"Well? Anything to say for yourselves?"

Changmin bites his lip and remains silent. To his right, he is pretty sure Seohyun is having an emotional breakdown. 

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-Man stares him down and does not look very impressed with Changmin's stance of solidarity. When did their short, amicable CEO turn into such a disciplinarian, he wonders.

He opens his mouth to begin explaining but is cut off by Seohyun, who bursts out saying, "Sonsaengnim, I am so sorry! It is completely my fault. I ... I don't know where  all the rumors started, but we had no idea it would become like this. I haven't been as careful lately - I guess because we've been so busy with our upcomming tour and other schedules." 

Lee Soo-Man's face gradually softens and he looks at SNSD's maknae kindly. 

"Of course Seohyun-ah, I understand. These kind of things do blow out of proportion easily, don't they?" he says. Jerking his thumb towards Changmin, he adds, "And it's not you I don't trust, it's this guy."

Changmin is flabbergasted. "What? But I didn't - " he begins to argue, but is interrupted by Seohyun once again. 

"I know, Sonsaengnim, of course you're worried about Changmin oppa. Don't worry, I will make sure to keep him in check." she says, giving their CEO her prettiest smile. Changmin just stares at her, speechless. 

"Ok then, Seohyun-ah, take care of yourself, right?"

"Yes, sir. You as well. Oppa and I will be going now." she replies, bowing low and jerking Changmin's arm to make him follow in suit.

Lee Soo-Man just nods and waves them off. Once outside his office, Seohyun stops and leans against the wall, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, that was close, huh Oppa?"

Changmin crosses his arms. "For who? It seemed to me that you had him eating out of your palm just now."

Instead of denying everything, Seohyun surprises him again by winking and saying, "You have to know how to play your cards right."

He shakes his head in mock dissappointment. "Who would have thought - our cute little Seo Joo Hyun can be quite conniving."

She purses her lips and retorts, "I prefer quick on my feet. Plus, it was your stunt at the concert that got us into this mess Oppa." 

He grins at her, not at all contrite. "Hey, I didn't know our fans would be so attentive and post fancams everywhere. You looked cute that day by the way."

"You watched them?!"

".... Maybe."

Exasperated, she turns and walks off, not bothering to wait for him.

"Hey, Joohyun-ah! Where are you going?" he calls after her, rushing to catch up.

"You can't ditch me now," he teases as he walks backwards to face her. "We're the Changseo couple."

She stops abruptly and pokes him in the chest. "Oppa, that's exactly what I mean. We can't get caught again."

He catches her finger in his hand, holding on to it like a little kid. "Ok, ok I get it. I will keep it on the down low." he says seriously.

"Down low?"

"Yeah, it's English slang. I learned it from Junsu. Nam' Sayin?"

"..."

"Hey! Don't roll your pretty eyes at me, Seo Joo Hyun, I know where you're ticklish."

"Oppa! No don't - !" she exclaims, but he is already attacking her tummy. She breaks free and runs down the hallway, giggling, with Changmin chasing after her. He catches her in no time, making her shriek as he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder.

"Oppa! Ha ha.... haha. Let me down." she gasps, between her laughter.

"I will... for a kiss."

"Oppa, we're in public!"

"It's Sunday, there's no one else around."

"Stil!"

"Ok then, I guess you'll just have to stay up there." he says, and starts to walk off with her, caveman style.

"Fine, fine you extortionist."

Laughing gleefully, Changmin sets her down, closes his eyes and waits expectantly.

Seohyun sighs as she looks at his happy face. "My boyfriend is a choding." she thinks, "but an adorable one, I have to admit."

She's never been the one to initiate a kiss though, so she doesn't know exactly how to go about it. Reaching up, she loses her nerve at the last moment and kisses him on the cheek. Changmin opens his eyes and pouts.

"That's not what we agreed on, Hyunnie."

"A kiss is a kiss." she replies, trying to get away.

"No, this is a kiss," he says and cups her face to his, locking lips with her. She tastes just as sweet as he remembers and he is reluctant to pull away. If not for the lack of oxygen in his lungs, he would have stayed in that hallway and kissed her all day.

"Seems like I still have a lot to teach you Hyunnie." he says, wrapping his arms around her slim waist.

"Hm, but everyone says I'm a fast learner." she responds, snuggling into his chest.

"We'll have to see then."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Seohyun stares at her phone screen and reads the message a fifth time.

"Time for practice Hyunnie. 88 Soshi Media. 8 pm - don't be late."

Cryptic, clever and silly at the same time as only Shim Changmin can be, she supposes. 

She checks the time and sees that she has ten minutes to get there. 

"Ahjussi? Sorry, but do you think we could go a little faster?"

The driver of her taxi just nods and steps on the pedal slightly. In her head, Seohyun begins singing "Jeukshi jeukshi jeukshi".

A few minutes later, he pulls up to the curb. "Ok, here you are miss."

"Ah, thank you ahjussi - oh, do you think you could pull up to the back entrance?"

The older man just nods again, and Seohyun is relieved he doesn't question her.

She pays the man and enters the building, feeling like a thief in the night.

"Shim Changmin, honestly, why do I listen to you." she mutters to herself as she walks the empty hallways. The lights give off an erie feel and Seohyun shivers. She reaches the fourth floor and hesitates before opening the door. But this is Changmin, she tells herself -she trusts him. With this, she takes a breath and lets herself in. 

She gasps when she sees what's inside. The old piano room is glowing with candles and there are rose petals everywhere, reminiscent of a scene from a romantic movie. Changmin is bending over, pouring a drink, but stands up when he sees her.

"Oppa? What is all of this?"

He smirks and grabs her hand, pulling her in. "This is me keeping it on the down low. Isn't that what you asked for Hyunnie?"

Seohyun raises a skeptical eyebrow. "This is you being subtle?"

"Well, it's hard getting time with you, Joohyun-ah. Unless you would like me to confess everything to the world - which I can do, you know. All it takes is one post on Twitter these days - "

She cuts him off by placing her hand over his mouth. "No! You can't!"

He grins and removes her hand, kissing the back softly. "I'm glad you're so considerate of my feelings for you."

She smiles, "I'm here aren't I?"

Changmin approaches her and kisses her nose. Seohyun backs away though and says, "Ah that reminds me Oppa, 88 Soshi Media? Really?"

He laughs, "Well you did figure it out after all. My Hyunnie's sooo smart." He ruffles her hair affectionately, as if rewarding a pet.

"Changmin Oppa! My hair!"

"It's ok, it was going to get messy anyways."

Seohyun gives him an innocent look, "What's that supposed to mean?"

But he doesn't buy it. "Nope, that's not going to work on me this time." 

Backing her up, he sits her down on the sofa and hovers over her. 

His voice drops an octave as he says in a husky whisper, "I think you know exactly what I mean." 

She doesn't have a chance to respond before he kisses her deeply, the impact making her head hit the backrest. 

"Changmin-ah... " she gasps. He is always catching her by surprise. Her hands fumble around, not knowing what to do.

"Here Joohyun-ah, put your hands here." he says, guiding her to his chest. She runs her hands up and down experimentally, feeling his muscles tighten and twitch in response. The strength he possesses fascinates her and she likes the feeling of her nails scraping his hard pectorals. Changmin hisses in pleasure and kisses her harder.

"You do learn fast." he growls. He turns Seohyun so she is lying down and rests above her. His lips remain attached to hers while his hand ghosts over her stomach, playing with the ends of her shirt. She moans softly into his mouth and writhes beneath him, wanting his hands on her but not realizing how to show him.

After a few torturous moments for them both, he finally slides her shirt up slightly, revealing her toned but slim tummy. 

"So pretty, Joohyun-ah, you're so ing beautiful" he murmurs into her ear, sending shivers down her back and turning her face feverishly red.

He trails kisses down her neck and then slides down to investigate her newly exposed belly button.

Kissing it softly, he observes wryly, "Joohyun-ah, I didn't know it was possible - you're entire body blushes?"

"Oppa!" Seohyun responds in embarrasment, and tries to wriggle away.

He laughs and grabs hold of her before she can escape. "It's cute, really. It's like your secret talent Hyunnie. And don't worry - I won't tell anyone."

She's still a little miffed though and decides to give him a taste of his own medicine. Swiftly, she twists out of his grasp and flips them over before Changmin has a chance to respond.

"Hyunnie? What are you - ah!" he suddenly cries out, for she is mimicking him and placing kisses his own hard abdomen.

"Hmph, Oppa, you don't seem very ticklish. Nor do you blush down here." She pouts and sits back up on top of him. "Not fair."

Changmin clenches his jaw, feeling his arousal straining against his pants. "I would beg to differ. What you're doing to me right now is definitely not fair."

"Oh? Really?" she questions, absently tracing her finger along his collarbone.

"Such a little tease." he thinks. Oh the things he wants to do to her right now....

"You'll be the death of me, Seo Joo Hyun." he announces before sitting up and sliding her off.

She laughs, "Would that be so bad Oppa?"

"No, it would be very very good."

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Author's Note: So .... my first M rated chapter. Hehe. Question: does this really warrant an M rating? I wasn't sure, but thought I should play it safe. ^^

Update - Haha, ok so I guess the unanimous decision is that this is not an M chapter. I'll keep working on it   ;)