The sky remains dark for three days following Yixing’s and Junmyeon’s visit. Rain falls in intervals of heavy and slow, stopping every now and then for an hour or so. During that time the models and their manager return to work as if nothing has happened.

It’s not a surprise. Kai and Sehun fight and make up quite often, and Luhan has never been the type to hold a grudge against a friend. He couldn’t be angry at someone doing the one thing he wanted more than anything else to do.

On the fourth day the rain stops for more than a few hours, but the clouds, dark and angry, remain shrouding the city barring it of any natural light.

By nightfall the blazing neon lights of the city replaces the missing moon. Luhan finds himself in the more subdue District One after a revision of schedules. He's exiting his entertainment agency when he catches sight of a familiar figure amongst the many strangers heading to start their night.

Luhan rushes forward towards the person walking quickly down the street and when he finally catches up he grabs the male’s arm and grins brightly. “Kim Minseok,” he breathes out. “You walk surprisingly fast.”

Minseok turns around, eyes lighting up with surprise as he stares at Luhan before breathing out his own greeting of hello. The older male has on a knit hat that matches his scarf and gloves, alongside a heavy coat. He’s nearly completely covered from head to toe, and Luhan feels a sense of accomplishment at still being able to identify him in a crowd of people.

“Where are you going,” Luhan asks tilting his head slightly as he pushes his cold hands into the pocket of his coat. Someone pushes harshly into him and Luhan stumbles a few steps forward, moving closer to Minseok in the process.

“Home,” Minseok answers, voice muffled by the scarf over his mouth and nose.

“What District do you live in,” Luhan asks next. He could possibly be prying, but he’s curious and he’s sure that asking about someone’s district is common small talk. He never really interacted with people outside of District One and Two and most people usually announced their district like they were announcing their name.

Minseok’s eyes drop at the question, and that has Luhan wondering if maybe asking about someone’s district was improper etiquette, maybe he was crossing the line of friendly and interested, and entering the territory of creepy stalker. “Eight,” Minseok mumbles so softly that Luhan has to strain to hear him.

“Eight,” Luhan repeats just to make sure. When Minseok nods, Luhan frowns. “How are you going to get there,” he asks, the small frown remains on his lips as he watches Minseok with concerned eyes. “It must cost a fortune.”

“I take the subway,” Minseok answers. Luhan can easily sense that the boy is uncomfortable divulging into his meager background and Luhan can tell that it’s in part due to the fact that everyone knows that his life is shimmery and glamourous.

“The subway,” Luhan says, he does his best to not sound as alarmed as he truly feels and he thinks he’s doing a good job because despite the shame glimmering in Minseok’s brown eyes, he’s not nearly as tense as he was when he stated where he lived. “Isn’t that unsafe Minseok? I was told only Imperfects took the subway.”

“That’s just a rumor they feed to people with drivers,” Minseok says his tone teasing. “Everyone from District Seven to Nine takes the subway if they don’t have cars.”

“You don’t have a car,” Luhan asks. If he doesn’t have a car than that can be quickly remedied. After all working at one of the largest entertainment industries in the country had its perks for all of its workers.

“I don’t have a license,” Minseok retorts.

“Oh,” Luhan says. “Do you want to get coffee with me? I know a place in District Two near my apartment and I can drive you home afterwards. It’ll be cheaper than taking a taxi or using the subway.” Luhan can see the way Minseok’s eyes widen in surprise and even though he can’t see the boy’s lips, he’s more than sure he’s frowning as he tries to find a way to nicely reject Luhan’s offer. “You don’t have to look for a nice way to say no. I won’t hold it against you.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Minseok explains softly. “I just don’t want you going out of your way. It’s late.”

“It’s only ten,” Luhan replies. “And if anything, it being late and all, it’s more of a reason for me to take you home.” He doesn’t realize the innuendo until after it leaves his mouth. A shy smile grace his lips as he tries to play coy while Minseok’s demeanor shifts completely. The hesitance and discomfort slips from his face as his eyes light up with unmasked amusement.

“Fine,” Minseok breathes out. “Take me home.” Luhan freezes, his gaze heavy on Minseok’s scarf. He’d wished the cloth wrapped snuggly around the boy’s neck and face was pushed down just a bit so that he could see his lips. That cocky teasing smile Minseok tended to give to Luhan whenever he picked up on the man’s obvious interest, had become something that Luhan enjoyed seeing.

“Okay,” Luhan says a moment later, grabbing Minseok’s soft gloved hand in his own and hailing a taxi.

****

In the coffee shop near Luhan’s home, Minseok settles in a seat beside the large store window overlooking the main street. The layers of his winter clothing hangs off the back of his seat as he gazes out of the window. Luhan’s gives their orders, two regular coffees and a slice of strawberry shortcake he thought looked particularly nice.

The coffee shop is nearly completely empty, save for the androids, a man sitting near the counter, and a young woman staring intently at her cellphone. It’s quiet, save for the low lull of instrumental music. The drinks and cake are placed on the counter and Luhan struggles to balance the things without spilling them.

“For the coffee enthusiast,” Luhan says placing Minseok’s drink in front of him. He places the cake in between them and takes a seat cross from the older boy. “Made 100% accurate, but still lacking one special ingredient.”

“If you say love, I’m leaving and ignoring you for now on,” Minseok teases. Now that Minseok’s face is completely uncovered, Luhan can see the slight crooked grin that crosses the boy’s lips which matches the mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“I was going to say the human touch, but loves sounds so much better” Luhan replies playing along, his own smile crossing his lips.

Minseok sends him a playful glare before relaxing his features and taking a sip of his drink. “Do you live here alone,” Minseok asks.

Luhan had just used one of the small forks on the plate to take a bite of out of the cake, only he finds himself looking at Minseok in mild surprise. “In District Two,” Luhan clarifies.

“Yeah,” Minseok says. “I live with my parents in our district.”

“You’re an only child,” Luhan asks causing Minseok to nod. “I am too. I live alone in my apartment, but Kyungsoo also has a place in this district.”

“Do Kyungsoo,” Minseok says, “what’s his secret? Everyone seems pretty intimidated by him.”

“His family is really well off,” Luhan answers, “His mother works at this nation’s largest university as a professor, and his father is, well we’re supposed to say he works for them, but he’s more like one of the heads.”

“Who or what is them,” Minseok asks, tilting his head in confusion.

“The CNS,” Luhan answers. “Kyungsoo’s pretty harmless though, but people tend to fear him due to his parents’ power.”

“Or he just seems harmless because you’ve known him so long,” Minseok says.

“I guess,” Luhan muses. He takes one more bite of the cake before attempting to subtly push it closer to Minseok. “I have a question.”

“Ask away,” Minseok replies, his gaze is focused on the cake slice and if he thinks Luhan’s actions are strange he doesn’t show any hint of it. Instead the boy grabs his own fork and takes a bite.

“Why did you decide to become President Kim’s secretary,” Luhan asks. “I’m sure there were a ton of other jobs out there were you wouldn’t need to face verbal abuse on a day-by-day basis.”

“Don’t you know,” Minseok says, voice soft as he cleans his lips of whipped cream. Luhan’s eyebrows quirk in confusion and Minseok sits up and leans forward conspiringly. Luhan knows he’s not serious, but he leans forward anyway to hear Minseok’s secret. “Nessen’s home to the top entertainment acts,” he stage whispers. Minseok’s breath is warm against Luhan’s ear, and has the boy shivering as if he’s outside in the cold instead of the heated coffee shop.

It’s embarrassing to say the least, being so affected by their close distance and the way Minseok whispers in his ear, but it’s not just Luhan’s attraction having him behave in such a way. President Kim’s rule about who he was allowed to bring home had made him hungry for every touch and brush of affection he could possibly get.

“You wanted to meet celebrities,” Luhan asks in a hushed tone.

Minseok takes a quick glance towards the coffee shop’s counter as if the androids working were listening in and judging their conversation. “Aimee Tran is my mother’s favorite singer. She’s the one that gave me the mission to infiltrate Nessen and get her an autograph.”

Luhan laughs as he sits back in his seat, the sound deafening in the near empty shop, and he almost feels bad for interrupting the rather peaceful ambiance of the place. “Honestly,” he says when the laughter starts to subside. “Why Nessen?”

Minseoks shrugs a bit, “The pay is great, and when it comes to hiring, President Kim’s pretty laxed about the whole thing.”

“He likes people with no experience, so he can whip them into what he wants,” Luhan says.  He then wrinkles his nose in disdain. “Why are we talking about President Kim? Ask me something else?”

 “Okay…hmm… what do you do for fun?”

“What an easy question,” Luhan teases. “I’m sure you know.”

“I’ve heard the rumors,” Minseok admits, his coffee has chilled to a point where it’s easy to drink without being too cold or too hot.

“Or you’ve read the tabloids,” Luhan adds. “I party at clubs, really high-scale clubs in District Three.”

“And sleep,” Minseok asks. “If that’s all you do, it sounds pretty boring.”

“Well,” Luhan says. “The other things I do are even more boring. I’m not a really interesting person.”

“If you weren’t a really interesting person, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you,” Minseok tells him. “We don’t have to talk about that though. Why did you get cake if you weren’t going to eat it?”

“Because you seem like the type to like sweets,” Luhan says. “I think it’s nice,” he muses, “sitting inside places like this in the middle of the night, eating sweets and talking while everyone else is sleeping.”

“You’re nocturnal,” Minseok says.

“What does that mean,” Luhan asks tilting his head in confusion. His lips move as he silently repeats the word, slowly letting it seep into his memory.

“Nocturnal,” Minseok asks his voice softer this time around.  He fidgets restlessly in his seat, as he thinks of what to say while Luhan stares on patiently. “Uh well that means, that you do things at night. Most people are productive during the day, but nocturnal people are more productive and awake during the night.”

“That sounds about right,” Luhan says nodding. “It sounds a lot more interesting than all the other things I’ve called myself.”

****

They leave the coffee shop once the cake’s done, their coffees are finished and conversations hit a staggering point. “You’re not taking me home,” Minseok says, eyes straying to the largest skyscraper near District Two which displayed the Capital’s time. “It’s too late.”

“Let me pay for your taxi then,” Luhan suggests, when Minseok turns to look at him in question he gives a small smile. “For keeping you out so late, I should be the one paying your fare to return home.”

“I thought you’d put up more of a protest to be honest,” Minseok admits, but he doesn’t sound disappointed.

“In normal circumstances I would invite you back to my house since it’s so late, but I’m not technically allowed to have just anyone over.”

“Well I guess that’s good to know,” Minseok says, puffing his cheeks just the tiniest bit before giving Luhan a small smile. “I probably would have rejected the offer anyway.”

Luhan pays the taxi cab driver using his card, the cost from District Two to Eight is still pretty steep, but it doesn’t really bother Luhan. He steps aside once his card’s returned and he’s said goodbye to Minseok. Like a child, Luhan watches the car drive off while waving till it’s out of sight.

There he was in the middle of the street, midnight approaching fast, subtly rejected, alone, and cold, yet a large grin covered 1/3 of his face. He heads towards his apartment when the cold begins to make his fingers stiff. Internally, he’s laughing at himself. He’d become beguiled by Kim Minseok extremely fast. Not in his usual way, Minseok was slowly charming his way into Luhan’s heart with his gummy smiles and hidden wit.

Luhan’s never been one to really pursue a person before. Yeah he’d been the first to express his interest numerous of times, but there was never a pursuit on his part. All his past lovers had easily reciprocated his feelings with little to no persuasion. Luhan knew that Minseok was different, he would more than likely be the one doing most of the work if he were to pursue anything with Minseok.

He stops thinking then about the shorter male, deciding that he’d continue with what he’d been doing so far. He didn’t really want to be too aggressive in his pursuit for the boy’s affections, since there was a part of him that still wasn’t sure how much of what he felt for Minseok was attraction.

»Thank you all for telling me what you wanted me to do with this story, like I promised I'll continue to update. The update was supposed to be last weekend but I decided to rewrite it instead of just editing it. I use this map and district description I made as a reference so I don't screw up the little details like who lives where and what district holds what. I made a personal blog post with a terrible drawing of how the city is kind of supposed to look like and what's where and if you'd like to see it for your own personal reference tell me and I'll make the post public and link it in the fanfic feed section.«