Sehun took a sip of his drink, “So that’s how I came to live and work in Heaven.”

Lu Han’s gaze softened as he heard Sehun’s story. He felt really sorry for the younger boy.

But Sehun seemed to catch on to what Lu Han was thinking, “If you’re feeling sorry for me, don’t be. I’m really fine. It was a hard lesson, one which I had to learn. I’m okay now.”

Sehun let out a soft cynical laugh.

“So your parents didn’t find out about what happened?” Lu Han asked.

“Thank heavens, no. I didn’t tell them anything. They don’t know that I’m working in a gay club. I told them that I’m staying with some friends. I’m pretty sure they would disown me if they ever find out. And I’ll probably end up like the rest of the guys,” Sehun exhaled in relief.

“Like the rest of the guys?” Lu Han asked with a puzzled look.

“Those living with me. Some ran away from their families, some were abandoned by their families – all because they’re gay,” Sehun emphasised as he poked at the chocolate cake with his fork.

“Like Joon-myun hyung, I mean Suho hyung – he was a victim of abuse. He was rescued and taken to Heaven. Chanyeol hyung, the one which grins a lot, was turned out from his family. Kai ran away from home. Kyungsoo hyung was also abandoned by his family. Only Baekhyun hyung is lucky, I guess. He was an orphan and he was adopted,” Sehun continued.

“Actually I don’t know why I’m telling you so much,” Sehun remarked.  

“No, no, that’s okay. I’m really interested in what you have to say,” Lu Han said.

Just then Sehun spotted Lu Han’s MCM backpack and he eyed it with interest. He knew that it was a branded bag and that Lu Han must be rich enough to be able to afford it.

“Lu Han seems like a nice person. Maybe, just maybe, I can make use of him a little bit here and there. I hate flower boys. They just can’t be trusted. And Lu Han is just like the flower boy Kiseop is. But you know as long as I don’t put my feelings into it and know when to stop, I guess it would be fine,” Sehun thought.

“Sehun-ah, Sehun-ah.”

“Ne?”

“What were you thinking?”

“What do you do?”

“Student.”

“A student can afford such an expensive bag?”

“Uh, I do some part time work as a translator,” Lu Han said. “I’ve been studying Korean for quite some time.”

Sehun nodded but he was thinking otherwise. “If you’re not rich, would you be able to afford the bag?”

“So what do you study Sehun? I know that you’re in an arts college. You have a folder there. Do you think I could take a look at it?” Lu Han asked with his eyes shining brightly.

“Uh…”

“Come on Sehun, don’t be shy. I just want to see how talented you are,” Lu Han encouraged.

Sehun wanted to stand firm, but Lu Han’s brightly lit orbs and radiant smile made him melt a little and Sehun duly handed his folder over to Lu Han.

Lu Han opened the file like an excited kid. He took out the sheets of paper and carefully laid those out in front of him. Lu Han gaped in amazement as he flipped through the papers.

“Sehun, you’re such a good artist. The characters are so detailed and expressive. What do you study?”

“Design and animation.”

“This is just wow! It’s so amazing. You really blew my mind,” Lu Han gushed in admiration.

Sehun studied Lu Han’s expression more closely. The way his lips curled up when he smiled; the way his eyes sparkled with excitement. Somehow, Lu Han was different from the other men Sehun had gone out with since he started to work in Heaven. He seems genuinely interested, Sehun thought.

Lu Han tidied the sheets of paper and carefully put them back into the folder. “Sehun, I really hope you would be able to succeed in the future. What’s your ambition?”

“To date rich guys,” Sehun thought to himself. “Get them to spend money on me while I save up for my future.”

“To produce my own animated short film,” Sehun said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to handle a feature-length animation, but I think a five to 10 minute short film shouldn’t be much of a difficulty.”

“That’s great. I’m sure you’ll do well Sehun. You mustn’t give up on your dreams. Hwaiting!” Lu Han burst out enthusiastically.

“Thanks,” Sehun smiled. “Anyway, thanks for the treat. I’ll have to get going soon. I still have some assignments that need to be done.”

Lu Han broke into a silly smile. “That’s right. We’ve been here for more than an hour. I shouldn’t keep you from your work.”

“Anyway, it was nice going out with you,” Sehun said.

“Me too.”

“This is really a great place. Thanks for bringing me here. I would’ve never found out about this place if it wasn’t for you,” Sehun said as he picked up his file and bag and stood up. “I should get going.”

Lu Han nodded. “You should.”

“What about you? Aren’t you going to leave as well?” Sehun asked.

“I’ll probably stay here for a while more to read.”

“Okay,” Sehun somewhat felt disappointed that Lu Han did not offer to walk with him or that he seemed uninterested in exchanging contacts with him.

“We should do this another time,” Sehun said awkwardly.

“Sure,” Lu Han said.

“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean dating, but you know just like two friends chilling out together. I only date much older men in their late twenties or thirties.”

“No, no, I’m not looking for a relationship at the moment either,” Lu Han clarified.

“Oh,” Sehun replied, feeling another pang of disappointment hitting him. Sehun was feeling confused at the moment. Although he wanted to take advantage of Lu Han, he just could not bring himself to do so. “Shall we exchange contacts?”

“Sure.”

“Lend me your handphone.”

Lu Han handed his handphone over to Sehun and Sehun tapped on the screen and then a ring sounded.

“Well, you have my number and I have your number. Let’s keep in touch,” Sehun said.

And just as Sehun was about to walk off, he added, “Your friend was so totally into Joon-myun hyung that evening. We should arrange for both of them to go out sometime.”

“That’ll be great. I’m sure Yixing would be ecstatic to hear this.’

Sehun nodded. “Got to go. See you around.”

“Annyeong, Sehun.”  

……

Jongin walked aimlessly lost in thought as he tried to recollect the familiar figure he had just spotted Sehun with.

“There’s no use thinking about it. I’ll just have to interrogate Sehun when both of us are at home,” he thought to himself.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. “Where am I? Damn it. How do I get home from here? I better call someone,” he thought.

He reached for his handphone and dialled the first number that came to mine.

“Yeoboseyo?” the voice on the other line said.

“Kyungsoo hyung.”

Jongin had exchanged numbers with Kyungsoo a few days earlier.

“Hyung, I’m lost. I don’t know my way home,” Jongin whined.

“What do you mean? Isn’t Sehun with you or something? Aren’t you both coming home together?”

“Well, he blew me off for an appointment and left me some vague instructions. And I wandered off a little. And I don’t know my way to the subway since appa fetched us this morning, and this being my first day in school”

“I get it. So where are you now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Look around, are there any landmarks or something that stands out amongst your surroundings? Are there any road signs?”

Jongin turned and glanced at the surroundings around him. “There’s some building with a big signboard that says XXXX. It’s opposite a fast food restaurant. The road is XXX.”

“Alright. Just stay where you are. I’ll come get you in a jiffy,” Kyungsoo instructed.

Jongin obeyed Kyungsoo and remained where he was. 20 minutes, he spotted off a cab stop in front of him. The door opened and a head popped out.

“Come on in,” Kyungsoo said.

“Thank you, hyung. Sorry to have troubled you and make you splurge money like that,” Jongin apologised as he entered the cab.

Kyungsoo smiled in response and muttered, “That’s’ alright.”

……

Chanyeol was walking home to Heaven. He could not shrug off this uneasy feeling since he left the supermarket. It was as though someone was following him. He could hear the person’s footsteps just behind him. “It’s five in the afternoon. Surely no one would be daring enough attack and rob me or maybe even...no way…” Chanyeol shuddered as he thought of what might happen to him.  

“Should I stop and call Byunbaek or anyone for help? Maybe not. I should just keep on walking,” Chanyeol thought as he quickened his footsteps.

Just as he did so, Chanyeol could also hear the person’s pace pick up steadily.

“This is no good. Should I turn around and see who this person is?” Chanyeol thought. “What do I do? I think I should just stop and see what happens.”

Chanyeol stopped in his tracks. He was expecting the stranger to stop as well, but on the contrary, the person continued to tread on and he was gaining quite close on Chanyeol. Chanyeol held his breath. “Is he going to attack me? I better make a run for it.”

But the stranger simply just breezed past Chanyeol without stopping. Chanyeol managed to get a glimpse of the person.

It was a tall teenager, probably about Chanyeol’s height and age. His hair was dyed golden and he had flawless complexion. He had a stern, serious, -faced look. He was carrying a few bags of groceries.

Just then he heard someone swearing “Damn it!” rather loudly.

It was the guy. His paper bag had broken and the contents were spilt on the road. He could see that there were apples as well as some punnets of fruit on the street.

The guy followed up with “Oh crap” as he set his other groceries on the street and bent down to pick up the spilt contents.

Chanyeol approached the guy cautiously. He bent down and started picking up some of the apples and a punnet of berries that fell onto the street.

“Here you go,” Chanyeol said as he handed three apples and the punnet back to the guy.

The stranger only took the berries from Chanyeol and without mentioning any word of thanks, just ordered, “Just dump the apples.”

Chanyeol glared incredulously at the stranger as he felt enraged by the person’s lack of manners and for wasting food. “Ya. I know the apples may have fallen onto to road and have gotten dirty. It’s not like the fruit itself is dirtied. You could always peel off the skin.”

“What do you know?” the stranger snapped without looking at Chanyeol as he tried to find space in the other shopping bags to fit the items that had spilt out from the torn bag.

The stranger grumbled to himself, “Great, looks like I have to make another trip to the supermarket.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be so rude,” Chanyeol bristled.

“Okay, thanks for your help. You can keep the apples if you want to,” the stranger replied coolly as continued to sort out the groceries.

“Seriously, what do you take me for, a trash can?” Chanyeol fumed. 

Without turning to look at the Chanyeol, the stranger rebutted, “Weren’t you the one who was criticising me about wasting food? Since you don’t like to waste food, you can have the apples. There are still some more on the road.”

“What?”

The stranger stood up as he struggled with his now overloaded remaining bags of purchases as he tried to balance them all including the packets of fruit in his hands.

“Let me help,” Chanyeol offered as he stretched out his hand to take the packets of fruit from the stranger. “I still have some space in my shopping bag. You can put them in here. Are you anywhere near your destination? If you aren’t too far away, I could help you until you get your destination.”

“Thanks,” the stranger replied. “It’s just a 10 minutes walk.”

“Sure. How about you leading the way?”

The stranger nodded. Chanyeol soon found himself following the stranger as they look a left turn at the end of the road, deviating from Chanyeol’s route towards Heaven. After walking for a few blocks and making a few turns, Chanyeol found himself outside a shop. He stared at the sign which read “Maison de K Patisserie and Boulangerie”.

“You work here?” Chanyeol asked.

The stranger nodded. He unlocked the door to the shop and opened it, “Come on in.”

The shop was not very big. There was one long communal table, and a few small tables. “Have a seat and make yourself comfortable,” the stranger said.

Chanyeol pulled out a chair and took out the stranger’s items from his (Chanyeol’s) shopping bag. The stranger made a few trips to the back of the shop to keep the groceries. When he was done, he brought two small plates of pastries.

“Help yourself,” the stranger invited.

Chanyeol eyed the pastries hungrily. There were small croissants, an apple tart, and pain au chocolate.

He took a small croissant and popped one into his mouth. “It’s so warm, fluffy and buttery.”

The stranger sighed, “I’m glad you like it. I’m sorry that they aren’t fresh from the oven. We’re closed on Mondays, so these were baked yesterday morning. I had to heat them up a little.”

“That’s alright. They’re still good. I think I might have eaten these before. My friends have probably bought them before,” Chanyeol said.

“That’s great,” the stranger said.

“So are you a baker or something? Do you own this place?” Chanyeol asked as he popped another croissant into his mouth.

“I’m a baker. This place actually belongs to a relative. But they’ve retired. So I’ve taken over from them.”

“By the way I’m Chanyeol. How do I address you?”

“I’m Kris.”

“You’re not Korean?”

“I’m Chinese. I emigrated to Canada when I was young. I came to Korea for just about a year now.”  

Kris paused for a while. “I’m sorry if I sounded rude earlier.”

“I understand,” Chanyeol said. “So I guess you would have to head back to the supermarket?”

“I guess not. I just have to bake stuff that doesn’t require me to use apples,” Kris laughed.

Chanyeol could not help but to feel captivated by Kris. He is so charismatic when he’s serious, and even more so when he smiles. How could such a handsome boy end up as a baker?

“So what do you sell around here?”

“Bread and pastries. A small selection of cakes. The items change daily. It depends on my mood for the day and what ingredients I can find, but croissants are definitely a daily item,” Kris said. “But because I only have one assistant, the amount of items is usually limited.”

“How’s business?”

“Quite alright. I do have some leftovers at the end of the day. Overall I would say, far from becoming a millionaire, but enough for a living.”

“Wow, you’re talented. How old are you?”

“22.”

“I’m only 20.”

“So you live around here?”

“Nearby. It just that I don’t really wander in this area. What about you?”

“I live somewhere else, but I have a small room at the back of the shop. Convenience,” Kris replied.

Chanyeol had finished off the apple tart and was working his way through the pain au chocolate when his mobile rang. He was shocked when he looked at the time and quickly answered the phone.

It was Baekhyun who was wondering why Chanyeol wasn’t back yet. They had arranged to go out for dinner with Jongin and Kyungsoo.

“Oh rats. I’m going to be late. I’ve got to go,” Chanyeol said as he wolfed down the pastry as Kris look at him feeling amused.

“Sure. Hey wait a minute. I still have some pastries. If you don’t mind them being leftovers. I can pack them for you to takeaway. But you would have to reheat them or something,” Kris offered.

“Great. Thanks,” Chanyeol said.

Kris returned with one big bag of brioches, croissants and pain au chocolate. “Enjoy them. And thanks for your help today.”

“It was nothing much.”

“Do stop by here when you’re free. But not on Mondays. And before eight on the other weekdays and before six on weekends.”

“I sure will,” Chanyeol said as he held up the sweet treats. “They’re delicious. I’ll come back for more.”

Chanyeol and Kris stood up and Kris walked Chanyeol to the door. “Do you know how to get to your destination from here?”

“I guess.”

“Let me walk you to where we came from.”

“I’m fine.”

“I insist,” Kris said as he grabbed his keys and they left the shop. Kris locked the store and he accompanied Chanyeol to where they first met.

“I hope you’ll remember the way to my shop,” Kris said as they reached the junction which will lead Chanyeol back to Heaven.

“I sure will. And if you’re free, you can always drop by Heaven for a drink. I work there. It’s a gay club. I hope you don’t mind,” Chanyeol said. “Just come on down to chill and relax. It’s more crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.”

Kris nodded.

“That’s great. I was worried that you would…” Chanyeol said.

“I don’t,” Kris smiled.

Kris and Chanyeol then said their goodbyes and went their separate ways for now. 

……

Sehun was sitting at his desk and was working on a sketch for an assignment. He had just finished one drawing and was about to start on another.

Subconsciously, he started to draw the lines of the shape of a face with a sharp jaw and added the hair – giving the locks a rather puffy feel. He then added the two almond shape eyes which radiated happiness, a sharp nose and pursed lips.

Sehun was so absorbed with his drawing that he did not hear Joon-myun entering their shared room.

“Sehun-ah, who’s the guy in the drawing? He looks kind of familiar. Wait a minute…is it that Lu Han guy?” Joon-myun asked.

This caused Sehun to stop what he was doing and he dropped his pencil accidentally.

“It’s not…” Sehun stuttered nervously.

As he stared at his own creation, he was extremely horrified that he had indeed drawn a picture of Lu Han.

“Have you been bitten by something?” Joon-myun asked.

“No. I’m fine.”

“I meant bitten by a love bug,” Joon-myun teased.

Sehun quickly grabbed the drawing. On impulse, he felt like tearing it up, but somehow he was unable to do it and just flipped the paper around to hide the drawing from Joon-myun. “I’m not in love.”

“Then why are you drawing Lu Han?”

“I was doing my assignment and I decided to base one of the characters off him,” Sehun quickly made an excuse.

“Why not me? Am I not the hyung that you love most?”

“Well…” Sehun was left dumbfounded and tongue-tied.

Joon-myun smiled at Sehun and patted him on the back. “I’m going to take a shower and then get some rest.”

“Had a good day playing golf and catching up with your friends?” Sehun asked, wanting to change the topic.

Joon-myun nodded and he headed for the cupboard to take some clothes before leaving the room.

Sehun sighed and relief after Joon-myun left the room. He flipped the drawing over as he stared at his drawing.

“Lu Han…” Sehun mumbled softly.  

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I'm so sorry for taking this long to update. *Bows apologetically*. I had been busy with work and I'm going overseas again. To Seoul and Jeju Island. I hope this trip will give me some material to include in future stories. It's just a short trip and I'll be back in a week. I hope my next update will be mid-week. So please bear with me for the time being. 

Meanwhile I do hope you enjoy this chapter. A little bit of KaiSoo. Some HunHan moments. It looks like HunHan are attracted to one another. But somehow things don't look easy for them. I wonder how this couple will turn out in the end.

And yes, I've introduced another minor character - Kris. Looks like that there might be some KrisYeol moments in there. What will happen to Baekhyun then?

Meanwhile, please continue to support this story by leaving your comments. And if you have yet to subscribe to this story, please subscribe to it. Really appreciate it very much. I would say this story has probably reach its 1/3 to 1/2 mark. 

Damn, I will endeavour not to write fan fics with so many characters in the future. 

Do check out  and comment on my other fan fics if you have not already done so.

My other fan fics

KyuMin: Almost a love story

KyuMin: 60 Days 

It's You (너라고) Neorago (a YeWook fan-fic)