Julian closed the door the moment he saw Evelyn and turned around, leaning back against it. He could hear her shouting from inside.
"Like what were you thinking?! You guys need to learn to knock before entering someone's room!"
Even though Evelyn was angry at him, she was aware that Julian hadn't seen her fully naked. When he opened the door, her back had been turned slightly away from him.
At least she hoped he hadn't seen anything— because that would be completely different from Angelo seeing her in just her bra and underwear.
After quickly getting dressed, Evelyn —still unsure whether Julian had left— spoke before opening the door.
"You didn't see anything, right?"
There was silence for a moment. Then Julian cleared his throat lightly before answering.
"Yes, I didn't see anything.. Don't worry."
Evelyn let out a deep sigh and opened the door. As soon as she did, she found herself staring into Julian's dark blue eyes— so deep they almost looked violet. She didn't want to assign any meaning to the intensity in his gaze, so she looked away.
"Why did you come? Did you want to say something?" she asked, tugging at the hem of her pajamas.
Julian glanced at the little cat pattern on her pajamas, then smiled softly.
"I'm here to apologize."
When Evelyn met his eyes again, he continued.
"Raven doesn't know when or where to keep his mouth shut. It's true that I don't fully believe you lost your memory— but I didn't want you to find out like that. Because… at the same time, I want to believe you."
Evelyn couldn't understand what was going through this man's mind. Even from his eyes, it was hard to tell what kind of emotion he was feeling.
After swallowing to ease her dry throat, she asked, "So… am I supposed to prove myself to you?"
Julian shrugged. "If you want to, you can try."
"I don't even know if I need your trust," Evelyn replied. "So hearing this from you right now doesn't mean anything to me."
There had to be a reason Julian didn't believe the original main character. But Evelyn doubted she'd get that answer by asking him directly.
Julian didn't give Evelyn any response. Because of that, a brief silence settled between them. As Evelyn thought about how often this kind of awkward pause had happened lately, she stepped back a little and pulled the door toward herself.
"If you don't have anything else to say, I'm going to lie down for a bit."
Right after she said that, her stomach growled loudly. Raising her brows in surprise, she brought a hand to her stomach.
She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been this hungry, so she had forgotten what hunger felt like... Which was probably why she hadn't noticed her hunger until now.
A small smile appeared on Julian's face.
"Come on, let's go to the living room. Kian ordered burgers for everyone a few minutes ago— they should arrive soon."
Evelyn thought about refusing him, but Julian's insistent look left her without anything to say. After closing her bedroom door, they headed to the living room together.
Everyone except Raven was in the living room, sitting in front of the TV.
As Julian walked down the stairs first and Evelyn followed behind him, Angelo— who was sitting in the right corner of the large L-shaped couch— turned his head when he heard them.
But the moment he saw Evelyn, he sank into the couch and lowered his head.
A console game was projected on the TV; Ivan and Kian were playing and chatting about it.
In another corner, Ash was sitting in a single armchair with his legs crossed, fully absorbed in his phone.
After Julian sat down in the empty spot on the L-shaped couch, he stretched one arm along the back cushion.
Even though Evelyn reached them in a few steps, she didn't know where to sit, so she stood there for a while, observing them.
During this, she and Angelo met eyes a few times, but every time Angelo quickly looked away, which eventually made her softly laugh at him.
That, of course, drew everyone's attention to her.
"Ah, look who finally graced us with her presence!" Ivan said, tossing the controller onto the couch and getting to his feet.
Kian immediately started complaining about him abandoning the game halfway through, but Ivan ignored him and walked over to Evelyn, draping an arm over her shoulder.
"Looking good, gorgeous. Hope you're feeling better."
Evelyn flinched— she hadn't expected Ivan to get that close. When she turned her head toward him, she caught a mix of a sweet male cologne and some tasty cheesy chips on his breath.
She swallowed lightly, trying to pull her body away from him.
"I'm feeling better… Thanks."
Ash, who had been watching them for a while, noticed the discomfort on Evelyn's face and stepped in.
"Eve, come. You can sit here."
He gestured to the single armchair beside him. Seeing her expression, Ivan withdrew his arm with a pout.
"This whole memory loss thing breaks my heart, you know. You act like we just met yesterday," Ivan said with a dramatic sigh.
Evelyn felt the need to say something as she sat down next to Ash, but Raven —descending the stairs with firm steps— beat her to it.
"It's no different than before. You know she wasn't close to us before the accident either, Ivan."
"That's right. The fact that Evelyn even came down to the living room is a miracle in itself," Kian added as he paused the game projected on the TV and set the controller aside.
Ivan let out a long sigh before dragging out his words.
"Still… Evelyn didn't look at me like I was a stranger when I got close to her."
After sitting back down next to Kian, Ivan picked up both controllers and handed one to his twin. Kian scooted away from him and shifted closer to Angelo, who had shrunk into the corner of the couch.
"Personally, I wouldn't like a big ass guy who smells like potato chips getting all close to me, either."
Ivan's reaction to what he heard was to shoulder-bump his twin. Kian bumped him right back, and the two of them started a brief scuffle.
Watching them, Evelyn couldn't help wondering if they always behaved like this.
"Our real problem isn't Evelyn acting like we're strangers."
After Raven walked over, he grabbed the TV remote and abruptly switched to the channel list.
The sudden action made Ivan and Kian complain, while Evelyn turned her curious gaze to the news channel that appeared on the screen.
"...EDEN7, the most talked-about group under Ghel Entertainment, seems determined not to let the music world forget their name. And today's hot topic is none other than EDEN7's face, main vocalist, and center— Evelyn Blake! Ever since their debut four months ago shook the entire industry, rumors have been swirling about what's been happening behind the scenes with our center, Evelyn Blake."
As Evelyn watched the footage of herself on the screen, she read the headline rolling across the bottom bar.
[EDEN7'S EVE SEEMS A BIT TOO EAGER TO REACH HEAVEN]