The first thing she’s aware of is that she doesn’t know this man. Or, well, at least she thinks a man. He looks awfully young…

“Do I know you?” Cho warily asks. This could go either of two ways. Said man will either be offended because she maybe has met him somewhere or said man will say no and say something stupid afterwards.

“You do now. I thought it’d be nice to know the name of the cute girl in the elevator with me,” he smirks with a boyish smile and Cho can feel the blood rush back to her cheeks. Such a flirt. “Would you like to get some coffee with me later?”

“I was actually heading home...who--?”

“I’m Lee Taemin,” he introduces while holding his hand out for a handshake. Cho takes in his lean figure and places why the blond-white hair with a slightly awkward part in the middle seemed so familiar.

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard of you. I’m--”

“The new songwriter and lyricist, right? Jonghyun was talking about how there was going to be a newbie soon. I guess that’s you?”

“Yes,” Cho agrees and stuffs her badge back into her purse as Taemin’s fingers had long let go of the plastic. “And that’s noona to you.”

“You’re my noona?!” Taemin splutters but quickly composes his face back into the boyish grin. “Are we still up for coffee, noona?”

Cho checks her watch and sighs. She’s terrible at refusing offers and nods. “Let’s go, but get a proper disguise, please. I don’t need to be involved in a scandal my first day on the job. Mr. Sooman would have my head.”

“Oh, we’re not going out,” Taemin informs and jabs at the close button when the elevator reaches the first floor. Once the sliding door stops midway to slide back closed, Taemin presses the “8” button. “Sky Lounge can fulfill what I want,” he winks.

“You know, all the fan accounts say you’re this quiet child who has a different persona on stage but that’s not exactly the case, is it?” Cho observes and Taemin pauses.

“How do you know so much? You don’t seem like a fan to me.”

“I pay attention to Kenzie-sunbae’s works. She’s composing a song for your solo album, isn’t she? I saw her working on it today. Isn’t it good to know someone’s personality if you’re creating a song for them, to see what best fits them as a whole?”

“Yeah, she is. I’m pretty excited to see what she comes up with and I’ll start recording. What do you want?” Taemin asks as the two of them reach the cash register.

“Can I get a grande hot chocolate please?” Cho smiles and shoves Taemin to the side with her own money already out to pay for her drink. Taemin isn’t her boyfriend and she isn’t going to let him pay for her drink today.

“Noona--”

“No buts, Taemin.”

Taemin pouts and Cho waves him off nonchalantly as she stands to the side and waits for Taemin to order his drink. He goes for an Iced Americano with extra syrup and they patiently wait at the pick-up counter before grabbing their drinks and choosing a table near the window.

“Nice here, isn’t it? We get a view of the Han River and the city lights,” Taemin informs. She nods and follows his gaze out the window. Cho’s always been a er for landscapes and picturesque moments and her hand itches for her camera at home. Her beautiful Canon Rebel T3I just waiting to be put to use in this beautiful city…

“It’s nice, yes,” Cho verbally agrees. “Don’t you have any schedules?”

“I’ve been a bit on the down low. I’ve been working out a bit, but other than that I was going to head to the practice room early but then I met you,” Taemin boyishly grins again and she scoffs while rolling her eyes. Such a charmer. “Come on, think of this as your birthday gift to me, even though we just met.”

“Today’s your birthday?”

“No, it was a couple of weeks ago. So you’re not a fan.”

“Didn’t I already tell you I wasn’t?” Cho sips on her mug and glances at Taemin who looks mildly interested in her. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

Taemin chuckles and leans back in his seat. “Where’d you hear that from?”

Cho waves her hands in circles and also leans back before crossing her legs. “I heard something about you being on We Got Married, no? Aren’t you and Naeun still pretty chummy together?”

“We’ve kept in touch. If I had to be honest, I had feelings for her but it’s a biological thing, no? Law of the nature? The more time you spend with someone, the more likely you’ll be attracted to them.”

“Does it really come down to that?”

“Maybe, I don’t know. Can I have your number?”

“Hey, are you so brazen all the time?” Cho berates. “I wonder if you learned those from Jonghyun…”

“I learn from the best,” Taemin exclaims and Cho can’t help but be reminded of a puppy that’s too happy to follow his elders. “Tch, Jonghyun has you wrapped around his pinky finger…”

“More like I have him wrapped around mine,” Taemin jokes. “What do you want?”

“Your phone. You wanted my number, no? Unless--”

“No wait here,” Taemin fumbles for the phone in his pocket and slides it over the table after entering his passcode. Cho deftly catches it and types in her number and saves it under “Cho Noona” before sliding it back across the pristine surface.

“So do you like anyone?”

“A little too early to be discussing private lives, isn’t it?”

“I guess. Let’s get to know each other well, as just friends. But you are cute.”

Cho balls up her napkin and flings it at his head.

-

“I was just about to go to sleep, you big bun,” Cho groans and patiently waits for the Skype call to connect. She can already hear Minseok’s hustling and mussing of papers and the camera shows him leaning to the side. “Looking for something?”

“My notebook for English,” Minseok responds and Cho moans before flopping her head into her folded arms. “It’s 11PM, why are you Skyping me now?” Cho cries.

“The girl I told you about moved in yesterday, right?”

“Yeah, what about her?”

“She’s really cool. Like really cool.”

Cho freezes. The thing about Minseok is that he has a complacent disposition. Nothing is ever really cool to him. It took Cho a year and a half in order to get Minseok to completely trust her and treat her like a best friend. With special friends, Cho likes to place claims on them, and if she doesn’t like someone, she feels that uneasiness while her heart screams, “That’s my friend not yours get away--”

To know, to acknowledge, and to understand the fact that Minseok has called this girl, this new girl, really cool just 24 hours later, makes her wonder how special she is to garner such a reaction from Minseok. If anything, she’s jealous right now, and it feels so awful because she’s never really been this jealous before. She hasn’t been this jealous since the seventh grade.

“Minseok,” Cho chokes on her unshed tears. Oh god, she needs to get away now now now--

“Hm?”

“I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait why--”

Cho slams her laptop closed and changes out of her pajamas into something more appropriate for the outside. She has to get out before she spontaneously combusts. Luckily, a taxi appears just two minutes after she’s out of the apartment building and breathily asks for the Han River. After paying the driver, she heads for the shore. Her casual white dress flows behind her and as she gets closer to the river line, the wind strengthens and she’s left to remember when her mother took her here one time, except only in broad daylight and happiness and not dark skies and green envy.

She settles onto a flat rock and buries her head in her knees before letting out all her tears.

-

“Are you all right?” A gentle voice asks her. Cho sniffs and cautiously looks up to see her visitor.

“Hey, is everything--”

“Kim Jongdae?”