A/N: Just a little something I wrote because my insomnia was acting up again a few days ago. Don’t expect anything, it’s poorly written. No fancy words and like that…

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How much bad luck can one person have? Not one too many some would say, for other’s two to three tops but in Jiyong’s case, it’s always an exception.

All throughout his entire existence from the moment he learned how to walk and talk he had been nothing more than a walking magnet of disaster. He was actually the only person known to mankind labeled as accident prone. He had even considered blaming his past life for doing something so horrible that he’s paying it back in this life.  

But through the test of time, Jiyong had gotten used to it accepting the fact that he was the unluckiest person in the world. Treating it like a joke now or more like an old friend, whenever bad luck strikes Jiyong would welcome it and sometime he even anticipates it. He’s just that used to it.

Years and years later, Jiyong moved out of his parent’s house and moved into a one bedroom apartment somewhere in the middle of New York City. In spite of the warning from his mother, it was still a little risky living on his own with his bad luck and all, who would be there when Jiyong accidentally sends himself to jail or to the hospital? But so far so good though, nothing drastic like that had happened. Yet.  

But without fail, his bad luck was still there just most of the time they are manageable. His place was actually equipped with everything that he needed in case something happens like first aid kits, emergency numbers plastered on the door of the refrigerator, an extra key taped to the back of his welcome mat, even a set of clothes packed in an overnight bag in case he accidentally sets the place on fire.  Everything was in place.

But what he never really prepared for was a certain person that threw his life around.

One beautiful morning, as expected, Jiyong woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. With his side on the very edge on the bed, he rolled further in thinking that he was on the other side and landed face first on the floor. From that moment on, Jiyong already knew that this was going to be one of those days.

Groaning from the impact, Jiyong untangled himself from the sheets and stood up. He massaged his face, evening the pain that was radiating from somewhere in his cheeks, he walked towards the bathroom and placed both hands on either side of the sink.

“Is this going to be one of those days again?” Jiyong sarcastically asked himself in the mirror plastered on the wall above the sink. And as insane as he was, he actually answered. “Yes, Yes it is and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Sighing and lazily rolling his eyes, Jiyong brushed it off as it was normal. He started to take a quick shower, oblivious to where his hand was placed turning the wrong knob to a full one eighty. Instead of warm relaxing water, what welcomed him was water so cold it could might as well be ice. Jiyong animatedly jumped out of his skin, body turning towards the opening of the shower to get away, mindlessly stepping on the slippery tiled floor, and yet again falling on the floor.

This was the second time he fell face first on the floor, and it hadn’t even been fifteen minutes since he woke up.

Great. A new world record.  “I knew it.” Jiyong muttered defeatedly as he stayed on the cold floor. “This is one of those days.”

Surprisingly enough, Jiyong was able to survive the rest of the day as smooth as it could possibly get for him. He got to work without any additional scratches well except for that sore cheek from his fall and that near death experience when he crossed the street not knowing that the light had just turned green.

Yup, just another regular day going to work for Kwon Jiyong.

A few more bad luck happened here and there like accidentally sending the wrong file and accidentally stapling his sleeves on the bunch of paper he was supposed to staple.

A typical day, he confirmed.

And it’s even a miracle how he managed to keep his work for this long almost four months now, what with the bad stuff constantly happening around him. And well maybe because his boss was friends with his parents helped him a bit. Yup, that might be the only reason.

“Kwon! You sent the wrong file again.” His manager groaned as he walked towards Jiyong’s work table.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll send the correct file now.” Jiyong answered, spinning on his chair to face his computer, absentmindedly dragging his thin arm over his stuck of pencils and pens sending them sprawling to the floor. Jiyong fumbled upon instinct and tried catching a few with his one hand, the other navigating the computer.

“I’m sure you’ll do.” His manager muttered, shaking his head as he walked away.

The now slightly depressed man just sighed and dropped the pens on the table.

“Can this day get any worse?”

That was a regular sight on the work place, nobody was even bothering to question anyone anymore. As long as it involved a certain someone named Jiyong they all knew what to do: stay out of it.

As time passed by like an unknown stranger, next thing Jiyong knew he had already finished his day’s worth of work. Working at a publishing firm, not much really happens which was a good thing for him. It gave no room for his bad luck trait to strike. Sometimes.

But the day wasn’t over. Jiyong wasn’t in the safe side just yet.

The afternoon rolled on, showering the people of down town New York with its breathtaking sunset. Not that the people were taking note of that, they would all just pass by it without giving it the attention it deserved. And one of them was Jiyong. But he had a reason of course. With his messenger bag dangling on his side, Jiyong walked cautiously on the side walk the way towards his apartment building. Years worth of misfortunes had made him a little too skeptical making him very cautious at every little thing happening around him.

Avoid pot holes, construction sites, subways and crowded places was what he repeated in his head as he walked on by. It’s a list that he had subconsciously created growing up. And somehow it had stuck with him all throughout his life. It was usually pretty accurate depending on where it was applicable to. And right now, all he wanted was just to reach home as fast as his legs could take him.

Why was he walking in the first place? Well because God forbid, Jiyong plus a set of wheels was not a good idea. Nope. Not at all. So he finally gave up on ever getting a driver’s license or better yet to public transportation in general. The last time he rode the bus, well let’s just say, he’s never ever going to ride one again.

So walking it was. The young man didn’t mind at all really, he loved walking, eyeing people around him that were too busy to even look up was fascinating for the young man. And besides, with his bad luck the worst thing that could happen was him tripping over his own feet, sending a few innocent bystanders with him on the side walk.

But he stood corrected.

Just when he was half way pass the corner where just a month ago he tripped and landed on his reaping his jeans in the process, as predicted things started to get worse. What used to be a beautiful sunset suddenly darkened into a pale blue, following the roar of a thunder. Almost instantly, fat blobs of months worth of stored rain poured down on the concrete floor sending the people into a frenzy.

People either ran twice their speed towards their destination or quickly pulled a small compact umbrella from their every day bags. And Jiyong did none of those.

“It wasn’t supposed to rain.” He sighed tiredly. “The forecast this morning said it would be all sunny skies until next week.” Jiyong said his disbelief, remembering he left his umbrella at home on purpose because of that.

“Of all the days…”  

The few blobs of rain turned into big droplets of harsh water in an instant and the wind took it up a notch spreading the cold air everywhere. Jiyong had to find shelter and fast. 

Clutching the strap of his messenger bag tightly around him, Jiyong moved towards the building right next to him. Thankfully enough, the God’s above gave him a little nice shelter to shield his already drenched body from the rain.

He hovered under what seemed to be a restaurant settled on the basement of a building with a few steps down towards its entrance. Good thing the walk down was covered in a little plastic roof that those fancy restaurants use and he was gratefully thankful for that. And took advantage of it in the process.

While temporarily away from the now harsh heavy rain, Jiyong adjusted the bag on his shoulder and took this time to assess himself. And with a heartbeat he knew he was soaked down to his underwear. What a shocker, he mocked himself. His light colored dress shirt that was tucked in his black work pants stuck to his body like glue. The only thing Jiyong could do now was to comb through his hair using his fingers getting it to at least stop dripping water on his face.

Standing next to the entrance of the restaurant, a little bell startled Jiyong from his drying process and a man emerged from the door, bringing along with him the smell of freshly baked pastries and whatnots that can make anyone’s stomach grumble. Jiyong stiffed on his spot seeing the man’s uniform suggesting that he worked at the restaurant but not like one of the waiters, he looked more like he owned the place in fact.

And Jiyong immediately thought that he was about to get yelled at for staying there.

“Hey.” The man said with a voice deep like velvet that totally caught Jiyong off guard. This was it, he had to run in the rain again, he had no choice.

“Do you wanna come in? The rain doesn’t look like it’s letting up soon.” The man smiled at him revealing those dimples, surprising Jiyong yet again. Was he for real?

“What?” Jiyong stuttered, did he just invited Jiyong to come in? Was this really happening? Jiyong thought, was his bad luck strike toning itself down for him?

“I asked if you wanna come in. At least it’s better to wait inside than out here.” The man nicely offered again.

Jiyong took a quick glance at the restaurant, and he felt embarrassed seeing that he could totally be seen from the inside, what with the glass windows around. It might have being a sore sight, seeing him drenched in the rain.

“I’m sorry. I can just stay here..  I mean, I’m soaking wet and I wouldn’t want to dirty your floor. Or if you want me to, I could just find some other place…” Jiyong muttered under his breath, choosing to look at his shoes instead of the nice man in front offering at him.

They’re just probably feeling sorry for me, Jiyong thought.

“Nonsense. Now come on.” The man shook his said and without warning, a hand gently gripped on his arm and pulled him inside the restaurant.

As expected, Jiyong stumbled forward, shoes squeaking on the polished floor making the people eating turn around and give him the stare.

“No really, it’s okay.” Jiyong said, trying to pull his hand away from the man but it was no use, Jiyong had already lost all physical strength from the fight with the rain earlier. He had no choice but to get dragged against his will.

Taking a quick look around, Jiyong realized that there weren’t much people in there, mostly just a few customers also waiting for the rain to disperse and the staff of course just idly standing by in case they were needed. And other than the sound of a few clicks and clangs of utensils being used and the pitter patter of the heavy rain on the windows, the place was rather quiet. Serenity could be the word to quickly describe the place. And Jiyong did not belong there, he belonged outside, in the chaos.

Small pools of water dripping from his clothes trailed behind them as the guy directed Jiyong to an empty seat near the counter. Good thing though, the chairs were made of carved wood and not those plush ones or else he would have stained them with rain water.

Despite protesting a while ago, a small “Thank you.” escaped from his mouth as he sat down. And he truly was. The man was right anyway, it was better to stay here than outside in the cold.  

“You’re welcome.” The man smiled down at him again and Jiyong couldn’t help but flinch when he stared at it. He was just not used to people like that. Mostly people would just avoid him at all cause because once they knew he’s a magnet of bad luck they all run away.

“Wait for just a sec.” The guy said, as he made his way back behind the counter and ducked through a swinging door to what Jiyong presumed as the way to the kitchen. As he waited, Jiyong ruffled his hair once again, grunting seeing as it was still dripping wet. Likewise, his clothes weren’t doing any good either. Everything was just stinking to his body, making him uncomfortable.

“Here.” The man returned back, with a neatly folded towel on his hands. “You’ll get a cold if we don’t get you dried up.”

“..Thanks.” Jiyong whispered again, avoiding the man’s eyes.

“You know, it’s rude not to look at people in the eye when they’re helping you.” The man said but with a gentle tone, still holding on to the towel and not letting it go.

A breathless sigh came from Jiyong’s mouth. Might as well do as he says, Jiyong thought. So he did, and he was startled again when the man had a warm smile on his face.

Something got caught at the back of his throat, he didn’t know what it was but it’s definitely something he’s familiar with. Something he had refrain himself from ever doing again. And yes, his now overly beating heart just confirmed it.

Stop it, Jiyong. You’re not allowed to have a crush remember?

Like all the other misfortunes in his life, one that gave off the biggest impact on him always revolved around the word love. Granted, he wasn’t that bad looking or more less he liked what he had become but, there’s just something about love that’s not meant for him. At least that’s what life kept on showing him. Often times when he found himself having a crush or falling in love, the world would simply stop him from pursuing it, embarrassing himself in the process. So, just another one on the list to avoid: to fall in love.  

“There you go. That wasn’t so bad was it?” The man said jolting his from his thoughts. Only a shy little smile was what Jiyong gave back in return for that. He was finally handed the towel and for a split second their fingers brushed against each other and instantly Jiyong felt that feeling again in his guts. It was like a little spark slowly making itself bigger as the time he spent in that restaurant goes on. But before he could dwell on it any further the man pulled a chair and sat in front of him.

“So, may I have the privilege to know the name of the person making pools of water in my restaurant?” chuckled the man.

“Jiyong..  and sorry about that but I did warn you.“ Jiyong returned the smile, his whole existence getting warmer already; maybe it’s because of the heat in there. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Jiyong.

The man’s soft laughter occupied the small space between them and it sounded like the most beautiful melody Jiyong has ever heard. If he could he would listen to it until the end of time and have no regrets about it at all.

“That’s alright. It’s not everyday I get someone like you standing outside my door. It must be my lucky day.”

Jiyong chuckled and ducked his head again, using this time to dry of his hair with the towel the guy gave him. Well, this was new. The guy was actually flirting with him and in broad daylight or afternoon light if that matters.

“I’m Seunghyun.” The man introduced himself when Jiyong set down the now wet towel.

“Are you usually like this to strangers?” Jiyong asked suddenly, a hint of a smile forming at the end of his lips,

“Only the cute ones.” The man answered almost immediately.

Jiyong chuckled again, revealing the gummy smile he had forgotten he had in the first place. Jiyong rarely smiles anymore these days but there were days that were blessed with the sight of his smile. And he’s glad that this was one of those days.

“Well something must have gone wrong because I’m far from being cute.”

“Hey, it’s my life, you don’t have any say on who I call cute or not.”  

“I guess I don’t.” Jiyong lightly laughed, hiding his smile with the back of him hand, a gesture he grew up doing.

“So it seems like the rain isn’t settling down anytime soon, would you like to stay here for awhile? Don’t worry, I’ll keep you company I promise.”

Jiyong looked back through the windows, the concrete street was still getting plummeted by fat drops of pure rain, a grey fog was slowly rising up blurry everything in its path. Obviously, the rain wasn’t about to end and for once, Jiyong was thankful about that.

“I have no choice then.” Jiyong smiled as he turned back to Seunghyun.

Two cups of coffee and one slice of blueberry cheesecake later, Seunghyun had already gotten Jiyong out of his shell even for just a little bit. His messenger bag was laid forgotten on the floor and Jiyong’s hair dried and stuck up in different angles. The guy, Seunghyun, turned out to be the owner of the restaurant like Jiyong had predicted. But what he didn’t predicted was how easily it was to talk with him, eventually he found himself opening up to the other and of course the other to him as well.

And right now Seunghyun was sitting laid back on his chair while Jiyong was telling him with what he does for a living with some genuine hand movements thrown in there.

“So basically, you just sit in an office and do paperwork all day?” Seunghyun asked as he leaned forward the get a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, I mean it’s not much but it pays the bills.” Jiyong answered without thinking yet again. “But it’s nothing compared to what you do, I mean look at this, this place is beautiful.”

“Yeah, my parents were the really the people to thank for all of this. I’m just the lucky son who got to inherit it all.”

“It seems like you are very lucky Seunghyun.” Jiyong muttered quite sadly.

“You’re saying that like you aren’t.” Seunghyun said back.

“Well, I’m not. On the contrary I’m quite the opposite.” Jiyong laughed uneasily, his hand nervously playing with a stand of his hair. A complete look of confusion was plastered on Seunghyun’s face. “I know it probably seems a little weird but it’s true. Bad luck follows me around everywhere.” Jiyong admitted wholeheartedly, shrugging his shoulders.

“There’s no such thing as just bad luck. It has to be balanced right? There’s good and bad luck. Both coexist with each other.”

“Not in my world it is. So far if I have to sum up all the good things that happened to me and compare it with all the bad stuff, I say it’s not balanced. The bad stuff is definitely winning there.” Jiyong nodded his head.

“How about this? Think of it as two equal things. The amount of bad stuffs are equal to the amount of good ones. And since you said that most of your life was spent throughout the bad stuffs then isn’t that a good thing?”

Jiyong just completely stared as his head tried to process what Seunghyun was deliberately trying to tell him. A huge question mark can be seen from the look of Jiyong’s face.

“With all the bad stuff happening, the good stuffs are just piling themselves up waiting for all the bad ones to run out.” Seunghyun smiled down at him and waited for the younger to understand what he said.

“But.. that’s just impossible. How much bad luck can happen to one man? I demand all my good luck to happen now, life owes me that.” Jiyong muttered, but not without humor of course.

“Maybe life’s already paying you back and you just haven’t realized it yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“You met me right? Isn’t that a good thing?” Seunghyun smirked again, sending Jiyong to heaven and back.

“You could be married and have two kids for all I know.” Jiyong shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of his neglected coffee. “Or a wanted serial killer marking me as your next victim.”

A genuine laugh came from the older and Jiyong just couldn’t help but break into a smile.

“Seriously? That’s the worst you can think of? I swear, Jiyong, on my mother’s grave that I’m not married nor am I a serial killer.”

Jiyong stared at the man back, eyeing him suspiciously but Seunghyun returned his gaze by playing with his eyebrows and Jiyong chuckled.

“Okay, okay. I believe you.” Jiyong said giving up on convincing the other man.

“Good.”

The two continued to talk with each other as if they were long lost friends. And for once in Jiyong’s life, he’s not scared of what might happen next. May it be bad luck or something else, it didn’t cease to mater. Being next to this person gave him the security he needed, like a kid cuddling his teddy bear to sleep at night to keep the monsters away.

It might be silly to think but to Jiyong this was the first time someone actually stuck around when they found out how unlucky he was. And in no matter what true stories of bad luck he tells Seunghyun, the other would always find something positive about them that Jiyong had somehow overlooked.

Like from what happened this morning. If he hadn’t fallen on the floor, he wouldn’t have woken on time. If he hadn’t accidentally poured cold water on himself, he might have just simply fallen asleep in the showers and lastly, if he had never left his umbrella he would have just walked passed by this place and never met Seunghyun at all.

A good whole hour later, a familiar ring of a bell distracted the two from their little world. One of the customers who was waiting for the rain to seize had just left.

“Oh!.” Jiyong stared in shock outside the window. “The rain stopped.”

“It actually stopped a few minutes ago.” Seunghyun guilty said, scratching the back of his head with his hand.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I figured that once you knew, you would have left and I just honestly wanted to spend more time with you.”

But Jiyong only laughed at the other, that gummy smile making its way to the surface once again. “Of course I would have stayed a little while longer. I like being here with you. It feels safe somehow. But I really should get home.”

Who knows what could happen to him in the dark?

“But does that mean you promise to come back?”

Without a single doubt Jiyong gave the older man a little nod before ducking his head and feeling the rush of blood to his face yet again. He spotted his bag on the floor, he grabbed it and reached inside for his wallet but a hand gripped his and pulled it away.

“You don’t have to pay me. Everything’s on the house.” Seunghyun said as if reading his mind.

“If that’s the case then I might just drop by every day.” Jiyong grinned, biting his lower lips, a perfect shade of faint red visible on his cheeks.

“Lucky me then.”

The older escorted his new found regular customer towards the door and they stopped just outside the restaurant.

“Don’t forget your promise, okay? I expect you here tomorrow after your work.” Seunghyun acted all nonchalant which just made Jiyong haul out in laughter.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be here and hopefully in one piece.” He even bowed a little. He just can’t believe how easy it was to be himself with the other man.

“There you go again with that bad luck thing. Stop that, I swear, if you come by here every day you’d forget about all that.”

“You have to promise me that.”

“Promise what?”

“That you’ll help me forget how unlucky I am.” Jiyong whispered, looking elsewhere yet again.

A chuckle was all he heard from the other, and before he knew it Seunghyun leaned down a planted a sweet little kiss on his cheek.

“I promise.” There were no humor, no joke, no sarcastic remark, Seunghyun was genuinely promising him that he would take all Jiyong’s monsters away. That he would be that knight in shining armor ready to go into battle for him. And Jiyong believed him. He believed in him one hundred percent.

With that, Jiyong finally stepped back and went up the stairs towards the open evening ahead, facing it this time with a smile on his face. And for a long time, he reached home safe and sound, not a single scratch on him. A warm and peaceful shower came right after and by this time, Jiyong was contented, he was relieved that somehow maybe Seunghyun’s was right.

Maybe life’s already paying you back and you just haven’t realized it yet. Seunghyun’s wise words, echoing inside his head.

After the shower, he dressed up in his pajamas and fell straight to sleep on his bed. No bad dreams, no nightmares, just a sweet dream about the man he had just met at the restaurant and the promise that he would return the next day.

And he did so in fact.