CHAPTER 1

"I got the job!" Lee Aera said as she bustled through her apartment door finding her roommate Jennie sitting on the couch studying for her finals.

"No way!" Jennie said, putting down her study manual, turning her attention to her excited friend.

"WAY!" Aera said, throwing her purse and keys down on the table.

"That's awesome. I'm happy for you," Jennie said, smiling genuinely at Aera.

"Thanks," Aera beamed back, feeling the excitement vibrating through her body.

On a whim, Aera applied for a nanny job that would take her across the country with a family on their summer vacation. The Bang's family lived on the northwest of Seoul but took a trip to Australia every year for the entire summer and Aera was chosen to be one of the nanny's that would be taking care of the two young children – one boy and one girl. She didn't really have much experience with children, other than babysitting her nieces and nephews here and there, but she thought the opportunity was just too good to pass up. And fortunately for her, the mother hired her on the spot.

"So what are they like?" Jennie asked curiously.

"Well, there are two kids. A girl and a boy. The girl is five and the boy is seven—" Aera began to explain.

"What are the parents like?" Jennie cocked her eyebrow.

"The mom is... nice?" Aera said, not entirely sure she even believed what she just said. Nice was definitely not the best describing word for the woman she met only an hour prior, but she didn't want to just come out and say she was an uptight bitch.

"What does that mean?" Jennie asked with a giggle.

"She's a little... curt. She is really into her job. I mean, seriously. She interrupted the interview three times to take business calls, but whatever," Aera said, shrugging it off, trying to give the lady the benefit of the doubt.

"What's the dad like? Is he hot? I mean he's only like thirty, right? That's prime-time sexiness," Jennie asked, bouncing her eyebrows expectantly at Aera, causing her to laugh out loud.

"Jeez," Aera chuckled.

"What? I need to know you're going to have a good summer," Jennie smirked, cocking her eyebrow.

"I'm sure the level of fun I'm going to have isn't going to have anything to do with Mr.Bang. I haven't even met the guy. He wasn't there," Aera laughed out loud.

"I'm just saying, hopefully the guy is hot so you'll have something to look at this summer," Jennie smirked suggestively at her friend.

"Yeah, because I'm sure there is a shortage of hot guys in Australia," Aera said as she rolled her eyes at her depraved roommate as she headed off to her bedroom to get ready for her evening class.

...

"So are you excited to be headed back to Australia?" Changbin asked his best mate Chan as they sat at an outdoor café eating lunch together.

"Yeah. But I just wish Jihye was a bit more excited about it," Chan frowned, thinking about the fight he and his wife just got into before he left for his lunch date.

The company Jihye worked for was going through some huge merger with another company, and with the way she talked about it, it was almost as if the whole thing was placed solely on her shoulders, even though Chan knew differently. She lived and breathed her career, making it nearly impossible for Chan and their two children – Bang Jack Jaehyun and Bang Avery Areum – to even spend any time with her. That was why their annual family summer vacation to Australia had Chan smiling a little brighter. That was, until the fight they had that morning about how Jihye would need to transfer all her work across the country and how she felt it would be best to post-pone the trip indefinitely because of the merger. Chan left the house after putting his foot down, telling Jihye to do what she needed to do to get ready, because the trip was happening whether she liked it or not.

"Is she still working non-stop on that deal?" Changbin asked, giving him a look of sympathy.

"That's all she does. Seriously. It's like she barely leaves her office at work and when she's home, she barely leaves the office there," Chan scoffed, wiping his mouth on his napkin. Changbin nodded in response as he took a bite of his own food.

"I mean, it's been months since we've, you know... had sex. She's always so exhausted and whenever I try, she always gets angry over it. And then it makes me angry. And it's just a vicious cycle," Chan sighed, feeling the tension and anger that built up inside of him over the last year or so.

"That's rough," Changbin said, contorting his face into a look of pity.

What Chan really didn't need was pity from Changbin. All he needed was a little intimacy from his wife. Changbin had no problem getting his wife to fork over the goods. But for some reason, it was a god damn war to get his dick any attention these days.

"Well, maybe this vacation will be good for you both. Maybe she'll be able to relax a little and help you out in that sense," Changbin said, being the optimist he was.

"I mean, at this point, it can't get any worse," Chan sighed, shrugging his shoulders, hoping for the best.

After his quick lunch with Changbin, Chan headed home to relieve Jihye of kid duty. On the weekends, she always tended to really get into her work tasks in the time between lunch and dinner, so Chan knew she'd be itching to get a start on it the moment he stepped foot in the door.

"Oh, thank god," Jihye sighed once she saw Chan.

She looked entirely frazzled, having just spent a good chunk of the morning and part of the afternoon with the kids. She was a good mother, but sometimes Chan really wished she took on more of a nurturing role with them. But instead, she was so apathetic sometimes, as if she didn't know how to show affection for the two little lives she had a hand in creating.

Jihye wasn't particularly fond of the idea of having children in the first place. It was a struggle to even get her to entertain the idea, with her my body is my temple way of thinking. But somehow Chan convinced her to have at least one – which brought their son Jaehyun into the world. When she got pregnant with Areum, it was a complete shock to both of them. Areum was Chan's little miracle baby, because after Jaehyun, he got used to the fact that he was only ever going to be a father of one. But the world was always full of surprises.

Before Jihye rushed off to whatever conference called she needed to connect to, Chan gave her a quick kiss on the cheek which seemed to go almost unnoticed, and only made him roll his eyes in the end. Nothing he did lately made any sort of a difference. He could never seem to break the shell of her cold exterior. She was all work and no play – such a contrast of the woman he married seven years before.

Chan took in a deep breath and let it out hard before shaking off the awkward embrace with his wife so he was able to focus wholly on his children, who happily greeted him the moment they saw him.

In the short few hours between the time Chan arrived home and the time dinner was ready, he managed to do two loads of laundry, craft an elaborate fort in the living room out of pillows and blankets with the kids, made lasagna for dinner, and did some packing for their summer vacation to Australia. All the while, Jihye stayed holed up in the office ignoring her entire family.

Just before he finished making dinner, Chan decided to head upstairs to ask Jihye to come down. There was a rule set in place long ago that Chan enforced quite seriously – no matter how busy you were with something you would always step away from it for dinner. Sometimes Jihye fought it kicking and screaming, but Chan always made it a point to fight for that one thing to be able to give his children the opportunity to have a proper family gathering at least once from day to day.

Chan stood leaning against the doorway of the office with his arms crossed over his chest loosely, waiting for Jihye to finish up the phone call she was on. When she finally clicked off her Bluetooth headset, she still didn't notice him. But that wasn't uncommon. She sort of learned how to unhinge herself from the outside world when she was in the office, with its floor to ceiling bookcases that housed hundreds of books and its large mahogany desk she had paperwork stacked all around her current work that was in front of her. She did well crafting her workspace to make it easier for her to work from home.

"Hey," he said softly, finally making his presence known.

"Oh, Jesus! Chan!" She yelped, jumping slightly as she put her hand to her heart. It would have amused him if he wasn't already so annoyed with her always shutting herself away.

"I've been standing here for five minutes," he told her dryly, not moving an inch from his spot at the door.

"Well, jeez. You just about gave me a heart attack. I'm under enough stress as it is, having to gather up everything I need and tote is clear across the country," she scoffed, taking an obvious dig at his plan to go through with their annual summer vacation to Australia.

He let it roll off of him, like he did with many things having to do with Jihye. He learned long ago, if he let the things Jihye said and did when she was in one of her moods get to him, it would make him into a very unhappy man.

"Speaking of, how did the interviews go today?" Chan asked, changing the subject.

Jihye set up a series of interviews of nannies for the kids for the vacation because of the work she knew she would be doing while they were gone. It was the first year Chan ever allowed it because Jihye so adamantly insisted on it. It turned into a very heated argument between the two of them before Chan finally just gave in to Jihye's wishes.

"Well..." She said looking up, giving him a look of distaste, which immediately made him wonder just how terrible their options were going to be. He didn't really want to spend the summer with a bunch of obnoxious teenaged girls.

"What?" He asked, curious as to what she found wrong with the bunch.

"I hired two," she told him, pursing her lips together.

"Well, that's good," he said, brightening up, happy he wouldn't get stuck flipping through another stack of applications.

"I had my heart set on having three, but I guess two will suffice," she said with that same look of distaste on her face.

"Two is plenty," he told her sternly.

"Mm-hmm," she hummed, rolling her eyes, as she dug through a stack of papers in front of her.

"Well, dinner is just about done. How about you break free of the ball and chain for a little bit and spend some time with your family," he suggested.

"I'll be down in a minute," she said, shrugging him off as she continued to furiously dig through the papers.

"Yeah," he breathed, pulling himself away from the door jamb before he made his way back downstairs to serve their meal.

Once dinner was finished, Chan bathed both of his children and tucked them into bed after not one, but two rounds of bedtime stories. To him, being a father was satisfaction enough in life. He had his time. Just after Chan turned sixteen, he went to auditioned at JYPE in Seoul and got debuted in a group called STRAY KIDS with some other kids – Lee Minho,Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung,Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin, Yang Jeongin . They made a name for themselves around the world, being labelled as the 4th gen leaders and Chan made his fortune, which gave him the ability to be a full-time dad to his kids once the band went on an indefinite hiatus.

When Jaehyun was born, he gave up his fast life. He didn't need to party or go to the clubs or sell-out venue after venue with his band anymore to feel whole. All he needed was to hold his infant son in his arms and feel the best kind of joy he ever felt. He was a father. And a damn good one at that. His kids came first and foremost in his world.

His wife, unfortunately, had a different set of priorities.

Surprisingly enough, when Chan ambled into the bedroom that night, Jihye was already in there, dressed in her silk pajamas. The sight of her nearly bare body, sent his entire system into overdrive. It had been too long since she actually came to bed at a decent hour. Chan stood there thinking to himself if he played it just right, sex might be in the cards for him. At least he hoped.

"Hey, you," he cooed in a seductive tone as he crossed the room, keeping his eyes solely on her.

"Hi," she said evenly, sliding her nighty down her lean body.

Chan couldn't help but admire how incredibly sexy his wife's body actually was. It was one of the things he first noticed about her when they met. She was absolutely gorgeous nearly a decade ago and she definitely still had it. In fact, in his opinion, she really only got better with age.

A shiver of excitement raced through his body as he watched her crawl up onto the mattress, throwing her legs under the covers of her side of their massive king bed. He wasted no time crossing the room to his closet to remove his own clothes, stepping into a pair of navy blue pajama pants before heading out to coax a little love making out of his wife.

Chan crawled up into the bed right next to Jihye, not leaving much of a gap between the two of them as she took out her contacts and put on her black framed glasses. He slid his hand under the covers and ran it up and down her thigh a few times before she turned her head to look at him with no emotion on her face whatsoever, causing his stomach to drop immediately. He knew what that look meant. And it meant a brick fucking wall in the love-making department. But he decided to keep at it, just in case there was a sliver of a possibility he read her all wrong.

"You look amazing, love," he told her as he lightly kissed her shoulder blade.

"Chan," she sighed, slumping her back against the headboard.

"Just... shh," he breathed against her skin as he let his hand fall down to her inner thigh.

"Baby..." She said, her voice coming out as more of an impatient whine.

Chan continued kissing up her neck until their lips met, determined to get her as into it as he was. And she even kissed him back too, which literally was enough to get him there. But when her hands came crashing against his chest to push him away, his entire libido crashed and burned.

"Not tonight, honey. It's been a long day," she told him curtly.

With his wife's dismissal, Chan was certain his scoff could have been heard all the way down the hallway of their large, over-priced home. Her jaw dropped almost immediately as she narrowed her eyes looking over at her husband.

"I have been with the kids all damn day, while you were just out on the town with Changbin. And work is just so stressful right now, Chan. You know that. I just... I'm exhausted," she said, making up excuses while he looked at her with the most annoyed face he could possibly muster.

"You were hardly with the kids all day, Jihye. I was with them when they woke up, I was with them this afternoon and the entire evening. Just because I want to spend a little time with Changbin when he's in town and count on you to take care of our kids when I do, doesn't give you the right to use that god damn condescending tone with me," Chan spat at her as he sat up, feeling the all too familiar feeling of annoyance beginning to fester inside of himself.

"Condescending tone?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"It's always the same damn excuse with you. I am so sick of hearing them, Jihye-ah!" He told her as his voice rose even further with his anger level.

"I'm not making excuses!" She shot back at him.

"Ha!" He laughed sardonically.

"You know what, Chan. I don't have time for this. I need to wake up early for a conference call," she said, huffing as she threw herself down on the bed with her back turned to him.

"Your priorities are fucked, lady," he scoffed as he pushed the covers off of himself before stalking toward the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

For the rest of the week, the tension didn't ease at all in Chan and Jihye's relationship. If anything, it only got worse with the added responsibility of getting ready for the trip. Chan was just completely ready to leave and be back in the confines of Australia already. It was his very favourite place on earth, having lived there for nearly a decade prior to his marriage.

Their summer vacations were another thing that was practically hell to convince Jihye to do. And Chan seemed to pay dearly for it year after year, whether it be her snippy little comments about having to pack up her work and bring it cross-country, or the fact that she was the master of withholding sex of any kind. Chan lived through it all.

But as soon as he stepped foot onto Australia and his lungs breathed in the smoggy air he accustomed himself to a long time ago, his entire being began to relax. He'd been looking forward to the trip all year long. The house they rented out was about ten times bigger than what they needed, but that was all Jihye. She grew up wealthy, so everything she did was extravagant.

The first nanny, Minhee, arrived the same morning .She immediately jumped into helping the children unpack their belongings into their summer bedrooms. And even Chan had to admit, the thought of having a little extra help around for the summer wouldn't be so bad.

Minhee was exactly the type of girl Chan pictured his wife hiring for the summer. She was soft-spoken and reserved, and by the knee length skirt, cardigan sweater, and tiny cross pendant she wore around her neck, Chan was almost certain that Jesus was the only man in that girl's life.

By early afternoon, Chan decided to take his first run down the Australia coastline that their rental home sat adjacent to. Running was something he found always centred him. When he was having a bad day, taking a run always helped to cleanse him from all the chaos in his life. He wanted a fresh start in Australia. He wanted to put all of the fights he and Jihye were having behind him. He wanted freedom from all of the things that were weighing him down back in .

So he took off down the beach with his iPod serenading him, hoping for a little bit of peace.

...

Lee Aera couldn't even describe the feelings that were coursing through her as she prepared for the once in a lifetime trip. She just turned twenty-two and was enrolled in college at SNU. Money wasn't tight, her family was pretty well off, but having the job was definitely an incredible opportunity for her. The mother of the family was a freaking CEO for some hoity-toity investment firm. It wasn't exactly the kind of work she saw herself getting into, but maybe it could get her foot in the door to something she did care for. It was all about connections, right? And besides, how many people got the chance to spend their entire summer in paradise with minimal responsibilities?

Excitement coursed through her as she took her first step outside of the airport, her lungs pulling the salty air deep into her system, appreciating every single second of it. Aera was certain her summer was going to be amazing. She just knew it.

She took one last monumental breath, relishing in her freedom, before she turned to find the transportation Mrs.Bang promised would be waiting for her. As she took a look around at all the long awaited reunions and passengers arriving and departing, she managed to spot a hefty bald man with a sign reading Lee Aera. She sighed happily, appreciating the fact that everything seemed to be going so smoothly for her. She had never been so far away from home, and if she were being honest, she spent a few sleepless nights anxiously worrying about every finite little detail about her trip. Thankfully for her, none of her fears had yet to be realised.

"I'm Lee Aera," she said, smiling politely at the driver.

"Right this way, miss," he said, smiling back, taking hold of her luggage as he led her to an awaiting black town car that made her feel very important.

The driver even opened the door for her before loading all of her luggage into the trunk. With a smile, Aera slid smoothly into the back, the gray leather seats feeling cool on her bare legs. Excitement moved through her in waves as she looked around the pristinely cared for business car. The air conditioning was blasting throughout the cab, causing Aera to frown. She wanted nothing more than to feel the wind through her hair as they drove up the west coast.

"Could you please turn off the air conditioning?" Aera asked the man politely after he found his place in the driver seat.

"Miss?" He questioned.

"I've never been to Australia before. It was almost an hour long drive to the house, but Aera enjoyed every second of it.

As they pulled up into a long driveway, having reached their destination, Aera was blown away by the sheer size of the house she would be spending the entire summer living in. It was over-the-top ridiculously huge for a summer home. Was the family royalty or something?

"Is this it?" Aera asked the driver, mesmerised by the house's mass.

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded once, putting the car in park before jumping out of the driver side door to attend to opening hers.

"Holy crap," Aera gaped at the house as the man took her hand to help her out of the car.

Once she was standing in the driveway, her wandering eyes pasted on the residence in front of her, she still could not believe the enormity of the house. She wasn't even sure she had ever been in a house of its magnitude. Not even the driver informing her that he would gather her luggage from the car could rip her eyes away from the overwhelming structure. It was only when a dog came running up to her that she was broken out of her revelry. She wasn't aware the family had any pets. It wasn't mentioned in her interview. Her face flushed at the idea that she might not be in the right place. Did the driver get the directions wrong?

"Hey there, little buddy. You're friendly, aren't you?" Aera greeted the dog, squatting down to its level. He was some sort of a terrier mix, a miniature she immediately assumed. He looked a little older, like he was getting up there in years, but he was still unimaginably cute.

"He likes you," Aera heard, causing her head to shoot up instantly.

She was left looking into the most penetratingly beautiful green eyes she ever saw. But then again green wasn't exactly what she would call them. They were more like a gorgeous olive colour. She also noticed when the sun hit them just right, they turned into more of a bright jade. It was mesmerising.

When she realised she was staring, she let her eyes drop down on the body of the man, who was probably in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. He had a full head of short wavy brown hair. He had tattoos scattering his arms and his whole body was well-toned which she liked very much. She enjoyed the view mercilessly, checking out his rippling, but not too bulky biceps that stuck out perfectly from his sleeveless shirt. His whole body was glistening with the hint of sweat, leading her to believe he was just working out or running or something. She quietly wondered if perhaps the Bang' had hired a male nanny. Or maybe he was the gardener, or the pool boy.

One summer fantasy after another flooded her head, and Aera knew the man standing in front of her fit them all perfectly.

As he gazed at the girl that seemingly just arrived on his doorstep, Chan couldn't help but be stricken by her beauty. She was breathtaking, intoxicating, mouthwatering... He was entirely sure his mind could go on and on about what she was, but he knew it would be mildly inappropriate.

She had Brunnete flowing hair hanging just past her shoulders, sparkling eyes, and a body he could lose himself in. He shook his head at the thought, realizing she must be in the wrong place and that it wasn't fair of him to prey on her like that – even if it was just in his mind. Chan looked over to see the driver of the town car she came in unloading her luggage onto the driveway, and wondered if perhaps Jihye temporarily went blind when she hired a girl like her. She was tempted at its finest, like the apple in the Garden of Eden. Not that he was much into infidelity or whatnot, but he definitely wasn't opposed to looking – that was for sure.

"Berry" Chan said with a smile, giving a small nod toward the dog at the girl's feet as she stood staring back at him.

"What?" Aera asked in a daze, prying her eyes from his body, focusing back up into his gorgeous olive eyes.

"The dog – her name is Berry . He's getting pretty old – I've had him for about eight years, but he's a good dog," Chan explained, smiling pleasantly at her. Aera nodded amusingly back at him, a small smirk dancing across her lips.

"You must be... Aera? Am I saying that right?" Chan asked, taking a stab at the pronunciation, holding out his hand to shake hers. Her soft, petite hand slid smoothly into his as their eyes met once again, and Chan swore he saw something come to life in hers. Intrigue, perhaps?

"Yes, Lee Aera," she replied, smiling slyly, adding, "and you?"

Aera watched as the man's tongue darted quickly across his lips, wetting them in the process. She could not help but find it undeniably sexy. But then again, by definition that man was sex on legs.

"Oh, ha. Bang Chan. I'm Jihye's husband," he introduced himself, finding it slightly amusing that it may have been the first time he ever had to introduce himself as Jihye's husband.

Most people still knew who he was. But it seemed pretty obvious that Aera might be just a little too young to know who he was in his former life. It was nearly a decade since he and his band mates were out conquering the hearts of millions of fangirls.

"Nice to meet you, Bang Chan," Aera said, smiling brightly at him and he loved the sound of his name rolling off of her tongue.

The flirtatious looks she was sending were almost doing him and his deprived, raging libido in. He had to look away, to shake the girl out of his line of vision to even continue with the conversation.

"The other nanny is here already. Minhee, I think. Have you met her?" Aera asked, trying to think of something other than the poor unsuspecting girl standing in front of him in the way he was already thinking about her.

"Nope," Aera said, popping the 'p' against her lips.

"She's... different," Chan smirked at her, thinking about the awkward meeting he had with the first nanny. Aera gave him a curious look which made him chuckle a bit, causing him to shake his head.

"Never mind. Go on inside. Jihye is waiting for you. I'll take care of your luggage," Chan laughed out loud, pointing back toward the house.

"Alright," Aera smirked amusingly at the very attractive, very adorable house husband of one Bang Jihye .

Her mind couldn't help but cut to her roommate Jennie's words: hopefully he's hot so you'll have something to look at this summer. Oh, he was most definitely hot – ridiculously hot, in fact. And their playful banter and sexual tension was not lost on Aera as she made her way to the front door of the large estate.

Just before she found her way into the house, she turned to catch a very sly Mr.Bang checking out her assets. A sneaking smile pulled up Aera's lips as Chan looked back at her bashfully, knowing he was just caught. With one last look and a flip of her hair, Aera disappeared through the front door, leaving Chan standing stunned out in the driveway with her luggage.

It was going to be a very interesting summer.