Luhan led me to a large garage, fit with a plethora of vehicles.

He chose a somewhat inconspicuous Toyota Camry, motioning for me to sit in the back seat.

“Does Xiumin usually act so…” I began to say, unsure how to finish off the question.

“Off-putting?” Luhan finished for me as he started up the car.

“Yeah.” I said, surprised by how perfectly he summed up my feelings.

“Only when he has to deal with new people. Particularly beautiful women. That’s just how he is when he’s shy.”

“That’s what that was? Shyness?” I asked, taking in my surroundings as a large garage door opened up for us to reveal an ordinary city scape.

“Don’t worry. It’s just a front. It’ll pass soon enough.” Luhan said, entering into a main road.

I looked back towards the garage, realizing that from here, it looked like any ordinary garage door of a car repair shop. It was night time outside, and the city bustled in its usual manner, completely unaware of the life-changing decision I had made just minutes ago.

“So they say you’re a med major.” Luhan said, making eye contact with me through the rear view mirror.

“Yeah.”

“Nice.” Luhan grinned. “It’s about time we got a real doctor around here. Yixing can only MacGyver so much before we end up with a guy with a broom for a leg.”

“Well actually, I’m pre-med.” I corrected.

“What’s the difference?” 

“The difference is, I don't know anything. I just know how to tell the difference between a T-cell and a B-cell, and which reagents to use to make a carboxylic acid into a ketone.”

There was a long moment of silence as Luhan tried to decipher what I had just said. “Right.”

It seemed Luhan found my science talk off-putting, because for the rest of the car ride, Luhan remained silent.

He finally spoke again once we reached a large apartment complex. “This is where you will be living. It’s nice right?”

I nodded along as we passed the other cars which lined the indoor parking garage, each belonging to the other tenants of the building, and each easily surpassing the price of a large house.

“You’ll be on floor 12.” He pressed the button on the elevator for me.

“What room number?” 

“There is no room number. The whole floor belongs to you.” Luhan responded, apparently amused by my simple mindedness.

When the elevator doors opened, it led to a small 4x4 room, which had a single door directly on the opposite side, fit with some sort of security system. Luhan placed his thumb on a small pad, waiting for the small click of the door unlocking.

“Welcome home.” Luhan said, holding the door open for me.

“Holy .” I muttered as my eyes took in the stark white of the modernly decorated home.

In front of me lay a large living room with insanely high ceilings, fit with a couch set and a large flat-screen TV. On my right, was an open kitchen, with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances which all looked relatively unused. The left side had a couple doors which led to an office, a gym, a guest room, and a laundry room, each meticulously cleaned and organized. In the farthest corner of the room, there was a deconstructed spiral staircase which led to the master bedroom, which was where I assumed I would be sleeping.

“Go on up and take a shower. Xiumin should be home in a few hours, so before then, you should take some time to get comfortable. There’s some things I need to get for Xiumin here, but I’ll leave you as soon as I’m done.” Luhan said, slipping into the office.

I did as told, making my way up the staircase and into the bedroom, taking extra precaution to lock the door behind me. The interior reminded me of a hotel room. Besides the king-sized bed and two nightstands, there was nothing else in the room. The bed sheets were white and pressed so perfectly that I was scared to mess it up. I began to strip, laying out my dirty clothes on the bed so I could change back into when I was done. I stepped into the master bathroom, my jaw dropping as I laid eyes on the massive walk in shower, fit with a rainfall-showerhead the size of my TV at home. I rummaged through the doors of the bathroom, hoping to find a new towel, but instead, all I found was a toilet and two massive walk-in closets, one of which was completely empty. After about fifteen minutes of searching, I finally realized that behind one of the mirrors over the vanity, lay a large shelved compartment which held a variety of toiletries, cleaning supplies, and of course, fresh towels.

I took my time cleaning myself, sniffing through every bottle of product lying around. Xiumin’s shampoo in particular suited my palate, the scent coming off musky, but with a slight kick of something sweet. After drying myself off, I found myself going through Xiumin’s closet. I was impressed by how organized it was, but given the condition of the rest of the house, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I assumed he had hired some sort of cleaning staff to come in weekly. The shirts were sorted by color and sleeve-length, and the pants all hung in the same direction. His style seemed simple and clean, with most of his items being solid in color. Even his underwear was folded neatly and color coded.

When I finally made it back into the master bedroom to change back into my clothes, an hour had passed, and where I was expecting to find my clothes, I instead found a large red box. My immediate reaction was to check the lock of the bedroom door, but when I looked, it was still locked. I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized that locks probably did little to deter members of the mafia.

I looked back to the red box sitting on the bed, realizing it looked out of place against the stark white of the room. I opened the lid after a few moments of hesitation and let out a heavy sigh once I realized what it was. My fingers ran across the delicate material which lay in the box as I mustered up the courage to throw on the skimpy lingerie. It took me a few minutes to figure out where exactly to put all the excess straps and lace, but eventually I got it situated correctly. I looked myself over in the bathroom mirror, surprised by how much the black lace changed my overall demeanor. I had to admit, this outfit made my s look amazing, and the extra straps hugged me in all the right places. But of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t still insulted by the fact that they forced me into this ridiculous garment in the first place. I cracked the door open, popping my head out to see if Luhan was still here.

“Luhan?”

I was met with no answer, which meant he had long gone. I took another deep breath before I stepped out onto the stairs and back into the living room. I the TV to break the silence, before moving into the kitchen to check for food. I was disappointed by how empty the refrigerator was, forcing me to settle on a banana to qualm my raging tummy. The giant clock above the TV indicated it was fifteen minutes before nine, which meant I hadn’t eaten for ten hours. I plopped myself in front of the TV, hoping that a marathon of F.R.I.E.N.D.S would distract me until Xiumin came home. As time passed, my patience thinned, and I found myself praying for Xiumin to come through that door with food in his hands, despite how terrified I was of actually having to be in a room with him alone. 

Half an hour later, when Xiumin actually arrived, I had nearly passed out from hunger. I immediately jumped up from the couch, my eyes locking on the plastic bag in his left hand.

“Hello.” I forced myself to say as he made eye contact with me.

“Dammit Luhan.” Xiumin muttered under his breath as he took in what I was wearing.

I dropped to the couch, belatedly remembering my attire. A few seconds later, I felt something land on my hunched over body.

“Cover yourself, would you?” He said, as he walked over to the kitchen to put down the food.

I was surprised by the gesture. I slipped on the jacket he had thrown at me, sitting up slightly to watch what he was doing. He rifled through his drawers in search for chopsticks.

“Far left drawer.” I called out to him.

I held my breath, as I realized I had just given away the fact that I had spent the day rifling through all of Xiumin’s belongings. He threw me a questioning gaze, surprised when I actually turned out to be right. So my hunch was correct. He never used his kitchen.

He motioned me over. “You must be hungry.”

Of course you neglectful bastard! I refrained from voicing my thoughts out loud and took a seat beside him on one of his barstools.

“Sorry, I don’t have a dinner table. I’ve never actually had a need for one before today.” Xiumin said as he started to open the boxes of sushi. “Are okay with eating raw fish?”

I nodded. I ing love raw fish.

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