~
          "Huh... I guess I thought your apartment would look different." N says while standing in the doorway and looking around the mostly barren apartment. His frame rising above Alteria's to fill half of the door-way space.

     Alteria couldn't really blame him either. The boxes from America hadn't shipped yet and Nanomi hadn't brought all her things from her old apartment.
 N steps onto the deep cherry colored hard-wood floors; his sharp steps fill the quiet room. Alteria quickly kicks off her shoes and follows him in. He walks towards the large window like a moth to a flame. Alteria stops herself at his right side, leaving enough space between them for N to remain comfortable. "But I have to say, the view is killer." He looks down and smiles at Alteria. Feeling nervous, Alteria looks out the window. "I know. I stood exactly here this morning and watched people walk through the rain. Seoul also looks beautiful from this high at night." She says.

   "Oh... I almost forgot why I came. I will go pack my things." N nods and sits down to wait at the kitchen table. Alteria quickly goes to her bedroom and starts to pack up things she had brought as luggage on the plane, as well as a few things she had purchased when arriving. What had seemed like an instant to Alteria, must have actually been an eternity, for N suddenly waltz's into her bedroom. Startled, she looks at N. Pink bra in one hand. Bottle of conditioner in the other. N laughs and quickly averts his eye-sight to the bedroom ceiling while fanning himself with one hand. Embarrassed, Alteria blushes and hides the items behind her back.

"Uh..uh... sorry." He says. "I was just wondering what was taking so long..." Alteria scuttles to her open suitcase, and shoves the items into it. Quickly zipping it, she turns to him enraged. "Why didn't you knock?" She questions with anger rising.

"The door was open." He replies. 1-0 Cha.

     "Well... why didn't you warn me?"

"I did. You must not have heard me." 2-0 Cha.

     "Well....well... ugh. FINE. I am all packed." She angrily grabs the suitcase and brushes by N, knocking him away from the doorway. She moves towards the front door and puts on a pair of her own shoes, picks up N's shoes she had been wearing, and goes to open the apartment door. Suddenly, a knock on the door stops her hand from turning the knob. Alteria peers through the small metal peep-hole.
"What?!" She says out loud as N exits her bedroom and walks into the hall behind her. Alteria swings open the door to reveal her all too friendly next door neighbor in only boxers.

"Hey Alteria." He drunkenly mumbles while slurring each word.

"Hi Minho." Alteria says in a monotone voice. Occasionally, her neighbor would stop by her apartment, extremely intoxicated, to do nothing more than have small talk with her. Usually she was alone when he did stop by, which made her feel uncomfortable, but now was different. This time N was also with her.

"Would you maybe like to go out and get a dr-dr-dr"

"A drink?" Alteria finishes his sentence for him. Minho bounces his head to mean yes, while stumbling towards her. "I am sorry, but I have company. Maybe another time." She sighs.  Looking back at N, Alteria thinks she saw, for a fraction of a second, a disgustingly angry expression painted on his face. But he changed the expression so quickly that Alteria thought it may have just been a figment of her imagination. He now smiles back at the sorry Alteria.

 Moving his head around Alteria's shoulder to see what she had meant, Minho lays his eyes on her visitor.

"Oh you! You are such a lucky man. This here lady, she is normally quiet. But then again.." He pauses to stop himself from falling over, "that's just my type." The drunk Minho giggles and moves his hand to touch a piece of her blonde hair. Before Minho has the capability to touch it, a hand strongly swats it away.

  "Now I have no clue who you are, but this is no way to present yourself in front of a woman. I suggest you go put some clothes on. Oh, and never touch her again without her permission. She is way to good for someone like you."  N now stands with full force in front of Alteria. His strong body like a brick wall between her and Minho. She had barely heard N move behind her, almost like his feet didn't even touch the ground.

  "Whoa whoa whoa man. Look, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just looking for a good time." Minho stammers, but suddenly, something else catches the drunks attention. "Hey dude, you should probably get that checked out. That looks pretty bad with all that blood and everything." Minho says with a contorted expression as he reaches out to touch N's hand.

 "I don't know what you are referring to. I think its time for you to leave." N growls, death glare in full force. N pulls the end of his long sleeved black shirt to cover his hand, and moves it in front of his body so Alteria can't see it.

    Minho walks backwards and quickly pulls his apartment door open, disappearing inside. N sighs, and Alteria sees his shoulders relax from behind him. Turning around, N breaks into a beautifully complex smile. Alteria smiles half-heartedly back at him, and exits her apartment towards the elevator. Suddenly, she feels the weight of the suitcase move from her possession. "I will carry this." N says with a smile, as he brushes past her and into the elevator. Alteria stares after him for a moment, then follows him in.

    While N is preoccupied with pressing the floor button, Alteria allows her eyes to wander. They graze the length of N's sharp chin, his shiny high cheek-bones, cute small nose, and finally his lips. At the sight of his lips, Alteria recalls the memory of the bed-room incident. Those lips had been so close, only inches, from hers. Although that had been shocking to Alteria, perhaps what turned out to be more shocking was that she was drawn to it. She wished that he had actually kissed her. She wondered what his lips felt like. She wasn't the type of person to do those kinds of things so easily, but for some reason, she had been drawn to N. But wait... what had Minho meant just moments before? About his hand bleeding? Glancing at N's hand now pressing a gold floor-level button she sees no indication of injury. Minho was smashed, so he must have just been seeing things like most drunks. Right. He was wrong. He had to be. Besides most celebrities kept good care of their health, careful to not get even the slightest scratch. Then suddenly, another moment pops into her memory. Had N said that Minho didn't deserve someone like her? What did he mean?

"What are you thinking about?" N's warm voice breaks her reverie.

"Oh nothing." Alteria falls quit.

For a moment, no words are exchanged. Then, N is finally the first to speak up.

"So your neighbor..." He pauses with hesitation, "what is...the relationship?" N says relieving what has been on his mind the last few minutes, and has ultimately failed to hide behind his smile because he was afraid of what her answer might be.

"Oh... He is just my neighbor. He likes to bring girls back to his apartment just as much as alcohol. But he isn't such a bad guy. He stops by every once in a while to say hi. It's nothing. Don't worry."

But the fact is N was worrying. N was worried that the drunken neighbor would stop by again, without himself to protect her. He imagines the attractive drunken man barging into her apartment. Her innocent eyes scared as he pinned her to the ground. Her ash-blonde hair messy from struggle. N clenches his jaw and suppresses the awful thoughts.

"I think you should move in to the dorm permanently." N says coldly.

"What? Permanently? What do you mean?" Alteria says, confused.

N quickly realizes that he had said his thoughts out loud, and tries to back-track. "What I meant... I mean.. I meant to say..." But before he can finish Alteria's phone rings.

  "RINGA LINGA LING, RINGA LINGA LING, RIGHT. RINGA LINGA-" Embarrassed, she answers the call.

 "Oh Unnie!" The familiar voice says. "Oh hello Nanomi!" She says, suprised that she would call during work hours.

"I was in the management office, and boss came in all angry. What happened? You weren't late were you? Or...could it be?" She gasps, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO WEAR SLIPPERS TO WORK AGAIN."
 "No, no I did not wear slippers." She says to calm her, hearing N laugh at the absurd comment. "I was a little...late." She slowly says, waiting for her disapproval. 

"UNNIE!" She yells. Certain that it was loud enough N must have heard.  "I worked so hard to get this job for you! Do you know how many people would absolutely die for this position?" Alteria hears her sigh before continuing.

"Alright, just don't mess anything up again. Or you are out for SURE. I have no clue how you managed saving your this morning, but I am trusting you with this. I don't want to lose my job too for recommending someone who can't handle this. Anyways, how are the guys?" She says, suddenly happy.

      Alteria stops and remembers being alone with N in his room, the memory still haunting her almost like a plague. Him on top of her. About to kiss her. She blinks away the memory and makes something up.

"They are great. They have great attitudes." She finally says.

   "Oh COME ONNNN. They are HOT aren't they? They are known as the god-idols you know. Give me the whole story. Don't you dare leave out a single detail." She chuckles. What Alteria really wants to say is "HELL YEAH." but what she actually says is "They're alright."

   Nanomi pauses. "You are so weird I swear. Lets meet up for coffee tomorrow morning. Since their dormitory is right next to the management office and all. I heard from Boss that you would be staying with N while he prepares for the interview that he missed this morning. Unnie, don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
"Nanomi. I will do less than what you would do." Alteria says flatly. Nanomi laughs before beginning to whisper. Alteria hears footsteps approaching in the background.

"Hey Alteria I have to go, boss is coming to tell me to get off. See ya! Oh and behave!" She whispers quickly.

  "Alright! Bye!" Alteria says back. When the call ends, Alteria shoves her phone into her smooth dress pant pocket. N giggles next to her as they step out of the elevator and move through the main lobby.

   "WHAT?" Alteria asks. N smiles and shakes his head. Still smiling, he says, "Nothing." She knows that he must have heard the majority of the call. Her best friend is known for being obnoxiously loud.
"It's just..." He smiles. Alteria anxiously waits for the impending doom. "I just didn't know that you were the kind to wear slippers to work."
She had expected him to say something else. Perhaps the part about them being hot? She had almost forgotten about the slippers. "It was ONE TIME. Okay? GET OVER IT." She says, feeling her cheeks flush with heat.

    Alteria remembers the one day back in America. It was a hot muggy morning. She had been running late for her first job at sixteen years old. Her mom had worked so hard to get her a job at the local ice cream parlor. She absolutely hated the job, but she had no choice because it paid for the gas. She had woken up that morning to the sound of her mother screaming. "GET YOUR OUT OF BED. WORK STARTED FIVE MINUTES AGO. WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?" She remembers rushing to pull her work uniform on. But when she arrived at work, she looked down to realize that she had slipped on her bed-time slippers instead of her plain slip-resistant work shoes. The fuzzy pink poodle slippers looked back up at her. Their plastic blue eyes looked up, as if to say, "Why do you look so ridiculous?"

     Alteria snaps back to reality, realizing N had been talking all this time. "Well we have that option. What do you think?"

 "Huh...oh sorry I was day-dreaming." Alteria says as they both walk outside past various stores, restaurants, and cafes, filled with people because it was dinner time. Passing each, Alteria saw people gawk out the windows. Hitting their friends shoulders and pointing in N's direction. People seemed to know exactly who it was. The infamous Cha Hakyeon. They had seen him acting on television, saw his face in ads, heard his voice on the radios, or followed VIXX online.

       "Day-dreaming about the slippers? You have bad luck with shoes." N smirks.

    As Alteria looks up at N, she suddenly sees the person that all the fans saw. He was extremely good looking, enough to be on TV or in ads; His mannerisms were controlled enough, enough for a dancer; His body was perfected, enough to show all his hard work; and he was kind enough, enough to make them all fall in love with him. But the difference for Alteria still remained. Alteria actually knew him on a personal level. Even if she had just met him hours earlier, she still knew him better than the others.
"What were you saying?" She says, looking down at her feet.

"I said that we should stop and get something to cook for dinner." He says.

"Oh, okay. I hadn't even thought about dinner. There is a grocery store ahead, right?" N nods as they walk onwards, now planning for a quick stop at the local grocery.
                                                                                                                       ~

 
  They both walk into the small grocery store. Random fan girls here and there gawk in N's direction, just as the others on the street had. Two girls at self check-out whispered behind cover of their hands. The taller one in pink whispers, "That's him! The leader of VIXX! He looks even better in person." She giggles. The one in light blue whispers back, "Oh my god I know. He is so damn y. Look at his legs!" She squeals. Alteria feels a heat rise within her. She tried to suppress her anger. What was this feeling? Was she really jealous of them?

   N, who was walking ahead of Alteria, turns around to face her. "What are you looking at?" N playfully pouts. Alteria takes her eyes of the girls, and faces N. She wonders why it didn't bother him that all these people stared at him everywhere he went. "Nothing. What do you want to eat?" Alteria asks, realizing that she had no clue what he liked.

   "You know," He pauses, "I have always wanted to try American style pancakes, and since you are from America, could you make some?" N chuckles nervously as he bites his lip. His habit of biting his lip drove Alteria crazy. How could one person be this attractive?

  "Yes of course!" Alteria says as she smiles at his odd request. Breakfast for dinner? She wasn't opposed to that. She proceeds to gather all the necessary items to make the American pancakes. Eggs, milk, flour, maple syrup, and butter all find their way into her basket. She picks up a few more things because the refrigerator was with no doubt empty, and heads to the checkout. All the while N is grinning like crazy because she was making food for him. And at that, unhealthy food. The agency had directed her to only make healthy food to keep the members in shape, but she couldn't resist his cute attitude. Besides, she can make healthy food later. She buys all the groceries and they are soon headed back to the dorm.

   "Huh? We must have taken longer then I thought. It's already dark out here." Alteria says as she looks up and notices how bright the stars are. Ever since she was little she has had a love for the night sky. And tonight the bright stars almost seemed like a fairytale. Like millions of tiny lanterns guiding the way. An indication that everything would turn out alright. She remembers what her sister had told her in her darkest days. "If you look up at the stars, you can find all hope. Proof that there is more to reality than we think, proof that there is more to be discovered, more to love, and certainly more to live for." N follows her line-of-sight and smiles when he sees her admiration for the night sky.

   "Pretty isn't it?" He says in a soothing tone. A tone as beautiful as any singers. The weather outside is perfect. Not too hot or too cold, with a slight breeze. Still looking upwards, Alteria feels an arm across her chest stop her. Startled, she looks down to see that her face was inches away from a metal light pole. N pulls her closer to his side so that she was no longer in danger of running into anything. "There, that's better." N laughs.
    At N's side, she feels warmer, and safer. She hadn't told anyone, but she was afraid of the dark ever since her parents incident. Together they walk onwards until they both exit the strip of stores on the main road, and turn left onto the dark paved road that the dorm was at the end of, which had seldom lighting. But the bright moon made up for it.

    "This might sound odd," he slowly says, "but I feel strangely comfortable around you." Alteria smiles because she had thought the same exact thing about him. "I guess that's a good thing, considering we will be alone together for the next three days." She says. N smiles brightly and looks down at his feet. Alteria wonders what his expression could be right now, what he could be thinking.

"It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions." N says.

"Are you seriously quoting Shakespeare right now?" Alteria laughs.

"I enjoy reading. Especially classic literature. Is there something wrong with that?!" N pouts.

      No. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Alteria thinks to herself. To Alteria, it only made him more appealing. But it was wrong for her to have any feeling towards him, she reminders herself. Despite her body aching to touch him, her mind pulled her back.

    He looks over at Alteria, and the moon is so bright that she can make out most of his expression. His face is the same as it was before back in his room. He smiles but his eyes are still as curious. He bites his lower lip, and looks up.
  "Oh? We are home!" N says as he runs up to the door and opens it for Alteria like a gentleman. Placing his free hand across his waist and bowing playfully. Alteria laughs and enters first as he follows her inside.
 

*Authors Note: I bet you guys were suprised at the creepy Minho part right?! I wonder what could have been going through N's head at the sight. And what about our innocent little Alteria?!          WARNING: THIS NEXT CHAPTER CONTAINS LIGHT . But honestly you guys wanted it, right? Right? >.< *