Chapter 13

"A good person"

Namjoon was banging on the door so hard that his fist was turning red, and while his heart kept racing inside his chest, he felt the cold sweat slide down his back.

"NA RI!" he yelled again while allowing his fist to rest for a second, "NA RI OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

Namjoon stayed quiet for a while and pressed his ear against the door, but he couldn't hear a single thing. A million thoughts were running through his mind and he didn't wait long until he started banging on the door again.

"Na Ri I swear if you don't open this door right now..." Namjoon started and then went quiet until he continued in a firm voice, "I will climb the balcony!"

The sound of dragging feet across the floor made Namjoon hesitate for a moment, and he quickly pulled his left hand back as he heard the door unlock.

Before Na Ri could even open up the door completely, Namjoon stormed inside and grabbed both her shoulders while he looked at her with horror written on his face.

"Are you okay? What happened? Please say something!" Namjoon blurted out in less then a second while he exanimated Na Ri for any possible sign of danger, but all he could find was that she was still shaking a little bit and her breathing seemed a bit fast. Once Namjoon realized she was alright, he let out a sigh of relief.

"You have no idea how scared you made me, I was afraid you had passed out again," Namjoon said and then realized his hands were still holding on to Na Ri's stiff shoulders.

"Oh, sorry," he said before quickly removing his hands, "but, are you really okay now? The lights hasn't turned on again, will you be fine by yourself?" Namjoon looked carefully at Na Ri's face but all he got was a confused and flustered face. No answer came across Na Ri's lips, she just looked like a deer caught in the headlights, too scared to even move a centimeter.

It would be irresponsible to leave her alone.

But it would be equally as irresponsible to stay at her apartment, late at night, in total darkness. 

But what if she got scared again? What if she had a panic attack and no one was there to be by her side?

"How about we call someone," Namjoon said after going through his entire train of thoughts, "your parents, maybe?" Na Ri shook her head lightly and Namjoon waited a bit, hoping she would explain herself.

"They live... far away," Na Ri said in a low and waspy voice, almost like her throat was choked up.

"Is that so? And you don't have any other family close by whom you could stay with for tonight?" Na Ri shook her head again. "No? Then what about Lee Min Ji-ssi? I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you stayed in her dorm room for one night."

"I DON'T..." Na Ri yelled but realized how loud she was and then continued in a lower voice, "I don't want to stay in someone else's place."

"I... I see..." Namjoon said and rubbed his neck, hoping that the lights would turn back on before he made another rash decision he would end up regretting later. 

They both kept quiet and stayed in the same spot for a while, Namjoon with his hand on his neck as he stared at the ceiling, and Na Ri nervously rubbing her hands together while she stared at the floor.

"I'll be fine on my o-"

"I can stay!"

They both spoke at the same time, surprising each other as they suddenly regained eye contact and again brought back the awkward silence.

"I... I can stay... for a little while," Namjoon then said while pushing away all the worries circling around in his head, "if you don't mind." A while passed until Namjoon then directly asked her: "Do you mind?" 

Na Ri looked at Namjoon and without knowing why, she just shook her head and Namjoon took a step further into her apartment, leaving his shoes behind in the hallway.

"Do you have any candles?" Namjoon said while he tried finding his way through Na Ri's apartment in the darkness. Without giving a response to Namjoon, Na Ri rushed to one of her cabinets where she took out a bunch of small candles that she showed to Namjoon.

"I guess that's a yes," Namjoon said and let out a slight chuckle.

It didn't take long before the entire apartment was filled with the small red and yellow flames to light up the place. As the candles all helped heat up the apartment, Na Ri let the door to the balcony remain open so a cold night breeze would make it's way through the apartment once in a while, clearing out the air of the room.

"So... my mom told me she brought you some more food," Namjoon said when the silence had started making him uncomfortable, "I hope she isn't being too pushy. Just tell me if she's too much and I'll tell her to back off."

"No..." Na Ri said, speaking in a more calm voice than earlier, "she's... very nice."

"Thank you," Namjoon said, feeling his heart jump in happiness that Na Ri was speaking calmly with him, "I'm an only child so she spoiled me way too much as I grew up. How about you, do you have any siblings?"

"A younger brother," Na Ri replied.

"Really? Does he live close by?" Na Ri shook her head. "Is that so? It must be hard for you to live far away from your family and your brother too."

"We don't talk that much," Na Ri said, not knowing where this sudden urge to share came from.

"Why is that?" Na Ri just shrugged her shoulders in response and Namjoon decided to lay of that subject for now.

"You know... I'm sorry for overstepping my boundaries earlier. I... I didn't mean to make you upset."

Na Ri looked up in surprise as those words left Namjoon's lips and she couldn't help but stare at him as he continued talking with his eyes locked on his hands which rested on his lap.

"I just... I hate seeing you struggle. I hate saying anyone struggle. But just like you, I'm not very good with people, just... in a different way," Namjoon stopped talking and looked up for a second and locked eyes with Na Ri who simply stayed quiet and gave her full attention, "Even if I have good intentions I sometimes just end up making things worse and I hate that. I'm not good at understanding emotions, I guess I'm very solution-oriented, maybe it's a guy-thing, I don't know. But anyway, I'm sorry for making everything worse for you. All I wanted was for you to make more friends and enjoy life, but I should've been thinking about your wishes instead of my wishes for you."

The room became silent again and Namjoon didn't dear look up a second time. He feared those judging eyes of Na Ri and he just stayed put in his seat.

"You're a good person, Professor Kim."

Namjoon looked up in surprise, fearing he was starting to hear things, but when he saw the genuine smile on Na Ri's face, he knew he had heard correctly.

"Can we please speak comfortably to each other when we're outside school?" This time it was Na Ri's turn to be surprised, almost scared, to be correct.

"I mean," Namjoon then continued to calm down Na Ri, "we aren't just student and teachers, we're neighbor's too. Maybe even... friends?" Na Ri looked at Namjoon for a little while until she took in deep breath and then said:

"...Namjoon-ssi..." Namjoon couldn't help but laugh when he saw her flustered face as she struggled to get those words past her lips, but when Na Ri got even more flustered and started blushing, Namjoon quickly stopped laughing and looked directly at her as he said:

"You're a good person too, Na Ri-ssi."

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to stay warm and eat healthy and take care of yourself. Stay safe.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~