Chapter One

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PRESENT DAY

Lee Minho ran a hand through his hair, shoulders slumping. His eyes drooped, and he fought off the incoming wave of fatigue that tugged at him relentlessly. He should've known it was a stupid idea to get a part-time job when he was already neck-deep in shit creek – otherwise known as university.

"Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get you?" He slapped the smile back on his lips, but the woman standing in front of the cash register barely looked up from her phone.

"Yes. I'll have a venti salted caramel mocha Frappuccino with five pumps of frap roast, four pumps of caramel sauce, four pumps of caramel syrup, three pumps of mocha, three pumps of toffee nut syrup, double blended with extra whipped cream." He blinked. Oh, my regret.

"I'm sorry?" The girl finally looked up with a roll of her eyes. His smile twitched, and it grew faker than it already was.

"What terrible service," she said with a hiss, and he stared at her blankly, fake smile still stretched on his lips. At least she repeated her order – more slowly this time. Minho's eyes drifted towards the clock, and he almost groaned when he noticed he still had four hours left to his shift.

What was I thinking?

~#~#~#~#~#~

It was hard not to drag his feet when his shift ended at long last. He winced as he rubbed his shoulder, grumbling under his breath. If he didn't need the money, he'd probably quit. Minho wasn't much of a people-person; he hated socializing with strangers almost as much as he hated math – now that said something.

It was late into the evening now, and he still had homework and assignments to get to. He sighed; the bus stop was still so far away. With a look down at his watch, he sighed again. It was already six PM.

He took out his phone and plugged in his earphones, clicking onto his loud rock playlist, bringing up the volume. He closed his eyes for a moment before he proceeded to walk. The sooner he got to the bus stop, the sooner he got home.

He shuffled down the dimly lit sidewalk, the sun only sinking further beyond the horizon with every step he took. He shoved his hands in his pockets, kicking a loose pebble as Def Leppard's Photograph blasted in his ears. He bobbed his head slightly to the beat, surveying the area around him before he burst into air-playing the drums when the coast was clear.

He'd always wanted to be a musician, but his mother hadn't liked that idea much. He was sure he would've played the drums if he'd gone down that path of life. He snickered to himself as he resumed walking at a reasonable pace.

When the bus stop finally came into view from across the street, he let out a sigh of relief; almost there. His feet were killing him. He hurried, but as he stepped foot onto the road, strong hands wrapped around his waist and yanked him back.

He gasped as he lurched backwards, eyes widening when a car sped right in front of him, headlights off, barely visible with the darkening sky. His breath wheezed out of him as he blinked, jaw dropped. I almost... I almost died!

The person who'd grabbed him let go, hands slipping away from his waist and he whirled around, ripping his earphones out. The boy he saw was handsome, to say the least.

He stumbled when something flashed in his mind. It wasn't an image, really; it was almost like a... a feeling. It left almost as soon as it had come. What the hell?

He was brought back to reality when the boy spoke. "Are you alright?" He stared blankly at his face, suddenly entranced by how beautiful the stranger looked. The boy's eyebrows furrowed and he took a step forward, tilting his head. "Hello?"

Minho blinked again, and his stupor broke away. "Oh, uh... yeah... yeah. I think I'm fine." He shook himself with a shuddering breath before he looked back up at the boy. "Thanks." He averted his eyes awkwardly; he'd never been good with displaying his gratitude.

The boy grinned and shook his head. "It was no problem. Should really watch where you're going, though; don't want to end up a pancake." The joke was a tad morbid, but it still elicited a snort from the brown-haired man.

"I'm Jisung." He held out his hand, and Minho looked at it for a moment before shaking it.

"Minho." The boy smiled again with a slight dip of his head, then turned on his heels and walked away, back down the way Minho had come. As Minho sat at the bus stop, waiting for his ride and giving his feet a much-deserved break, he realized something.

He was sure there hadn't been anyone close enough to stop him in time ahead of him.

~#~#~#~#~#~

When Minho finally got home he would've collapsed on his bed, if it weren't for his loud roommates screaming bloody murder in the kitchen. "What the hell are you guys doing?!" he shouted as he stepped into the kitchen, and oh, how he wished he hadn't.

Flour covered the floor in a thin layer of white, and cookie batter was splattered over the walls and on the counter. In the center of the kitchen, frozen, caught red-handed, was Lee Felix and Seo Changbin. He stared, blank-faced, at their mess for several moments before he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Get roommates, they said. It'll be easier, they said."

Before either of them could get a single word in, he turned on his heels and left them to their own devices. He was way too tired for this shit. He walked into the small bedroom he was lucky not to share with anyone – though the other two shared a larger room, he didn't really care about the size all that much.

He let his bag fall to the floor and toppled over onto his bed, letting out a quiet groan. The two resumed their rambunctious activities in the kitchen, and he pulled his pillow over his head with a sigh.

The window a few paces away from his bed flew open, smacking against the brick wall outside with a loud bang, and he jumped, throwing the pillow to the floor in his surprise. He stared for a few moments, his eyebrows drawing in confusion as he slowly stood and approached the window. He peered outside, but he was met with a gentle breeze, not any harsh winds that could've thrown his closed window open like that.

"That's weird," he mumbled as he reached to pull it closed. "Stupid old apartment."

~#~#~#~#~#~

Crimson eyes pierced through the darkness of the street, a cloaked figure standing in the depths of the shadows near a building with an open window. A small smile formed on his lips and a chuckle escaped him.

"I've found you, Myungsoo. I've found you at last."

A/N: My goal is to aim for daily updates, at least for the next three weeks, and whenever I take a break between rounds of edits for my novel. Maybe when I'm editing, I'll update bidaily, but, I have gotten much faster at writing, if I do say so myself ;)

Also, my chapters might seem longer, because while writing my novel, I kinda learned the difference between when a scene ends, and when a chapter ends. ;)

Q: What's your favourite font?

A: Courier New. I literally write so well (and easily) when my settings are set to courier new like gOODNESS it was a revolutionary find in the life of Junnie. I also found out I can change the font for Wattpad books I read and ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

FUN FACT: Did you know that you actually get more inspiration when you write in Comic Sans? It's a sin, I know, but apparently, it works

Lots of love,

~Junnie

Destined {𝕄𝕀ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾}Onde histórias criam vida. Descubra agora