The morning air whipped against your face as you sprinted across the abandoned parking lot; you were running as fast as could because your life depended on it. Really, it did. The sun was barely out so the sky was a dark bluish color that reminded you of the ocean. Your shoes slapped against the asphalt as you jumped into a draining ditch and crouched down, trying to be as still as a statue. Pretty soon you could hear the loud, frustrated shouts and voices of your pursuers; you held your breath as they stopped on the ledge above you. You could barely make out what they were saying but you knew that they were looking for you. You tried to control your harsh breathing but your heart was beating erratically against your chest. You waited. You waited for what seemed like several hours. But eventually the footsteps faded away, headed in another direction, along with the rough scratchy voices.

You exhaled and watched as your hot breath formed clouds of smoke-like vapor against the cold morning air. Your heart beat slowed down and you realized your hands were clammy from how long you had been clenching your fists in nervousness. You slumped up against the wall and checked your watch. 20 minutes. According to your watch you had to wait twenty more minutes. The cold air seemed to permeate through your thin jacket and sink right into your skin and bone; you shivered violently and brought your knees up to your chest.

                It had been four days, since that night you had saved that boy’s life and revealed your meeting with Kai to Sehun. Four days since you had caught Sehun and Eunseo kissing. Four days and seven jobs; you were exhausted. You and Sehun had not talked about Kai and the files ever since that night. You knew, however, that one of you would have to bring it up eventually, before the deadline came.

                The loud rumbling sound of a motorcycle jerked you out of your thoughts and you checked your watch again to see that only fifteen minutes had passed. Sehun is early. Unless… But they couldn’t have discovered you right? They had walked away and you were pretty sure they had not spotted you crouching in the ditch. You wearily poked your head out over the ledge and sighed with relief as you recognized the figure, it was definitely Sehun. You climbed up from your hiding place and limped over to the motorcycle; Sehun had just parked it and was slipping off his helmet.

                “you’re early” you said, in an almost monotone.

                “Yeah, I was afraid you would be cold just sitting here” he said, while tossing you the helmet that was attached to the back seat of the motorcycle.

                “Way to stick to procedures comrade” you said, jokingly.

                “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He said dismissively. You were about to slide the helmet over your head when Sehun suddenly gave you a worried look, his eyes focused in on a spot above your eyebrow. Curious, you reached up and probed that area with your finger. Immediately you flinched, and hissed, apparently you had acquired a nasty cut, from fighting those people. When you took your hand away, crimson droplets covered your fingers and rolled down to your wrist.

                “Aish Hanbyul, you got hurt again?” Sehun climbed off the motorcycle and retrieved a first aid kit, motioning you to sit on the motorcycle. You walked over and sat down, he stood in front of you;  you had to look up to see his face.

                “I can do this by myself you know.” You said this while looking up at him, he wore an intense, serious expression as he applied an ointment to the cut.

                “Just let me do it, it’s easier…” he said and you flinched again as another painful sting seared across your forehead.

                “you know it’s okay to rely on other people once in a while, Hanbyul.” Sehun said this in a matter-of-fact tone and you realized that he was right. Usually you got annoyed when Sehun was all protective and acted like you were a weak girl, but right now you just felt happy and safe that he was here. You smiled an continued to watch Sehun's face as he plastered the bandage onto your wound.

                “Why are you smiling at me all weirdly?”

                “I am not”

                “Well, not anymore. But you were!”

                “Oh shut up, it was probably just your imagination”

                “Wanna bet?”

                “Okay, okay, whatever you win…let’s just go, this place is creeping me out”

“Oh my god, I really need a coffee right now” Key said loudly as he yawned. You and Sehun had just reported back and were now relaxing in the common room. Suddenly, Key turned his feline eyes on you and smiled.

“Seriously, Key? Can’t you just go get it by yourself? It’s cold out there. And I’m tired” You whined. The institute was surprisingly warm and you were snuggled on the couch with a pillow against your chest. You definitely did not want to move.

“Please Hanbyul? If you go, I’ll make sure your next job is so easy that you could do it with your eyes closed” Key said, while pouting at you. You sighed and looked up at the ceiling while puffing out your cheeks, considering his offer. Hmmm, maybe Taesoo will be there today.

“Aghh fine” You said while you grabbed your jacket and wallet and walked out the door.

“Remember, Black coffee. No sugar or cream!”

By the time you got to the coffee shop your hands were frozen and you couldn’t feel your feet anymore. Your scarf did little to protect you from the cold wind and your cheeks were a pale pink. You stiffly pulled open the door and almost moaned with pleasure as the heat inside surrounded you. The delicious smell of coffee and cream filled your nostrils as you made your way over to the counter. The coffee shop was small, cozy, and cute. The walls were painted a soft brown color and little tables lined the walls. There was a single employee there, working at the counter with his back turned towards you. It wasn’t Taesoo.

             “Excuse me? Is Kim Taesoo working today?” you asked the guy. He turned around and you almost gasped out loud. IT’S HIM. THE BEAUTIFUL UNNAMED HOT GUY. He looked at you casually for a moment, but your heart stuttered when his eyes suddenly widened in recognition.

              “It’s you!” The both of you half-shouted in unison. You couldn’t believe it. It was actually him. You never thought you would ever see him again. His name tag read ‘Luhan’.

             “Hanbyul, right?” he asked, and you nodded, he remembered my name! oh my god, oh my god. You wanted to jump up and down in joy but felt like that would be too creepy. “Sorry I never introduced myself, I’m Luhan” he said while holding out his hand. You shake it.

             “Wow, I didn’t know you worked here, my brother works here too!” you said.

             “Really? Taesoo’s your brother?” he said while laughing, “Oh yeah, I do remember him mentioning that he had a sister, but he never said that she was so pretty” He said, blushing a little. And you giggled, feeling your cheeks heat up as well. You couldn’t believe that he was flirting with you.

             “Thank you, haha” you said and you looked down. An awkward silence followed. You were freaking out, you didn’t know what to say. See, this was another bad thing about not having a normal life and not being able to experience high school like any other teenager, you never learned how to flirt with boys. Suddenly you remembered why you were there in the first place.

             “uhmm, oh right! Can I get a black coffee with no sugar or cream?”

             “Oh right, sorry I should’ve asked for your order…plain black coffee coming right up” he said. When he finished making it he handed you the cup. And you took your wallet out to pay. You look outside and notice that it was snowing and the winds seemed to be blowing at 70 miles per hour.

               “” you muttered.

               “You probably shouldn’t go out in that weather” Luhan said as he looked up from the cash register, handing you back the change, your hands accidently brush and you swear an electric current seemed to have passed through.

                “I’m going to get into so much trouble” you groaned. Luhan looked at you sympathetically. He opened his mouth and then paused for a minute, as if rethinking what he was going to say.

                “well…I get off my shift in about” he glanced at the clock “10 minutes, maybe we could grab a drink…well I would grab a drink since you already have one…and maybe hang here until the weather clears up?” he suggested.

                “Okay, sounds good to me.” You find a table and sit there waiting for Luhan. You stare at the black coffee that is already turning cold and worry that Key will throw a -fit when you get back. Oh well.

Luhan joined you a couple moments later. His employee uniform was off. He was wearing a plaid shirt and blue jeans. His hair was brown and messily swept to the side. You didn’t think it was possible to be so good looking without even trying.

                       The two of you began to talk and connected almost instantly. You felt like you had known him for a long time and you could just stay in that coffee shop talking to him forever. You learn that Luhan was actually a transfer student from China and was currently in his second year of college. He was only working in the coffee shop so he could pay his school tuition. You were surprised he was basically fluent in Korean; you would’ve never guessed that he was Chinese. You learned that he was majoring in the arts, specifically sculpting, painting, and music and in his free time he liked to read books and write his own songs. You tried to keep the conversation about him and tried to steer it away from yourself. But eventually you told him that your parents got ‘divorced’ and that you lived with your mom and your brother. You told him that you were graduating from high school this year and that you wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor. This wasn’t entirely false, it was more like you were telling him what you wanted your life to be like if it were normal, since you obviously couldn’t tell him the truth.

By the time you exited the coffee shop you felt all warm and giddy inside despite the cold weather. Luhan had asked for your number and he had told you that he wanted to see you again sometime soon. Luhan wants to go on a date with me. Luhan wants to go on a date with me. This kept repeating in your head as you basically skipped all the way back to the institute, not even thinking about how you were going to explain why you did not have Key’s coffee.

author's note: wew. this chapter was really difficult to write for some reason and i'm still not satisfied with it.  haha so yea, sorry for the crappy chapter; the next one will be better i promise!!!

comments are loved <3