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Selena

"I'm back home, guys," I called out as I opened and stepped through the front door.

Silence.

Frowning, I placed my house keys in my purse and reached out to the left wall to flip the nearby hallway switch. Light flooded the familiar surroundings. Pulling out my phone, I double-checked that it was 8:04 pm.

Where are they? Did they go out to eat and not tell me? I hate when they do that!

Shaking my head, I opened the closet door to my right, slipped off my jacket, and used a hanger to put it up. Closing the door, I continued into the house.

Yep. Silen—

Wait…

Was that water running?

I moved through the entry doorway and into the hallway. Turning my head to the right, I could see a bit of light peeking through the cracks around the corner of the bathroom door. "Maria? Mom?" I called out, feeling nervous.

The house was dark, seemingly empty except for this one room. Gulping, I moved to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. The kitchen and living room were completely dark and silent as well. I pressed myself against the corner, next to the laundry room door.

The water shut off and there was the sound of the shower curtain being pulled back. The next minute passed by like it was an hour. My heart was pounding so badly I could hear it in my own ears. The palm of my right hand grew a little slick with sweat, fingers curled around the warming plastic. I fought to keep my hands from shaking. The bathroom door creaked open and a low exhale of breath filled the silence. I swallowed, closing my eyes tightly. A low rumble of something I couldn't pick up in a voice that was too soft to determine gender or identity came from further down the hallway.

Heavy footsteps, though they weren't as loud as I would expect. Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to psych myself up.

You've got the element of surprise. Just rush around the corner and stab out with the knife.

I raised the knife up and jumped out from around the corner. "I don't know who you are but get out!" I cried out, trying to make my voice sound fierce and in control.

The first thing my eyes noticed was the exposed and vulnerable abdomen of the intruder. By the shape, I could tell it was a man. My arm instinctively struck out in a stabbing motion. But the abdomen leaned back, less than half an inch out of the range of the blade. I felt a firm grip come down and clamp onto my right wrist.

The guy's hold was so strong that I knew I had no way out of this sticky situation. I tried to yell and twist around in a circle so that my left elbow could go for his back. I'd seen the move a lot in movies...They always made it seem so easy.

The grip on my right wrist tightened, fingers clamping onto the pressure point. I cried out in pain, my grip on the knife loosening. My attacker was quick to disarm me, taking hold of the knife easily.

"Why did you try to harm me, Selena?"

Cold.

Dead.

There was absolutely no emotion, no change to the man's voice. Not even the small lilt that you normally heard to indicate a question was being asked. Everything was flat. It was like he honestly didn't care that I'd almost stabbed him. Like he was merely asking because it was expected of him to do so.

Blinking, I started to lift my gaze from the guy's naked upper body. But two familiar voices made me twist my head around, relief flooding through my veins, quickly followed by terror.

"Selena?!"

"Sis? We heard a cry—"

"You guys are here? Wait, you have to leave. Go before this guy does something to you too!" I told them quickly.

"Exactly what do you think I would do to Miss Arnold or Maria?"

"Selena, u-um..." Maria's face was very quickly filling up with embarrassment, her wide hazel eyes transfixed on the guy behind me.

"Seok! W-why are you undressed?" Mom rushed to Maria's side, covering the girl's eyes with her hands.

"I do apologize. It seems that with the new surroundings along with the rush with which you insisted I get in the shower, I forgot to grab a change of clothes."

"M-Mom?" I asked in uncertainty as I turned my head back to the guy. "You know this guy? Wait...You're him?!" I demanded in a gasp, taking in the guy.

He was tall, nearly six feet and three inches. His skin was pale, though it did have tinges of darker tones here and there. By the looks of it, he'd been out in the sun a lot and his skin darkened because of it. His hair was a shaggy black coal color, which was currently mostly plastered to his head, still half wet. Now, the only thing he had on was a white terry-cotton towel that looked much too small. It was wrapped around his hips and only covered to just past his lower thighs.

His abs, biceps, and upper chest all told that he did enough working out to be in shape. I was pretty sure there wasn't more than a single pound of fat on him if even that. His jaw wasn't overly-ridiculous with its strong features, but it was still very masculine. His nose as well was sculpted, though I'd never thought I'd ever think that of a guy's nose. His features were heavily Asian, even so far as to have a slight slant to the shape of his eyes. But despite the normal black and brown of such nationality, he had dark green eyes.

All in all, this guy was a hunk and I found myself growing a little breathless just taking him in. My heartbeat sped up, still realizing he was holding onto my wrist, though it no longer hurt. A spark of electric excitement shot down my spine and I flushed in shame.

If this guy came at me in a different situation, basically naked and about to go all Alpha male on me, a little, wicked grin on his face…

My blush grew even worse and I struggled to put a stern tone in my voice, especially with how shaky my voice was. "Le-let me go already!"

He did instantly, showing no change to his blank expression except for a single blink. "I apologize I hurt you, Selena, but you were coming at me with a knife. I had to disarm you so that you would not cause any harm to either of us." He paused as if having just thought of something. "If an actual intruder broke into the house, it would have been a better choice to call the police instead of trying to attack them," he seemed to be half-lecturing me.

I quickly stepped back from him, moving to stand next to my mom and sister. I shot him a glare, annoyed at his words that made me seem like I was stupid. It wasn't like I didn't know that. I just hadn't really thought about it with all the excitement.

Mom was still hiding Maria's sight, but I noticed her own cheeks were flushed a little. The thought made me feel sort of grossed out though, so I tried to ignore it.

"Seok...Can you please go back to the bathroom? I'll, uh, grab your suitcase and bring it to the door," Mom murmured in a tight voice.

He blinked. How could he possibly be so at ease, naked, in front of three strangers, with a kitchen knife still in his left hand?! "I can get it myself, Miss Arnold."

Mom shook her head quickly. "N-no, it would be a lot better if you just do what I say, please?" she was almost begging now.

He stared down at the three of us calmly for several moments. "Ah. I see. My lack of clothing is causing the three of you embarrassment. I did not expect it of you though, Miss Arnold. Still, you are thirty-five. That is in an age range where your reproductive urges would still be quite active...I apologize to the three of you. I forgot showing one's naked body to one who is not a lover is considered inappropriate. I will make sure it doesn't happen again, to the best of my ability."

Mom's face blew up in embarrassment and I couldn't help but feel the same. Did this guy even listen to the words coming out of his own mouth?

He didn't say another word, turning on his heel, knife still comfortably held in his hand. I fought not to check out his behind, but the muscles of his back and his butt wrapped up in the white towel were hard not to stare at. As soon as the bathroom door was closed, Mom lowered her hands from Maria's eyes.

"Seok's...he's hot," the teenager breathed out in amazement. "He looked really cool earlier, but that was—" Her eyes were wide and she looked pretty shaky.

"I think it would be best if we all try and forget this ever happened," Mom sighed heavily. She reached up to rub at her temple. "I need to get his suitcase." Turning, she went into the living room where a large, rolling, black suitcase was resting on the back of the couch. Grabbing it, she started back to the hall bathroom.

"Mom...you really aren't okay with this crazy guy living with us, are you?" I demanded in disbelief. Couldn't she see that this guy didn't belong here?

She paused, a foot past me, turning her head. A strange tension pulled at the corners of her eyes and they darkened with some emotion I couldn't really read. Her voice was tight, firm, final. "Seok is going to be a part of this family from now on. It will take some time, but all of us are going to have to accept and adjust to it."

I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why? Just because some guy none of us have ever met or heard of put your name on a piece of paper?" I muttered darkly.

Mom's face filled with anger, her hazel eyes spilling over tears. "Don't ever talk about Mat like that!" she hissed, obviously trying to keep her voice down so Seok wouldn't hear. Huffing in anger, she kept going down the hall.

"Sis...Why do you have to be such a biatch?" Maria asked in annoyance. "Seok's nice, if not different from other guys. He just lost his dad. Don't you think you're being really harsh?"

I shot her a glare. "He came out basically naked and attacked me!"

"He was just stopping you since you were holding a knife...Why were you doing that again?" Maria asked, frowning in confusion.

"You and Mom didn't answer when I came home. The house was dark, no one was responding, and the only light on was the bathroom. I was paranoid, okay?" I grumbled defensively, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I just realized I have no idea where you're going to sleep," Mom's voice made both of us glance back down the hallway.