Jung Taek Woon knew since his birth that he wasn’t normal, so he limited his interactions with the world; rarely he spoke or interacted with the outside world. However, those who knew the family Jung noticed that he didn’t go to school, despite how educated, smart, and filled with knowledge he was. The family except his parents didn’t know why such beautiful girl wouldn’t go to school.

That was the issue, he was a girl by the morning, but by ten pm, everything changes and he is back as a man until ten in the morning. “Why do you think you are boy turning into a girl in the morning and not a girl turning into a boy in the night?”

“I know myself, mom.” He said at the age of eight. “I feel like a man.” They didn’t argue with that, and allowed Taek Woon to be whoever he wanted to be as long as it was a secret between them. However, it was risky to get him in school, as they didn’t know what would happen if his falter happened in the middle of the day and couldn’t risk that.

He learned everything on his own, supervised by his parents, and learned to be full aware of his body’s condition which allowed him to get two jobs, one by the morning and one by night.

In the morning job, he went for Taek Woonie, a tall silent and shy girl who smiles to the costumers only and ends her job before nine pm. By the night however, he went by Leo, the best Barista the nightclub had, and the ice prince of the whole area at night. He learned some tricks, to protect himself from gangs trying to get him in, and managed his life properly at night.

“Excuse me?” His eyes shot up from the counter of the coffee shop, his second’s job, to look at three kids who seemed holding books. His eyes went to the man who spoke earlier and who for once made his heart go crazy. “Can we order some coffee, and cookies? We have exams.”

He shyly smiled. “Sure.” He nodded to her, and smiled her widely enough to make her see his dimples. He blinked a little noticing them walking to a very isolated table.

“That is the best looking guy I ever met.” The barista with him exclaimed, blushed madly.  He ignored her and made the orders. They were so into deep discussion when he stood in front of them.

“It goes like this, Hyung!” One of them hissed. “If you don’t solve this x, your y will have a way different result.” Taek Woon peaked on the paper as he rested the cups in front of the men and placed the cookies in the middle of the table.

“I think your Hyung reasoning is correct too. If you solve it like this, you will have to solve x in the same time as a y and it will save time.” Taek Woon explained as he snapped the pen from the man’s hand. “However, be careful with this minus; most people get issues with minus.” The men nodded, noticing that Taek Woon solved it the way their friend tried. “See? X is 26 and y is 32.”

“That is amazing how fast you solved it, Noona.” The man who ordered exclaimed before offering his paper. “Can you check my paper too?” Taek Woon looked around before leaning to read.

“You did well.” Taek Woon smiled to the man who beamed nodding.

“Thank you. I’m Hong Bin. My Hyung is Won Shik, and this is my friend Sang Hyuk.” Taek Woon bowed to them with a soft smile.

“I’m Taek Woon, call me if you need anything.” He said politely.

“How come you are so good with numbers?” Won Shik asked him, eyeing him curiously.

“My dad is the CEO of a small engineering company and I used to work with him when I was a kid.” Taek Woon explained. “In other words, I was taught to be an heir and I had to learn to be good at everything, especially mathematics and physics.” They nodded understanding and he smiled to them.

“Why didn’t you work with him now?” Sang Hyuk was the one to ask and Hong Bin was about to scold his friends but Taek Woon answered anyway.

“I wanted to be independent for a while, and dad doesn’t need his heir now, right? So, I’m enjoying my freedom while I can.” Taek Woon explained with his smile falling. “I have a job I like, I can pay my own bills, and I am free to do what I want with my money, for now.”

“I can understand your feelings.” Hong Bin spoke softly, holding Taek Woon’s hand delicately. “You are right on pursuing your own goals.” Taek Woon blushed madly but still smiled to him.

“If you excuse me, I have another order.” Taek Woon said bowing to them and Hong Bin let him go. He went on his daily routine, before noticing that they were gone by her shift’s end.

“Someone got the eyes for the beautiful man.” The barista but he ignored her. “He left his phone number with the tips, by the way.” Taek Woon nearly looked toward the barista but didn’t when a paper was offered to him. It had a phone number with two missing and an equation. He fast solved it, and wrote it in his phone. He fast went home, to eat then shower and get ready for his transformation.

It became painful with time, as he felt like his bones were crushed nowadays, however he never complained. It was part of him after all. By time he got his male form back, Taek Woon was exhausted but was luckily his job started at eleven pm, so he slept a little, and woke up by his mother who told him it was time for him to go to work.

They didn’t stop him from working and even encouraged him. “It will help you get some social skills, and probably find a friend.” Taek Woon doubted that. Who will befriend a freak like him? He thought of that as he looked at Hong Bin’s phone number. He wanted to delete it but couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

The night job was noisy like usual, the nightclub was packed and he enjoyed the night as he had some funny costumers. It happened that many had a bet to make him laugh but as a man, he rarely smile and never laugh. So they mostly lose the bet, and Taek Woon gets extra tips for it. At five am, Taek Woon was sleepily walking home when he noticed a familiar face being dragged to a car.

“Let me go!” Taek Woon didn’t think much before running to hold the kid by the waist.

“What are you doing to my boyfriend?” Taek Woon pulled Hong Bin closer, hiding the man’s face in his shoulder. “I told you that I am not interested in this, why do you keep pestering me?”

“Chill, Leo. We didn’t know he belonged to you.” The man who tried to pull Hong Bin said with a smile. “We just wanted to have fun, and he looked so yummy.”

Taek Woon stepped back, pulling Hong Bin with him. “You know that your boss is my regular and I have his favors, so don’t piss me off or I’ll complain to him.” Taek Woon smirked. “We both know that he hates hearing that his gang was doing instead of their job.”

The man chuckled but still backed off. “Damn, you got me in this.” The man closed the door and drove away while Leo pulled Hong Bin along to a nearby park.

“You are ok now.” Hong Bin looked up then down.

“I’m so sorry for making you go through this.” Hong Bin’s voice wavered. “I didn’t know it will end up like this.”

“What were you doing in the area anyway?” Taek Woon offered him a tissue to wipe the sweat off.

“I slept over a cousin’s place. He lives around there.” Hong Bin admitted. “He insisted on helping me out in English and I thought it was safe by the early morning.”

“It is never safe around here, unless you work in the nightclub and got some Dons’ favors.” Taek Woon held the man, glancing at his watch. “Let me take you home. They may be spying over you now or something.” Hong Bin nodded and allowed Taek Woon to pull him closer and hold him. They walked to the bus stop, got in, and out of it by Hong Bin’s stop. “Let us walk some blocks away then back here, just to check if they follow us.”

Hong Bin nodded and walked with Taek Woon until they reached a 24/7 open store. Taek Woon got in and bought cold coffee drinks, while Hong Bin rushed to the water, buying and paying for it before drinking it with shaken hands. Taek Woon stepped out of the store alone. “Go out by the back door, and run to your home.” Taek Woon smiled. “I’ll make sure they followed me.”

He walked out and acted like he was looking for someone, he kept walking ahead for a while before turning in a corner and running to a bus stop. He picked his phone and thought of calling Hong Bin but how can he explain having his phone number? He cursed before resting his head on the window.