CHAPTER TEN: Dancing with The Star.

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Seohyun thought that the dating plan ended when the scandal broke out, simply because any normal, rational person would think so without any doubt. However, she forgot that her unnie and oppa were far from normal, much less rational, people. Thus, they didn’t give her any chance to refuse the date they set up, rather they even told her that if she hadn’t run away the first time, Yonghwa and she probably would have not gotten caught. So she’d better listen to them this time.

And their last words were the reason why Seohyun was at SME’s practice room early on a Sunday morning, waiting impatiently for her date.

Honestly, after few dates, she felt tired and wanted to stop badly. Seohyun had come to the realization that her initial plan didn’t work out as well as she had expected. Her stubborn and emotional heart refused to listen to her practical and rational mind. In addition, her lack of experiences in the relationship and dating department caused the whole process to send her into more troubles than to help her get out of them. After all the excitement, she was still left with the same emptiness, even more confusion, and worst, so much guilt that she wanted to hide in her shell, pretending that there was nothing for her to worry about.

- Seohyun-ah.

- …

- Seohyun!

- …

- Seo Joo Hyun!!!

Seohyun startled as someone was yelling her name, so she abruptly stood up, which almost knocked down the person in front of her

- I-I’m so so sorry… Luhan oppa?

- Yah Seohyun, do you hate me that much that you want to kill me on our first date?

- You know I didn’t do it on purpose!

- Well, who knows? – Luhan flicked her forehand – You didn’t look very happy waiting for me.

Seohyun pouted. Who would be happy after waking up early on Sunday morning just to wait for their date to show up???

- You know I will mess your hair up every time you do that, right? But I couldn’t today because… - Luhan snapped his finger and flashed a grin. – May I have this dance?

And like magic, the light slowly faded, and the famous waltz Blue Danube started playing. Only at this point, Seohyun noticed that Luhan was wearing a three-piece black suit, which perfectly fit his body and made he look more mature than usual. Although Luhan was a year older than her, Seohyun often found it hard to consider him other than a hoobae due to the gap of debut time between them. But the Luhan in front of her gave a different impression: he was a man.

- My pleasure. – She gave him a sweet smile and placed her hand into his.

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They danced in silence. The music filled the dull practice room with an enchanting atmosphere. Seohyun was dancing gracefully, her white dress floating as if there were invisible wings lifting her up. Indeed, they were Luhan’s strong arms that were leading her across the room.

Luhan never thought that an innocent waltz dream could make him feel as hot as he was feeling at the moment. But again, he was dancing with no other than the pure Seo Joohyun, the woman of his dream, the one whom he worshiped for the longest time, the one who needed nothing but a glance to make his heart beat faster than ever.

Luhan felt dizzy and surreal. Even when they danced together on stage, they were never this close that he could feel her perfect hourglass figure, especially her slim waist. He was afraid if he suddenly found all of this was only a dream, a fairy tale that never had a happy ending, so he strengthened his grip and pressed her body into his.

The whole scene was very much real, nonetheless, he still fell out of his dreamland when the music ended. Seohyun left his arm and gave him a demure smile:

- Oppa, I never know you were so good at this!

- There are probably so many things that you don’t know about me, Seohyunie.

Luhan looked at his hands, which a minute ago were still holding the woman he had been in love with and tried to hide a sigh. She might never know how much he loved her.

- You know you can always come to me whenever you want to talk, right?

Seohyun looked at him caringly, and then poked him playfully:

- And we need to catch up more often, or else how can I know more about you?

- Sure. – Luhan smiled brightly and rubbed her hair. – Even though I’m a busy person, I’ll always have time for you.

- Yah… are you trying to show off?

- Haha I’m glad that you realize that.

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They sat down together and chatted, simply enjoying each other’s company. EXO had become the new star of not only SME but also the whole Kpop world, so Luhan and s had been super-duper busy that they barely talked in the last few months.

Although she hadn’t known him as long as some of her other oppa, they clicked really well ever since they first met. Luhan admitted shyly once that he had been a secret fan of her and she was one of the reasons why he left China for South Korea. At that moment, she didn’t give him a small smile like usual, she chuckled and eventually broke to laugh for a good few minutes.

Seohyun was indeed very happy, and also found that amusing. Since Luhan was having the reputation of a ladies’ man sometimes, she never imagined that Luhan was her fan. However, it definitely helped her to understand why he seemed to know her well enough for someone who never met her before.

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As the topic shifted to home and how they missed their parents, Seohyun suddenly asked

- Oppa, would you leave SME anytime soon?

- Why?

- Don’t answer my question with another question! – Seohyun elbowed him. – Everyone leaves, oppa. Or at least they spend 99 % of their time in China.

It made sense that Chinese members would focus their activities in China, as it was the main reason why they were recruited. HanGeng came and left, Victoria had all the projects in China, and not to mention ZhouMi who resided in China. However, it still hurt every time a family member left, and Seohyun just found it hard to bear if Luhan would follow the same path. Even when she knew it could be very well unavoidable.

- I don’t know. I may stay here as long as you are here, Seohyun-ah.

- Oppa, don’t lie.

It was an open secret that the EXO-K was treated better than EXO-M in Korea. It was only a matter of time before another HanGeng happened. Even though she hoped the best for Luhan, Seohyun would be lying if she said that she wanted Luhan to find his path somewhere else.

- Honestly, I don’t think it would happen anytime soon. I am not thinking about it yet.

- That’s good. That’s really good, oppa.

- And nothing would change between us. I will – He blushed. – always be your fan and care about you even if we are apart.

- I will, too.

The soft yellow light gave Seohyun an alluring charm that for a moment when she looked at him sweetly, Luhan couldn’t resist but lean in to kiss her cheek.

Seohyun startled. She stood up abruptly and looked around. When she realized that they were alone, safe and sound in the practice room of SME, she sighed and sat down again.

- I-I’m so sorry. – Luhan apologize immediately, looking so guilty that Seohyun didn’t completely understand why.

Even though his lips barely touched her cheeks, he felt as if he did something horribly wrong. Seohyun was his goddess, and her reaction told him that he might commit a crime of tainting her.

- It wa-wasn’t a … - Seohyun somehow felt bad instead of angry when she saw how repentant Luhan looked, but she wasn’t sure how to make him feel better.

- I didn’t know why I did that without your permission.

- … not a big deal. I guess…

Apparently, it didn’t make Luhan feel any better. Quite the contrary, it made him feel worse. He thought that if Seohyun considered him more than just a friend, she probably would react differently.

- Oppa, I’m sorry. I was still affected by the media the other day th-that…

That actually helped Luhan cheer up. The scandal could have sabotaged her image and her career if SME did not intervene timely and correctly, so it was understandable that she was still traumatized by it and subconsciously wanted to avoid any intimate gesture. Ughh, it was all because of that Yonghwa.

- It’s fine, Seohyunie. We are in SME, no one would be able to see us. Relax, araso?

Seohyun didn’t respond, his remark reminded her of the last thing that her manager said to her before hanging up that night: “Seohyunie, we are sure that no one in our side let out a single word about your dates, this one in particular.”

She knew well what he meant by that: SME managers had suspected that the whole scandal was planned ahead. The fan account was a fake account. The picture was taken at a perfect angle: no one could tell for sure if the ones in the photo were Yonghwa and her, but at the same time, they looked so alike that fan wouldn’t believe otherwise. The media came too quickly for such a short and late notice from just a random account. There were more than enough for SME to believe that there were other purposes of the date.

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- Seohyun!

- Luhan oppa, I’m sorry. – Seohyun startled again when she realized that she had neglected her date.

- It’s fine, just don’t do it the third time. – Luhan flicked her forehead and smiled brightly. – Or else I will tickle you until you ask for forgiveness.

- Meanieeee. – Seohyun scrunched her nose but she was thankful that he made her temporarily forgot about the unhappy memories.

Luhan laughed at her cute reaction, but as the laughter died out, he looked at her with genuine caring eyes:

- Have you been thinking about the scandal a lot?

Seohyun bit her lips, but his gaze made her feel guilty if she didn't say the truth

- I do, oppa. It's just hard not to. I feel so bad because you all had to clean up after me.

- Do you want to let it all out?

- Huh?

He took out his phone and started playing some upbeat music

- Let’s dance! Let all the negative emotions all, Seohyun-ah.

Luhan grabbed her hands and dragged her to the middle of the practice room. The song happened to be Gee, no surprise since Luhan was secretly a Sone, however, he intendedly made some small mistakes. Seeing that, Seohyun shook her head and started dancing even when she didn't feel like it, because she knew Luhan had been trying hard to make her feel better.

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They didn't realize that hours had passed until they heard a knock on the door. Kris and Key stepped in, neither bother to hide their jealousy:

- Luhan! Why are you stealing her from us? – Kris punched Luhan lightly on his shoulder.

- I am not! – Of course, Luhan would punch him back

- Liar! Look at the time. It's gonna start in 15 minutes – Key joined the fight and ‘patted’ Luahn’s back harder than he should.

- Your time is not the only precious one you know? We have a lot of things to do too!

- Yah, it hasn't started yet, has it? Why are you two overreacting? It is still my time with her!

- Why are you yelling at us? Who helped you set up in the beginning, huh?

Before the fight could elevate to a brutal state, Seohyun had to step in:

- Could someone explain to me what is going on?

- You’ll know now. - Kris reached out to hold her left hand and gave her a warm smile

- Follow us. - Key immediately held her right hand before Luhan had the chance to do so, which in turn made him get a kick from Luhan

- Yah, why are you two kidnapping her?

As Key and Kris pulled her toward the door, Seohyun turned back and mouthed a thank you to Luhan. She was grateful that the time dancing was really fun, as Luhan did his best to lighten her mood for a while.

- Don’t worry Seohyunie. We’ll see each other soon. – Luhan waved to her and winked.

- Huh?

And that only made Seohyun even more confused about the whole situation.