Soundtrack: Why Don't We - Fallin' (Adrenaline)

Park Chanyeol had the life that everyone always dreams of. He had a pair of very loving parents backing up every goal he ever had and any decision he ever made, as he was their only child and they were really proud to have him. He also lived in an incredibly rich mansion and could afford whatever his heart desired. After spending his university years studying at a high profile university, he produced his own music and managed to become quite successful in his field. His wonderful looks and immaculate manners were an added bonus to potential fans and he worked hard to reach the top.

Impeccably talented and incredibly lucky, he had managed to become a world renowned music producer at the young age of twenty three. One could argue that nothing was actually missing from this incomparable life. However, Chanyeol knew that a big chunk of social experience was missing from it. And so he blamed his extensive void on the fact that he wasn't extroverted enough for this industry. His parents though could guide him on the matter since they knew multiple influential people. Coincidentally his birthday was approaching so Chanyeol came up with an exciting idea that no one could resist; a birthday party. He dropped his pencil hastily on the piano and rushed downstairs to explain his plan to his parents. After all his birthday was in a week and the preparations needed to start immediately. As soon as he entered the huge yet empty living room, he realized that they weren't there. He frowned in wonder and looked around, before shrugging and turning around to return to his studio. Walking outside of his bedroom he heard shuffling noises and a low whine. He raised his eyebrows and approached the closed door. Indeed someone was there. Chanyeol clenched his fist and lowered the doorknob jumping inside.

"Come here damn it! Ugh why me?", said a young woman around his age holding the broom high and crying at the same time staring at what seemed like a giant roach. Chanyeol quickly regained his senses from the initial shock and rushed to kill it. As soon as he stepped on it he stared at the girl who started lowering the broom awkwardly sniffling away her tears.

"Who on earth are you?", asked Chanyeol rather coldly as he didn't like people entering his room without permission, especially people he didn't know.

"The help sir", she rushed to explain and put a hair strand behind her ear uncomfortably without looking at him in the eyes. She knew full well she wasn't supposed to be seen but in her defense, she thought that Chanyeol had left the house and this is why she came to clean at this hour. She gulped before explaining further. "I apologize, I thought you weren't here and this is why I came to clean. As I opened the window this... Thing flew in and I was trying to kill it...", her voice got lower by the second and she shook her head vigorously as if trying to get rid of a horrible image.

"Well that didn't work out, did it? But why exactly are you crying?", Chanyeol said casually and crossed his arms tilting his head on the side slightly.

"I'm afraid of roaches I guess, Mr. Park", she took a deep breath and continued "I'll just clean this up and leave, I have finished the rest of your bedroom anyway", she quickly glanced at him in the eyes and blushed but quickly regained her posture after their eyes met.

"How come I've never seen you before? Are you new here?", Chanyeol asked but couldn't exactly understand why he was that interested in finding out further about her.

"No, I'm not new, I'm here for three months sir. As for why you haven't seen me, well, that's the policy I presume. And in fact, I wasn't supposed to be seen today either, but that, as you said, didn't work out", she said kindly and laughed slightly.

"I won't say anything even though I don't know why you aren't supposed to be seen... I'm Chanyeol", he gave his hand for her to shake it and she quickly did. Hers was really cold compared to his.

"Nice to meet you, I'm y/n!", she said happily.

"Likewise y/n. Do you by any chance know where my parents are? I wanted to tell them something as soon as possible", Chanyeol asked and took a paper towel to pick up the dead roach. He didn't want to put her in the uncomfortable position of being scared again.

"I think they left urgently for a work meeting sir. Would you like me to relay a message?", she said and felt rather relieved that she didn't have to pick up the paper towel, but deep down was worried that this incident would sooner than later cause her to lose her job. She had nowhere else to live, no family whatsoever, and the Parks actually allowed the help to live in the mansion. Three people were cleaning in total, a middle aged couple, and herself. She had her own spare room and was more than satisfied doing this job, trying to earn money for college.

"Don't call me sir, we are the same age. I'm just Chanyeol, ok? And actually, I wanted to organize a birthday party, that's what I wanted to discuss with them. But it can wait I suppose..."

"Oh, you have your birthday soon?"

"Yeah, in a week."

"That's nice, I'll remember to wish you a happy birthday!", she said smiling.

Chanyeol chuckled, "Thanks, you are invited, by the way, in fact, you are the first one I invite, so congratulations!"

"Ah thank you! I'll be there of course but not as a guest", she noticed Chanyeol frowning in confusion. "I mean I'll probably serve food and drinks, but I'll see you then Chanyeol".

Chanyeol nodded scratching the back of his head and opened the door for her as she picked up her stuff and exited the room.

"Bye", she said and started going down the stairs.

"Bye", Chanyeol said looking at her and closing the door.

As decided, he communicated his wishes to his parents, and the next five days were spent to organize the most fabulous birthday party ever. A delicious cake was ordered, both the house and the garden got decorated and invites were sent to around fifty people, none of whom Chanyeol knew personally but that was the whole point. He didn't have actual friends, just a few acquaintances he acquired during college and that was about it. He, of course, invited the lot, but seeing as some of them were still in the campus in a different region, he highly doubted they would come. While everyone else was busy with preparations, he focused on composing appropriate music and decided on presenting a new track to impress everyone on that evening. He also purchased an elegant black suit with a red shirt and dark crimson shoes to wear and he knew he would feel even more confident with that.

Y/n was naturally busy with taking care of the house and Chanyeol's birthday party preparations, but in her free time, she was a lyricist. At least, that's what she hoped she could afford to do for a living one day in the far future. She was practicing in her room every evening, trying to improve and she was confident that she had completed her first song. Without the music, of course, it looked more like a poem; it wasn't hard to imagine it with a melody in the background though and that's why she had confidence in her creative project. Having a hobby and thinking about it during difficult times when she felt alone and hopeless about her life was what kept her going and that's all that mattered for the time being. A few months back, when she first came to work for the Parks, she didn't even know how her bosses looked, as the hiring process though strict was very impersonal. What she did know was that they were a couple who had a son that was studying in a music related field. Y/n thought of that occasionally wishing she was so lucky as to study something she liked too, but she knew that for her it wouldn't be that easy. Although, that didn't stop her from trying to exercise her art in her own special way hoping that one day she might get the chance. When Chanyeol returned home, everyone was super cheerful and she actually heard that he was producing music. When she was in charge of cleaning his studio she couldn't help but stare at his guitars, the piano, and the music sheets and wished one day to get the chance to show him her lyrics. Little did she know that she would actually meet him one day. And oh how handsome and nice he was. Unfortunately, he had to see her during an uncomfortable moment but she felt really flattered that he was there to help her. As Saturday was approaching, y/n kept one thing on her mind. To do her job as professionally as possible, to make sure everyone was served and satisfied and hopefully, she'd get the chance before the party ended to give Chanyeol her present.

The evening of the party was finally there and Chanyeol greeted all the guests respectfully and exchanged a fair amount of words with them, arranging a meeting with quite a few. He smiled brightly to everyone he was introduced to and tried his best to look excited and flattered to meet them. An hour passed and after having met everyone he introduced his piece, his new music track. Satisfied he noticed how people felt excited about his hard work and that gave him a sense of fulfillment as he glanced at everyone around the garden anxiously.

Y/n was dressed in an elegant black dress and a white apron on top and served drinks around for over an hour until everyone stopped conversing to listen to Chanyeol's music. He was undoubtedly talented and that was evident. Y/n stood near a tree close to the edge of the garden, holding the disk and staring at Chanyeol in awe thinking to herself that she really admired how composed he looked and how articulate his composition was. She didn't know much theory wise, but she paid close attention and memorized which part she liked the most.

Before the music track ended, Chanyeol's eyes met y/n' s and he quickly glanced away blushing. He tried to regain his focus, but in reality, he couldn't get her smile out of his head. It wasn't like him to pay close attention to people unless it was for a specific reason, usually work related. He knew he was distant in general, but that didn't matter to him, up until now. He didn't wish to be distant anymore but at the same time, he was clueless regarding the way to address his complicated thoughts and feelings. He tried to relax again and before soon the music stopped. Everybody clapped, including her. Chanyeol bowed slightly and everyone gave him their earnest congratulations before blowing the candles on his cake, signifying he was now twenty three years old.

Y/n headed back to the kitchen to cut and put the cake in plates before serving it to the guests with the rest of the waiters. Everyone was served a piece except the man of the evening; Park Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen in the main garden. Y/n frowned curiously but her eyes couldn't locate him. No one else seemed to be looking for him either as everyone seemed busy socializing and dancing to pay attention. It was almost midnight and her shift ended just then so she headed back inside, removed her apron, checked that her appearance looked polished, and grabbed a piece of paper she had left on her side drawer heading back outside to look for Chanyeol. The paper was framed in sparkly red tape and a few stickers were added here and there before it was curled up in a scroll and tied with a red ribbon. Enclosed in the center of the ribbon stood a fresh lily. Holding her gift on one hand and the plate with the cake on the other, y/n circled around the garden taking a tiny path on the side that led to a small paddock and surprised she saw Chanyeol sitting on a bench with his back facing her, staring at the skyline all laid back. She hesitantly approached him wanting to respect his privacy and personal space.

"Chanyeol?", y/n said quietly and smiled at him as she reached the front of the bench.

Chanyeol stared at her from top to bottom not failing to come to the conclusion that she looked effortlessly beautiful. Even more so because she was smiling at him. He opened his mouth to say something but all of a sudden he forgot what it was.

"Oh hi y/n!", he grinned and scooched to the side to make room for her to sit.

Y/n sat down and turned to look at him "Happy birthday to you! Hope you are always healthy and prosperous!", y/n grinned back and offered him his cake.

Chanyeol laughed and smiled at her meaningfully. "Thank you, I really appreciate this", he said earnestly and took a bite.

"You better haha you took the last one actually", y/n chuckled and joked with him.

"Wait really? Did you have some?", Chanyeol stopped eating abruptly and asked her.

"No but it's okay, after all, it's my fault", y/n shrugged and glanced at the skyline. "I cut the slices too big, sorry".

"Oh but I can't have a guest of mine without a slice, we'll share this one", Chanyeol smirked and prepared a spoonful offering it to her.

"Oh no it's alright, I don't need to eat cake", y/n said casually and shook her hand.

"I insist! Come on...", Chanyeol said and put the spoon in . "You worked hard tonight you deserve some cake too, at least I ate those snacks earlier".

"Thanks!", y/n exclaimed with a full mouth not looking at him but blushing hard. She munched and swallowed and smiled at him again. "What are you doing here by the way? Aren't you having fun at your party?", she asked him as he was eating the last bite.

"It's a tat bit boring, don't you think? It's better sitting here in the quiet than talking to people I don't even know. And now I have better company too", Chanyeol said and put the plate to the side.

"Am I that?", y/n asked surprised and pointed a finger at herself.

"Yeap. You look really pretty", Chanyeol said quickly without realizing what he was saying. It was the truth though and he couldn't lie even if his life depended on it.

Y/n glanced at him with round eyes even more surprised and blushed hard. "Thank you. You look handsome too".

Chanyeol turned to look at her and they both smiled awkwardly. He sat a bit closer to her. "What's that?" he asked pointing at the scroll.

"Oh, that's your birthday gift! Well, it's not much, definitely the most underwhelming present of the night, but here you go!", she handed it over. "This is a lily which represents hard work and good luck in ancient Greek mythology, both of which you absolutely have and deserve. I actually love writing songs. Not the music, mainly the lyrics. And I decided to perfect one and give it to you. Maybe if you like it you can turn it into a song. It's alright if you don't though..."

Chanyeol was in awe. How could someone he accidentally met a week ago care more to personalize a gift than anyone else who just bought expensive stuff? He was not only flattered but actually felt really special. His eyes traveled down the paper, carefully reading the lyrics and he smiled gradually more and more. It talked about someone who met a person that unexpectedly changed their life.

"I don't know what to say... Honestly, thank you, this is the best gift I've ever been given. Your lyrics are beautiful, I'll definitely include this in a song...", Chanyeol said kindly looking deep into her eyes.

"Really? I'm so glad you like it!", y/n brought her hands to her lips and smiled charmingly. She was proud of herself and relieved that Chanyeol liked it so much.

"Really. Only if you promise to help me with the composition.", Chanyeol warned her and grinned again.

"I'd love that!", y/n responded excitedly and before minding her moves she hugged him tightly.

Chanyeol was pleasantly taken aback and closed his eyes satisfied. He realized that she wasn't planning on doing that since she quickly wanted to pull away, but before long he circled his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

They pulled back after a few moments and stared at each other. Chanyeol sat back keeping his back straight and crossed his arms.

"Did you just hug your boss?", he asked.

"Well he hugged me too", y/n answered shyly.

"True", Chanyeol said brightly and moved her close to his body and they both stared at the skyline as the wind blew in their faces.

"Close your eyes, there's a roach!", Chanyeol shouted convincingly.

"What! Where?", y/n yelped and grabbed his blazer tightly terrified and looked at him unable to look around. Chanyeol smirked and leaned in to place his lips on hers. He kissed her sweetly and her grip slowly relaxed. Chanyeol pulled her tightly on his body and she moaned into the kiss liking every single moment she spent with him and every time he touched her. After a short while, they pulled back gasping for air and she looked at him flustered. "There was no roach, was there?", she pouted.

Chanyeol smirked and shook his head from side to side touching her cheek with his finger. She was about to protest when he cupped her cheeks in his palms and crashed their lips together again passionately. Y/n smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Chanyeol pulled back smiling brightly.

"I just wanted to kiss the girl who wrote a song for Park Chanyeol", he said softly and hugged her tightly.