Your POV

Your eyes fluttered open when a flash went off followed by a click. Although your initial plan was to rest your head on the window of the train so that you don’t ‘harass’ Luhan like before, it didn’t work; your head was resting on Luhan’s shoulder yet again. He was grinning at his phone, so you peeked at it too. An adorable young man with doe eyes stared back at you, with a cheesy smile. A girl’s head was resting on the crook of his neck.

“Yah!” you screamed in his ear, scaring him.

 “Wh-what?!” he stuttered, trying to calm himself down.

“You can’t just take a picture of me sleeping on your shoulder like that! If people see that, they’re going to misunderstand!”  

“So? You don’t have a boyfriend. You haven’t even dated before. There isn’t anyone TO misunderstand!” he argued.

You sighed. Arguing with him was pointless; he’d keep the picture no matter what anyway.

Knowing that he had won, Luhan chuckled.

“In 5 minutes we’ll reach Seoul!” he cheered.

“Really? Yay!” you cheered along with him.

“You should get ready…maybe wipe your face with a wet tissue?” he said, handing you one.

You glared at him, snatching the wet tissue and wiping your face furiously.

 “Satisfied now? If you want to get off the train without me, then you’re more than welcome to do so.” You said grumpily.

“No one said that I was going to get off the train with you anyway,” he grinned.

“Oh. I just… assumed…” you said softly.

“I’m just kidding! Of course I’ll get off with you. By the way, I drew on your face.” He said, pulling out a black pen out of his pant pockets. 

You looked at the piece of wet tissue in your hand. It was smeared with ink. 

“What am I? Your sketchbook?” you asked, trying to wipe off the remaining ink on your face.

Luhan chuckled. He turned your head to face him. He locked his eyes on yours and leaned forward. His eyes were hypnotizing, and his skin glowed from the sunlight filtering through the window. You gulped.

He took your chin in one hand and started to wipe off the remaining ink on your face with a new wet tissue. His eyebrows furrowed when he scanned your face to see if he had missed a spot.

“There! All done!” he said happily.

You stayed frozen. 

 
 “We have arrived in Seoul. Thank you for riding on Korail. Have a pleasant day.” The announcement made you come back to your senses.

You quickly got your luggage out of the small compartment above you head. You patted your jeans pocket and were surprised to realize that your phone wasn’t there. You started to search under your seat when Luhan started waving your phone in front of your eyes.

“It was in-between our seats. If you are ready, let’s go!”  He said, picking up his luggage. He started walking down the aisle and you followed him with your luggage in hand. You were excited that you had finally arrived in Seoul.

The train station was packed with people, and it made you feel suffocated. When you looked ahead, Luhan was nowhere to be found. Not wanting to get lost in your attempt to find him, you made your way to the taxi pickup queue, following the signs displayed in the train station. Luckily, there weren’t many people in the queue, so you were able to get a taxi within a couple of minutes.

The taxi driver loaded your luggage in the deck while you got on the back seat of the taxi. You scribbled the address on a piece of paper and handed it to him. He nodded and gave you a warm smile, saying that the ride would take around 45 minutes. You fished out your phone from your pocket and checked the time; 6pm. You plugged in your earphones and listened to some music. You sat beside the window, admiring the beauty of the Seoul city. Everyone was dressed stylishly and they looked busy. Cafés were filled with couples which reminded you of Luhan’s How to Get Your Crush to Like You lessons. Your thoughts started to wander off to what Luhan might be doing right now. You wondered if he even realized that you had lost him in the crowd. You had to be honest with yourself; you missed that doe eyed hyper ball of energy.

Your phone lit up, indicating that you had received a text message.

Unknown number: Hey y ;)

“Oh god, one of those desperate strangers,” you thought to yourself. Since you were bored, you decided to play along.

You: Hello babe!

An evil plan had just formed itself in your brain.

Unknown number: How old are you? I’m 18. Maybe we can meet up and you know… well, that’s if you are legal.

You: I’m 18 too. Are you single? I’ve been dying to meet up with some guys.

Unknown number: Does it really matter if I have a girlfriend? This is going to be a one night thing. No strings attached. Send me a picture of your face… or maybe your body.

“These people are so gross… Atleast it’s helping me to kill time.” You thought while searching through the internet for a picture of a guy with a built body. “This will catch them off guard.” you thought and snickered.

You: [picture sent] what do you think? Send me a picture of your pretty face that I would be looking at during our love-making session.

You tried your best to stop yourself from laughing. You locked your phone, knowing that he wouldn’t reply. But to your surprise, your phone lit up once again.

It indicated that you had received a picture message. You tapped the screen to open it.

“Oh my god!” your eyes widened.

It was a picture of you asleep with a moustache, connected eyebrows and moles all over your face, drawn with a black pen.

“I should have known it was him.” You sighed, frustrated.

Unknown number: Adorable, right? Hehehe.

You felt your cheeks heat up from embarrassment. You were happy that you hadn’t lost contact with him. You quickly added his number to your contact list.

You: Yes, very! :/ Who told you that you could take my phone and secretly play with it?

Luhan: Aren’t you glad that I got your number? And how could you just get on the taxi and leave without saying goodbye to me? TT_TT

You: I lost you at the train station!

Luhan: Ooh...by the way, nice flirting skills you got there xD

You: Shut up! Never speak of it again! I was bored okay? And how many pictures exactly did you take of me?

Luhan: Glad that you asked!

Instantly, your inbox started flooding from the many pictures Luhan had started to send. The first picture was a close up of you sleeping, and the moles drawn on your nose by Luhan was clearly visible. The next picture had two more moles and a moustache. Gradually, each picture got worse and worse.

You: Looks like you had fun… Where’s the other photo?

Luhan: If you want a picture of my handsome face, all you have to do is ask :P 

You scoffed when Luhan sent you a picture of him giving a goofy smile. From the background, it seemed like he was on a taxi too. However, you had to admit, he looked really handsome in the picture.

You: The other picture!

Luhan: What “other” picture?

You knew Luhan was playing with you. He was trying to make you say it.

You: You know!  The picture where I was… sleeping… on your shoulder >_<

Luhan: Oh… the picture that you thought people would misunderstand! Okay, I’m sending it right away.

Luhan sent the picture, but he had cropped out his face.

You: I want the whole picture!

Luhan: Let’s put it in other words….

You: I want your handsome face in the picture too >_<

Images of him chuckling projected in your mind. You didn’t know why you actually wanted that photo. It just made you uncomfortable that he had so many pictures of you, and you didn’t have any of him. The fact that he had a picture of both of you while you didn’t made you even more uncomfortable.

He sent you the photo and you kept staring it for a while. Luhan’s eyes were mesmerizing. He had a toothless grin and your head was visible on his shoulders. You were glad that the drawings on your face weren’t that visible in the photo. A smile formed on your lips unknowingly. You chatted with Luhan all the way till you reached your apartment, and it seemed like Luhan still hadn’t reached his yet.

You: Hey I gotta go! I’ve reached my apartment. I’ll text you later.

Luhan: Okay! I think I’ll reach my apartment within 5 minutes anyway.

You locked your phone and stuffed it in your jeans pocket. The taxi driver unloaded your luggage and handed over the paper slip that you had given him earlier, and drove off. You took your luggage in hand and stood at the entrance of the apartment. You were gaping at the 50 floored building towering over you.

You took your phone and rang the owner of Samsung Apartments while walking into the reception area since you could see no one there. You bowed as soon as you saw a plump woman in her late 40s come out from a door behind the reception counter, holding some paper sheets. She bowed back.

“Kim Hyun Ju, right?” her eyes scanned one of the paper sheets in her hand.

“Yes, ma’am” you said politely.

“Here is your key, feel free to call me if something is wrong with the apartment and I’ll make arrangements to fix it for you. Enjoy.” she said, and smiled sweetly.

You took the key from her hand while bowing and made your way to the elevator. The tag on the key said “34”.  You were relieved to know that you didn’t get an apartment from the utmost top. The elevator stopped as it reached the ground floor and you got on it with your luggage in one hand and the key in the other. You looked at yourself in the mirror installed in the elevator; fortunately you didn’t look too worn out.

The doors of the elevator slid open when it reached the 34^th floor. You unlocked the wooden door infront of you. A tiny living room with peach coloured walls and sleek hard wood floors was the first thing you noticed. A small flat screen TV was hung on the wall with a beige leather couch for 3 infront of it. There were two doors on the left. The first door lead you to a kitchen/dining room which had peach coloured walls as well. It had a small refrigerator, stove and cupboards installed to the walls and a small counter with various drawers. A round wooden table stood in the middle of the room with 5 matching chairs around it. You checked the drawers and cupboards, and were pleased to find that there were enough plates, cups, pots, utensils...etc. You opened the refrigerator and frowned when you saw that it was empty. To be honest, you were hungry and tired. The last thing you ate was a chicken sandwich on the train.

You exited the kitchen/dining room and entered the other room, which appeared to be your bedroom. The walls were painted a light shade of blue and a single bed was placed at the centre of the room with two knight tables on either side. There was a cupboard infront of the bed against the wall. A medium sized desk with a chair was set infront of your window. You dumped your luggage on your bed and made your way to the window. As your bedroom was placed in the corner of your apartment, the view from the window was pretty nice. You noticed another door which turned out to be your bathroom. It had a sliding door to separate the shower area. You were pleased that your bedroom and bathroom was spacious compared to the other rooms. You quickly started unpacking and placed your belongings in the appropriate places. You frowned when you realized that you didn’t bring any snacks or even at least one packet of noodles with you. You checked the time on your phone: 8pm.

You walked up to the window and looked outside; you really didn’t want to go out at night all alone. But the streets were bustling with people unlike back at home, where the streets would be completely empty and spooky by now.

You stomach let out a loud growl. You were pretty sure that you wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. So you decided to brave up and go out. You your GPS device on your phone and were glad to know that there was a mall which was a 5 minute bus ride away.  You grabbed your wallet, stuffed it into a small side bag and exited your apartment and locked it before riding the elevator to the ground floor.

You looked around the streets; everyone was wearing expensive clothes and was rushing here and there. A flock of girls passed by you; they were wearing short dresses and they were giggling. Their high-heels clattered against the ground. Suddenly, you felt out of place and frowned at your casual outfit.

You quickened you pace when you saw the bus stop and checked your phone to make sure you got the right bus.

Lay’s POV

I woke up once again in my living room. The red and orange lights that bounced off my white walls from my wall sized window indicated that it was night time. It had been almost a week since I’ve been awake at night and asleep in the morning. This was a small break I got until the first day of University, and I wanted to enjoy it. I lazily walked up to my kitchen and searched through the shelves. I frowned when I found out that all my snacks were empty. I was feeling too lazy to cook, so I decided to go to my favourite restaurant at the mall.

I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. I quickly dried myself and entered my walk-in closet. I picked out a black wife-beater and black skinny jeans and decided to throw on a denim jacket. I searched through my apartment to find my car keys, but I forgot where I kept them. I didn’t have much energy to search for it, so I decided to take the bus to the mall. I stuffed my wallet in my back pocket and exited the apartment after I locked it. The bus stop was around 3 blocks away, so I practically jogged all the way. I sprinted when I saw the bus was just about to leave. Luckily for me, I was able to board it; I bowed to everyone for being late and quickly grabbed the first bus hand grip which was available.

I kept noticing that the girl next to me had trouble standing straight. I glanced over at her and realised that she was intently staring at me the whole time. I quickly diverted my eyes to the floor of the bus before she realised that I knew that she was staring at me. I wasn’t able to stop myself from smiling when I saw that she was standing on her tip-toes.

She was pretty cute though, an edgy chin-length haircut, casual clothes and sneakers. She didn’t look like the typical girls in Seoul. They all seem to wear high heels, short dresses and have long hair. But do most girls dress themselves to attract guys? Or to impress other girls? I started to think about it, making me zone out. Soon I was in my own world, buried under my own thoughts.

My thoughts were disrupted when the bus suddenly came to a stop. The pixie-sized girl next to me lost her balance and bumped in to me with full force. Bewildered, I let out a yelp and quickly steadied myself. Before the girl was able to crash to the floor, I took hold of her narrow shoulders and steadied her. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she stepped back shyly. I couldn’t help but think how adorable she looked. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice and bowed. I gave her a smile in return and my heels to exit the bus.

I climbed up the mini staircase which surrounded the whole building. The mall was crowded with people. There were several automatic sliding doors installed at the entrance to avoid congestion. I let a woman that was around her mid-50s enter first before I entered.  She gave me a heart–warming smile and thanked me. I smiled and slightly bowed in return. But honestly, I didn’t know why l was being thanked. It was just basic manners. I guess it was the fact that not many youngsters possess these manners which made me worthy of being thanked. It’s sad what our society has become.

As if I was on auto-pilot mode, my feet took me to the Chinese restaurant located at the top of the building. In my mind, I was still thinking about how manner-less some teenagers were, and why I was so different. I grew up all alone, with no one to tell me what was right and what was wrong. Yet these manners seemed so obvious to me.

“Hey, Lay! Long time no see!” the cashier said as I entered the restaurant. I was well known to the staff of the restaurant as I visited there almost every day after school.  

“Yeah, it has been a while. I’ll have my regular” I said and paid.

“Since you’re a regular, I’ll give you a discount” the cashier said sweetly.

“Oh. No need of that. Your amazing efforts must be rewarded well.” I said and made my way to the back of the restaurant to my usual spot. Even though the restaurant was almost fully occupied, that spot never seemed to be taken by anyone. It was a table for one, and no one really sat there because almost everyone came with a bunch of their friends. It was as if that place was made for me. What I liked the best about that spot was that the chair was placed in the corner, and when I was seated, I could see everything that was happening in the restaurant. It was often my entertainment while I ate. As I waited for my meal to arrive, I saw a familiar figure enter the restaurant. It was the pixie-sized girl that I met on the bus, I realized.

She cranked her neck to see the menu displayed on the screen above the counter. She said something to the cashier and nodded and paid. The cashier pointed to the only table which was available; the seat was next to me. She turned her head to the direction and I saw her eyes enlarge with acknowledgement when she saw me. She walked over with shaky legs, bumping into corners of tables and chairs. The table given to her had two chairs, one facing the entire restaurant almost 2 feet away from me and the other one was facing the wall and me a bit further away from me. I was surprised to see that she sat in the seat which she would have no choice but to look at either the wall or me. Well, this is going to be awkward. i thought to myself and grinned.

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Sorry for the late update! i have been busy with my exams! Anyways, here it is and i hope you guys like it! The story hasn't technically started yet, well it is about to so just stick around for somewhile, exciting chapters are on their way!

and welcome new subscribers! <3