Blood Ties | Sweet Home

10: Maybe I Like You

The small click of the door caused me to snap up from bed. It was officially nighttime, and there weren't any bright lights from skyscrapers or lampposts to help me see what was at the door. I couldn't even rely on moonlight because of the smoke that still hung in the air. My hands groped around for the climbing axe to defend myself in case a monster had finally learned how to break into apartments. The door swung open slowly, and the silhouette of a person stood in the hallway. I raised my axe up, showing that I was ready to attack if needed.

"It's me! It's Hyun-Soo!" the figure says in a hushed voice. I squinted my eyes to see that the shadowy figure shared the shaggy hair and unkempt appearance of him, and when he shuffled inside a bit more, closing the door behind him, my eyes adjusted to see that it was, in fact, him. I let out a relieved sigh, setting down my weapon and laying back down with a huff.

"You sure know how to give a girl a heart attack. I didn't think you'd pop back in until tomorrow."

Hyun-Soo comes to sit next to the mattress. He doesn't meet my eyes, but him choosing to stick closer to me is a lot more than what I would have expected from him. I do my best to prop my head up on my arms so I can stay awake and talk to him rather than just falling back asleep as if he never appeared. "Why did you come back here? Not that I want you to leave, it's just that, well... I thought you would've wanted to be with the kids."

Hyun-Soo gives a small shrug. "I did, but then I thought you might be lonely or something... What if a monster came to hurt you and you didn't have anyone to help you? I was... I guess I got worried and wanted to check on you... I didn't mean to wake you, though. Sorry about that..."

I wanted to tease him for being worried about me, but that wouldn't make him feel better or less embarrassed. It would probably just make him clam up and remain silent for the rest of the night, and I didn't want that to happen. I liked talking to him, so I needed to be mindful of what I was saying. Thank goodness I didn't greet him with my "infamous welcome" as Eun-Hyuk had dubbed it. I definitely would have traumatized him otherwise.

I reached over to nudge his arm. "Hey, thanks for sticking with me. I know I'm... strange company at best. You didn't have to come back, but I'm thankful you did."

Hyun-Soo laughed softly. "You're not wrong about that idea, but..." His face formed a small frown as he tried to articulate what he meant. "Not that it's that much of an issue but... Dan-Bi, why are you so attached to me? You seem... overly protective and, um, flirtatious with me?"

I was thankful for the darkness outside that hid the red flush on my cheeks. "Ooh, you finally asked the million dollar question," I mumbled, hoping that my response would be able to hide the embarrassment I was feeling. It was only a matter of time before Hyun-Soo's curiosity got the better of him and I guess he finally felt comfortable around me to ask. "What makes you think I have an answer for you? Can't I just be sweet on you cause I'm like this with everyone?"

"Hmm... Nope. I would think that if you were like that with Eun-Hyuk, but you both treat each other as awkward friends. Even before you were mad at him... you held him at a distance. I don't know your relationship with the people in this building, but it doesn't seem like you're generally happy to see anyone familiar alive. You've only known me for a couple days and you've done a lot to stick beside me..." Hyun-Soo finally chooses to meet my gaze and I can catch a hint of reddened cheeks. "Did you actually develop a crush on me in such a small amount of time?"

Yeah, there was no wiggling out of this conversation if Hyun-Soo was going to be so blunt about it. And was his voice teasing me? It hadn't happened often, but he had his moments of unabashed clarity, where he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. While I liked that he thought I was a person he could relax around, did it really have to be at the expense of embarrassing me? Whatever made him happy, I guess... Those moments gave me an idea of who he was before his trauma; he probably had a lot more confidence to do what he wanted rather than just being the unwilling hero he was now.