{A/N: While I was editing the last part of this chapter, I listened to The Age of the Cathedrals; You can listen to it as well if you want to. :D}

Title: Kings of Anything
Genre: Comedy (?), Fluff, Romance, Drama
Character/s: Super Junior x OC
No. of Chapters: 10/?

(Chapter focus: Kangin, Donghae and Heechul)

X

Life is a piece of cake with chocolate swirls and a cherry on top

September 28, 20xx, Saturday

KANGIN

“Good morning, mom.” I said as soon as I entered the dining area of our house. Our dining area is as big as an apartment for one person, since that’s how my dad rolls. My mom gave me a warm smile— the smile that I really love, and in return, I gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading to my seat across her. It’s a good thing that my dad isn’t here yet; I’m not yet ready for another round of bickering.

“What’s for breakfast, mom?” I asked with a bright smile as the maid gave me the plate and the utensils that I’m going to use. I bowed at her and smiled. “Thanks.”

“Bread, bacon, eggs, hotdogs and ham. I know that you like them for breakfast.” She started to place some eggs and hotdogs on my plate. “Do you want a cup of coffee, dear?”

“Yes, please, mom.” I smiled at her as I took a piece of bread. “Than—”

“Stop babying him, Yunji.” My father said as soon as he entered the dining area. I quickly stood up and bowed at him to show him my respect. Even though our family lived in the Philippines for so many years, my parents still didn’t forget about implying Korean manners at me like bowing, since Filipinos don’t do that normally. My dad sat down on his usual place and picked up the newspaper placed beside his cup of coffee and. “You baby him too much that’s why he doesn’t want to work!”

I hung my head low. No matter what happens, I still can’t talk back to my father because that’s how I was raised. I grew up in a world wherein I was taught to respect the elderly and whoever is superior to me, especially my seniors. As you can see, my father and I are not in good terms. Being the only son and only child of the Kim family, my dad wants me to work at the company that he worked hard to build, and be the heir in order for me to continue and prosper our family business, but I still can’t do that now. If I work in there now, I know that I won’t be able to explore the world myself. I still want to try out different things before settling with something that I know I am going to do ever since I was born, and for a position that I don’t need to work for.

Mornings are usually like this whenever dad and I meet for breakfast. It’s either I get a cold treatment from my dad, or the one that I am in right now. I am used to this already that’s why I choose to keep silent. You know me, I can’t keep my mouth shut, but I just choose to do so because I know that it is the right thing to do.

My dad and I weren’t like this when I was young. We were close with each other, actually. But as I slowly grew up into a naughty teen ager (I know how naughty I am, okay.), we slowly drifted apart from each other. I guess he had a hard time dealing with me, but what can I do? That’s how teen-agers are, especially me. Well, to be honest, I had a hard time as well, trying to understand the reasons behind his actions: he either scolds me or gives me a cold treatment. It got worse when I refused to work for our company after I graduated.

“So you’re saying that I can’t take care of my son?” my mom asked and raised an eyebrow as she looked at dad. Before looking back at me, she sighed. “Don’t worry dear, I’ll deal with this.”

“Mom, you don’t ne—”

“I’ll take care of this. Just g—”

“That is the reason why your son won’t work! You keep on tolerating his attitude!” My dad stood up and stared at my mom. Dang, they’re fighting again because of me.

“Youngwoon and I made a deal. Don’t worry about it.” My mom sighed. “He’s going to work there, don’t worry. I’ll make him work in the company, just.. give me some time.”

I looked at my mom and held her hand before giving her an assuring smile. I will make sure that I will keep that promise, maybe not now, but I sure will. Of all people, the person that I love the most is my mom. I’m proud to say that I am ‘mama’s boy’, and I’ll never deny the fact that I am. What’s wrong with loving your mom so much? I don’t even care whether some people tease me about it. I always told those people that: ‘before loving another girl, your mom should always come first.  How are you going to love another girl if you don’t even love the person who gave life to you?’

She had always been on my side no matter what situation I am in. Whenever my dad gets mad at me for being his ‘lazy son who wastes his hard-earned money’, my mom defends me and tells him that money isn’t supposed to be kept, it should be spent even in useless things. She still treats me like I was still the baby boy that she once held in her arms— but in a different way.

My dad sighed and loosened his neck tie. “Just make sure that you will.” He left the dining area without finishing his meal.

“Mom,” I said as I looked at my mom, giving her hand a squeeze. “You don’t need to defend me every time dad gets mad at me. I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn’t be used to it, dear.” My mom sighed before playfully hitting my arm. “He just wants what’s best for you, but he just doesn’t know how to express it properly.”

I chuckled softly as I shook my head. I know that already. “Dad is just like Heechul’s father. I guess that explains why they’re friends.”

“But you’re not like Heechul, darling.” My mom gave me a meaningful look, which made me confused. “He was brave enough to stand up for what he wanted even at such a young age.”

“Mom, I know what I want. I want to work for the company, but I just want to explore the world more. Ever since I was young, I knew that I’ll be the future CEO of our company. No matter what I do or wherever I go, I know I will end up working in our company.”

“Aigoo.” My mom chuckled softly as she ruffled my hair. “You’re not getting any younger, darling. You’re twenty-five years old now, and at the moment, you should have a stable job, a house, a car and a girlfriend.”

“I have a car.” I said with a playful smile, and it made my mom laugh.

“I bought that car, darling. It’s my gift last year.”

“But still, I have a car.” I wiggled my eyebrows and grinned. “All that I need now is a stable job, a house and a really pretty and really rich girlfriend.”

Because of the last phrase, my mom hit my head with her hand. “You should find a girl who will love you even if you get poor. Aigoo.”

“I’ll find her soon, mom. Don’t worry.” I chuckled softly and took a sip of my water. “And I will give you lots and lots of beautiful grandchildren.”

“Aigoo.. you really are your father’s son. You two really are the same.” My mom smiled as she caressed my cheek. “You need to keep your promise, okay?”

My mom and I made a promise last year. I promised her that I will work for our company when I find the person that I think I’ll be with forever: in short, when I find the girl that I will surely marry, before I turn twenty seven. She lets me do whatever I want to do with my life at the moment, but in exchange, I have to keep my promise. And I, Kim Youngwoon, is someone who doesn’t keep his word. I’ll try my best to prove that I am worthy of my mom’s trust.

I nodded with a smile. “I will, mom. Don’t worry.”

**

September 29, 20xx, Sunday

DONGHAE

“Dada, dada.” I wrinkled my nose before covering my face with a pillow. I felt the warm sunlight touch my skin as I heard the sound of the curtains being opened. What’s happening? What time is it? I know that it’s still early in the morning and I want more time to sleep. My body feels really tired and sore from all of the work that I did yesterday.

“Lee Donghae daddy!” I felt little fingers poking my nose, my cheeks and then my lips. Knowing who that person is, I smiled. I held Aiden’s hand and kissed each of his fingers as he continued to poke my lips. I’m really happy to hear my little boy’s giggle, and it is like music to my ears. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

“Five more minutes, please?” I opened one eye to look at Aiden’s reaction.

“No, no, no daddy! Mr. Sun is up already and daddy and Aiden need to eat breakfast!” Aiden started jumping on the bed as he shook my arm. Aigoo, my little boy really is cute. “Bada and Yuki are hungry as well! Ppali, daddy! Aiden’s stomach is making weird noises!”

I chuckled softly before opening my eyes slowly and gave Aiden a sleepy smile. I spread my arms wide and waited for his embrace. “Good morning, baby. Give daddy a morning hug!”

“Morning hug! Morning hug!” Aiden grinned as he willingly jumped into my arms, giving me a big bear hug. He buried his face in my chest as he smiled widely from ear to ear. “Aiden loves dada!”

Weekend mornings usually start like this, and I love every single second of it. All of the stress from work eventually fades away whenever I am with my son. Being a father has its pro’s and con’s; yes, it is tiring and hard being a father, especially when there are things that I don’t usually do but I need to do. I don’t really know how to cook, but for Aiden, I did my best to try to learn how to cook. It’s hard, but the happiness that I feel whenever I see my little boy happy is priceless. Being Aiden’s father is the best thing that ever happened to me.

I smiled before kissing Aiden’s forehead. “Daddy loves Aiden so much.” I hugged him tighter, making him giggle. “So so so so so so much!”

“Ah~ daddy! Aiden can’t breathe!” Aiden poked my chest, trying his very best to escape from my tight embrace.

I chuckled before letting him go. “Aigoo, daddy is sorry, mm?” I ruffled his hair and smiled at him. “Feeling better now?”

Aiden nodded with a grin as he got up.  “Faster, dada! Let’s eat breakfast!”

I sat up and carried my son in my arms. “Let’s brush our teeth first, okay?” Aiden nodded with a pout as he wrapped his small arms around my neck and we both made our way to the bathroom. I placed Aiden on the counter and took out our toothbrushes from the cabinet, giving Aiden his. I squeezed some of the chocolate-flavoured toothpaste on his toothbrush and a few seconds later, he started brushing his own teeth. My lips slowly formed a smile as I watched my son in front of me; it’s like, I was seeing the younger version of myself. Oh, the joy of being a parent.

“Dada, nhskadldfhws.” Aiden’s words were hard to understand since he still had his toothbrush inside his mouth. I just chuckled, and nodded. Even without the proper words, I understood what he wanted to say.

“Okay, baby.” I ruffled his hair before putting some toothpaste on my toothbrush.

I’m willing to give up everything just to continue living a life this great.

“I want to eat the eggs with the yellow thingy in the middle!” Aiden said as he dried his hair clumsily with a small towel. He trailed behind me as we both made our way towards our kitchen. Before preparing our meal, I poured some dog food on Yuki and Bada’s bowls, and some water for them. Besides Aiden, I live with two dogs: Bada and Yuki, a small puppy that I just bought a week ago, just because Aiden wanted it so much when we passed by a pet store.

“Eggs with yellow thingy?” I turned to look at Aiden who ran into my legs and fell down on the floor. I chuckled as I watched him stand up slowly, giggling.

Aiden nodded with a grin as he dropped his towel on the floor. “Yes, dada. And the hotdogs and the curly one!” He used his hands to explain the last part of the sentence he just said.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him. “Curly one? What do you mean, baby?”

“The thingy we ate the other day, dada!”

“What? Which one?” I scratched my head as I tried my very best to recall what we ate in the past days. “I really can’t remember..”

Aiden pouted as he hugged my legs. “I want the curly one! The curly one! The curly one!”

Aigoo. My little boy is making a fuss again. Whenever things don’t go the way he wants it, he turns into this stubborn little boy. I must admit, I spoiled him a little that’s why he’s acting a little.. bad sometimes. But most of the time, Aiden is the good boy that he usually is— except when you wake him up from a really good sleep.

“Aiden,” I sighed and bent down to carry him in my arms. I called out his name for him to know that I am serious; I usually call him with his name whenever I need to talk to him about good manners and things like that. Usually, I use endearments like ‘baby’ whenever I talk to him on a normal day. “Daddy won’t understand if you will just whine and cry like that. You need to tell daddy what you want, okay?” he didn’t answer and kept his head hung low. I sighed once again as I walked towards the refrigerator. “Tell daddy what you want, or get it from the freezer.”

Aiden slowly removed his hands from his face and opened the freezer. When the coldness touched his skin, he quickly shut his eyes close, and it made me chuckle. With wide eyes, Aiden looked through the packages of food placed neatly inside the freezer, slowly checking if it was the curly thing that he was talking about a while ago. His expression brightened as he pointed at the pack underneath the plastic container filled with chicken. “Dada! The curly thing!”

I laughed and gave myself a mental facepalm as I got the pack from the ref. How dumb am I to not be able to know what he was talking about? “So, you wanted to eat bacon, huh?”

“Bacon?” Aiden tilted his head to the side as he looked at me with curious eyes.

“The curly thing that you’re talking about is bacon, baby.” I placed Aiden on the counter gently before opening the pack of bacon that he wanted to eat so much.

“Bacon, bacon, bacon!” Aiden giggled as he watched me. “We’re going to eat bacon~”

I was busy with the pack of bacon when my phone, which I left inside my room, suddenly rang. I placed the pack of bacon on the sink and carried Aiden in my arms once again before heading towards our room to answer the call.

I picked up my phone which was on the edge of the bed and pressed the ‘answer’ button. “Hello?”

“Who is it, dada?” Aiden asked as he played with the strands of my wet hair.

“Hey.” Yoona’s voice was what I heard from the other line. Lim Yoona, Aiden’s biological mother. She was my girlfriend four years ago, when we were both still in college, but we broke up. One month later, I just found out that she is pregnant and that I am the father. I took responsibility, but she assured me one thing: we can’t be together again. I am fine with that since I, myself, know that our relationship would never work out in the first place. Our relationship is civil, and it is all because of Aiden. If it wasn’t because of Aiden, I would’ve cut any kind of communication that I have with her. At the moment, she’s busy working as a flight attendant in the US.

“It’s mommy.” Upon hearing the word ‘mommy’, Aiden’s expression brightened up. I know how much Aiden missed his mom. He doesn’t know that Yoona and I aren’t together, the only thing that he knows is that Yoona is working abroad. The last time that he saw her was a year ago during his second birthday.

“What’s up?” Yoona asked in a tone without any emotions in it.

“We’re good. Aiden is with me right now.” I placed the phone near Aiden’s ear, and I saw how excited he was at the thought of talking to the mother that he only knew in pictures. “Say hi to mommy, Aiden.”

“Mommy!” Aiden giggled as he held onto my phone and my hand. Happiness can clearly be seen on his youthful face. “Aiden missed you so so soooo much! Eh? But I still want to talk to mommy!” His lips suddenly formed a pout, and it made me wonder why. Aiden gave the phone back to me with a gloomy expression on his face before laying his head on my shoulder. He hugged me tightly, and because of that, I just sighed. What did she tell him? She always makes him upset.

“What did you tell him? Aiden really missed you and he wants to talk to you. Don’t make him upset, you always do this whenever you call, Yoona. You treat him as if he isn’t your own son.” I said with a straight face.

“Who are you to lecture me about parenting? Do you know anything? And don’t tell me that I don’t treat him like a mother, okay? I am working my off here in a foreign country just so I can give him a better future, Donghae.”

“No one asked you to do that, Yoona.”

“I did it because I want to.” I can hear the irritation in her voice. “Enough with this nonsense, we’re not going anywhere with this. Open your Skype account, I’ll talk to Aiden.” And with that, the line went dead.

Ever since Yoona and I broke up four years ago, we never had a decent conversation except when she was pregnant. Our break-up didn’t go so well, and we never had the closure that every relationship that is about to end needs. Whenever we talk, the longer it takes, the higher is the possibility for us to bicker and argue. I sighed and placed my phone inside my pocket.

Aiden looked up at me with a sad expression on his face. Traces of tears can be seen on his rosy cheeks. “Daddy, is mommy mad at Aiden?” He asked with a pout, tears slowly threatening to fall anytime soon.

“No, no, baby.” I kissed his forehead and wiped the tears with my thumb. “Don’t cry, baby.” Aiden hugged me tightly and started crying.

It felt like my heart was being shred into pieces as I watched my little boy cry because of Yoona. She was never a mother to Aiden. All that she did was carrying him in her womb for nine months and give birth to him. A few weeks after Aiden was born, she left for the US and left Aiden with me. She was still lucky enough that I chose to introduce him to Aiden, even though Aiden wonders why Yoona and I aren’t together, I had to make up lies and reasons so that I won’t make things complicated for Aiden at the moment. He’s still young, and I know he’ll have a hard time understanding the situation that his parents are in right now. Most of the time, she’s nice when she talks to Aiden, tells him that she loves him and that she misses him, but never really tried to be the mom that Aiden needs to be with him physically. I must admit, all of my efforts are not enough, even though I give my 101% in everything that I do for him. I just need to accept the fact that there are some things that a mother needs to do that can’t be fulfilled by the father, like me.

“Aiden is a good boy, right daddy?” Aiden asked. “Why doesn’t mommy want to talk to me? I really miss her, daddy. Is it because I didn’t know what bacon is?” His tears continued to fall. “Aiden will be a good boy, promise! And I will not forget what a bacon is, daddy. Please tell mommy that I will be a good boy and not get mad at Aiden anymore, please, daddy?”

“Mommy is not mad at you, Aiden.” I rubbed his back, trying to calm him down. “Mommy wants to talk to you as well, wait for a while, okay?”  I put Aiden on the floor first so that it would be easier for me to move. I walked towards my desk on the right side of the room and got the laptop from my bag. Aiden followed me as I went to the living room, tears still flowing from his eyes. I placed my laptop on the small coffee table in front of the couch before turning it on. I sat down on the couch and patted my lap, gesturing for Aiden to sit on it. “Stop crying now, baby. We’re going to talk to mommy, okay?” I kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. Aiden just nodded and looked down.

As I waited for the screen to light up, I hummed the tune of Aiden’s favourite song, the opening song of Pororo. Whenever Aiden feels down, he instantly feels better whenever we sing Pororo’s opening theme song together, but I guess it’s different this time. He didn’t react when I started to sing the first line. I sighed, and hugged him tighter. As soon as the laptop was on, I clicked the Skype icon on the desktop. After a few clicks, Yoona’s face can clearly be seen on the large screen of the laptop. I mouthed, ‘say hi to him,’ to Yoona who only rolled her eyes and mouthed back, ‘I know what I am doing.’

“Aiden, baby.” Yoona called in the voice that she uses to talk to Aiden. “Mommy’s here.”

Aiden slowly looked up at the screen and blinked. “Mommy? Is that you?”

“Yes baby, it’s me. Mommy’s here.”

“Are you mad at me, mommy?”

“No, baby, of course not. Mommy is not mad and will never be mad at you. In fact, I really missed you.”

“Really, mommy?” Aiden sniffed and wiped his tears away using the back of his hand. “You missed Aiden?”

“Of course, baby. Mommy really missed you.” Yoona smiled.

Aiden smiled widely. “I missed you too, mommy. Aiden loves you so much!”

“I’ll cook breakfast first.” I placed Aiden on the small, red bean bag beside the couch. Before heading to the kitchen, I ruffled his hair. “Stay here and talk to mommy, okay?”

“Yes, daddy.” Aiden nodded with a smile, and I made myself busy with our breakfast, stealing glances at my little boy from time to time.

If only there’s something I can do to give you a better family and better life, Aiden. I’m sorry for not giving you the life that you deserve to have.

**

October 3, 20xx, Thursday

HEECHUL

“These are really great, Mr. Kim.” The woman named Charlie said as she looked through my sketchpad where I drew the clothes that are for the movie that they are working with. She flipped through the pages with a smile on her face.

Whenever I was given the opportunity to prove myself, I, Kim Heechul, does my best to prove them that I can do so much better than the others. After signing the contract almost two weeks ago, I was told to make two long gowns and eight different outfits for the main lead of the movie that the television station is going to produce. I still don’t know that much about the movie, but I was given the information needed about the character that I am going base the clothes that I will make. They gave me the freedom to do whatever I think will fit the main lead. With high spirits, I was already done with almost all of it in a week. Usually, it takes me more than two nights to finalize some designs, but since I was too dedicated to the project, it took shorter time for me to finish it.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” I said with a smile, trying to sound as polite as I can.

“Mm.. you just need to work on some things, okay? I added some notes and I’d appreciate it if you consider them.” Charlie gave me a smile before giving the sketchbook back to me. “Nevertheless, your works are really wonderful. They are not my taste, to be honest, but this is what we were looking for. Crazy but stylish, weird but beautiful. We really made the right choice.”

I’m not really asking for your opinion, woman, I thought. I tried my best to fake a smile. “Thank you, ma’am. It’s an honour to be able to work with you.” Well, not really.

“It’s our pleasure, Mr. Kim.” Charlie smiled as she offered her hand for a handshake. I really don’t do these kinds of things but for the sake of the big break that I need, I did it. I shook her hand and smiled and awkward smile. “Annabeth is outside. She can accompany you later when you buy the things that you need for the clothes. The money that you need for the project is with her.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I really didn’t listen with what she was talking about since I find her voice really irritating, you know? It’s like the kind of voice of the ahjummas in the market, calling some customers to buy some fish from them. I hung my brown duffel bag which was on the chair beside me a while ago and exited the suffocating office of that woman, only to see Annabeth standing by the door. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at her. “What do you want?”

“Didn’t you hear what Ma’am Charlie said?” Annabeth faced me and crossed her arms. “I am going to accompany you today, to help you bring the things that you would buy today.”

“I don—”

“Whether we like it or not.” She gave me a sarcastic smile before turning her back on me, heading straight to her desk to get some things, I think.

I scoffed and followed her without saying a word because if I did, I know and I am 101% sure that I might get into an endless argument with her once again. I’d be seeing her more in the next days, that’s for sure, and I don’t like it. First impressions really matter to me, and I didn’t really like her the first time that I saw her. No, erase that. I hated her the first time that I saw her, and that is already inside my mind whenever I see her. Yes, my first impression of her was that bad, up to the point wherein I wished that I will never see her again. Here’s one thing that everyone should remember if they dare to be friends with me: never make an impression whenever I am in a bad mood because there is a high possibility that it would NEVER change.

“So, where are going today?” She faced me and stared straight into my eyes as she tapped her fingers on the desk.

“Leave it to me.” I snapped my fingers right in front of her, which surprised her and made her jump due to shock. I smirked at her before leaving, with her following behind me.

No one ever won an argument with me. I always win.

“We’ve searched every store that is in this list, Heechul. All of them were useless.”

As if life was really testing my patience and my strong will to live a decent life without having to go to jail once for attempted murder, everything that I needed that day were nowhere to be seen at every shop that we visited. Annabeth and I visited every fabric store that I exist in NCR (National Capital Region), but all of my efforts were useless. I was only able to buy two kinds of cloth out of the thirteen that I need to be able to start with my work. I just felt the need to buy everything at once because I know that when I start with something that I really want to do, I won’t be able to get out of my work room not unless I need to use the bathroom. During those times, Hangeng usually delivers some food that Auntie made for me.

Annabeth crumpled the piece of paper where I wrote all of the stores that I know before wiping the droplets of sweat on her forehead using her handkerchief. She rested her head on the headrest of her seat and fished out her phone from her bag.

Manila’s weather is as hot as it usually is, plus the never-ending pollution that every car in the city produces. Out of irritation, I threw my duffel bag on the back seat before slamming the door shut. Annabeth and I just exited the last shop on my list and we are still in the parking lot. I am extremely exhausted since I had been driving around NCR for almost four hours. The heat is getting into my nerves, making my temper worse than it already was. My black long-sleeved shirt isn’t helping as well. All that it did was absorbing all the heat and make me feel extremely uncomfortable.

“I don’t get it. Those stores used to have everything before. Of all days, why now?” I mumbled to myself as I opened the bottle of mineral water in my hand.

“When will they have those things again?” Looks like Annabeth heard me. She took out a small bottle of water from her bag and started chugging down its contents.

“If I’ll be lucky, they’d have those things three weeks from now.”  I fished out my phone from my pocket and started texting Jaejoong, my classmate from high school up to college (SoFA), and asked him if he still know some fabric store around Manila that I didn’t know. Jaejoong is a really good friend of mine, besides the guys of course. During my hard times, he used to treat me lunch, even against my will and after I threatened his existence on Earth.

At times like this, it’s a miracle that I am able to stay calm and not throw a fit. I don’t really know the reason why, but within the few seconds of silence, I was able to form some theories: a.) maybe it is because I am doing something that is going to contribute to the big break that I had been dreaming of for so many years. I am working for my dreams now, and I have enough inspiration and motivation to keep me calm when the situation does not go just like the way I planned it; or b.) what is happening today isn’t as severe as the cases wherein I just explode and throw everything that is near me or hit the arm of someone beside me, and in this case, it is a girl named Annabeth. I know that all of you might be sick of seeing the words ‘big’ and ‘break’ as you take a visit in my train of thoughts, but I really don’t care. It’s the center of my universe as of the moment, and you just have to deal with it.

“And you need to remember the deadline. Almost half of it is needed by the end of the month and that’s like.. three to four weeks from now.” Annabeth fastened her seatbelt. “Ma’am Charlie may look nice, but she is really strict with deadlines. That’s one thing that you need to remember because they’re going to start shooting the movie on November.”

“When in November exactly?”

“Third week, I guess. There’s not much time, we need to find alternatives.” I just nodded. At least I can plan how I am going to divide my time in working on the clothes needed.

The engine roared to life as I twisted the keys. “Are you hungry?” I placed my phone on the dashboard and placed my handkerchief on it before driving. “I’ll buy something to eat before continuing. I’m still waiting for the text message from my friend.”

“You are unbelievably calm today.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Annabeth chuckle softly as she looked at me.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at her for a split-second. “Do you want me to shout all the time?”

Annabeth blinked and shook her head. “N-no, of course not. I was just curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.” I took a quick glance at Annabeth and smirked. “Do you want to get killed, too?”

“Are you threatening me?” She raised her tone as she talked.

“Do I look like a murderer to you?” I glared at Annabeth for a millisecond, since I can’t do it for a long time because if I do, we’ll be dead at the moment and you won’t be reading about my thoughts. “I know that I am ill-tempered, but I will never get my really clean hands on you!”

“Do I look dirty?!” Annabeth crossed her arms as she stared at me, sending daggers straight at me. If I am a normal person, I might say that if looks could kill, I would probably be dead right now; moreover, double dead; but I am not. I am Kim Heechul, and for everyone’s information, there hasn’t been any single glare that intimidated me my whole life.

“I never said anything, you did!”

“I didn’t! You did!”

“I. DID. NOT.”

“Now you’re not calm anymore!”

“It’s your fault!”

“No, it’s not!”

“It’s not my fault that you can’t even take a single joke!”

“It didn’t sound like a joke to me!”

“Well, that’s not my problem anymore!”

“You know what? SHUT UP. Just shut up. I’m not in the m—”

“Who the hell are you to tell me to shut up, huh?!”

“I am Annabeth and I have the money that you need for the big break—” she emphasized ‘big break’; “That you want. And without the money, you’ll need to say goodbye to that big break of yours, and I will need to say goodbye to my job. Do you understand that?” Annabeth stared at me, clearly agitated from the argument that we are having at the moment. Well, she’s not the only one, you know. She was catching her breath and looked really angry at the moment. “I need my job, but I don’t think I’ll be able to keep it because I can’t tolerate that kind of attitude of yours.”

“Don’t blame me for all of this . You’re at fault as well.” I stared blankly at the road. “And don’t blame me for all of the that’s happening in your life. Don’t vent your anger at me, because I am not someone who takes it in really well. I have my own share of s in life and that’s enough, I won’t take responsibility over yours.”

Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes. I didn’t look at her for a few minutes; I didn’t even try. I am agitated, she is agitated, and it would do us no good if we talk. It would do me no good if I talk because I might say something that can break her oh-so-innocent heart. Take note of the sarcasm, please.

“Head back to the office.” She said after a few minutes of silence. “We’re going to Divisoria. It’s the only place left. Lea— WHAT THE?!”

If it wasn’t for the seatbelt, Annabaeth could’ve been thrown out from the car and off to the roads just like what you see in those zombie movies where they suddenly step on the brake because of the zombie. Yes, that kind of thought was running inside my mind at the moment, even though my whole mind is at panic mode at the moment upon hearing the word ‘Divisoria’, just like how Spongebob’s mind looked like in a certain episode. Yes, I am that traumatized by Divisoria. I promised myself that I would never go there EVER AGAIN.

Honks and angry voices of drivers who are yelling at me can be heard from behind, but I didn’t really care. I stopped my car in the middle of the road.

“What on earth were you thinking, Heechul?” Annabeth said as he placed her hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat. “Are you trying to get us killed? If you want to commit suicide, don’t include me. My family needs me, and I d—”

“There’s no way that I’m going back in that place. NO. Just no.”

Annabeth scoffed. “You’re such a big baby. You don’t have a choice.”

“I have a choice! And that is not to go to Divisoria!”

“No, you don’t.” Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me and smirked. “You have two choices, Heechul. It’s either hello, Divisoria,” Her smirk was replaced by a sad expression (I swear, she’s mocking me.) as she waved her hand in the air. “Or bye bye big break.”

Honks got louder and louder. If I lived in a Korean drama, the cameras should be rotating around my car right now and do a focus on my extremely priceless facial expression at the moment, but I’m not. Some eve cursed me for stopping my car in the middle of the intersection— at a green light. I am causing a traffic jam.

LET ME DIE NOW.

**