Chapter 1

“Seriously? Not this again!” Annie grumbled as she tapped her foot impatiently against the bus floor. Taking out her phone, she dialed her work knowing her best friend and coworker, Lucy would answer.

“Thank you for calling the Temple Cafe, this is Lucy speaking. How may I help you?” her best friend's voice echoed from the other end.

“Hey Luce, it's Annie,” she greeted. “Listen, I know my shift starts soon but I called to tell you I'm gonna be a little late...”

“How late?” Lucy asked with caution.

“Like thirty minutes to an hour late,” Annie replied sheepishly. “Look I'll get there as soon as I can, okay? Can you cover for me just until I get there?”

“You owe me,” Lucy warned her.

“That's why I love you! Bye!” Annie said before hanging up. Groaning once again, she dreaded the next few stops ahead.

The buses were running a little late again and there was no way she would make it in time for her shift. It was times like these where Annie wished she had a car but it was unfortunate. To make matters worse, there was a ton of traffic which did not help matters at all. Maybe having a car was a bad idea because she'd be stuck in traffic nevertheless. At the next stop, she decided to walk the rest of the way hoping it would be a little faster than the traffic.

After walking for a while, her feet started to ache and it didn't help that she was wearing sandals with shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt. Comfortable attire but she was feeling a major sense of discomfort. Just a few more yards then she could make it, she told herself. The weather was nice and warm and it was a beautiful day but Annie thought otherwise because the heat was starting to take a toll on her physical being. She soon found herself feeling light-headed, mentally scolding herself for not eating breakfast like she should. It was understandable since she was in a bit of a rush that morning.

With the last bit of stamina she had, she decided to make a run for it with nothing to lose.

At about the same time, Yongguk exited the posh apartment building and decided to walk instead of driving his car to work at the recording studio. He took out his phone to call his best friend. “Hey Himchan, I'm calling to let you know that I'm getting there a little later than usual. Is that okay with you? Alright see you soon,” he said before hanging up then proceeded to put on his headphones and listen to his music.

It was nice out so why not enjoy the fresh air, he thought. Besides, there was a lot of traffic at this time so walking wasn't such a bad idea since it wasn't really a far walk.

Walking along with the other pedestrians, a particular person caught his attention. She was a petite young woman around his age, maybe younger. She rushed past him walking a mile a minute as if she really was in a rush. He could practically hear her panting as she was making her way towards him. She must be dehydrated, he thought. He wouldn't blame her because the forecast for that day was pretty warm.

“Excuse me, pardon me,” Annie said as she brushed past the pedestrians. “I'm so sorry... Sorry again... Pardon me, sir. I'm so sorry!” she obliviously bumped into Yongguk along the way.

Unaware of her surroundings, she began to cross the street unaware of an oncoming car about to turn in the opposite direction. Yongguk, standing only a few feet away, immediately took action and pulled Annie into his arms to avoid getting hit. In the near collision with the car, she had dropped her bag causing the contents to fall out onto the sidewalk. She found her face buried in his broad chest apparently shaken up at what just happened. The car sped off. “What a ing jackass,” her rescuer muttered. “Doesn't he know that there's a pedestrian trying to cross the street. It wasn't even his turn to go! Idiot drivers...”

She took note of his deep and husky voice. Looking up, she found her face inches close to his. Her breathing became irregular as she became entranced by his handsome features. Her heart was racing and she wondered if he could feel it too since she was being embraced by the handsome stranger. “Are you okay?” he asked their eyes meeting as he held onto her in an embrace.

Realizing the compromising position they were both in, Annie immediately pushed herself away from him and nodded. “I'm fine, thank you for asking,” she said straightening her clothing as she bent over to grab her things.

“Are you sure?” he cocked an eyebrow her way as he bent over to help her.

Her eyes met his. His eyes were mesmerizing but unreadable but she couldn't bring herself to look away. This stranger sure was attractive, she thought. “Yes, thank you for saving my life,” she said sheepishly finally allowing herself to look away from him. “I'm gonna be late so I should get going. Again, thank you. I'll be eternally grateful,” she bowed her head slightly then she ran off before he could respond.

He stood and watched her retreating figure run straight ahead with all her might. She must really be running late, he thought. Soon after, he turned to walk into the opposite direction to his workplace but stopped abruptly to find a particular object lying on the ground shifting his attention. On instinct, he leaned over to pick it up to discover it was her journal. Yongguk immediately turned around in the hopes of returning it to her but he was already too late. She was already gone.

Nearly out of breath, Annie took a moment to catch her breath leaning against a light post before running again. Almost there, she told herself. Little did she know, a young man talking on his phone riding his skateboard was speeding towards her. His eyes widened when he spotted her. “Look out!” he abruptly exclaimed.

Annie immediately moved out of the way and landed on the hard cement scraping her knees in the process. She yelped in pain as she touched her bleeding wounds. The young man got off his skateboard and ran over to her. “Omo! Are you okay?!” he panicked. “I'm so sorry!” he helped her up.

She looked up to see that he really did look scared as he helped her dust off the dirt from her clothing. Usually one to easily feel sympathy, she sighed at the young man before her. He had light gray hair and looked to be no older than sixteen but for a kid his age, he was freakishly tall, she thought. “Don't worry about it, kid,” she muttered.

“But noona, you're bleeding!” he exclaimed looking down at her knees.

“Look kid, I'm running late so my priority right now is to get my to work instead of worrying about some little injury,” she pointed out. “You're forgiven just be careful with that thing.” She motioned to his skateboard.

Sighing in relief, she made it to the cafe in time. “Jongup!” she called for the new guy. Immediately, he stood before her. “Grab the first aid kit.”

His eyes widened. “Noona, what happened to you?” he asked as soon as he saw her scraped knees.

“Yeah, what happened, Annie? Are you okay?” Lucy stepped out from behind the counter, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Some kid rode his skateboard towards me and I instinctively moved away and this happened,” she answered nonchalantly. “Anyways, what happened before I got here? Was it slow? Busy?” She asked hoping to avoid any concern on her injury. They were just scrapes, it's not like she broke a limb or anything.

“It was slow, and you're not in trouble,” Lucy assured her. “It's just that since you're late, the manager wanted you to train a newbie.”

“Seriously?” Annie's eyes widened. “Who is it? Boy or girl?”

“Boy,” Lucy answered, then glanced over at Jongup. “He's a friend of Jongup's.”

“Got it,” she nodded then proceeded to go into the backroom to change into her uniform.

When she was finally out, Annie could hear Lucy talking to the new hire. “Oh you're here! It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Lucy,” she greeted him.

“I'm Junhong,” he said softly. “But you can call me Zelo.”

“Okay Zelo, you can go to the back to change into your uniform and when you're out, Annie is gonna be the one to show you the ropes,” Lucy informed him. “She should be out shortly. Oh there she goes!” she said as soon as she spotted Annie adjusting her uniform as she walked out of the backroom. “This is Junhong, but he prefers to be called Zelo.”

“Nice to meet you, I'm Ann--” she stopped mid-sentence when looked up to find the kid on the skateboard. He too was also taken by surprise.