𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 ―𝐝.𝐨.𝐝

Chapter 42

[ Park Moondae's POV ]

That first day I stayed over was the only day Seungmin wasn't in bed when I woke up. All other days, he woke up late into the afternoon like now, where his black hair was sprawled all over his white pillow and his body was hidden within his heavy blanket.

I remained downstairs quietly to not wake him.

There were many things I learned about Seungmin during my stay.

For one, he wasn't a morning person. I'm not sure how he survived Idol Inc. when he was like this in reality. His patience and social skills were really no joke.

Two, he didn't cook for himself. There was a lady that came by to make some lunchboxes while he was gone. She was thoroughly terrified to see me there unnoticed, so I felt bad and helped her with the dishes.

As for work, I could never tell what it was. Some days, he would leave wearing a tuxedo like a true noir film. Other days, he was wearing his typical gym clothes. His schedule was also sporadic. He avoided my questions and said it was simply an on-call duty, but I wasn't convinced. He almost always left at night. I was worried he was doing host work, but it would have been exposed by now if that were the case, and I put more faith in him than to do that job.

Also, it was his work that caused his animosity meter to rise. Every time he came back home, it would average at least 60%. I didn't know what job a nineteen-year-old with a penthouse would be doing to get so stressed, but it became a habit to let him rest on me to lower it.

"It's for the sake of me surviving."

Sighing, I poured myself some cold water to wake myself up.

But then I heard the door lock whirl open.

"Did he say he had guests today?"

The voice of a woman entered the space.

"Min, are you up? I've got some news."

She walked into the penthouse and saw me in the kitchen. It was Seungmin's cousin.

I bowed awkwardly, still in my pajamas.

"Wait, Park Moondae?!" she gasped. Her head quickly darted to the bed and then back at me.

"Oh, Seungmin is letting me stay here for the time being. There were some stalkers who broke into my house..."

"So that's why he- Well, never mind. It's nice to see you again. Congratulations on 4th place!" she smiled warmly. Then she pointed to the stairs with her thumb. "Is Seungmin still sleeping?"

I nodded my head.

"Jeez, that kid. Well, he needs to sleep to grow."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I nodded again.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Gaeul! Again, I'm Seungmin's cousin."

She rummaged through the fridge casually and took out some juice.

The older woman motioned with her hand to follow her, so I did. I ended up sitting with her in the living room.

"I've been following Idol Inc. religiously. Episode 8 airs tonight, right?" she asked.

"Oh, yes. Seungmin and I were planning on watching at a teammate's house."

The cousin widened her eyes for a while before softening them and sipping her juice.

"So he's really got some good friends..."

The sentimental atmosphere was not something I wanted to have between a woman I'd only met once before.