I was still slightly breathless when we rounded a corner to a block of chic, twenty-four-hour restaurants. Sojin entered one and picked a table not so private, taking hold of my other hand once we were settled. Slowly, she propped her elbows atop the furnished slab and hauled our hands nearer to her face until her forehead rested against my knuckles.

She was thinking hard. And I was feeling useless again.

But, seriously? Boyfriend? She didn't really mean that, did she?

"Sojin, you don't -"

"I'm sorry, Luhan. This must be weird for you." She pressed on her head harder.

"Yeah," I admitted, leaning in. "You know how I feel about you and you just called me your boyfriend and I am beyond shocked and I don't exactly know how to react and what to feel so I guess 'weird' would have to suffice, but it's good weird though."

She laughed a little. "That's very manly of you to admit, you know."

My stomach flipped. She saw me manly. And she admitted it, too. "Sojin, look at me."

"Just a sec," she huffed. "I'm feeling a little dizzy."

As if on cue, a smiling waitress approached our table to take our order. Sojin mumbled something seemingly routinary and I instantly knew she was a regular.

The waitress turned to me and without much thought, I asked her to just duplicate Sojin's order. She scribbled them down and smiled wider at an inattentive Sojin.

"Shall I place these under your records, Miss Sojin?"

Sojin shook her head and said, "Place them under his."

The waitress turned back to me. "May I take your name, Sir?" She took notice of my hesitation and explained. "We hold records of our customers so we could inform them first-hand if we conduct food bazaars or when we have anything new in the menu. We also offer various discounts and many other perks."

Interesting. "It's Lu Han."

She eyed me thoughtfully, like she was trying to match my name to my face. She said, "Thank you, Sir. And welcome to Moji's Bistro." Then she finally scurried away.

Sojin and I were alone again. She was still hiding her face, so I took a moment to scan the vicinity.

The restaurant was dimly lit and cozy, its scant illumination reflecting from a golden chandelier hung low at the center of the ornate ceiling. Dots of yellow light were strewn all over it. The walls were mostly glass and a lone counter stretched on one corner with two congenial ladies manning it. The circular tables, I realized, were intended to house only a few people - two to be exact. This was specifically furnished for lovers.

To further back my observation, I took note of a few other pairs chilling the night out. There were only around four other tables being occupied besides ours.

I thought the girl by the other end of the restaurant looked familiar. She caught my eyes and smiled before turning back to her companion.

Cho Shinji. Right. The second class President.

"Anyone familiar?" Sojin suddenly asked, making me jerk.

I focused on Shinji to double-check. "The second class President's here," I affirmed.

Sojin's head was still planted on our balled hands. "Shinji?"

"Yes." I looked over their table again. "With her boyfriend, I think."

"Not schoolmate?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Did she see us?"

"Yes, what is it, Sojin?" She was stalling our inevitable conversation. And she still refused to raise her head. "Sojin, look at me please."

She sighed, compliant at last. Her tired eyes were etched with worry. "Sorry, I'm really hungry."

"You're more than hungry," I said testily. "You're disturbed. And worried. And I'm guessing it's about me so can you just tell me please?"

"But I'm only guessing."

"I don't care."

"You won't like it."

"Try me."

She dropped her head again but I released our interconnected hands and cupped her chin to prevent her from veiling her face a second time. I didn't like it when I couldn't see her.

But she looked affronted by my action. "Don't do that," she admonished, leaning away.

"Do what?" Did she hate it when I touched her? It didn't coincide with the frequency of her own fascination of joining our hands.

She narrowed her eyes. "Let go of me like you're repelled of me."

Silence. For awhile, it was only the wild thumping of my pulse that filled my ears.

Repelled of her? Was she seriously serious?

"What..?" It was barely audible.

"You did that the very first time I held your hands," she recounted. "It's.." She sighed, lowering her gaze. "Not nice."

"I.." She's.. I didn't.. What? "Sojin, I.. it's not what you think.. I'm.. I mean, I'm not repelled of you. Why would I be?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "You tell me."

I just stared at her, my thoughts a tangled, incomprehensible mess.

"Anyway," she propped her arms back over the table. "Like I said, if I'm right, your locker might contain leakages at the moment."

At the mention of 'leakages,' my eyes did an automatic scan around the restaurant.

"Don't worry, nobody can hear us. And nobody's prying enough to care in places like these."

She was right though. Enamored people who simply wanted to be with their lovers on a nice night in a lovely restaurant were least likely to eavesdrop. But still..

"What d'you mean leakages?"

"I mean leakages like leakages."

"No, I was saying -"

"Jimin," she interrupted. "I overheard her some time two weeks ago and she was talking to someone - over the phone, I guess - about infiltrating systems and getting certain files without leaving a trace, and also about hacking coded devices."

I waited eagerly. Terrifyingly.

"My translation: she's onto another planted scandal against you."

"Why?"

"That, I don't know."

"No, but you have an idea," I challenged, and her expression gave her away. "Just tell me, Sojin."

"This isn't going to end up nice, Luhan and I'm convinced the less you know, the better."

I was about to negate her when the waitress came back with our order. She placed them neatly on the table and asked, "Anything else I could get you?"

"No, thank you," I said, desperate to get back to Sojin. The waitress nodded politely and disappeared.

Sojin appeared to contemplate on her food before finally giving in to her hunger. She dug in and it was only then that I noticed the humongous amount of food before her.

I looked down on my own, horrified. There was no way I could finish all these! It wasn't that I wasn't an avid food lover but, three main course viands, one platter of rice, a big bowl of fruits and a mountain of deserts were just not a normal diet for a girl as lean and petite as Sojin.

In the end, I only consumed a third of mine while Sojin devoured hers to the last crumb.

"It's bad to leave food, you know."

"Yeah," I said, still thinking about her prior words. "Still feel dizzy?"

"No, I'm better." She smiled a dimpled one and the more pressing matter nearly slipped out of my mind.

Dang, I need