Deer Luhan,

Do people assume it’s a date every time you go out just with Sehun?

Leigh

Happily wrapped up in our coats, with phones and wallets tucked into our pockets, Sehun and I decided it was best to make our escape from the dorm before anybody spotted us and pointed out that we were wearing matching socks.  As bad luck would have it, we opened the front door onto a returning Suho and Kris.

Kris clapped a hand over his mouth to smother his laughter and ducked away the instant he saw me, but I unfortunately didn’t have the same magical effects upon Suho.

“Where are you off to?” he demanded, eyeing my hand, which was clasped in Sehun’s gloved one.  Rather than letting go, Sehun just shoved both of our hands into his pocket, hoiking me closer to him.  Since neither Suho nor Kris knew I was a girl, I allowed myself to be happy about it and tried to fight off my blush.

“Out for a walk,” Sehun told the EXO leader nonchalantly.  “I think Luhan’s going mad.  He needs fresh air.”

“He needs to write Changmin an apology letter for KO-ing him,” Suho said, glaring at me.  “I don’t care if I’m younger than you, Luhan: you still kicked him in the face.”

I caught sight of Kris slumping down against the stairwell wall, practically crying with laughter.

“Hence why Luhan needs fresh air,” Sehun said.  “He doesn’t normally kick people in the face.  He’s tired of being cooped up and stressed about Baekhyun, and since he hasn’t really got out for a while, I thought I’d make sure he did.”

“That can come later,” Suho snapped.

A little annoyed that they were talking over me, I eyed Suho and decided to speak up.

“Suho, Changmin personally came to find me and asked me out for, and I quote, a date tomorrow morning.  For coffee.  I really don’t think he minds.”

“He’s been wandering around the company smashed off his face with a tampon up his nose,” Suho shot back at me.  “I don’t think he’s in a condition to know whether or not he minds!”

Kris reached out and grabbed Suho’s ankle, yanking him off his feet and into his arms as he continued to shake with hysterics.

“Suho, leave them be.  It’s hilarious.  If Changmin wants a coffee date with Luhan, let him have a coffee date with Luhan.”

“Yes, but what if he forgets and loses his sh*t?”

“I really don’t think Kyuhyun’s going to let him.”

Sehun looked from one leader to the other.  “Wait, Kyuhyun knows about this?”  His grin was practically ecstatic.  “Wonderful.  Luhan’s gonna die of embarrassment when it comes up on national TV.  It’s too good an opportunity for Kyuhyun to miss!”

I was about to start laughing myself when I realised that any rational person called Luhan would complain.

“Sehun!” I whined, tugging on his arm.  “That’s not fair!”

He smiled brightly at me, and it took a lot to keep my fake pout there instead of smiling back at him.

“Come on,” he said.  “Let’s go.”

The stairwell was surprisingly devoid of fans, though there were one or two camping outside who greeted us with a cheery wave and offered us cups of coffee.  We thanked them for their kindness and expressed sentiments to the effect of them going home early so that they wouldn’t catch colds, and then struck off into Seoul for a good night out.  I sighed when I caught a whisk of movement and material out of the corner of my eye.  What was it with people feeling the need to tail celebrities around?  I almost asked Sehun if we could take a taxi instead of the metro, but he was wearing his pokerface, which meant that he was aware we were being followed and pretending that it wasn’t happening.  He squeezed my hand gently, as if to reassure me that nobody knew I was a girl.

We began the tour of Sehun’s favourite places in Seoul by stopping off at the cinema.  I was a little surprised – he’d promised me steak, and popcorn couldn’t even be considered a poor substitute for that, even though I was practically addicted to the stuff.

Sehun confidently suggested watching a horror film which was currently all the rage, and I promptly vetoed it.

“I’ve embarrassed myself enough today,” I told him firmly.  “I do not want press articles about how I leapt into your arms screaming with terror.”

His tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he looked up at the screens to consider what else was worth watching, and I almost thought I heard him murmur “d*mmit”.

“What would you like to see, then?” he asked me.  “Choose anything except a chick-flick.  I can’t stand those.”

We settled for an action-comedy and spend a good hour and a half laughing at the fake blood and ridiculous stunts.  It had been a long time since I’d last been to the cinema, and for the first time since I’d come to Korea, I was able to forget about being Luhan and just relax and enjoy myself.  The cinema was dark; the film was suitably ridiculous; nobody recognised us; and we were able to have the obligatory popcorn fight in peace.  Sehun was grinning broadly when we emerged back into the bright lights of the main building.

“Time for food!” he exclaimed, reaching for my hand as if out of habit.  I let him take it, unable to prevent myself from catching his contagious grin as my heart skipped a beat.  He chose that moment to look down at me.

“You look happy.”

I had no idea what to say in response, so I just laughed nervously and scratched the back of my head.  And for once, I was highly gratefully to be interrupted by a fan and her boyfriend.

The atmosphere between us changed when we reached the restaurant for our meal.  Sehun genuinely had planned on taking me out to see Seoul the next day – the man who greeted us by the door did so with reference to Mr Oh changing the date at the last minute and how lucky it was that a couple had dropped out at short notice and that we were able to take their places.

I sat down in the chair Sehun had dragged out for me and stared, absolutely gobsmacked, at the night view over Seoul, the immaculately dressed tables, and the impeccably smart restaurant staff.

“Yo.”  Sehun reached across the table and flicked me on the forehead.  “Earth to Leigh.  You’ve been infected by Lay’s JPG mode.”

I jumped and switched my gaze back to him, but it was several seconds before I regained control over my jaw.

“When you said you’d take me out for steak,” I managed in a strangled voice, “I didn’t think you’d take me to the frikkin’ Namsan Tower.”

He didn’t reply to that.  Instead, his gaze dropped and I saw his tongue poking out of the corner of his mout