Chapter 2 - "Pabo"
February 14th, 2014 - Friday

The school’s bell rung for lunch at 12:15PM, and all of the 1st and 2nd graders headed to the cafeteria.
As I placed my books inside of my locker, Minji ran up to me with a big smile and hooked her arm around mine. “Ready for our last lunch as 1st graders?” she grinned.
I shut my locker and mumbled a “hmmn” at her, and she gladly dragged me down the hall. When we walked into the cafeteria, there was some sort of commotion going on around one of the tables. Girls were jumping up and down, shrieking with excitement.
I glared at them with an unpleasant expression and turned to Minji, “What’s wrong with them?” I asked as we made our way to the lunch line. Minji turned her head towards the direction I was staring at and she gasped. “Youngie-ah, you don’t know?” I shook my head and stared at her for an answer.
“Aigoo...” She shook her head in shame, “You need to keep up!”
“Keep up with what?”
“SME’s EXO are preparing for their comeback! But everyone’s talking about how they will be returning to school for the beginning of the new year after break.” She explained to me as she took a tray from the stack.
I stopped and tried thinking of which group she was talking about and then it finally popped into my mind, “Ahhh, EXO? But I thought they debuted two years ago.. some of them still attend school?”
She nodded her head quickly and smiled big, “Yeah, but since some of the members are younger, and they have to graduate. Rumor that’s going around is that they’re going back school for the year while doing promotions.”
I nodded, “But what are they freaking out about? It’s not like they’re coming to our school. Aish.. fangirls these days...” I shook my head.
We took a seat at our usual table and began to eat. She pointed her finger at me, “Ya, we fangirls are very dedicated okay?” I raised my eyebrow and just stared at her. “Anyways, since SOPA is only a few streets away from here, they’re excited that they might be able to see EXO before or after school.” She shrugged her shoulders, “You never know! Maybe even have one of the members notice us.” She started giggling to herself.
I stuffed some rice in my mouth and rolled my eyes, “Yeah right.”

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As the day went by, classes ran as normally as every other day. But on this last day of the school year, everyone went nuts. Students were running out of school screaming and jumping with joy, while I just walked at my normal pace. People from my left and right were bumping through the halls just to finally get out so they could begin their vacation. I messaged Minji, Eun Bi Unnie, and Yoo Ri to inform them that I would be leaving first to get to work- and then there I was. Alone as I celebrated the beginning of my ‘vacation’- also known as endless hours of work.

I walked down the street, blocking out the world with my headphones in both ears and my hands in the pockets of my jacket. The chilly streets of Seoul were now becoming warmer due to Spring approaching around the corner, and I wasn’t very excited. I had always loved fall and winter because that’s the type of weather where you just snuggle up in fluffy sweaters and blankets and drink hot chocolate all day!
I mean, who doesn’t like that?
But this was the weather where everything was coming back to life, and where everything becomes brighter. Or so everyone says.

After catching the bus to work, I walked straight into the building with my school uniform on. The ladies at the front desk looked up at me and smiled, and I bowed my head back with a small grin. When I first started working at SME, I remember when the ladies at the front desk called security to me out because they thought I was some sort of fangirl. Needless to say, that I wasn’t going down without a fight. And I’m guessing that’s why the ladies at the front desk remember me very well due to what happened.
Heading to the elevators, I pressed the down button to proceed to the basement floor. The basement floor where all of the employees’ lockers were located, and offices the janitors.
Changing into my uniform ( http://www.polyvore.com/cleaning_life/set?id=107865359 ), I placed my belongings into the locker and made my way to the supply closet. First thing on the list for today’s duties was to mop the floors of unoccupied practice rooms.

As I was filling up the mop bucket/wringer, I tied a cream-colored bandana around my head to keep my side bangs from falling into my face every 10 minutes. Then I began to hum to a song as I tied my hair up into a ponytail with a small black rubber band that was around my wrist the whole day.
*snap*
I froze and felt my long hair fall past my shoulders again. I closed my eyes and sighed. “Aish...”
“Na Young?” My boss began to approach me with a small clipboard.
I looked up from the bucket and stood straight up, “Ah, 예 (Ne ; yes)?”
“I was hoping that you weren’t busy tonight so you could work over hours. The company is celebrating one of the group’s successful promotions tonight, and I need a few people to stay longer to clean up afterwards. But since it’s a Friday, everyone was looking forward to going home to their families. Will it be okay with you?” He asked as he handed me the clipboard that held the lists of my duties for the day.
I hesitated to answer because I thought of the ramyun shop. Since it was a Friday night, it would be busy and I didn’t know if father was going to be able to handle it with only Minji working there tonight.
Before I had an answer, he interrupted my thoughts, “Of course there will be more money included in your next paycheck.”
I let out a small sigh before nodding and smiling, “Don’t worry, I’ll do it.”
The old boss smiled so big that his eye disappeared, “Wa, 정말 감사합니다! ( jeongmal kamsahabnida ; Thank you so much!) Don’t work yourself too hard today, arraso?”
When he walked away, I shut the water off and grabbed my phone out of my pocket to make a call to Eun Bi Unnie. I wanted to ask her if she could go to the shop tonight to help out if it was busy since I was working overtime, and she gladly agreed. Then, with a tired body and exhausted mind, I headed my way back up the elevators.

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With my headphones plugged in as I worked, I wasn’t bothered at all. It helped me concentrate on what I was doing, and it made the job feel easier than it is. “Finally.” I sighed to myself as I looked at the shining floors of the  practice room. After putting up the wet floor sign in the middle of the room, I carefully walked backwards towards the door as I rolled the bucket and mop in front of me. Taking smalls steps according to the beat of the song, I bobbed my head as well.
Once I had finally made it out of the door, my backside was suddenly hit by a strong force. This had surprised me, which caused the bucket to hit the door frame as water slipped onto the floor. *squeak*
Next thing you know, I landed straight on my bottom along with a stranger with a nice pair of sneakers.

“Oh! 죄송합니다! ( joesonghabnida! ; I’m sorry!)” The deep voice immediately said as he quickly got up onto his feet and bowed 90 degrees. “정말 죄송합니다! ( jeongmal joesonghabnida! ; I’m so sorry!)”
I quietly winced at the pain from my bottom as I tried to get up, but even after trying I just winced louder. The guy bent down on his knees and tried looking at my face to see if I was okay.
“당신은 괜찮아? ( dangsin-eun gwaenchanha? ; Are you okay?)” His deep voice rang with worry in my ear again.
I finally looked up to see who was talking to me, and we instantly made eye contact. His eyes had widened as if he had seen some rare species, and I was the first one to look away due to embarrassment.
Great. Just great.
I had this partially cute guy crouching in front of me asking me if I was okay, and here I am in my janitor uniform on the floor with an aching . And on top of that, he’s staring at me like I’m some newborn panda-lizard-alien.
Still not saying anything, he stuck his hand out to help me up and I ignored it and attempted to stand up by myself.
*squeak*
My shoes must really hate me because I had almost fell flat onto the floor again until two arms grabbed me by waist. We looked at ear other again, and this time I was looking at him like he was some panda-alien.
“Uhh- ” I cut him off before he could say anything else by standing up straight this time. With my face turning pink, I avoided eye contact as best as I could and we just stood there in silence.
I turned my body towards him as I kept my eyes glued to the ground, and I bowed my head.
“감사합니다 (gamsahabnida ; Thank you)..” I mumbled before walking over to the janitor cart that was in the hallway. Grabbing ahold of paper towels, I bent down and began wiping the wet area where the water was spilled.
“여기에. (Yeogie ; Here) Let me help you with that.” He bent down at my side and started wiping the ground. I kept silent the whole time as I felt my face warming up.
“Chanyeol- hyung!” a voice yelled from down the hall.
Great. More people to witness the accident.
The loud footsteps stopped approaching and I felt eyes burning into the back of my head. The guy next to me turned around to look at him and he started talking again. “What are you doing? We’re going to be late for the celebration!”
“Hold on, I’ll be there in just a second. There was just an accident that I have to help with..” he said as he continued wiping the floor.
I then finally opened my mouth because I had felt bad for holding him back since he had somewhere to be. “You can go if you have something to attend. I can just clean this up myself..” I quietly mumbled to him, still not making eye contact.
“아니. (Aniyo ; No) That wouldn’t be polite of me to leave a girl to clean up something I caused.” He instantly replied back. “저기요? ( jeogiyo ; Excuse me) Uhh, what were you doing in our practice room anyways?” The other male asked me as he bent over to try and get a look at my face.
“I work here.” I simply answered and stood up along with the ‘Chanyeol’ guy. “Ahh.. I see.” He nodded his head.  
When we threw away the paper towels in the janitor cart, I was attacked with more questions that I was not in the mood to answer. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out for the next generation because I was so embarrassed.  “How come I’ve never seen you around here before?” The ‘Chanyeol’ guy asked me. “I work here everyday after school.” I answered simply once again, and I tried to walk away this time but he stopped me with another question as I was halfway down the hall.
“ 저기요?! ( jeogiyo ; Excuse me)” He called out and I turned around with a straight face. He hesitated to continue after seeing my unamused face, but a big smile overcame him and he yelled down the hall again. “I’m once again sorry, Na Young-sshi!”
I blinked at him for a few seconds, and just turned around to make my way to the next practice room.

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*Author’s POV*
Chanyeol waved at her with a big smile on his face, even though her back was facing him. He watched her as she walked into SHINee’s practice room that was two doors down as she pushed the heavy janitor’s cart. At first he wondered why she worked at the building, but then he gathered the clues after he saw her leave with the cart.
*But she’s too pretty to have that kind of job* He thought. So he didn’t make assumptions just yet.
Tao shook his arm to wake up up from day dreaming and he turned his head to look at his dongsaeng. “Hyung, how did you know her name? Do you know her?” He asked. Chanyeol shook his head, “아니~ (Ani ; No). She has a nametag, 바보 ( pabo ; stupid ).”
“Aishh.. It was just a question.” Tao gave him a dirty look, “Hurry up! We’re gonna be late!” He reminded him.
“Oh! Just a second. Let me get my phone in the practice room real quick.” Chanyeol nodded at him.
And just as he stepped into the empty practice room, the squeaking sound of a shoe was heard along with Chanyeol’s body hitting the ground  and Tao’s uncontrollable laughter.
“Who’s the pabo now?” He asked in between his loud laughs.

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Yayyy! Sorry it took a while to update this chapter, but here it issss~ 
What do you guys think of Na Young's first encounter with an EXO member, eh? 
I know I would have been embarassed. In fact, I would have probably just leave the country. 
Anywho, please look forward to more chapters of  "Changing Destiny" soon!! ^.^ xo