Lu Han’s surprise turned out to be a visit from the rest of the EXO members. They were all in Taipei for two consecutive nights of concert, and then the other M members were staying a few extra days to film for a few variety shows. I went to the concert, of course, with Terry. He fanboyed to his heart’s content over Chen’s voice and Chanyeol’s legs and Sehun’s while I stared at Lu Han the entire time. 

I couldn’t decide which one of us was more pathetic, to be honest. Probably still me.

I got to meet the EXO-M members on one of their last days in Taipei. Lu Han invited to eat dinner with them at a hot pot place. 

“Don’t you just catch up with them yourself?” I asked, doubtfully. “Also, what would I go as? A friend? A random crew member? They’ll get suspicious.”

Lu Han shook his head. “The worst they’ll think is that I’m trying to woo you. They’ll never guess that you are the author of Fiction and Fact.”

“Yeah, the worst,” I scoffed. “Thanks for the invite, but I’d rather stay at home and see if I can beat yesterday’s record word count. The bar is pretty low. I wrote 270 words yesterday. It was barely five paragraphs, but today, I’m aiming for a whole 300.”

“Your sarcasm is offensive,” Lu Han retorted. He made a face at me, before sitting up a bit straighter. “Oh I know! I’ll say that you’re Lin Ye’s step-sister or cousin, and you’re a huge fan of EXO so Lin Ye asked me to bring you.”

I groaned. “So they’ll all think that I used connections in order to meet them like some spoiled brat?”

Lu Han blinked at me. “Well, if you don’t want them knowing you’re the author…”

“Or I could just not go.”

Somehow, despite my many protests, I ended up at the hot pot place, bowing repeated to the other members of EXO and a manager. 

“Lin Ye’s step-sister, Yejing” Lu Han said, pushing me forward. “She’s studying film so she was helping out on set before. She’s a big fan of EXO.”

Technically, that last part wasn’t a lie. 

Chen asked something in Korean and Kris rolled his eyes. “Jongdae wants to know who your favorite member is,” he translated. “But please don’t feed his ego and say it’s him.”

Before I could respond, Lu Han spoke up. “I’m her favorite, of course.” He gave me a glare, as if daring me to challenge him. When I didn’t say anything, he smiled to himself and ventured further into the room. 

As we ordered the hotpot ingredients and waited for them to arrive, I chatted with the members. Xiumin and Chen were practicing their Chinese with me, laughing as they did so. The members all asked about the show and about things that happened on set. 

“I heard Nana tossed sparkling water in a wardrobe assistant’s face because the scarf they put on her was itchy,” Tao said, leaning forward as he reached the tofu. “Is that true?”

“Well, not really to her face. She tossed it in the assistant’s general direction,” I sighed. 

“She seemed okay when we met her,” Tao said. 

At that, I raised my eyebrow. 

“She was also a guest on the show we filmed two days ago,” Kris explained. “I mean, we didn’t particular like her but we didn’t hate her either.”

“Except Yixing,” Lu Han added, then frowned. “That was kind of weird. Our Yixing gets along with everyone and is the most easy going out of all of us but he really disliked Nana.”

Yixing vehemently shook his head. “She has a dark aura,” he insisted. “She’s not a good person.”

Finally, someone who understood. 

I was at least glad that I got along with his bandmates better than Nana. As I laughed and shared stories with the guys, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand, as if I was being watched. I instinctively turned to my left, and found Lu Han studying me with an undiscernible look. My words trailed off as I taught his eye and I coughed in an effort to cover up the awkwardness.     

“Wait,” Kris said, breaking the silence. “Something doesn’t seem right…”

Tao also squinted at me. “Are you sure you’re Lin Ye’s step-sister? The other two possibilities are either you’re some crazy fan who is blackmailing Lu Han to bring you here or he is trying to impress you for some reason. So which one is it?”

Lu Han was panicking, face turning pink. His eyes darted around the room, shifting from one member to another. It was partly my fault for creating the awkward atmosphere, right? It was my duty to help. Besides, everyone was going to find out soon anyway. Well, as long as I manage to finish the next book, that is. 

“I’m um…not Lin Ye’s step-sister,” I admitted. 

“Ha! I knew it!” Kris exclaimed. Then his eyes also narrowed. “So who the hell are you?”

“She’s um…” I could see Lu Han struggling to come up with a cover story. 

“I’m Lin Ye,” I finally admitted. Lu Han drew in a deep breath, surpr