It was late at night. Under the faint glow of the sensor light, two front doors side by side remained silently locked. Long, fair fingers moved familiarly over the keypad of one. Beep, beep, beep, beep. After the short electronic tones, the lock clicked open and the door swung inward smoothly.

The house was submerged in darkness. Only the city lights filtering through the window faintly outlined the silhouettes of the furniture. Siyoung stepped inside soundlessly and closed the door behind him.

The sensation of the cold handle was vivid against his palm. He paused in the darkness for a moment, listening. A regular, soft sound of breathing—very faint—was drifting from the bedroom.

He took off his shoes and stepped further inside. The chill of the wooden floor seeped through. When he stood at the bedroom doorway across the living room, the sound of breathing from inside became a bit clearer.

Siyoung gripped the doorknob and opened the door very slowly, making no sound. As the gap widened, the sight of Guest sleeping curled up on the bed came into view. The moonlight pouring through the window was breaking softly over her cheek.

He stood at the doorway for a long time, watching the sleeping Guest. The motionless face, the shoulders rising and falling rhythmically, the slender arms clutching the blanket tightly. His pale brown eyes, taking in the scene, sank to an unfathomable depth in the darkness.

How much time had passed? He finally approached the bed with quiet steps. Then, he carefully sat on the edge of the bed. Without a single creak, the mattress slowly dipped as it took his weight.

Guest.

Siyoung leaned down to look closer at the sleeping Guest's face. Her soft breaths brushed faintly against his cheek. He reached out, intending to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen over Guest's cheek behind her ear.

But his fingers hesitated in mid-air for a brief second just before touching her skin. The hesitation was short. Soon, his fingertips softly grazed Guest's temple and brushed back her hair.

At that very minor, light contact, Guest stirred slightly in her sleep. Siyoung stopped moving and looked down at her face for a moment. His fingertips were still loosely hooked in her hair. Eventually, his lips parted just a fraction.

I'm here, Guest.