throat, starting to feel a bit awkward since that was a question I never really answered.

"Yeah, I like to say that I got a knack for cooking even though I don't really cook that much," He replied back, trying to seem indifferent towards the topic but still failing," Why? Do you not like it?"

"I do. It tastes good," I said while looking down at the plates, pretending to be picking up something then looked up to find him looking down at his own plate of rice and stuffing his mouth to hide his smile," Did you think I won't?"

He swallowed his food first before saying," I didn't have expectations. I've eaten that pretty much most of my life so, even if it was bad, I wouldn't be able to tell because my palate is quite used to it."

"Have you never eaten food made by others before to tell if you are lacking or not?" I asked him while taking a bit more from the side dishes.

"I have, I just don't care much," He said then put his chopsticks down all of a sudden, causing me to pause my chewing and look at him," A person who lives like me should just be glad that they are alive and well. Food is food. I just eat to survive, not for satisfaction."

"What do you mean by 'who lives like me'? How is your life like?" I asked, becoming a bit more curious now that he has opened up a bit.

He looked at me for a bit then stood up and pushed his chair in," That's too much information for the day, and this was a good meal. Take your time then get dressed. We got someone to meet today."

****************

"Where are we going?" I asked Hoseok while trying to keep up with his pace as he speed walked his way through the crowded streets of the neighborhood that he took us to. I had never been to that place before, but it was quite busy in contrast to what I had expected. I always had in mind that Hoseok was a mysterious person who was living in a society that claimed him to be nonexistent so he had to hide and move around discreetly, but judging from the places I had been to with him and the one I had spotted him at the first time I saw him, I could tell it wasn't the case. It only provided me with more questions though, and I realized the more I focused on him, the more my curiosity and desire to explore him grew within me.

"To meet someone. Wait and see," He replied back and continued moving forward hastily until we were met by a brand new company building with a grand entrance and a luxurious interior that was on full display because of the glassy exterior.

"Woaah!" I gaped at the grand entrance that was before me," are you really acquainted with someone in this building??"

Hoseok let out a scoff at my childish reaction and shook his head at me," You are too pure for this world."

"I-" I managed to let out before he put his arm around my shoulder and pushed me along towards a narrow passage way between that building and the one next to it.

"You don't have a fake ID, and you are a run away criminal charged with double murder.  I don't think it is best for me to bring you to such a fancy, well known place, don't you think so too?" He mocked me while I stared with disappointment and disgust at how hideous that passageway looked in comparison to what I had expected.

It was nothing but a narrow, dull passageway with two huge trash bins on either sides, and a rusty looking door on the wall that belonged to the fancy building, not to mention that it reeked too.

"What are we going to do here? Dumpster diving?" I asked him, not able to pry that disgusted expression off my face.

"We are going to meet one of the most corrupted people I know," He replied while walking ahead of me towards that rusty door.

I paused in my track and stuttered," C-corrupted???"

He turned back around and held my arm to pull me along," I'd appreciate it if you lower your voice a bit."

I pulled my arm away from his grip and stood in my place, refusing to take another step before I fully understand what he was planning to do.

"One of the most corrupted people? What the hell are you up to Hoseok? Who is that?"

He let out a heavy sigh out of frustration and annoyance and reached out to hold my arm again, but I was quick to dodge his hand," I'm being serious Hoseok. I'm not taking another step unless I know what you are planning to do this time."

He stared at me for a while before finally giving in," Fine. Long story made short. His name is Jeon Jungkook, and this building used to belong to the NIS, but then they moved to different quarters a couple of years ago and the building got purchased not long after by one of the most successful businessmen in South Korea. Jungkook is an ex- agent, one of the corrupted kind too, and it has been to my advantage in a lot of ways. I'm a manipulator, you know."

"And? Why am I here now? What are we using him for?"

Hoseok let out a sigh before rubbing his forehead in annoyance," We are here because he now works as the legal consultant of this company, and is quite influential, which means that he's got his way around things here. One of the main reasons this company is still standing is because the president, the CEO, and Jungkook are all corrupt and all three of them got their own influence and ways around charges. There is so much wrong with this place, but that's none of our concern. Our concern is that Jungkook would be the one to help create some fake documents and help twist the truth behind your charges to our liking."

Silence.

"So technically we are dumpster diving."

"Mmm, yeah, you could say that."