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I stare at the white door before me.                          

There’s only one way I can think of to get her out of there quickly.

I turn off the lights.

“Y-YAH!!” she screams, but I ignore her.

 “Iseul.”  I call to her.  “Iseul, get out of there.”  I instruct her. 

“KAI!!  ING TURN ON THE LIGHTS YOU BASTARD—“

“No.  No, listen to me.  You have to get out of the—“

Before I finish my sentence, the bathroom door flings open, knocking me on my forehead.  I growl a little at the light pain inflicted, but that’s not what matters here. 

“Kai, what the—“

“Please just trust me first.”  I say, grabbing her hand to pull her completely out.  Thankfully, she’s wearing her shirt, but she got rid of her jeans already, so it’s up to her thigh-long shirt to cover her legs. 

I’m not even sure if she’s wearing a bra.

Thankfully, thankfully, it’s a pretty thick shirt so we don’t really know.  Okay I don’t really have the time to get all observant here so—

“Yah Mr O, why did you turn the lights off?!”  She snaps.  “You know I can’t—“

“Because I needed you to get out of there as soon as possible.”  I answer.  “We have to go, Iseul.  You can’t be here.”

“Ah waaeee??  Do you want to listen to more blood types facts?”

I look at her.  Her messy hair and a dry trail of spit from her lips.  Gross and drunk.  And under my care.

Just... great.

“Yes.  I promise, I’m not being a bastard this time.  We have to get you out of here.” 

“Let me find my pants first.”  She mumbles, going back into the bathroom.  But I pull her arm.  “Did you know that aaaaall blood types need to wear pants—“

“Let me.”

“And also my braaa!” She begins walking in the bathroom again.  “Yah, turn on the lights for me—“

“You can wear my sweater.”  I say impatiently, and she looks at me like I’ve gone crazy.  I sigh.  “Someone has planted a hidden camera in your bathroom okay?”

“WHAT?!”

I quickly go in and come back out with her pair of blue jeans.  She shimmies into her pants wordlessly—probably due to shock—and I pull off my sweater before tossing it to her. 

“Y-yah,” hiccup, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Let’s go.” 

She pulls it over her, and takes her phone from the floor.  “My poor phone!!”  

“Did anyone mysterious call you before?”

“What?”  Iseul squints at me.  

“Aish, let’s just go first.”

“Mr O, none of the blood types want to leave their apartment without a bra right—“

“Yes, I am aware—“

“Especially if they’re going to ride a motorcyle with THE OPPOSITE —“

“I swear I won’t try anything weird—“

“—AND OF AN INCOMPATIBLE BLOOD TYPE!!”

“DAMMIT!!” I curse, and without giving it a second thought, I swiftly swoop her up, carrying her bridal style out of her apartment. 

“Kai!!  YAH!  Put me down!!”  She flails around wildly, but I keep walking to the elevator.  I press the button and thankfully there’s an immediately ding an empty elevator promptly opens up.  “You should at least explain what’s going on if you’re going to treat me like a bean bag here!  Do you want me to vomit on you too??  Huh??  Fight me little !!”  Here she proceeds to attack my chest with feeble, baby punches. 

No, you don’t want to fight me you little .

“I’ll explain everything later when we get somewhere safe.” 

“Trouble trouble trouble wo-o-o-ah I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IIIIIIN OOOH—“

“Please be quiet!!” I hiss.  The elevator dings and the doors slide open, and I immediately begin jogging out of the apartment and to where I parked my motorbike.  I set her on the seat and hand her my helmet.

“Wear it.” I instruct.  “And hold on to me.” 

“Nooooo!  What if you feel my ies—“

“YAH!  JUST LISTEN!!”

I rev the engine and pull out my cell.  Pressing blindly on the screen to get to my call log, I press on a random contact in the ‘My Favorites’ heading— D.O.  

“Yeesss?” D.O. sings. 

“Yo.  I need you to send people over to Iseul’s apartment and look for this hidden camera in her bathroom.  Find it and bring it to me.  Looking at the structure and estimated position of her room, I don’t think it’s a hidden telescope or a Peeping Tom because her room is on the 13th floor and around her apartment there are no buildings that could provide a good angle and a good view for that.  If you do get the camera, wipe away every single thing that’s in there, you hear me?”

“Yess boss.”  D.O. says, though the confusion in his voice is apparent. 

“I also need a few men to secure the HOC hotel in the Daegu area.  I’ll be taking her to our safe-rooms there for a while.”

“Neh.”

“Also, can you send some people to make sure no one is following me?  I swear there’s a psycho out there.”  I mutter. 

“Copy that.   Some Hearts are already on monitoring the street cams of where you are, and a whole unit of RABs are already out rolling in the streets as well.”  I pause.  “By the way, Jongguk is still in his room right?” I ask.  I punished the little guy.  He’s supposed to be alone in his room, reflecting on his behavior, with the exception of one of the Aces bringing him food and checking up on him every two hours or so. 

“Yeah, he is.  He seems pretty guilty.”

“Good.  And D.O.?” I ask.

“Yes?”

“I need you to do one more thing.” 

“What is it?”

“Can you..”  I sigh. 

Should I..?

I’m probably going to regret this for the rest of my life if I do.

But if I don’t...

Ah, it.

“Can you send one of the Aces to go and shop for a bra for me?”

 I arrive at the said hotel in Daegu, which I've purposely picked out because this hotel doesn’t have an club linked to it.  Besides, our hotel chain, the House of Cards, which the largest and the most prestigious in all of Korea, is under a secret type of protection program as well from the government, as we contribute quite a lot to the nation’s economy in the entertainment sector.  Yes, that's how glorious we are.  That, and of course.. connections.  Which of course, prevents any mobster brawl or attack taking place within our territory.  It's a very long and complicated story, but bottomline is-- we're untouchable. 

Going to the basement, I park my motorbike in a distant corner.  Shaking myself a little, I pull away Iseul’s hands from around my waist.  “Yah, get up.  We’re here already.” 

No answer.

I sigh impatiently.  “Yah, you didn’t fall asleep right?”

No answer. 

Wrong.

I get off and quickly catch her body which is quickly tipping forward.  Aish, how do you even fall asleep that fast?!  I pull my helmet off her and look at her sleeping face.

Yep, she’s dead drunk.

Suddenly, my phone beeps.  I open it and find a text from Chanyeol— Floor Q Room 18.  Door unlocked already.

I send a short thank you text back before turning my attention back to the Sleeping Ugly on my motorbike. 

“Seo Iseul.. what am I going to do with you.”  I mutter.   Scooping her up bridal-styled again, I make my way for the elevator.  Inside, I immediately look up at the camera in the corner without blinking.  A flash of green light protrudes from the device and I don’t flinch as it scans my eyeball.  Once done, a new set of buttons appear on the walls of the elevator.  I press one of them and patiently wait. 

Arriving on the desired level I step out, into a long corridor—simplistic, modern, but also screaming luxury in design.  This isn’t the main hotel, rather a place hidden for us HOC members whenever we need a good cover.  I quickly find the room Chanyeol prepared and true to his words, I push the door open with no resistance. 

“Urgh!” I groan, throwing her onto the large king-sized bed.  “You’re so much trouble, I swear!”

“Mmmmh.”  Iseul sighs as she rolls around on the large bed. 

I reach into the pocket of her jeans to find her phone as I dial Chanyeol’s number with my other hand. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, can you look up this number for me?” I ask before reciting the psycho’s number in Iseul’s call log. 

“Sure.  Hold on.”

I hear him typing and I tap my feet on the floor, waiting for him to come back to the line.

“Are you sure that’s the right number?” 

“Yes.  What’s the number you put in?”

Chanyeol reads it out to me and I check again with the number that’s on her phone.  “Yeah, that’s right.  Why?”

“Number doesn’t exist.” 

“What?  no.  It does exist.  Some creepy lunatic called with this number!”  

“Called you?”

“No, Iseul.”

“Iseul?”  Chanyeol echoes, perplexed.

“Yeah, and because she was busy puking when he called, I picked it up for her.  And then this psycho was like— ‘take care of yourself for me!!’ and he made it clear that he could see her so he had some sort of spy-cam or something planted in her bathroom, and the fact that she was —“

“Hold up, hold up.  A weird psycho is targeting on Iseul?”

“More like me.”  Kai rolls his eyes.  “He heard my voice and was like ‘aaaah it’s youuuu!!!  It’s really youu!!!’”  He mimics.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, and he literally went like that.  You know what, I’ll tell you guys all about it later.  I don’t feel like talking about it over the line.  Just try to look up that number for me and see what you can get okay?”

“Sure.  Oh Kai, I probably should warn you that—“

“What?”  I knit my eyebrows together.  “More danger?”

“No.  A crackhead is coming your way.”  With that, Chanyeol hangs up.

Crackhead?  What for—

Ding dong.

I get up and make my way over to the door.  Oh, that must be Iseul’s bra.  OH, IS THIS THE CRACKHEAD?  Aish, who did they—

“YAH!!  YAH!!  IT’S ME!!”

Byunbaek.

Hyun.

Of course.

“Here’s the braaaa!!  When you’re ready come and get it, na na na.  Na na na—  Oh hello there.”  Baekhyun puffs up his cheeks and smiles at me as I yank the door open with a scowl on my face.  “Congratulations on getting laid!  I got you a pregnancy test kit in there as well.”

“Baekhyun you little—“

“Oh, and you could’ve at least told me her size so I didn’t have to print a half-body picture of her on her Instagram and go around asking the workers at Agent Provocateur ‘how big do you think her s are?’”

“Are you ing kidding me?” I look at him.

“Yes.” He snickers.

“You’re insane, you know that?”

“Excuse you!  I prefer ‘mentally complicated.’” Baekhyun immediately pushes himself in and gasps exaggeratedly upon seeing Iseul lying on the bed.  “I’m so sorry!!  Were you guys getting ready or what?”

“No—“

“Is she dead?”

“No, she passed out!”  I snap.

*gasp* “WERE YOU TOO ROUGH?!”

Good Lord this 14 year old girl needs to get out of her ASAP.

“Okay you know what, kindly put your shopping there and LEAVE.”

“Ohohoho, why so eager to get rid of me eh—“

“Because you are WEIRD—“

“But I wanna join!”  Baekhyun pouts like a girl.  “I’ll take the back route, I promise!”

The urge to stick a pitchfork into his forehead is becoming soooo tempting right now...

“Baekhyun you really better shut up unless you want—“

“Jesus, take a chill pill old man!  I don’t do threesomes, remember?  If I want to disappoint two people at once, I can just go have dinner with my parents.”  He sashays out of the room like the diva he is, but before he actually exits—

“Oh! Don’t forget the okay?!  It’s like going down a water slide with no water—OKAY OKAY I’M LEAVING!!”

I snicker a little, watching Baekhyun scamper out of the room like a little girl.   Sometimes I wonder if he’s secretly this admin on some online quote account because he always comes up with the most ridiculous things to say!  I throw myself on the couch beside the king-sized bed Iseul is currently dominating and watch her as she sleeps with open.

Fragments of the call with the mystery psycho came back and my jaw tightens a little.  Let’s hope those people D.O. sent do their job well and get the hidden camera from Iseul’s bathroom, find the bastard... and I’ll make him pay.

Suddenly, my phone rings.  “Yes?”

“Boss, there’s a problem with the new RAB initiation.  An internal conflict broke out.” D.O.’s voice greets me.  “This shouldn’t be anything heavy, really, but they said they need the Aces.”

“Where are you?”

“The usual.”

“I’ll be right there.”

ISEUL’S POV

Ever felt like your head was sat on by a rhino, then slammed unto a locker by high school bully, and then used to play basketball by this season’s MVP? 

Or ever imagined someone using a sledgehammer to repeatedly knock in a ‘Needs Rehab’ sign on your forehead?

Ever imagined the pain?

Yeah, that’s what I’m feeling right now.

I’m going to diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee.............

“..” I swear, slowly sitting up on the king sized bed—

HOLY GUACAMOLE WHAT KING SIZED BED?!

I bolt upright, a sharp dagger of pain piercing my head as a result.  OW.  ! 

But but but.. why am I— WHY IS KAI HERE?!

Wait wait wait.  Let us rearrange the hazy pictures of what happened that I have in my head in chronological order.

First, me making a face at the bibimbap that Mark ordered and pushing it away.

Second, me ordering a bottle of soju.

Third, me ordering a bottle of soju for the 5th time.

Fourth... fourth... me yelling...

Aish!  I must’ve gotten drunk and called Kai, for some reason.  Why is it that it was him I called?  Stupid, stupid brain!  You could’ve called..

Oh yeah, that’s right—I’m a weirdo with no friends.

No wait, I do have friends.  They’re all just busy!! (Quote:  Cindy from Producers—have you seen that Kdrama?!)

“You’re up?”

“AAAH!” I yell in reflex, startling myself again with the image of Kai on the couch beside my bed. 

“Surprise.” He says sarcastically.  “Want another one?”

“No.”  I say, eyeing him warily.

“Check and see if you’re wearing a bra.”

Immediately, I feel for my back.  Blood drains out of my face when I realize that... there’s nothing there!!  Where’s my bra strap?!!  Baby come back!!

“K-K-Kai—“

“Y-y-yes?”

“Yah, this isn’t funny!!” I scream, panicking, before wincing at the dull pain at the back of my head.  “Where’s my bra?”

He shrugs noncommittally.  “I got you a new one.  There.”  He points to a bag lying near the foot of the bed. 

“You got me a bra?”  What the is wrong with the day?

“Technically, Baekhyun did—“

“Why did you... why did you have to get me a bra?” I stutter.  “I mean, where’s mine?!”

“Aish, wear it first.  Then I’ll tell you.”  Kai covers his eyes with his arm.  “Do it before I do something we both might regret!”

I blush a little and immediately reach for the bag.  Gingerly stepping down the bed, I head towards the bathroom.  Where are we?  Why is the bathroom so pretty?  Why does it look so expensive?  Oh my God, are we at The Venetian?  Are we in VEGAS?  MACAU??

I take off my clothes—only then I realize I was wearing a sweater.  Whose is it? 

Is it Kai’s?

Suddenly, the demon in my stomach wakes up again, and immediately I find a second tidal wave of vomit rush up my throat.  I hold up my hair and quickly lower my hair down to the toilet bowl, where—

“BLEERGGHHHH!!” I puke.  Oh God.  Oh everything.  I’m never drinking on an empty stomach again!!  “Urgh.. BLEERGHH!!”

Waaah!!  Where is the patron saint of hangovers?!  Please help me with this one!!  My stomach hurts and my head hurts and everything hurts and I swear I won’t surprise my liver like that ever again!!

“Iseul!  Are you okay?  Do you need anyth—“

“BLEEERGGHHHH!” 

I’m sorry Kai.

“D.O.?  Yeah can you like make me some of that hangover soup you usually make whenever I—“

“BLEEERGHHHH!!”

“Yeah make it strong.”

“Aish!” I curse, pounding on the back of my head.  How could’ve I been so stupid?!  I open my mouth to let another fresh stream of high intensity grossness out.

“Yeah, Daegu.  ASAP please.” 

“Urgh.”  I wash my mouth, put on the bra and—

WHY!  WHY IS THIS A PUSH UP WITH 2 INCH PADDING?!!  WHO THE GOT THIS FOR ME?!!

It’s Baekhyun isn’t it?  I’m pretty sure Kai said Baekhyun earlier today.  Oh my God.  And—holy moly—it fits perfectly!!  They didn’t... they didn’t measure me in any way when I was passed out right?!  Or is Baekhyun Kai’s personal shopper who has done this many, many times before?

But neither of them saw anything right?  I look at my blouse-shirt.  Hmm.  This is actually pretty thick.  But the neckline is pretty low!!  What if....

No.  No no no no no.  Kai isn’t like that right?  He won’t even talk to you with yelling, why would he even—HAHAHA!  Iseul, you really are ridiculous. 

I step out of the bathroom, tugging on my new bra uncomfortably.  What happened to my old bra anyway?  I would normally be yelling and freaking the hell out of myself if this happened, but right now I just feel too sick to even care.  Whatever.  I’ll give Kai a good long lecture about it later when I feel better.

“Are you do—“ Kai looks at me and gapes a little.  “Did you get a -job in the bathroom?” he asks flatly, and I give him the stink eye.  He should be grateful my head is still pounding like a drum.  I would’ve yelled and slapped him under normal circumstances. 

“Stop looking at my .”  I glare at him and make my way back to the bed, throwing myself onto it. 

“Well... There’s something different about them—“

“Stop!” I moan, pounding my head.  “Your idiot friend got me a push-up bra plus super thick padding!”

“Awh.  Shucks.”  Kai fakes a dejected look.

“You ert.”  I mumble.  Why am I not fighting him?!  Why am I not fighting this ert?!  

“Did you mean super nice prince charming who listened to your bizzare rant about blood types and even payed for all the soju you bought and even—“  he stops.  “—brought you to the nicest hotel in the world?” 

“Brfhrght.”  I say into the pillow.  It hurts!  Everything hurts!!

“There’s going to be hangover soup coming in a few.” He says.  “Scoot.”

“What?”  I lift my heavy head up a little, before dropping it back down immediately.

“Yah, I paid for this room, you could at least share a little bit of the bed!”  He says, pulling the covers.  “I slept for four damn hours on the tiny couch!”

“Four hours?  What time is it now?” I ask, lifting my cheek a little.

“5 in the afternoon.” 

“Were you here the whole time?” I ask.

Kai takes a moment to reply.  “No.  I had to leave for a while.”

“Oh...”

“Work.” He explains shortly.

“Of course.”  I pound my head. “Urgh.” 

I feel the bed shifting and the covers rustling.  Oh my God.  Oh my GOD.  Is Kai beside me right now?  Are we sleeping on the same bed?  I.. I can’t look!!

“Kai..”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“Getting a taste of what I paid for.”

“Why are you sleeping beside me?  Do you want me to kick you huh??”

“Shut up, you’re supposed to be having a hangover.”

“B-but, you’re still not supposed to sleep beside me—“

“AISH!  JUST THINK OF US AS POTATOES OKAY?  WE’RE ONLY SLEEPING RIGIDLY SIDE BY SIDE ON THE SAME SURFACE AND NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN.  BECAUSE WE’RE BOTH POTATOES.  AND WE ARE NOT ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER BECAUSE SAME POLES REPEL EACH OTHER.  THEREFORE SAME SPECIES, POTATOES, REPEL EACH OTHER AND NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND JUST GO BACK TO SLEEP UNTIL YOUR SOUP COMES!” he says in a reaally reaaally loud (but not really angry) voice. 

“You have temper-control issues.”  I mutter.  I flop my head to the other side and—BWAH!!  KAI’S FACE IS SO CLOSE TO ME!!

“What is it now?  Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks. 

“Nothing.” 

I close my eyes. 

Oh God.  Oh God.  I can’t believe I’m sleeping on the same bed with a man who isn’t even my boyfriend right now.  We’re only about a hand span apart!!  He’s not even a friend!  He’s my boss!  WHO HAS A SON!!  You see how wrong this is?  Can you??

At least he’s hot..

OH GAWD!  Did my brain just say that?!  Iseul, where the is your dignity?!  So you actually want to sleep on the same bed with this guy because you’ve come to a realization that he’s hot?!

Yes.  Oh, you want more than just sleeping..

GAAAH!!  I quickly squeeze my eyes shut.   

Must get the image of his perfect side profile out of my head!!!  Mmhmm, and his y tousled chocolate hair, his long lashes, his perfectly sculpted nose, and most importantly the image of his thick, red lips out of my head.... gahh.....

I slowly open my eyes.  I want to see his lips again!!  I wonder what they—

“I know I’m like really y but please stop staring.” He mumbles again, looking at me with only one eye. 

“I’m not staring!!”

“Yeah right.  Your stare has bored through my skull already.”  He says with his eyes closed.  “Do you want to bite my lip?”

“N-no!!” I squeak, burning red.

“Sorry, I’m really tired.  I don’t think I have the energy to do all those lewd scenarios you’ve probably made up by now.”  He says, smiling playfully a little.

“I didn’t make anything up!” I say defensively. 

“It’s okay to dream about an alpha male.  I just hope you won’t have your dirty way with me while I’m asleep.”

Dirty way...

“You’re so cocky!” I kick him a little. 

“You also have a certain liking towards my .”

“YOUR ?!” I squawk.  Don’t look at it Iseul, don’t look at it!!  “I don’t!”

“Mm, yes you do.  You said my is squishy.  I wonder how you’d know?”

“I never said that!”  How could he—I’m dying of embarrassment here!  Did I.. drunk talk..

“But people only talk real stuff when they’re drunk.”  Kai replies.  I gulp.  “And then you said my is squishy.”

Oh my God.

DID I??

“It actually is, for your information.” 

“I don’t want to hear about it!”  I shriek.  Kai smirks at me a little. 

“Squishy .” 

“STOP!”

“As for my —“

“No!!  NO!!”

“Tch.  You’re so easily flustered.  Have you never slept on one bed with another guy before?”  He asks. 

“...No?” I shift around a little.  “I’m very, uh, cautious, you know.”

“So have I managed to break through all the caution wet floor—no, caution may get wet signs?” 

“This is only because you paid for this room!”  I quickly say.  Kai smiles a little.  “Where are we, anyway?”

“HOC.”

“The hotel chain you work at?” 

“Mmmhmm.”

“What happened?”  I ask, finally asking the question I feared the most. 

“You called me.  You know, when you were drunk and all.  And you were talking about some random , and suddenly I heard this crash in the background and the voice of some pompous yelling at you.  So I hurried over to the restaurant you were at.” 

“Really?” I smile.  “You came hurrying for me?”  I whisper, a little more to myself.

Kai nods and darts his eyes at me for a while.  “Yeah.  You spilt bibimbap over a fashion blogger.”

I groan.  “Who was it?”

“I don’t remember her name.”

“, hopefully it wasn’t Yoo Eunra..  She’s one of my faves.”

“Oh wait, that’s it.”

“YAAH!  Are you serious?”

“Yes.  I even paid 300.000 won for the damage you caused!”

“Really?”  I gasp.  Woah, I’m even more touched now!!

“Yeah.”  Kai rolls over to his side so he’s facing me and inside my ribcage, my heart just might’ve skipped a couple of beats.

“Did something happen a little while ago?”

“Yeah.  Staff recruitment problems.”

“I thought you’re a security guy.  Why would you need to be there?”

“Are you sad I left you?”  Kai looks at me playfully and I immediately shake my head.

“Just curious.” I mumble.

“Tch.  Always sooo curious.”  Kai closes his eyes again. 

“You look really tired.  Are you going to sleep?”

“See?  So curious.”

I’m about to say something when suddenly my eyes land on a little black something on the back of his neck, peeping out of the neckline of his shirt.  I - begin reaching over.  “Woah.  Is that—“

Kai captures my finger in his hand.  “Restricted territory, Seo.”

I wriggle my finger away. “Is that a tattoo?”

“No, it’s a ing barcode.  Scan to get 20% off your latest purchase!”

I ignore his sarcasm.  “Of what?  Why a triangle?  Why a circle inside?!  Are you in the..... illuminati?” I gasp.

“No.  That’s... just something I was.. um.. something you wouldn’t understand.”

“Tell meeee~” I bug him. 

“It’s my.. power.”

I giggle a little.  “Superhero Kai?”

“You bet.  I can move and so fast it’s like I’m teleporting.” He says, opening one eye again.  “No one can ever pin me down.”

I can’t tell if he’s joking or not!  What does that tattoo meaaaan?

“Do all the other guys have powers too?”  I ask, playing along with whatever he’s talking about, be it true or not. “Do they all have badass tattoos as well?”

“Badass tattoos, huh?”  Kai smirks a little.  , his smirk is really attractive.  Oh God.  I’m ed.  Brain, please stop with the funky ideas!!  “Yeah.  It’s like, this is what we were... blessed to have.  Or what was gifted to us, by this certain—ah, it’s complicated.  But yeah, all the other guys have it as well.”

“Really??  What are their powers?”

“A lot of different ones.  For example, the guys who you keep on staring at like you’re ready to strip him any day..”

“Yah, who’s that?!”

“Suho.”  Kai smirks.  “He has a tattoo looking like an intricately detailed drop of water.  Water.  He is made to be majestic, important, and unrestrainable.”

“Wow.”  I breathe.

“Baekhyun.  His tattoo looks something like a star.  Light.  The power to keep everything pure and of the good, exposing everything right, and overpowering everything wrong and dark.”

“I think I like Baek’s power best.”  I clap.

“D.O. His looks like a little... I don’t know.  But it symbolizes earth.  The power to conquer every inch of this earth, wherever his feet may step on.”

“Destructa!!”

Kai squints at me, but he continues nonetheless.  “Chanyeol.  His looks like a bird.  It symbolizes fire.  He protects, warms, and illuminates.  But he also may destroy.”

“Everything can destroy.” I say.

Kai takes a beat of silence.  “And last, Sehun.  His looks like this top view of a tornado and it symbolizes wind.  He is a man of force, energy, and vigor—a man of tremendous strength and passion.”

“Really?” I gape at him in amazement.  This is the first time he ever explained something so elaborately!!  Is it somehow related to his work?  Do they get the tattoos at work?  Kai is very passionate about his work huh?  “So this is like... when Aurora’s fairy godmothers bless her with their own blessings—this is the badass version?  You get tattoos?”

“Something like that.”  Kai shrugs.  “Okay, that’s enough bedtime story for you.  Go back to sleep.”

“Kai?”

“What else?”

“Why are we here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are we not at your place?  Or not at mine?”

“I’ll explain everything once your head can function properly again.”

“Why?  Did something bad happen?  Something dangerous?”  I ask.  I’m not sleepy anymore!  He can’t tell me to sleep!

“Kind of.”

“But then why would we need to come here?” I question persistently. 

Kai clicks his tongue.  “I’ll explain everything later, you hear me?  If you’re not sleepy, I suggest you go and study for that thesis exam of yours tomorrow.”

My jaw falls open.  “!  My exam!  Aaaah why did I get drunk todaaaay?” I whine, rolling around.

“Quit moving!” He says a little harshly as usual, and I stop.  “Your head’s going to hurt again.”

“My life forecast for tomorrow says..”  I say gloomily, “My day is going to be filled with thunderstorms and no sunshine at all.”

Kai cracks a little smile.  “Sounds just about right.”

“Yah, when can we go back?  I need to take my stuff!”

“Just sleep first, will ya?  Give that throbbing head of yours some more time, and once the soup arrives, we can leave right after you eat it.”  He says, rubbing his eyes. 

“But I’m not sleepy!”  I pout.

“Well, I am.  Be quiet.”

I fall silent.  I watch Kai as he continues to try to sleep, his eyes pressed close and his lips clamped shut as well.  From this activity I have concluded two things:  a.  I am a creep for watching someone sleep, and b.  Kai is so.  ing.  Cute. 

Sssshhh.  Don’t tell anyone I said that. 

If only he’s cute on the inside as well!!

What is his job anyway?  How come he gets all this tattoo-ey stuff I mean is this even Divergent—

“Okay you know what?  Talk.  It’s much more comfortable than to have you staring creepily at me in silence like you’re planning to shave my eyebrows off or something.”  Kai starts speaking all of a sudden and I nearly yelp.  “I won’t ever be able to sleep.”

“How come you always know when I’m staring...” I mumble, averting my gaze instantly.

“That feeling you know you get when someone is watching you.  Except this time 1000x higher in intensity.”

“But I’m boooooored.”  I yawn.  “Kai, let’s play a game!”

“Let’s.  The one who can shut up for the longest time wins.” 

“Nooooo.  Let's talk about something."  I say absentmindedly. 

"I hope you don't start assuming that we're in a relationship which involves deep conversations and cuddling and holding hands or any of the other gross couple essentials that you girls are so crazy about just because we're sleeping on top of the same bed right now."  Kai says pointedly.

"No!  I understand that completely.  I'm not stupid."  I whack his arm a little.  "I just wanted to.. I don't know.  I'm just bored." 

"Mmm.”  He hums lazily.  “You really are getting comfortable around me aren't you?"

"I don't know.  Cos you take care of me a lot." 

"Really?"                                                

"Mmhmm.  Like that time when I was nearly drowning and I lost consciousness.  And that time I had a panic attack.  Haha, I bet I really freaked you out, didn’t I?  Now, when I got drunk and passed out in the middle of the day, it's you again who takes care of me."  It's actually true... I am getting more and more comfortable with him.  "Yah, but you're getting more comfortable with me too aren't you?"

"Because something always happens to you.  Which makes me have to interact with you."

"Such as?"

"The chaos that happened in your campus today-"

"That's technically the chaos you caused to happen!!!" I interject.

"-and the time you got a panic attack, and the time you lost consciousness and I had to take care of you again, and the time where we had to pretend to be a family....  That's quite a lot."

"You're right."  I say, only realizing it.  "We do interact a lot." 

"Mmm."  Kai hums.

We're silent for a while, but this time, I don't resume to my creepy habit of staring at his sleeping face, I look up at the ceiling and start reconsidering my decision to quit.  If we look at all Kai has done for me so far, he's a good person.  Not necessarily the nicest or the friendliest, but he's a good person who's obviously not a sick psycho thay Suzy told me to watch out for.  As for why he made me bring Jongguk to my classes... I don't know what happened there.  Maybe he meant it as a fun prank?   Maybe he thought it wouldn't cause this much trouble?   Maybe I interrupted something really important yesterday by suddenly disappearing and so this is kind of cold revenge?  

I sigh.  So is he a psycho or not?! 

"Yah." 

"Y-yes?"  I quickly look at him. 

"Quit thinking so hard.  I can literally hear the gears in your brain turning."  Kai says, his eyes still closed.

My eyes bulge out of their sockets.  How does he know I'm thinking?  "K-kai are you.. Telepathic?"

"No.  You sighed like you were depressed over something."

"But a sigh could mean anything!!"

"Lucky guess."

I gape at him.  This man is SCARY. 

"What are you thinking of?"  He ask, and I look at him out of mild surprise.

" I hope you don't start assuming that we're in a relationship which involves deep conversations and cuddling and holding hands or any of the other gross couple essenti--"

"Well played, Ms Seo."  Kai opens both of his eyes and grins a little this time.  "Fine then.  Don't tell me." 

"No no, I would tell you, but-"

"Are you considering to quit?"  He asks directly and this time I actually sit up a little.  How did-- how did he...?!

"Yah, stop reading my mind.  It's honestly very scary."

"You're just transparent, Iseul."

"Am I?"

"Yeah."  I lay back down. 

"So?" He quips, looking at me.  "Are you?"

"Wae?  Are you scared?"  I tease.

"No, just give me a heads up whenever you feel like you want to quit so I can start looking for a replacement right away." 

I don't say anything.  That kind of... Never mind.

"Just to help you decide, think of the pay I promised you.  Your choice."

"Yah, I'm not that all about money."  I retort.

"And your phone.  And the easiness of your job." 

"Do you think taking care of that little b