I bit my lip as I swerved past the cars on the way to Daehyun’s house. It was already 6 pm in the evening, and I knew that Daehyun was already expecting me so I tried to get there as fast as possible. I didn’t wear anything more than casual, since I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea when I walked through the door. The excitement and anxiety was building up inside of me. I was finally able to meet the writer that I’ve admired for so long, but at the same time I could only worry about what he would think of a rookie like me.

As my GPS told me that I reached my destination, I observed the house that I was led too. It was a modern house, not too big, not too small. I realized that there were two cars parked and all the lights were on, signaling that Daehyun was home. I parked my car in front of his car and made my way to the front door.

I rang the doorbell with shaking fingers and heard a voice call out, “coming!” When the door opened, it revealed a tall, build man. He had gray sweatpants hung low at his waist and a loose red t-shirt that read BADMAN with a bunny on top of it. But this man was different from the pictures of Jung Daehyun I had seen in the covers of books.

After looking at the man in front of me, I quickly lowered my head. “Annyeonghaesayo, I’m Moon Sojung. I have an appointment with Jung Daehyun-sshi-” The man in front of me looked up at me and smiled.

“Ah. I’m not Jung Daehyun if that’s what you’re saying.” He said. I looked up at him and then I realized that even though he looked extremely similar to Daehyun, his eyes were sharper, pointed up more and his lips weren’t as full as Daehyun’s. “I’m his older brother, Jung Daejung,” He offered out a hand and I shook it. “Daehyun is inside. He didn’t mention an appointment, but I’ll ask him. Come in, have a seat, make yourself at home.”

I cautiously walked into the house as the smell of coffee hit me in the face. As I looked around, I saw nothing but a simply house. There was a TV on the wall with an arrangement of black couches in front of it. As I walked inside, I saw the dining room with a furnished kitchen.

“Daehyun is in his study. But I’ll go get him.” Daejung said as I sat down on a couch.

In a few seconds, I heard shuffling. When I turned around I saw the two men making their way over to where I was.

“You’re Park Sohee?” Daehyun asked when he sat down in the couch across from me. He was lazily dressed. Like Daejung, he had sweatpants loosely on and a loose white button-up shirt. From his facial features, I could tell that it was definitely Jung Daehyun sitting across from me. I immediately tensed up and tried to calm myself down.

Daejung looked over at me. “You said you were Moon Sojung?”

“Park Sohee is my pen name, but my name is Moon Sojung.” I explained.

“Ah I see.” Daejung said in understanding.

“Your publisher is Bang Yongguk right? He’s the one who set up this appointment?” Daehyun asked. Every word he spoke was slow, slurred but at the same time almost carefully enunciated. It made me feel like there was something else on his mind, other than just me being there.

“Yep.” I confirmed and bit my lip.

Daehyun nodded. It was silent for a moment. “I read your book.” He blurted out.

“Mine?” I pointed at myself. “As in… Locked in Heaven?”

Daehyun smirked. “Do you have any other books?”

“No but…” I stuttered. “Why would a successful writer like you pick up a book by such a rookie?”

“Because I liked the title. It was so ironic I couldn’t resist but to read it.” Daehyun explained.

“I don’t know if I have the right to be asking this, but what did you think?” I asked. I needed advice from such a writer.

“Didn’t live up to the title.” Daehyun said as he took a sip of the drink Daejung brought him. “Your writing needs work.” He said.

I looked down and twiddled with my fingers. “How so?” I asked when I finally summoned the courage. “I’m not denying that it does need work. I’m just wondering what I can do improve it.”

“Well,” Daehyun began. “Your novel is good enough to sell. Teenagers would probably love it. But the plot is too simple, too lacking to keep a more experienced reader hooked onto it. The language in it is also very simple. The emotions aren’t expressed by the words you choose. The title you chose doesn’t match with the story. The characters’ personalities aren’t deep enough to form an original character in my head. And the setting-” Daehyun was cut off by Daejung’s cough. Part of me was thankful of Daejung, but the other half wanted to hear more.

“Out of curiosity, when did you read it?” I asked.

“This morning.” Daehyun replied?

“This morning?”

“Yeah. What was I going to talk about if I haven’t read your book?” Daehyun paused. “Most of the people who set up appointments with me aren’t novelists like yourself. Some of them are critics, some of them are movie producers and some of them are simply fans. Not a lot of them are here for advice.”

“I see. Do you set up appointments with them too?”

“Only the ones I want to. There’s a movie production going on for One Shot, only with the best movie producer in Korea of course. As for critics… I don’t let them near me.”

“Why is that?”

Daehyun sighed. “I write for myself. I don’t need people criticizing my work. Originally I had no plans of selling my writing, but my friend found my works and decided to put it in the market. He’s my publisher, Youngjae.”

“So, you were friends with Youngjae before he became your publisher?”

“Yeah. We’ve known each other for about 10 years now.” Daehyun paused. “Why am I talking about myself so much? Sorry about that.” He shook his head.

“It’s ok,” I said. “I want to learn about you too.”

Daehyun smirked again. “I don’t think I can help you with much. My writing style is too different from yours.” He said as he stood up and left the room.

“Wait, I need to than-” I stood up as I heard the door close to his study. Daejung grabbed my arm before I could follow him. I almost forgot that he was sitting there next to us during out conversation.

“He’s always like that.” Daejung explained.

“It feels like there was something on his mind while he was talking.” I blurted out. “He sounds lonely.”

Daejung smiled at me. “You’re good at reading people. Daehyun wouldn’t want me explaining his entire life to you, so I’ll leave it to you to find out. Since you’re the first writer we’ve seen here in a while, I think Daehyun would allow you to come back.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, definitely.” Daejung said. Daejung gave off a completely different vibe from Daehyun. They definitely looked alike, but inside, Daehyun and Daejung were opposites. Daehyun was darker, full of secrets. Daejung would be a bright, open book.  

I smiled at Daejung. “I’ll be back soon.” I said. “I just have a lot of editing to do…” I muttered.

“Don’t take Daehyun’s words to heart. His standards are really high. I can help you with your writing if you want.” Daejung offered.

I cocked my head to the side. “Do you also write?”

“Ha. No, I don’t. It’s just that I’ve read all of Daehyun’s books and I’m also by his side when he and Youngjae are working on his books. I think I know more than the average person about writing now.” Daejung admitted.

“I’d love to have your advice.” I said. “Are you always by Daehyun’s side?” I asked as I sat back down on the couch.

“Most of the time. Daehyun sometimes… drifts.” Daejung paused. “Once when Daehyun was 15, I was 18 at the time, he got lost in the city, but he didn’t do anything. He didn’t try to find home and when people asked him where he was going, he didn’t reply. I found him in Bucheon.”

“Bucheon?” I asked. That was a 3 hour bus ride from Seoul.

“Yep. He wandered on the train. When I asked him what he was thinking about, he said-” Daejung suddenly paused. “I can’t tell you what he was thinking about, sorry.”

I nodded my head in understanding. “Daehyun seems to be full of secrets.”

“He definitely is.” Daejung confirmed. “But sometimes a little mystery isn’t bad, right?”

“Of course.” I answered. “I don’t know if I should be asking this question, but does Daehyun have any plans for marriage? I mean, don’t take it the wrong way, it’s just that he’s 25 this year and-” I was interrupted by Daejung’s laughing.

“I get it, I get it.” He said, with a smile still on his face. “He’s dated in the past, but as of now, he claims he wants to spend the rest of his life by himself. I don’t know why either.” Daejung shrugged. “It’s getting late. I wouldn’t want to keep a lady like you out so late.” He smiled.

“Yeah, I should be getting home now.” I said as I rose from the couch and walked to the door. “Thanks for letting me come over!” I said before I opened the door.

“Wait one second…” Daejung said. He came back to the door with a little post-it note. “This is Daehyun’s and my phone number. Feel free to contact us.” Daejung said with a smile.

I took the post-it note from him. “Thanks. I’ll make sure to call before I come over again.” I said as I walked through the threshold.

As I got into my car, my thoughts went wild. I was surprised that within this small period of time, it seemed that I got to know Daejung well. As for Daehyun… I couldn’t say.

That man is hiding way too many secrets.  

a/n: can't wait for badman! and exo's repackage album kjashgfdjlghas;dkjfkjasgdlajskd <3 
this chapter contained a lot of dialogue... sorry if it confused you >.< 
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oh and one more thing. Daejung isn't famous or anything. He's just a character a made up, but im pretty sure that Daehyun does have an older brother in real life.