Changmin POV:

As I watch her leave, I cannot help but wonder what is it about this girl that has me trying so hard to catch my breath. 

I briefly relive the softness of her cheeks when I brushed my lips across them, the slim and smooth shoulders I had clasped under my hands, and her cool, sweet breath that had tickled my face.

Of course this is when my hyungs decide to return and see me gripping four water bottles, staring at the spot where she had stood and smiling like an idiot. 

"Minnie! You bought us water?" Yoochun greets me.

"Hey, what's with that weird look on his face? Did the heat finally get to him?" Jaejoong wonders.

Yunho waves his hand in front of my face, "Changmin? Hello?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine" I say, nudging his hand away. "And no, Joohyun brought these for you guys."

"Joohyun? Aw, she's so nice." Junsu says and grabs one from me.

"You see, now there's a maknae others need to take as an example." Jaejoong teases.

"Hey,  and who do you think she learned it from?" I retort.

"Let's see.... not you?" he laughs and tries to run behind Micky as I lunge for him.

"Hey don't waste all of your energy you two, we have more practice." Yunho reminds us.

There's no arguing this point, so we resume rehearsing until complete exhaustion sets in.

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As we head back to the dorm, I mull over this party that Joohyun is attending. 

"Hm, she doesn't usually take notice of guys - even the ones at SM." I think to myself. "Is she going to show up with a present too? Ah geez this is killing me."

"Max! Come on, we're here." Jaejoong calls to me.

My inner musings had caused me to miss the fact that the short ride to our dorm was over. Everyone else has already exited the van, so I scrambled to catch up to them.

"Hyung! Do you have any plans for tonight?" I ask him.

"Tonight - hm, shower, eat, and pass out on my bed probably. Why? Did you have something in mind?"

"Well I heard there's this thing for Jaewon hyung tonight, it's his 10th year working at SM apparently."

"Ah, Jaewon. Yeah, I haven't seen him for ages. Why do you want to go all of the sudden?" Jaejoong seems a little suspicious.

I shrug nonchalantly. "He's a good sunbae, I thought we should go support him."

"Hm, just you and me then?"

"Yeah, we should represent TVXQ right?"

Jaejoong sighs and nods. "Alright, give me 30 minutes to get ready," he says and wearily heads to his room.

Since there is no one else around, I perform a quick victory dance and rush upstairs to get ready as well.

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"Hm, quite a crowd we've got here." Jaejoong observes as we step into the banquet hall in the SM headquarters. I nod in agreement. Looking around, I had already found many familiar faces- Victoria and Luna from f(x), Eunhyuk and Donghae from Super Junior, Taemin from SHINee. But where was the girl I was here to see?

"Hey, isn't that BoA?" Jaejoong asks, craning his head to see through the crowd. "I thought she wasn't coming back from the States for another week. I'm going to go say hi, you coming Minnie?"

"Why don't you two catch up first? I'll come by later," I reply.

For once, Jaejoong doesn't question my motives and rushes off to find his "BFF". I can't help but smile at his enthusiasm. Plus now that he's gone, I can look for her in earnest.

My eye catches a brief glimpse of dark pink and quickly, I turn to get a better look. I first see her backside - long, wavy dark hair with a tall, slender figure. Then my view is obstructed as she is surrounded by a group of males. 

I sigh and mutter under my breath, "Of course it was so hard to find you, Joohyun - your fanboys are too numerous these days."

Cracking my knuckles, I walk towards the lively group with determined steps. Time to rescue my girl. 

"Seohyun noona, your new music video is daebak!" Baekhyun was saying. 

"Yeah, we're all looking forward to your live performance," adds Kai. 

Luhan nods eagerly - not saying anything but staring at her as if she was an oasis in a desert. 

I mentally roll my eyes. Could it get any worse? Seohyun is as gracious and polite as ever though and thanks them for their attentiveness. 

"You guys are sweet, and thank you for encouraging me. I hope I'll live up to your expectations." she says, with her back still towards me, unaware that I've snuck up behind her. 

"Joohyun-ah, you are quite popular these days." I remark quietly.

She spins around, and I in a quick breath of air. She is completely stunning. In a way, I could forgive the Exo boys for their gawking - it would be impossible for any man to ignore the perfect mixture of cuteness and iness in front of me. I somehow resist the urge to take a better look at her legs in that tight, magenta mini skirt and focus on her surprised eyes instead.

"Changmin oppa! What are you doing here?"

"I needed a break from rehearsals. Moreover, it's another chance to see my favorite dongsaeng." I reply smoothly, and gently reach forward to tuck a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.

She smiles and blushes prettily, and for a second, I completely forget about our little audience. Until Baekhyun interrupts.

"Changmin hyung! It's great to see you - we all thought you would be too busy tonight."

I glance over at him and say, "We all need a little time off sometimes." Then I smile, noticing that I still tower over these kids.

After a few more minutes of greetings and polite chit chat I decided it was time to go. "Joohyun, are you thirsty? We should go get you a drink," I say to her.

"That's a good idea, Oppa."

We say our goodbyes to the three boys and I hover my hand over her back to direct her towards the refreshments.