~~ Present, Los Angeles~~

It had been nearly three weeks since his last meeting with Sharon. Yohan was still fast asleep on his desk, snoring lightly. The writer had stayed up all night finishing his initial draft that Sharon had abruptly requested the other week. It had taken a great toll on him as he eased his way back to his original career as a writer. 

The three-year hiatus had left him rusty; Yohan found it hard to focus on his writing and felt frustrated when a scene didn’t come out the way he had hoped. Maybe it was his lack of enthusiasm? Whatever the reason, Yohan had barely managed to email the draft and had fallen asleep like a log as soon as he hit the send button on his laptop.

A piercing shrill of his phone jolted him awake as he rummaged around his desk for his phone. Unable to find it, Yohan sat up in his seat, his blond hair matted to one side of his head as he blearily looked around his workstation, searching for his stupidly loud phone. Reaching into his desk’s drawer, he finally found the ringing device as he answered with a yawn.

“Hello…?”

“Hey~ You awake? This is your morning call~”

“… Who’s this?”

“Oh, come on! Open the door, I’m outside your gate.” Sharon grumbled with a sigh.

Confused, and half-awake, Yohan pulled his phone away from his ear and stared down at the caller id. Oh. It was Sharon. With a grunt, he got up from his desk and trudged down the stairs and out to the front door. Why was she here so early in the morning? Was she going to nag about his manuscript? 

He paused, closing the front door again. Maybe he’ll just go back to sleep. Yohan didn’t want to hear her nagging first thing in the morning—especially if he hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

Yawning, Yohan made his way to the living room when he heard a loud crash from outside. Startled, he turned to face his front door when Sharon began pounding on it, shouting to open up. Blankly staring at the door, he blinked a couple of times until he realized that the loud crash he had heard was Sharon trespassing onto his property! Groaning, he opened the door for his editor who glowered at him.

“You—Seriously?! I saw you opening the door and you didn’t bother to let me in?!” Sharon huffed, barging her way inside.

“… What do you want? Why are you here so early?” he asked, padding off to the kitchen for a drink of water.

“I have news… and I’m taking you out somewhere.”

“Uh, no. I’m not going— Okay, maybe I am going." Yohan averted his gaze from his scary editor. So pushy, he thought.

“Go shower and make sure to wear this.” handing him a designer shopping bag that was neatly packaged.

“… Fine. But before that, what’s the news?”

“Oh, right! You’re going to be assigned to a new editor!” she said happily, clapping her hands.

Yohan stared at her with a deadpan face—not thrilled, even in the slightest. Why was he assigned a new editor? Sharon had been his editor since the very beginning! She expected him to get used to a new editor?! A frown formed on his face as he stared at her, irritated that she didn’t discuss this with him first. Was it because he was no longer famous? 

“Woah, there, buddy. It’s not what you think. I’ll still be in charge of your project; obviously, since I’m the editor-in-chief.”

“Then why? You know I detest new editors!” he scowled, crossing his arms in defiance.

“Our two editors decided to quit three weeks ago. We had to ask for another editor to be sent here because we’ve been swamped with work! Now, go take a shower!”

“Why are you— Okay. Fine. Fine.” Yohan grumbled as Sharon pushed him towards the stairs. 

Sharon watched Yohan trudge up the stairs, scratching his arse as he rounded the corner of the stairway. When she was sure he was up in his master bedroom to shower, the editor whipped out her phone and called his sister, May.

“Yup. I’m here. Don’t worry! I’ll drag him over there if I have to! What’s he going to say on a Saturday? I already know he has no friends to hang out with! ... All right, see you guys in a bit!”

She smiled devilishly, hanging up the phone as she brought her fingers together and tapped them against each other, eager for the day’s events. 

~~~

Twenty minutes later, Sharon was dragging Yohan to her car as he resisted her advances. He was not going to some stupid blind date! When were these women going to listen to him?! Yohan squeezed his eyes shut as he hugged onto the front gate of his townhouse while his neighbor gawked in amusement. Smacking his back, Sharon finally managed to free him, happily locking him up in her backseat. Yohan struggled to open the door, but unfortunately for him… it was child locked.

After a few failed, desperate attempts to unlock the door, Yohan surrendered, glowering at the back of Sharon’s head, cursing his editor. He fell quiet as he thought about his naïve sister who was trying her best to get him to date.

Wasn’t it high time now for her to just give up on him? He wasn’t going to date! Why was she so adamant?! Didn’t she see for herself what kind of a man their father was?

Just six months after his mother’s death, that disgusting pig had announced his intent to marry his side chick. Of course, he and his sister protested, but did that two-timing fool care? Hell no! His father even brought that woman and her child into their home before their “marriage”. As soon as his father was married for the second time, he and his sister had cut off all contact with him, opting to leave their home. 

Thankfully, Yohan had already graduated from university and was working full-time as a financial analyst at a bank. After witnessing his father’s selfish acts, it was apparent to Yohan that he shouldn’t ever date… lest he wanted to become like his father.

The writer convulsed at the thought of his father, glancing out the window at the large hotel. Yohan groaned. They were here already?! Sharon beamed at him as she finally unlocked her car to let him out. Yohan sighed. Why did his sister have to marry his editor?! Now he had two people constantly nagging at him to date. 

The pair walked in with Yohan wearing the slim, navy suit and brown leather dress shoes that Sharon had brought him. He looked classy and desirable as the woman around him swooned and whispered to one another upon seeing his well-defined features and tall, slightly muscular build. Sharon proudly smirked, leading him to the restaurant nearby. 

Feeling uncomfortable, he loosened his tie. Why was he even here?

They approached the table where his sister and an unknown woman sat, waiting for them to arrive. May waved at them as Sharon winked at her, pulling Yohan along to the table. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, opting to put on a dazzling smile for the young woman before him. Might as well get this over with!

~~~

On the other side of the hotel, Andrew, just having arrived in LA from South Korea, checked into the hotel. The publishing company hadn’t been able to find a place to accommodate him, so they booked him a hotel room until they figured out his housing situation. Fortunately, his brother lived a few miles away in Santa Monica, so Andrew had shipped his things over to his place. Thanking the concierge, he headed towards the elevators to stash his luggage in his room.

With a quick toss of his suitcase into his room, Andrew lumbered down to the lobby where the restaurant was located for a quick brunch. His stomach growled from hunger as he followed the smell of delicious food, his mouth already salivating at the thought of getting a huge stack of waffles.

A plate of food in his hand, Andrew was waiting to get some bacon when he overheard a strange conversation.

“… Anyways, I think it’s best we end it here. If you date me, I’ll probably end up murdering you.”

What the…? Andrew whipped his head to his right side, wondering who in the world would say such a thing when his heart ‘ba-thumped’ in his chest as he stared at the man before him.

“…Caden?”

**NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**