Chapter 1

Day 1, Morning-Evening

*

The rain created a symphony of loud thumps against the large window in your bedroom.

The start of the New Year was ushered in with an unexpected thunderstorm. 

Although, it wasn’t the pitter patter of rain that stirred you from your deep sleep.

The soft ring of your phone and the bright light from the large screen was the first sound you heard on the quiet Monday morning. 

It was typical though, the first sounds of the morning and the last sounds of the night, a familiar tune that you had long grown accustom to.

You reach for the device and hear someone clearing his throat in disapproval across the room, you grunt at him flashing your phone towards him as if signalling him to stop. 

A small chuckle erupts from his lips, he walks towards you and reaches over, hands extending over towards the hand currently holding the device.

“We both know you don’t want to answer that. I came to wake you up but I see it has already been done.”

He presses the bright red button on the screen and sets the phone back on the nightstand. 

You hear him move from his bed to squat in front of you. His hand reaches over and rests his palm on the crown of your head.

You sigh softly and swipe his hand away, reaching for your phone. 

“As usual Park, you can never tell what exactly I want." 

You pull the sheets off yourself shivering at the sudden chill that comes in contact with your thin frame as you strut towards the bathroom. 

As you close the door to the bathroom you hear him chuckle once again and leave the room. 

Colourless.

It would be an accurate description for your daily life.

The white walls which ran throughout your penthouse apartment, decorated with shades of grey and black. 

Stainless steel appliances filled the usually empty kitchen. 

The only colour brought in by the tall, ceiling to floor glass doors lining throughout the entire house, showing a peppering of the city’s various lights. 

Not a single flower or photograph.

Dull and colourless.

It wasn’t that you enjoyed the clinical place, you were almost never there and found no real need for anything to make it feel like a ‘home.' 

You heard a few light taps against the thick wooden door, a low, voice sounds on the other side of it. 

“Hey, you better hurry up or you’ll be late. Someone called again.” 

You grunted a response, not fully ready to deal with anyone yet. 

Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol. 22 years old. He owned enough apartments in Seoul to make a village, last night he chose to stay in the one across the hall from yours. To say Park Chanyeol was your boyfriend would be ridiculous, a lover would be out of place or just wrong in general, your friend would be right in some ways. But none of those quite described the relationship you both shared.

You had first met at a very young age, both growing up in affluent families and stuck in the same stuffy education and dull etiquette classes. 

He was the closest thing you had to a friend ever since you were born, and as you grew older, Chanyeol being two years older than you the time for him to start school came. Before you.

Being used to getting your way you whined and complained and cried until your Grandfather, finally enrolled you in school two years ahead of time.

You were slower than most of the other children but Chanyeol was always there. Tutoring you, patiently explaining every formula, every grammar rule that you needed help in.

As members of families that were the role models of others, the two of you were constantly ignored, teased and mocked. That was the only way other children could feel a sense of superiority, although fully knowing it did not belong to them.

But you two didn't care, you just needed each other. Someone close, to love and to protect.

Down your yellow brick road, social relations became far more complex, and through all of it Chanyeol became your most trusted person.

It was only after a hot summers day of your Senior year, when some of your classmates, jealous of your wealth, family reputation and intellectual upbringing, decided to play a prank. A prank that would scar your family name making your worth less then what you were born with, that the tag of friendship no longer applied.

Chanyeol willingly gave up a shred of his own dignity to protect you from the impending danger that you were dense to.

After that incident, it was agreed by Chanyeol's family that after his graduation it would be best for him to stay out of the country for a period of time. In order for people to forget about his offence and to welcome him back in the future as a new person.

Chanyeol toured the world, moving from country to country monitoring the progress of his family’s companies throughout the globe. Yet somehow, he always seemed to find his way back into your monocolored apartment. Making sure that you were safe, well-off and comfortable.

The two of you no longer viewed your relationship as simply friendship, but something far more precious. You two were comrades, fighting together through a world without sincere bonds, a world of connections.

It was the twisted relationship you both needed, but both found yourself constantly questioning it, everything about it seemed to be always connected to business, money, power. You yearned more intimacy, more exclusivness, more emotion, more of something you both just couldn’t provide for the other in a world that is constantly testing the limits of how controversal any piece of news could be. 

You made your way downstairs, dressed in a fitted pencil skirt, black pumps and light gray blouse.

You’re greeted by the strong aroma of coffee and the sight of Chanyeol, fitted white button down and a black suit tailored to accent his strapping figure, finished off with a thin tie.

"Where are you off to?” You ask as you take the coffee from Chanyeol’s hands graciously and sip the bitter taste.

You never understood why your grandfather always downed the terrible tasting drink thirstily every morning when you were younger, but as the years passed you found it to become the sole fuel to your body. 

“America,” He says and pauses to take a sip “Should I pick up something from Tiffany’s for you this time ?" 

He smiles and glances down to you, the Chanel rose pendent he had bought you from his last business trip hangs loosely around your neck.

Chanyeol toured the world, and never failed to bring you a piece of it from every corner he covered. 

"Should I drive you to the airport?” You offer

He shakes his head “I’ll call for a driver. The CEO can’t be late now can she?" 

You reach for your Michael Kors bag set on the table, also bought by Chanyeol, and move past the taller male to your front door. 

He reaches over to pull you in a tight hug, his hand places a rounded object into your grip and he smiles as he steps back. 

You look down to see a black umbrella through your fingers.

"Can’t have the CEO catching a cold either." 

You smile slightly and pull your coat out of the hallway closet.

"Thanks Park.” You say with your back turned and the door slightly ajar. 

*

The day was typical, you entered the company and was immediately bombarded with the panicked interrogation of your secretary. 

“I’m sorry if I woke you this morning?” He says, more so questions

“It’s fine Xiumin,” You sigh “I apologize for not returning your call, but considering you left no message, I trust the matter wasn’t of striking importance.”

"No,” He pauses “A simple miscommunication, I apologize again for unnecessarily alarming you.”

You sift through the neat stack of paperwork and folders set on your table. 

Your office mirrored your apartment, continuing the stream of monotone, white walls with a black strip of paint down the center. A typical office style desk and computer laid in front of a window that gave way to a breathtaking city view. Finally, in the center of the room placed a small glass coffee table in between four white sofas and dark espresso wood floors on all of which sat.

Your eyes scan the room and catch sight of a single red daisy placed in the black vase on the table.

“No need,” You say eyeing the pop of color, “It is my grandfather’s company, no problems are too small.”

Xiumin follows your eyes to the flower.

“I thought you’d enjoy a bit of color…” His voice trails off as he notices the line forming on your lips “But I’ll remove it right away." 

You look back down to your work and nod, signaling him to take his exit.

You were young, only two years out of college, and having sped your way through your schooling, piling course after course, you had finished your degree in a remarkable three years, earning an approving smile from your grandfather.

The first year after college was the year of testing, as your grandfather convinced the company’s Board of Directors into a trial period for you to prove your worth. 

It was a surprise to the whole company when you not only pushed through the year, tackling any obstacles thrown your way and solving problems with flying colors but was also announced as the company’s next CEO at your grandfather’s retirement party. 

You were determined to continue to make your grandfather, your closest family proud. To prove to the still skeptical employees that you were in fact capable of running this multi-billion dollar company. And that you were most definitely not a spoiled uneducated brat riding on the coattails of her family. 

The continuous downfall of rain battered the windows of your office, and you somewhat liked the sound. 

It was a little past 10 and you had just finished reviewing the semi-annual budget report, the rain provided a nice sound to fill the silence. 

As you made your way out of the office, down the glass cased elevator and onto the unchanging drive home, you wondered how much longer you would continue the same monotonous way of life.

You then remember, with a heavy sigh of irritation, that in Chanyeol’s latest stay over, you had become alarmingly low on milk and other essentials.

You were thankful the road was empty that late at night as you jut across the three lanes and into the far right line to turn into a nearby grocery store.

The rain was relentless, continuously beating down on the cars driving by and a few unfortunate pedestrians running into the 24 hour mart. 

You always considered yourself a quick shopper, whether it be for groceries or clothing, you could walk inside a store and out in less than half an hour later with either everything you needed or nothing at all. 

With a yearly salary of $9.6 Million, monthly income of $800K, daily wages calculating to be a little over $33 thousand. You made over $40 a minute, to you time literally was money, and neither time nor money could be wasted. 

Two plastic bags in tow you made a quick exit out of the store and back towards you car, the parking lot was empty save a few cars you assumed belonged to the store’s workers. As you rounded to the back of your car you saw a curled up body, back pressed against your car.

You sighed, and opened the trunk, placing the bags carefully inside before closing it and kneeling down to the passed out stranger.

Tight denim pants hugged his thighs, a loose low t-shirt hung from his shoulders, and a black leather jacket his only protection from the harsh rain and wind. 

You moved closer, your black umbrella attempting to shelter him as well, his hair was damp and clung to his forehead, his lips were a slight shade of purple and his skin was pale from color. 

"Kid,” You place your hand on his shoulder and give it a firm shake “Kid you need to move away from my car." 

His lips parted slightly and you heard a soft wheezing sound in his deep breaths. 

The smell of alcohol nowhere near him, you assumed his sudden blackout in the middle of this storm was caused by some other illicit drug students were experimenting with. 

Once again a sigh left your lips as you tugged his heavy arm over your shoulder and maneuvered the unconscious boy into the warmth of your car. With a push of a button the black car roared to life and you begin the slow drive back to your apartment.

You weren’t quite sure what made you take stranger home, there was the risk he could be a murderer, or thief, or worse. But something about the way he childishly curled into the heated leather seat and his arms wrapped around his rather unprotected body, made him seem so innocent and trustworthy. 

*

That Night.

*

"You’re up?" 

A heavy yawn sounds through the room and you look towards the boy groggily rubbing his eyes and trying to take in the unfamiliar surroundings.

He glances down under the plush white comforter and sees his bare state, clad in only a left behind pair of Chanyeol’s underwear.

You notice his calm attitude and assume he had some experience in waking up in new and foreign settings. 

"Your clothes are in the dryer,” He looks up towards you, still silent

“Don’t worry, I changed you under the blankets, not much into kids.” You laugh sarcastically while pulling the tea in your hands close to your lips

“I’m not a kid.” He says finally, this throat sounding dry and raw

“Oh?” You raise an eyebrow “Because passing out behind someone’s car can only be the actions of a kid." 

You take a few strides towards the edge of the bed, your hand stretches out and holds a thin white object towards his lips, he jerks back in a flustered movement.

"A thermometer.” You say holding up the small device “You had a fever last time I checked." 

He purses his lips tightly together, you roll your eyes and place the thermometer back onto the nightstand. 

"Such a child.” You mumble under your breath as you bring your hand to his forehead.

Before he has time to pull back or react your hand pushes past his brown bangs and presses against the skin. It was damp and slightly oily and burning to the touch.

“You definitely have a fever.” You frown “I made porridge, you can have some and then take the medicine on the nightstand and sleep it off." 

He blinks towards you a few times and you leave the room only to return seconds later with a tray of porridge and a warm glass of water.

"Here.” You set the white tray on his lap and stare at him as if it was obvious as to what he was to do next “Eat.”

He continues to stare at you in silence.

“Listen kid, I’m tired, can you just eat and get some sleep so I can go and rest in my room in peace.”

He finally takes the spoon and inches away from his lips says “I’m not a kid." 

After the first spoonful the corners of his mouth turn up slightly revealing a blaring smile, his eyes forming two crescents on his face. 

"This is delicious!” He continues to eat hungrily “Are you a chef or something?”

You laugh slightly, and this time it wasn’t sarcastically, a genuine flutter of happiness fills your laughter at his excited tone. 

“Hardly,” You take the now empty bowl from his lap and place two small pills in his hand

“Where did you learn how to cook like this?” He asks in the same excited tone.

You notice the color start to fall back on his skin, he was tanned, his cheeks lightly dusted in red.

“My grandfather always said home cooking reminded him of my grandmother, so I learned how to cook well. He was never much into going out to eat." 

He nods "And your parents?" 

You pause and look to the strangers eyes, slightly taken aback by his directness "They went missing away when I was young. After staying MIA for a few years most people wrote them of as dead.”

His lips make a small 'O’ shape but no sound is made.

You glance up to clock hanging on the bedroom wall reading 12:45. 

“Well, k-” You begin but is quickly shut down by his hand held towards your face.

“Sehun, Oh Sehun.” He says “I’m not a 'kid.’ I’m 21, that nickname is slightly humiliating.” He pouts. 

Pouts. 

“Well, Sehun.” You turn the light off, the dim moonlight peaking through the clouds illuminating the room “I’ll probably be off to work early in the morning, you can let yourself out after you wake up. There’s leftover porridge in the fridge you can warm up if you’re hungry before you leave." 

"Wait!” He calls “You’re not going to leave me with your number for repayment or anything?” He asks you skeptically

You place your hand on the silver doorknob “Good night Sehun.” You say before closing the door.

Tiredness fills your body as you trudge up the stairs towards your bedroom. 

Oh Sehun, the name rolls of your tongue as your slip out of your tight work attire. Your body pressed against the white sheets you were wrapped up in only a few hours ago. 

As your eyes begin to close lightly, a childish smile and cherry dusted cheeks of the handsome stranger fills the usual blackness of your sleep. 

*

a/n: Annyeonghaseyo Chinguya ! Thank You for reading the first Chapter I hope you like it. If you have any questions or would like to suggest a new character (Kpop Idol) please comment them below. Comments give me life ;) Helps me know that my writing is doing good, you know ? I apologise for any Grammatical Mistakes ! Thank You !