Luhan's eyes searched the crowds. He checked his watch. It was already 8:25 PM.  

"Luhan!"

Luhan smiled as Yixing practically sprinted up to him, beaming. Coming back to Korea was no hard decision. He spent several years studying here; his second home. He applied for a ten-year visa and so far, he had four years left before it expired. After graduating from university, he returned to China for a brief period of time because his father wanted him to take over the family bakery. Luhan had no wish to become a baker and it took many endless months of reasoning and begging before they reluctantly let him return to Korea to pursue a career in the arts.

"Junmyeon still has you down for recording artist or engineer, whatever, but Zitao's on sick leave for the next year or so. But you already know about that, so I'm not going to go into too much detail." Yixing grunted as he lifted Luhan's suitcase off of the baggage carousel.

Luhan was glad that Yixing was automatically speaking to him in Korean like he never left. All that review on the plane paid off.  

"Sure, I'm cool with that," Luhan replied cheerfully as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder.

The airport was crammed with people as the two tried to squeeze their way out without getting crushed. Jongdae's car was parked, waiting for them. They loaded the baggage into the trunk and were soon on their way.  

"So? How'd you bribe your folks this time?" Jongdae asked as he sped through the highway.  

"There was no bribery involved," Luhan replied with his nose practically pressed onto the car window, gazing at the familiar streets and buildings of his beloved Seoul.  

"Sure there wasn't," Jongdae replied, smirking at the fascinated Luhan.  

"Eyes on the road!" Yixing shrieked, clinging onto his seat belt as the car swerved to the right.  

"No, but when you left, you said you weren't gonna come back," Jongdae said accusingly, but laughed.  

"Things change," Luhan said briskly.  

Junmyeon's recording studio was where Luhan chose to kick-start his career into music. He worked there as a recording engineer for a while before going back to China. He and Zitao worked together since they had the same position in the studio until Luhan left. The studio was located in Cheongdam-dong and had much fame and recognition despite its small staff and building. Even so, the staff was essentially family and they worked well together. Luhan knew all of them from prior connections, where he knew someone, who knew someone else, who knew someone else and the list goes on. Either way, they all became mutuals and all eventually became friends.

Junmyeon is the owner and studio manager and he was responsible, kind and filthy, filthy rich. He initially started the recording studio as a hobby, not a career.

Song Qian is the bookings manager, who is reliable, childish, and an amazing cook. She often brought food for the other staff members and had a somewhat cutesy personality. She is in a loving and committed relationship with Zhoumi, who was the owner of a small cozy cafe down the street. He had just proposed to her around a month ago, which she gratefully accepted and was giddily planning the wedding.

Amber and Yixing are the studio composers, both extremely talented in their works. Amber is American and of Taiwanese descent, not to mention that she is very athletic and strong, as well as a bit of a jokester. Sporting a pixie cut, she was often mistaken for a boy, but was actually very girly and feminine. She is currently trying to maintain a long distance relationship with Yifan, who left the company and returned to China to do his own thing.

Yixing is a child prodigy who could write, compose and play music since a very young age. He's very sweet and naive, causing him to be babied quite a bit. Luhan sometimes wondered if he was only pretending to be stupid. There were times where Yixing seemed to know very well what was going on even before anyone else.

Kyungsoo is the quieter sort, assuming the role of the music librarian. He also unofficially becomes the disciplinarian, who won't hesitate to punish those who cause mishaps and create inconveniences. He and Song Qian get along well, both being proficient in household tasks and cooking.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun are the studio musicians who are loud, noisy and the general troublemakers of the group. Because of their childish, immature and often reckless behavior, Kyungsoo would have to put them back in their places a lot of the time. They were a hot topic back in university, where many thought they were gay, which was not true. Chanyeol is seeing a younger girl named Gayoung who was working in Zhoumi’s cafe as a barista, while Baekhyun's dating an older girl; Taeyeon who worked in fashion or something.  

Sunyoung is a bubbly studio technician who came from a musically inclined family. She is one of the moodmakers, always smiling and joking around, not in the obnoxious ways that Chanyeol and Baekhyun did. She was often teased for changing and becoming especially nervous and cute around boys, with the exception of the guys at the studio. The teasing stopped when she started going out with Jongdae, who was the really chill rookie mastering engineer. He was playful, humble, good-natured and quite the humorist, always cracking jokes and laughing. Together with Sunyoung, the two were so bright and lively that sometimes Luhan wondered whether or not it was possible for people to be so dynamic and animated.  

Minseok is one of the veteran employees who was, in fact, the oldest in the studio. He helped Junmyeon start the business and had dabbled on all the jobs in the studio, mastering engineering being his most experienced field of work. He and Jongdae spent a lot of their time working together. Despite already being 25, he would often be mistaken as a high school student due to his baby-faced visage and youthful personality. He was especially hyper when he played sports and was a terrific athlete. He held the title of undefeated champion of arm wrestling in the studio.

Jongin and Sehun are both record producers. Jongin is, despite his sinfully good looks and blessed body from his addiction to dance, essentially a giant dork. He practically has girl-phobia and was awkward around them, barely able to form a coherent sentence. He was only comfortable around the girls at the studio, especially Soojung, whom he'd known since childhood.

Sehun is a rather quiet and cool individual, who tries to appear suave despite being a giant baby and instead of drinking milk, he had an unhealthy dependency on bubble tea. He also adores Luhan, who was his role model and older brother figure. When Luhan had gone back to China, Sehun had actually cried.

Soojung is another studio technician who works closely with Sunyoung. She holds a very chic and cool profile in society, but in reality, she is somewhat juvenile and cunning. She likes to bully Jongin around quite a bit and will not hesitate to use her uality to get what she wants, but at the end of the day, she is caring and truly loves everyone at the studio.  

"Does... she still work there?" Luhan asked quietly.  

Jongdae said nothing, eyes intent on the road for once.  

"Yeah, she does," Yixing replied.  

"Oh." was Luhan's simple reply before the car plunged into awkward silence for a few moments, ending when Jongdae almost closed the car windows on Yixing's fingers.

The building was just as Luhan remembered it; small and cozy, with a sense of home. The red bricks and little brown bench by the entrance were still the same. There was also the addition of a garden, blooming with dazzling flowers of all sorts of vibrant colours under the dim streetlight. Probably Song Qian's idea. As he climbed out of the car, he stretched and smiled as the night air nipped at his cheeks, happy to be back.  

"Well? Go in." Yixing grinned as he nudged Luhan forward.  

"I was going to." Luhan pushed open the door. The lobby was dark and quiet.  

"Hello?" Luhan called out.

"SURPRISE!!!"  

The lights came on and streamers flew as Chanyeol tossed confetti everywhere. Baekhyun blew noisily on a noisemaker as Sunyoung and Soojung both sandwiched him in a tight hug. Song Qian pinched his cheeks lovingly, welcoming him back warmly. Sehun lifted Luhan off the ground and spun him around, hugging him so tightly that he thought he was going to suffocate. Baekhyun bear hugged him as Chanyeol noogied him hard. Junmyeon tried to do the whole professional handshake, but broke down and hugged him tight anyway. Jongin and Minseok were both giddy, jumping up and down and hugging him at the same time. Kyungsoo first slapped him across the face for leaving so abruptly without even visiting first, then hugged him, squeezing him using his inhuman strength.  

One person was missing.  

Song Qian, being the keen caring motherly figure she was, noticed Luhan's soft eyes dart back and forth, looking for her.

"It's... her day off." she rested a hand gently on his shoulder. Luhan understood what she meant and smiled sadly, her beautiful name forming on his lips.

"Jinri."  

***

Jinri heard that Luhan was coming back. Sunyoung had told her while they were out buying coffee for everyone. She told Sunyoung that she didn't care and that she wasn't bothered.  

But that was a lie.  

She did care. She loved him so much and he was back. She should be happy.  

Except all she could remember were all the lies and stories he used. Every single one of them. He left her heartbroken and devastated and he never came back. No calls, not texts, no apologies. Nothing. And suddenly he decides to show up once again after saying he wouldn't come up.  

As Soojung once said, Jinri really does have the worst taste in men.  

"Can I take Friday off?" Jinri had asked as she barged into Junmyeon's office. He looked up from his work and stared at her curiously.

"Friday? But that's the day-" Junmyeon cut himself off, realizing why Jinri wanted to skip work. He nodded.  

"Thanks, I just need to be somewhere. I'll make up for it on Monday." Jinri said cheerfully as Junmyeon smiled sympathetically.  

So that's why she was holed up in her bedroom, staring at the ceiling. They were probably having a surprise party for him. It was precisely why she didn't want to go. She didn't want to face him just yet. She knew she would have to at some point. They would be working together, so it was unavoidable, but she just needed more time. She buried her face in her pillow and screamed.  

Ding!

Her phone sounded as she groggily turned it on. Amber texted her.  

To: Jinri ([email protected])

From: Amber ([email protected])

gurrrrrl, u is missing out on some serious fun! it's gettin hella turnt up in this place! wish u were here tho Couldn't u have just skipped whatever it is u have tonight? lol jk its all good Imma let u in on all the ur missing, Qian's on a roll! she's been practicing her drinkin or somethin idk sunyoung & Jongdae have been in the bathroom for lik 30 min, if u know what i mean ;) Minseok & yixing r pretty much wasted lol xing xing threw up lik twice im cryin Yeol and baek r in things up and baby jung's drunk as and is coming on to jongin im pissin myself cuz he looks scared as XD hunnie's twerkin lik some lmao junmyun and kyung r passed out on the couch cuz neither of those weak turds can drink 4 lol i gotta go its my turn for beer pong :*

Jinri grimaced at Amber's lack of capitalization and her horrid punctualization but smiled knowing that she was missed. She wondered if Amber left out Luhan on purpose, but was thankful regardless. She could imagine everything that was going on. Song Qian would be mad drunk and clingy. Sunyoung and Jongdae were obviously having their own little party and Jinri didn't want to venture further into that territory. Minseok was extra hyper when he was drunk while Yixing just kinda got nauseous and threw up all over the place. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were always ing up so she wasn't too surprised. They were both goofballs and were the life of the party. Jinri smiled as she pictured Jongin's scared expression while facing a drunk Soojung. When drunk, Soojung would come on to basically anyone and would be very provocative and ual. Soojung had kissed Jinri smack on the lips once while intoxicated. To make matters worse, Sehun had taped it on his phone. Speaking of Sehun, Jinri had to admit that he had a really nice . Once, he noticed her eyes glued to his behind as they were walking down the hall. In her defense, he was wearing leather skinny jeans. He had taken it in stride and asked if she liked what she saw. She had blushed furiously and stormed away, embarrassed. She and Sehun were close enough, bring the same age and all, but he liked to piss her off by calling her things like noona and ahjumma despite only being less than a month older than him. Everyone was convinced that the two were in love (cue the sarcastic bunny ears) and that they were together, but they were all wrong. Jinri didn't fall in love with Sehun.  

She fell in love with Luhan.  

And she still didn't know whether or not it was a mistake.  

***

"Thanks for letting me stay at your place." Luhan huffed as he heaved his suitcase into Yixing's apartment.

Everyone woke up this morning with a headache from last night's wild party, with the exception of Luhan. He detested the taste of alcohol. It was bitter, tart and it made him nauseous. He had fallen asleep on one of the armchairs in the meeting room, where everyone else had passed out on the floors, chairs, and tables.

"It's all good. We haven't roomed together since uni." Yixing replied as he went into the kitchen to pour himself some water.  

"Yeah," Luhan said as he set down his stuff and grabbed his phone. He jumped a bit when it started ringing.  

"Well, aren't you going to answer that?" Yixing asked curiously when Luhan didn't pick up and instead decided to stare at his phone as if it were a spider. He shakily answered it.

"Hello?" Luhan cleared his throat.  

"Lulu!" a female voice squealed over the phone.  

"Haeun," he answered flatly.  

"You never told me you were back in Korea," Haeun whined.

"I didn't see a reason to," Luhan replied coldly.  

"Aw, you can't still be mad about what happened."  

"I still am."  

"Oh, Luhan, you're being such a baby. I did what was best for you. "

"You have no ing right to say that," Luhan said through his teeth as he sat on the couch, gripping his knees. Yixing threw him a confused look as he joined him on the couch.  

"Lulu, she wasn't enough good enough for you. She didn't deserve you. She doesn't deserve you." Haeun's voice was strained.  

"That was not- is not for you to decide."  

"I want what's best for you. For us."

"There is no us."  

"You keep saying that, but you'll change your mind. I promise." With that, she hung up the phone.   

"Dude, she is obsessed. At least she's hot. And I hear she's pretty much loaded."  

"Not with money she earned herself. All her dad's."

"Oh yeah. President Jang ran our campus like a dictator." Yixing laughed, remembering their university days, where Haeun 's dad watched everyone like a hawk.  

"Man, how the hell did she even get my number?” Luhan ruffled his hair.

“If you hate her so much, why’d you even date her?”

“Ugh, it’s a complicated and ed up story.”

“Yeah well, Haeun pretty much got a slap on the wrist for anything she did. Her dad paid to cover all the she did, so I can see where you’re coming from.” Yixing replied.

“If Haeun wasn’t there, Jinri and I wouldn’t have ended up the way we did.” Luhan rubbed his eyes.

“Yeah, it . She was wrecked for weeks. She wouldn’t listen to anything we said and honestly, we weren’t even sure we had the details right.” Yixing shook his head.

“You probably didn’t. There were a lot of things I couldn’t talk about. I’m still not sure if I can. ”

“If she stops liking you, wouldn’t this all be over?”

“I know that. I’ve been trying all the possible ways to make her hate me. None of them work.”

“How’d she even start liking you anyway?”

“She started talking to me all of a sudden and I just didn’t reject her early enough, I guess,” Luhan mumbled.

“You do lead girls on.”

“Shut up.”

“Jinri was the first serious one though.”

“She still is. I just don’t know if she’ll be willing to hear me out.”

“You don’t know until you try.”

***

Duck weather. The skies were gray and dreary and although it wasn’t raining, distant rolls of thunder signaled the sign of a downpour any minute. The forecast had foretold sun and cloud, but the weather seemed to be shifting with Jinri’s feelings. She was in absolutely no mood to go to work. She was hoping that Luhan wouldn’t be returned to his former job. Sure, things were a little hectic with Zitao gone, but Jinri could handle it on her own. She was a professional recording engineer after all. And Junmyeon would tell her. He would. She grabbed her things and was on her way to work.

“Jinri! We missed you, babe!” Sehun guffawed as Jinri walked into the studio.

“Don’t call me babe.” Jinri spat as she unhinged Sehun’s arm from around her neck. He laughed in return and went on to bother Soojung, who was struggling with the water fountain.

Jinri continued through the studio to the broadcast room where she worked, exchanging pleasantries with everyone on the way. As she pushed open the door, someone was already inside. As he turned around, she recognized him immediately, despite all her prior attempts to forget him. He had changed. He had become more chiseled and manly, losing some of his babyish and soft features. His eyes were still as large and almond shaped as always, but he had indeed bulked up. A nostalgic feeling blossomed in her chest and her heart throbbed like the first time she caught sight of him.

“Lu...han?”

Luhan spun around in the wheelie chair as the door opened. He wasn’t told that he was going to work with anyone. As his eyes met the intruder’s, he stood up, mesmerized.

“J-Jinri?”

She had become even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair had grown out and fell like a chestnut coloured waterfall down her shoulders. She had become slimmer and her plump lips were a pretty pink colour. He stared at her, speechless in wonder. All those sleepless nights thinking about her, dreaming about her, going over the things he was going to say to her if he ever saw here again. Here she was, standing right in front of him and he had absolutely no words.

“What are you doing here?” Jinri asked, her soft musical voice bringing bittersweet nostalgia to Luhan’s heart.

“Junmyeon told me this is where I work now.”

“But this is where I work.” Jinri knit her brows together.

“I-I don’t know. He-”

Jinri didn’t stick around to hear the rest of what Luhan was going to say as she turned around and marched down to Junmyeon’s office. She burst into the room, cheeks red. Kyungsoo was talking to Junmyeon about something as she entered.

“We need to talk.” Jinri glared at her boss, her usual sweet disposition evaporated into thin air.

Kyungsoo excused himself and slipped out. Junmyeon didn’t seem surprised at all as he calmly asked her to take a seat.

“Okay, I know why you’re in here, but-”

“You’d better have a really good explanation.”

“Look, even if I don’t know all the details, I know some of your history with Luhan, but with Zitao gone and Luhan’s experience in record engineering, we need him for this position. The studio needs it.” Junmyeon explained, voice strained.

“Wh-I-I-What? Couldn’t you have told me?”

“Would you have agreed?”

“Well, uh…” Jinri trailed off.

“Can I interrupt?” Luhan poked his head through the door.

“Er, Luhan, this really is not-” Junmyeon started.

“No, I just couldn’t help but overhear because I was trying to, but if Jinri really doesn’t want to work with me, I can… accommodate to that.” Luhan sighed and shrugged hunching his shoulders.

“No, that won’t be necessary. Jinri is a professional, right?” Junmyeon glared at her sideways. Jinri gritted her teeth and rose from her seat, grabbing Luhan’s wrist.

“Let’s go.” Jinri huffed, dragging a clueless Luhan behind her. She slammed the door behind her upon entering the recording studio and sighed as she sank into her desk chair.

Luhan shuffled awkwardly by the door. Jinri wasn’t happy to see him, no doubt.

“Jinri, I can understand if you don’t-”

“Look Luhan, I’m not going to mince words. You of all people should know that. We can work together. I’m not so petty that I would let our history get in the way of the present, but we are only co-workers. Nothing more.” Jinri said coldly as she swung around in her seat.

“I see. But to be honest, I don’t think I can agree to that.” Luhan replied, a biting tone in his voice.

Jinri turned around slowly.

“What on earth does that mean?”

“I just think what you know about our past may not be as accurate as it actually is.”

“I’m not in the mood to play games. If you have something to say, just say it.” Jinri spat.

“You don’t know as much as you think you do. You don’t know the full story.” Luhan began to grow angry. He wasn’t irritated because of Jinri, but because of himself and his own cowardly mistakes. Even Haeun wasn’t completely to blame.

“Then what is the full story? Tell me.” she stared at him.

Luhan clenched his fists at his sides, unsure of what to say. At that very moment, his phone went off in his pocket.

It was Haeun.

He so desperately wanted to ignore her calls, but the moment he looked up to see Jinri’s hard stare, he swallowed.

“Sorry, but I have to take this.”

***
 

“Haeun, this needs to stop. We are not together and we never will be.” Luhan said calmly as he sat on his bed. She had been calling him all day.

“How could you say that? We were so happy when we were together!” She whined into his ear.

Luhan set his phone down as he pulled his shirt over his head, grumbling.

“Listen Haeun, I was not happy. You know why I was with you. It was for Jinri’s sake!”

“So you’re still not over her?”

“No.”

“I see.”

“Will you please just give up?”

“Rather than that… I’m motivated.”

“I have to go. I can’t deal with this right now.” Luhan sighed and hung up before she could reply.

“I used to think you were pretty lucky to have the principal's hot daughter on your tail.” Yixing said thoughtfully as he appeared in the doorway of Luhan’s room.

“Lucky me.” Luhan said dryly, exhaling in frustration.

“It’s pretty much your fault that this happened.”

“Care to explain that?” Luhan glared at Yixing.

“Don’t play dumb. You led her on. You were our campus mascot for a reason. Everyone thought you were all innocent and , but you used that to your advantage, didn’t you?” Yixing pressed his lips into a thin disapproving line, dimpling in the process.

Luhan hung his head. Yixing was right, of course. He acted clueless a lot of the time but was surprisingly sharp when least expected.

Back in university, Luhan was babied by all the girls for his face. He liked the attention but hated that it was for being cute. Being blessed with soft and delicate features, Luhan had received many confessions from many guys who thought he was a girl. Even when he clarified the misunderstandings, men (gay and straight alike) still chased after him. The girls would step in and protect him, treating him like a ing princess.

He hated it.

There were other boys who had pretty faces, but unlike him, some of them took it in stride. Sungjong relished in all the attention he received from both males and females and was quite happy until he met Jiae. Luhan wasn’t as flaky as Sungjong and desperately wanted to be viewed as manly and strong, not fragile and cute. He hated that Jongin, despite his shy and awkward personality, was viewed as a smooth-talking Casanova. It wasn’t fair. Deciding to take matters in his own hands, he first lured girls in using his sweet image. It was hard at first, but the first girl he managed to get into bed was Park Chorong, a shy and friendly girl who held a black belt in hapkido because her father owned a hapkido center. She was rather insecure because she thought that boys were intimidated by her strength, but Luhan had comforted and coaxed her. He learned the art of seduction from Sehun, who did surprisingly well with the the ladies, but wasn’t educated beyond flirting. After Chorong, other girls were easy. The more memorable ones included Seo Juhyun, a studious and mature student who was surprisingly experienced and Yoon Bomi, who was a loud and vivacious type of girl who flirted a lot, but that was apparently only for show and Luhan had to teach her several things. He wasn’t proud of his actions, but he merely wanted the satisfaction of knowing that he was perceived as 100% male, not a man trapped in a pretty little girl's body.

He didn’t want a relationship until he met the infuriating, difficult, and wonderful Choi Jinri.

She was unlike any girl he’d ever met. Most girls he encountered were all the same. They were fake and threw themselves at him with no shame.

Jinri was undoubtedly sweet and kind, but she had her boundaries and was confident. She wasn’t a pushover, nor was she basic. She was free-spirited and independent, treating everyone with respect, but not letting anyone’s opinions get to her. Luhan had tried to court her several times but was shot down. Intrigued by her, he began to neglect all other girls and began to pursue her properl