Christina's POV

Eli and I stared at each other, blinking, speechless. 

Did a reporter really just take a picture of us?

I slammed my hands on the table and rose to my feet, my eyes narrowed. Eli's hand shot out and gripped my arm as I brushed past him. 

"He's not worth it. Imagine the public's reaction when they see the headlines 'The nation's precious Christina beats up a reporter!'" Eli soothed me. I slowly sank back into my seat with the scowl still on my face. "How are we going to cover this up? Your debut is coming up soon- this isn't a good time for a scandal. The reporter can't get this picture into the news until tomorrow's paper, unless he uploads it to the internet first... but I doubt he'll do that. He wants it to be on the newspaper with his name on the byline." 

Eli tapped the table, his fingers drumming out a regular rhythm. 

"Ah," he broke out into a grin. "So, hello there, my 'Danger' co-star. It's nice meeting you again, after all this time." 

I stared at him. Where was he going with this?

"Why don't you come take a picture with me?" His eyes twinkled. 

"Eli," I sighed impatiently, "we have more pressing matters on hand. A reporter is about to publish our relationship, for heaven's sakes!" 

"Picture!" He urged. 

I complied with his request after rolling my eyes. "I still don't think this is a good time to be-"

"Shh, everything will be okay," Eli smirked. He quickly uploaded the picture to twitter. After a few moments, he raised his head and motioned for me to check my account. 

I scrolled through my "@Connect" page and saw his tweet. A smile formed on my face when I realized what he had just done. He had tagged my twitter account in his picture's caption, along with the words, "Having lunch with my 'Danger' co-star! Finally catching up! Christina's new drama, Hwaiting! Everyone, go support the new drama! Airs tonight at 8~!" I retweeted him to spread the word. Within thirty seconds of Eli's post, he had already gotten a couple hundred retweets. I couldn't help but be impressed.

"Sorry for being irrational earlier," I mumbled. We beat the reporter to posting the picture, and, in doing so, managed to convey to the public that we were meeting up as former co-stars in a friendly, platonic environment. The reporter's scandal story would fall to deaf ears. 

He patted my head. "No problem." My eyes met his and I realized he was waiting for me to say more. 

"Um... Thank you?"

"No problem!" He replied cheerfully, again. 

"You're really smart?"

"Thank you!" Same reaction. 

"I'm so proud of you?" 

I hit the bulls eye with my last comment/question. His face instantly perked up and he sweetly beamed at me.  

We finished up our drinks and left together, not worrying about the public since we had already given them a heads up on our “friendly” get-together. Crowds gathered as we strolled, the two of us keeping a respectable distance between ourselves as we walked as to not arouse suspicion.

We chatted about vague topics while in the ears of the public, and eventually our wandering led us to Eli’s company. We entered and let out a breath of relief when the doors shut behind us.

Eli’s boss happened to walk out of a hallway into the lobby right as we had stepped into the same room. He eyed us. “Are you two… perhaps… dating?”

Eli and I glanced at each other.

Crap.

“Um… Anneonghaseyo!” I bowed ninety degrees. “Nice to meet you! I’m Christina!”

His boss chuckled. “Yes, I am well aware of who you are. But as for my question…”  

Eli awkwardly cleared his throat a few times before finding the words to say. “Yes, sir. Christina and I… are dating.”

“I see, I see.” His boss was strangely calm.

I could feel my nervousness increasing as the silence ticked on.

“You two are aware of how the public could respond to this, negatively and positively, correct?” The boss asked.

We nodded.

“And you two are aware of the possible consequences, correct?”

We nodded again.

“I will not meddling in your affairs, rest assured. However, if this negatively affects UKISS as a whole, I shall be meeting up with the two of you again. And it will not be pretty,” the boss gave us a warning before disappearing into another hall.

I let out a shaky breath. “He seems… nice.”

“He is,” Eli laughed. “He’s just really iffy on idol relationships. What do you suppose we do now?”

“Show me your practice room, please!”

He complied with my request at once. I entered the room, knowing that it was a place where Eli and his group mates had spent countless hours practicing, sweating, perfecting, bonding. It wasn’t large. It would be a cozy fit for Super Junior whenever they’re at their maximum size. There was no cloudy SM trademark background, just walls of mirrors and a cream fourth wall.

Eli plugged his iPod into the sound system and placed it on shuffle. “Let’s dance, shall we?” He held out his hand, which I graciously accepted.

We came up with moves right on the spot, and we were completely in sync with each other. The way we matched each other was amazing. We were on the edge of y, but we weren’t provocative. It was y mixed with hiphop, and it felt comfortable.

And then the first song ended.

And Troublemaker came on.

Eli smirked and challenged me through his eyes.

Challenge accepted.

Though we had never practiced the choreography together, we both knew it from watching Hyuna’s steamy performances with Hyunseung. Some of the moves were seriously touchy-touchy, but we executed them perfectly, our minds completely focused on the dance.

We managed to get through the first few routines easily, but when we came to the chorus again, Eli didn’t let go of me as he held me from the back. I paused, distracted, and looked up at him.

His dark eyes were serious.

His hold on me was tight, so I watched him from the mirrors.

He slowly placed a kiss on top of my head, and I felt shivers run down my spine. Our eyes met in our reflections and we both froze.

“HYUNG! BOSS TOLD ME THAT YOU WERE IN HERE WITH- ARRRGH MY INNOCENT EYES!” Kevin crashed into the room, and Eli and I jumped apart, startled.

I laughed as Kevin dramatically lurched around the room with his hands clasped across his eyes.

“Yeah right,” I scoffed. “I’m sure you’ve seen much more than two people hugging.”

His hands flew away from his face, his eyes wide. “ELI TOLD YOU THAT I WATCH ?”

I stared at him, completely flabbergasted. “He hasn’t told me anything… I was just… kidding… but…”

Eli threw his hands over my eyes. “Kevin! Get out! Go take your into another room! Don’t corrupt my Christina like this!”

Kevin was astounded by how quickly Eli betrayed him. “Whatever,” he placed his hands on his hips. “it’s not like you don’t watch it!”

Eli quickly removed his hands and started after Kevin. They ran in hysterical circles around me as I blinked. I finally regained my senses and slapped my hand to my forehead.

“Enough! Both of you! Okay, you both watch ! ARGJSAKLFJDKLA.” I groaned.

Eli made a move to hug me, but I eyed him suspiciously.

He whirled on a snickering Kevin. “See what you’ve done? Now she thinks I’m a !”

“You are one,” Kevin shot back immediately. “I bet you haven’t told her about what you dream about at night! I hear you sleep talk sometimes!”

“NO!” Eli’s eyes were wide. “Lies! My dreams are PG!”

“Lies!” Kevin retorted.

Dongho walked into the room to watch the argument. “What are they fighting about?” He whispered to me.

“They’re accusing each other of watching and having dirty dreams,” I replied.

“They’re guilty to both,” Dongho shrugged. “Not only that, but Kevin sleeps with a blanket and Eli has to snuggle with a pillow.”

Eli and Kevin glared at their maknae. “YAH! Selling your hyungs out like that... come here you little brat!”

They lunged for him.