"Let's break up," Baekhyun said, rather casually to the girl he had been seeing for the past week. 

The sudden announcement caught her off-guard as she looked at Baekhyun, a smile faltering on her lips. 

"W-What?"

Baekhyun sighed. He knew she was going to play dumb and pretend she didn't understand what he meant, but Baekhyun was clear; he wasn't interested in their relationship anymore and honestly, he never was, he just gave in to her charms, and her money; it was never about her. 

"Mina-ssi, you heard me. I'm calling this off and please, try not to make a scene, ok?" 

The nerve. Baekhyun was never one to beat around the bush, he kicked the bush and said what had to be said, no sugar coating whatsoever, and that often got him into trouble. 

What came next was a bit of an example. 

"You bastard!" Mina yelled, slapping Baekhyun across his face. 

He didn't see that coming as he placed a hand over his cheek, dumbfounded by her attitude. 

Baekhyun never understood women. They wanted me,  to be honest, to share their feelings, to come clean and whenever Baekhyun played the part, he got cussed at, kicked, yelled, and slapped. 

He was baffled as he watched Mina stomp off the restaurant. People on the surrounding tables stared at Baekhyun with shock and disapproval but Baekhyun didn't care as he finished his food, it cost him a load of money so he had to finish it. 

Unfortunately, the night didn't end as Baekhyun wished. He had planned to break-up after but Mina got on his nerves with her gossiping and bad-mouthing, so Baekhyun wasn't sure he wanted to sleep with her anymore. 

However, it would've been a nice goodbye. 

He drove back to his apartment and poured a glass of red wine for himself while putting on some jazz. He loved his nights alone in the comfort of his balcony that overlooked a beautiful and illuminated city of Seoul. He sat down and began to effortlessly scroll down his social media, uninterested by most of the posts until he stopped. 

He brought his phone closer and read the description of the photo which said: better things to come. 

The photo consisted of an old friend whom he had lost contact, or simply stopped talking to. She went to the same college as Baekhyun and then they drifted apart. Baekhyun stayed in Korea while she went abroad to work for a fashion magazine. Baekhyun still remembered her smile and her strawberry scent; the taste of her soft skin and the feel of her lips. 

Suddenly, he felt something, dropping his glass on the floor. 

Baekhyun was completely horrified by what he felt, not because of what it was but because he felt something. 

For years, he believed he had some kind of issue that prevented him from feeling any kind of emotion when it came to women ( aside from the pleasures of ) but he never thought that a single picture could trigger so many emotions at once. 

Maybe this woman was what he needed to get back to normal. Maybe she was the answer to his problem, or maybe she could help him. 

Help him feel something. 

---

"Ms. Young where would you like these to go?" 

"Place them on the table, please." 

"Of course." 

Astrid Young took a deep breath as she watched the chaos happening in front of her eyes. Her assistant gave orders to the employees at the wedding venue and they decorated everything to Astrid's liking. Still, it was so much work to get everything according to her taste when she knew little about wedding decor. She wasn't as sophisticated as Henry's assistant whom he insisted to join Astrid in her planning. Astrid didn't understand why she had to take part in any of this, and why she always wore her blouse with two buttons opened, showing her tempting cleavage. Astrid thought she did it on purpose and was nothing but a cheap desk clerk, but she'd do anything for Henry, even if it displeased her, but having her assistant on tow was a little too much. 

"Good morning, Ms. Young" Soyoung, Henry's assistant, said as she smiled. 

Astrid gave her a half-smile. "Good morning, Soyoung!"

Soyoung placed herself next to Astrid as she observed the commotion. Astrid couldn't help but to look at her through the corner of her eyes and give Soyoung a quick scan. Today, Soyoung wore a business dress in the color peach and stilettos. Astrid was baffled because she couldn't understand what was so elegant about this woman. Her outfit didn't match, and Soyoung had barely any taste, she gave the worst input and thought it was amazing. But she was "promoted" by her husband who knew little to nothing about the taste. Astrid had turned that man into a trendsetter, a gentleman of good taste and refined clothing. She taught him how to dress and how to impress so she was the real woman with taste in the room. Not so good at decor but flawless in fashion, hence why she worked for Vogue as an assistant director and had dealt with other brands. 

"I think you should change the color of the curtains, Ms. Young," Soyoung suggested. 

Astrid didn't ask. 

"To peach?" there was a hint of sarcasm that Soyoung missed. 

"That's actually... ridiculous," Soyoung said as she furrowed her brows. "Pearl white would be a much more pleasant choice,"

Astrid hated her-- because that was the color she had been thinking of. The theme was white and rustic with a touch of elegance and Astrid was unsure of what she'd do with the curtains. She had searched on Pinterest for ideas and half of the pins had pearl white curtains which were the best idea; but Astrid didn't hate Soyoung for coming up with the idea, she hated that she had said it first. 

"Yeah... I'll look into that," Astrid said, heading outside to catch some air. 

She was strained from all the wedding planning. The due date was in two months and Astrid felt like she was behind schedule. Work was taking up so much space on her agenda that Astrid had to send her assistant to check most of the packages and decorations by herself and send a picture to her phone for approval. 

In conclusion, Astrid just wanted a break from everything. She wanted to relax and get her mind out of things just for once. 

"Ms.Young..." her assistant called.

"Yes?" Astrid said as she turned around.

"There is someone here to see you..." 

Astrid furrowed her brows. "Who?"

"He says his name is...Baekhyun?" 

"What?!" she asked with confusion etched on her face. 

The assistant shrugged. 

It had been a while since she heard that name aloud. 

Baekhyun... Byun Baekhyun.