Ana was standing at the front gate of the university frightened as a fresher on the first day of school. She wanted to go in but her feet were heavy as rocks.

“What are you doing standing here like a mummy?” Christopher was standing behind her with both his hands on either side of her shoulders.

“Hoping I wasn’t socially murdered this weekend.” Ana shivered.

“What the heck are you talking about?”

Obviously not going to spill the beans to Christopher, Ana took the only option available, after a big breath she started walking ahead.

“Nevermind” she ended up replying.

The sound of the bell ringing for her class got her hands shaking slightly. She entered the classroom where all her students were already seated, talking to each other. The silence with her entry felt longer than usual and she stared at them as they looked back at her waiting for something. “Good morning.” The words finally came out of her mouth and the students replied back and arranged their seats, resuming their conversations to pay attention to the lesson. Relieved, Ana continued the program for the day.

The bell signaled the end of the lesson and Ana smiled at the students passing by wishing her a good day. Ji-Hyung was now standing in front of her also wishing her a good day, she was so embarrassed that she barely looked at him. Thankfully the kid was a quiet one and did not seem to have spoken about her shameful drunken state. Feeling relieved she enjoyed the rest of the day and even accepted Christopher’s lunch invitation.

“So what was that about this morning?” He was sitting in front of her cutting his steak with the elegance of a royal.

He was certainly a beautiful man, she wondered why she felt no attraction to him.

“Not important.” Ana replied thanking Buda, God and all the other deities that it was true.

“Christopher, you’ve been here for what, a year now? Why have I never seen you eat Korean food?” She teased him in order to change the subject.

Resuming his swallowing he smiled at her “It upsets my stomach.”

Something about the way he sweetly replied gave her a clue as to why the absence of physical attraction on her side. Christopher reminded her of a beautiful plant, pleasing to the eye but too sensitive for her touch. However, he could certainly be charming and a great company with that humor of his. She found herself more than enjoying the lunch and ended up stretching the afternoon until dinner.

“See you tomorrow at school.” he kissed her cheeks sweetly and closed the taxi door for her.

The night security was not at his post when she arrived, probably doing his rounds. There was something spooky about buildings late at night, reminded her a lot of horror movies, empty and vulnerable. Ana pressed the elevator door pleased with the fact that it was working again and felt a bit uneasy while she waited. The doors opened and she jumped when a man came out unexpectedly. Apologizing at her rudeness she entered without delay and pressed the button for her floor, the 5th. The doors in that building were all code locks so she pressed the secret numbers and listened to the sound as the door unlocked. Entering her apartment she immediately locked the door. Not knowing why she was acting like a scaredy cat that evening, she turned on almost all the lights of the house. Her phone made a beep and she checked the unread SMS message “You looked beautiful today. Sleep tight.” Christopher, always flirty and always sweet. Ana looked at the message considering again why she simply could not give the man a chance. The unidentified number again. She definitely needed to remember to ask him the next day, why his second number was not identified.

After a refreshing bath, Ana sat down on the couch with a glass of white wine and the towel still rolled around her wet hair. She opened the lid of the laptop resting in her lap and pressed the power button. She had some work to do before going to bed and could sure use the distraction. Correcting the class exercises soon became her sole task and halfway to the wine glass her body and mind became relaxed. She stretched her arms to the ceiling and looked at the time, 23:00 pm. It was still early so she decided to watch a movie online and as she clicked the start button a loud bang made her heart jump to her throat. Slightly shaking she got up laying the laptop on the coffee table. The sound was loud and seemed to have come from the inside of the apartment. Her mind working overtime to make sense of the situation and come up with a reasonable explanation to what she heard. In slow steps, she made her way through the small apartment, never before she was so aware that she was alone. Shaking her head warding off the silly thoughts Ana entered the bedroom and stared at the window completely opened, banging the wall with the strength of the wind. “The window was opened? Merda (shit), you’re such an idiot Ana!” laughing out loud she closed the window and went to turn off the computer.