“What?” Sua responded, her face turning brighter by each passing second. Had she really just said that aloud.

“Um, Sua, I’m flattered,” He put her down, and took a step back, “but um, I…”

Suddenly she felt very hurt. “I was just joking!” she exclaimed.

“You must be very embarrassed right now!” One of her neighbors yelled, and she noticed him taking his usual morning jog. Her own face was probably even more flushed.

Seonwoo turned his head to see the person who had butted into the conversation.

“And he’s a hottie, too!” the man whistled, before winking at Seonwoo.

Sua shuttered, as Seonwoo turned his attention back to her with confused brows, “I wanna punch his face in.”

Ignoring his violent comment, Sua continued what she had been trying to explain, “I don’t actually want to, and even if I did, it’s way too early to do that kinda thing, right?”

Seonwoo blinked before answering, “No, duh.” he brushed his hand through his hair, “after all, we practically just met, and honestly I-”

“You know, hottie, my door’s open to someone like you!” the neighbor called, before continuing his jog.

“I really wanna punch his face!” Seonwoo murmured.

“Wanna head in, so you don’t have to hear him?” Sua asked, in an almost joking manner, not expecting his immediate response.

“Sure.” he stepped up and reached behind her to turn the doorknob, which she luckily had the keys for.

Her face was right up next to his neck, she could clearly see the details of his collar bone, and smell the heat coming off his body. She gulped, her recent outburst playing in her mind, and she suddenly realized she actually might not mind it, this time, although that was something she almost always told herself. That he was different, that he wasn’t like the other guys. He leaned back, and she noticed a frown on his face, “guess I’ll have to go through the window.”

“What!” she exclaimed, “No, wait, I’ve got a pair of keys! Don’t go through my window! That’d be breaking and entering!”

He laughed, “the door’s locked, besides, you said I could go in.”

“The door’s not locked anymore!” she exclaimed, pushing her keys into the doorknob.

“You’re no fun.” he mumbled, before opening the door. “Where’s the food?”

“What?” she asked, following him in, and closing the door behind her.

“The food?” he repeated, “you know like chips, meat, and fire.”

“In the kitche-” Sua began to answer before she had to do a double-take on what he said. “Repeat that.”

“Food? Chips, meat, fire, spaghetti, pizza, fire, bread, you know, what you eat.” she couldn’t see his face.

“Fire isn’t food. It’s a plasma.”

“If you can eat it, it’s food,” he answered, with a smirk.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, grabbing at his arms, “I didn’t mishear what you had said before! You eat fire!”

“Yeah, and?” Seonwoo answered, shrugging her off, and heading in the general direction of her kitchen.

“You can’t eat fire! It’s not possible!”

“Well I can.” He laughed, shaking his head, and gestured to her fridge.

“Close my fridge,” she sighed, earning a pout in return although he opened the cabinet instead, “Nobody can literally eat fire. Doesn’t it burn your throat?”

“Huh? My mentor taught me how to do it, so it doesn’t.” Seonwoo answered, before pulling out her favorite bag of chips. “Gotta match? I’ll show you, and technically it goes out before it hits your throat.”

“Seonwoo, are you a magician?”

“Magician?” Seonwoo repeated, “no, not really. I just eat fire, and perform with fire, and create fire, and eat food and stuff.”

“A cook?”

“No, I can’t cook, Mira told you that, right?”

“Then a magician and a food critic?”

“Food critic? No, that’s lame, why judge good food. It’s food, just eat it.”

“So, what? You’re a performer?”

“Yeah, I perform,” Seonwoo answered, as he shoved his hand into her bag of chips.

“Perform what?”

“Fire.” Seonwoo answered, as a handful of chips went into his mouth. “And you write stuff right?”

“Yeah, most of the time, I’m thinking about what to write next.”

“So…” he tilted his head to the side, “you write stuff like sex?”

“What!” Sua’s face nearly lit on fire, she felt it grow suddenly so hot. How could he say something like that so easily?

“You said you’re thinking about it all the time, and you randomly just yelled out that you wanted to have sex with me, so you were talking about writing, then?”

She had thought her face couldn’t get any hotter, but he proved her wrong, as he brought up something she had regretted saying, again. “No, I don’t write about stuff like that. Erotic novels aren’t what I’m into. It’s more sweet, fluffy, kinda stuff. I was remembering my past, that’s all.” she sighed, before snatching the bag of chips from him before he ate it all.

“Like bunnies?”

“Huh?”

“Bunnies are fluffy.” he answered, before running out of the kitchen, “I wanna read it. Do you write about anything else? Like fantasy, or dragons by chance?”

“Where are you going?” she called, as she saw him run up her stairs, and into her bedroom. My bedroom! She panicked, and ran up after him. Not once had she allowed a single person to enter her room, especially not a boy. There was too much stuff in there. Having a guy and her alone in a bedroom was the last thing she wanted, but he ran into her room before she could stop him.

“Where is it?” Seonwoo asked, standing in the middle of her room, “where’s the story about all that fantasy stuff?”

“Fantasy? I thought you were looking for a story about a bunny. And get out of my room!”

“You know, Sua,” Seonwoo stated, sitting down on her bed, “you’ve got nothing in here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, other than your bed and dresser, you really don’t have anything interesting in here at all.” he sighed, and fell back onto her bed.

She groaned, “You didn’t snoop through my drawers, did you?” In that short amount of time?

“No,” Seonwoo sighed, “but you practically have everything displayed in your closet,” he closed his eyes, “no story in there, though.”

She walked up to the bed, and sat gently on it, before smacking him in the stomach, “Why’d you have to go through my stuff!”

“Ouch!” he exclaimed, grabbing her hand before she smacked him again, “don’t do that. And your closet doors are open. You don’t have much to go through anyway.”

She pulled her hand from his grasp, before punching him in the stomach, “don’t go through other people’s things!” she exclaimed. She was surprised though, never had she thought that she could openly express her displeasure about something so vividly. She had never once punched a man, or woman, in her life. She looked down at Seonwoo, as he rubbed the spot she punched him in. Why was he so different?

“Don’t punch me! I didn’t even do anything!” he yawned, closing his eyes, “I’m tired.”

She was certain he was different, different than her neighbor, different from her exes, different from her past classmates, different from her editor, different from her publisher, different from her father, he was different. He was his own person, unique to himself. She had never once met anyone like him. His dense demeanor, his outgoing personality, his kind nature, it was all unique to him, and maybe that’s why she just stared down at him now. As his chest rose and fell, his relaxed face, and disheveled hair, as he just lay on her bed, with his feet resting on the ground.

“Why are you so different?” she murmured, brushing her hand through his pink hair.

“Different how?” he responded, opening his eyes slightly. She was taken aback, but he didn’t show any displeasure in how her hand tangled and detangled itself from his locks.

“I’ve told you before, I’m sure,” she sighed, “but you're so bright.”

“Okay?” he answered, and she watched as his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Don’t think much of it,” she sighed, as she detangled her hand to run it through his hair again.

“Well, you’re rather bright, then, yourself.” he closed his eyes again, letting his brows relax again.

Me, bright? Yeah, right. When compared to the sun, the moon is as dark as the night it governs. She sighed, as she continued to run her hands through his surprisingly soft hair. She looked out her window, as she watched the morning birds chirping, and the squirrels hunting for breakfast. The slow blossoms of the morning glories in her next door neighbor’s yard. She had helped her plant those when she had first moved in. She smiled, as she recalled how dirty she had gotten, and how she felt like it reflected her life so perfectly. She was quite the mess.

The calmness of the room began to make her notice how tired she really was, and slowly found herself nodding off to sleep. His hair was soothing to run her fingers through, so she began taking turns between her two hands, and the chirping of the birds, and the light rustle of the wind, only made her even more tired. Her movements slowed, as she focused on the way the leaves moved as the wind hit them. Her torso could barely stay up, but she didn’t care, she needed sleep, even if she had a deadline to finish. She inhaled softly, before losing the strength in her hips, causing her to collapse onto her bed, her hands still tangled in Seonwoo’s messy locks of hair.

She woke up rather suddenly, as she felt a pressure against her waist. She groaned, and pulled her pillow closer to her, still half asleep, even though it was the afternoon. The pressure was pressed against her waist again, before her arms were gripped. Her eyes snapped open, and she shrieked, using one hand to hit away whatever creature was trying to grab at her. This was her pillow, nobody could take the soft comfort away from her.

A hand pressed against her shoulder, and she fearfully looked down, at the angle it came from. Her cheeks were suddenly as red as the cardinals outside her window, as she quickly let go of her so-called pillow. Seonwoo rolled away from her coughing air back into his lungs, “I thought I was gonna die.”

“Why’d you -” she began, but recalled how she had pulled him closer to her. “I’m sorry, I suffocated you, but why didn’t you say anything?” she asked.

He took a deep breath before sitting up, “I can’t say anything when I can’t breathe.” He sighed, hitting at his chest with his fist.

“But did you have to push at me, or grab my arm?”

“You wouldn’t let go,” he sighed, running his hands through his hair, “besides, I’ve got a performance tonight, so what time is it?” His phone buzzed and he looked around for where it was at.

Having fallen out of his pocket during their slumber, Sua picked it up from the ground, and recognized the name and photo of the caller: Liza. The woman from the cafe. She was kind, and Seonwoo and her got along really well.

“Who is it?” Seonwoo asked, recognizing the phone as his own.

“Liza.” Sua answered, and handed the phone to him.

“Oh,” he flipped open the phone to answer, “Yo, Liz, what’s up?” he nodded, “Bunny’s where?” his eyes went wide, before relaxing, “As expected. Bunny’s a smart cat.” he tilted his head, “no, but Liz, you know I can’t do that kinda thing!” he sighed, “I’ll have to just walk.” Sua sighed, what kind of conversation was this, and why did she have to listen to it in her bedroom, “It’s not till seven, though, right?” he turned to look at Sua, a frown placed on his face, “Haejun can’t take me, I’m with Sua.” he turned the phone to her.

“Hi?” Sua stated, before she watched Seonwoo nod toward the phone, she took it from him, hesitantly, “this is Sua.”

“Sua! Hi! So, Seonwoo’s got this performance in Seoul tonight, and even though I’m one of his managers, I can’t take him, because Mira needed some last minute help at Mira’s Place, and I don’t know where you live, so I was wondering if you could take him. Woojin has some pills that usually help with his motion sickness, but unfortunately, she’s taking care of Bunny so that Seonwoo can go, and Haejun also doesn’t know where you live, so I was hoping that you could take him, but he’d be really sick the whole time, but its not throwing-up severe so don’t worry about that. Seonwoo can get you a seat in the VIP section, if you take him. Kira and Eunja are his pre-shows tonight, so it should be one heck of a show. Could you take him if it isn’t too much trouble? Seonwoo said you write stories, so hopefully you don’t have a deadline soon, but this is a huge chance for Seonwoo to go worldwide, so could you? Please? I’m sorry to drop this on you so suddenly, it’s just extremely important! I know your work is important, too, but because Seonwoo says you guys are friends, I was kinda hoping you’d be able to take him, since he’s not with Haejun right now.”

“Um, Liza?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“My car isn’t all that nice.”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” she laughed, “and don’t worry about Seonwoo messing it up, we’ll pay for any damages to the car.”

“That’s not it. He’s Phoenix Dragon, right?”

“Yeah, he is, it’s a possible worldwide premiere show that he could get into next if he goes to this one.” Liza stated.

“How can someone as famous as himself show up in a car like mine?”

“Tell Liza I’ll walk.” Seonwoo stated.

“The type of car doesn’t matter, he just has to get there, and if he walks, which he’s probably telling you he’ll do, he’ll be way too late, and create a bad public image of himself.”

“Are you his manager?”

“Not technically, I’m just one of the managers with the company, who really cares about this amazing opportunity for him.”

“So, you want me to drive him there, because his public image would be bad if he shows up late, but wouldn’t it also be bad if he shows up in a car like mine?”

“Sua,” Liza stated, “he has to show up before the public even gets there, so it won’t matter what car he shows up in. You can just park in the public lot after dropping him off, if you really care about that. But if you can, can you take him? Please? He’s gotta be there two hours before the doors open at six thirty, so I hope you don’t live too far.”

“No, I live in Incheon, but does he even have the right clothes for the performance?”

“His manager was told that his stylist had clothes there for him. He has an interview afterward, so you’d have to wait around another hour, possibly, after his show, to take him back home.”

“I do have a deadline, soon.” she mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I suppose I could try calling someone else. Could you have Seonwoo send his location, then?”

“No, I can take him.” Sua stated, watching as Seonwoo groaned into her comforter, mumbling something about walking.