Chapter one – First impression

He was running through the forest, his breath stuck high up in his chest. Who was chasing him down? Stumbling, he fell into a hole and disappeared under the ground with a thud that should've been painful but it wasn't. He could hear steps follow close behind him and he quickly got up to continue his run. The tunnel under the ground had no light at the end of it, but it was the only way to… Well, anywhere or somewhere. It was so dark that he couldn't see his feet, but miraculously he didn't fall or stumble on the uneven ground. The walls around him got closer and closer as the tunnel narrowed to the point where he thought he was going to get stuck. The pain in his chest felt somewhat distant, as if someone had put a bandage around the wound he knew was there. Suddenly the tunnel opened up and he found himself standing in the middle of a ballroom. How did he get here? Looking around, the entrance to the tunnel was nowhere to be seen. Just walls around him without doors. A sound from behind him made him tense up. Footsteps again. He couldn't see the whole room from where he was standing; the corners of the room were dark and mysterious. A snap and a fizzing sound could be heard and around him everything was suddenly on fire. He backed around the room as the panic started to fill him up, when he noticed another person in the midst of the flames. A person he knew very well. A person whom he had loved for many years. A person whom he still loved with all his heart.

"Hyunjoong-ah!"

Jaejoong woke up with a scream and a painful thud as he hit the floor. With speedy breaths he sat up, trying to locate himself in the room. As the panic slowly started to fade, he realized he was back in his own room in his apartment. He must've fallen out of bed, considering how he was on the floor and not in the bed where he had fallen asleep three hours ago. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he quickly dried them away but the flow wouldn't stop. 'Man up, Jaejoong!' he thought to himself. It's been two months already, just get over yourself. He won't come back to you.

Muttering silently to himself, he got up on his feet and straightened out the t-shirt he was wearing. It was still strange to wake up in the apartment here, just outside the small city of Goheung, Jeollanam-do. He had moved here shortly after Hyunjoong had dumped him, accepting a job offer at a small hotel just down the street. It wasn't the most populated place on earth, but the scenery around the place was worth dying for with its green hills and ocean close by. Jaejoong loved it here. He started working at the hotel two days ago, and so far it seemed pretty nice. Not much happened, but despite the pretty remote location they had a lot of guests over the year. Right now wasn't a very high season though, since it was mid February and holidays were already over. The manager, a man in the same age as himself, said that as soon as spring started in April the visitors would be coming in almost daily. Jaejoong had a bit of a problem even seeing that happen, since the town (that by the way was a main street with a restaurant, a shop that was closed on Sundays and the hotel surrounded by small village houses and farms) was pretty dead at the moment.

Jaejoong woke up from his thoughts when he could hear a car drive by outside the window on the street. Strange, during the month he had lived here he hadn't heard a car coming in the middle of the night. Curiously he peeked out through the curtains, but didn't see much. As usual the road lights were off. It was to save power and money, apparently. Maybe it was the manager of the hotel who came back from the conference. Jaejoong hadn't met him yet, but apparently he was very strict with his employees, but also fair and always extremely kind to the visitors of the hotel. With a shrug, he finished the glass of water and went back to bed. He wasn't sure of how he would be able to go back to sleep after the nightmare. Every time he closed his eyes he could see Hyunjoong's face behind his eyelids. The rage, disgust and hate in his eyes had scared the crap out of Jaejoong. But even worse was the fright on the other's face when he realized that he too was trapped in the fire. Hyunjoong had said something too, but he couldn't recall what it was. His heart was still racing a bit, both from the nightmare but also the fact that he was going to meet that manager tomorrow… What if he didn't like Jaejoong? Maybe he would kick him out? Or what if he really screwed up and insulted some of the guests? He never had much social skills in the first place, so it wasn't very unlikely…

A loud ringing sound made Jaejoong wake up from his slumber. With a groan he slammed the clock silent and sat up on the edge of the bed. What the..? He glanced at the clock. He must've fallen asleep after all. He had been 100% sure that he wasn't going to go back to sleep after the dream. With a heavy headache he got out on bed and staggered into the bathroom, somehow getting out of the t-shirt and into the shower. A yelp emitted from him as his body was hit by ice cold water, and he glared angrily up at the hose as if it did it on purpose. A few seconds later the water was warm and at least the cold water had awoken him up enough for his brain to start working properly again. He had to hurry so he wouldn't be late for the meeting with the manager.

An hour later, after a rushed breakfast, Jaejoong arrived at Hotel Savior. He stepped inside the reception area and smiled a little. The hotel itself was gorgeous. The reception had thick, red rugs and a nice dark brown wainscoting on the walls. He knew all of the rooms were personal and designed differently, from a low budget one-bed to a luxurious wedding suite. He gave Sunny behind the desk a smile and a quick nod.

"Ah, Jaejoong-ssi." she stopped him and he turned around to face her "Manager Jung wants to meet you. He's in his office; you know where that is right?"

Jaejoong nodded and smiled "Yes. And please, just call me Jaejoong. I'm fine with it. Thanks." he walked towards the manager's office, leaving Sunny a bit red-faced behind the desk of the reception. He knew people found him strange because he preferred them to call him without honorifics, but it felt too… formal to use honorifics. He tried to use them on others though, since he knew not everyone were in the same mindset as he was. Half a minute had passed when he knocked on the door to the office.

"Please come in!" a man's voice was heard from inside. Jaejoong swallowed hard and took a deep breath before he opened the door.

"You wished to see me, sir?" he said with a polite voice. The man behind the large, wooden desk smiled to him.

"Ah, Jaejoong-ssi. Please have a seat." Yunho gestured towards the chair in front of the desk and Jaejoong sat down "I heard you've been here for two days already. I apologize for not introducing myself properly as you came here the first day, but because of an urgent situation in Seoul, I had to go there."

Jaejoong shook his head quickly "Oh, it's alright sir. Sunny gave me a proper introduction of the hotel and the chores to be done here. It's… It's a beautiful hotel." he noticed he was stuttering, something he always did when he was nervous or shy. And at this moment, he was both. The man sitting in front of him with the name of Jung Yunho was incredibly handsome. He hadn't expected the manager of the hotel to actually be good looking.

Yunho noticed the other's insecurity and cleared his throat a little "You seem to have adapted pretty well. Of course, your employment is only for trial. You have a month here before I make the final decision on whether you may stay or not. Have you ever worked with a profession this public before?"

"N-no, I haven't sir…" Jaejoong said modestly, glancing at his boss with nervous eyes "I'm… Not a very social person.. But I would like to be..! I've always been sort of… Well… Socially awkward I guess. And people have judged me in a bad way for me being like that, and I don't like it anymore. So please, be patient with me!" he got up from the chair and bowed deeply "Please give me a chance at changing myself for the better!"

Manager Jung looked completely startled at Jaejoong's sudden confession, but smiled a little and nodded thoughtfully "Of course I'll give you a fair chance. I don't kick out people just because I'm in a bad mood."

Jaejoong looked up at him, suddenly ashamed "O-oh, I'm sorry, I did not mean it that way…"

Yunho leaned his head back with a laugh "Don't look like that. I don't bite. I might bark, but I don't bite." he nodded towards the door "Go off and assure me that I would be right to employ you here at the hotel. I'll be watching your every move from now on, Kim Jaejoong!"