Prologue

Light filtered through the uneven wooden planks surrounding him. Sungyeol slowly opened his eyes. The dust danced a graciously lazy ballet around him and he ended up hypnotized by the erratic movement of it. How long did he sleep?

The idea of getting out of that place crossed his mind, but he knew he could afford to lay there for another day or two. Important matters could wait: he had eternity to fix the problems anyways.

The light started to dim. Time passed so quickly.

As much as he liked being lazy and doing nothing at all, Sungyeol decided that he would go back home the following day. It would give him time to find a new excuse for his disappearance to serve his dear unimpressionable little brother.

He wondered how Myungsoo was doing. He would surely give him the cold shoulder for disappearing so unexpectedly. He had right to be mad. Sungyeol would be mad if he were in his place. Though, Myungsoo was wise: he surely would have found someone else to get his fix.

Sun was starting to rise again when the noise started. It almost made Sungyeol jump in surprise. He could hear voices and see shadows passing by him. He peeked through the planks and observed as more than a dozen people installed lighting poles, got cameras out of their cases and messily ran from one side to another.

Sungyeol frowned. He came here precisely because the warehouse was deserted and now a crowd was invading the space. He snorted. Humans.

"Hey, could we move that big crate to the side? It would be perfect as an improvised stage to go with the mics." One of the invaders said. He was talking about Sungyeol's box. As if you'll be able to move me.

The men came and tried to push the crate, but it didn't move an inch. They didn't understand why, and they even tried to open it to see what was so heavy inside, but Sungyeol knew better than letting them find him. They aborted their project in less time than they started it.

Sungyeol was starting to get irritated by the aggressing noise and artificial lights. He pondered whether it was a good idea to get out of his box, but he decided to keep low profile for now. He didn't want to deal with all those troubles when he just woke up. At around noon, Sungyeol estimated seen the food odour and the bright light filling from the dirty windows of the warehouse, someone new came in the place.

It made Sungyeol curious, because at that moment, people became a little quieter, as if they were careful with what they were saying.

A man walked on the 'set'. He was wearing a black tux and an assorted round hat with large border. He bowed to another man sitting in front of a screen not far behind a camera. The gesture was polite, but Sungyeol could see that the man in tux was not pleased. He could see him criticise some people before he finally reached a zone where old school microphones were hanging off the ceiling. A moment passed, someone called 'rolling' and then they played the music.

Sungyeol had understood they were filming a music video a while ago. He just didn't know which artist it was. He tried to guess who it was: he was usually good at that game, but since the video was in shooting, there was no way he could know the song already. The voice was ringing a bell, without really being able to pinpoint who it was.

"Sunggyu-ssi, could you look more intently at the camera?"

Sungyeol knew that artist. He personally was fan of westerner rock artists, but that one singer, Sunggyu, was rising in popularity every passing week: of course Sungyeol would have heard about him.

The day was getting old and the singer was slowly getting tired of all the retakes and makeup pauses. Sungyeol spent the afternoon observing the comportment of the young artist. From what he could guess, the singer was known for his constant nagging and obvious disinterest in other people in general. But Sungyeol was not naive. He knew that deep down, Sunggyu was not like that, he could see it in the way he twisted his fingers then the director gave instructions, in the way he sometimes get lost in his thoughts before coming back with a sigh. Sungyeol had the impression that the man was a standing fortress surrounded by tick and strong protective walls. A fortress protecting the most beautiful treasures.

Night had fallen for a few hours already. Sungyeol was still observing the artist. Somehow, he had caught his attention and once his curiosity was solicited, there was no way he could think about anything else.

Before leaving, Sunggyu looked one last time at his shooting set. His eyes traveled from the hanging mics to the drum set and finally, strangely, fell on the old wooden crate on the left side of the space. His gaze tarried on it for a few seconds, as if he was trying to see through it. What he didn't know was that he was starring directly into Sungyeol's eyes, hidden in the darkness.

Sunggyu blinked and left, scratching the back of his head with sleepiness. He left the set and hopped into a white van waiting for him in front of the abandoned building.

He left Sungyeol behind who was trying to suppress a vital and irrational urge.

An urge to bite.