A/N: I never highlighted this before so this it. Sorry I didn't get to finish it yesterday. :(

It was early morning when Minseok arrived. He didn’t see Luhan’s brand new car in the garage so she assumed he wasn’t there. She was upset that Luhan almost took over the things that she should be doing for Minkyung. He immediately fell into the routine of tucking her in, reading her stories and sometimes even sleeping beside her. And in Minseok’s effort to avoid him at all costs, she realized she can’t even remember the last time she’d done those things for her daughter.

Foregoing the need to change into something comfortable, she went straight to Minkyung’s room. Her daughter was sleeping soundly, tightly hugging a deer plushy Minseok hadn’t seen before. She sat beside the sleeping figure gingerly, turned the lamp on and adjusted the dimmer. She brushed off stray hair off her face and like usual, marveled at the very thought of giving birth to this wonderful young lady.

When Minkyung was two, her pediatrician recommended that she let her take an aptitude test to determine her IQ. And though her genius didn’t surprise her at all, she cried a lot because of it. If she turned out to be just like her father, she’ll be successful in no time and the whole world will hear about her. She was afraid that one day, she’ll be taken away from her and she won’t be able to do anything about it. It scared her even more that she seemed to be as stubborn and as strong-willed as she was.

Although these attributes helped her a lot in managing the business empire her father built, they’re the same attributes that brought her a lot of misery.

Her obsession of everything about Luhan took most of her time during university. She was a member of every club he was in, she knew his schedule by heart (she hacked the student portal), she frequented the same hangout spots he did and she even learned polo even if it resulted to her being in a cast for three months. She did all that and more just to get his attention. But to no avail.

Luhan’s attention was manipulated by practically the whole university populace, all the clubs he was president of and Jung Key. Everybody thought they were together and they never corrected everyone’s assumption. She wanted to make the first move but it was against her morals to go after someone who’s already taken. Luhan left Harvard without knowing that a certain Kim Minseok was pining for him.

Years later, Yesung expressed his desire to retire and embrace farming. As the eldest, she had to take responsibility. Although she knew her father wouldn’t have forced her to take over if she didn’t want to, she felt it was a way to pay her father back for all his sacrifices for her and Baekhyun. Besides, she couldn’t allow someone else to take over the company her father toiled sweat and blood for. And with her business acumen, it wasn’t so difficult. She was exposed to the ins and outs and their company since she was a little girl and not much training was needed. Everybody in the company knew there was not an heir but an heiress to rule them over once she was ready.

Months before she was announced as successor, she asked for a vacation. She told her father she wanted to do a lot of things she won’t be able to do once she’s CEO of Kim Enterprise. Yesung gave consent without questions. He said she’d better enjoy because she’ll be busy with the transition when she comes back. So she packed her bags and went to Paris. But neither Yesung nor Baekhyun knew she only stayed in Charles de Gaulle for a few hours before she flew back to Incheon.

The building where Luhan lived was one of the best and most expensive in Gangnam. It cost a fortune just to get this information. The Chois had always been reclusive snobs and it was evident even in the choice of address. The condominium wasn’t very tall. But what it lacked in height, it compensated in breadth. She didn’t know if it was pure luck but the only one for sale was one of the two penthouse units. The thought of being this close to Luhan made her pay for it without much thought. The four-thousand square foot penthouse was lonelier than it looked and Minseok found it odd to be doing nothing aside from shopping and wishing that she at least bump into Luhan.

Coming home from one of her many shopping trips, her wish was granted. While getting her shopping bags from the boot, she overheard someone talking loudly with too many curse words than Minseok could count. The person was getting out of an expensive cabriolet two cars over and her breath hitched when she recognized who it was.

“What the do you mean you don’t know?! No, don’t ask him to call me! Ask the moron to do his ing job! It was very simple. How hard it is to look for a model? Just how many people are there in this goddamn city that he can’t find me a model?” He banged the door of the car shut and walked briskly to the elevator bank, missing her altogether. Her eyes widened when she realized he used one of the two elevators exclusive to the penthouse owners.

To promote maximum privacy that the building was boasting of, the lift opens directly to a foyer and can be accessed only by biometrics. So at least intended, there was no chance for the neighbors to even see each other. She can’t believe he was only a few steps away from her all this time. Of course Luhan deserved only the best and the penthouse was the best there was. Her stomach was churning and her brain was running a hundred miles a minute.

Two days later, she found herself knocking on his door and introducing herself as the model sent by the agency (she didn’t even know if it was an agency and Luhan didn’t say a word about it), throwing all caution to the wind. Baring herself in front of a stranger sounded so wrong on so many different levels but knowing that she loved him for years and knew almost everything about him made her forget everything about self-preservation. Luhan was finally in front of her and was looking at nothing else but her—despite the circumstances.

“Is this your first time?” Minseok bit her lip and nodded. “Same here.” He chuckled. Luhan didn’t paint people. He was more attuned with landscapes and non-living things. He wanted to challenge himself this time and after sitting by the Han River for long hours and painting random people, he’s ready to tackle painting but his muse evaded him. Not to mention the lack of the proper model to help him realize his plans.

She will learn later that it was not a one-time deal but a succession of modeling jobs. Luhan didn’t even know that she only lived next door. She always made it a point to use her elevator to the parking lot, ride another elevator to the lobby and ask for Luhan to ring her up.

Minseok was full of nerves. She posed for Luhan in different states of undress for the last couple of weeks but she was always wearing something—albeit so little—but today, as he briefed her last night, she’d have to shred every piece of clothing for their next project. Luhan was gracious with compliments and he always made sure she’s more than comfortable. But knowing that he’d have to show him something no one had seen before didn’t make her feel any better.

Her hands were shaking as she held on to the Pyrex dish that she brought with her. Luhan opened the door for her himself. He was in a plain white shirt and gray drawstring pants.

“Dinner?” She beamed.

“Wow. You didn’t have to, you know?” He took the dish from her and went straight to the kitchen and placed it carefully on the counter. “Would you like something to drink?” He opened the fridge and she peered inside.

“Can I have a can of Guinness, please?” She sat on one of the bar stools as she waited for Luhan to get her a glass.

“Feeling a little ballsy today, huh?” He handed her a can of beer and a chilled glass. “Are you nervous?” He took the foil off the Pyrex and he didn’t even hide his surprise to see what she cooked. “You know how to cook ossobuco?” She was having a mental breakdown. In her attempt to impress him, she had cooked one of her favorite Italian dishes she learned when she took her gap year in Italy. Her mother’s friend, a chef based in Milan, who also stood as her foster parent, taught her personally.

“Ah yeah, uhm, everything is on the net, you know?” She took the liberty to raid the cupboards for some plates and utensils just to avoid his judging gaze.

“This is spectacular! I can’t believe it’s your first time to cook it.” Of course it wasn’t but he didn’t have to know that. “I’ll have this reimbursed, okay? The wine itself isn’t cheap and veal isn’t either—“

“Luhan-ssi,” She cut him off firmly. “You’ve been paying me well and this didn’t even make a dent on it. Please don’t insult me like this.” She stood up, gathering her things from the counter, ready to leave.

“Xiumin-ssi, it’s not what I meant.” He snatched her arm rather brusquely and she brushed him off.”

“Look, I don’t need your pi—“ It was his turn to cut her off this time by kissing her hard on her lips. She was so surprised she froze like a statue. She’d dreamt of this million times over in different scenarios and different settings and now that it was happening, she can’t even move a finger.

When she finally got a grip, she wrapped her hands around his neck and savored the feeling. Luhan stiffened for a few seconds—probably not expecting her to respond at all—before ravishing her lips all over again. Needless to say, they didn’t finish their dinner. Minseok left for her flat before the first ray of sunlight broke the horizon.

She locked herself inside her apartment for a week. Luhan didn’t even contact her and she’d never felt so low. Did she really expect him to take a model seriously? When he was whispering sweet nothings to her after their post-coital bliss, she was tempted to reveal who she really was and she was glad she didn’t. What if after she revealed she wasn’t a model he still didn’t contact her?

After being cooped up inside for so long, she walked around the neighborhood for fresh air. She was walking back to the apartment when she heard a honk. She saw Luhan in his flashy convertible.

“Get in.” His face was grim.

She sighed heavily and continued walking like she didn’t hear anything. She’d already decided to cut her vacation short and end this madness. She’ll leave first thing in the morning tomorrow. She was trying to mentally take note of the things she needed to do: book a commercial flight to Paris, call the Learjet staff, arrange for Ahao to pick her up from the airport, call her father—when she was pulled back by the arm harshly.

“I told you to get in the car.”

“Take your hands off me, Luhan-ssi. You can’t be seen with someone like me.” Luhan groaned.

“Please, please. I had a long day. Just get in the car, okay? We need to talk.” This time, she let him guide her back to the car. They went straight to the underground parking area. No word was spoken until they were inside the apartment. And will be damned if she’ll be the one to break the silence first. “I just came back from Athens. My brother was shot and he was just discharged from the hospital.”

Was he really explaining to her? “I’m sorry. Is he okay?” Was it in the news? She had no idea.

“He’s going to be fine. Thank you for asking. But enough about him. Why did you leave like some burglar?” She was taken aback by the edge on his voice. Wasn’t he thankful that she saved them both the trouble of morning awkwardness? “The thing that you lost that night, was it so unimportant to you?”

Before she can stop herself, she crossed the distance between them and slapped him hard across his face. “Respect is a foreign word to you, isn’t it?” His face was so red but didn’t think it was because she hit him. “Not because you’re paying me to pose for you that I will take my clothes off for you in a snap of your finger. Are you feeling bad that you didn’t get the satisfaction of kicking me out? Fine! Kick me out now and I’ll make sure you’ll never see me again!”

“Just shut up for a second and listen to me!” He yelled, patience withering. “Why are you so mad when you’re the one who left without a word? You’re supposed to be working for me but you didn’t show up. What do you want me think? Are you thinking that I’ve taken advantage of you when you didn’t even give me the chance to take responsibility? Why did I have to drag you back here just to kick you out? I was supposed to be worrying about my brother but I can’t take you out of my mind!” He was panting after saying so much. He approached her and held her by the shoulder. “I’m firing you for being my model. Just don’t come here anymore.” She expected it but it didn’t hurt any less until he spoke again. “Just come live here and let’s work it out.” 

“Omma?” Her trip down memory lane was cut short by a whimpering Minkyung. “Is that you?”

“Yes, baby, did you miss me?” She kissed the top of her head and her daughter snuggled to her side.

“Very much.”

Plese forgive me, Minkyung-ah. Please forgive Omma.