There was almost no more space to park his black BMW when Junhyung had arrived at Hyunseung’s mansion. The man drove to the corner beside a red car and stopped his car. Letting a small sigh escape his mouth, he took a quick glance at his Rolex watch. Fifteen minutes past ten, it read, telling him that he was at least thirty minutes late. Great, he thought as he let his hands drop to the driver’s seat. He took a moment to close his eyes before he opened the door.

He saw a man – probably one of the DJ’s servants in front of the fine-carved wooden door. Damn Hyunseung and his richness. It felt weird to envy the disc jockey’s money, for he himself was rich. He could buy himself a mansion too, but he knew that Dongwoon preferred a small apartment: the flat they lived in at the moment. His boyfriend did not really like big houses since he knew that Junhyung would host too many parties, disturbing his concentration in writing. The party animal heaved another sigh as he thought of that.

The next thing he knew, he was in front of the door, the servant standing in front of him, basically blocking his path. Junhyung rolled his eyes, silently wondering why does the DJ even need tight security. “Yong Junhyung,” he said his name before the uniformed man could even start. “Hyunseung invited me to his party,” he continued monotonously, handing him an invitation card.

“Hold on, sir,” the servant replied politely, “I will confirm your invitation with master Jang.” He dashed into the mansion after those words had been spoken. The well-dressed man almost laughed when the other addressed Hyunseung. Master Jang, his mind repeated as he puffed his cheeks, holding his laughter. The servant came out roughly one minute later and nodded, basically telling Junhyung to come in.

Loud music blasted in his ears as he entered the mansion. His eyes scanned the polished furniture and expensive decorated vases on the tables. Though it was not his first time in this big house, Junhyung still liked to take the time to admire the DJ’s collection of fancy stuffs scattered around the house. With a small smile on his face, he walked further into the house: to the backyard.

“Master Jang!” teased the party animal when the red-haired disc jockey appeared in front of him with a bottle of champagne on his grip. Hyunseung flashed a grin and punched Junhyung’s shoulder playfully with his free hand. The two of them laughed after that, taking almost twenty seconds for their loud laughter to die down.

“You bastard,” Hyunseung said, a slight chuckle escaping through the corners of his mouth. He was not DJ-ing for tonight, of course, for he was the host of the big party (and birthday boy, Junhyung wanted to add, therefore hiring another DJ would be a day off for him). “Damn that servant of mine for calling me ‘Master Jang’ in front of literally everyone here. Where’s my present?” he joked.

“It’s not my fault that you want him to confirm basically every invitation,” Junhyung said, shrugging. "And you don't need presents, like seriously. But I do have some copies of Dongwoon's books, if you want."

"Dongwoon?" the disc jockey asked, raising an eyebrow. "And no, I didn't ask for it, really. He... kinda 'volunteered' to keep me safe and s. He's a new guy, and a rather overprotective one. Like really, 'Master Jang shall be safe if I guard the door for your safety and maximum comfort,' he said to me right before the party. So I was like, 'Oh no, it's alright. I can call you if some random uninvited stranger bursts into the house,' but he insisted. And here I am, under the unnecessary protection of that dude."

Junhyung responded to the story with a chuckle. "My boyfriend," he said. "The one I brought to the nightclub a few days ago. He's a pretty good novelist," the slightly younger man explained. "Though I've never really read his works. I've only read it when he wants me to correct his grammar and spelling. I can't do that, of course, but reading a chapter would be okay."

Hyunseung's eyes sparkled when his friend mentioned 'novelist'. He had always wanted to know someone who writes things, especially novels and poetry. "Sure!" He nodded his head, flashing a wide grin. "While I am still sober, or at least I'm sure that I am," he said with a small laugh, receiving a nod from Junhyung.

"He asked me to wish you a happy birthday from him, by the way," said Junhyung. "Told him that I was going to your birthday party."

"He seems nice," Hyunseung said, nodding. A smile crept on his face. "Unlike you, who yelled 'Master Jang!' instead of wishing me a happy birthday." The DJ crossed his arms, whistling randomly; his eyes were on the pool of his backyard, crowded with his friends splashing water here and there.

"Fine. Happy twenty-fifth birthday, Jang Hyunseung, Master Jang, whatever. Happy?"

"Yes, if only you didn't mention that nickname. Now give me your boyfriend's work."

The party animal dashed to his car to get a copy of his boyfriend's book. A random copy, actually. Junhyung did not even know which book of Dongwoon's did he take. It was still perfectly sealed in plastic wrap. His eyes scanned the title which was written in bold, capital letters. Invisible Barrier, it read. Junhyung's eyes then trailed off to the illustration under the text. There were two silhouettes, one on the ground and one slightly floating in the air. Something that seemed like a mist were between them. Simple, yet pretty symbolic, Junhyung thought, nodding to himself, though he wasn't sure on what the picture meant.

"Here," Junhyung said when he stopped right in front of the red-haired disc jockey. He handed the copy of the novel, causing the other to smile... and frown a moment after he read the short summary of the book.

"You haven't even read this?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. "This one is quite famous, I think."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm not," answered Hyunseung, opening the plastic wrap. "It looks interesting, that's why. Say, why don’t you sit there and read this first?” He pointed at the empty chair at the corner of the backyard and gave the thick book back to the other. “It’s about time that you start reading again.”

Junhyung rolled his eyes. “I didn’t drive all the way here and go through your tight security ,” he said, taking the book back. “But fine, if you insist.” He had taken a step to the place the DJ had pointed when he felt Hyunseung’s fingers gripping his wrist. He turned his head. “What?”

“Jokes, man,” the red-haired man said, chuckling. “But my last sentence is serious. Read a book, for goodness sake. Especially when the book is made of your boyfriend’s hard work and energy.”

“Paper and ink,” Junhyung pointed out. “Literally. And his boyfriend's nags about getting sleep.”

“Right.” Hyunseung shot a glance towards the slightly younger man. He awkwardly diverted his eyes to the crowd in front of him. People were scattered around the place, and the red-haired suspected that some of them even wandered around his house like lost puppies. He heaved a small sigh, causing Junhyung to tilt his head in confusion. “Anyway, I have a crowd to take care of,” Hyunseung said, trying to break the silence between them. “Give that DJ a song request there.” He pointed at a blonde man, who flashed the two of them, a small smile before remixing songs again. “And there’s the bar and our bartender.” His finger moved to the bar, pointing at the busy bartender.

Junhyung was not unfamiliar with the usual Hyunseung-party-layout. He knew how the red-haired would arrange his party, for he had attended almost all of them for already three years. "Right, because this is my first time to your party," he said sarcastically, receiving a punch on his shoulder from the disc jockey. "Anyway," he continued, "Why aren't you the DJ for tonight?"

"I'm the host," Hyunseung pointed out, shrugging. "Oh well, go on. Have fun." He pushed his friend closer to the pool, almost making him fall into the clear water. Junhyung held on the cold metal of the small ladder just before his leather shoes touch the water. He stared at his own reflection for a moment before turning back to give Hyunseung a punch, but he was already gone. Dongwoon's book was still on his grip, untouched by the water. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Bastard," he said loudly, aiming for Hyunseung, but that guy was already nowhere in sight. As a result, his friends (which Junhyung recognized as none other than strangers) gave the well-dressed man a weird stare, but seemed to have shrugged it off a second later, probably assuming that the man was drunk. He awkwardly avoided eye contact and walked to the bar for a bottle of vodka.

The bartender, whom Junhyung did not recognize, walked towards him and gave him a smile. "Welcome," said the brunette man, the smile still plastered on his face. "Would you like a drink?"

The party animal knew that he was in the mood for vodka, but he did not know what should he ask the bartender to mix for him. "I..." he started, but did not say anything for almost half a minute after. His mouth, however, was slightly agape. "Bloody Mary would be nice," he said, shrugging. The bartender nodded slightly and dashed to the bottles of alcohols and syrups.

"The name's Kikwang, by the way," the bartender said, introducing himself. Junhyung did not say anything and only stared at him. His thumb and pointer unconsciously flipped through the first page of the novel he was holding. Only realizing it after his finger ran through the edge of the paper, giving him a paper cut, his focus went to his scratched index finger to the writings on the page. He gave the bartender, Kikwang, a glance before reading - actually reading his boyfriend's work for the first time.

It was a very short prologue, or maybe epilogue at the beginning of the story, he noticed, barely giving out anything about the story. However, like its title, it had something in it: an imagery or something - Junhyung barely paid attention in his English class when he was still a student. His eyes scanned each word. Soon, he was intrigued.

Invisible Barrier; written by Son Dongwoon.

Prologue

Some people, as I have noticed, have different views on this thing called love. Ask them what does love mean, and you will get tons of answers. They could go from a long essay or just a simple metaphorical sentence about this simple word. It is something humans could not figure out until now. Sure, the dictionary may summarize it all, but does it describe the emotional roller coaster during its eternal process?

What is love for me?

For me, love is like the coffee I brew every morning: deceiving yet addictive. The sweet scent of coffee attracts us, tempting us to put our fingers on the handle and drink its liquid. It is like the "Try me!" tag on children's toys, if you ask me. And so we do; we take the white cup and carry it closer to our lips. The smoke hits our face, and we could feel the heat of the brewed coffee. Our bottom lips touch the cup's edge and begin sipping the hot liquid slowly. Bitterness: the second thing our taste buds register after heat. We stop for a while, and let the clusters of bulbous nerve endings engulf the taste of the coffee. Then the next thing we know, we want more.

And that's when we fall deeper and deeper into addiction.

Deeper.

And deeper.