Luhan isn’t usually a moody person on a normal day. But today isn’t a normal day.

No, today, Luhan is a ticking time bomb, mere seconds away from losing his mind.

It seems as if everything is going against him. Why? He doesn’t exactly know, but he does know that today just isn’t his day. At this point, he is about ready to just call it quits, go home, and cry in his pity corner. He’s tired, and if he has to deal with another flirtatious employee, he may or may not get himself arrested.

For what has to be the umpteenth time that day, Luhan releases a loud sigh, slumping even farther into the mountain of pillows decorating one of the two sofas in his office.

“Can you please quit your whining? It’s cramping my thought process.”

Across from him sits the spunky, young man that is his PA and closest friend. He wears an expression of clear agitation that makes Luhan want to laugh because he looks like a pissed kitten, but he refrains for the sake of not getting clawed.

“I think I have every right to ‘whine’ right now, Tao,” he responds and indignantly pouts as if to prove his case.

Tao gives his own long and drawn out sigh as he slaps the file of papers he’d been organizing onto the coffee table between them.

He is not amused.

“You’re being overdramatic, Han.”

“Me? Being overdramatic? Have you not noticed how painfully awful today even was?”

And they both know he’s not exactly exaggerating. It all started with a multi-hour-long meeting with the highly esteemed Kim Enterprise that ended in no business contract, something they had been working on for weeks -- weeks full of senseless arguments and headaches (it’s a miracle they even finished it on time). As if that rejection wasn’t bad enough, he spilled a mug of piping hot freshly brewed coffee on his work laptop when the coming thunderstorm decided to remind everyone of its presence. He was then shoved into the most boring two hours of his life –- also known as another meeting where he was kicked awake three times by his PA -- and slapped shortly thereafter by a livid applicant that obviously hadn’t gotten the job. It was follow by a refreshing cup of orange juice to the face and his favorite suit being ruined. Then, it started pouring, and Luhan, at his wits’ end, belated realized that he’d have to walk in it  without a single of protection to cover his head (of all days to want to exercise).

Not to mention the normal buttload of paperwork crowding his desk that he hasn’t gotten a chance to even begin doing.

“Okay, I admit that there have been better days, but look on the bright side of things.”

“What bright side? It’s pouring outside. The only bright thing to look at is the lighting.”

“Stop being an for a second; you know what I meant. Look, your closet if full of those stupidly expensive suits; you’re as rich as rich gets, so the laptop isn’t a problem; that lady was honestly just ing to the max for no reason, since it isn’t your fault she wasn’t hired; and there are literally hundreds of successful businesses out there, Han. Just because Kim Enterprise is too stuck-up to accept your proposal doesn’t mean you can sit around and mope about it.”

It's Luhan turn to not be amused. While Tao is right about everything -- as per usual, it seems like --, couldn’t he just go along with it this once? It’s been a while since he’s even had the time to sit around and throw himself a pity party, let alone receive any sort affection from someone that wasn’t the stuffed bear sitting on his bed.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You know I’m right,” Tao snaps, picking up his file again.

“That’s why I’m giving you the look,” Luhan retorts, turning his nose up and staring out at the soggy city beyond the towering windows taking up the wall behind his desk.

“You know what? Why don’t you just go home? I don’t think you’ll do any real work at this point, and you’re being a distraction to me the one time I actually decide to do my job. So what if you are technically my boss? I’m commanding you to take a free day off. Kris and I can handle everything here, so go be depressed at home. I’ll even make an effort to stop by with some take-out after Kris gets off of work.”

"Gee, thanks. You make me feel so appreciated. And as much as I would love to let you run the place for a few hours, I don’t particularly trust you or Kris in my office together when I'm not in it. The last time I left him in charge, my office was trashed, and I honestly do not want to buy new sofas for a third time because of your inability to clean up after yourselves no matter how many digits I have in my bank account." 

"Oh, come on. For all you know, that could have been coconut juice we spilled or a bit of white chocolate I dropped.”

"Tao, everyone who has ever lived knows you despise anything coconut, and the only chocolate you will ever let near your mouth is milk or dark, both of which are brown to black and wouldn’t leave white stains on a black sofa. Your argument is invalid." 

At this, Tao huffs, because Luhan just outsmarted him. Luhan isn't supposed to do that; outsmarting people is his job and his job alone. 

"Will you just accept the day off I'm offering you?" 

"You don't need to offer me a day off. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the owner of this company is me." 

"And despite that, the last time you actually didn’t do any work for a day was exactly three weeks ago." Tao pauses to glare at Luhan when he rolls his eyes. "What if I say we’ll keep the office clean?" 

Luhan realizes that him trying to argue is going to ultimately get him nowhere. Honestly, he wasn’t even planning on saying ‘no’ in the first place. Even if his sofa cushions did end up being the opposite of their original color, he wants to go home and sleep the rest of the day away. Tao is right in the sense that he needed to treat himself a little better.

"Whatever you say. Fool around with Kris all you want. I know that there's no point in saying this because the only job you two will actually get done is something that shall not be named, but do try to put a dent in the papers sitting on your desk, okay? And if you do anything, take it to the bathroom. I was serious about the sofas." 

"Will do, boss. Now, shoo. I'm sure you wouldn't like to witness any of the PG-13 scenes about to take place, unless you enjoy watching stuff like that." 

"What you two do together surpasses PG-13. If a 13 year-old were to watch your version of 'PG-13', I'd question their parents' sanity. And I don't particularly get off on watching the things you like to do with Kris." 

Tao simply scoffs at the comment, stomping to his desk situated just outside of his boss's office to call up his boyfriend, who is just a few doors down the hall. 

Luhan laughs a bit at the younger's childish behavior, before stuffing his empty briefcase with a few stacks of important papers he really needs to review since he can guarantee his agenda will consist of nothing but eating, sleeping, and failing at video games. He could at least try to get something done -– he doubts he’ll even look at them -- to make up for today’s lack of output.

With a quick snap of his briefcase’s clasps, he high-tails it out of the he heavy wooden doors barricading his cozy office from the outside world and down to the lobby of the Lu Corp. building. 

He smiles. A few more steps, and he would be done with business matters for the rest of the day.

Except, he could only stare out at the fountain on the other side of the glass front of the skyscraper as it was currently raining literal cats and dogs like it had been for the last hour.

Throwing a temper tantrum suddenly seems awfully appealing. How could he forget that he hadn’t brought his car, let alone an umbrella? Why had he not watched the news about the impending storm and discovered that today would be a bad day to walk to work? In reality, he could always take the elevator back up to his office and borrow Tao’s since Kris always drives the two of them, but he’d rather not. There was no telling how far those two rabbits had progressed in the past ten minutes, and he greatly preferred the option of braving the sting of the precipitation than witnessing them do the dirty deed.

Using his briefcase as a sad excuse for an umbrella, he reluctantly leaves the warmth of the building and dashes into the rain, getting soaked to the bone only seconds after.

It takes him a block or two of running and whatever breath left in his lungs until he finds a suitable café to hide in. Every other one he passed had been filled to the brim with people also seeking shelter from the harsh weather, but this one was nearly empty save for a few stragglers.

The inside, turns out, is as cozy as it looks, the heater probably on full blast. It smells strongly of coffee and freshly baked pastries, both fragrances that Luhan fancies, and has a modern yet casual setting and design, the furniture consisting of couches stocked with fluffy pillows, a bookshelf filled with novels and magazines that lines one of the walls, and a few booths and tables that have already been taken by obvious rain escapees and couples on dates. 

Luhan walks up to the counter after examining everything the place had to offer to order something warm. Though the heater is doing a fine job, he's still freezing because of his soaked clothes weighed down with water he couldn’t squeeze out, and his wet hair is nowhere near dry. He not really looking to add "getting sick" to his long list of things that made him tick today.

He stands in his spot for much longer than he was expecting for a near-empty café and is starting to get slightly peeved, when a man a few centimeters shorter than him emerges from the kitchen, scrambling to get to the waiting Luhan.

And from then on, Luhan lets himself get lost in a daydream.

He's never been so… entranced by another person before. The man before him is absolutely adorable, with deep brown eyes covered by pale monolids, pink lips that held a tint of red and looked too soft to belong to a human being, and round, chubby cheeks that steal Luhan's attention. This man -– or boy; he certainly looked like a boy -– must be an angel.

Or maybe he just happened to be extremely good-looking, but let him believe his fantasy before it’s spoiled.

He had been so caught up in gawking at the apparent angel in front of him that he didn't even notice the man trying to get his attention until a small, fair-skinned hand appears in his line of sight and its fingers begin snapping in his face.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you okay? Do you need help?" the stranger says.

His voice only brings Luhan back into his dazed stupor. It’s like freshly made honey with a dash of husk thrown in, and the way his cheeks, the main attraction of his face, puff out when he pouts makes the goggling man want to reach over the counter and pinch them as hard as he could, like his grandma would do to him whenever he paid her a visit. He is about ready to melt into the floor by now. They wouldn’t mind mopping up an infatuated Luhan, would they?

"Do you need help deciding on what you'd like to order? I can recommend some favorites of mine, if you’re having issues choosing." 

Luhan is once again snapped back to reality by the voice that brought his mind to the land of rainbows and unicorns and cute cashiers. He stares down at the short man, opening his mouth to respond only to regret his decision.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a baozi?" he blurts out.

And he figures that this is one of the endless list of reasons why he is still single.

"Excuse me?" 

"You know, your cheeks. They're kind of chubby, like a baozi." 

Luhan, stop talking.

"Thank you for noticing? Though I can’t say I know what baozi is."

Oh, but Luhan doesn’t stop there. He’s just told him he looks like a freaking steamed bun. He couldn’t possibly just end at that.

"They kind of look like a chipmunk’s, too, you know, when it has a bunch of nuts in its mouth.”

Luhan, seriously, shut up. 

"I'm not sure if that's an insult or a complement." 

"If calling you cute is an insult in your book, then I apologize." 

Luhan, just order and sit.

"No need to apologize to anyone but the people behind you. They look like they're getting pretty frustrated."

Lo and behold, there is in fact a growing line of disgruntled customers waiting to get their drinks in order to fold out on one of the many couches and soak in the cafe's warm air. Turning back, he takes a quick glance at the items on the menu board and the display case beside him and decides on a random combination that sounds most appealing.

"Just give me a cappuccino and a slice of lemon cake. Sorry for holding up the line. I didn't exactly plan on making a bunch of people angry with me today," he can almost feel his toes curling in embarrassment as he hands the beautiful stranger his card. To say he is a CEO, his way with words is tragic, just like his zero social skills. 

"It's fine. Your cappuccino and slice of cake will be right out. Take a seat anywhere you'd like." 

He opts to follow the man's orders and chooses a secluded booth in a corner of the cafe. As soon as he’s sat on the comfy cushions and alone, his head falls to the table with a rather loud thump. Really? Chipmunks and baozi. When was it even a good idea to compare a stranger you may or may not already have a crush on to chipmunks and baozi? Could his brain not think of something more appropriate, like maybe meadows and butterflies? It was cheesy, but it’s much better than rodents and food.

"Do you have a staring problem?" 

His head snaps up at the sound of the familiar, melodic voice. Sure enough, when he looks up, the baozi boy is standing right next to his table balancing a tray with his order in one hand while the other handles a few dirtied cups.

"As far as I know, my only problems are the paperwork sitting on my desk at work and the two man-children currently screwing around in my office." 

“Quite literally,” Luhan voices in his mind. 

"Really? Huh. You've done nothing but stare since you walked in, not that I really mind. It's actually kind of cute. You look like a deer caught in headlights." 

Completely unaware of the blush working up the man’s neck nor the way he folds in on himself, Luhan realizes that he has in fact done nothing but stare since he stepped foot into the quaint little cafe. He'd stood in the middle of the room like the doofus he was to look at the decor, ogled at the boy behind the counter for a decent five minutes, and had turned his "deer caught in headlights" gaze to the window beside his booth mere seconds after dragging himself out of his self pity. At least they are even now, right?

"Maybe I do have a problem. And sorry, again, for holding up that line. I didn't mean to." 

"I told you that it’s fine. I’ve had much worse customer to deal with than a man with a staring problem holding up the line."

He thanks him silently for not mentioning his blundering attempt to make conversation.

"Seriously? It gets worse than me?" 

"Very. There have been fighting couples, loud friend groups, people who get angry because their coffee’s taking too long to brew and they’ve got to get to work, and those picky people who just love making your day that much worse. Did you know I even got hot coffee thrown on me once? So yes, you are, by a landslide, not at all that bad.”

"Honestly, I think all that sounds a lot better than dealing with the people that work at my company; they don’t respect me half the time, and I’m the CEO. Even if it ruins another suit, at least I'd get my daily doses of coffee by working here. I don’t even like orange juice." 

The boy laughs at Luhan like he's just told the joke of the century, and Luhan has to admit that it is absolutely adorable, even if it does earn them a few curious stares. He also notices that he has yet to comment on his job at all, which is a rarity whenever he briefly mentions it.

“I beg to differ, but you should be careful. I might actually take you up on that offer." 

"Please, do. It’s tiring to sit and sign papers, and I need another excuse to skip out on it."

"Then give me your number, and I’ll give you a call whenever we could use the help," 

"Really? Are workers allowed to just hire random people?" 

"If we don't do it, our boss never would. He's too kindhearted to make people work for him, and he's easily fooled. Kyungsoo and I had to nearly beg him to hire us. I don't know why he even opened a cafe instead of the bookstore he was going for. He barely has the heart or will to command his dog to sit. That and he's a bit of an airhead. He's pretty forgetful at times and would have probably been forced to close this place down if it wasn't for his boyfriend."

"He sounds like as much of a piece of work as my PA." 

"He is, but he's a sweetheart and a good friend. But are you seriously thinking of working here? I didn't mean it to be an actual offering." 

Luhan ponders over the proposal. There are some fairly decent benefits of helping out, such as the baozi boy getting his number and vice versa, getting to see him every other day without seeming like a stalker, and being able to clear his mind of anything Lu Corp. related. It sounds like a win-win deal to him, as long as his father doesn't find out about it. 

Without saying a word, Luhan takes a napkin from the napkin dispenser sitting on the table and pulls his favorite pen out of the pocket of his blazer. He scribbles his number as legibly as possible onto its delicate, white surface and places it on the still full tray sitting in the man's hand. 

"I've already thought it through, and I accept. Do expect to see me more often." 

"Wait, you're actually agreeing to do this?" 

"Of course I am. I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”

"Then, I guess I really can't argue at this point, huh? You should expect a call in a few hours tops."

"Then, I shall patiently await your call. For now, I've got to get going. I have sleep and paperwork waiting for me at home." 

"But you didn't even get to have what you ordered." 

"Don't worry about it. I'll be back plenty of other times to order the same thing, so enjoy it on your break or something. I'll see you soon."

He quickly collects his briefcase and high-tails it out of the cafe. He’s lucky that the pounding rain has simmered into a slight drizzle, considering his exit was completely unplanned. He was just too nervous sitting under the man’s gaze, and at the same time, he was too excited to sit and civilly drink a cup of coffee. Besides that, he’d ended on a good note and wants to stay on a good note; he’s sure that if he lingered any longer, he would eventually find another way to embarrass himself, and he’d rather not.

With a small smile on his lips and a skip in his step, he makes his journey home, a certain chipmunk-cheeked, baozi-looking man never leaving the confines of his mind. 

Until he realizes he didn’t even ask for a name. That’s when he starts screaming.