"While we adults discuss business, you kids are free to hang out and explore New York. Andre has been kind enough to host a party for our departure, so please don't plan anything on our last night here," Mr Oh said. "but until then, feel free to explore New York to your heart's content and have some fun, alright?"

"I'd be happy to show you guys around, if you'd like," Elodie immediately offered, eyes twinkling excitedly. "We'll have so much fun! We can go the beach, go shopping, get our nails done-"

"Elodie," Her mother cut her off sharply, giving her a warning glare. The blonde girl immediately fell quiet, looking down at her lap with a quiet 'sorry'. Narrowing my eyes at Mrs Powell, I sent Elodie a warm smile. 

"That sounds great, Elodie. I can't wait," I told her, giving her an encouraging nudge. Her eyes brightened slightly and she gave me a grateful smile. I ignored Mrs Powell's glare. "That is, if you're not too busy, of course.  We don't want to intrude."

"Unfortunately, Elodie has several meetings-" Mrs Powell was cut off by her husband's loud laughter. This man, as I'd come to discover, liked laughing a lot. 

"Oh come now, dear. Surely Elodie can have a few days break. You work her so hard all the time and she never has time to hang out with friends. I think she deserves a chance to have some fun, right?" Mr Powell asked lightheartedly, giving me a friendly wink. "Besides, Areum and Sehun seem like such lovely kids - the perfect sort of company for our daughter."

"Andre," his mother hissed angrily. Unfortunately for her, she was ignored by her husband as he engaged in conversation with our parents. I tilted my head curiously, watching them quietly. Elodie's parents were like night and day - her father was bright, mischievous and laid back while her mother was cold, distant and aloof. The latter almost reminded me of my own mother, but while my mother was reasonable and knew how to control her dislike for people, Mrs Powell didn't bother hiding her contempt and as such, walked around like she had a stick up her the entire time. 

"You flatter our children too much, Andre. They're not as good as you make them out to be," My dad laughed good-naturedly, taking a sip from his wine glass. Sehun's dad nodded in agreement, sending us a grin. Mr Powell waved his hand, chuckling.

"Nonsense, my friend," It'd seemed like Sehun, Elodie and I's fathers had all hit it off quite well. "They're practically the dream children anyone would want - polite, respectful and from what I hear, very talented."

After a while, the adults seemed to decide they'd had enough chatting and asked for the bill. 

"It was nice meeting you, Ari," Elodie smiled sweetly, giving me a tight hug as we were in the lobby. "And thanks for saving my from being humiliated back there."

I laughed, returning the hug and patting her on the back. "You're welcome, Elodie." 

She pouted. "Call me Elle! That's what all my friends call me and you're now my friend, so I demand you call me Elle! Elodie sounds so old-fashioned."

"I actually think it's quite a nice name," to my surprise, Sehun spoke up. "It's very elegant and it suits you well."

I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the ground as I stared at Sehun. The latter was smiling at Elodie, whose face had turned bright red. I blinked several times. Did I hear that correctly? Sehun being nice to someone? What?

Th-thanks," she said shyly, looking down at her feet and twirling a strand of her long hair. "N-no one's ever said that... b-before."

I just stared at the two, dumbfounded. I didn't think I could be shocked further until I noticed Sehun's smile actually seemed genuine as he stared at her. The only other times I'd seen him smile like that was when he was with his friends, his family or...

...me.

Suddenly, a horrible, ugly feeling reared in my chest, causing my stomach to twist and a lump to rise in my throat. It was something akin to anger, irritation and even fear, but it was something even more than that. I felt like... I felt like grabbing Sehun by the hand and pulling him away from Elodie. A chill settled in my stomach as I took a step back, feeling like my chest was constricted. 

'What the is wrong with me?' I thought wildly. 'What is this feeling?'

I wanted to get away as fast as I could. Somehow, I couldn't stand the sight in front of me. Gulping, I spun around and tried to walk away. Unfortunately, being the ungraceful  I was, I tripped on a crack in the pavement and lost my balance, my tall heels doing nothing to help stabilise me. I stumbled and clenched my eyes shut, waiting for the cold impact of the concrete.

And then a familiar hand grabbed my arm while another wrapped around my waist, pulling me into what was similar to an almost comforting hug and steadying my frame. My breath hitched as Sehun stared down at me in concern. His eyes searched my face, as if looking for something.

"Are you okay?" My mind flashed back to when we were in the corridor. All of a sudden, I just wanted to shake my head and say no, to tell him about all the strange things I'd been feeling and the confusion that was constantly filling my mind. 

But that would make me sound selfish and weak - something I refused to admit I was. So, like always, I merely nodded and looked away, missing the flash of disappointment that appeared briefly in his eyes. 

"Ari! Are you alright?" Elodie rushed over, grabbing my arm and searching for injuries. My eyes widened as I stared at her worried gaze, before shifting over to Sehun's. I couldn't read his expression, but I could tell he wasn't happy.

Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling of guilt filled my core and I tugged my arm from Sehun's grip. My face flushed red with embarrassment as I looked away, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"I-I'm fine," my voice sounded strangely distorted even to my own ears. I cleared my throat. "Sorry about that. I'm still not used to wearing heels."

There was a moment of silence before Elodie suddenly broke into a giggle. "Oh. Silly, you had me worried!"

I gave her a weak smile. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise," she shook her head profusely. "I'm just glad you're okay."

I nodded absentmindedly, looking to the side. 

"Well then! I'll see you two tomorrow? I'll get a chauffeur to pick you guys up at 8 o'clock and we can go shopping?"

"Sounds good," This time, my smile was more genuine. Elodie really was a sweetheart. Sehun nodded in agreement, placing two hands on my shoulders and ignoring the way I tensed. Elodie didn't seem to notice the action and smiled brightly. 

"Awesome! See you guys then!" With a wave, she turned around and walked to where her parents were waiting. Sehun and I stood silently and watched her retreating figure. 

"Well, that turned out well," Mr Oh's voice appeared behind us. Immediately, Sehun withdrew his hands and I did my best to ignore the flash of disappointment I felt at the sudden loss of contact. 

I nodded. "Yeah. Elodie wasn't what I'd expected at all. She's...nice."

We headed towards where our limousine was waiting. As I passed, I caught gazes with my mother. Expecting a disapproving look for tripping and embarrassing myself, I was surprised when she gave me a gentle smile. Her eyes showed concern in a way I'd rarely seen before. 

"You did well," was all she said before entering the vehicle, leaving me dumbfounded once again.

******************

"Are you sure this has no scenes?" I asked dubiously as I exited the bathroom, emitting a waft of steam from my shower. My face was now make-up free and I felt clean and refreshed. It was already 10 o'clock but neither of us really wanted to go to sleep yet. Sehun glanced at me from the bed, already changed into his pyjamas. He rolled his eyes.

"No. It's a cliché romance k-drama," he replied. "I'm surprised they even have it on air here in America."

"What's it called?" I asked curiously, drying my hair with a towel. 

"You're beautiful, I think."

I scoffed. "I know I am, Sehun, but that's not what I asked."

I laughed, dodging the pillow he threw at me. We seemed to have an unspoken agreement to forget about what happened in the corridor of the restaurant, which I was grateful for. It would have made it awkward otherwise. 

Still, it lingered in the back of my mind every time I looked at him, unable to be completely banished. It played like a movie in my head whenever I wasn't thinking or slipped into my consciousness when I wasn't paying attention.

"Which episode?" I asked him, returning to the bathroom to put away the towel, my voice echoing in the tiled room.

"10, so we'll just have to make sense of it as we go."

"Why are we watching this in the first place?"

"Cause there's nothing better and I'm getting sick of watching cringe western movies."

I raised an eyebrow. "So we're going for cringe k-dramas instead?"

He just shrugged. "Better than cringe western movies."

I grinned, jabbing him softly in the side as I lay down on the bed next to him. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were as much as a sappy romantic as Baekhyun is."

He scoffed. "Yeah right, as if. " 

Eventually, we settled into silence as the episode began to play. Pretty soon, I was engrossed in the drama, disregarding my previous statements about it being cringe. 

"Poor Shinwoo," I mumbled, feeling sorry for the idol with obviously unrequited feelings. "He so obviously likes her.