Our Little Dorm Mother

Chapter 57- Someone Else

I walked around the apartment and tidied away the bowls of popcorn that D.O and I had left on the coffee table from the night before. It was quiet in the apartment since I was alone.

After D.O and I had lunch with some of the BTS members, I had gone straight home while D.O went to the dance studio to catch up with some of the rehearsals he'd missed from going on our honeymoon. The WGM staff had informed us that we had the afternoon off while they went and filmed a new celebrity couple that was taking part in WGM as well.

I sighed distractedly as I threw away some of the rubbish that had accumulated around the kitchen counters. But even when I saw my hands picking up stuff and throwing things away, it felt like I was watching someone else doing it. It was as if I was in someone else's body as I wasn't registering anything that I was doing. My mind was too preoccupied to think of anything else apart from what had happened earlier.

"Nami-ah... you're the one I like."

I shook my head fervently to banish D.O's words, my cheeks heating up as I did so. I was still in shock from D.O's confession. I couldn't believe it. D.O liked me? Why? How? Since when? So many questions whizzed through my mind, faster than I could comprehend. I was at a lost at what to do and how to react.

Earlier, when I heard D.O say those words, I froze on the spot. I was too surprised to say or do anything. I couldn't believe him.

D.O looked at me expectantly, his face showing signs of nervousness as he waited for my answer. I studied his eyes carefully, searching for any signs of him breaking his pretence if it turned out to be another joke. How could I be sure that he wasn't pulling my leg again? D.O was good at acting and, if he was pulling another stunt, I would willingly admit that I was falling for it.

But the longer I stared into his tenacious, round eyes, the more certain I felt that he wasn't joking. D.O was serious. He was telling the truth: he had romantic feelings for me. And I didn't know what to do.

"What-what about you?" he had asked me, his voice shaking a little. "How-how do you feel about me?"

I stood rooted to the ground, unable to move. I even lost my ability to speak. Eventually, I regained my composure and opened my mouth to reply, "I--"

But before I could say anything, Manager-nim had interrupted us and told us that we could leave the restaurant now. D.O gave me one last glance before he started walking in front of me, not daring to look behind or meet my eye. I guess he was trying to be considerate of me by giving me some space to think it over. Either that or he was also too nervous to say anything more.

I finished tidying the living room and kitchen and sighed as I sat down on the sofa. How was I going to face D.O later on? Before he had left for the dance studio, he had briefly told me that tonight was the premiere for his film, 'Pure Love,' and that he'll be swinging by the apartment later to pick me up-- if I still wanted to go. Still feeling awkward, I nodded in reply, not giving him a firm 'yes' or 'no' to his invitation.

As I mulled over on what to do, my eyes suddenly rested on the direction of the kitchen and images of D.O floated in my mind's eye. I fantasized him focused on cooking a meal, his back hunched over as he concentrated on cutting vegetables or washing them under the sink. The expression he wore was of pure focus, his brows furrowed slightly in concentration and his heart-shaped lips thinned into a straight line as he did so.

I imagined him looking up suddenly, as he noticed me watching him and he would smile warmly, his round eyes softening, as they always did, when he saw me approaching him. It was only now did I realise the meaning behind those affectionate smiles.