Love stories begin with attraction; a person starts to see a different light from another person. It always starts as one's secret kept in the heart until it blossoms into a loving confession. Right then and there, a relationship is formed.

But at times, a pair's starting point doesn't go the way it should have been just like this particular pair.

It all began with Iron Man - you read it right. IRON MAN. Who is he? Nah, actually Iron Man isn't a person or a super hero here. Iron Man is actually a journal. A journal owned by a girl named Sarah Hong Jacobs, her full name. She's an Iron Man lover because it's red and her favorite color is red - weird right? Yes, she is a very unique girl. Her father's Spanish-American while her mother's a full Korean. A twenty-two-year-old fresh college graduate having a degree in primary education - she likes kids. She finished school back where she grew up her whole life at, in a small town in Florida. She grew up believing in fate and signs, she always asked for signs in a lot of situations including her past relationships back in college and she relies on fate so much. She's an only child and that's why she's very close to her parents but recently, she chose to move to South Korea - first reason was to honor her mother's homeland as well and second was to be independent. Now back to the matter - the Iron Man journal matter that changed her entire life. . .

_ _ _

One humid morning, around the end of August,

Holding her mug of Caramel Latte on her right hand while a fluffy fur ball pen on the other, Sarah thought carefully while looking down to the empty page of her journal - it's almost October and she needed to make new plans. She always plans beforehand be it nonsense or not, she writes it down. "Okay... 31st of August, what did I write..." She scooted closer to the journal and flipped through the last page of the month. 'Happy Six months of stay in South Korea! Find Dream Boy' She read and gasped. ", it's been six months and so it's much okay for Dream Boy and until now no Dream boy..." She muttered to herself in English which made the girls nearest her table look at her weirdly. Then flipping to the front most part of the journal - she reread her 'Dream Boy checklist' which she's always trusted ever since high school. "I don't think this will suit boys here though..." She muttered and again. Flipped through the pages until she arrived at the 1st of October since her September was already packed with schedules regarding school and modelling for catalogs. "Aha~ I know what I should do... I should create a new Dream Boy checklist." She muttered and smirked cutely while rubbing her hands together.

For those six months that she's been staying here, she has come to know different kinds of boys in the area. Most of them, she didn't like - first, some of them only like her outer appearance, heck most of them even said if the girl's pretty enough, they wouldn't mind anymore whatever personality they have - it turned her off very much. Second, the way some men here acted in front of her, they kept on trying hard to speak in English when she already tells them it's okay to talk in Korean since after all, she's also trying to improve in the language and they kept on asking her about stuffs in America only which for her is very racist, for example, 'Could you eat spicy food?' which bugs her off the most actually, like what? Third, the way some men here dress - be it that they're just an ordinary citizen, they dress up like there's a fashion show or something and they put a lot of colors which for her is not very manly. And fourth, which is the last, most men she has met or became friends with here for the past six months, might like her for how pretty and y she is but genuinely, they would never imagine being her husband because 'Eomma won't like you and she might only be rude to you, I don't want to hurt you in the future, let's not date.' and some other stuffs. Why? Because she's not a pure Korean. Well - that is reality that some girls still deny up until now. Well she's a living proof, she's encountered all of this.

And so for her checklist plan, she'll put all the opposite. And so she began writing it in bullets.

"Done~" She cooed and clapped her hands as she proudly looked down to her new Dream Boy Checklist. "Omo, this one's a tough one... I hope I find a guy who can check all of these..." She muttered with her hopeful eyes that were rereading the list. Grabbing her latte, she took a quick sip while closing her journal. "Heee~ October, be good to me." She chanted while putting it back into her bag. Looking around, her eyes unconsciously tried to spot a guy in a simple white clothing. Just then, her eyes landed at the glass door where a certain man was entering. Her eyes lit up seeing the guy wearing a white v-neck shirt and has blue jeans. She fanned herself in excitement and was about to take her journal out when the guy dragged along a girl behind him, they were holding each other's hands as they come in. Sarah's shoulders fell in disappointment and she pouted hard. "Better luck next time..." She muttered and gave herself a pat on the shoulder.

Thursday, 1st of October 2015

"You okay, man?"

Looking up from his phone screen, Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol, and roommate, entered the room and walked to his bed. Peeking at Baekhyun's phone, Chanyeol snapped a finger and pointed down to it. "Again? Viewing Nabi's IG posts won't make any difference." Chanyeol said and shook his head. It's been over a month since the girl Baekhyun loved - Lee Nabi - got back together with her ex-boyfriend - Do Kyungsoo, also in EXO. He liked her even before he became EXO but at the same time, Do Kyungsoo has always owned Lee Nabi's heart even before. He met her in the past when he was just a trainee and she was already Do Kyungsoo's girlfriend that time but a lot of things happened - even involving him at some point - and the couple broke up. Lee Nabi left the country and for those three years that EXO went on, Baekhyun still liked her deep inside. Although he once had a girlfriend also - an idol as well - whom he just recently broke up with. That recent relationship was pitch black in his memory, almost nothing good happened. It was filled with arguments and misunderstandings, a number of breaks ups and make ups until they eventually ended it for good. Then as if destiny played with time, Lee Nabi came back to his life. He thought he had a chance this time, he thought it was his turn to own her, he thought Do Kyungsoo was just a past - but he was wrong. That hope he had on her was put to waste and it was also because of his own choice - with his own hands, his own words, his own actions; he helped Do Kyungsoo and Lee Nabi to get back together, living him with nothing.

In short, the broken heart that he had from his recent relationship worsen until he could barely feel it existing - he lost hope on relationships, he lost hope of ever succeeding on love. He thought maybe it really isn't for him to feel.

"Shut up..." He muttered and kept his phone. "If Kyungsoo finds out you're still like that." Chanyeol sat on his own bed while facing Baekhyun's. "And so keep quiet." Baekhyun retorted back and lied down more comfortably. "You know... why don't you try to... fix it with Taeyeon Noona?" Chanyeol suggested only receiving a pillow thrown right on his face. "Let alone Nabi and Kyungsoo tease me about this, don't add in. Okay? It's not funny. I'm serious. Do I look like a basketball being passed on to different players?" Baekhyun argued back and tucked himself under the blanket. "Why not, let yourself be passed on to different situations until you get into the ring." Chanyeol said and even did a shooting action with his hands. The broken man didn't respond anymore and just stared at the ceiling. "I can't believe you stayed being all jolly and funny outside while you're all depressed when it's me. Ooh~ I'm so flattered." Chanyeol added and laughed. "I don't have a choice because my bedroom is your bedroom and a person's bedroom is supposed to be the only one that knows about its owner's sadness." Baekhyun answered back.

"You know what you need? Hang out. Call your non-idol friends and hang out while we aren't resuming yet to the next EXO'luxion. Later I'll go home since Noona's visiting too."

Turning his body away, Baekhyun covered his head with the pillow this time to avoid Chanyeol's words. "Oh, Nabi?" Hearing Chanyeol's sudden call, Baekhyun quickly shot up but then realized the guy was just joking. "Gotcha~" He said and laughed hysterically. "Aish... You won't leave me alone." Baekhyun groaned and got off the bed. He decided to go out instead just to avoid any teasing. He arrived the living room and saw some of his other members slacking off. "Where's Kyungsoo?" He asked while looking around. "Visited girlfriend." They all answered and Baehyun just looked away as he nodded with a chuckle. He walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge trying to find something to eat until his eyes found its way inside and saw a pink box that has a 'From: Nabi <3' written on it. His lips curved up upon seeing her cute penmanship. He took it out and opened it. He saw cookies inside and it looks homemade. He was about to grab a piece when Jongin spoke from the living room. "Hyung I almost forgot, don't eat the cookies Nabi gave, that's Kyungsoo's." The guy said and Baekhyun's shoulders fell and pouted as he looked down to it again.

"Aish... couples..."

He put it back in and shut the fridge closed. He got back to the living room and the others looked at him. "By the way, Nabi also gave you something." Jongdae then stood up going to a divider closet. "Really?" Baekhyun asked with a smile. "Yup. She said she assisted Girls' Generation the other day and got three free signed albums from Taeyeon Noona. She gave one to Kyungsoo. The other one, she said you can have it." Chen took the album out and handed it to Baekhyun. "Are you kidding me?" The guy asked while looking down to his ex-girlfriend's face right on the album cover. "Uhm... nah, she said she doesn't want to waste it so why not give it to you. My life is a beauty~" Chen sang and pinched Baekhyun's waist making him flinch. "Yah!" He angrily exclaimed and put the album down before stomping his feet towards their bedroom but stopped again when he remembered Chanyeol's there. "Chincha... Where do I go that is peaceful... I need to escape from here Aish." he muttered and messed his hair up. And as if fate heard him, his phone beeped - it was his high school friend whom up until now he meets every now and then. The guy's text message says,

[From: Friend, Haneul]

Are you clear today, bro? Let's hang out.

And for the sake of escaping, he replied a 'Sure.'