Warmth envelops me as I’m wrapped in someone’s embrace from behind. Their arms squeeze my torso tightly as they bury their face in the crook of my neck and I feel them place a closed-mouth kiss gently to my shoulder through my shirt. I shiver despite the arms shielding me from the cold air around us.

I want to turn around and look at them, but something within me compels me not to. So I simply resort to enjoying the feeling of their seemingly larger body pressed against my back, smiling to myself as I take note of our surroundings.

We’re on a rooftop; some high rise building, looking out at the tiny dots from the headlights of the traffic streaming below us. It all seems so familiar, but it also feels as if we are out of place.

That’s when I realise. We’re back in Korea - in Seoul - our silhouettes etched against the image of the sun rapidly descending below the horizon, its colours spreading out over the sky in a vast mix of bruised purples and blues and yellows slowly fading to the inky blackness of the night.

I hear the person behind me hum contentedly, and I can’t help but mimic his sound myself, like I’m some sort of exotic parrot or something. As I do so, I finally hear him speak, his voice low, almost sultry, and directed straight into my ear.

“Wooyoungie,” his voice is almost a whisper, so I just nod, not wanting to break the tranquil quiet with my own voice which can be brash sometimes. I gasp as I realise that I know that voice. I know who it is now.

“Look at me,” he says, and I'm finally able to turn around. I'm expecting it, but I still gasp with a sharp intake of air when I come face to face with him.

“Khun…?”

I trail off as he gestures for me to remain quiet, but he grins at me with that same characteristic smile he usually has on his face. “Youngie, there’s something I’ve got to tell you,” he says, his features not losing that kind smile. In fact, if anything, the corners of his lips stretch even further, revealing some of his teeth.

My stomach does nervous somersaults as if it knows what’s coming. He opens his mouth to speak.

“Youngie, I lo--”

'Whoa! We’re halfway there! Whoa! We’re livin’ on a prayer!’

He’s broken off abruptly by the loudest noise I think I’ve ever heard (a song, apparently), and I move to clutch my ears tightly.

All of a sudden everything fades to black, and Nichkhun is gone.

My eyes shoot open quickly, and I take in sharp breath as they accustom themselves to the bright daylight streaming in through the crack between my curtains.

Oh, it was just a dream, I think as I internally sigh to myself. I berate myself slightly, I’m having dreams about him now? Come on, Wooyoung, you’re not a teenage girl obsessing over your first crush…

I can admit to myself however, that it was a rather nice dream - one that I want to continue rather than be woken up by the rude interjection of Bon Jovi with livin’ on a prayer. I sigh, squinting my eyes, looking for the source of the music that dare interrupt my incredible dream and eventually I find it. My cell phone.

Its my ring tone that had caused me to lose my grip on the make believe confession in my mind, and I groan as I press the answer button quickly without even checking the identity of the caller.

“What?” I say curtly, just slightly peeved at the interruption. I hear a chuckle on the other end of the line, and mentally kick myself when I hear the person’s voice. Just like in my dream, I recognise it immediately.

“Good morning to you too, Woo,” I listen to Nichkhun snicker at his own retort, and he continues, “Do you care to actually join me in work today or not?”

I frown at his words but glance at the electronic clock next to my bed. To my horror, it appears to have run out of battery and the red LED display on the front refuses to light up at all. I yelp and hurriedly push my covers off of myself, jumping out of bed quicker than Khun can continue speaking. The dusty hardwood floor beneath my feet feels unpleasantly cold, so I hop over it to my wardrobe. I throw the doors open with the arm that isn’t pressing the phone to my ear.

My eyes frantically scan the clothes hung up inside, and I sigh at how disorganised it is. Although I’ve been living here for quite a while now, in this small (and mostly rundown) apartment, I have yet to actually organise myself. It’s not like I’ve had a lot of time anyway, since I spend most of it with Khun at the restaurant.

“You’re lucky you’re my best friend,” I hear him state. I pause for a moment, my mind trying to think of a reply quick enough whilst I’m distracted still searching for a sweater. He carries on over the line, “Don’t rush, I’ll swing by and pick you up. I’ve just got to go out for a while, and I’ll be there in half an hour.”

"You're the best, Khun!" I agree and I give him my address. It dawns on me then that he has never even been to my apartment. What kind of person has never invited their best friend to their apartment?

I take a look around at the bedroom around me. It is the largest room in my apartment, and it isn’t even that big - only about a few metres wide and long. Just big enough for a single bed, a wardrobe and a desk. There isn’t even any carpeting on the floor, and the maintenance is so bad that the door to the bathroom is falling off its hinge.

The state of the kitchen isn’t much better - my oven stopped working long ago, so it’s lucky that I mostly eat at the restaurant in the evenings with Khun and Ji-eun before I get home. No wonder I don’t invite people here very much. I don’t try to hide it, but I’m not exactly proud of my lack of wealth - most of my money was spent on my plane tickets to get here, and my bank account hasn’t recovered yet. This was the most I could afford at the time.

Half an hour later, Khun shows up at my door. I’ve been waiting near it for the last ten minutes so I hear him rapping his knuckles against the wood and swiftly swing it open. He seems to look around at my environment in disdain, and I can see the conflict on his face about whether or not he should point it out. I brace myself for a telling off - him berating me for letting myself live here - but it doesn’t come.

Instead, he ushers me out of the door quickly, waits for me to lock it, and takes me to his car which is parked right outside in the street. He motions to me to get inside, and I follow his request.

Once we’re safely inside, seatbelts on and driving down the street towards the sector of the city where his restaurant is, Khun looks at me from the corner of his eye. He grimaces, and I know what’s coming.

“That place is disgusting, Youngie,” he states. He looks like he wants to shake his head, but he has to keep his eyes on the road, so he just continues, “You can’t possibly live in those conditions.”

I resist the urge to sigh at him, but there isn’t really any point in trying to fight him. His point is correct, after all. I simply respond, “Well where else am I supposed to live, then…?”

He looks at me as if I’m stupid, and says in a matter of fact tone, “With me.”

It’s my turn to look at him as if he’s dumb now, and this time I do sigh. “With you? I can’t do that, Khun. I wouldn’t be able to infringe on your personal space.”

“Of course you can, you’re my friend. I’m supposed to support you,” he shrugs his shoulders, glancing at me briefly before returning his gaze to the outside world, “And anyway, you wouldn’t be infringing. My roommate just got married and moved out, so I’ve got a spare room I’d have to rent out anyway. I might as well let you stay there for free.”

As we near closer to the restaurant, I can’t get him to change his mind and eventually - after much quarrelling between us - I give in. So I guess that’s how I ended up living with Khun.

The restaurant comes into sight now, and I think to myself as we approach it, I don’t think my poor heart can cope with living with him as well as working with him…

I see Nichkhun frown suddenly, staring out of the window as we pull up by the side of the building, and as I follow his gaze I see exactly why. There’s a person dressed in a black hoodie, pulled up to hide his face, and equally dark trousers. He’s loitering by the window, staring through it with a blank expression upon his face. It’s him.

Alex Chevalier.

A/N: Expect another update a little later on, guys! :)