The sands of time continuously run, forever a step ahead of the realm of mortal life. People constantly spend their lives chasing after the abstract concept of blossoming life in a pathetically futile attempt to shed themselves from their past and morph their future into an eternal ‘now’ of youth. Yet, the first drop of rain always falls before one has the chance to fish for an umbrella. In the forever bustling city life where people stumble and run a losing match against the ticking of their watches, the relentless rain continues to pour down. Each drop of mother nature’s tears fall against the cold, harsh concrete foundations of humanity.

Despite the hurried backdrop of human life, there were still a few in the world who lived life at their own pace. They found greater contentment in witnessing the smaller details of nature that evolved over longer periods of time, such as the gradual passing of the clouds. Their gradients of progression did not mirror that of the strict system of the calendar. Rather, matter simply slowed down for them.

Yet, their placid state of mind did not hinder them from adapting to the fast paced modern world, for the basic necessities of survival such as companionship and money were like a thread that was constantly tied around their pinky; ever so constantly pulling them back into the reality structured by social norms.

Sehun was one of the rare few who belonged in this category, preferring to blend into the white noise in the background when it suited him most. Although he was brought up in a prosperous family who ran a successful corporation, the rare precious gift of leisure was still bestowed upon him as he was born as the second youngest son in a family of four. The eldest brother was his shelter from heavy expectations. His older sister was his shield from frequent social gatherings. His younger brother was his invisibility cloak that kept him away from doting attention.

His youthful years were spent mingling with children of similar socioeconomic status at school where he followed the crowd from practicing piano to attending weekend tutor lessons. With as little presence as he already had, his intentional average grades soon completely washed away the remaining colours of his silver spoon status.

Sehun didn’t mind that though. He enjoyed the occasional chats to classmates and bursts of laughter every now and then. The simple pleasures of feeling the cool breeze blow against his face when he sat at the back corner of the classroom was enough to fuel him with satisfaction.

Though occasionally, just as what most children experience in their development, he would get teased by others who were ignorant of his family name. Despite his efforts to remain unseen within a crowd, he was blessed with good genes in the gift of appearance. Sehun had always had a slim figure, with a more slender bone frame. His eyes were by no means large and doll-like, but his black irises were like dark, undisturbed waters drawing in any prey who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the dark abyss. Sehun did not appear particularly feminine, but his figure spoke of elegance with a mysterious hint of delicacy.

Unbeknownst to many, the youth did not particularly enjoy his blessed appearance. It had caused him quite a bit of trouble with admirers in the past, whom he felt were a hassle to reject. It also earned him jealousy from girls and boys who presumably had their crushes’ hearts stolen by Sehun unintentionally.

This phenomenon in his life never seemed to cease. Just like how a boy with a fairly tall athletic stature towered above his desk at this very moment.

“Hey Sehun! I heard you skipped the health examination the other day. Don’t tell me you’re actually a flat chested girl. Come on, don’t be shy now! We all know that the boys would fall head over heels for you if you got yourself a push up bra!”

“I have XY chromosomes. I can prove it to you if you come with me to the bathroom. How about that?”

Perhaps the boy wasn’t expecting Sehun’s plain answers but he felt his aura of intimidation slowly disintegrating. After all, his initial goal had been to anger the other person as to create a scandal for the Oh family in order to save his own father’s business. However, he wasn’t a complete idiot either, and knew when to stop before he crossed a line that he would most likely regret forever.

When Sehun entered adulthood, independence came easily to him. Wanting to steer away from attention, he applied for a job at a smaller scaled company where his resume of noble school graduate degrees quickly secured him a place.

Life had passed like the gentle currents of a river, with occasional ripples here and there. Sehun preferred this slow pace of life where he had time every morning to go up to the roof of his company building and drink a cup of warm tea.

* * *

“Hey Sehun!”

Maybe there was just one thing he found was somewhat troubling every now and then in his life. And by every now and then, it would probably be more precise to say every single day.

“Hey Sehun, Sehun Sehun!”

Pretending to have selective hearing, Sehun continued to tap away at his keyboard as he finished up the last few sentences of a project plan. The invisible red string on his pinky tugged violently at his consciousness as he was forcefully pulled back into the noisy ringing of telephones and clicking of heels when someone literally pounced on him.

“Hey Sehun, Sehun, Sehun!”

Meet Chen. The loudest person in the entire company and assistant manager of HR (quite fitting considering he was such a ‘people’s person’).

“You do not need to call my name three times, Chen.”

“Why of course I do! You’re the only person who isn’t bursting from happiness upon my bestowed presence so of course I need to go to extra lengths. And are you wearing matching colours with your tie and suit blazer again? Why, if you aren’t the plainest and frankly boringest man I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Hmm.”

“Sigh. You’re a cold case man. You honestly need a lover who can loosen you up a bit. Anyways, it’s the annual Christmas Party tonight. Didn’t you say you celebrated Christmas last time I asked you? Wanna go?”

Of course Sehun didn’t want to go. The artificial disco lights were too fluorescent and blinded his eyes. The booming music and constant buzz of the bass from the DJ gave him headaches. The flirtatious girls at the bar always proved to be a difficult obstacle to get rid of. And his boss always made him drink. A lot.

However, the conformity to social norms sequenced on the most molecular level in his DNA was too strong of a force and Sehun showed up on time just like everyone else.

* * *

The vivid night lights that lit the pathway for the creatures of the night seemed to spin before Sehun’s vision like the dazzling colours that revolved around the merry go round. Lifting his head up, the full moon seemed to be washed in shades of blue watercolour. It almost resembled the swirls of ocean hues in the cup of blue lagoon that Chen had ordered for him.

“Come on! It’s not a party if you’re not wasted! This drink’s on me. A special cocktail for a special person like you!”

This short moment of frozen time was quickly disrupted by the blistering wind that cruelly cut through the tiny holes in his thin clothing material. Sehun trembled in his suit, almost wishing he was back inside the bar where the artificial waves of heat coming off the disco lights would at least warm him up.

He knew he had to head back home quickly, for he could almost smell the stench of unsettling unfamiliarity in the midnight air. Yet, the mystifying element to this night was that Sehun couldn’t seem to find where he was. The straight rows of buildings painted in a monochrome palette of greys did nothing to comfort his muddled mind.

He continued to follow the path before him lit dimly by the glistening stars silhouetted against puffs of black clouds. Sehun’s basic survival instincts told him that he would have to find shelter as soon as possible before the night was dominated by the rawest forms of human sin that he witnessed as a child: the putrid treachery and debauchery of the filthy rich.

Just as he was about to make a turn right, Sehun heard a whimper coming from the opposite direction. Encasing himself in a shield known as selective hearing, he continued in his original plan only for another whimper to overpower the crunch of stone and dirt beneath his feet.

Despite his taciturn personality, his heart was not one made of stone. Perhaps this was due to his fortunate childhood of shielding himself away at social gatherings. He did not have to toughen up the hard way, and lose his kindness and forgiveness through traumatic events. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for most individuals belonging to the aristocratic class, where the social ladder was nothing more than a primate display of survival of the fittest. Qualities of tenderness and pure innocence gifted to mankind by its creator were sadly blatant targets for attack.

The years of simple pleasures surrounded by the slow passing of time had shaped Sehun’s firm yet kind character in ways the harsh reality of society could not. Following the noise, Sehun spotted a small figure clothed in white and wrapped in a ball on the floor. Upon closer inspection, the appearance of a young boy shaking violently entered his eyes.

“Hello?”

Even his gentle voice made the boy immediately flinch as he looked up at Sehun and began to cry even harder whilst mumbling incoherent words.

At a loss of what to do, Sehun uttered perhaps more words than he had ever spoken at once in a whole day, “Um… hey. Are you okay? I’m sorry for scaring you in the middle of the night but would you mind telling me where Clevery Street is?”

The return of mumbles and sobs were a clear sign that Sehun’s words had not gotten through.

“I can bring you back to my apartment and let you stay the night if you want.” Sehun offered.

His efforts only seemed to conjure a less than desired effect as the other not only didn’t reply, but started to back away against the wall in a pathetic attempt to escape Sehun’s presence.

“Just say something,” Sehun half-snapped, his words laced with hints of irritation from the alcohol that was now starting to give him a headache. Even a man like Sehun could lose his patience if he was pushed too far.

“I-I-I-I-I’m s-s-sorry. I’m s-sorry Alpha.” The boy almost instantly started rambling apology after apology in between hiccups and soft sobs.

“Sigh.”

Sehun pushed out a breath of air from his diaphragm in mild frustration. Reminiscing back to his younger days, he recalled the secret runaways to the garden during evening social gatherings of the upperclassmen. He almost wished he hadn’t kept the stars company for so long. With the roots of his so called ‘social’ development so deeply connected to the silence of the night and ancient constellations of the sky, Sehun did not have much experience socialising with other people who didn’t belong within ‘social norms’.  

He did not possess the boldness and dashing charisma of his older brother, nor the eloquent and at times flirtatious techniques of oratory of his older sister. To hell, he didn’t even have a naturally playful personality like the youngest child of the Oh family. As the blue moon shone above him, Sehun almost wished the ‘people’s person’, Chen, could bestow his presence upon him again.

“Please don’t punish me. P-please d-d-do something. P-please, I feel so hot.”

Caught up in retrospective thoughts, Sehun was once again pulled back into the present moment. It was just him, a deserted land and a whimpering boy. Sehun was nothing but a single soul stripped from his shelter, shield and invisibility cloak. Heck, he didn’t even have an annoying colleag—

“Alpha. Please! P-p-please me!”

__R