CHAPTER ONE

Do Kyungsoo, known as the Genius Author, was sprawled out on his bed, limbs covered with the blanket as he tried to shield himself from the sunlight.

His laptop was dangerously put on the edge of bed—at the tip of it, and with one nudge from his toe, the laptop was sure to fall. The laptop charger had been thrown to the corner of the room, lumped together with dirty laundry, random books, take-out boxes, and several questionable-looking objects.

This was the Genius Author in reality.

It probably started a few months ago—Kyungsoo didn’t bother to remember—when he had come back home one day and thought about how wonderful the world in his novel was.

And then the realization hit him.

What use was the fictional world when he was always locked in his room, only relying on his imagination to create a tiny spark in his life? Why would the real world be so cruel as to not give him the kind of excitement he felt in the world he created?

He had started feeling down, then; he wanted something tangible, not just clouds of thoughts hovering on his mind. Not just something that he could only envision, yet was totally out of reach.

Perhaps, Kyungsoo just wanted his own hideaway.

“Kyungsoo?” Somebody knocked on the door for a few times and he suppressed the sound by blocking it with his pillow. “I know you’re there,” the person said gently, yet there was an underlying tone of irritation. “Listen, Kyungsoo, I’m not asking for the manuscript, okay? I just wanna check up on you.”

Kyungsoo grunted and got up. He turned the knob and was greeted by the sight of Bae Joohyun, his best friend — and also editor.

Joohyun sauntered past him and pinched her nose in an instant as she took in the sight of his room. She scrunched her nose while shaking her head. “This doesn’t seem like you.”

Kyungsoo made an effort to pick up the dirty clothes laying on the couch to give her some space. “It’s my day off,” he replied while shoving the clothes into a bucket.

“How odd is it that your day off has been occurring since a few months ago?” Joohyun tapped her phone screen before she slid it across the table—her breath hitched when she saw that the back of her phone got smeared by sauce—and crossed her arms. “The hype for your next novel has intensified. People are demanding the publishing house to release it faster.” She bit her lips, her eyes scrutinizing the room. “But at this rate, you will never finish a novel, I guess.”

He glimpsed at the screen of her phone. “I’m going to complete it soon.”

“I’m sorry to say this but I don’t think that you’ll be able to produce anything with high quality in your current condition.” Joohyun raised a hand in the air when she saw Kyungsoo looking like he was about to snarl. “Don’t get me wrong; I believe in your ability to write good novels but as brilliant as you are with your writing, you’re still a mere human. This unhealthy environment is surely going to take a toll on you.”

Kyungsoo reluctantly took Joohyun’s phone and read the article. He massaged the sides of his head when he was finished.

“Take a break,” Joohyun said. “Go for a long walk outside, attend a book club meeting, party with your friends—anything,” she suggested. “You cannot expect anything good to come to your mind when you’re stuck here.”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking at Joohyun’s perfectly manicured nails. “There’s nothing outside that interests me.”

“That sounds like something that an aloof genius would say,” she commented. “You can’t be so sure when you haven’t been going out for—like, three years? Four?” She inhaled deeply. “Do something that requires you to be outside.”

“But I have to write—“

“How many words have you written so far?” she inquired. Kyungsoo sighed. “See?”

“I’m trying.”

“Oh, now you don’t need to.” She got up and gathered his laptop, phone and tablet. Kyungsoo’s eyes reflected horror as he watched her stuffing everything into the eco-friendly bag she had found in his room. “There’s nothing holding you back anymore,” she announced as she slung the strap of the bag over her shoulder as if it was a handbag.

“I need them!”

“You don’t need them for the mean time,” she retorted. “What you need right now is a breath of fresh air.”

“What if people call me?”

Joohyun thought for a while before she wrapped her slim fingers around his phone which had been conveniently put on the table and took out the SIM card. She handed it to Kyungsoo, her lips stretched into a wide smile. “You may use the SIM card and buy a new phone—actually, that sounds like a good reason to venture out to the city! You may use all the time in the world to find an old-fashioned phone—with keypads and all—while enjoying your little adventure.”

She pressed the card onto Kyungsoo’s palm and grabbed his hand. “I put my faith in you; you’re a wonderful author, Kyungsoo, and you know it—everybody acknowledges you.”

Kyungsoo thought that Joohyun must’ve lost her mind to think th