“Are you serious?” Sehun asked with widened eyes as he looked between Luhan and I.

“I think they might be,” Baekhyun piped up from the corner of the room.

I took a hesitant step towards Sehun, holding my hands up as if I was trying to calm a startled deer. “I know it probably sounds a little much, but it’s the only thing I can think of doing.”

Sehun shook his head with disbelief. “No. No, it won’t work.”

Luhan also took a step forwards. I still didn’t know what the two of them had talked about alone, but there was an odd atmosphere when they eventually returned. The only thing I did know was that they had spoken for a lot longer than Luhan and I had spoken for. Considerably longer, in fact.

“I know this seems a little sudden,” Luhan chimed. “But Mira has spent a long time planning this; thinking it through. If she says this is the best way, then it is.” He shot me a quick smile to show that he really meant it. He had faith in what I was trying to do here.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Sehun retorted, looking a little flustered. “My father won’t just step out of the role.”

“I never said it was a perfect plan,” I quietly let out. “But I really do think it’s our best shot.”

Sehun his lip furiously as he stared at me with eyes that just screamed fear.

“Maybe you could be the CEO,” Baekhyun added from the side. “You do look great in a suit.”

“Trust her,” Luhan encouraged, smiling again at me. “She’s not about to lead you blindly into the dark.”

Sehun stood there motionless for a moment, his eyes never leaving my face. I tried to nod as if affirming Luhan’s words but I stopped myself, knowing they wouldn’t sound so sincere coming from me.

“I concur,” Baekhyun added, yawning loudly. “Now let’s go to bed.”

Shaking his head, Sehun’s eyes flicked between the three of us like we had all just kicked a puppy. “It won’t work. We won’t be able to do this,” he said, backing out of the room hurriedly.

There was silence when he left, all of us just watching the spot where he had disappeared through the doorway.

“That could have gone better,” Luhan mused, plopping down on the couch and running a hand through his hair.

“I think I should go talk to him… ” I mumbled out, moving off before either could say another word.

Sehun had done a terrific job of hiding himself, but it was on the balcony that I eventually found him. It wasn’t an area I had actually ventured out onto before, but as I stepped outside I couldn’t think why. It was rather lovely, and the view of Seoul at night was rather spectacular from here.

When I shut the door over behind myself with a little click, Sehun glanced over his shoulder from his position hunched over the thick railings. When he saw it was me, he returned his head to scrutinising the skyline.

“It’s not going to work, Mira. So don’t ask me again.”

I took small steps until I was beside him, then I, too, leant onto the railings. “I’m not going to force you to do it.”

“Good.”

I chewed on my lip for a moment. “Can I tell you a story instead?”

He tilted his head towards me. “Is it a good story?”

“It’s a true story.”

This time he moved his whole head towards me, ready for me to speak.

“I’m hate going to restaurants– proper restaurants.”

Sehun raised an eyebrow at my words, but said nothing and waited for me to go on.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you that before, but I really can’t stand them at all. I feel like I’m... Like I'm suffocating every time I have to go into one.”

Tilting his head a little, he seemed to think about it for a moment. “Why, though? Everyone uses restaurants.”

I trained my eyes out to the skyline as a little distractor. “I know that it sounds stupid,” I almost grumbled. “But it’s not like we can just choose things like this.”

He nudged my side, smiling softly at me. “I never said it was stupid.”

“When I moved here after my mother died, my father took me to a restaurant," I quietly explained. "At that time, I couldn’t speak a word of Korean, and had no idea of the etiquette or anything like that. My… my father knew that but he still took me to meet his parents at that restaurant. They talked in Korean the whole time, even though they could all speak English perfectly." I swallowed, feeling both disappointment and anger at the memory. "They started shouting at me. I don't know, I must have done something wrong and I… I started to cry.

“That meal was my first time meeting the two of them, and I honestly didn’t think I’d ever stop shaking after that. It wasn’t just them or my father though, everyone else in the place just seemed to stare at me and scold me and belittle me. I’d never felt as small as I did then. Tomorrow evening I have to go to a restaurant,” I said with a shaky breath. “The meeting tomorrow, the brothers want to have it in a restaurant. I don’t think I really need to tell you how unsettled I feel about that.”

Sehun was quiet for a moment. “Then just have it somewhere else.”

I let out an uneasy sigh. “They’re big, powerful people, Sehun. I need to them to be on our side, and for that to happen I need them to be in a good mood.”

“‘Our’ side?” Sehun’s eyebrow quirked.

I nodded once. “Yeah, they have a considerable number of shares in Oh Hotels under their influence from other parties. They’re flying in just to attend the meeting we’ve arranged.” I looked up at him to see him staring over the skyline in silence. “Do you think I’ll be fine?”

“Of course you will.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You’re Mira,” he said confidently.

“And you’re Sehun,” I murmured back to him. “And I know why you don’t like the plan.”

Sehun let out a little sigh. “Mira, it’s not-”

“You’re not like him. And you won’t become like him either.” To this, Sehun met my gaze straight on. And I knew then that I had hit the nail straight on the head. “You’re not your father, Sehun. And in any case, we're not going to force you to step up to take him place.”

“We’re not so different though,” he disagreed, turning back to the railings and leaning out again. “I’ve seen a lot of similarities between the two of us.”

My hands wanted to reach out to him, and I didn’t want to deny them that. Stepping around behind him, I positioned myself at this back. My hand stretched out and landed on the plane between his spine and shoulder blade.

“You aren’t like him,” I repeated, my hand slowly moving backwards and forwards. “I’ve met you, and I’ve met your father, and I can see how different the two of you are.”

“But sometimes… sometimes I catch myself doing something just like he does.”

“And that’s what makes you different. The very fact that you can recognise the behaviour as bad already shows how different the two of you are. I know because I feel the same way about my father.”

Sehun was very quiet then, not even a breath could be heard from him. I continued to stand there, soothing his back gently as if it was somehow helping him decide what he wanted to do. If anything, it might have been more pleasant for me than it was for him.

Sehun let out a shaky breath, his head falling down a little bit.

“I know you don’t trust me the same way,” he quietly exhaled, peeking to my face.

I released my grip on my lip. “I didn’t say that.”

His mouth turn up into an almost sad smile. “You didn’t need to. I can see it.”

I took in a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little guilty. “I am trying.”

“I know.” He now smiled gently at me. “And I’m so glad that you are.” His hand stretched up and tucked into the space between my neck and shoulder where it lay limply. “Having you so close again is oddly relieving,” he quietly murmured.

“I know what you mean.”

He let out a little sigh of contentment, staring intently at my face. I still couldn’t just forget the issue at hand though."Your father is very different to you," he finally said, thinking about it.

I appreciated the words, and smiled a little.

Sehun smiled a little in return. “He likes Luhan a lot, doesn’t he?”

I hummed in agreement, my gaze resting on the glowing skyscrapers again. “It’s something that bothered me when I was little, but then I sort of got used to it, then it oddly began bugging me again recently.”

“Why does it bother you?” Sehun quietly asked.

I peeked back to his face quickly to see that he was waiting expectantly for my answer. “It might not seem like it now,” I timorously began. “But there was a time when my father and I used to be very close. I was closer with my father than I was to my mother when I lived in America. But here everything is different. He isn't my father here - not the same way - here he was my mentor. I have this feeling; this resentment for him here. Obviously I don’t want to feel that way about him, but I sort of do.”

“Do you think things will get better with your father?”

I hissed in a breath. “I honestly don’t know, but I hope it will one day. I think the time apart will be good for us.”

Sehun’s brow twitched a little. “You’re… still leaving?”

I took the smallest of steps backwards. “I have to.”

“But we-” he cut himself off, his tongue darting to moisten his lip apprehensively. “But we’ve made up.”

“It wasn’t ever just about you. I don’t think I would have left over just one thing.”

He looked like he didn’t know what to say to that so instead just leant back onto the railings.

“It’s for the best,” I quickly reassured him when I saw his vacant stare.

For a moment I thought that he was going to argue with me, but instead he just chewed on his lip as if fighting the words.

“Will you come tomorrow then?” I pressed, keen to change the subject. It seemed to work a little.

Sehun nodded hesitantly. “Do you know what I like about restaurants?” he mused, taking a small step towards me. I stayed silent, my eyes feeling like they were narrowing a little bit. Sehun continued, “You get delicious food served to you, you don’t have to cook it yourself, and you don’t have to wash up the dishes afterwards.”

My head drew itself back a little bit almost instinctually at his words. “It's not easy for me.”

“Nothing’s ever easy for us though,” Sehun replied, his hand stretching for mine. His fingers buzzed against mine, like there was a kinship there. I wondered if he could feel it too. My fingers moved to accommodate his hand, allowing him to lace his fingers with mine as we turned back to look over the railings.

I hummed in agreement, and then we let the silence drift around us. The only sound was that of a car occasionally passing by below, but other than that there was absolutely nothing. Just peace.

A rapping sound snapped the pair of us from our dreamland, and we both turned towards the door to see Baekhyun standing on the other side with his hand still extended from where he had been knocking, but his attention was now on Luhan who seemed to be scolding him for somet