A/N: hi, guys! here's the next chapter!

I tried to have it up by Thursday, but only just finished it now, because it's so long! We're facing a long, long chapter (and I now have a theory as to why my chapters suddenly get exceptionally long, but I'll just share it with you later in my A/N at the end of the chapter)!

And I didnt' have the heart to half it and turn into a double update like I usually do when a chapter gets to be too long, either. I didn't want the momentum to be lost.

So, I know it's really long, but please, if possible, try to read it in just one go, because I really feel that it should be read as a whole, to get the whole impact.

We were all frozen, none of us able to move a single muscle. The person outside kept banging on the door.

And then, whoever it was suddenly shrieked loudly-

“What the hell?! Open up, you sissy ladies! What the hell are you waiting for in there, the ing apocalypse?!”

Our eyes all widened into the size of saucers.

We knew that voice. Who could forget it, after all?

“I-isn’t that-?” I choked out, not managing to complete my sentence, surprised as I was. What the hell was he doing here?

The boys all still nodded, though, seemingly all guessing whose name I was about to say.

Yunho quickly strode towards the door.

“Heechul!” he said loudly, his eyes disbelieving, as he wrenched open the door to reveal, indeed, Super Junior’s Kim Heechul waiting outside our hotel suite with a look of complete annoyance on his face. Standing right behind him were Ryeowook and Kyuhyun.

“Finally!” Heechul grumbled, walking past Yunho into the room as though there was nothing surprising about his appearance at all. “Took you long enough! Do you have any idea how sore my hand is from knocking for so long?”

“Knocking?” Jaejoong snorted incredulously, starting to get over his shock at the appearance of the Super Junior members. “You sounded ready to tear down the door!”

“Did you really have to do that, Heechul?” Yoochun complained, massaging his chest and trying to calm down. “I nearly had a heart attack from you banging on the door!”

“Dramatic, aren’t you?” Heechul rolled his eyes.

“You just gave us all a flashback of how our old manager pounded on that door in complete fury the last time that we were here!”

“Oh.”

“Sorry about him, hyung,” Ryeowook said anxiously to Yunho, apologizing on Heechul’s behalf, since didn’t seem like he was about to start apologizing for the commotion that he had caused any time soon. “I tried to stop him from causing such a racket! I really did!”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Yunho chuckled a bit, patting Ryeowook on the shoulder reassuringly. “We all know how Heechul can get, after all.”

Changmin finally unfroze, getting over from his shock. He exchanged a “manly” one-armed hug with Kyuhyun. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked with a wide grin on his face. “I didn’t even know that Super Junior was supposed to be in Japan!”

“We’re not,” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “But Heechul hyung here-“

“Of course, we had to be here! Who would be organizing your party otherwise?” Heechul cut across Kyuhyun. “So, come on! Get your butts out of here! Let’s go part-hey!”

“P-party?” Junsu repeated in a stammer. “What party?”

“Your celebratory party waiting for you in one of the function rooms downstairs, of course!” Heechul rolled his eyes exasperation. Though why the hell he was exasperated, I just couldn’t see. I mean, it’s not like we were being slow on purpose, right? He was really shocking us here!

“The huge, fan-in’-tastic party that I have taken the liberty to organize for you!” Heechul continued his mini rant/explanation speech. “The party wherein we’ll all celebrate how you guys are out of the clutches of the claws of our company! The party where most of your idol friends are waiting for you guys to go down there and celebrate with them!”

We all just stared at him.

“W-what? Wait… I mean- h-how-?” Yunho stuttered. It wasn’t every day that you could strike Dong Bang Shin Ki’s leader into speechlessness, but seeing as it’s Heechul we’re dealing with right now, maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.

“What do you mean ‘how’?” Heechul stared disbelievingly at Yunho. “Don’t you know how to usually organize a party? I’ve been planning for days! I got caterers, I got entertainment, I invited guests, I made sure all those guests turn up no matter what, I-“

“How did you even know that we were coming to Japan? How did you even know we were going to be back here at this very hotel?” Jaejoong asked, bewildered.

“I contacted Mr. Han this morning. You know that he's taken such a liking to me after I've proven my superb detective skills. He informed me that you were coming to Japan. And then he called me early this evening when Yunho told him that you guys will be here. I already had everything planned. I just had the stuff brought over here and the place set-up. God, I can’t tell you the headache I got during our plane trip here! I was shouting at the people that I hired to put up the decorations the whole flight! And that y stewardess was looking at me as though I was doing something wrong…”

“Gee, what could have upset her?” Kyuhyun said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “The fact that you’re not supposed to use your phone? Or maybe how you’ve been disturbing everyone in the cabin with your screams of fury?”

Heechul just pretended that he didn’t hear him.

“But, oppa,” I said now. “I thought you said you’ve been planning for this for days. I thought this was ‘celebratory’ party? How’d you even know that we would have something to celebrate? How’d you know we’d win the case?  I mean, the lawsuit was just finished today.”

“Oh, sweetie, that’s easy. Of course there’s no way that Dong Bang Shin Ki could have lost with all the help that I’ve been giving for the lawsuit,” Heechul said matter-of-factly, patting me lightly on the cheek.

We could only raise our eyebrows disbelievingly at him.

“Wait, when you say that our other idol friends are here…” Yunho said slowly.

“All my members from Super Junior are here. I even got those who are in military service to take a leave just for this. Shinee’s also here, the girl groups, even artists from other companies. And the best part is that I even made sure that no one from the media even gets so much as a whiff about this,” Heechul grinned proudly.

“How did you even get them all here? What about their own schedules?” Jaejoong raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, please,” Heechul rolled his eyes. “As if anyone would ever dare to say no to me.”

“Our group was also supposed to have had an appearance back in Korea earlier this evening,” Ryeowook sighed. “Leeteuk hyung nearly murdered Heechul hyung when he ordered the driver to bring us to the airport instead of the studio.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Changmin said with dry sarcasm.

Heechul’s eyes narrowed. “Watch it, you brat,” he said warningly.

“Or else what?” Changmin raised an eyebrow challengingly.

Heechul glared at him, before suddenly smirking evilly. He turned to me, “Hey, Erin, I have something to tell you!”

At my questioning look, he continued, “Haven’t you been wondering why Changmin’s been acting so oddly with you? Well, let me tell you, since he doesn’t seem to have the balls to tell you himself. Changmin-ah over here is madly in l-“

But that was all that Heechul ever got around to saying, because Changmin had dived at him and slapped his hand over Heechul’s mouth to keep him silent. It took a few minutes for the other boys to separate the two of them.

“Look at what you did to my party clothes, you brat!” Heechul hissed at Changmin, looking totally dismayed as Kyuhyun and Ryeowook kept a tight hold on him. Now that he’d mentioned it, I glanced up and down at his clothes, looking at them properly for the first time.

To keep it short, it looked like he just survived a glitter-bomb explosion.

“It’s your own fault that your Halloween costume’s ruined! You can’t just keep your mouth shut, can you, Heechul hyung?” Changmin snapped, trying to get Yunho, Jaejoong, and Yoochun to let go of him.

“Halloween costume?!” Heechul shrieked, looking thoroughly offended. “I designed this myself!”

“That would actually explain a lot.”

Heechul let out another shriek of frustration. Whether it was frustration from Changmin’s words or frustration that he couldn’t kill Changmin with Kyuhyun and Ryeowook still hanging on to him, though, it was hard to tell.

“First, it was Changmin and Erin arguing in the car. Now, it’s him versus Heechul,” Yunho groaned tiredly, keeping an arm tight around Changmin’s torso so that he can’t escape to attack Heechul again. “Really, why is it too much to ask for some peace and quiet around here? Or at least a scenario where there’s no murder being attempted?”

“Blame your precious maknae,” Heechul snapped as he finally managed to free himself. “Honestly, if he just got around to confessing it, maybe some of his will be gone and he won’t be so much of a to deal with anymore.”

Uh… what?

“?” I said uncertainly to Junsu, who was standing beside me and just shaking his head at the scene before us.

Junsu suddenly looked alarmed at my question. He glanced nervously at Changmin, before turning back to me, looking quite like he had no idea of how to answer my question. “Erm, uh… Heechul just means that- er…”

“What I mean to say is that when it comes to you, Changmin is really-“ Heechul began to say, but this time, it was Kyuhyun who put his hand on Heechul’s mouth.

“Hyung, if you don’t want to have to walk into the party looking as though you’ve just been ambushed, I really suggest that you shut up. Right now,” he said seriously to Heechul, glancing at his best friend who was glaring daggers at his said member.

“Let’s just all get to that party,” Yoochun said quickly as they also released Changmin.

At the mention of the party, Heechul was perky and all smiles again. “Ooohh! Good idea, let’s get going, ladies!"

"Wait, we're not even dressed properly to go to a party," Yunho frowned.

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Heechul waved his hand. "You're the guests of honor! People won't care what you wear as long as you just show up! Now, let's go!"

“Erm, I’ll just stay here, okay, guys?” I said nervously, starting to back away towards mine and Junsu’s bedroom again.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Heechul quickly grabbed me.

“Let her go!” Changmin immediately shouted.

Heechul rolled his eyes in complete exasperation. “Will you just relax, you overprotective idiot? I’m just making sure that she doesn’t bail on us! I mean, would you rather she runs out on us and hides in the bedroom while we go to the party?”

“Honestly, Heechul oppa, thanks for the thought, but I really don’t think I should be going,” I said hurriedly.  I mean, Heechul did say that he invited all of DBSK’s idol friends. I don’t really think I’m prepared for that.

“Why not? You should be there, too, of course!” Junsu now protested.

“Yeah, you helped us a lot in the lawsuit. We couldn’t have done it without you,” Yoochun intoned, frowning. He was careful not to mention exactly how I’ve helped them, though, seeing as Ryeowook was also with us and, as far as he was concerned, I was just DBSK’s personal assistant, not some girl from the future meant to give them some dire warning about their separation.

“Honestly, I don’t think being in a room full of idols will really help my stress levels right now,” I said honestly.  “I mean, I can only imagine how intimidating that would be for me…”

“What are you talking about? Aren’t you already standing in a room full of idols right now already?” Kyuhyun pointed out, laughing.

I frowned. Okay, he had me there. Good point.

“Yeah, but I know you guys a bit more. I don’t really do so well with suddenly just socializing with new people, let alone celebrities. Besides, this really isn’t the same situation. DBSK might be idols, too, but they’re…” I glanced at the members of DBSK uncertainly. “Well, they’re them,” I just said helplessly, not really knowing how to explain it.

“Thanks, that’s so flattering,” Yoochun drawled sarcastically. I grimaced apologetically at him.

“We’ll be there. We won’t leave your side at all. We’ll introduce you to our friends, you’ll like them! They’ve all very nice, honest!” Junsu encouraged me enthusiastically.

“Besides, if you can get on with Heechul here, I’m sure you’ll do fantastically with our other friends,” Jaejoong told me, smirking at Heechul. “He’s the worst, and if you can stand him, the others will be a breeze for you to get along with.”

Heechul glared at him, his claws starting to show again for another possible catfight.

“I don’t know…” I said slowly, still looking unsure about the whole thing. Parties were so not my thing. And parties filled with K-pop idols, even more.

“Well, I’m not taking no for an answer,” Heechul said firmly, taking hold of me by my arms again.

“Besides,” he continued, glancing at Changmin with a smile that made him look like a cat that was about to eat a canary. “Like what I’ve said, all my members are there. Including Siwon. And I’ve just been absolutely dying to introduce you two to each other for ages!”

My eyes widened in alarm.

Okay, that just made me not want to go even more!

I don’t know exactly what Heechul was planning (and I really think that I don’t even want to know), but I was feeling pretty sure that it would lead me to being embarrassed in front of other idols in that party. I could practically sense the mortification that would be coming my way.

“So, let’s go! Gotta get on and see if my matchmaking between you two will work!” Heechul continued to prattle on excitedly as he pulled me out of our hotel suite first with him.

The other boys chuckled a bit nervously behind us, all of them apprehensively eying Changmin, who was looking very much ready to strangle Heechul.

“Wow, this is just mad,” I whispered in both awe and disbelief as I took in the scene before us. “I mean, it’s great and amazing and all that. But still… it’s mad. Crazy.”

“Well, those are the perfect words to describe Heechul,” Jaejoong smiled at me wryly. “I guess we should only expect that any party he’ll organize would be the exact same, right?”

I just nodded dumbly.

The function room that Heechul had apparently reserved for the party was very large and spacious. The overall lighting of the room was dim, but there colorful party lights flashing all over the room. There were about a hundred small, round tables arranged around the big empty space in the middle of the room that I assumed was the dance floor. There was also a stage at the front of the room, complete with a podium and five chairs already waiting for the boys. And by the side of the stage were lots of musical equipment, and the speakers were blaring out the songs of the boys. Of course, what kind of party would it be without things to eat? At one side of the room were long tables of food and drinks, and walking all over the room among the guests were uniformed staff carrying trays of cocktails and finger-foods.

Okay, Heechul sure did know how to throw a party, I’ll give him that.

“What are you es just standing around there for?” Heechul demanded, pushing his way past us from behind. “Don’t just stand here by the door doing impersonations of goldfish! Get in the party!”

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head at me and the boys, he walked into the function room and shouted loudly. “HEY, EVERYBODY! LOOK AT WHO’S FINALLY HERE!”

Everyone looked at Heechul’s direction, and when they saw the boys right behind him, they all broke into applause and what I guessed were shouts of congratulations. It was all very overwhelming and touching, and it made the boys grin widely.

Maybe Heechul was really right to throw this surprise celebration party. After all the stress that we’ve been through today, and the last few months actually, it was nice to finally have some fun. And it was great to see the boys so happy again.

“What are you waiting for? Get your butts on that stage and make a speech!” Heechul shrieked to the boys, surprising them. And without further ado, he, along with some other friends, started to push the boys towards the stage, ignoring their protests.

“Kyuhyun, stay with Erin!” Changmin shouted back at his best friend, glancing at me a bit frantically, before they disappeared into the crowd of people as they were dragged towards the stage at the front.

“Yes, your lordship, sir,” Kyuhyun chuckled lightly even though Changmin wouldn’t hear him anymore.

Well, if he was laughing, I, on the other hand, was more than ready to start fuming in annoyance.

Sure, I didn’t feel comfortable being surrounded by so many celebrities, but that doesn’t mean that I needed someone to act like a bodyguard with me all the time! Gah!

“He is such an overprotective ,” I muttered darky.

Kyuhyun seemed to become even more amused by the highly irritated look on my face.

“Well, he is,” I added defensively, scowling at Kyuhyun.

“He’s just worried about you, you know,” he told me, smiling gently now.

“I can’t even remember anymore how many times I’ve heard people tell me that,” I said, my scowl now replaced by a serious frown.

“But you don’t believe it,” he said, looking at me knowingly.

I saw the boys emerging from the crowd again as they climbed up to the stage and begin to take turns addressing their guests. I couldn’t understand what they were saying since they were speaking in Korean, so I turned back to Kyuhyun again.

“I suppose I can understand how it seems like to other people and why they would think like that,” I began slowly. “But it’s just that I don’t see how that can be true, you know? I mean, sure, he’s overprotective, but I don’t really get the ‘why’ part. He doesn’t even like me at all, and yet he worries so much about my safety and well-being? It just doesn’t add up!”

My face was scrunched up in frustration and bewilderment by the end, and it made Kyuhyun laugh loudly.

“I’ll be the first to admit that Heechul hyung can be quite crazy and even be somewhat overbearing, but he’s 100% right when he was telling Changmin to just confess already,” he grinned towards the stage where Changmin was now currently holding the microphone and speaking to the people.

“Confess what? And to whom?” I asked, confused. None of the DBSK members would directly tell me anything about this at all for the last few months, and yet they keep dropping numerous subtle hints. It's been driving me mad!

Maybe I’ll have more luck squeezing the truth out of a Super Junior member, then?

“I’m not telling you anything,” Kyuhyun said flatly. “I know it must be really frustrating on your part, but I agree with the others. You should hear it straight from Changmin and from no one else. You both deserve that.”

Okay, maybe I won’t be getting it out of him, either.

“Though, to be honest,” he started to say again. “I never really pegged my best friend to be the nervous, cowardly type when it came to a girl. But I guess you really have a knack of bringing out aspects of his personality that we’ve never really seen before. His overprotectiveness is another one of those. I mean, sure, he cares for s and his friends and all that, but it’s like he went into another totally different level when it comes to you.”

“Wait, so I’m the one that he needs to make a confession to?” I asked, more confused than before.

Kyuhyun gave me a ‘duh’ look.

I took that as a ‘yes’, then.

“But what on earth would he even have to ‘confess’ to me?” I questioned persistently. “And why would he even be nervous to tell me whatever it is?”

“He’s worried about your reaction, of course,” Kyuhyun told me. “And as silly as we think it is, we also understand why he’s worried about it. It’s pretty nerve-wrecking, in my opinion.”

“Why should he be worried about how I’ll react to it? I mean, I’m nothing to him, after all…”

Kyuhyun gave me an incredulous look. He glanced quickly around us to make sure that no one was listening. He leaned forward closer to me and said quietly, but firmly, “Hey, now. We both know that’s not true. You’re not nothing to him. You’ve become a pretty important person to all the five members of DBSK these past few months. You were sent back here after all to get through their problems together and fully intact. How can you be ‘nothing’, then?”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant,” I quickly clarified. “I just meant… well, I’m nothing to him on the personal level? I mean, we’re quite the farthest thing from friends…”

“Yes, you are,” Kyuhyun said cryptically. “You’re really far from becoming friends. Because you know what? You’re so much more than just friends…”

“What?” I asked.

Now, I was the one incredulous. What on earth was he talking about?

“Kyuhyun-ah!”

Kyuhyun was just about to answer when his name being called made both of us look around. A small group of people a few meters away from us were waving at him, beckoning him to come over to them.

“Do you want to come over and meet some friends of mine?” he asked me.

“Oh, no, I don’t think so, oppa,” I said, suddenly feeling shy again. “You go on ahead and talk to them, though. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine on my own for a while.”

He looked at me as though I’d grown a second head. “You might be fine, but I most certainly won’t be!” he said. “Changmin will murder me if he finds out I left you alone!”

I rolled my eyes. Geez, dramatic much?

“Don’t worry, if he does, I’ll murder him for you, too,” I grinned at him.

“That’s so reassuring,” he said sarcastically. He gave a sigh of defeat, too, though. “Alright, then. I’ll just be with them for a few minutes. Are you absolutely sure that you’ll be okay on your own?” he asked yet again.

“Yes, Kyuhyun oppa,” I said, trying very hard not to sound exasperated. I’m not some helpless damsel in distress, after all! “Go have fun with your friends. I’m just going over to the food. I’m starving!”

I just realized now how famished I was. I haven’t eaten anything since that sandwich during lunch when Mr. Han forced us to eat something regardless of our overwhelming nerves. It suddenly felt like so long since it, and the whole final hearing, had happened… Almost like it had already been a lifetime away…

“Okay, then,” Kyuhyun said. With a final smile at me, he turned around and walked over to his friends.

I went the opposite direction, straight towards the food.

Wow, Heechul sure knew his caterers. There were so many dishes to pick from, so many varieties of food, that I didn’t even know how I was going to start choosing. I was just about to fly blind and try whatever looked most appetizing, when my attention was caught by the long table at the end.

I walked slowly towards it, not really believing my eyes.

The dessert table looked incredible.

About two dozen different kinds of cakes, blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, puddings, tarts, éclairs, Jell-O, fresh fruit, gingerbread houses, tower-like pastries-holders stuffed full with so many kinds of pastries. And at the very center of the table, a huge chocolate fountain, surrounded by bowls of different things you can dip into it- fruit, marshmallows skewered on sticks, soft candy, small little biscuits, etc.

“Looks amazing, doesn’t it?” said a quiet voice right behind me, making me jump in surprise.

Turning around quickly, I saw that it was none other than Changmin himself.

“Why am I not surprised to find you of all people here by the food?” I snorted a bit.

He just rolled his eyes at me.

“I didn’t realize that you guys were finished with your speech,” I said honestly. I was that preoccupied by the dessert table. “Where are your hyungs?”

“Oh, just socializing around here somewhere, I expect,” he shrugged offhandedly. Then, he narrowed his eyes at me. “Why are you alone, anyway? Where’s Kyuhyun? I thought I told him to stay with you."

I let out a huff of breath in annoyance. “Some friends of his called him over to them. I told him to go right ahead and that I was just going to get something to eat.”

“I knew I shouldn't have just left you with him,” Changmin just continued to grumble under his breath. Then, still ignoring me, he reached over to the table to grab a strawberry. Holding it delicately by its stem, he dipped it into the chocolate fountain and when it was well-covered in chocolate, he turned back to me and moved it towards my mouth, silently offering it to me.

I stared him.

Was he seriously offering to me feed a strawberry coated with chocolate? As in, right from his hand into my mouth? Wait, not even normal friends do that, right? How much more when it comes to two people who hate dislike each other?

I mean, really, who still does this sort of thing these days?

“I- uhm, uh… I- I don’t really eat s-strawberries, t-thanks,” I managed to stammer out eventually.

“You’re allergic?” he asked, frowning as he lowered his hand and the strawberry.

“Erm, no, not exactly. I just can’t stand its taste,” I explained, trying to focus on giving out the reasons why I don’t like strawberries rather than on the oddness that was going on between us right now. “I find it too sickly sweet and sour at the same time. I can’t even stand eating anything strawberry-flavored, like ice cream, for instance. Even just the smell of it already makes me sick and want to vomit.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, quickly moving the strawberry away from me. “Well, we can’t have that, can we? Not tonight, of all nights, when we should all be having fun…”

“I know most people really like it, though. Maybe there’s really just something seriously wrong with me,” I continued, shrugging a bit.

“There can never be anything ‘wrong’ about you,” he said quietly, seemingly careful not look at me and meet my eyes.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Erm… okaaay?!

I was distracted from my confused thoughts when Changmin put the strawberry into his own mouth, chewing it carefully and deliberately. He had gotten a bit of the chocolate sauce on his lips, so after he had swallowed the strawberry, he stuck his tongue out a bit to it off.

Oh, holy sweet Merlin.

If my thoughts were confused before from what he had said, right now I don’t think there was any coherent thought in my head at all.

I didn’t really understand why I felt as though I might start hyperventilating any moment just from that sight, but I was glad that he didn’t seem to notice how I was feeling that moment, anyway.

“What about marshmallows?” he suddenly asked as he picked up a stick of marshmallows.

“Huh?” I mumbled incoherently.

Changmin raised an eyebrow at my odd behavior. “Do you like marshmallows?” he asked, waving the stick a bit.

I just nodded mutely, not trusting myself to speak at all.

He did the same thing to it like with the strawberry before and covered the marshmallows in chocolate.

Luckily, by the time he handed it to me, I’ve managed to collect and put together my thoughts again.

“Oh God, this so good!” I practically moaned as I promptly ate a piece. The marshmallow was so soft and fluffy, and add to it the rich chocolate coating and it was almost like heaven in my mouth.

As good as it was, though, the downside of it was that eating stuff dipped in chocolate fountains always resulted into a mess for me. While Changmin only got a bit of chocolate on his lips earlier, there was a lot more on mine now, and I hastily made to wipe them away with my hand.

Changmin beat me to it, though. Again.

Before I could even bring my hand to my mouth, he had taken some tissue from a dispenser at the table and began to gently wipe away the chocolate on my mouth.

“Why do you always do that?” I mumbled against the tissue.

“What? Wipe your mouth?” he asked, giving me a confused look, as though he couldn't see what might be so odd about it.

It was really so much of a hassle to speak while your lips were being wiped with tissue, so I just settled for giving a look that totally said ‘of-course-that-what-else-could-I-have-meant-you-idiot’. A look that he managed to read correctly.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that you always eat as though you were a three year-old, always getting food on your mouth instead of in it,” he drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he finished wiping my mouth. He crumpled the tissue in his hand.

I glared at him for the insult. What a jerk!

“You don’t have to wipe my mouth, though! I’m perfectly capable of doing it, you know, contrary to whatever it is that you might think!” I argued hotly.

Changmin just stared at my face for a while.

“I know you are,” he mumbled, finally looking away from me and turning back to the dessert table. Then, he added so quietly that I could just barely hear him (and I’m not even sure if I was meant to hear this), “I like doing it for you, though…”

I just stared at him again.

What?

He liked wiping my mouth clean for me when I get food on it? Is that what he meant?

Why?

Oblivious to the weirded out looks I was giving him, Changmin just carried on dipping a few more sticks of marshmallows into the chocolate fountain. He put them on a small plate and handed it to me.

“Uhm, thanks?” I mumbled, still confused.

He grabbed another plate for himself and piled it high with cakes before looking at me again and saying, “C’mon, let’s go find the others.”

And then, he- my eyes grew wide with shock as I realized what he had done next.

He put his hand on the small of my back as he led me through the crowds in search of his hyungs.

His hand is on my back!

What bloody hell is going on here?!

“There you guys are!” Junsu shouted as Changmin and I finally found them and made our way towards them.

Yunho, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu were gathered in a small group with Heechul, Leeteuk, and two other people who were probably Super Junior members as well. Changmin removed his hand from my back and held his plate with both hands as we reached them.

“And where have you two been?” Heechul smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at us.

Though what exactly he was suggesting I have no freakin’ idea.

“I was hungry and ran into Changmin by the food tables,” I explained innocently.

“Of course, we should have thought right away to look for Min there,” Yoochun said to s, snorting a bit.

“Oh, by the way, Erin. These are a couple of our other members, Hangeng and Kangin,” Leeteuk introduced me to s. “Guys, this is Erin. DBSK’s personal assistant that we’ve mentioned to you guys before…”

We had just finished exchanging pleasantries when Kyuhyun came running over to us, panting.

“You!” Changmin snapped right away when Kyuhyun came to a halt right beside him. “Didn’t I tell you before to stay with Erin? Where the hell have you been?”

Kyuhyun ignored Changmin’s irritation and just quickly began to whisper excitedly into his best friend’s ear.

Changmin’s expression quickly went from confused, to surprised, to having the same look on his face that Kyuhyun had on his. The look that said very clearly that whatever it was that they were whispering about wouldn’t lead to any good. Not for others, at least.

“Be right back, you guys,” Changmin said to the rest of us quickly, before running off and disappearing into the crowd with his best friend and his plate of cakes.

We all stared after them.

“Something tells me that I don’t even want to know what those two are up to this time,” Yunho groaned, shaking his head.

“Hear, hear,” Leeteuk agreed immediately, also shaking his head.

“I think we should just consider ourselves lucky that they weren’t put together into a group,” Kangin chuckled. “I mean, can you just imagine how horrible life would be for us if both Changmin and Kyuhyun were put together in either DBSK or Super Junior?”

“Yes, I can imagine, but I really don’t want to think about it,” Yoochun grimaced.

“I don’t think any of us in Super Junior would be able to sleep in peace if both of them were with us, knowing what they could be doing to us while we’re unconscious,” Leeteuk admitted.

“Well, it would have been worse if they were both in DBSK,” Junsu pointed out. “I mean, we’re much fewer than you guys, less choice of targets for them.”

“Yeah, that would have been a nightmare,” Yunho nodded, looking pained at just thinking of the possibilities.

“Well, I suppose that we should just be thankful that SM at least did one right thing and kept the two evil maknaes separate,” Heechul shrugged.

At the mention of SM, the atmosphere became serious again.

“Speaking of SM,” Leeteuk said slowly. “What are you guys planning to do now that you’re finally out of it? Have you decided yet?”

Yunho shook his head. “Not really.”

“Although Jaejoong hyung seems to be really into the idea of starting our own company,” Yoochun told the Super Junior members, nodding to Jaejoong.

“You know, that’s actually not a bad idea at all,” Kangin agreed, nodding a bit.

“Yunho isn’t really quite into that idea, though,” Jaejoong pouted at his lover. “And I really don’t understand why. I mean, we’d finally be in a company that wouldn't curb our freedom as artists just to satisfy some money-hungry board members.”

“Yes, I admit that part does sound very nice, Boo,” Yunho sighed. “But, really, just starting a company on our own? We