Jungsu quickened his pace, making his way into the hotel lobby while sometimes glancing around cautiously. It was just another usual night in Seoul, nothing seemed to be different than any other day. Well, accept for the fact that he was forced to sneak out of his office to deal with some caused by a certain troublesome and spoiled kid.

But he was used to this. Running around to clean up the mess of a 17-year old boy who’d never grow up, taking the role of a ‘nanny’ who’d look after him, he considered all this as something ‘normal.’ It was his duty. And he couldn’t look away without carrying out his responsibility.

He was just about to take the lift when suddenly two men in suits approached him in a rush, both of them had a nervous look on their faces. Without even having to ask them, Jungsu could somehow tell that a new problem had occurred.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Sir, the chairman’s son is not here.”

It wasn’t something surprising. Jungsu had been dealing with this for years, and he knew this would happen eventually. “And what are you waiting for? Drag him back now, the president will be back in Seoul in an hour.”

“We’ve tried searching for him, but…”

“Call him then.”

“His phone is off, sir.”

“Oh dear…” Jungsu palmed his forehead. “That boy really needs to be chained or something.”

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“This world ,” Hyukjae cursed, throwing down an empty can of Coke on the ground and kicked it away, venting his anger on the lifeless object.

He thought he could finally find some peace in his messed up life, but spending time at a packed night club was clearly not a good idea. He nearly got into a fight earlier with some drunken junkies, but the bouncers arrived just in time to break it off. ‘Lady Fortuna’ must’ve dumped him, since bad luck seemed to be glued on his back today.

His credit card was blocked – which was obviously his father’s doing – and he was flat broke, not to mention that the expensive set of speakers he had just bought last week was mercilessly ‘destroyed’ by his y cousin, the self-proclaimed goddess Gyuri.

He glanced at a group of street musicians sitting near him, curiosity was obviously seen on their faces. It was probably strange to see a teenage boy dressed up in branded outfits hanging out at the roadside by himself. But it was slightly better to be here than living in an empty house that was no different than a haunted jail, just like a bird locked in a cage. If only he could, Hyukjae would’ve stayed here, blending himself with some street buskers.

That would be fun, in some way.

“What are you looking at?” Hyukjae glared at them, making it clear that he was annoyed.

The street musicians quickly looked away and carried on with their activities, trying their best to ignore the red-haired boy. Hyukjae wanted to leave, he had to, but then, he found himself listening to the song they were playing. It wasn’t the best song that he had ever listened to, but somehow, it was able to put his mind at ease.

But the peacefulness he was starting to feel didn’t last long, when a white limousine with tinted windows pulled up right beside him, followed by a familiar black Mercedes. Needless to say, it caught too much attention from the passersby, and Hyukjae couldn’t be more annoyed seeing Park Jungsu walking out of the Mercedes, his lips forming a small smile when their eyes met.

He knew they’d eventually find him. They’d always be able to find him no matter where he goes. And it annoyed him like hell.

“It’s late,” Jungsu said, taking another few steps toward Hyukjae, “Let’s go home.”

“How nice of you, to bring this crap here just to pick me up."

Jungsu knew just how much the redhead hated to be the centre of attention, just like what was happening right now, but he had to do this. Hyukjae wasn’t someone who’d kindly listen to other people. He was one hardheaded ‘royalty prince’ who clearly needed to be handled carefully.

“The chairman will be back soon,” Jungsu said in a soft voice, “It’s time to go home, Hyukjae.”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“Listen to me this once, please.”

“ you,” Hyukjae cursed as he turned around and walked away in a fast pace, ignoring the looks the pedestrians were giving him.

The only thing he had in his mind right now was to get away from the ‘grim reapers’ going after him. He could hear the sound of footsteps behind him, which meant that Jungsu’s men were still persistently following him. He couldn’t get caught right now. After going through such a hard time sneaking out of his insanely huge mansion, there was no way he’d let them catch him that easily.

Turning around a corner, he quickly sneaked into a shop selling wine, completely unaware of the ‘CLOSED’ sign hanging on the door’s handle. It was dark inside, but it’d make it easier for him to hide from Jungsu’s eagle-like eyes. He crouched down beside a table, while keeping his eyes fixed on the road outside, looking for any sign of Jungsu and his bodyguards. But they were nowhere to be seen, much to his relief.

“Damn it, I should’ve asked him for some money,” Hyukjae groaned.

He let out a sigh as he sat down on the cold marble floor, his back leaning against the wall. It took him quite a while to realize that the shop was closed, and as much as he didn’t want to say it, being alone in this kind of place at night wouldn’t be so reassuring. He slowly stood up, relying on the street lights to search for the switch.

Once he had found it, he turned it on right away, only to have the shock of his life when he saw a man leaning against the counter while holding a can of beer, with his eyes fixated on him.

“Jesus Christ!” Hyukjae stumbled back, nearly tripping over the chair behind him.

With his eyes open wide, he stared at the man, who was still looking at him with those expressionless eyes of his. He nervously stepped backward, feeling a little intimidated when the stranger made his way towards him.

However, the strange man only walked past him, as he flatly said, “Kids shouldn’t be walking alone at night.”

He disappeared right away as soon as he walked out of the shop, and Hyukjae wondered, if he was only imagining it. Or could he possibly be… a ghost?

“No way,” he said, looking around the empty shop cautiously. “There’s no ghost. He’s just weird.”  

Throwing a last glance around him, he then walked out, and was greeted by the cold night breeze brushing roughly against his skin. Tonight would be another usual night, where he’d be wondering around the city without a place to go to.

“I’m not a kid, for God’s sake,” he said as he looked into the wine shop once again, before turning around and walked down the empty street.

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