The pilot lands the helicopter and Haru proceeds to the sea mansion's main entrance with Sehun. It was her first time being in a helicopter.

The estate's built on the cliffs, overlooking the ocean, but the roar of the waves below and around her could as well be silenced in comparison to her pulse. This place is huge, she thought. She gripped his hand tight, feeling utterly nervous.

His guards have no doubt swept the area for the usual and have cleared off to give him privacy. It also helps that he owns the entire stretch of land all the way to the curved turquoise bay. It's just a perk of being the son of one of the most powerful and privately wealthy person.

The salt of the ocean clings everywhere. In this mansion, the furniture are monstrously big and large portrait of landscapes hanging randomly at the wall. Below them, the jagged cliffs grin into the foamy waves, and the crashing grey-turquoise hues are wonderfully calming.

“Baekhyun will be here soon,” Sehun mumbled absently as he moved up to the first flight of stairs taking her bags. “You can take my room. And Baek,” he thinks for a moment, “He'll take the room next to yours.”

She smiled at him worriedly when he catches her eyes. “Something is wrong, isn’t it?”

Sehun dropped the bags and climbed down the stairs, to her, shaking his head. “No.”

She scoffed out a laugh, “I know something is troubling you. I just wished I know how to help you,”

He saw her regretfully, his own heart too heavy to leave her. He wanted to be with her throughout the days but Kai was right. His father’s men might already tailing him as he stood there.

He extended his hand to her. She took it, walking towards him, burying her face at the crook of his neck, while his chin tested on her head, “I’ll fix this, I promise.”

His voice was so quiet she almost missed it, but he's instantly comforted. Sehun didn't understand the concept of lying to make a person feel better, but he did try it anyway.

“You two being together is still totally revolting to me,” a voice sneered. Haru turned to look at Baekhyun, clad in a casual tee and a pair of ripped jeans. His hair looked messy, as if he just woke up; but there is an usual annoyed look on his face. He frowned so hard, lines were creasing on his forehead, as he accessed Haru.

Eyes too small, mouth too small. She looks weird when she wears lipstick, and she also looks weird when she doesn't. She always looks weird. She always looks ugly. Her choice of wardrobe makes her even more so. Who would want to date her? Who would think of her? Who would notice her? Is Sehun that stupid or just simply blind?

“Baek,”

He broke his stare on her and look at Sehun. He was standing at the doorway, his face concerned and worried. Baekhyun wanted to say something snappy, but he decided to swallow it down.

“I trust you,” Sehun said solemnly. Baekhyun scowled a mocking laugh, “Don’t worry. I won’t steal your girl. I find that vase,” he pointed to a giant flower base at the right corner of the hall, “Much more attractive than her,”

Sehun clicked his tongue, “No, not that. My father,” he paused, and his voice turned into an audible whisper, “You knew him. He’ll do whatever it takes to find her. I won’t be able to call everyday. So keep her safe. She’s afraid of thunders. And she doesn’t like-“

“I’ll keep her safe,” Baekhyun said in annoyance cutting him. “I can promise you that.” He shook his head, letting out a huge breath, “I don’t understand why you’re doing this. The things we love, destroys us every time. Love is our greatest weakness. It’s a trick-“

“It’s a gift.” Sehun interjected. “I found mine. And I want to honor and treasure it.”

Baekhyun shut his mouth into a thin line. A person in love is a mad person. Even a pimple is mistaken for a dimple.

Sehun’s eyes lingered on Haru before turning away, his feet and heart felt heavy as lead as he walked away from the mansion.

///

“We'll have to stay together for 5 days, but as long as you don’t talk to me, I think I’ll be fine,” he says curtly without even looking at her. “I don’t like you and I know you don’t like me, so let’s get straight to the point,” he carried his suitcase up the stairs, “I’ll ignore and pretend you don’t exist and I want you to do the same. Breakfast will be served at 9, lunch at 1, and dinner at 8,” he talked, as if he was reading, “But in case if you’re hungry, there’s plenty of food in the refrigerator.”

The instructions were clear and short. Haru nodded wordlessly at him, struggling to carry her suitcase. “This is heavy,” she mumbled to herself. She looked up to ask for Baekhyun’s help, but he disappeared from her sight almost immediately. Seconds later, she heard the sound of door slapping itself shut.

She huffed, and decided to take trips to her room multiple times to shift her things there. It almost impossible to carry it all in one go, unless someone is there to help, but that was already out of the question. “The less I see you, the better,” she said to herself.

**

Haru woke up late the next morning. The huge bed and soft pillows really pulled her into sleep. She rubbed her eyes and noticed the clock shows 10am. She had a quick bath, and went downstairs.

Baekhyun was sitting on chair, scrolling through his phone, not even glancing up to her when she walked out. She hated this, and she wanted to go back to her room but she decided not too at the last minute.

“Do you want me to sit with you?” she asked him, when he popped the burnt bread from the toaster. It looked coal black. He looked at her confusingly, “What?”

He didn’t even know how to toast bread, she thought. “Sehun don’t like to eat alone,” she said, climbing down the stairs, “I can sit with you if you want,”

It was a harmless offer; but it agitated him. He clenched his jaw, his hand gripped the butter knife tightly, “I’m not Sehun.”

If course you’re not, she thought. She realized maybe it is a bad idea to share the same space with him as she turned and ascended back to the stairs.

//

“What do I have to do here?” Sehun asked Mr Han, as he ed his blazer before he took a seat in the dinner room. The room itself was empty, except for a big round table placed at the center.

“Your father insisted that you should take part in meetings from now,” He said, as he laid files on the table, “You'll have chances meeting chairman and some important people,”

“Is this his ploy of distracting me?” Sehun asked mockingly. “Or is he planning on retiring soon?”

Mr Han retrieved his eyes from the files, “It is important for you to learn. You will carry on your father’s legacy.”

“Legacy,” Sehun mumbled.

It’s what passed down from fathers to sons and to their sons.

Sehun wasn’t sure what was passed to his father, but he clearly knows his duty and responsibilities if he were to take over his father’s business. He’s never really thought about that, although he wishes to be a ordinary person with ordinary duties, deep inside he knows that he can never neglect who he is.

“The girl disappeared,” Mr Han said casually. He was flipping through some files, but he was observing every thing in the room, Sehun, included.

“Hmm,”

“How long do you think your father will know that she's hidden in one of his own estates?” He asked. Sehun flinched upon the question, “How do you know?” Sehun’s voice came out as an indistinguishable desperate croak.

“Although I do understand the tactic of hiding her in Japan, I don’t really get the necessity of using that mansion in the first place. It was locked for several years. Reopening it, creates whispers,”

Sehun looked down for a moment, reminiscing something. “My mother loved that place,” he recalled, “And father didn’t bother to go there after my mother left.”

“It won’t be too long till your father knows,” Mr Han advised. “I can’t keep secrets from him too long,”

Sehun turns his head to face the secretary, “Who do you work for?” he asked. “I don’t trust you,” He said skeptically.

Sehun was still the kid he was when Mr Han saw him. A little bit older, a little bit meaner but still the same innocent boy he knew.

Mr Han only smiled to that, “I work for you and your father.” He nodded before turning away, “But trust no-one.” He smiled coyly, “Not even the one you left the girl with,”

//

Wedged between the two beautiful strangers, Baekhyun looks up at the shimmering disco ball above them and smiles contently, genuinely - the first smile of its kind in many days. Playing the babysitter for Sehun’s girlfriend even for a day had been hard on him, and god, Baekhyun had missed this life. And now he is away from that mansion, leaving Haru all alone and him dancing breathlessly in the dark, dark club. It was everything he needed, especially after the exhausting day he'd had.

The music is loud and Baekhyun can feel it vibrating through his body, pounding in his chest, spurring his racing heartbeat and his feet alike. He could really get lost in a beat like this, in a place like this. The crush of the crowd and the heat of so many bodies moving in unison is undeniable, inescapable, but somehow, to him, it feels like he is the only ones in the club. He's only pulled back to reality when a piercing white streak flashed across the glass walls.

It started with a low rumble in the distance. A deep, dark sound slowly crawling closer through the static air, creating a stillness only a storm could bring.

Baekhyun could feel it coming. The blue sky changed and the soft light in the thickening clouds blinks. When the small, seemingly harmless, drops start to dampen the earth he quietly stares at the dark sky. Then he remembered,

She’s afraid of thunders.

The thunder and lightening now seem even a bit heavier, as he plans to ignore it. He stood near the glass wall, looking up at the dark sky and the first strike of light and the accompanying clap that rips through the air. 

“Afraid of thunders? Grow up,” he whispered to himself, his teeth gritted in annoyance.

He turned his heels back to the dance floor. Getting across the dancefloor to the bar looks like an almost insurmountable task. Baekhyun sets his shoulders and braves it anyway.

He sat down the couch with a lot of other girls. His hands trailed up and down on the leg of the girl sitting next to him.

Just as fast, the soft tapping of drops against the window changed into harsh pelting of the glass frame. He saw the pelt of lighting hit the sky once again. He can feel it going to his head almost immediately. Like, it's probably a lot to do with the loud music and crowds and adrenaline, too.

But when he heard the next bolt of thunder, he stood up and ran out.