It was 5:45am and Gate 126 of Incheon International Airport was almost as still as the early morning outside. The passengers waiting for the boarding call were half-asleep in their chairs. Save for a lady sporting vibrantly colored clothes (despite looking well into her forties) chatting away on her phone, nobody looked like they wanted to be awake just yet.

Lily heaved another deep sigh, still upset about yesterday. She rushed back up to the 33rd floor and down several hallways to get to their office, snatch her phone from Mr. Cho's already outstretched hand, and go back out for some privacy only to get an earful from Clare about how rude and inconsiderate she was.

“You could’ve at least pretended to listen instead of being a witch with a B,” Clare reprimanded. “Because of you, your idiot boyfriend left me alone in the car while he stuffed himself with greasy Chinese food.”

Lily let her friend prattle on. Clare is the sort that needs to let everything out, and once it’s all out, there’s no more left. She waited for her to finish. She won’t be home for 5 days so she needed Clare to help her a bit.

“I’m really sorry, Clare. I was just so stressed out. I-I wasn’t thinking-”

“Damn right you weren’t thinking!” Clare exclaimed, then sighed after a pause. Everything’s out now. “So how do you plan to fix this?” she asked, concerned.

“Please make him tacos and jajangmyeon with lots of sauce. Please. And the special fried eggs with Spam faces I make. And be nice to him, or at least don’t insult him before I come home.” Lily requested.

Clare let out a disbelieving hiss. “Seriously. You want me to cook with Spam?” Clare replied, coating the last word with all the distaste she felt for it.

“Come on. Just this once. Just make him feel less crappy until I get home. Please, Clare?” Lily begged. She felt awful that she couldn’t be the one to make the special fried eggs he loved. She resumed staring at her phone where Donghae’s photo with Haebear was open. The next five days looked like they’re gonna be the longest five days of her life.

Soft, unsteady snoring sounded from her right. Lily turned to see Mr. Cho with legs spread at a 45-degree angle, feet planted firmly on the ground, arms crossed over his chest, torso leaning heavily on the backrest of the waiting area chair, his head bent so low that his chin touched his chest.

No wonder he couldn’t breathe properly.

With a tiny grimace, Lily reached out her hand and, with her index finger on his forehead, pushed Mr. Cho’s head up.

There. The snoring subsided.

But when she let go, his head dropped right back where it had been, sending her to a mini panic, worried that his neck might break, or that he’d wake up and be all grouchy.

She wondered which one she preferred.

She shook her head lightly, clearing away the silly thoughts. Without this part-time ogre, she wouldn’t survive the meeting in Hong Kong. No, she needed him there. Well, the company needed him there.

This time, gingerly, she held him by the shoulders and gently slid him sideways, leaning his arm on the armrest and his head back on the backrest.

There you go you little brat, Lily thought, half-smiling, half grimacing. It’s still a somewhat awkward position, but at least his head is supported. She held back a chuckle when Mr. Cho’s mouth slowly opened in his sleep.

How can you look so childlike while asleep and be a total nightmare when awake? She mentally asked Mr. Cho.

"CX125 bound for Hong Kong is now boarding. Passengers of this flight, please proceed to Gate 126."

Lily nudged the dozing guy beside her with her elbow. "Mr. Cho, that's us," she said.

With a snort, Mr. Cho jerked awake and tried to discreetly check the corners of his mouth for drool. Lily forced her smile away. She should’ve taken a picture of him with his head bent sideways at an odd angle and mouth slightly hanging open. Then one day, when he really pisses her off, she’d make that the wallpaper of all desktop computers in the company.

~ ~ ~

His growling stomach woke him up. He could feel the sun gently warming his right arm. Face scrunched up, Donghae removed his head from under his pillow. The bright sunlight blinded him, making him squint. With a groan, he heaved himself up into a sitting position. The wall clock above his door says that it’s only 8am, but the second growl of his stomach told him otherwise. He looked around sleepily for his phone, patting the blankets and feeling for it. He finally found it under his pillow. His phone clock says that it’s already a quarter past noon. Well, that explains his stomach.

With another groan, he got himself out of his bed and stumbled across the room to the chair where he last remembered seeing his towel. Luckily, it was still there. The cleaning ahjumma has taken her vacation and he still hadn’t had the time to do the laundry himself. He really should get to that, or else he’d have to go to work in his underwear next week.

Wiggling out of his boxers and kicking it to a corner, Donghae stepped under the steady lukewarm stream of water. He sighed. The shower felt nice. He let his hair get drenched for a couple of minutes, enjoying the massaging effect of the water pressure. What was he supposed to do today? He wasn’t fully awake yet. His brain felt like the machine of a beat-up, rusty truck being forced back to life.

Ah yes, Claire asked me to meet her for breakfast, Donghae remembered. Then, his head shot up in alarm.

“Oh, CRAP!” he cried out, totally awake now. It all came back to him: barely able to make out the text message last night because of his heavy eyelids, and setting an alarm for 8am, the time Claire indicated in the message.

Did I sleep through the alarm? Donghae wondered as he hurriedly shampooed. That has happened a few times, but the later alarms (since it automatically snoozes when left alone, the alarm re-alarms every 5 minutes) would eventually wake him up. And he usually asks Lily to give him a wake up call when he had really important schedules.

He began to wonder why Lily didn’t call, because Clare wouldn’t invite him otherwise if it weren’t for his girlfriend, when the rest of reality caught up with him. Lily didn’t call because they weren’t talking. Because he didn’t want to talk to her. Because she was too busy to talk to him.

It took a can of beer spiked with a couple shots of soju to knock him out last night. He was a featherweight when it came to drinking; he didn’t like the taste nor feeling of alcohol so he avoided it as much as he can, but last night, it was necessary. It took all he had to not answer Lily’s calls, but he can only hold out for so long. He decided to just get passed out to keep his manly pride.

Was she the only one busy? I have a life, too. I can’t answer calls just like that either, Donghae remembered himself thinking last night. He even came to a point where he almost picked up her call just to throw her line right back at her face.

“I’m busy. So could you please stop calling me every five minutes? Thank you.”

That was what he planned to say before hanging up on her.

But he couldn’t. He was pissed off but he won’t sink to that level of pettiness. He sighed, standing still under the water once more. He was being stupid. She was probably calling to apologize. He should’ve just answered it and got this whole thing over with. Now, she’s away for almost a week with that nightmare of a boss of hers.

He knew that she was probably suffering over there, but he’s a little pricked by the fact that that guy gets to spend a lot of time with Lily while he’s left alone here. He also gets her utmost attention whenever he calls, while he gets treated like a nuisance when he does. Plans get rescheduled because of him as well, while he had to struggle to make his and Lily’s schedule match just to go on a short trip or simply spend some time with each other.

Just because he’s some big shot in a big company, he gets prioritized. He really had to meet this Mr. Cho, just to see what kind of person he was up against. That guy may be on top of the world now, but he can never have Lily. Sure, they probably match better in terms of status and maybe even family background, but one day soon, he, Donghae, will get his break and be a world-renowned choreographer. Then, he and Lily would completely be perfect for each other, and no one, not Mr. Cho nor Lily’s mother, can say otherwise.

___________________________________________________________________

HELLO 2015!!! 

I missed you guys, for real. I'm totally serious. I know it's been almost two years since I last updated this story... I hate myself for taking so long as well. I'm not even gonna cite reasons because they'll just come across as excuses. In short, I'm REALLY REALLY SORRY for the extended absence. And for this long-ish author's note.

First of all, A HUGE THANK YOU to the subscribers who remain, and even to those silent readers who bookmarked this and are waiting for an update. 1 year and 8 months is a long time, and I sincerely apologize for making you wait, but here, at last, I've come up with the following chapters. I know that this one isn't much, but bear with me until we get to the good parts. Lol! :)))

I was planning on posting something before 2014 ended as a new year thing, but I ended up finishing a later chapter by that time, hence the delay. Lol. I've been fixing back stories as well, just to see where this story can go. I have to admit that when I started this, I had a lot of ideas, but barely knew how to get there. You know what I mean? Hahaha. Sorry, I'm rambling.

Anyway, I've prepared enough material to update regularly for some time, so I hope you all come back and read and comment and be beautiful angels. :) Can't wait to continue this story and talk to you guys once again!^^