SEVEN

Abby felt bad for the way she had acted. She knew Cain was only trying to be nice and that his intentions were good. But her nerves had been on edge. She was sure Cain hated the situation they were in just as much as she did but if in two weeks they didn't change back, things were only going to get worse. Worrying about all that wasn't going to help her though, it would actually only cause her a panic attack. She had started to somewhat learn how to manage her panic attacks, how to shorten them but she couldn't prevent them. Well in a way she could but for that she needed to either avoid or ignore whatever would cause her a panic attack. But some things just couldn't be avoided or ignored, just like their body switch and all the things it brought along. The best thing for her to do was going to be to learn how to manage somehow.

If in two weeks she was going to have to be Cain, she was going to have to act less like herself and more like him. And Cain wasn't a Germaphobe so she was going to have to try to at least tone things down a bit when it came to her OCD for cleanliness. She didn't think it was possible but she had to at least try for both their sakes. "One step at a time" was what her psychologist always told her. Just like with her Agoraphobia when she had to first get used to walking a block around her neighborhood, then she had to go to a park across the street, then she had to go to a convenience store nearby and from there just keep going to more and more places. 

Each time she had to go to a new place where there were more people. She would still sometimes have panic attacks but at the end of each trip, she was able to see that nothing bad had really happened. That it was not the places that were scary but that she just made them seem scary by coming up with all these worst case scenarios in her head. Once those worst case scenarios didn't come true, she was able to feel a bit more at ease the next time she went to that place that had first caused her anxiousness. However, sometimes her mind would turn it's back on her and make it scarier to go to certain places. Since she didn't always get a panic attack, the places where she did end up having a panic attack, she ended up fearing and in turn she tried to avoid those places. Because she would fear the same thing would happen again.

She only hoped that by trying to work on her Mysophobia, it wouldn't end up getting worse. Because Abby's first step in this case was going to have to be her letting Cain sweep and mop and not only that but in the way that he would normally clean, not the way she would. She just hoped that her OCD didn't end up making her sweep and mop the floor all over again later. Because with Mysophobia and OCD, once you have the urge to do something you won't be able to feel at ease until you do whatever it is you had an urge to do. The feeling was horrible and she had tried to ignore some of her unhealthy urges before but in the end they only caused her sleepless nights and the next day it was the first thing she had to do in order to feel that peace she needed.

Cain was in the living room and on his phone when she came out of the shower. He seemed to be playing a game. Abby wanted to apologize to him so she sat across from where he was sitting, it was the furthest she could be from him. Since it was a big sectional, the distance was probably 6 feet and that was just the amount of space that made her feel safe.

"I'm sorry." 

"Huh? You say something?" 

Cain had been wearing air pods and had to take one off his ear when he noticed Abby was sitting across from him. She hadn't been able to see the air pods since his hair was somewhat long and it covered his ears.

"I said I'm sorry...for the way I acted. I shouldn't have acted that way. You were only trying to be nice and I was only rude to you. But I wanted to tell you that it's fine if you sweep and mop but you have to do so like you normally would. You don't have to do it a second, third or fourth time. Just spend the normal amount of time and effort you usually would. All I ask is for you to please not touch me again. It's nothing against you, it's something I would ask of anyone. I don't even let my own mom hug me. I just..." 

It was hard to explain things to someone that didn't understand what she was going through. Most people just usually thought of Germaphobes as weirdos and even made fun of them. Abby had been one of those people before, before she knew how having Mysophobia was like. But now she was able to sympathize with all those people she once used to make fun of because she was one of them now.

"You just don't want any chances of germs getting on you. I understand. It's fine. And it's why I'm even more grateful that you are allowing me to stay here with you. I know it must be really hard for you to have to live with someone else but I promise I will do my best to keep things clean so that you won't feel uneasy." 

"Thank you for understanding." 

Abby left the broom and mop for him and was about to head to her office when Cain stopped her.

"Wait. Can I get the password to your wifi? I'm running low on data and I'll need something to do after I'm done sweeping and mopping." 

"The password?" 

Abby's face reddened. Her password was something she didn't want him to know, not because it was a password but because of what her password was. She knew that when entering letters one by one in passwords, each letter became dots so she decided to spell it out to him and hoped he wouldn't catch on.

"The password is S—E—X—Y—C—A—I—N." 

She said each letter as fast as she possibly could so that Cain wouldn't catch on but then he asked her to repeat herself and to slow down. As if it hadn't already been embarrassing enough for her, she had to repeat herself a second time.

"Sexy Cain? Is that your password?" 

She had hoped he wouldn't figure it out but it was stupid to think he wouldn't. The first three letters already gave it away and of course he knew how to spell out his own name. Abby turned around and proceeded to walk to her office before he was able to see how red her face had gotten. 

One of them ended up being embarrassed while the other was happy to know that the other thought of them as sexy. It was the most embarrassing thing that could have happened to her but also the best compliment Cain could have ever received, especially since it came from someone he had started to have a crush on.

The first thing Abby did when she got to her office was bang her head on the desk. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Changing the wifi password was something she should have thought of doing the night before. It was obvious that at some point Cain was going to ask for the password. It wouldn't have been as embarrassing if her password had another member's name but it was his. He really was sexy though, there was no denying that. 

Anyone with eyes could tell that Cain was one of the handsomest men alive. EVE and Adam knew it when they named him as the visual. And the fans knew it too since they even nicknamed him "The Prince". But what Cain did not need to know was that she thought of him as sexy. It was going to be hard facing him after that. She wished she could just stay locked up in her office but she knew she couldn't. She had promised Cain that she was going to teach him Spanish and she was also going to need to go out to eat. It was impossible to avoid him now that they were living together.

Cain had finished sweeping and mopping but her apartment was so big that by the time he was finished he was all sweaty. He wanted to take a shower but he didn't know if he should. He still considered the body he was in as Abby's. Taking a shower without her permission would be like invading her privacy so he wanted to ask her if it was okay for him to shower. But she was working at the moment and he didn't think it was a good idea to bother her. He had to settle with wiping off the sweat with napkins and was  going to just wait to ask her once he saw her. She had said she didn't want him cooking so she was most likely going to be coming out of her office once it was time to eat lunch. Either that or she was going to have to come out to go the bathroom. He doubted she had a bathroom in her office. Apartments usually only had two bathrooms, one in the master bedroom and one in the hallway.

He didn't want to get her sofa all stinky and dirty with his sweat so he decided to just lay on the floor. He knew Abby wasn't probably going to like it since he was basically dirtying the floors he had just cleaned but he figured it was better to get her floor dirty than to get her sofa dirty. Cleaning the floor again was easier than cleaning a sofa after all. He had heard of covers for sofas and he wondered why she didn't have one. He would have thought that someone who was a Germaphobe would have their furniture covered but he guessed it must have not seemed necessary for her since she lived alone. But she wasn't living alone anymore so he thought buying her a sofa cover would be a good idea since it could at least be taken off and washed.

As Cain was browsing different sofa covers, he wondered what Abby's favorite color was. There were sofa covers in various colors so he thought getting her one that was her favorite color would be best. He looked around the living room and the kitchen but everything just seemed so neutral colored. There wasn't a specific color that popped out and indicated that it could be her favorite color. He did however remember that her phone case was neon green. It had actually stood out to him since the color was so bright. There were no neon green sofa covers though. The closest thing they had was a lime green color, it was less vibrant but still close enough to neon green. He placed the sofa cover in his cart and thought of what else he could get her. Since he was going to be living in her apartment it only seemed right for him to contribute in some way. He had already felt bad that he was staying at her place and eating her food.

By the time he was ready to check out, his cart was full with things in all shades of green. The lime green sofa cover, neon green bed sheets, lime green curtains, lime green rug, neon green trash can, and a few other things that he was going to need for himself such as a pillow, toothbrush, deodorant and a cologne. When it came time to checkout, the total came out to be the same amount as his allowance for the month. He hoped he wasn't going to be needing any more money and if he did then he was just going to have to ask either his parents or the members to let him borrow some. He hated asking his parents for money though because it made him feel like a child so he preferred to ask the members.

A lot of the members had let him borrow money in the past so he was certain they would let him borrow some again. He had already paid all of them back so it wasn't like he was going to be adding on to existing debts. But if he was going to ask them for money, it was going to have to be by text and they were going to have to wire him the money. He would feel too awkward asking Abby to call and meet up with a member just so that he could borrow money and not only would it be awkward but it would also be embarrassing to him.

Abby seemed like someone that was doing well for her age. She hadn't told him her age yet but he assumed she was around his age. But thinking about it, she was an editor. Being an editor required at least 4 years of higher education, he had looked it up shortly after Abby told him what her job was. She lived in the US and in the US they usually graduated high school the year they turned 18. So if he added 4 years to 18 that would equal 22 and that would mean that Abby was his noona by two years, at least. He didn't think she would be much older than him though, if she was indeed older. He planned on asking her how old she was since in Korea there were different ways to refer to people depending on age and relationship. So if Abby was indeed older than him, he would have to start calling her noona.

"Noona". 

Cain tried saying the word out loud while they were both eating lunch together. He thought it was the perfect time to confirm whether she was his noona or if he was her oppa. 

"Would you be my noona or would I be your oppa?" 

Abby almost dropped her fork at hearing Cain say the last part. She couldn't believe he had just said that and so casually too. Not only was the word oppa used to call older guys but usually girls also called their boyfriends oppa. She never saw what the big deal was with all these different titles Koreans used. Neither Americans or Mexicans had different words to call people based on their age and gender so she never really got used to using the different titles Koreans had. She much preferred to talk casually with people no matter what their age or job position was.

"Are you asking because you want to know how you should refer to me? Because if you are, I'm fine with you just calling me by my name. You can also feel free to talk to me casually." 

Abby was 8 years older than Cain and she knew that if he knew her age that he would most likely start acting differently around her and she liked the way they were now. 

"So does that mean that I'm your oppa?" 

Cain only assumed based on what she had said because usually older people didn't like younger people talking to them casually, at least not in Korea.

"What do you think? Do I look younger than you or do I look older?" 

She could already guess what he was going to say next. Literally everyone always thought she was younger than her age, usually around 8 years younger. So if Cain thought the same then most likely he thought she was around the same age as him. 

"Well you look to be around my age. But if you don't tell me how old you are then I'm going to want you to call me oppa." 

There was no way she was going to do that, not when she knew the big age difference they had. It would feel so wrong to do so. She had called Joel daddy before but calling a guy daddy and oppa were two totally different things. She wasn't about to call someone that was 8 years younger than her, "oppa".

She didn't want to be stuck calling him that for the next two weeks so she had no other choice but to tell him her age.

"I'll tell you my age but you have to promise me that you won't start acting differently. We can start using the proper title if you really prefer it over using a name but other than that you cannot start acting differently."

"Fine. I promise." 

"I'm 28." 

Cain almost ended up choking on his food. He thought he must have heard wrong because he could not believe that someone that looked so young could be nearing their 30's. She looked like she barely turned 20. Usually Asians looked younger than their age but Abby wasn't Asian. 

"You're 8 years older than me?!" 

"Yes. I was born in 1992." 

"Well you look really young." 

"I know. Everyone always tells me that. I still have to show my ID just to buy alcohol. Some cashiers even think I use a fake ID so it's ridiculous really. I have to wear makeup just to make myself look older and I'm not much of a makeup person." 

"I thought women usually liked looking younger."

"That's true but it does get annoying sometimes." 

"So...can I call you noona now?" 

"I already said you can but just don't act any differently please. Don't consider me as your elder."

He understood why she might not want to be treated differently. She was from the US and Americans usually talked casual amongst themselves. So if talking casual to her was something she wanted then he was going to have to do it, even if it took him a while to get used to. 

"Noona, there's something else I've been wanting to ask you." 

Abby was cleaning up the kitchen when Cain decided to join her by first throwing away all the trash. He had noticed how she always seemed to dread taking out the trash.

"Yea, go ahead. And for future reference you can just go ahead and ask whatever it is you want to ask straight out, you don't have to give me a heads up." 

"Are you good at either dancing, rapping or singing?"

She knew why he was asking her that question and she had been meaning to tell him that she wasn't good at any of those things.

"I'm not. I basically have two left feet and my voice is no good for singing. I've tried rapping before since I like to listen to Italian rap but I don't think I'm good. I have no talent in any of those three things. This is bad, isn't it? You should have at least switched bodies with someone that could actually do the same things you can." 

She had never really cared that she couldn't do any of those things before but now she wished she could. She didn't want to end up ruining Cain's career because of her poor dancing and rapping skills. And it wasn't like those types of things could be learned as easily as learning a language.

"Well that's weird because I actually had a dream last night that—" 

Abby waited for him to finish his sentence but he didn't. He was just about to tell her about the dream he had that night but he realized that it would be weird to tell her that he dreamt about her.

"You had a dream that?" 

"That I was performing at our comeback stage. So I just assumed that perhaps that meant you could dance and rap?" 

It was the only thing he could come up with to say to her.

"Or you had that dream because you're actually going to be able to perform at your comeback stage meaning that our bodies would have switched by then!" 

Abby sounded so excited by the idea that Cain hated that he was going to have to burst her bubble but he knew that they had to be realistic. They had no clue whatsoever as to how to switch back and it was probably going to take a while to do so.

"I hate to break it to you but dreams aren't like actual predictions. They are just dreams. They actually say that dreams are a wish that your heart makes so really it's just me wishing to perform on stage again." 

"You're right. I shouldn't have gotten so excited." 

He wanted to switch back just as much as she did but at the same time he didn't want it to happen so soon since that would only mean they would no longer have a reason to see each other and he wanted to keep seeing her. So he really wouldn't mind all that much if they were to stay as they were a bit longer. The only thing he didn't like was that Abby was going to have to act as him and that by doing so it would only cause her anxiety.

"I have a theory though. Since you're in my body which is basically a dancer's body, perhaps my muscles still have the kind of memory as to how to move. And if I'm right and you can dance then perhaps you can also rap. You do have my voice after all. So how about trying to dance right now?" 

She didn't know much about body switching but Abby was pretty sure that things didn't work that way. She basically thought of body switching as her brain and consciousness being in Cain's body while his brain and consciousness were in hers. He wanted her to try dancing but she didn't even know any steps to begin with.

"Having trouble? You can just watch me and try to follow along." 

Cain had started dancing and was actually really good, just as good as he always was. It was weird for Abby to see her body dancing so well when she had never actually been a good dancer herself.

She didn't even try to follow along because if he was able to dance in her body just as good as he normally did then that only meant that she wasn't going to be able to in his body. It was just as she had thought, she wasn't going to be able to dance. Cain turned around and noticed that Abby hadn't been dancing along.

"Why aren't you dancing? Don't you want to know if you can dance?" 

Cain hadn't realized that he had just danced as good as he always did, if he had then he would have known that Abby wasn't going to be able to dance like him. 

"I can't. You were just able to dance like you always do and while in my body so that only means that I'll dance just as I usually do even if I'm in your body." 

"Well I can teach you!" 

He was about to grab Abby's hand when he remembered that she had told him not to touch him.

"Let's not waste our time doing something futile, we'll only be wasting our time like that. How about we spend our time doing things we can actually achieve like teaching you Spanish. Are you ready for your Spanish lesson?"

Cain agreed to start their Spanish lesson but he also made Abby promise that she would at least attempt to try and learn how to dance and rap if he was able to name at least 20 things in her apartment in Spanish by the end of the week. He knew it meant that he would only have a week to try and teach her how to dance and rap but he was definitely going to be needing at least a week if he wanted to learn and memorize 20 words in Spanish. And a week to try and teach her was better than nothing.