“So, what should we do?” you leaned forward in your seat and looked to Chen.

He smiled but shrugged. You frowned.

“No ideas? At all?” you questioned him.

He glanced up to show he was putting some effort into thinking. He quickly leaned towards you. The brim of his cap tapped your forehead.

“Are you hungry?”

You moved away from him, just a little to give some distance, then nodded.

“Wow, usually girls are not as likely to admit they are hungry.”

“What do you mean? All girls aren’t like that. Wait a minute, do all the girls you know do that?”

Your quick wit put Chen at a loss for words. He stammered a bit but just ended up apologizing.

“I didn’t mean it like that, you know. You’re different, which I like.”

Nice save, pabo. you thought. You nudged his side. He was amused by your stubborn side.

“Where would you like to eat _______?”

“I know a really good ramen place near the music store. It’s a small, family-owned place but I know the owner’s daughter so we could get a satisfying meal for free.” You grinned after coming up with what you thought was a great idea.

“Hmm, ramen? And it’s free? Sounds good to me.”

“Alright, we just have to have to—,” you looked outside the windows to read the street signs. “After the next three stops, we’ll get off the bus.”

“Okay.”

The bus ride was quite uneventful. When it came to your stop, many people had gotten on the bus due to the fact that it was the hour that most people were getting off work.

“Whew, good thing we’re getting off.” Chen said after the bus had driven off.

You nodded. “Okay, it’s this way.” You started walking and Chen followed by your side.

“Do you only stay in this part of town or something?”

“Well, it’s where I work and it’s close to my home. The neighborhood around my university only has expensive restaurants and shops.” You made a sour face which made Chen laugh.

You both had reached the business district and you knew it too with the normal crowd of people on the streets. You looked at your watch to check the time again. You glanced at Chen, who had readjusted his cap again.

“Stay close… Chen.” you had to sort of call out his name to beat out the bustling crowd and noise of the traffic.

He didn’t want to lose you in the crowd either. After you had called out his name, he had pulled you by the arm to his side and slyly taken a hold of your hand.

You were caught by surprised but you didn’t mind it. You had to lead him to the ramen shop. He kept up with you more easily now that he was holding onto you.

Finally, you were in front of the ramen shop. You could already smell it even before you had gone inside.

You turned to Chen who had closed his eyes to take in the aroma too. You caught yourself looking at him. Suddenly, the entrance door opened.

“________?”

You turned quickly to see your friend (from the university earlier). “Hi! Oh…” you glanced at Chen, then down to release his hand and he took his away.

“Sofie.  Are you working right now?”

Your friend gave you that same suspicious look but this time she was grinning mischievously. Her facial expression quickly changed though.

“Yeah, yeah. Of course! Are you here to eat? Of course you are. Come, come. Come inside already.” She ushered the both of you in, placing one hand on Chen’s shoulder and the other on yours so that you both would be right next to each other. There weren’t too many people inside at this time. Out of the twenty tables that were inside the shop, only four were occupied.

“Sofie…” you turned to angrily murmur to her. “I didn’t know you were working today.”

“What? I felt like it today.” She walked away from you two and pointed to a table for two. “You guys can sit there.” She went behind the main counter to get menus as you two awkwardly took your seats.

“Is that your friend from earlier?” Chen asked in a hushed tone.

You nodded, embarrassed. You slightly covered your face with your hand. You couldn’t even face Chen, and it wasn’t helping that you two were seated face-to-face. Sofie, she would do this to you.

“Here are your menus.” She placed two plastic menus on the table. She turned to talk to Chen directly, “I wouldn’t bother looking through it though. I suggest ordering our house special. It’s what we’re known for. ______ can tell you about it. She comes here all the time. I swear, I think ramen is the only thing she eats nowad—“

Your arm shot up without hesitation to cover your friend’s mouth. You faked a laugh. “That’s enough Sofie. I think we need some time to order, thanks.”

You took your hand away.

“Okay, so what would you like to drink?”

“Just water.” you said, giving her the eye. But she kept looking at Chen.

“Ah, same as her.” Chen answered.

“Alright, be back with your waters.”

As soon as Sofie was out of earshot, Chen laughed then tried to muffle it by covering his mouth.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your friend.”

“Right. She’s the greatest.” you said sarcastically.

“You seem really close to her. I think it’s nice to have a good friend like that.”

“I guess.” What the heck Chen… your temper melted away after those words of his. He made you think twice about your friend. She was just trying to protect you and you knew that. Maybe that’s why you had chosen to eat here. Maybe you subconsciously thought about her and somehow knew that you wanted her to know about Chen, to meet him and see how wonderful of a person he is.

You finally looked up at Chen. He had never looked away from you. His eyes were always seemed so honest. Even when those eyes were looking at you, it wasn’t trying to pry through anything or expose you. It was more of a contemplative stare, one that wanted to understand.

“I noticed that you, uh, don’t want to take off your cap?” you touched the top of your own head.

Chen touched his cap and then glanced down. “Yeah.” He clasped his hands together and held them to his mouth. He tried to speak. “I—“

“Here are your waters.” Sofie came back with the two drinks in hand and set them on the table. Chen sat back in his chair, taking his elbows off the table, putting his hands in his lap.

“So what have we decided on getting?” Sofie looked at you now after seeing Chen’s head down.

“Two specials, Sofie. That’s all.” you said. Sofie left without a remark or comment. She knew when she needed to go.

“Chen…” You put your own hands up on the table, putting the waters off to the side so that it would open up the middle of the table.

“Chen, what were you going to sa—“

“_______. I have something to tell you.” Chen had grabbed both of your hands and held them with his own. His eyes look troubled. You felt something in your gut, something bad. His hurt facial expression, you felt like you would do anything to make it go away. Anything to make him smile again.

“What is it?” you asked slowly.

He sighed. “I’m not exactly sure how to say this… I’m going to be gone for a bit.”

You were puzzled. “Gone? Where?” You realized you were raising your voice. “Why?” you said in a slightly broken, whispered voice.

“_______. Listen. I haven’t been entirely telling you everything about me.”

“What?” you lessened your grip on his hands, but he held onto yours tighter when he felt you letting go.

“Remember, on the train? I told you I was sort of like a musical artist?”

You nodded, still unaware of where this conversation was going.

He sighed again, then said, “Well… I am.”

You blinked, still confused. “You… are?”

He nodded. He could see that you were still weren’t getting it. “Yes. I am. I’m part of a new rookie group called EXO.”

You managed to speak, but even when you spoke, it didn’t feel as if you were actually speaking. “I think… I’ve heard of them.” Your eyes widened at the reality of all of this. Of what was happening now.

“We haven’t debuted yet, together. You see, there are going to be twelve members in total.”

He waited for you to nod before continuing. “But we’re going to split into two different subgroups. A Korean one and a Chinese one. EXO K and EXO M.”

“And… you’re a part of EXO… K?” you asked.

He shook his head. It was finally settling in. Chen was a part of EXO M. He didn’t need to say. He also didn’t have to say that because he was a part of EXO M, their activities would mainly take part in China. You knew enough about the kpop world. You knew that Chen didn’t even want to say to your face that he would be leaving to another country. These facts hit you on their own.

You didn’t let it show though. You knew you were in a public setting. No tears, you thought. I will absolutely hate myself right now if I shed a single tear.

“________. I’m sorry I had to tell you like this. I wanted to tell you as soon as I started… as soon as when we had become friends. I just didn’t know how to tell you. And now that our debut is coming up soon, I regretted not telling you earlier. That’s why… that’s also why I’ve had to keep a low profile recently. That’s why I came to see you at your school today.”

You didn’t say anything for a bit. You nodded then spoke. “Is… ‘Chen’ your stage name then?”

He nodded but nonetheless surprised that you had brought that up on your own.

You had mixed feelings about this. How could he not have told you his real name? All this time, you’ve been calling him by a name that was given to him by a producer or marketing guy or somebody. Chen somehow read your mind.

“I couldn’t tell you my real name when we met on the train. I was completing my days as a trainee and I had been chosen to debut as a member of EXO. I was given that name. It’s what I would be called when I became a part of EXO. You have to understand. I was so excited and happy at that time. I was chosen. I was going to get to do what I love. I was going to get to sing. And I thought that name ‘Chen’ gave me a kind of secret identity other than my true one. When I met you, I didn’t think we’d meet again…so I introduced myself as that.”

You became physically aware that Chen was holding onto your hands as tight as ever, but not crushing them. His hands were really warm. He really did have this passion for what he wanted to do. He had reasons for why he had to keep this part of his life a secret. And even if it was a secret from you for a while, you were overall glad and grateful that he had decided to tell you.

“I’m not asking for you to forgive me. I don’t deserve it after knowing how long I kept this from you. I’m just asking… if… you’ll still be here… for me.”

Those words struck to the heart. “Idiot.” you muttered.

“What?”

“Of course. Of course, I’ll be here for you. You think I let anyone walk in and out of my life just like that? You think leaving the country is going to make me forget about you so easily?” You lowered your voice, you felt it breaking. “You think I would even feel… about another person the way… I feel.. about you?”

You started to take a hand away from Chen’s to wipe a tear that you had felt starting to fall.

He took your hand back and placed it back down on the table. With his other hand, he reached to your cheek to wipe the tear. He managed a half-smile. You didn’t know it but your words had made him feel like the luckiest guy in the entire world while at the same time making him feel like the worst guy in the entire world.

“I… feel that way too _______.”

You took a breath to calm yourself.

“Want to know my actual name?” Chen grinned, trying to lift up your mood.

You nodded.

“Kim… Jongdae.” Saying his own name made him smile once he finished saying it.

You smiled, blinking away slight tears and repeated after him. You decided to boost his ego a bit. “Kim.. Jong.. Dae… oppa.” You looked down, laughing to yourself. Chen’s eyes widened when you addressed him that properly.

“I can still call you Chen though right?” you asked, still facing down.

“Yeah, you can.” You felt his hands give yours one last squeeze before you sensed him releasing it. You looked up to see Sofie had come back with your bowls of ramen. Sofie examined the both of you with suspicious eyes. “Here are your ramen specials. Enjoy. Let me know if you need anything.”

You took a hold of Sofie’s arm before she turned to leave. “Thank you, Sofie.” you said.

“Yeah.” Sofie smiled warmly. It was a sort of secret language that you two shared, to let her know that everything was okay.

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a/n: the end! or is it......................

:D hope you all enjoyed reading it! thank you for reading until the end.