It's funny how sleep is. The way you must have your eyes closed for you to be enslaved to the luring slumber of it. When your eyes are closed, it seems as if you would be more scared, afraid because of the fact that you can't see. Oblivion is a common fear in most yet ironically it seems to go away when you're asleep. When you are most vulnerable and unaware.
      There's always that sweet taste in your mouth that comes to you by instinct when you near the end of sleep. The taste of dryness that is electrified by the dreams that go away by the time you taste it.
It's here...that same taste.
       My eyes slowly blinked open without knowing what would be in front of me. 
Lips. Slightly dry yet all the more soft looking lips. They looked as if they were handcrafted to perfection cell by cell by a blind Italian designer.
    First of all, where was I? Secondly...why were TOP's lips right before my eyes?!
My swollen eyelids forced them upwards so my eyes could widen.
     Wait Raena...think. Think. Think.
After a few seconds of rapid thinking, I came to the realization that we had fallen asleep last night and we were still that dim musty hallway of the veterinary clinic.
My head was comfortably snuggled on his shoulder near the crook of his neck along with our bodies way too close for it to be legal.
      I calmly blinked and quickly closed my mouth not to make any noise.

TOP was in too deep of a slumber to even notice that I had woken up.  It was as if I could taste the sweetness of his sleep just by the way his thick lash brimmed eyes were so daintily closed. His usually tensed forehead was relaxed with a sort of innocence which ever so slightly tilted his eyebrows upwards.
        And his lips were...so taut and perfect.
They were lightly chapped but looked so soft and...delicious.
       I wonder what his lips taste like...
I frowned to myself. Why am I being so weird?
 I had already kissed him before. In a way. From what my mom and his mom had chanted in unison, apparently we had our first kiss together when I was in kindergarten. Who knew that he would have grown up to be some kind of huge celebrity?
And also that time when he was about to spill my secret at the YG building...I had to block him from speaking so it wasn't a kiss or anything. Just a forceful nudge of my lips to his to stop his words.
    But now I was curious.
    How would kissing Choi Seunghyun feel like?
As if by instinct to cure my curiosity, my head seemed to move on its own...slowly, millimeter by millimeter.
      "Oh you're finally awake!" A bright cheery voice burst out from behind me.
I Immediately retracted back and awkwardly tried to sit up all the while creating distance from TOP.
       "I didn't want to wake you two up earlier." It was the veterinary assistant nurse that had spoken.

    I pulled a flyaway strand of hair out of my face and quickly patted my dryish damp hair down.
    "Oh s-sorry. I'll just um..." I awkwardly mumbled.
TOP stirred a bit and lifted his head up to look around with half opened eyes. The crease of his eyelids seemed deeply set in as if it had been a hard night on him too.
He ran his long fingers through the lining of his slightly tousled hair and gave a soft deep moan as he began to sit up. We made quick eye contact for just about half a second and then looked away to the nurse.
       After we awkwardly stood up, the nurse explained to us the brief details of Charlie's condition. Thankfully, no major organs were damaged but he did have some broken limbs that were difficult to heal. Charlie was to be in the veterinary clinic for the time being until he could be rehabilitated into good health. She advised us to leave and come back when the doctor called.
TOP and I were both a bit sluggish when we came out of the clinic. The foggy air felt heavy over our groggy eyes but there still was the early sunlight seeping in to brighten up the sky. 
But then I realized.
      Crap. I lost a shoe last night.
I slowed down as soon as we began walking. TOP was ahead until he realized that I stopped. He turned his body half way to look at me.
Damn. Looking like he just came out of a freakin vogue magazine even when it was early in the morning.

Even his slightly messy hair looked like it was messed up intentionally.
      "What's wrong?" His raw deep voice was unbelievably y to the core. How was it even possible?
Literally perfect from head to toe in every aspect possible. What kind of guy was this?
Well, visually perfect I suppose. He did have many flaws in him but that's what made him even more perfect. The way he made his imperfections into an attractive advantage.
     I grimaced and looked down at my feet. The left shoe had found a new home somewhere out on the streets unbeknownst to me.
      "I think I...lost my shoe." I said in a quiet voice.
      "Can you still walk?" He asked.
I paused and then nodded. He hesitantly turned back around to begin walking again. But as soon as I took another step, I could feel the sharp parts of the small gravel from the uneven road piercing into my socks.
God that hurts...
I tried to take another step but the gravel pieces stabbed me again, jolting my body into a wave of pain. It was like one of those medicinal mats that purposefully coated with painful sharp points.
      "Ah..." I in a deep breath as I quickly pulled my feet back up.
He turned around again with with a small frown. 
TOP raised one eyebrow and stared for a quite a long time. He seemed to be thinking intensely about something. 

     "Here. Get on my back." He said ever so calmly as he began to crouch down.
A "pfft" escaped from my mouth as I tried to hide a smile.
      "No thanks." I said with a slightly disgusted look on my face.
Okay as much as I felt as if I had gotten closer to TOP, it wasn't close enough for me to be riding on his back. That's what kids do. That's what couples do. We weren't kids and we damn sure weren't a couple.
       But TOP did not budge.
      "Just get on. I want to get home before the sun goes down." His voice sounded dead serious.
      "It's morning, the sun isn't going anywhere-"
     "Exactly. You're slower than my grandma." TOP shot back as he gestured towards his back.
I gave a discontent frown and then reluctantly got on his back.
Where am I supposed to put my arms...and my hands. Were they supposed to awkwardly grab on to something or what?
I had a mental battle of what to do with my hands until TOP finally said, "At least hang on to something, you're going to fall."
His voice seemed softer and kinder...almost with a touch of laughter.
      At last, I put them lightly on his broad shoulders. Even though he had about fifty layers underneath him as he always did, I could still feel his strong lean muscles working as his arms grabbed into my legs.
      "You know what's funny?" He said softly into the dampish air.
I could hear his voice right in my ear as if they were meant just for me. The scent of his cologne danced around me into a trance.

       "...What?"
       "I think...I remember something." TOP voice was warm and deep, like a cozy cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day.
"Hm?" I hummed out. What did he mean by "remember"?
       He swallowed and continued to speak. "I remember...that I used to piggy back ride this girl home always after school on rainy days. I don't remember what I talked about with her but I know she hated the rain."
I felt my mouth open slightly in astonishment. I hated the rain.
I've always hated it all my life because thunderstorms usually came with it. And thunderstorms...those really shook me up.
     "She was in kindergarten and I was in third grade so I had to run down from the elementary school to go find her right after the bell rang." The nape of his neck tightened as he looked sideways to cross an empty road.
      "...and she would cry whenever there was thunder. I...hated seeing her cry. So, I tried to make her laugh by doing the stupidest things. And then she would finally smile." TOP spoke slowly with perfect articulation in every word.
He should really consider being a tv ad narrator in the future for a stable retirement. Oh wait...he's already filthy rich.
      But I was really into his little story. It was interesting...and familiar.
      "Her smile...it's weird." He chuckled a little before speaking again. "I-I see it...in you." His voice shook a little, breaking the perfection of his words.

       I was too little so I couldn't really remember it but maybe he did.
       "Really?" I asked slowly.
       "Maybe our parents were right. Maybe I was your first love."
I frowned and pushed myself away from his back. "What do you mean you were my first love? From the sound of it, it seems like you were more desperate for attention." I retorted with a scoff.
        "Yah, how could you not have been in love with me? When I was little, I had all the girls falling for me." He said in a playful tone.
        I flicked his head with my finger and he immediately tried to turn his head to give a nasty look at me.
       "I'm guessing your prince-fever started early then. I'll have you know, I was a pretty cute child myself." I said swinging my legs, trying to make it difficult for him to hold me on his back.
        TOP paused and then continued walking. "You were cute. But too bad that you turned out like this. I wonder what happened?"
Wow, genuine concern in this man. Too much kindness, really.
       "Oh aren't you just so funny you-" I tried to say something to insult his appearance but I had nothing. How on earth do I insult his perfect face? You have skin...ooh that's so awful ooh.
        My mouth opened to say something else but then closed when I saw what he saw. A shrill of anxiety shivered down my body.
TOP slowly let go of me and I gradually slid off of his back.
       Lights, camera and... Holy tabloids.
The mass of paparazzi had swarmed around the gate of TOP's house with machine gun cameras and they were aiming for their latest target.
          Me.