Tired and very disappointed, you made your way back from work. It wasn't that all meetings were dreadful, but meetings held in the first few weeks of beginning a new project were almost completely unrelated to you. You weren't even sure why it was an all staff meeting. Many departments, including your own, spent the duration sitting and listening to the story development team discuss their plans and present the storyboard. Sure, it was important, but after a few years of being in the company, you learned that the storyboard was subject to change. And very often, it would undergo major changes until the week when everything was finalized. That was when things mattered to your department.

Turning the corner, you sighed. It was late: 9pm, and the meeting had ended a lot later than expected. Your boss called for everyone to come to work tomorrow to continue the discussion. He would pay for a staff dinner in the evening, to compensate. Normally, free dinner was good news for you. But this weekend, it was definitely not. It meant that you'd miss going shopping with whoever's human on Saturday. Guiltily, you were reminded of the late hour. Either Ken or Hongbin should be human today, you thought. If you were alone, you'd be thinking of making instant ramen for dinner. However, since Ravi had mentioned how they hadn't had proper food in a while, it would be cruel to have that tonight. You racked your brain for something that was quick and easy to fix up for dinner.

However, all ideas disappeared when you opened the door and was greeted with the sound of the radio and a voice singing along, the delicious aroma of pepper, and an adorable guinea pig in the entryway. "Good evening Hakyeon! How was your day?" You gave him a tired smile. "I hope you guys have already eaten. Sorry I came back so late. The meeting went way over time and--"

"Wah, our lovely Starlight is back! How was work? Are you tired? What do you do anyway? I made fried rice for you! I also used the shrimp you had in the freezer; hopefully you don't mind." Ken grinned at you, his smile warming up your insides much like Hakyeon's. "Oh! And I already fed everyone, so don't worry about that."

Startled by his interruption, you jumped. "T-thank you! Work was fine! I'm an artist, I do character design work for a game company. Most of our products are visual novels. And thanks for making dinner, I was worried whether you'd eaten." You smiled, "Anyway, it's very nice to meet you."

He handed you a steaming plate of fried rice, "And it's nice to meet you as well. I hope you don't mind that I've already eaten. Wow, character design. You should model someone after me!" Ken put on a haughty expression and tilted his chin up in the air. "What are you guys working on?"

You laughed at his mimicry. "Well, it's still in its early stages so it'll be changing very often. So far it's about humans with the ability to shapeshift, and a lead female character who learns about their ability." Sighing, you thought of the meeting, "Unfortunately, my boss is calling everyone to work tomorrow so we can continue this meeting. Meaning I won't be free tomorrow."

"That sounds awesome. And don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

"Alright, I'll leave some money on the counter tomorrow, before I go to work." You took a spoonful of rice, "Mm! Are you all this good at cooking? This is delicious! Normally, I always add too much salt or soy sauce and it becomes too salty. But this is perfect!" 

Ken winked, "Fried rice is my specialty because I add shrimp to it!" Laughing, you nodded. "Maybe I'll try that next time too."

You glanced at the clock. It was half past eleven. "Hey um, Jaehwan?"

"You can call me Ken if you're unused to Jaehwan. I don't mind at all."

"Oh, but I should get used to your actual name. Anyway, I need to take a few notes on today's meeting. My boss assigned me to be the minute taker and I haven't finished yet. I'm really sorry, I'd love to chat with you and all." You admitted apologetically.

Ken smiled, shaking his head. "No problem. I understand! Would I be of any help?"

You were about to say no when an idea hit you. "Actually, if you'd like to try some character designing, you're welcome to. Or maybe just some random drawing. I can turn those in and tell my colleagues that they're from a friend. We don't have any guidelines to follow right now, just as long as you have a fairytale theme."

"Ooh great! That's fun. I get to show off my artistic skills!" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation as you led him to your study room. 

"I'll be in my room if you need me." He nodded and immediately picked up a nearby pencil, bending over the blank papers on the desk. You smiled, still feeling guilty about neglecting your guest.

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The next morning, you woke up early. Remembering the meeting today, you groaned and pulled yourself out of bed. Hyuk was still curled up by the foot of your bed, asleep. Surprisingly, Hakyeon was snuggled next to him. A ding from your phone reminded you of the meeting, and you quickly silenced it so as not to disturb the sleeping leader and maknae. 

Peeking your head in the study room, you spotted a canary, a fluff of yellow feathers on your desk. One of your graphite pencils was still in its grasp. You chuckled quietly. He must have fallen asleep while drawing. Carefully, you slid the papers off the desk and piled them neatly into your bag. On a nearby notepad, you left him a message, explaining that you were going to show his sketches to your team and hoping that he wouldn't mind. You'd be bringing the sketches back tonight to double check with him as well. 

You refilled everyone's food bowls and quickly made yourself a simple egg sandwich. As you munched on breakfast, you watched as the betta chased after the fish flakes. You didn't think he'd be awake so early. "Good morning, and how are you today?." You muttered, voice laced with sleepiness. The fish seemed to ignore you as it continued attacking the flakes. "You're right, breakfast is pretty important." Finishing your sandwich, you left for the bathroom. A few seconds later, you stepped out, toothbrush still in your mouth, and fished out a couple bills for shopping use. You placed it next to the fishtank along with spare keys to your apartment.

"Hey, would you mind telling whoever's changed today that I left this here for them to use? I assume you have some way to communicate with them...right?" You eyed the fish. "Well anyway, they should notice this quite easily." Disappearing into the bathroom again, you emerged three seconds later, ready for work. As an afterthought, you wrote a note about the stack of bills on the kitchen counter, in the case that Hongbin would not be able to communicate that through. "Okay well, I'm off now. See you later!" Hongbin ignored you and swam around the tank, seemingly observing the space he had. You pushed through the door and locked it behind you, making a mental note to get a larger tank for poor Hongbin.

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The meeting went by slowly as you counted the minutes. Lucky for you, Peniel was assigned to the tedious task of minute taker today. You laughed when he stuck his tongue out at you as you passed him the minute taker's journal. Jessica took a seat next to you. Reminded of her absence the previous meeting you asked, "Hey, where were you yesterday?" Your question went unanswered as your boss took his place at the head of the table and cleared his throat, "Thank you everyone for coming to work today. I know it's a Saturday and we normally don't overextend business hours to this point, but I received orders from the director to speed up the production process of this project. We'll have to finish the plotline by the end of this meeting." A few groans were made across the room.

"I know, being rushed is annoying and stressfuly but I can't seem to change his mind. Meanwhile, Jessica just came back from an assignment on finding possible settings. Jessica?"

The mentioned nodded, "For the past days, I was able to visit a few of the settings that were suggested in the last few meetings." She pushed a memory stick over to one end of the table. "These are pictures of the locations: a zoo, an amusement park, a national park--which could be used as reference for the woods or forest, an old castle-now-turned-museum, and a circus. Personally, I wouldn't suggest the circus. I think it'll give the novel a creepy theme. The zoo is a great idea since the characters can mix in with zoo animals. Same goes for a forest setting. A castle might be more of a traditional fairytale setting; a bit like Beauty and the Beast. As for an amusement park, I think that would present a more unique setting because the 'changing-into-animals' won't be as predictable as someplace like the zoo." She sat down and watched as a slideshow of her pictures began. Colorful images of the various locations popped up on the presentation screen. There were a few murmurs going around the room. You were excited to see the concept art that the other department would be submitting soon. 

Contrary to your beliefs, time flew by rather quickly and minutes soon turned to hours. You were hardly aware of the time when everyone clapped after Taeil's short announcement about the last project's growing popularity and success in the gaming market. The boss stood up with a friendly grin. "Alright! Now that we've set the plotline and discussed the possible settings, it's time to celebrate the success of Memory Days! Also a compensation for coming to work today." Pulling your phone out, you realized with great shock that it was indeed time for dinner. 9:36. Okay, definitely past dinnertime.

"If everyone could just make their way to The Milky Way on the right corner of the Montegomery plaza, that'd be great! Alright, see you all there!" 

Cheers erupted across the room and you followed everyone out of the conference room. "This is great! And since it's Saturday, almost my birthday, I'm holding a party afterwards. You better come!" Jessica nudged your shoulder.

You nodded, "Of course! I'd never miss it!"

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Hours later, you returned home. The apartment was silent and dark. You yawned, stumbling over to your bedroom. The company dinner and Jessica's party had drained the energy out of you. Squinting at the clock by the bed, your brain finally registered that it read: 3 AM. Dragging yourself into the bathroom, you quickly showered and got ready for bed.

Opening your eyes, you found yourself staring at the ceiling. Your room was lit by the bright sun outside. Sitting up, you tried to recall last night's events. You had a meeting, partied, went to Jessica's and partied some more...then you went home. Oh, that's right. You passed out right after your shower. Stretching your arms, you glanced at the clock. It was 12 in the afternoon. You jolted out of bed, noticing the absence of the puppy. In fact, where was everyone? Right on cue, Hakyeon the guinea pig scurried over to you, looking you up and down questioningly. 

"Sorry, I went overboard on my partying last night. Got home around 3. Did you guys eat yet?" You looked around the room. As usual the cat was curled up on the sofa, the two birds were busy chattering, the puppy was trying to hop on the sofa, and the fish was swimming slow circles in his bowl.

"No one...changed?"

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Here's the next chapter! Sorry about Ken's short appearance!

Jet lag is gone now, but I'm busy with college work and unpacking. xP Will definitely be typing up the next chapters when I can though!

Enjoy and please comment! c: