“Noona” the tone was low but the taste was so sweet.

She snapped her beautiful head towards him and gave a sheepish smile “Hi there. Sorry I’m late to the party.” She nervously played with her long honey chestnut hair. “I wanted to go in but seeing so many people in there…” her words trail off as she fiddled with her hair.

He moved closer just like he always imagined, standing a small distance away. ‘This is it!’

“Yeah, the guys been coming in non-stop”

She nodded quietly. He saw the rare line of discomfort on her pretty face.

“Your delicious food draw them here” he tried to joke but sensing the cold reaction from her, he asked with an attentive tone “Did the meeting gone bad?”

She shook her head almost violently before slowly nodding “Nothing big but some issues have not been resolved yet. I may not be able to attend to others in this condition” She was about to continue when a faint growling sound interrupted. She looked up and burst into small giggles “Sorry. I have not had my dinner. I guess I better grab something from the vending machine. I doubt there’s any more food with the current number of guests inside.”

“I have saved some samgyupsal for you” he replied urgently, surprised himself with the sudden boldness. Now is not the time to be a chicken heart.

“You did? How sweet of you” the twinkles in her eyes said it all, she was genuinely happy.

“Well, actually…” he rubbed his nap nervously “It was for my late night snacking. But now it have a greater purpose” it was amazing how he could make clear conversation when his heart was chaotic inside.

A bubble of laughter erupted “You’re cute.”

And that was the cue “Let me take it and I’ll show you a good spot for you to clear your head.”

“Here? In this building?” she asked, amused “I’ll wait then”

Without any more seconds to spare, he rushed in dodging the others curious stare. He took the small pack he stashed in his locker and made his way to the door, ignoring the faint voices calling for him.

Everything went so fast. A minute ago they were talking in the corridor, now they stood in silent on the rooftop staring at the beautiful illumination the busy streets offered.

“Are you sure we are allowed to access this area?” she asked, looking around the dimmed vacant area.

“This is the smoking area for the staff” he raised his hand to point to the build in ashtray near the rusty railing.

“Do you smoke then?” she asked in a serious tone, eyes squinted suspiciously, hands wrapped around her upper body.

“No” he quickly replied, shaking his head rapidly, worried if she got the wrong idea of him. He has always been clean from any addictive habits, except for video games.

“Good. Never ever try it or you’ll ruin your vocal cord” she added in much softer tone. She looked and sounded exactly how he imagined she is; the protective and caring leader of F(x). He smiled and leaded the way. They stopped in front of the stainless steel ladder attached to the 1 meter high blue shaded water tank.

 
“Are we supposed to climb up this thing?” hesitations laced her voice, but he swore he saw the light of excitement flickered in her bunny eyes.

“It has the most beautiful view” he raised his brows, trying to imply that it’s not a big deal. But after seeing her motionless reaction, he reached for the cold steel ladder, making his way up “It’s safe. Kyung-soo and I frequent this place all the time.”

As soon as he reached the top, he placed down the pack of food and turned around towards her, offering an encouraging smile. He then saw Victoria pulled out a scrunchie and tied her hair in a loose ponytail. She then pulled off her strappy high heels and holds it on her left hand, tucking her mustard color handbag under her arm and started climbing.

Climbing the stairs was a breeze for her as it’s not really a secret that she’s one of the best in balancing and she’s so flexible. She gently placed her shoes down and looked around, mesmerized by the night view “It’s indeed breathtaking. How did you find this place?”

“One of the cordi-noona told us” he replied proudly.

Bare-foot Victoria was walking around checking the place, but when her stomach angered with another loud growl, she quickly took her seat next to him but refused to take his jacket he offered for her to sit on “I’m wearing jeans. It supposed to get dirty.”

Settling on the edge, he took out the plastic container and handed it over to her, bowing slightly as he added “Thank you for making such delicious food for us.”

“Congratulations for your winning” she smiled brightly and took the container from him. She opened the lid and placed the pack between them, tore the chopsticks apart and took her first bite, expressing her delights with a her body movements he had seen during WGM series and the recent Glitters episode he managed to check upon. He never really imagined he could see her reacted the same, right in front of him in real life.

“Hey why are you not eating?” she asked in between bites, tilting her ponytailed head cutely.

“I've eaten a lot” he shook his head, insisting her to continue enjoying the food.

She stopped eating and put the chopsticks on his side “Let’s share. You intended this for your midnight snack. I’m not going to continue eating is you refuse to share.”

He hesitated at first but seeing her insisting, he finally took a bite. They alternately shared the chopsticks and his inner fanboy was celebrating inside, reminding him that they were sharing numerous indirect kisses.

“Samgyupsal is my favorite food” she happily quipped.

“I know” he gulped nervously realizing he blurted it out.

“You do?” she looked up from the food and returned the chopsticks to him.

He quickly took it and filled his mouth with more meats, hoping Victoria will not ponder further. But after seeing her staring at him for an answer, he gave in “I watched few of your WGM episodes.” The truth was, he did not miss a single episode. Boycotted the show at first, refusing to acknowledge the presence of a pair called Khuntoria. But after his evil roommate shoving the streaming episodes every Saturday, he caved in.

She laughed at the revelation “My Korean was awful back then.”

“It was not” sure she sounds different from the native tongue, but she sounded perfectly cute to him.

“Thanks” she answered, taking the last bite. She then closed the lid and put it aside, grabbing her handbag and started to dig for something. He looked at her in pure amusement, just the way he always amaze how his sisters able to carry all sort of things in their handbags.

Victoria pulled out a wet wipes from her bag. Pulled a piece and handed it to him. He took it and cleaned himself, leaving his hands with sweet green tea scent. He looked up and smiled to her “Thanks noona.”

She returned the smile and stretched her arms “This is indeed such a good place to relax. I feel much better now” she turned towards him and flashed her pearly whites “Especially since I’m full.”

He wanted to reply with something witty but he just lost all his vocabs, watching Victoria lump her handbag in pretense of a pillow as she laid down on the floor resting her head on it, not worrying at all about her white tee. She was so carefree, he felt at eased just being next to her “I love looking at the stars” she pointed at the starry nights, happily moved her hands in the air.

This time he managed to bite his tongue from revealing another ‘I know thanks to your WGM moment’. He moved towards her, settling next to her as he pulled his legs closer, forming a human ball. He was close enough to smell her sweet strawberry scented perfume.

“We never really talk before didn’t we?” it sounded more like a statement than a question. “Changing pleasantries do not count” she tilted her head towards his direction and added quietly “I wonder why? It seems so easy talking to you now.”

‘Coz I am a coward’ the words screamed so loud in his head, it gave him migraine. There were numerous of times during his pre-debut, when he would looked from afar as Victoria interacts with the other members, smiling and teasing whenever they met in the practice studio or in the SM Dorm.

Then when they finally debuted, he managed to muster enough courage to close the gap. But still it was not enough for him to just walkover and strike a conversation. He remained faceless behind the others, inching closer within her vicinity. But yesterday something happened. Taemin finally confessed to Naeun and she accepted it. Taemin was so happy; he was practically beaming in pure happiness.

That gave him the courage. He told Kyung-soo, if they won at Music Bank, he will confess to her his deepest secret.

But that was yesterday. Now, sitting next to her, his long practiced speech vanished into thin air.

She suddenly moved, pushing herself up into a sitting position, wrapping her long leg under her. She started to flex herself, a habit he noticed of her.

He inhaled deeply, trying to conjure enough strength to say what he needs to say “Noona, are you seeing anyone?”

The question took her by surprise as shown on her face “You mean whether I’m dating a guy?”

He nodded, anticipated.

“Why may I ask?” her eyes were round and shiny, blinding.

“Is it hard to date an idol?” he tried his best to keep his heart from jumping out from his throat.

“Extremely hard” she let out a deep regretful sigh.

“So you are seeing someone?” the words were bitter and painful.

“Not anymore” she pursed her lips into a thin line.

He let out a silent relief sigh but continued with the topic “It was Changmin-hyung wasn’t it?”

Victoria laughter filled in, but he knew it was not from her heart “I didn’t know you’re into SM Gossips.”

Feeling embarrassed by it, he diverted his attention to his dull shoes. Pouting.

But to his surprise Victoria continued “We were good friends. And we thought we would make a better couple. It was great at first but trying to hide the relationship finally took a toll on both of us. We gave up half way, deciding to return to our prior status of being just friend. Unfortunately, due to my silly mistake, even t hatseems impossible now.”

“You mean the spoon incident” the words flowed without restriction once again.

A much genuine laughter erupted from her “Yeah. The famous spoon incident... The sad thing is, he was a good lover, but even a greater friend. Now I lost both of it. And that .”

The words were left as it is. Both of them stayed in complete silence.

Moments later, he finally broke the silence “I have a crush on someone. It has been quite some time now.”

“Is she an idol? Or is it a he?” she asked attentively.

“Noona” he grumbled followed by Victoria’s massive giggles.

“I don’t judge” she added, playfully slapping his arms.

He’s about to fly off to cloud nine.

“She’s an idol” he finally blurted it out.

“Ahhh who?” she turned her full body facing him, bobbling her head playfully “Someone I know?”

“She a SM artist”

Her eyes squinted tightly as if trying to read his mind. Her lips moved slowly as she said “Krystal.”

“Why do you think it’s her?” he had to ask. Her answer piqued his curiosity.

“Coz you two looked cute together during the teasers photoshoot” she smiled.

“Sadly no” he replied, breathed deeply as he announced “The girl that I like is slightly older than me.”

“Oh really” Victoria touched her chin, posing in a thinking pose “It’s Yoona isn’t it?”

“I can’t tell you. At least not until I confess to her” he stretched his legs. Then he turned his attention towards Victoria “The problem is, I don’t think she sees me as a man, a potential boyfriend.”

“Hmm. That’s a bit tricky” she gave a small nod.

“How about you noona? Would you date a younger guy?” he asked carefully.

“Changmin was younger than me” she pointed out with a quirky smile.

“But that’s like a year difference. The between me and that noona is more than a year” he stated almost in a sulk.

“You just have to prove it that you are a man, not a boy. If it’s you, I think you’ll do great. You have that charms” she winked at him “Get to know her. Be her friend. I’m sure one day she will see you in the same light you’ve been torching for her.”

Her words touched him deeply “Thanks.”

“No. Thank you” she reached out her hands to him “I was such in horrible mood earlier. You’ve make it better.”

He quickly took it and squeezed her soft hands, feeling the warm he wished were his “Noona, I’m…”

His words were left unspoken when a clattering sound disturbed their moment. They turned their attention towards the ladder and saw a hand grabbing the last step and followed by a surprised face of Kyung-soo.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just looking for him” he said apologetically, And he meant every single words of it, as he stared at him.