It was barely seven in the morning, but Incheon International Airport was already bustling with activities as people rushed all around without looking back. There were hundreds of people milling around at the arrival hall while they patiently waited for their loved ones or even a complete stranger. Gate number 7 was particularly crowded at the time with a deafening noise as the blinking signboard above indicated a newly arrived plane. The roar of the crowd increased even more once the newly arrived passengers began spilling out of the automatic doors. It wasn’t long before a group of teenage girls appeared, walking by pairs as they quietly moved along the crowd.

One of the girls, with her flowing, dark brown hair seemed especially enthusiastic as she beamed happily at her friends. “Holy guacamole, we’re here! We’re ing finally back home. I’m so damn happy I could just kiss you right now, girl!” She shrieked with delight as she attempted to smooch her nearest friend, which just so happened to be a very grumpy-looking girl clad in an all-black attire.

“I’ll ing slap you all the way to Washington DC if you get anywhere closer, Byun Baek.” The girl threatened dangerously, but she was quickly interrupted by another girl with a light blue scarf wrapped around her neck. The girl frowned disapprovingly as she slapped the other’s arm without much force.

“Stop cursing!” She warned in her failed attempt to be firm. It was evident that the rest rarely took her advice from the way both of the girls instantly rolled their eyes in response. She opened to argue, but another girl with plump cheeks quickly interrupted to remind her of their priority.

It took her just one word.

“Tao..”

She gasped, and her first instinct was to glance at the said girl with concern. The tall girl was furiously fiddling with her bag with a deep frown marring her sharp features, which is never a good sign. She exchanged a knowing look with the rest of the girls, and they immediately came into an unspoken agreement to rush through the arrival hall, and headed straight to the waiting bus.

It took them a little over an hour to reach Seoul before they were dropped off at the nearest bus stop to their designated house. The girls scrambled along the road that took them straight into a double storey house, but not without much complaining.

“My feet are killing me!” whined Baekhyun.

“Who the hell told you it was such a good idea to wear heels anyway?”

“Did you even see that one documentary at Discovery channel about how ing tall Korean women are? I don’t want to lose!” 

“Loser.”

“Shut up, Luhan.”

Luhan made a face, but didn’t argue since she suddenly spotted a store in a distance. She instantly halted, and turned slightly to the rest. “Guys, I think you should go ahead, and don’t wait for me. I need to stop by the store first because someone apparently thought it would be funny to piss me off by using up the entire bottle of my body wash to make a bubble bath for our neighbour’s dog yesterday.” She shot a pointed look at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun chuckled. “Ah yes, those were the days.”

Luhan rolled her eyes before leaving her possessions in Tao’s hands, and heading straight for the store. The store itself was relatively small, and quite hidden from view, but it was thankfully filled with all of the necessary items. Luhan didn’t waste any time, and went straight to the toiletries section, where she picked up her necessities. She was also kind enough to buy some food for the girls, but only because she knew Tao was already bordering her limit. The girl always ate like there’s no tomorrow, and she can get pretty riled up when not being fed enough. Obviously, a small portion of the airline meals that she had just hours ago won’t be enough to last for long.

It wasn’t bright out – just a typical drizzly day during fall in Seoul, South Korea – but it was still quite a nice weather to walk around so Luhan promptly decided to take the farthest path to go home. She slowly navigated her way through a maze of roads, ocassionally finding herself going through several narrow alleyways behind the many buildings around.

It wasn't until she reached the final alleyway that she came into an abrupt halt as she saw something - or rather someone - blocking the way. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out the figures ahead of her. Eventually, she recognized the figure of a thin woman with her back to her while a much taller man had his face nuzzled closely against her neck.

, thought Luhan. Judging from their positions, she was almost positive that she might interrupted something really big here. She bit her lower lips as she considered her options. There was another path leading back to her house, but it would took her yet another twenty minutes or so to reach home since she would have to retrace her steps, and went the opposite way instead. Honestly speaking, she was rather tired from the flight, and despite her initial eagerness to enjoy the fresh morning air, she would rather not do the same thing twice in her state.

Deep in thought, she failed to notice as the male slowly raised his head, and immediately fixed his gaze on her. It was almost like he was able to sense her presence there. Luhan was still oblivious as ever so when she finally did raise her head to have one last look at the couple, she nearly died of heart attack as she found the male standing tall before her while staring down at her intensely. The male had somehow approached her without her knowledge, and Luhan suddenly had this weird imagination in the back of her mind of the latter hopping around the place like a ninja. 

I must be out of my mind, concluded Luhan as she shook her head slightly to clear her head. She tilted her head, and attempted to stare back at the male, but quickly found herself unable to do so. 

It wasn't because the guy was too ugly or anything. In fact, he was easily distinguished as the most beautiful creature she ever encountered in her whole life.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ With his sculptured face, and toned body, she won't be surprised if there was any girls willing to jump off a cliff for him. 

But, there was just something in his charcoal black eyes that quickly caught her off-guard. Those deep, intense gaze as he stared at her was equally enchanting and disturbing at the same time. It was drawing her in, alluring her into forgetting her whole surrounding, but some instinct older than the civilisation itself was telling her to run, to flee. And, that was exactly what she did before her brain even managed to register her doing. She mindlessly went back all the way to the store before choosing the other path, running as fast as her legs can bring her.

"Luhan, did you—" Baekhyun didn't even get to finish her words as Luhan instantly made a beeline for her room the moment she stepped into the house. Weirded out by her behavior, Baekhyun naturally trailed after her.

"What the—" Baekhyun shot a curious look as Luhan hastily jumped onto her bed, and completely wrapped herself like a burrito. "Minseok-ah, do you know what's wrong with her?"

Luhan's roommate, or better known as Minseok, glanced once towards the bed next to her, and shrugged. 

"No idea."

And, that's how exactly Baekhyun was left all alone to ponder about Luhan's strange behavior all day long.

​​