"Here you are, mate." The taxi driver announced as he pulled up outside a tall, grey building.

Tara opened the car door and stepped out onto the sidewalk to wait for her brother. Henry grabbed a small amount of money from his trousers and, counting up the correct amount, handed it to the driver over the front seats.

"Thanks." He said

"Night then!" The taxi driver politely said in a manner of farewell.

As Tara stood on the pavement at the end of the long, royal red carpet that led up to the front doors of the building, she stood with her arms crossed over her chest from the chilly air and patiently watched the cars humming left and right along the road. It wasn't very busy that night, but then again, it was a Thursday; a work night. Of course, that didn't apply to her older brother.

She gave a light shiver, the wind bringing a short, dark curl across the bridge of her nose, and her eyes wandered down to the end of the street. That was when she noticed the two black jeeps parked against the curb (on a legal spot, at least) with open roofs. Both of them were filled with men wearing jet black clothing, and they all had tanned, olive skin. They were sitting perfectly still and looking over in her direction. She shrugged her shoulders up in discomfort and turned away from them; they were probably just waiting for someone else that lived in the same building as her.

Henry finally stepped out of the taxi and, shutting the door behind him, watched it pull away from the curb. It drove off down the street and Henry wrapped his arm around the back of Tara .

"Cold?" He asked.

Tara shivered and turned around with him "No - boiling."

He ignored her sarcasm and walked up the red pathway with her. The two attendants that stood either side of the glass doors leant in and opened both for Tara and Henry to walk in.

"Thank you." Tara politely said with a smile.

As soon as Henry and Tara stepped inside, they were surrounded in a cosy warmth. Tara sighed happily and pushed her brother away from her as he began to lean on her rather like a type of support.

"Well, I love you too sis." He snapped in false offence.

"If you want to love me, then hold my hand, but don't use me as your walking stick." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

She smirked at him and the two of them walked across the shining, large entrance hall to the doors on the other side. The floor was a brilliant, cream marble and a large crystal chandelier hung from the center of the cream ceiling. There were only a few people around in the entrance hall, and those people were the ones about to go off to a fancy dinner party and were beautifully dressed up. Tara smiled politely to them all and gave them respectable nods as she passed.

"Mr. Choi – Mrs. Choi." She greeted her neighbours.

"Good evening, Miss Watson." They both said in reply.

Henry gave them a cheesy smile and a quick nod, but all he got in reply were a number of hmph's and some noses stuck in the air. Henry blinked and caught up with Tara again.

"I can't help but think that our neighbours really don't like me." He whispered.

Without looking at him, Tara replied: "Well, that is expected, seeing as you took their daughter out to dinner and never spoke to her again."

Henry rolled his eyes, "She was too forward!"

Tara snickered and pushed the golden door open once they reached it, "That's impossible Henry. No woman can ever be too forwards in your opinion."

Henry and Tara's father was one of the greatest Archeologist’s of their time, and so Tara and Henry were supported very well financially. Of course, Henry just wasted all of his money on gambling and bars, whereas Tara put hers away into a bank account for savings. Tara lived a very easy life, all her life. She didn't have to work or do anything that she didn't want to, all because of her father's position. But Femi didn't want to live like that. She wanted to be able to say to herself 'yes, I did this for myself. Me.'. She wanted to live independently, even if her father did insist that she continue saving up in her account.

Tara turned around the corner and came to a stop in front of the elevator. She pushed the button and then folded her arms across her chest again.

"Yujin was just far too clingy anyhow." Henry sighed thoughtfully from next to her.

Tara rolled her eyes "The Korean girl from earlier?"

He nodded, "As clingy as a child to their mother."

The elevator pinged and the doors rumbled open. Tara stepped inside and turned around to see her brother follow in looking very retrospective and phased. Tara rolled her eyes and pressed the button number '25', and just as the doors moved in to close, a hand slammed against the one on the right and stopped them immediately. Tara gasped and jumped in surprise and Henry grunted in surprise with a large wave of his arms. A man wearing a black tux appeared as the doors automatically slid back into the walls. Tara tensed up and eyed the man up and down warily; he had tanned skin with black hair tied back into a ponytail, and he was wearing a smart, black tux. He looked at Henry and Tara as he stepped inside and gave a gentle, polite smile. Tara smiled and reply and reached out to the buttons again.

"Which floor?" She asked.

"Twenty-Five, please." He replied with a strong exotic accent.

Tara felt a little odd about the fact that he, too, was going to floor 25; her floor. Nonetheless, she pushed her paranoia aside and leant back.

"I pushed it already." She quietly said.

He nodded in understanding and the doors shut fully.

Tara glanced at the man on her left curiously; why did she feel so on edge around him? Perhaps because he looked terribly alike to those men who she saw sitting in the cars aside... No. She was just being silly.

She looked away from the man and locked her eyes upon the numbers written above the door, the light moving from one to the next with each level that they moved up onto. Henry started tapping his foot on the floor in a fidget and soon began hissing and spitting a soft beat with his lips.

Both Tara and the man next to her looked over at him with raised eyebrows, and he quickly stopped.

Ping!

Tara looked back to the doors in front of her and they opened up to expose the warmly lit hallway of her level. She looked to the man next to her and he held his hand out before him as a gesture for her to go.

"Ladies first, please." He said.

She smiled thankfully and walked out of the elevator and into the creamy hallway. Henry went to walk out after her, but the foreign man moved in front of him before he could reach the door. Henry blinked and eyed him up and down in offence. Tara looked round and raised an eyebrow at her brother as she saw him watching the other man walk away in the opposite direction to their door number.

"Henry?" She called him.

He tore his eyes away from the man and followed along behind her. When they came to number eight, Tara removed her necklace from over her dark-curled head and stuck the key into the door that dangled from the silver chain.

"I don't get it, Tara - why don't you put something more... I dunno', sentimental, on the end of that thing?" Henry asked.

Tara smiled over her shoulder at him as she opened the door inwards, "Home is where the heart is, brother dear."

He rolled his eyes and walked into their cosy suit, and once Tara took her key back, Henry closed the door. Tara sighed happily and looked around her apartment proudly.

"Byul! We're home!" Tara called out.

Henry rolled his eyes "It's a cat, not a person."

"Oh shush, Henry - people who dislike animals can never understand the bond that can be formed between them and humans." Tara snapped.

A small grey Persian cat trotted out of the open door of Tara's bedroom and meowed loudly. Tara smiled and, leaning down, scooped her up in her arms.

"Aw, mom's home now, my sweetheart." She cooed, kissing her head.

Henry shook his head in amusement and fell back into the comfort of the puffy, cream suede armchair with a loud, pleasured sigh "Ooooooh..."

Tara, now Byul in her arms, walked over to the front of the room where the walls were made entirely of thick glass, acting as windows that slid open to allow them to go out onto the balcony. She sighed dreamily at the sight of the sparkling, glowing city; Tara always found that it reminded her of some kind of Imperial Kingdom... but she couldn't quite make out what. It was like a dream of a dream that she had seen long ago. She felt like a Empress on top of her own world...

"Tara?" Henry snapped impatiently.

Tara jumped and looked round at him "Excuse me? A little more respect, brother..."

He rolled his eyes "You zoned out again. I've called you five times."

"Oh." Tara simply said.

She carefully set Byul down on the floor and, with a sigh, rubbed her forehead tiredly. She walked over to the sofa opposite Henry and sat herself down in it. She let out a soft groan of exhaustion and tilted her head back on the top of the sofa.

"I know how you feel." Henry sighed happily.

Tara stared up at the ceiling and narrowed her eyes "Henry... when exactly did you say you would be getting your own apartment?"

Henry lifted his head up and looked over at his sister, "Is that a hint? Do you want me to leave already?"

Tara chuckled and lifted her head up also "Well, no offence Henry, but yes. I do have my own life, you know."

He snickered in offence and sat up in the chair "I just don't get it - you'll risk being kicked out of your home altog