5—I trust you

---.ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎.---

Mirae wakes up to what seemed like the soft sound of something falling outside the house.

She pushes herself up so that she could sit on the so-called couch with no comfort.

She groans, a little soar from sleeping on the couch.

Thump.

She turns her head towards the window.
That sound, again.

She stands up and moves towards the window with slow and steady, yet hesitant steps.

Just as she's about to reach the translucent window, the front door flies opens. She snaps her head towards the door.

"Oh, you're up." Jungguk says, with a smile.

Mirae sighs, relieved.

"Oh, its just you."

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up? I was actually collecting some fruits from outside." He explains, scratching the back of his neck.

"Its okay, really. So, there are fruits...outside?" She asked.

"Yeah, apples. Lucky, right? I mean, free breakfast everyday." He chuckles.

Mirae smiles. She really opines that the guy looks like a cute bunny.

He steps nearer and hands her a bag.

"What's this?" She asks, a pout forming over her lips, looking at the small pocket bag.

"Those are, a toothbrush and some basic toiletries you'll maybe need." He explains.

Mirae opens up the bag to spot a toothbrush, a toothpaste, some soap, a comb etc..

"I-I don't understand. How did you get these?" She looks at him, confused.

"I went to the Sijang* today. I know you ran from your house and all, like you said, so, I thought you'll need...things, for your daily...thing, right?"

She smiles, grateful.
"Thanks, that was very thoughtful of you."

"It's okay, you don't need to. I mean, what are friends for?"

Mirae's smile grows wider hearing the word friends.

Her first friend after Eunbin.

"I'll be right back." She says and walks away to some other room.

Jungguk nods, turning around, but freezes when he sees,

himself smiling widely, ear to ear.

He stands in front of the broken mirror, which still stays hung on the wall.

Why am I smiling ?
He questions himself.

It has been so long since he had felt like this.

It's a strange, yet, a familiar feeling.

Jungguk can not understand it, so he just shrugs it off.

He walks to the big box and prepares a pair of the plates given earlier by the old woman's son's wife, for breakfast.

After 10 minutes or so, Mirae comes out, her face was much brighter than before.

"Thanks again, for the things Jungguk." She thanks him again with a sincere smile, wanting to make sure he knows how grateful she is for his help.

Jungguk returns the smile brightly. He doesn't know why but his heart flutters, seeing her all cleaned up and smiling at him.

Living like this is really doing strange things to me, or I guess, its just her.
He thinks.

"So, what are you doing? You know, with the plates and all." She asks.

"Oh, I was just getting the breakfast ready." He replies.

She walks towards the small, old table to see apples in a basket and a box of cookies on the table, ready to be eaten.

She feels another smile form. The place is old, shadowy, but it is really relaxing for her. She feels good.

"You like it?" Jungguk asks.

"Yeah, I do, a lot." She replies.

"So, should we start eating?" He asks.

"Yeah, I am starving, like literally." She says, chuckling in the end.

"Haha, have this then." He says, handing her the plate.

She takes the plate, and seats herself on the couch.

She notices how systematically the slices of apples had been placed at one side of the plate and 5 cookies at the other.

"This looks, amazing, seriously." She said, still looking at the plate.

Jungguk just chuckles happily.

Mirae pats the seat next to her with her hand.

Jungguk takes hold of his plate and settles next to Mirae.

"Thanks, for the breakf-" She starts, but was cut by him.

"You need to stop doing that." He says, biting into his apple.

Mirae is hella confused.

"Do—what?" She asks.

"Thanking me. You need to stop that." He says while munching on the cookies.
"I told you, friends needn't thank each other."

"Oh. I won't then."

Jungguk just smiles at her.

They eat in silence, relishing the taste of the sweet apples and the crispy cookies.

After he is done, Jungguk stood up and takes his plate and puts it in a basin.

He then goes back and sits near her. He picks up the cookie box to count the cookies left.

When Mirae is finished, she stands up with her plate, but she feels something weird at her back.

Thinking that it is just some loose spring from the couch, she ignores it.

As she nears the table, she feels a hand on her back, to which, she stiffens.

She tries to turn around, but Jungguk speaks up,
"Don't move. You have a spider on your back."

"W-what? Is it b-big?" She asks, fear evident in her voice.

"Huge."

And she loses it.

"Get it away from me, please!" She cries out desperately.
She was a brave girl, but she has had a fear of insects.

"Just trust me. Do you, trust me?" Jungguk asks.

"I do, I trust you." She replies without hesitation.

"Don't worry, just, don't move." He instructs.

He asks her to stay frozen to grab a piece of wood from one of the corners of the room and in one swift move knocks the spider off her back.

"Done." He states.

Mirae hesitantly turns around and gasps at the size of the multi-legged insect.

Jungguk kicks it away towards the door, opens it, and kicks further it out of the house.

Mirae sighs.
"Thank-" She opens her mouth to thank him but stops when she remembers what he had said earlier.

Jungguk smiles.
"Well, good to know you're getting the hang of it."

Mirae just chuckles.

"I tend to have visits from all kinds of insects here, as the jungle is very nearby."He explains.

"Oh, I see."

"We can go for a walk in the forest, and it's safe too as it has, like, no dangerous animals in there. After all, the mountain cliff is at the end of it so, I mean i-"

"There is a cliff around here?" Mirae asks.

"Uh, yeah, there are hills all around, hence, the cliffs." He replies, confused over why sounds so alarmed.

As she suspects that those dreams weren't just dreams, Mirae can't help but believe even more now, that those flashes some memories.

She already believes that this place, this village isn't where she originally is from.
She felt like she did not belong in here.

"So, is that walk still on?"

Mirae thought for a moment before answering.

"Yes. Take me to the cliffs, Jungguk."

————.ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎ᴥ︎.————

1157 words.