Their first encounter was when Xiao Zhan eating outside alone.

He would have thought that he was being discreet enough, when somewhere in the middle of his dinner, Xiao Zhan heard a scuffle not far from his table. He lifted his head to see a man, clearly holding a tele lens camera, was down on the floor, face reddened, and a foot almost shoved in his mouth. He followed the foot to a tall figure, unclear of the gender, wearing some kind of ragged boots, loose pants, loose top and post-apocalypse style green coat with a large hoodie and mask covering his face. It's like the scene out of some kind of a zombie movie, if not for the eyes. He had a clear golden eyes. Like a predator.

Xiao Zhan is now worried that the scuffle will attract unnecessary attention, as he prepared to leave the restaurant. But it seemed that his worry was trivial, since the man in question gave a discreet sign, and then from somewhere in the back, two tall man with black clothes appeared, and dragged the seems-to-be papparazzi away, leaving behind the strange man alone. He picked up the camera on the floor, fiddled with it for a bit, then tossed it to one of the waiter, after extracting the memory card.

Then he walked straight to Xiao Zhan's table.

Xiao Zhan grabbed the table reflexively, afraid of what might happen next. 

But the stranger only put the memory card on his table, and gave him a salute, before he went outside and disappeared.

 
Xiao Zhan felt like he lost five years of his life, being so close with the intimidating stranger, although he was not saying a word, or even showing that he recognized him. 

Well at least it did not grow into another exponentially damaging situation to his already ruined reputation. 

Xiao Zhan sighed, and signaled the waiter that he was done.
 

He was back at his apartment, only two blocks from the restaurant, and prepared the food for his cat, and then sat in front of the TV, flipping the channel mindlessly, when he remembered the memory card.

He jumped from the couch, and grabbed his laptop, and put the memory card in to see what was inside.

As he was afraid of, the memory card contained pictures of him. Doing mindless daily chores.

What the...

Now he is confused. Who had wanted to spy on him? He, the fall-from-grace actor slash singer, who once upon a time was the nation's most beloved sweetheart, but because of some controversies with his fans and managements, he was bullied to the death of his career... and his love.

But that's different story altogether. The point is, he was just an ordinary man now. He wasn't even in the show business anymore. He's been retired to his hometown for a year now, alone, with his cat. 
He could not sleep a wink that night. 

 
-----
 

Just after the controversies, he got up and left, leaving it all behind, changing his address, his phone number, and became one of the many 9 to 5 workers in his hometown. He knew that it was a coward move, but he could not hurt the people he loved the most, if he had to go down, he would do it alone, not by dragging others with him.

Especially him. 

No, he could not do it to him. Not when his career was thriving.

So he ran away like a coward he was.

He lived a year practically gossip-free. Yes, his family knew what happened in general, but they did not dare to ask him. They just let him... be.

With his savings, he opened a small interior designing firm, and in just under a year, it thrived. Enough for him to live worry free in his hometown.

Alone.

-----

It's already morning and he woke up to the chirping of the birds outside his house. Yes he bought a house, with real kitchen, 3 bedrooms and white picket fences, the whole nine yards. At least he had this dream came true. 

Suddenly he felt the sharp pang in his heart. Remembering way back when his dreams were their dreams. But he shook his head, and went straight to the bathroom to cool it.

Stop day dreaming, it won't do you any good. What's done is done, there's no way he will be able to forgive you after all you've done to him.

He knows it. Deep down he knows. 

But he wasn't able to hold back the tears that streaming down his face. It hurts so much, like it was just yesterday.

 
But this is the price he had to pay. 
 

-----
 

It's just another ordinary day in the office, when his secretary, a late twenties woman named Ying, barged into his office in a sudden. He lifted his brow, wondering what came into this usually unruffled woman, to become so ruffled.

"Boss, there's someone here to see you, urgent, I will send her here now..."

He hasn't had a chance to answer when Ying left and came back a minute later with another woman.

This...guest, has a very intimidating aura. Her height was also not helping, because she was 6 feet easily without the high heels. The smell of Bleu de Chanel's wafting through the air. He should know, he loved that perfume... before. 

She looked at him, smiled, and the intimidating aura was gone. She looks very beautiful with her wavy brunette hair, and sharp clothing. And she speaks with a foreign accent. European maybe.

"Hi, I'm Genevieve, and I'm here on behalf of my client, who wants to remain anonymous in this business deal." She shakes his hand firmly.

He gestured to Ying to leave them, and then made way to the couch. "Please sit, tell me, what can I do for you and your client?"

"First of all, please sign this NDA, before I can reveal anything." She took out a big folder and put it in front of him, and gave him a gold pen. "Sign here, then we'll talk." 

He looked at her, confused, but since it's just NDA, he signed it.

"Ok, Xiao Zhan, let me get to the point. My client wants to pay you handsomely to do some Big Brother thing, but alone. So, it's just you and the sea for a month, with cameras, which you can turn off anytime."

"...come again?" 

Genevieve smiled and indulged him. 
"My employer wants to pay for your month-long vacation, with light reality show. On a private beach, in a private island."

"Me? Reality show? But why? I'm a nobody! Who's your client anyway?"

"Let's just say that he was a big fan of yours, and he missed you a lot. It's for his private viewing anyway, not for public consumption. Before you decide, let me show you how much he's willing to pay." She wrote down a number on a piece of paper, and slide it down to Xiao Zhan.

"What? Are you crazy? This... only for me, having a vacation?" He dropped his jaw upon seeing the 7 figures on the paper.

"Told you, he's a big fan, and he missed you."

7 figures payment, private villa, private beach, this is a god-given vacation he knows he needed, although it sounds a bit stalkery.

"Okay, I will do it." He speaks before he changed his mind.

"Good, let's go then!" 

"What? Now?" Now he's panicking. This is crazy.

"Yes, now, let's go, it's not a long journey, but we prefer you to be settled down before night." She got up and her perfume hit him hard. 

"I... fine. What the hell, let's go."

"Don't worry, we have taken care of everything."

They walked out from the office, and he gave instruction to Ying, to take care of his cat, and followed Genevieve to... the stairs?

"Should we go out from the front door?" He asked her, overwhelmed with the speed this is all happening.

"We're going to travel in style, Xiao laoshi, courtesy of my client." 

In the next 10 minutes, he's sitting in a helicopter, with Genevieve shouted to the pilot in foreign language. Definitely not english.

God, what if this was a kidnapping?
 
-----
 

Thankfully, in about an hour, he arrived in the beautiful private island. It's located a bit far from the nearest shoreline, and there's a small motorboat to be used when he wanted to go to the store or a anywhere he liked.

Genevieve gave him the keys to the villa and a black card, to use as he please, and the agreed payment will be deposited in his account by noon tomorrow. She also showed him the camera placements. They were obscured, so he will not be too bothered, and the remote to control them, in case he wants some privacy. She told him that the cleaning service will come every other day, but they will be discreet. If he doesn't want to go out, he can just leave the grocery list to them, and they will take care of it.

All of this was taking only 30 minutes of his time, and just like that, she's gone, leaving a trail of Bleu de Chanel behind.
 
Xiao Zhan felt exhausted. He still wore his work clothes, and now it's sticking onto him, because of the hot weather. He peeled off the extra layer, and lounged on the couch only with his boxer. After a while, he stood up and walked around, taking his time to observe his surrounding. 

The villa was a medium-sized modern bungalow, with wood panels and flooring, and fully air conditioned. The sofas were big enough to sleep on. There's a huge TV, with all kinds of game consoles, sound system. There's also a big fridge, full of all kind of juice and fruits and beers. Also eggs, bacon, milk, bread and cheese. He won't need to go shopping for at least few days. 

He walked around again to look for the rooms. There are 2 rooms, and 3 bathrooms, outdoor jacuzzi and a pool if he doesn't want to swim at the sea. The rooms were big enough to contain a queen size bed, a love seat, a desk with a chair and a closet. There were also a balcony on each rooms.

He picked one of the room that's looking out to the sea, and check the closet. Inside were man's clothes, linen pants, white shirts, sandals, hat, everything you will need for a month stay on the beach.

He felt satisfied, and jumped into the jacuzzi.