It was him. Holy it was him for sure. I recognized those killer eyes anywhere. Choi Seunghyun in the living flesh. I had tried so hard to avoid him by not going to work but of course, life had to be so ironic. Why was he here?? Did he live here?

         TOP was in a burgundy and white striped night robe over his pajama pants and a clean grey t shirt inside. His dark chocolate hair looked slightly damp as if he had just taken a shower despite the lateness of the night. And his skin flawless just as when I had seen if up close...when I had "kissed" him. Ugh chills.

     I immediately covered my face and smacked the bill of my hat down to cover my eyes. Using my jacket to cover up my mouth, I let out a fake cough.

      Suddenly I felt a strange warmth at my leg and a wet tongue my fingers. I looked down to find a medium sized golden blonde dog happily looking at me with wide brown marble eyes. The dogs lips almost seemed to be smiling...just like his owner's.

       "He's my neighbor, he doesn't live here. He lives right over there." Top said calmly as he pointed to his left down the street.

      I backed away from the dog and stared firmly at the ground without a response. 

Thank god, I don't think he recognizes me.

       "So take him down there, don't leave him here." Top said nonchalantly and scratched his fine forehead.

 

     The dog continuously looked up at me with charmingly cute eyes and rubbed up against me.

      "Come on Charlie. Let's go in." Top's voice sounded as usual, deep and slow, articulating every sound as if he was trying to savor the sounds of words. He began to walk back inside the gates and the dog slowly followed him in.

       He wanted me to carry this man down the street...alone? I couldn't do this in a million years. Sure I was strong for a girl but no way in hell could I carry a half dead half drunk guy to his house about 100 meters away.

       I gained the courage I had in me and said out loud in a deeper voice than usual.

"Wait."

        Top paused for a bit and then turned around with a sharp eyebrow raised.

        "I-I can't carry him alone, I need help." I said sheepishly.

He looked a little confused and then looked at the fat man snoring away right against the black gate.

       Without any word, Top walked back out and then grabbed both of the man's arms. Looking up at me, his eyes opened clearly.

        "Aren't you going to grab his legs?" Top asked as he took a deep breath.

   

        "A-Ah right." I said deeply as I pulled my hat down lower.

 Using both hands, I grabbed the drunk man's two legs with all the strength that I could muster up. 

God he was heavy.

        The cool summer air hit against my skin whenever I lifted my head, revealing my forehead, so instead I just kept my head down.

We carried him down about fifty feet until I began to slow down. Sweat trickled down the sides of my head and I felt a burning strain at my arms. On the other hand, Top seemed to be doing fairly well. His arms were securely latched around the drunk man's shoulders and was lifting him up with such ease.

       After a while, I stumbled a bit and lost grip of the legs. 

       Top paused and looked at me with a frustrated glare. He seemed to be getting a little tired too.

       "Yah, why are you so weak? You're a guy, you should be able to do this. Do you even work out?" Top said jokingly with a small smile out of the corner of his lips. His hair had dried now and little pieces of his hair were sticking out in the front.

       Seriously? Did I really look like a guy to him? Maybe to him, a girl was someone who was physically feminine. Someone with long beautiful hair and full eyelashes coating every brim of the eye. 

          We finally reached the house that the drunk guy supposably lived in and placed him right against his gate. There was nothing we could do so we just left him there.

While walking back to the car, Top began to talk to me...as if I was a whole different person.

         "Yah, but you...Do you know who I am?" Top asked me with a curious voice. His hands were in his robe pockets and his eyes directly on me even as we were moving.

I jerked my head back down and grunted out a low voice.

 "A-Aniyo. You do seem familiar but I don't think I know you."

         Top scoffed lightly and then pulled the strands of his hair back out of his face. "I guess it's better that way."

His voice seemed so echoey yet deep, a soft rumble that sounded somewhat pleasant.

         What the heck are you doing Raena? You hate him!

         I shook my head and sighed to myself. Top looked at me and  pat the top of my head playfully. 

 "How bad is your life to be sighing so deeply?" Top asked with a calm voice.

      Why did he seem so different now? He seemed like such a jerk to me...maybe because we started off wrong. Well I did kick him in the balls.

         "Your life must be pretty bad huh? Having to do stuff like this at this time of the night." He said softly.

        Out of curiosity, I asked him a question. "Why are you up so late?" 

        "My schedule is always everywhere. My job ends late at night and I've been having insomnia these days." 

        Hmmm...insomnia?

       "You...do you want to stay for a bit and have a drink with me? You don't seem like you're going to sleep anytime soon." Top said as we reached near his house. He opened the black gate with a push of a few buttons by the intercom.

        A drink? No I couldn't! 

       "U-Uh no thanks" I said quickly but the dog leaped out from the gates and began to nudge me in playfully.

       Soon I was inside Choi Seunghyun's property. Well I was on his front lawn.

It was ridiculously huge. And on top of that, gorgeous. The lawn was freshly groomed with brilliant patches of green grass and bushes of well cut plants lined the brick walls surrounding the residence. There was a mini koi pond with black stepping stones which led to a wooden swing set. Sleek modern stones made a pretty pathway towards the house itself.

 

And the house...well the house looked like something out of a magazine. The unique structure made it look like the pinnacle of contemporary styling with large glass walls making everything in the house see through. Even though the night was dark and hollow, the lights from the house seemed to light up the world. And right by the side of the house was a medium sized stone swimming pool, the water as clear as a deep azulean blue.

       My mouth was open in awe.

       "You. Do you drink wine?" Top asked as he put on a pair of black rimmed glasses that were sitting on a patio table nearby.

       You? Couldn't he call me something other than "you"? 

       "Do you have any soju?" I asked without thinking.

Crap, what was I doing?? I said I wasn't going to stay here!

       Top quickly went near the pool area where there was a small bar and cooler and he pulled out two bottles of soju. He walked back to near where I was standing and then sat down on a big garden rock. And of course, he crossed on leg elegantly over the other as if he were shooting some kind of soju commercial.

        I sighed and sat down on another large garden rock next to him. He handed me a bottle of the soju and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

         "Can you open it without an opener?" Top asked, fixing his glasses smugly on his nose.

         I scoffed, "Of course. Who can't?" Using my thumb and the side of the rock, I applied just enough pressure against the minuscule cap of the bottle and pushed it open. With a smiling success, I lifted my bottle up and gave a long sip.

         "Oh? That was good." Top said with a strange deep goofy giggle.

He...giggles? What the hell? Who really was this guy?

         Top pressed his soju bottle cap right at the angle of thick rimmed glasses and popped it open. 

I had to admit...that was pretty impressive. I've never seen one opened by that method.

          "Oh...you're not a minor are you?" He asked with sincereness.

          I shook my head and laughed. "Why? Do I look like one?" 

          "You look like a teenage girl with short hair." Top took a quick sip from his soju.   

The ? When I'm a girl, I look like a guy to him but when I pretended to be a guy, I look like a girl to him? 

          "Well I'll have you know, I've already been to college and have a successful job right now." I said almost forgetting that I was talking to TOP, not just an ordinary guy.

         "Why are you doing this kind of job so late when you have a successful career?" 

         I cocked my head to the side and actually thought about this. Well I did have a successful career didn't I? I was now working at YG entertainment! It was definitely a star dream come true for any music producer, right? Then why was I doing this?

The answer was obvious of course...I wasn't the only one who depended on me. I had a family. And by family, my mom.

        I gave a long sigh and felt a little empty as if I had just cried. My hands felt rusty and sticky from the car keys that I was holding in my hand.

        "...there are some problems at home. I try hard but...just working isn't enough. I gotta go beyond that. After this, I gotta go do newspaper delivery and then get ready for work. The money I get is never enough." I whispered into the thin air with self pity filling up inside of me.

         Then it was silent. A little after, Top looked up into the sky and said out loud, "I think...I think life can be really unfair."

I turned my head to look at him. The crisp darkness filling out his side view, the perfection of his smooth skin, his thin pursued lips and his nose all cocked into the air.

        "There's people like you in this world who try hard to get what they want and need...and then there's people who try to cheat their way through." He said blankly into space.

        Who...cheat their way? He couldn't be talking about me could he?

        "W-What do you mean by cheat?" I asked nervously.

        Top took another sip from his bottle. "There's this girl at my...work. A girl or boy, I'm not even sure. I think he's a guy though." 

I immediately changed my face into poker mode. A somewhat angry poker face. 

Seriously? Again with the gender confusion?

          But top continued on with his eyes staring away into the dark sky. "He way trying to steal- plagiarize some important files from the company...and it was just all for money. It sickened me for some reason. Him trying so hard just for money the quick way. When others are working hard...so hard to work for what they want and then to see bastards like him." Top then looked down.

      I felt a sudden pang of guilt in my heart. He was telling the truth. I was stealing. I could have done something else, something right and still have gotten the money however way I could. But I was a coward. A terrible feeling subsided at the pit of my stomach.

           "Don't look so down, life will get better." Top said in an uncomfortably friendly voice as he touched the top of my head playfully.

I shied away from his touch and abruptly stood up. Gently setting the soju bottle down on the clean rock, I began to slowly back away.

            "Well, thank you for the drink" I gave a respectful nod towards him, making sure my eyes didn't make contact with his, "I better get going...uhh I need to return the car back to the bar."

 

            "Oh." Top said calmly in his deep voice and then paused blankly. He began to stand up but I quickly held my hand up.

          "No no no, don't worry, I'll just leave. You just....just stay sitting...on that rock" I said quickly with my steps growing faster.

   Top laughed for a split second, and then shook his head.

 "You're a funny person." 

          I gave a short nod and then slipped away from his house through the sliver of his gates. The last thing I saw was the golden Dog's head curiously cocked as if he were questioning me.

          After leaving the house, I finally felt a huge sigh collapse out of my lungs. The words that he had said... About people like me. It was so true and I knew it. That pang of guilt would reside in me. 

I finally took my hat off my messy hair and let the cool wind flow through the sweaty strands.

Aish...damn, that means I have to quit now huh?