In Seven Days

Friday; 8: 01 PM

The world had quieted down to a lull as the moon started to rise. The evening wind blew through the huge sliding doors of the living room near the kitchen, tickling Jin's ankles with its coldness.

Byulyi had gone and set Seokmin down for his sleep, leaving the house in silence without the boy's coos and laughs and claps. With this, the soft bubbling of the water was free to invade the air.

Jin found himself humming a lullaby he frequently heard Byulyi sing as he placed the last bowl on the drying rack. Bobbing his head to the silly tune, he folded the rag and wiped the sink clean.

Just as he was taking his apron off, soft careful footsteps came from the stairs.

"You haven't slept yet?" he asked Byulyi, who was quietly making her way down the stairs. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she donned on a pair of blue pajamas.

She shrugged. "It's too early and I'm not sleepy." She made a beeline for a cupboard in the kitchen. Standing on her tip-toes, and just a tiny bit of struggling, she took an unopened pack of popcorn from its shelves. "And Crash Course Romance is airing right now."

Taking the popcorn with her, she walked straight towards the living area just to the opposite side of the kitchen. She took the remote off the coffee table and plopped herself onto the soft green sofa.

Jin chuckled lightly. "You and your dramas." He dried his hands off a clean rag with a shake of his head.

She turned to face him, a slight frown pulling her brows. "What? It's good," she said defensively before clicking the remote and bringing the TV to life. "And it's the last episode I didn't want to miss it."

The TV flashed a second of different programs—a well-known idol survival show, a late-night variety show, the news channel, the music channel, the kid's channel—before it finally stopped. Byulyi burrowed herself deeper onto the sofa, tucking her feet under her and taking a nearby throw pillow to put on her lap as she waited for the commercial to pass.

Byulyi was wrestling with the persistent bag of popcorn open, its noises mixing with the low audio of the TV. Jin walked closer to her before snatching the bag with a quick flick of his hand and, just before she could call him the worst names known to man, tore the top open. Wordlessly, he gave the opened bag to her.

"Thanks," she mumbled reluctantly. She shot Jin a furtive look and another at the other side of the couch. "Do you want to sit?"

Jin ignored the sudden burst of giddiness he felt when she asked and instead quietly—as far away from her as possible without looking impolite.

"Oh, it's starting." he heard Byulyi mutter excitedly, placing a piece of popcorn in her mouth as the recap of the last episode was shown. He saw glimpses of the hospital and heard conversations about birth mothers and rooftops.

"This looks intense for a romance drama," he commented, placing his ankle on his knee and leaning back comfortably.

"Then don't watch it," she snapped with an exasperated shooing of her hand, "Go to sleep if you don't like it."

He chuckled and schooled his features into a straight face. "I won't complain anymore then."

The episode went on and as expected, Jin didn't understand one thing. In contrast, Byulyi was fully immersed in the show. She gasped loudly, cursed under her breath, and chewed her popcorn angrily; all while her eyes remained unpeeled from the screen.

The only time Jin saw her truly take a deep breath was when the commercial came. With an audible sigh, she leaned back on the sofa again whereas she was sitting at the very edge just moments earlier. She took a handfuls of popcorn to her mouth, unlike the conservative small bites she had at the start of the episode..