CHAPTER 1:

It was the music of the waves that woke Sehun up early in the morning. The calming clash of the blue sea which lulled him to sleep the night before is the same sound that greets his senses a welcome to a new day. Inside his room, the light of the sun spreads against the brown and white interior of the place's furniture while Sehun lets out a deep yawn, long limbs sinking further into the warm mattress - not minding the heat of the sun which passes through the linen white curtains warming his .

Exactly ten minutes pass when Sehun turns and finally lies on his back. He lets out a soft groan, rubbing his hand against the corner of his eyes to ease his sleepiness before he pulls the blanket off his lower half to grab his glasses and sweatpants from the bedside table. There's a soft creak once his feet land on the wooden floor, when he wears his reading glasses it takes a few seconds to stabilize his eyesight then he moves to wear his sweatpants, standing after and heading outside the room towards his kitchen.

The sound of his feet padding softly across the floor of the beach house and the waves are the only sounds that accompany Sehun that morning. He moves around his kitchen, shirtless while preparing a fresh cup of coffee and an American style breakfast. He basically spends a few minutes cooking bacons and eggs and toasting two pieces of bread and when he's finally done, he takes a seat on the stool by the kitchen counter, placing his plated breakfast on the gray granite countertop before he munches on it while reading a book he left there two days ago.

It has been quite long since he was able to enjoy his breakfast like this, considering the hectic workload from his restaurant Sehun definitely appreciates the peaceful morning he is given on his day off. Fortunately he is already halfway done with the novel he is reading, when the shrill sound of his handphone echoes across the house –it’s not like it’s the first time he receives a call on his rest day so he immediately stands to head inside his bedroom. However the ringing ends once he reaches his door so he simply takes his phone back to the kitchen to call whoever was on the line and the deep voice of his head chef, Kyungsoo, reverberates as an answer against the phone.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of answering this call?” Sehun says, chuckling when he hears the audible sigh of Kyungsoo from the receiver. “Alright but really, what’s making you call me on my day off?”

“Your parents just called to inform us they’re coming today so you might want to get your crusty right here, right now.”

“Ah, such vulgar words.” Sehun chides playfully before grabbing the utensils he used to eat and placing it on the sink. “Give me an hour and a half hyung, I’ll be there soon.”

Sehun hears a cheerful voice in the background, probably that of their restaurant manager before Kyungsoo’s voice filters through the phone again. “Noted. Also, please wear something at least semi-formal. I think your parents were planning to surprise you so they called us instead of you. But since you didn’t have work today, which they’re probably not aware of I had to call you to come.”

“I know, I’ll see you and thank you Kyungsoo hyung.” Sehun smiles although he knows his friend won’t see it. He waits to hear an affirmative bye from the other line before he makes a beeline towards the bathroom inside his bedroom, turning on the shower to allow the hot water to flow in his tub.

His personal bathroom is spacious, designed to have a massage area on the left side from the entrance where a bench is placed on the center, wide enough to lie down. The surrounding area and floor is covered in wood, strong and durable enough not to get weathered by the water’s strong outpour. Then once activated, there would be a continuous stream of lukewarm water pouring from the ceiling that has large shower panels attached to it. Meanwhile on the other side of the bathroom is a rectangular black marbled tub with a detachable shower head and a faucet to fill it. In the middle of the room is a huge black colored granite sink completed by a wide mirror on top and cabinets and drawers at the bottom where Sehun always separately places newly washed towels and his shower supplies.

Once he deems the water is hot enough, Sehun grabs a newly washed towel from the cabinet, places his glasses on the sink and folds his clothing after to take a quick shower. He lets out a contented sigh when the water hits the sore parts of his body, working the knots and kinks off his shoulders and back. It takes more or less twenty five minutes for him to finish bathing and once he’s done, Sehun grabs his towel from the shower rack to pat his body dry before he wraps it around his torso.

He takes another towel from the cabinet, a smaller one for his hair, before he brushes his teeth. After rinsing his mouth, Sehun takes both his clothes and reading glasses then heads out towards his bedroom. He makes a quick work of putting on a new set of clothes, placing the used ones in the laundry basket near the door then taking out a pair of black skinny jeans to match with a newly bought blue button-up with long sleeves. He fixes himself in front of the full body mirror situated at the side of his bed before he finally deems his appearance presentable enough, long fingers combing through silver locks to tame it.

When he is finished, Sehun surveys his room with a final gaze before getting his keys and wallet inside the drawer at his bedside table and then his phone which was placed on the top. He makes sure all the doors are locked, grabbing his leather jacket on his way out then putting on a luxurious pair of loafers. Sehun then walks toward his motorbike parked in front of the beach house, immediately placing the helmet on his head and keying in the ignition so he could finally drive towards his restaurant – it would take him more than thirty minutes to reach his destination but the wind nipping against the back of his neck makes the tall male smile in delight, already looking forward to what the day has in store for him.

“You’re here!” Baekhyun, the restaurant’s manager, greets Sehun with puppy like excitement once the latter steps foot inside the place immediately taking off the leather jacket and gloves he used from the trip earlier. The atmosphere of the restaurant is warm and cozy as it should be every morning with most of the tables already occupied both by locals and tourists visiting the beautiful island of Jeju-do. It was through sheer luck that Sehun actually chanced upon his restaurant’s current location, a vast piece of land located near a sturdy cliff that overlooks the blue and clear seas of the island. The moment he saw it, Sehun did not have to think twice and immediately bought the title of the land, renovated it, and built his dream restaurant in it – an area surrounded by flowers with a two-storey structure right in the middle, concreted by rocks with floor to ceiling windows in the lower floor and an open space similar to a balcony for the second floor.

The restaurant is designed to be homey, littered with wooden mahogany pieces for furniture, tables and chairs, and soft couches to cater to different numbers and types of people while the counter is situated at the far back and right at the center where a display case is right beside it, an array of pastries and cake placed inside to further enhance the eating experience of the customers.

Sehun’s restaurant serves different dishes, most of which a fusion between Korean and other Asian dishes and it would be an understatement to say that Sehun is known for his cooking – because more than that, Sehun is acknowledged and had been awarded plenty for the fusion dishes he had created. It has been eight years since Sehun opened his restaurant in Jeju-do and from then on, he had been branching out not only within Korea but in other parts of the world as well, training other chefs to be like him and to love cooking as much as he does.

There is so much passion and dedication Sehun has dedicated to being a chef and a restaurant owner that being back to where it all started still overwhelms him even when a year has passed since he returned. He looks around his restaurant, smiling to himself before he finally realizes that Baekhyun has been looking at him for a good minute or so.

“You still can’t believe you’re here, can you?” the smaller of the two teases, black hair fluffily falling against the top of his eyebrows. “Well I did my best to keep this place as beautiful as it was when you first opened it so I hope I didn’t disappoint.”

“The only thing I’m disappointed about is that obnoxious painting you placed inside my office Baekhyun.” Sehun jokingly says causing the other male to send him an offended expression. “Now can you give me an update of what’s going on in here?”

“Well same, same.” Baekhyun responds back to his cheerful self, “there was a table reserved for some business man’s birthday celebration, I think his bringing his family with him and your parents also reserved the backroom, the one with a table for six when they called Kyungsoo. Though I’m not sure why it’s that many.”

Sehun quirks an eyebrow at that, already walking towards his office to place his leather jacket inside while Baekhyun follows him. “You said six, right? That’s weird. Who are they bringing with them?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun shrugs, occupying the couch against the wall of the office, “Probably a friend or relative of yours? You know how your parents are Sehun they’re tough when it comes to business but they’re all soft for you. So you should be getting use to these visits now, the last time they were here they surprised you with a puppy to play with so maybe this time they want you to meet a good friend of theirs?”