Summary: Annabeth is dealing with a betrayal of her boyfriend and best friend. To add to the problem, she's broke. Percy is a young businessman trying to make his way to the top. By accident, he meets Annabeth, learning that connections with her family could secure his position in the business world. When Annabeth rents out her house, Percy takes her up on the offer, posing as a gay man to win her trust. What happens when he accidentally ends up falling for her instead? AU/AH… Characters will be OoC.
Yes, it is based on another Korean drama. And this is actually the first story I have outlined chapter by chapter till the climax. Hopefully I can stick with it that long, but that all depends on reader support.
Currently, it is outlined for 46 chapters, but it should eventually hit 60+. Give or take 5 chapters. Let's see how it goes. I'm so pumped to write this story. It helps while I have writer's block with The Green Eyed Marine.
Rated T for some language, innuendos, and suggestive themes, but nothing explicit.
This story is also not meant to offend any people who are in fact gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the plot, but I did change some things up.
That was long A/N.
Annabeth Chase- 7:00 A.M.
Annabeth had stayed up till three o'clock last night working on the finishing touches to her latest project, the ultimate piano bench. She had only managed to stay up that late with the help of her black coffee, the staining rings left from the bottom of the cup were visible on her sketched designs for the project.
She had just added the final polish to the mahogany colored wood which would give it the sleek, fresco gleam of a new piano bench. Just as she had applied the last layer, a sudden bout of sleepiness had hit her, forcing her to fall asleep on the workshop bench.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The sound of the incessant damned alarm only made her even more sluggish in the morning as she groped around the wooden table, trying to locate the source of nuisance. The bright sunlight had filtered in through the sliding windows, causing her to squint and only making her task of finding the alarm clock more difficult.
She reluctantly got up from where she had previously fallen asleep. With her face shying away from the alarm clock, she hesitantly approached it, hitting various buttons until the noise finally came to a stop.
Just when alarm had been successfully turned off, the reminder on her iPhone began to beep impatiently. Annabeth carefully removed the object from her overalls' pocket, muttering unintelligible words upon reading the message. It was from her fellow colleague and employee, Will Solace.
Annabeth, you gotta get down here in thirty minutes. The other stalls are already beginning to set up. Don't be late…And dress up a bit more formally than you normally do, please.
Formal? What nonsense was he talking about? There was nothing wrong with a pair of sweatpants and a matching hoodie, was there? Yet, she sighed in defeat. If she wanted to make a good impression on her customers, she might as well wear that LBD that Luke had bought her last month. It was formal enough, and furthermore, Luke had promised to drop by on his way to the meeting.
Annabeth had finally secured a place at the annual furniture convention after two years of trying futilely. This year had been a breakthrough. And maybe, just maybe, with the orders she received for her furniture designs, she might be able to survive the next few months without having to shamefully face her father and declare being broke.
As she was about to leave the house, she tripped over the edge of the rug which had not been straightened. To her dismay, she found one of her heels to be completely broken, snapped at the bottom. Not having time to worry about it, she threw on a pair black boots she found deep in her shoe closet. They weren't formal per se, but they'd do.
Fifteen minutes to go she thought to herself as she rushed down neighborhood as she tried to locate the nearest taxi stop. She slung her shoulder bag on in a more comfortable position as she sprinted five blocks away to the taxi stop.
Annabeth sat herself down impatiently at the wooden park bench nearby, waiting for a taxi to come nearer before hailing it. The sprint along with the heavy bag had already taken away half her days' worth of energy. As her stomach growled, she realized she was yet to eat her breakfast. She dug into her bag and pulled out various items which she looked at with disgust: a rotten banana from who knows when, a moldy green orange, and a fruit by the foot. Settling for the fruit by the foot, she began munching on it eagerly as she spotted a yellow cab pull up by the curb.
She immediately rushed towards it, already pressed for time, when she saw another hand grasp the handle of the door at the same moment. What? Wasn't she the only one waiting? Annabeth looked up to meet the eyes of her 'opponent'. A pair of sea green eyes flashed her an impatient look as they both made a move to open the door.
Percy Jackson- 7:00 A.M.
Percy had had a restless night, spending long hours at his office the night before in preparation for today's architect conference located at the Waldorf. He had been checking and rechecking every single detail on the report he was to present in front of the gathered crowd. By the time he had finished, it was past midnight with no one left in his office except for his employee, Nico di Angelo, who had begun sleeping at his own desk.
To add to his problems, the lights had been turned off due to a power loss. As for the backup generator, that too apparently had suffered some damage, allowing for only the lamp on his desk to work.
He had entered the apartment quietly in order to not wake up his mother. No such chance of course. The watchful eyes of Sally Jackson gave her son a reprimanding look as she shooed him off to bed immediately, insisting he better get a good night's rest for the presentation.
To his surprise, Percy had woken up to someone else's arms draped across his chest, almost in a possessive manner. He sighed in irritation, pinching his nose bridge as he turned to look at the girl next to him: Calypso.
He carelessly flung the girl's arm away from him as he got up to go shower. That one movement was enough to wake her up as she sat up immediately. Percy noted her black negligee with some amusement and snorted. The girl got up defensively and whined, "Percy, come back to bed."
Percy rolled his eyes, "When'd you get in?"
"About two," she replied, "My flight got delayed yesterday, so it came in later."
"I didn't say you could share my bed," he said, playing along with her antics.
"But, where else would I go?" the way she asked made Percy wonder if she actually was clueless.
"I don't know. A hotel maybe?"
"No! I didn't want to. I wanted to see you."
"Does my mom know you're here?"
"No…"
Percy heard a knock on his door as Sally Jackson asked impatiently, "Percy, are you talking to yourself? Get dressed and eat quickly. Looks like traffic is going to be bad today."
"Coming mom," he called back. He turned back to Calypso, "Look, you shouldn't be here. My mom can't see you here."
"But she loves me," Calypso whined.
"Yeah, well, too bad. I don't want her to start imagining things," Percy retorted, shrugging on a clean, pressed white shirt. He retreated into his closet to find a pair of matching slacks, closing the door behind him so he could change.
"Why are you so mean?!" the girl pouted. "Aren't you even moved by the amount of thought I put into my outfit? Don't I look so much hotter? You haven't seen me in two weeks, and you still act this way!"
"Your negligee? Nope, not a single bit. And if you ask me, two weeks was too short for you to be away."
"You jerk, are you gay or something? No man would not be moved by my appearance."
"Didn't you know? I am gay," Percy added with a teasing wink, walking out of the closet. Calypso was like a sister to him and frankly, thinking of her as a romantic interest had never crossed his mind. It was weird. After all, they had known each other since they had been five. Throwing in love to the mix would just make it awkward.
"I hate you, Perce."
"Love you too," he returned. He took her by the shoulders and started pushing her out towards the balcony, "Now be a good girl and stay there till someone finds you." He closed the door, not locking it, but he knew she was dumb enough not to realize it. Percy chuckled slightly at the scene in front of him as she banged on the pane of the sliding door.
He closed his own bedroom door behind him as his mother handed him a cup of coffee and an apple, "You took your time in the bedroom. Anyway, I thought you'd be late, so I went ahead and packed breakfast."
"Thanks mom. You're the best," with a peck on her cheek, he proceeded down to the garage with his portfolio in one hand, and his model of his design in the other. Upon arriving and turning on the engine of his Challenger, he realized that his gas tank was empty. Having a few choice words to say, Percy kicked the car with his foot once, while still balancing his model, before giving up. Time to catch a cab.
Catching a cab was a new experience for Percy, having to have never done it before. There was no way he would ever enter a bus. Besides, carrying an architectural model and a portfolio onto a bus was a nightmare that gave him shivers at the mere thought.
He had been walking down the street near the bus stop when he spotted a cab pull up. Immediately, without second thought, he ran up to it, securing both his belongings in one hand. As he reached for the door, his hand hit another.
The girl looked up at him with her deep gray eyes filled with impatience. "What are you doing?" she asked indignantly, the eyes becoming darker and darker by the second.
"Catching a cab, what do you think?"
"This is my cab."
"I got it first."
"I saw it first."
"Your point? I said I got it first!"
"Your arms are longer!"
"Sucks to be you."
Unknown to both of them, another person had walked up on the other side of the cab and had entered wordlessly. As the cab pulled away, two looks of dejectedness followed it before the two turned back.
"Jerk! I'm already late. Ah, Will's going to kill me!"
"That's your problem, not mine."
"Hmph!" Annabeth stalked away from the impolite man, settling to take the bus instead. As she stood in line with the remainder of the crowd, she noticed the jerk coming in her direction, standing right in front.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.
"Waiting for the bus."
"Do you not see the line?"
He didn't reply as the sound of the tires screeched to a halt in front of him. He flashed her a one-sided smile before entering in front of the long line of passengers. By the time she had entered the bus, she noted that all the seats were taken…except for the one near him of course.
"Move over," she said, not bothering to glance at him while she spoke.
"Uh, no. Can't you see it's occupied?" he gestured towards the model of the building sitting to his right.
"Don't you think you're a little old to be playing with toy houses?" she mocked. "Besides, that house didn't pay a ticket for a seat."
"Too bad, it just so happens that this 'toy house' is what pays my salary."
Annabeth was getting ticked off. She was already losing her patience, and this guy was doing nothing to help. She remained standing where she was. He smirked, realizing he had won the argument. Oh how she wanted to punch him in his weak spot!
The remainder of the bus ride, she spent feeling very self-conscious. Many times, she found him staring at her…more like at her butt. She considered confronting him but was in no mood to do so.
At the next stop, the bus lurched to halt, causing Annabeth to lose her balance. It was almost like slow motion as she found herself tumbling on to the seat next to her. Percy's hands shot out protectively in front of his model, his green eyes dark with horror.
"Noooooo!"
Annabeth felt the model smash into pieces as she landed on it with a thump, but what happened before was even worse.
"You just touched my butt, you pervert!"
Tell me what you think. I have the next chapter typed up but won't be posting it until I get some response from you guys.
I'll try to update The Green Eyed Marine when I don't have too bad a writer's block.
Today's also the summer solstice.
Anyway, read, review, fave, follow for updates.
~TJ
