“Do you mind stopping by the headquarters real quick, Seo?” Suho asked through a mouth full of quiche. “I got some files to pick up.”
 

“Not at all,” Seohyun replied. “The photo shoot isn’t till noon anyway.”
 

Suho gulped down a glass of orange juice in one go. Seohyun watched him in astonishment; not once had she been failed to be amazed by his stomach capacity. As dishes were put in the sink, the two of them headed out the door. The pristine elevator with its mirrored walls and golden accents took them down to the lavish lobby, which design scheme mimicked the elevator precisely. 

Seohyun always loved leaving the apartment. Every time she left, it was like Paris had a whole new feel to it, each landmark somehow changed from her perception. As they drove through the Place de la Concorde, Seohyun stared in wonder at all around her. 
 

“Hey, Seo,” Suho said from the driver’s seat. “You haven’t seen Paris at night yet, have you?”
 

She thought for a second, coming up a little shocked herself. “Actually, no. Not yet.”
 

“Then what do you say about shopping tomorrow night?”
 

“Shopping? For what?”
 

“That’s a surprise.” Suho smiled, its radiance easily winning over the morning sun outside. “So is that a yes?”
 

“Definitely!” Seohyun beamed.
 

Soon, they had arrived at the headquarters. As soon as Seohyun step foot out of the car, a wave of gasps and chatter echoed resonated throughout the street. A swarm of people gathered around her, blinding her eyes with each flash of a camera. In spots of the crowd, some hollered for an autograph or for her to spare them a minute to answer a question. Seohyun, as polite as she was, waved and smiled in return, even though she couldn’t see a mere three feet in front of her due to the eruption of flashing lights. Suho ran to her side, put a protective arm around her, and forced their way to the front door of the building. 
 

As they were practically propelled through the front doors, the two found salvation in the vacancy and stillness of the lobby. Suho rubbed Seohyun’s back, inquiring about any pain or harm done. He couldn’t look her straight in the eyes, mostly because Seohyun couldn’t find his eyes. There were flashes of light still emanating around the lobby in her vision, false embodiments of the camera flashes that had just blinded her outside. When her vision cleared up, Suho met her with a worried expression.
 

“Next time,” he said, “you’re wearing sunglasses.”
 

She could only nod as they made their way up the elevator, heading toward his office. As they entered the desired floor, a very pretentious sign welcomed them with large, metallic letters: VOGUE.
 

Walking into the floor, offices were separated into glass rooms, pictures of models and would-be models hung limply on the walls. On the other side of the floor, Seohyun could see racks of finished clothes hanging in all their pride and beauty. Employees greeted them as they walked by their working areas, some even hung up seemingly important phone calls just to say a simple hello to them. 
 

Before Suho’s office sat a waiting area complete with upholstered chairs, miniature horse-chestnut trees, and (of course) a pile of Vogue magazines to entertain the mind of the client. 
 

“You can stay here, Seo.” Suho put a reassuring hand on her back. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
 

“No problem, chief,” Seohyun , now fully recovered from her previous ambush of paparazzi and fans. 
 

Gently ruffling her hair, he disappeared into his office, the only one closed off from view in the entire floor. Seohyun sat down and peered around the glass walls of the other offices, admiring how diligently each person worked, how stylish each room was decorated despite the transparent walls. This place should win an award for most fashionable cubicles, she thought. 
 

She sat quietly, playing with the hem of her blazer. There wasn’t much she could hear, other than a barely audible conversation or two and the clinking of heels on the hardwood floors a few offices down. The voices of one conversation grew a bit louder, as the mystery speakers came closer to her vicinity of the lonely waiting area.
 

She wouldn’t have bothered eavesdropping if it wasn’t for the fact that they had said something that caught her attention, going along the lines of “that Luhan is too much”. Seohyun cocked her head innocently to the side, inclined to hear what they had to say.
 

“I honestly don’t understand why he even works for us is he keeps doing this,” a woman said with a low voice.
 

“You’d think that Sir Kim would’ve fired him by now,” another woman said with a honeyed voice. “He’s too nice to fire employees, though.”
 

“I don’t care if this Luhan gets fired. I just want him to do his job. This is the third time this month that he’s rejected to send us a piece of his work. We even had to rush a three-page story from an intern. An intern!”
 

There was a moment of silence, followed by the setting down of a coffee mug on a desk. The momentary sound of porcelain meeting mahogany instilled an uneasy atmosphere. 
 

“The audacity of some people,” one of them said in disbelief. “How much more egotistical can he get?”
 

“Vain is what he is. He’s only making it harder for us, and we have to fill in all the gaps he’s leaving behind. To work for a company like ours, that’s an honor.”
 

Seohyun played with the hem of her blazer more roughly now, obviously distraught by their words. She wanted to tell them that Luhan wasn’t vain, he wasn’t egotistical, and he wasn’t audacious. He was none of those words they had described him, to make him out to be. 
 

“And did you hear?” the honeyed voice inquired to the low voice. “I heard that Luhan has nothing better to do than drink around all day and lure in girls. Apparently, he lives in one of the slums on the outskirts of Paris.”
 

“Slums? Well, in places like those, it’s inevitable to become a pig like that.”
 

Her heels dug into the chenille of the rug. Seohyun had enough. She was enraged, but most of all frustrated. How dare they talk about him that way, she thought. The only pigs in this room are pretentious snobs like you.
 

She rose to her feet, with the utmost intention of storming over there to give those women a piece of her mind. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t take a single step forward. Seohyun wasn’t that kind of a person. She never spoke her mind, she never openly opposed others, and most of all she never picked fights. To protect someone precious to her - she couldn’t even do a simple thing like that.
 

“Seo, why are you standing?”
 

She turned to look at Suho walking towards her, files already in hand. “Oh, I heard you walking down the hall,” she lied.
 

He gestured for her to walk with him, a gentle hand resting on her back. “Alrighty then, let’s go to your shoot now.”
 

She nodded. Seohyun wished she could’ve at least seen those two women’s faces. But then again, maybe it’s best not to
know your enemies. 
 

As the two of them got into the car, Seohyun was silent the whole way. She knew they were wrong, so she finally came to the conclusion to push all of their harsh words aside. She knew the real Luhan, not them. Thankfully, Suho took no notice of her silence, babbling on and on about the dinner he was going to cook tonight; he said something about shrimp or scallops. The roar of the engine died down; the car was now in park. Seohyun was pulled back out of her thoughts and resumed her conscience of the real world. 

A gentle hand touched hers, placing something in them. Seohyun looked up at Suho who was giving her a half smile. “Sunglasses,” he said. “You’ll need them.”
 

Seohyun put them on as she stepped out of the car, making sure each heel was planted firmly on the cement. Just like before, a storm of lights and rambunctious stars rained down on her, but this time it didn’t hurt. 
 

Next time, she promised herself, I will protect Luhan. 

A/N:

Sorry for the late update! 

School has started for me, and I had to complete so many assignments.
The next few days will be hectic as well, so I apologize if the next chapter takes awhile too.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! 

Please comment down below! I love reading all of your comments ^^