It all started with...underwear.

After Irene hung up, she sat her phone down on the nightstand.  Her heart was beating so fast; she put her hand on her chest, as if that would help to calm her down. 

            She did it.  She had finally invited Suho over for dinner, and he had graciously accepted.  He would be there in less than an hour.

            Irene glanced down at her plain white sweatshirt, jeans and house slippers.

            “I’ll need to wear something else, I think.”  she muttered, standing up.  “What do I wear? ...Ooh, I bet Wendy can help.” She walked over to her dongsaeng’s room and knocked on the door.

            “Come in!” said the vocalist’s bright voice from the other side of the door.  Irene opened the door and was a bit shocked to see her dongsaeng in just her underwear--rather fancy underwear, at that; it was all black satin and lace.

            “Wendy-ah,” Irene scolded, “What if it wasn’t me knocking on your door just now?”

            The other laughed. “Who else would it be, unnie?” she said, picking up her jeans off of the floor and pulling them on; hopping up and down several times to get the snug material up and over her thighs.  She buttoned it and reached for her blouse on the bed. “...You’re the only one here, and we hardly ever get visitors.”  After she had finished buttoning up her top and tucking it into the jeans, she looked over at Irene, who still stood in the same spot in front of the door, looking a bit lost. 

            “Are you going somewhere?” Irene asked Wendy.

            The latter smirked, nodding.  “Out.”

            “...with Jongdae?”  Irene’s facial expression was inscrutable.

            “...Maybe?”

            Irene shook her head.  “No wonder you’re wearing fancy underwear.”

            “Unnie... chinja.  That’s so naughty.”  Wendy said, in an odd tone of amused mockery.  “Besides, they’re hardly fancy.”

            The other almost winced at the thought of her own plain, grey, no-wire bra and matching .  “...Do you have time to help me with something?” she asked, looking hopeful and far too sweet and cute for an elder.

            “Of course, unnie.”  Wendy replied, “I’m not leaving for another fifteen minutes.  What do you need?”

            “Junmyeon is coming over--“

            Wendy almost choked on the bottle of water that she had picked up to drink. “--What!  Just him?”

            “--for dinner.”  Irene finished her sentence, ignoring Wendy’s reaction.  “I invited him over for dinner, and he’ll be here in an hour or so.”

            “I always knew that the two of you were close, I just didn’t know how close, exactly... Everyone insisted that you’re just good friends...” the other mused, her expression daydream-like.  “Oh, unnie...  You and Junmyeon oppa are such a lovely couple.”

            “Yeah, well... Um... What should I wear?  I don’t want to dress up and make it look like I’m trying to impress him too much, but I also don’t want to be too casual...”  She picked up the edge of her sweatshirt, “This can’t be right.”

            Wendy shook her head.  “No, you need to wear something more feminine; something...effortlessly elegant.  That’s what fits you best, I think.”

            “...Like?”

            “Hold on, first things first.  What you wear underneath is important, too--“

            “He’s just coming over for dinner.” Irene interrupted, feeling her cheeks warm a bit.

            Wendy made a you did not just- sort of face at her.  “Just dinner?”

            “Well, I don’t know... we might watch a movie or... something.....”

            “Something.”

            Irene was exasperated.  “I don’t know!”

            “Anyways... you should always wear something pretty underneath, regardless.  It is a scientific fact that wearing pretty underwear makes a woman feel more beautiful and confident, even if it is hidden.”

            The older rolled her eyes.  “Alright, but I don’t have anything like that...  I just buy whatever is comfortable and fits properly.”

            Wendy smiled.  “You can borrow something of mine.”

            “I don’t know if the cup size will fit...?  You’re bigger than me.”

            “We’ll make it fit.”

Meanwhile, at the EXO dorm, Suho was having an ironically similar dilemma.

            “Why does it matter what type of underwear I wear?” he cried.

            Chen eyed him.  “The type of underwear a man wears says a lot about his character, hyung.  And you are not wearing whities over to your girlfriend’s house.”

            “For heaven’s sake, I’m just going over for dinner.”

            The younger wanted to shoot himself.  He sighed, stopped rummaging through Suho’s drawers and stood up.  He walked over to him and put an arm around his shoulders.  There was a strong undercurrent of condescension in his actions.  The older just stared at him with a calm, though slightly irritated expression.

            “Hyung, dinner with the one you love quickly becomes more of a conversation than a meal, and when the two of you are finally finished eating, you’ll probably have dessert, and by that time it’ll be pretty late in the evening.  Seven o’clock, eight o’clock.  Pretty late, but still too early for you to leave.  So you’ll watch a movie, or a drama