2108, Seoul, Korea

Looking into the mirror, he buttoned the remaining few buttons on his shirt and cuffs before tying his black tie neatly around his neck and finishing off his look with an identical black suit jacket. He smile in contempt, combing back his thick, raven hair until it revealed his forehead and styling it with a little gel. He never liked his bangs covering his vision at work. After several more overviews of his overall appearance, he turned off the lights to his room and left his apartment building.

He was going to have a busy day at work filled with meetings and paperwork, he cringed at the amount of work he had to finish. He let out a tired sigh, to think being the Assistant Director would be an easy job for an eighteen-year-old. He drove past the bustling streets of Seoul as another busy was going to be a long day, he drove towards his favourite coffee shop nearby his office to get a boost of energy.

The familiar jingle of the bell hanging above the door signalled his entrance into the shop as he was immediately greeted by the loud yet kind cashier behind the counter. The male flashed Hakyeon his usual bright smile and waved at him.

“Welcome back to Starlight – Where you’ll taste the stars! How may we tickle your taste buds today, Hyung?” the honey-blonde male greeted, his brown apron- Hakyeon noticed- was on backwards, again.

“Morning Jaehwan. I’ll get the usual.” Hakyeon replied, digging into his pockets to find his credit card.

“One grande-sized Cappuccino to go coming up! Taekwoon Hyung, we got an order!” Jaehwan yelled to the kitchen, typing in Hakyeon’s order before swiping Hakyeon’s card, his hands working with precision like he was a professional.

The man known as Taekwoon walked out of the kitchen, tying his apron neatly across his thin waist before walking towards the worktable where he began to brew Hakyeon’s order in silence. “So how’s work going for you hyung?” Jaehwan asked as he started wiping the row of damp coffee cups that were fresh out of the dishwasher.

“Not so well, Jaehwannie. Other companies have been up my on deals, all wanting to get some shares from our company. They’ve been keeping me up all night with the amount of paperwork to be read through and confirmed.”Hakyeon replied, rubbing his tired eyes as he rested his head on his hand. “Must be tough being an Assistant Director, especially of such a big company. Oh here’s your coffee.” The younger male passed Hakyeon his cup of coffee that was placed on the counter by Taekwoon before he disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Is he alright?” Hakyeon asked.

“Taekwoon hyung has been really tired these few days. Juggling between part time jobs and university. He slept overnight here because he was too tired to walk home.”

“Poor thing.” Hakyeon mused, staring into the kitchen as he imagined the said male to probably be catching up on sleep at the back.

Hakyeon was about to continue his small talk with Jaehwan when the doorbell chimed, signalling the arrival of another customer.

“Hyebin noona! Annyeong! Coming to pick Taekwoon up for class?”Jaehwan asked.

“Yup. He’s at the back isn’t he?” the stranger replied, the voice of a girl.

With the nod of Jaehwan’s head, the girl walked towards the kitchen, giving a sweet smile to the honey-blonde male before disappearing to the back, oblivious to Hakyeon’s presence. Hakyeon stole a glance at the said girl and a pair of big, bright hazel brown eyes came into view before they disappeared behind double doors. He swore his heart stopped for a moment as those eyes were the most beautiful pair he had seen and they seemed familiar but he couldn’t seem to remember where he had seen them before.

He felt a shot of curiosity spiral in his chest as he needed to know who was the owner of those eyes.

“Jaehwan-ah, what did you say her name was again?”

*****

“LEE HONGBIN, WHERE THE DID YOU PUT MY PHONE?” her shrilled scream resonated in the huge double-storey bungle, so loud that the neighbours probably had heard her. When there was no reply, she huffed angrily, pushing her bangs away from her face before stomping over to the said male’s room which was only two rooms away.

Knocking on the door to her brother’s room, she heard a muffled ‘go away’ before the silence continued on but she knew what he was doing in his room. Her little dip brother was probably texting his best friend after his own phone died again.

“Hongbin, I swear if you’re using my phone to talk to Wonshik again I will skin you alive when I get in this room!” she yelled over the wooden door, her knocking a constant and steady thrum that would’ve driven anyone crazy. On other days she would’ve let it slide since she knew her brother needed the company that Wonshik could give that no one could ever since their mother passed away but she seriously needed it since she had to leave to the hospital in ten minutes. “Hongbin, I need my phone. I have to go to work. If I’m late even once, my internship will be declined.” She continued to plead her brother through the door, glancing at her watch nervously as the minute hand was only five lines away from the number twelve and the hour hand almost at eight.

.

“Hongb-“

The door clicked open and the silhouette of a tall, lean male stepped out of the darkness of the room. The male handed her phone which felt warm back into her hand, looking down at her with tired eyes. “Sorry. Wonshik’s parents were fighting again and he needed someone to distract him from the noise.” The male apologised, his voice hoarse and squeaky due to the lack of speech and the puberty.

She stared at her brother who had grown almost two inches taller than her in the past month, puberty made his face more define, more strong and more like their mother. His big, brown eyes that resembled not only their mother’s but also her own, his deep dimples that were only revealed through smiles that he rarely gave nowadays and his cheekbones which enhanced his handsome features. He was very handsome, growing into a fine young man which made her motherly instincts kick in and her nervousness disappeared, a worried expression replaced her face.

”Are you sure you don’t want to take Wonshik’s problem to more professional help? His parents have been fighting a lot lately. It’s not good for both him and Sanghyuk.” She replied him, staring at the grim expression on his face as he ran a rough hand through his bed head before letting out a sigh of tiredness.<