PART ONE~ ENCOUNTER

‘Sehun!! Hurry up already!!’

‘Yeah yeah..’

‘Dude!!  We were late yesterday too, Testa nim’s gonna have our heads!!’

‘These things can’t be rushed..the flavours have to meld and mix – ‘

Jongin groaned and buried his face in his hands. Dammit, this was his fault for agreeing to go with Sehun to get bubble tea… this is what God made Tao for, to jump to Sehun’s every whim..

‘Ya, where’s Tao?’

‘…….I don’t know who that is.’ Sehun flicked his hair and turned to stare in the opposite direction, sniffing pointedly at the walls lined sky-high with autographed photos in plain wooden frames.

‘Riiiight. So you guys have a fight, and I get roped into this ’

‘Oy!! Bubble tea isn’t…that…what you said, it’s the bestest – ‘

‘Yeah, yeah, hurry up and go get your order’

Huffing, Sehun flounced off to the counter to ask for his drink, grumbling under his breath about how Junmyeon hyung had told Jongin to be nice to him, and wait till they get home, he was soo gonna tell..

‘Excuse me.’

‘Hmm? Oh..Ohh sorry!’ Jongin quickly moved out of the way, as a waitress squeezed past him, empty tray gripped tightly in both hands

‘Huh…’ Unconsciously, his eyes followed her..as she made her way to the counter of the tiny shop, neatly plaited hair in some sort of intricate, girly..thingy..waving from side to side as she stepped into the staff section, and leaned over to whisper something to the fat guy with the red coat and Spongebob hat….

‘Dude! I gottit, let’s go!’

‘Hmm..’

‘Jongin-ah! Let’s go, let’s go, we’re gonna be late! What’re you spacing for!?’

‘Huuhh!! I was the one who…’ Jongin groaned, giving up. ‘Never mind, let’s go’

Turning, he chivvied Sehun out of the store… But as he stepped out onto the wooded stair, and the glass door swung shut behind him, he found his eyes going back to that slender figure clad in the neat waistcoated uniform….somehow..on her..it looked far from run-of-the-mill…

‘Jongin!! Ooouchh!!’

‘Huh!? Whoa, sorry!’ Jongin quickly stepped away, gripping Sehun’s arm and tugged him upright, and, pulling his snapback low, they waded through the crowd of fangirls who had gathered there already, all screaming and calling out, cries of ‘KAI’ and ‘SEHUN’ rucousing through the air, trying their best to evade the parcels and packages that were being at them from every direction, and twisting and hunching as best they could to avoid the cameras and phones being shoved in their faces

 

PART TWO~OBSERVATION

‘Ah!’

‘Hmm?’ Tao looked up from the San Pellegrino soda he was slurping from the glass Sehun was holding. ‘Jongin-ah, you say something?’

‘Huh? Ah, no, no, nothing..more importantly, could you two cut out your weird…whatever this is? Weren’t you having a fight or something??’

Naa~~ That was 3 days ago!! See, Candy – ‘

Sehun slammed a hand over Tao’s mouth, while simultaneously stepping on his foot violently.

‘Shuttup, Zitao!!’

Tao wrenched away, grinning impishly, and sketched an insinuating wink at Jongin. ‘Well, I’ll tell you all about it later~~’

Jongin grinned back at him, returning the ‘co-conspirator’ wink…then lazily propped his head on his hands as he turned his gaze back to the shop floor, while, across the table, Sehun started hitting Tao with the napkin, exclaiming loudly

These two…. Oh well, whatever.

More to the point – Ah! He’d been right! That was her!

Not that he was interested or anything..of course, it wasn’t like she was…ya know, but..

‘Ne, Sehun-ah’

‘Hmm?’ Sehun looked up, from where he’d been trying to decide between the soup spoon or the candlestick as his next weapon of choice

‘….. Stop it, or the next tabloid headline is gonna be ‘EXO’S Maknae Sehun – Murderer?!’ or something like that’ Jongin said, eying his wavering hand with one arched eyebrow

‘Eehh~~Kim Kai’s too serious~~ It’ll probably end up being ‘EXO’S MAIN DANCER Kim Jongin – Constipated?!’’

‘Shuttup!’ Reaching under the table, Jongin kicked Sehun, hard – then for good measure, added one to the idiot Chinese dude who was chortling and spluttering into his drink

Turning, he jerked his head towards the girl in the button down shirt and trim skirt, who was delicately placing a scalloped dish of Tagliatelle Bolognese in front of the teenage guy at the corner table

‘Sehun, isn’t that the same girl who works at your Bubble tea place?’

‘Hmm? Where, where, lemme see!’ Scooting forwards in his seat, Sehun craned his head, frowning for a minute

‘………… ummm…maybe?’

‘Huh!? Whaddya mean, ‘maybe’, it is her, right?’

Sehun shrugged and turned back to his lemon soda ‘I dunno, man..’

‘Dude! You go there, like, everyday, plus, you can’t just forget her!’

‘Ohh, let me see!’ Tao leaned over, twisting around Sehun to catch a glimpse of the chick in question

‘Umm! Yeah, I’ve seen that girl before!’

‘At the bubble place right?’ Jongin rounded on him, excitedly

‘…….’ Tao sat back down in his chair, leaning against the cushioned back.’I…guess…’

Jongin sighed. ‘you two are totally hopeless!’

‘Why, you like her, or something?’

‘Eeeehh!! KAI has a crush!??!’

‘Someone call Dispatch!!’

‘Omg, yeah, this will totally beat the whole ‘walk in the park’-‘

Both of them were clutching their stomachs, laughing at their stupid jokes, and helplessly hitting each other’s shoulders

‘Shuttup! I was just curious, that’s all!’

‘Yeah. Sure.’

‘Curious, He says.’

‘Yeah, like..we know exactly what you’re curious about~~’

‘…For crying out loud, can you two stop acting like friggin… idiotic teenage boys for one minute!!’

‘Dude…. We are like, teenage boys?’

‘’Cept for the idiotic part’

‘Yeah! The real idiot’s the Exo member, actually sitting and pining for a chick without even saying one word to her!!’

‘…..ohh for God’s sake!! I’m not pining for her, I don’t have a crush on her, or anything, k!! I was just curious coz she looks….different?’

‘Hmm?’ Tao finally sobered up, and looked over at the girl carefully.

She was of petite build, her slender frame and delicate features offset by a thick coil of ash brown hair, dark, but glinting tawny in filaments where the sunlight hit, as she reached over to take the menu card from the old lady next to the window

Her skin flowed milky..alabaster..translucent yet lightly golden..more.. ‘like cream’ Sehun whispered from across the table at him, and Tao nodded – ‘Cream’ was right, fair and white, but somehow, making you think of butter and honey and warm sunlight glinting through fields of wheat….

Her eyebrows arched pretty over eyes that Jongin was unable to tear his eyes from – round and full, so very deep…  glistening brightly even at this distance, all the way across the room.. somehow gentle, yet with a gleam of something…fun right in the corners…

‘Definitely a cat type huh’ Sehun remarked, reaching over to steal Tao’s Cedrata Tassoni.

‘Yeah…..she’s hot! Right as always, Jongin-ah!’

‘Huuhh!?? I didn’t say anything of the sort! All I said was that she looks ‘different’…..’

‘Well, that aside, are we really going to do the white masks?’

Shaking himself, Jongin turned back to the table, and the discussion they were supposed to be having – the props for their Comeback album

‘I thought the gold would be better for the ‘Rose at Midnight’ one, and then, we can use the white half-masks for Precious, Shatter and  Dangerous to Know..and of course, the jewelled, jazzed up one for Queen of Spades…’

‘Mas-que- raiiit ’

‘..Yes, Tao, for the 4503948^th time, the theme is ‘masquerade ball’ – ‘

‘Excuse me.’

A quiet voice cut into their conversation. Lightly accented..but soft, and…

‘Ye—yeah?’ Jongin choked, looking up blankly at the girl – The girl, who was standing right beside him, holding an ornately filigreed metal jug in one hand, so chilled that condensation was already standing over it, a single trickle blossoming to trace down the exquisite carved petals, which she wiped away gently with the pristine tea towel clasped in her other hand.

‘Could I..offer you a refill?’

Her voice was just as golden as she was

Jerking upright, shaking his head at the totally weird..poetical ? thought that had popped into his head out of nowhere (what am I, Yixing hyung??!!) he quickly pushed his empty aperitivo glass forward.

‘Th-aankss’ He managed to get the words out, glaring over her bent head as she made to pour, at the two idiots who were nudging each other and making faces at him, while theatrically coughing into their hands

I’m gonna KILL them!!

Blushing slightly, he jerked his head in acknowledgement as the girl bowed politely, and straightened up –

And smiled right at him, the corners of her beautiful eyes crinkling cutely

‘Violet. They’re so dark, they’re violet.’ Randomly the thought filled his mind – like he’d somehow made some ginormous discovery of earth shattering magnitude – her eyes were deep black midnight.. the depths richly endless.. but somehow, magically, they glinted and glowed too, when the sunlight hit them, as she turned to go.. ‘Beautiful..’

Wow..

For a moment, it was like he couldn’t breathe.. for one indescribable moment –

 

Before a loud voice cut into his trance

‘Yo! Kids, how’s it going~~’

‘We’re not kids!’

‘’we’re..not..kids..’ Laughing as he imitated Tao’s protest, Baek-hyung slid into the empty chair beside him, waving an arm in the air for a menu, as a whole host of waiters appeared seemingly out of thin air, pulling out chairs and proffering menu cards, rapidly filling tea cups and serving bread baskets, as one by one, and in two’s and three’s, the rest of the members arrived – Junmyeon hyung and Kyungsoo, Yixing hyung humming dreamily under his breath, and Chanyeol hyung clapping his hands energetically as he grabbed a menu and started leafing through it… Minseok hyung pulling out a chair beside Tao’s and refusing the bread stick one of the waiters was trying to place in his saucer.. Jongdae hyung stealing his snapback as he squirmed into the chair next to his

She hadn’t come over – He wasn’t looking for her, or anything, he totally wasn’t – but Jongin knew she was back at that table beside the kitchen door, serving the old lady a bowl of something…

‘Joo~nggin! Oyy! Anyone home?!’ Chanyeol hyung leaned right over Jongdae hyung to pluck at his hair, calling his name in increasingly loud ‘whispers’

‘Hyung, hyung, don’t bother him, he’s- ‘

‘Sehun!’ Jongin gasped out, turning pleading eyes at him

Please, no, stop, not in front of the hyungs, I’ll never live it down

‘Eehh~~whad’llya gimme?’ Sehun, understanding his unspoken plea perfectly, pouted, pretending to pick at his nails

‘…Ummm.. my copy of the Jump 40^th  Anniversary Collector’s Edition?’

‘Really?!! Wow! Ok, sold!!’

‘Oyy!! Oy, kidlings, what the hell is going on??’

‘Yeah! Keeping secrets from your elders??!’

‘Jongin-ah, what’s all this~~’

‘Nothing.’

‘Eeh~~ Tao-ya, what’s going on?’

‘Tao won’t tell!’ Jongin grinned at Jongdae hyung

‘Huh!? Why not, you bribed Sehun ‘

‘Hyung…. Sehun or Tao..what’s the difference..one is just like the other’ Jongin breathed a sigh of relief as Tao turned beaming eyes at him, pleased beyond words at being ‘coupled’ with his Sehun – his gambit had paid off

‘So! I was thinking we’ll do the gold masks for Rose at Midnight, it’ll look better..’ Taking the first opportunity, he brought the conversation back to the topic of their Comeback, and immediately the hyungs were diverted – after all, today was the very last day they had been given to decide, Ahreum Noona had said Boss was pissed with them taking so long to finalise their concept – and, esp. nowadays, pissing off Boss was not a good idea

 For the next half hour, the conversation flowed  - everyone arguing and debating, discussing the points in favour of this and that, interspersed with frequent ‘shussshhh’es and admonitions to ‘watch it!’ as they kept the conversation out of earshot of the other diners.

And for the next half hour, Jongin dropped out of the conversation every few minutes, when one of the members inevitably called for a refill of their drink, or another antipasto, or (in Chanyeol hyung’s case, which was closely followed by Tao), yet another grilled roll of bread, and she showed up, pouring out the drinks so beautifully, with her perfectly shaped fingers that had Jongin blushing just from looking at them, and her polite yet distant smiles…

He couldn’t help his mind drifting, wondering about her..

The way she slid the plates onto the table, her fingertips caressing the warm edges..the way she delicately laid down fresh glasses and filled them up with the iced drinks ..

Her every gesture...

The way she moved her fingers to tuck an errant strand of soft, silky sandy-black hair behind one perfectly whorled ear

Her lily soft hands, not a mark or blemish anywhere..

She couldn’t possibly be a waitress for real!

More like..

‘Like a princess’

Gasping, he slammed both hands over his mouth, realising belatedly that he had spoken out loud

‘Yeah! Exactly!!’

‘That’s exactly what would work!’

‘You mean..’

‘Do some sort of whole..historical theme!!’

‘Yeah! Instead of Beauty and the Wolf – the Princess and…the masked stranger?’

‘Huuh…?’ Jongin looked around bemusedly at everyone, who was talking excitedly, Junmyeon hyung even risen to his feet as he exclaimed… about..

something…

Haha! Lucky save~~

‘Hyyyuuunngg!’

‘Hyung, ah, ah, sit down, first’

‘ ‘Masked stranger’ is sooo awkward!!’

‘But the concept’s good!’

‘Yeah!!’

‘Good work, Jongin-ah!’ Smiling, the hyungs reached to pat his shoulder, and ruffle his hair, and laughing, he protested, turning his mind back to the conversation fully this time, as it shifted to the ‘hot’ topic amongst them these days – Chanyeol hyung scoring big time with his new girlfriend~~ After an incredible number of mix ups and a couple of unbelievable misunderstandings, the drama had settled into a blushing Yeolmae, who sheepishly rubbed his neck, and wordlessly grinned  as the guys squealed out increasingly graphic questions at him in tones tweaking on excitement. Even though they had to keep their voices absolutely low and furtive now, in the restaurant which was fast filling up with its hungry lunchtime crowd, taking the mickey out of him was just as fun as it was at 5 am last monday, when he’d tried to sneak into the dorm unnoticed – a plan that was hopelessly foiled when he planted one foot right into Tao’s face, ignorant of the upheaval in the middle of the night involving some never identified ‘flying insect-cockroach’, three cans of repellent, and a possible Molotov cocktail, that had led to the baby panda camping out on the living room floor.

 

PART THREE~ DISSENSION

‘Umm..mnghhfff…where’s everyone..’ Blearily rubbing his eyes, Jongin dragged his feet to the kitchen to grab a pack of orange juice, before quickly slamming the refrigerator shut, as the cold blast of chilled air played over his chest and stomach in icy shivers, setting off a trail of gooseflesh over his bronzed bare skin and perking his faint dusting of hair in its wake. Even as the heavy door snapped shut, Jongin winced – the bang was pretty loud, especially combined with the clinking and rattling of the bottles as they jostled each other – Kyungsoo would –

…………..

??

The sound just echoed emptily, leadenly, through the totally still dorm. No scolding voices, no rebukes, no ‘Ay ay ay, Jongin-ah!!’ s, nothing.

Smacking his lips experimentally, he took a long swallow, and purposefully set the carton on the counter, waiting for Kyungsoo to yell at him to ‘put that back in the fridge’ – [it was a well known fact that ol’ DO was creepily gifted at sussing out ‘bad kitchen etiquette’, even from miles away – to the point where Sehun swore till he was blue in the face that Kyungsoo was on familiar terms with the Black Arts, after a round call he received all the way from Barcelona to ‘GET YOUR DIRTY RAMYUN BOWLS OFF THE COUNTER BEFORE I RAMYUN YOU!!’, though this was an account that Jongin took with a pinch of salt, coz, well, a.Dyodoro had better lines than that, and b.Jongdae had spent a considerable portion of that afternoon rolling on the floor, laughing for no reason ] - but there was silence.

Huh.

They really weren’t in the dorm?

Where the hell had everyone gone, leaving him behind!!! They didn’t even have any schedule today!!

‘Hyyuuuuuunngggg~~ Oyy Hyuuunngg~~ I’m going into your room~~ ‘ Calling out, albeit under his breath, he padded over to Junmyeon hyung’s room, the edges of the oversized pajama bottoms that were his only clothing tracking under his heels, tugging at the drawstringed waistband that rode low over his hip bones as he sleepily rubbing his bare stomach..

Without pausing to knock, he pushed the door open – ‘Oh!

……………..

What’re you guys doing!?’

Everyone was there – all 11 – no, wait, 9, all 9 of the others were there, crowded around Junmyeon hyung’s bed

‘Jongin-ah!’

‘Jongin….it’s bad.’

Looking from face to face, Jongin felt the bottom drop out of his stomach..

A familiar ice cold shaft ripping through him

Fear

 

Not again

 

‘Who’s leaving?’

 

‘……………….’

 

‘Huh??!!’

‘No!! No, no, Jongin, it’s not that’

 

For a moment, the faces relaxed, and chuckles sounded – before the awful silence descended again, and everyone’s expressions became drawn and grim..

Tao was punching the post of Sehun’s bed, repeatedly, over and over..while Sehun curled at the foot, his face buried in his hands... Yixing hyung and Jongdae were sniffling suspiciously, on either side of Junmyeon hyung, who was glaring at his tablet...and in the corner, Chanyeol hyung had his forehead pressed to the frosted window pane, his face turned away from them….

‘What’s..going on, then?’  Jongin was afraid to get the words out – another scandal? Another rumour, another tabloid scoop?

Silently, Junmyeon hyung pushed the tablet towards him. He leaned over Baekhyun, who had his face buried in Minseok hyung’s shoulder, as he patted his back comfortingly, and squinted at the screen..

His chest squeezed at the sight of the familiar ‘DISPATCH’ headline

Afraid to look…but more afraid not to, he pushed a shaking finger out to scroll down

The words jumped out at him in Neon colours

{EXO’S COMEBACK }

THE MASQUERADE BALL

THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS SEES 10 MASKED PRINCES

THE MASKED STRANGER AND THE PRINCESS, EXO comes back after the WOLF AND BEAUTY with yet another romantic, fairy tale story……..

WHILE REAL LIFE ROMANCE SPARKS FOR YET ANOTHER MEMBER!!!

PARK CHANYEOL PLAYS PRINCE TO SANDARA ‘S BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS – will their love story be as beautiful as a Victorian Ball? <3 <3

 

No way!

His heart pounding, he scrolled further down..it was there, it was all there,  the details of Hyung’s dates, even photos of their cars parked on neighbouring streets… though they’d been so careful, so discreet, the vultures had even managed to get their hands on the most specific details, the blurbs in garish colours tracing facts about incidents they couldn’t possibly have known about….

The article even included everything about the different masks – golden and white, and the one-of-a-kind Swarovski ‘spades’ one.. and how they’d switch for songs, the details of the costumes, and the songs and the concept

This was….

 

 

The day was one of the longest he’d ever experienced – and that was saying something, especially given the year they had just had. The concept leaking in its entirety  - normally that in itself would have been a magnificent up, but…add the dating ‘rumour’ and this was a disaster surpassing the magnitude of the loss of a member

The news channels and music stations had picked the story right off the bat, everyone swinging widely to get their shot in, to add their 5 pence to this juicy scandal – the media had laid siege to their dorms, to the Office, cameras and DSLs now waved about by stubbled men with baseball caps, while every few yards, a woman in a smart suit and oodles of lipstick spoke seriously into a microphone, their words racing at lightning speed to pepper the dozens of Live feeds that were exploding on every channel, their perfectly shaped eyebrows arching insinuatingly as they dramatically stated that ‘Representatives of SM Entertainment could not be reached for a comment’ …..  but even worse were the scores and scores of screaming, crying, hooting fans who broke into riots every few minutes as they hurled themselves against the boys’ cars, who grabbed the mikes from the newscasters, and who were being interviewed on every street corner, their words hurled with venom at the ‘betrayal’, or laced with vitriol as they made snide comments about everyone who wasn’t their personal bias,  who burst into stampedes every time there was the slightest movement from behind the doors of the SM building, which was on total lock down..

The sponsors…the management, the company…the labels that were part of the comeback campaign, the TV channels that had already been given the ‘exclusive REVEAL’ contracts… the music channels that had already bought the first show rights… in China and Korea..the THREE major multinational companies that they had tied up with for promotion..

All day they had stayed closeted up with the Boss, as desperate phone calls were made,  volleys of concerned emails from the partner companies fielded, and promises and threats and curses and thanks flung about with equal urgency…

Junmyeon hyung had to be talked out of quitting thrice.. while Chanyeol hyung looked ready to take even more drastic actions, despite everyone assuring him sincerely that they didn’t blame him, not in the slightest…

Jongin sighed, looking over the conference room they’d taken over – it was a mess now.. Sehun and Tao were crying in a corner, and Ahreum Noona, who was trying to comfort them, was crying just as hard… no one had eaten all day… Yixing hyung was standing alone at a window, looking out.. would he really leave now? This time….

Kyungsoo and Junmyeon hyung and Chanyeol hyung had disappeared into the office room with the Boss and the people from MNet..

Baekhyun was in another corner, typing into his smartphone, acting (badly)like he didn’t care about anything

Jongin rubbed his face with his hands

Three managers had been fired..with Ahreum Noona, they were the ones who had taken care of them for so long…for so many years, they’d played the part of their parents…but now, Boss had thoroughly lost his temper, and dismissed them, all three, and Jongin didn’t even wanna think about where the others were…

Boss yelling about traitors, and conspiracies aimed at him….

They were preparing termination contracts for the entire wardrobe and makeup staff in the next conference room, anything to plug the leak

Minseok hyung’s eyes were red..he’d never seen him look so upset – whenever anything happened..it was Minseok hyung who held them together..but..

 

Their comeback was to be postponed – indefinitely, it seemed… and he was terrified to ask about the EXO’luXion, terrified of what he might hear….

After everything..

After all that happened this year, of course everyone had lost faith in ‘EXO’ …the company was also trying to debut another new band with the trainees as soon as possible and right now..with this last straw, they just wanted EXO out of the way, buried somewhere so they wouldn’t discolour the company’s reputation further…

 

Jongin rubbed his face again, willing away the tears

No one had eaten anything..no one had even thought of food..

Maybe he should go order something….

 

That place round the corner –

‘AH!’ With a gasp, he stood up so fast, the chair toppled, bouncing off the floor twice before coming to a stop, so forcefully had he moved

 

Her!!

It HAD to be Her!!!!

No one else..

Noone else could possibly have heard the thing about the ‘princess’,more importantly,  no one else could possibly have heard the ‘masked stranger’ thing – the phrase had never been repeated again - when Junmyeon hyung had said it, at the restaurant, they’d all taken it as a joke, everyone had agreed it sounded weak, and they’d totally wanted pick something else..and of course, that was the only place they’d talked about the Dara thing – teasing hyung with all the spicy details – it was the only way anyone could have known about…

‘Jongin!!!! Where – ‘

Even as the thoughts flashed through his mind, whirling through..

Even as the hyungs called his name..

He ran, pushing past the astonished secretaries, the puzzled lawyers’ aides, the staff who called out to him

‘C’mon, cmon, cmon’ He pushed the elevator button repeatedly, frantically.. shoved his way in,  ignoring the sunbaenim inside, who’d come up here to try to get face time with someone who’d give them permission to get out of the building, punching the button to close the doors without waiting for them to exit, and Dinging the one for the ground floor over and over, making them gasp at him in speechless annoyance..

He burst out of the building at a run, weaving past the security guards – who were gathered at the entrance in even bigger numbers than usual,  to deal with the large crowds that had taken up position at the gate, in response to the article – like carrion crows

like rabid hyenas

They pulled at him, tugging at his clothes..ramming their cameras right into his skin, and screaming his name in any number of languages, shrieking equal parts abuse and worshipful obeisance, both of which reeked equally poisonous, shoving into him and clawing at him, brilliant shocking pink flashing through the sun as nails raked over his forearm, while the ripping yells pounded into his eardrums…   

Get off me.

Leave me alone

Leave me alone leave me alone leavemeal one…                                   

Gasping in lungfuls of air, Jongin leaned forward, knocking on the glass pane of the Taxi he’d somehow managed to get into, managed to escape into, out of the crowd. He gave the directions to the restaurant, wheezing as he urged the driver to go ‘faster’..’please, its urgent’…

The 10min drive seemed like an eternity..till suddenly, he was getting out of the cab, and dropping a bill into the front seat, and..he was there. Right at the restaurant..where…

‘Where is she??!!!’ He didn’t really know how he’d gotten inside  –just the sight of that shop front, the baize and heavy green drapes and the window looking out onto the street..somehow, it felt like something had flipped inside him..

He was furious

He’d never been so mad before.. his head was pounding..the backs of his eyes felt like they were burning up, the red streaming through his vision..

How could she!!

How could she have…

‘Sir! Sir..please..’

‘Uhh..’ Jongin looked down at the arm he was clutching – attached to the guy at the reservation desk..turning white and bloodless from the force with which his fingers were encircling it –

‘Ah!! Sorry, sorry!’ He let go quickly, but the words of apology were tasteless in his mouth, the pounding only stepping up

‘Where is she!????’

‘Sir…who..?’

‘Don’t play dumb!’ He roared, slamming his well muscled arm on the faux wood

‘That girl who was serving us the other day!! Where is she??!!’

 

‘Excuse…me sir…i..’

Violently, even knowing in the back of his mind that he never did things like this, even knowing how much trouble he could get into for this..’Exo member’… losing it like this…

He couldn’t help it..the anger pulsated through his every vein, and he violently reached across the short foot of space to grab the man’s collar, pulling him up off his feet, to bring his face closer to his

‘Where. Is. She?’

Even knowing that he had no reason to be this mad…to feel this betrayed..he didn’t even know her, didn’t even know her name.. it was stupid to feel like..there was…anything….

‘Sir! Sir!!’

‘What?!’

Dropping the man he was holding abruptly, he rounded on the guy who had just appeared from inside the curtained staff entrance, and was plucking at his sleeve

‘Sir… aren’t you Exo?’

‘Yeah! So!?’

Jongin’s veins were standing in his throat, and his spit flew as he yelled at the man, who was tentatively forming words, trembling in fear

‘that…you were here last week..’

‘Yeah!’

‘That… the cameriera, right?’

‘Cameriera?? I don’t know about all that, where is she!??’

‘The waitress, the server, at your table…’ Turning to the man behind the counter, the second guy nodded pointedly to the curtained entrance, and, taking his chance, the first one, looking terrified enough to have peed himself, scuttled off inside

Jongin didn’t care, all his attention was focused on the new arrival, who, seemed to know exactly what he wanted

‘That was Risa-nim..’

‘Risa?’ Jongin’s tongue stumbled over the unfamiliar syllables, a split second before he realised the Head waiter (somehow, he could feel the heat dissipating from inside his skull, and his breathing was starting to slow..and now he could see the gold lapel pin that identified the new guy as the ‘Maitre d’hotel’) was guiding him away from the entrance way

‘Sir..that is..she hasn’t gotten in yet..perhaps you would..like to wait…’

 

 

 

 

 

‘Nim! You called the waitress ‘nim’?’  Jongin suddenly snapped up from the random squiggles he was making on the place mat with the salad knife. The Maitre d’ dude had taken him straight to the inner dining area, seated him at one of the ‘reserved’ VIP tables, ordered him a glass of complimentary champagne, and was now trying to ‘skilfully’ worm out more details from him

‘Yes, Sir..that is..she’s only working here part time.. May I ask what the trouble is? Risa-nim is one of our most popular – ‘

‘So what’s her fulltime job then?’

‘Sir..’

‘If she works here only part time, what’s her fulltime job?’

‘Sir, she’s ..she’s actually…just..learning the business…’

‘Huh.’ Jongin smirked up at the short little man, knowing the acid sarcasm was thoroughly unlike him, desperately trying to stop even as the words slipped off his tongue, apparently without the slightest hitch ‘What, you run an internship programme here? Work experience?’

‘Umm..no, no..it’s..’ Reaching into his pocket, the Maitre d’ pulled out what looked like a serviette and dotted the beads of sweat that had formed glistening on his bald head. Drawing a deep breath, and seemingly finding courage in Jongin’s lack of immediate violence, he started again

‘Her father owns T&H Holdings – they own the Red Harbour restaurant chain…he’s a friend of our boss’, so when Risa-nim insisted she wanted to learn the business from the bottom up…’  

‘Eeehh…’

Jongin looked fixedly at the rainbow shimmers reflecting off the silver knife

An elite, huh.

Everyone was familiar with the distinct lobster logo that marked the doors of the popular eateries, and how could they not be, with at least 6 branches in Seoul, and he’d definitely seen a bunch o’ CFs in Beijing too….

That explained it..

He’d totally known she wasn’t any ordinary –

‘Excuse me, Sir?’

Jongin snapped up, the knife falling from his suddenly weak fingers..at that voice.. that somehow already familiar voice…

It was her, stepping delicately through the doorway, her eyes quizzically moving from the Maitre d’ to him, and back, one eyebrow arching …

And just like that, the intense pounding was back, the red curtain falling over his eyes

Unheeding of the Head Waiter, who was desperately trying to stop him, and the startled look in her eyes (those violet eyes that had flashed at him so playfully the other day..) the swirl of the delicate printed dress she was wearing, that suited her so well (skimming over that gorgeous body he’d dreamt off even without remembering the dreams) as he grabbed her arm, closing the space between them..

Those eyes looked like drugged, swollen currants this close..a faint green light in them..

Cat-type, Sehun had said, huh…

He was right.

Her skin was so soft under his fingers..as creamy as it looked, it felt like butter and honey to his touch..  

 

‘Why did you do it??!!’

‘Pardon me?’

‘Don’t act like you don’t know!!! Why did you do it?!’ In anger, he flung her away from himself, forcefully enough to have her stumbling and almost fall – if the maitre d’ hadn’t been there, running to catch her

Somehow, that movement sparked his fury to even greater heights

Huh

who the hell was that old dude to just…

Yanking out his wallet, he ripped out the clip of billfolds – it made quite a bundle between his fingers as he flung them at her shocked face

‘How much did they pay you, huh? How much, does it cost, to buy a waitressing little princess, huh?’

She drew herself up, the bills fluttering about her to the floor, her eyes burning almost jade as they blazed at him in anger – before she tossed her head, turning to the Miatre d’ who was now holding onto her for support, trembling

‘Sir, please call the police.’

‘Wha- ‘ gasping he stared open mouthed at her, then looked over at him, his eyes widening even more in fright. ‘No, nno, Risa-nim, we cant..he’s Exo..’

‘It doesn’t matter!’ Her clipped tones, poured as silkily as perfectly aged wine, the accent lending an inexplicable spice. ‘From what I can tell, he already assaulted Woojin-nim.. and now me. I don’t care who he is, this sort of – ‘

‘Excuse me!’

‘Sorry’

‘Excuse me’ ‘excuse me’

Cutting her off, there was a flurry of movement, as Sehun, Chanyeol hyung, Jongdae hyung and Kyungsoo burst through, bowing multiple times as they apologized, profusely, Chanyeol hyung gripping Jongin’s head and shoving it downward, forcing him to bow too, despite all his protests  -

‘Hyung! It’s her,  she’s the one who – ‘

‘Shuttup!’

‘Hush!!’

‘Jongin!! You’ve caused enough problems as is, shuttup and apologize now!!’

‘You guys don’t know anything!’ Yelling again, he wrenched himself away, jerking his arm out of Sehun’s grasp

‘Sorry, sorry, he’s been under a lot of stress lately..’ Jongdae grabbed him this time, professional smile plastered right across his face.

‘Yes, we’re really very very sorry..’

As Chanyeol Hyung jerked his head at Sehun, he grabbed Jongin’s arm again, making to pull him out –

Ha.

Who did they think they were dealing with, like he would fold that easily..

‘Hyung. Listen.’ Drawing a deep breath, and, at least to an outside observer, calming himself down, Jongin turned to Jongdae and Chanyeol.

‘She’s the one who sold that story to Dispatch. Think about it…. No one else could’ve possibly known about the ‘masked stranger’ thing.’

‘Excuse me?!’ The girl stepped forward, her eyes snapping and crackling heatedly, the tantalizing skirt of her dress swishing against her impossibly delicious curved calves. ‘I did no such thing!’

‘Do you know who we are?’ Jongin turned to her, his voice rising again

‘Umm…yes?’ The girl replied, arching her eyebrow at him, her voice turning cool and icy in proportion to the fire in his

Like he was some sort of idiot

How DARE she…after…

‘Jongin!’ Chanyeol hyung’s voice was suddenly, uncharacteristically, low, all the exaggerated inflections and nuances vanished without a trace - and somehow, it was super scary, sending chills up and down his spine. In shock, Jongin snapped his mouth shut, turning to him  without speaking the words that had risen to the tip of his tongue.

‘Sehun…’ Without sparing him a glance, Chanyeol hyung  looked meaningfully at Sehun, who, nodding quickly,  grabbed his arm, and pulled him away, leading him out of the dining room to the main entrance, where already more’n a couple of people had gathered – and out into the street, shoving him bodily into the waiting van

 

PART FOUR~ CONVERSATION

 

‘Dude..i can’t believe you actually got away with that!’

‘Yeah!! You’re lucky the hyungs covered for you!’

‘And that the restaurant agreed to cover it up..if they’d gone public or something..’ Tao whistled through his teeth, indicating the enormity of the fall out

‘Shuttup.’ Jongin growled moodily. ‘I was soo right anyway, it was her.’

‘You don’t have any proof of that!’

‘Yeah!’

Grunting incoherently, Jongin stuck his hands in his pockets, and got up, slouching his way to the door, Monggu yipping closely at his heels

‘I’m taking ‘im for a walk’

Without waiting for a response, he clipped on his lead, and grabbing the ‘dog walk’ bag he kept beside the front door, made his way out

Tao and Sehun exchanged pointed glances as he left – ever since that day, ever since they’d gotten back, Jongin had been a real grouse – speaking in monosyllables, and spending most of his time alone, or taking one of the dogs for a walk..

‘He’s sulking’ Sehun slid one hand into Tao’s, and cuddled against him

‘Yeah, he should hurry up and go apologize properly to that girl’

‘He’s an idiot, though’ Sehun stated with a superior look, burrowing closer to Tao, as they both turned back to the detective show they were watching

 

 

 

The night air blew cold and just the slightest bit nippy. Jongin wrapped his hands tighter around himself ..He’d walked out of the dorm without even changing, and the evening breeze send icy fingers prodding through his light fleece jacket as he walked briskly, drawing in deep lungfuls of the cold

It felt….refreshing…

‘C’mon boy! C’mon..c’mere~ ’ He called out to Monggu occasionally, whenever the curious little puppy spent too long sniffing some oddly shaped log..or nosing under a stone by the wayside..He was still the same eager happy little thing he had been right from the first day he’d met him, nosing around about the edge of his basket, unlike the rest of his litter, who were nursing quietly..

Without thinking, his feet led him down the paths he usually took with his babies, down the tree lined avenues and stoned pavements, to the promenade beside the Hang river…

The streets were totally deserted this late, and he had the whole place to himself (and Monggu, of course)…

Settling down on one of the steps, Jongin looked out onto the dark water, as his Pup frolicked about at his feet

Was he the one in the wrong?

That’s what everyone said, all the hyungs…and even Taemin, who’d heard the whole story from Sehun…

Everyone told him he ought to go apologize properly, that he was crazy, that he had no proof

Huh.

Did they think he wanted this??!!

She was probably the last person he wanted to be the culprit..But the whole thing was so obvious!! Why couldn’t they see that!!

Monggu whined, and tugged against his leash, tired of sitting still at the same place

‘Here’ digging into his bag, he pulled out a rubber bone (it was actually Janguu’s..but…oh well..he’d just have to wash it properly before letting Janguu play with it again or all hell would break lose, lol) and tossed it to him. Immediately, with a series of excited Wuffs, Monggu  latched onto it, violently tearing his head from side to side with it clutched tightly in his teeth, before settling down to gnaw at it quietly .

Jongin sighed

What the hell was wrong with him, anyway, he’d barely seen that chick twice – thrice, whatever, and he didn’t know the first thing about her (Risa, his mind immediately supplied – Risa..the heiress to a restaurant chain, and…) Why the hell was it bothering him so much!!

Well..at least things had worked out for the Comeback – after Boss had cooled down a bit, they were able to bring him around, Yixing hyung had done his usual magic whatever it was, and talked him into agreeing to let them bring out the new album as planned…

He’d even agreed that changing the concept would be a good thing, once they’d pointed out how so many of the sunbaenim had used similar concepts before, masks and balls were a popular fallback for many artists, and even entire albums had used the same idea before…

The hyungs had worked hard too, the last coupla weeks, meeting with everyone  - the sponsors, people from the different agencies, the TV companies..convincing everyone to stick to them…

That the publicity and the hype surrounding them right now was a good thing…

And of course, gradually, even the fans and the Naver hubbub had quietened down, people slowly, albeit grudgingly, reluctantly accepting the ‘dating’ deal… the one black ocean they had had to face had twisted through them, making them feel so utterly, obviously broken, that the fans themselves had realised they’d gone too far – and under the cries of the gossip hungry were the strong, beautiful core of Exo-L, who, shocked by the onslaught, had come out in full force the past few days, to reiterate their love and continued, unshakable support…

 

‘Ri..isa..’ He mouthed the sounds guiltily..like he’d been doing in secret ever since that day..without being able to help himself…trying to pronounce them correctly…

He could see her so clearly in his mind, in fact, the rest of the time, he had to actively force his mind away, to not think of her…her face..her eyes…those graceful hands…her body..everything was so crystal clear…

Even the way she smelt, for crying out loud, he could even smell it just by remembering… the light, pure fragrance surrounding her…

‘Why the hell would a heiress, a princess, wanna do grunt work in that sort of place, anyway..’ He mused aloud, watching Monggu try to grip the bone in his front paws – then snapped up in shock as a voice spoke, from right behind him –

‘Because she’d want to make her way to the top on her own merit, not just by virtue of some accident of birth…’

As he gaped, stunned, the girl in question stepped around him, crouching down beside Monggu, and petting him, her red dress fluttering prettily in the evening breeze, through the gaps in her stylish black coat

‘Besides…theres no better way to learn exactly what’s required, to study all the ins and outs, than by actual experience’ She tossed the words out without even sparing him a glance, scratching Monggu’s ear, and grinning as he yipped happily and rolled over

Unable to tear his eyes away, he stared at her… her face was totally lit up as she smiled and teased Monggu, running her fingers through his fur, and talking to him in baby speech…

She loves dogs, huh

 

The wind tossed her long silky hair, playing with it…

 

 

She’s so beautiful

 

Grinning, she raised her eyes to him, cheekily crinkling them at him ‘Are crazy people allowed to roam free in this country? And moreover, keep dogs? Don’t you need a license for this…’

Snapping out of his trance, or whatever it was, Jongin looked down, clicking his fingers, making Monggu immediately slip away from her and come over to him.

‘What are you doing here?’ He growled, still keeping his eyes fixed on his puppy

‘Ha!’ She smoothed her hands over her knees, her lips twisting wryly. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was a crime too.’

For a moment, there was silence..

Then she stood up, tugging her coat tighter around herself.

‘Goodnight.’ Her voice carrying a decided edge of frostiness, she turned, the wind now blowing against her, making her hair fly behind her in the night….her dress press against that deliciously feminine body, as she politely jerked her head in his general direction and started climbing up the stairs

Jongin kept his head down, his fingers playing with Monggu’s velvety ear…not looking at her..

Definitely not following her

‘Aren’t you even gonna apologize!?’

‘Huh?’ She swung around to see him standing just one step behind her, his hands clenched into fists at his side

‘For what, some fictitious, ridiculous idea that I ‘sold’ some story to Dispatch!??’

‘Ha! Are you still denying it??!!’ He stepped up, closing the distance between them, towering over her as he yelled

Startled, she stepped back quickly. ‘I’m not ‘denying’ it, it’s the truth! And you’re crazy!’

Her lips tightened as she snapped shut, turning her face away..

Her eyelashes fluttering..

 

Afraid….

 

She was actually afraid of him??!!

 

Somehow, the realisation felt like a physical blow…wiping the breath out of him.

Of course, he was mad..he was furious..

But..she was…

And he didn’t…want….

 

Taking a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, Jongin took a step back, willing himself to relax

 

She didn’t move, her eyes fixed randomly in the distance..only her fingers stirring… reaching up, to play with the gold locket that hung above her bone..

In the hollows of those incredible collar bones, arching and framing her exquisite chest…

Jongin’s eyes helplessly followed her every motion

‘Tha…that’s pretty..’ He growled, pressing his voice in his throat, trying desperately not to yell again

Steady…

 

That’s right, Jongin, hold it together, man...

At the sound of his voice, she  snapped around, her plump, glistening lips forming a perfect ‘O’…then her eyes followed his gaze, her fingers stilling as she realised what he was talking about

‘Uhmm..that…Thanks, it was a gift..’  her voice was back to its gentle, impersonal tones, the same ones she used when she served tea, or offered someone a menu…

Polite..

Formal.

Somehow sparking a flint of pure irritation in him..his stomach clenching cold with annoyance again

‘For what, sell-‘

Huh

Wait

Hold on..

 

Looking closer, he saw it – the slight..so faint it was almost invisible..yet..definitely there – that soft coral pink that was dewing her cheeks..rising over their luscious wheat..

His voice fading into incoherent mumbles, he stuffed his hands reflexively into his pockets, his own face feeling hot..shuffling his feet, he looked down, inspecting the scuffed toes of his high tops with all his concentration

‘I..isee..’

‘Umm.’

 

 

The breeze picked up, swirling the silence between them… she raised a perfect hand to tug a flying strand of hair behind her ear..

He fiddled with the corded tie of his jacket..

His heart was pounding now, but totally in a different way from earlier…. His palms felt sweaty, and his throat seemed to have tightened up

 

C’mon man

Stop acting like a friggin 12 year old

!!!!

Say something damiit!!!!!

 

Ok

I’m EXO’S KAI for crying out loud, she’s just a girl, I can do this!!

 

C’mon!!

 

The third time he opened his mouth, the words flew out, blurting themselves past his filters, making him wish he’d just uselessly closed it, like he had the other two times he’d attempted to say something

‘Why did you sell that scoop to Dispatch?’

 

She snapped back, her eyes flashing , her hand falling to her side as she glared at him –

Then turned to walk away

‘Aren’t you even gonna say something??!’

She stopped, then spun around to face him

‘First of all, I have no need to explain myself to you. Secondly, no matter what I say, or how many times I say it, you’re gonna think what you want, right?? But you want me to say it?? Fine! Fine then!! Here’s your answer – I DID NOT DO IT.I didn’t sell anything to anyone . Satisfied?’

 

Wow

 

Her hair whipped about, like her anger had stirred up the night itself..

Her dress flashing red like her voice, her eyes sparkling fire…

 

She was beautiful..

She was magnificent…

 

Like –

 

‘Risa!’

A voice called out, and she swung around abruptly, craning her head upwards

‘Risa! It’s done, c’mon!’

She took a deep breath, then smiled at the shadowy figure at the top of the stairs

‘Yes! Alright!!’

The cheer in her voice had Jongin rounding towards her in shock

I’ve never heard her speak like that!

This wasn’t the polite friendliness she used normally, that screamed ‘professional’

Nor the only real flashes of emotion he’d gotten from her – anger

This was..

 

‘Coming!’

Without a second glance at him, she quickly ran up the stairs, her dress swishing at her legs, to slip her arm through that of the man who was waiting

‘Someone you know?’

He jerked his head towards Jongin, his voice dripping curiosity

‘Hmm? No, no, I don’t’  Dismissing him entirely, she pulled the man away, their voices spilling happily through the evening to where he stood, frozen, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest

 

 

‘Huh?’ he finally snapped out of it, after who knows how long,  to look down to where Monggu was whining, biting and tugging at the leg of his jeans

‘Sorry, sorry, old boy, let’s get you home, huh’ Jogging back to grab his bag, and Janguu’s bone, he vaulted up the stairs two at a time, Monggu yapping excitedly at his heels, as he made his way home

 

PART FIVE~COMPREHENSION

‘Jongin.’

‘Jongin.’

‘JONGIN!!’

‘Ah!’ Swivelling at the last moment, Jongin managed to barely avoid getting rammed into by Baek-hyung, as he finished the last turns of his choreo. ‘Sorry, sorry’

Apologizing, he backtracked away from the centre of the room, making his way to lean against the bar at the edge of the dance floor

 

‘Aah-ah’ Sighing, Sehun, who was squatting right beside the spot he had taken up position in, jostled his leg with a cold bottle of Gatorade. ‘Here’

‘Thanks’ Grunting, he reached down to take it, twisting the cap off and chugging half the bottle in one smooth movement

‘Dude. You okay?’

‘Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine!’ Smiling (hopefully, reassuringly), he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, offering the bottle to Chanyeol hyung, who had come up to his other side, his mouth twisted in concern

‘Hmmm..’ Still frowning suspiciously at him, Chanyeol took the bottle, taking a small swallow before leaning over to hand it back to Sehun. ‘You’ve been weird lately… Are you feeling ill or something?’

‘Huh? No, no no no, nothing like that, I’m fine!’ Jongin smiled more widely at his hyung, who was still waay more subdued and, even worse, careful around the others, no longer ribbing at them, or teasing them or goofing around like normal  - a change that Jongin found almost heartbreakingly painful, despite all of Kyungsoo’s reassurances that it would pass, ‘just give it time’.  He reached over to punch his shoulder playfully, keeping his expression light ‘I’m just super focused on the new choreo… since I’m the best student here’ he teased, grinning as Sehun ‘Boo’ed from below, n making the faint outlines of a smile crease through their Happy Virus’ face, before moving away quickly, pretending to be suddenly acutely interested in the argument Tao and Baekhyun were having, over by the water cooler, about who had landed a better pirouette

‘Eeeh~~ ‘ Chanyeol looked after him, his voice rising in pitch. ‘Is this about the whole psychotic break in the restaurant thing…’

‘Yeah!’ Sehun nodded vehemently, taking a sip of the drink himself. ‘We told him to go and apologize to that chick..or confess or something, but, noo-oo.  He thinks he knows best, the ignoramus’

‘Huh???? Confess???!’ Chanyeol quickly hunched down, bringing his face level with Sehun’s, his eyes sparkling with interest and curiosity

‘…oops..’

 

 

 

‘Ok, guys, that’s a wrap, well done!’ Testa nim called out, clapping his hands, and everyone fell about, like puppets whose strings had been cut, flopping against each other, and groaning, and laughing, as they finally, at long last, finished one full run through of the choreo for the first single off the new album. ‘Have a light dinner, and get to bed right away, ok, we’ll pick it up again tomorrow at 9 AM sharp, don’t be late!’

Dismissing them, Testa nim strode out briskly, making them groan in jealousy at his boundless energy

‘Ok, c’mon, c’mon, let’s go~’ Chivvying them along, Junmyeon hyung herded them towards the exit, as they grabbed their bags and satchels, and downed bottles of water, rubbing their faces vigorously with the towels Jongdae was handing out (or, in Sehun’s case, with the back of Tao’s shirt)

As they huffed their way down the stairs, their muscles aching, their excitement spilled through though, despite the exhaustion – it was just a matter of weeks before their Comeback Showcase, and, after all the they’d been through to get here, it finally looked like things were gonna be okay

More than okay –

Like it was gonna be great!

‘This is gonna be awesome!!’

‘Yeah!’

‘The last formation was tough!!’

‘I thought the floaty wave thing wouldn’t suit the music, but I was wrong, it looks totally cool!’

‘yeah..coz the music has Ocean-ey vibes, doesn’t it’ Baekhyun called out archly

‘Eeh..is that so..i dunno..is this music all Under the Sea-ish, Jongin-ah?’ Jongdae turned to him, his voice dripping innocence

‘…huh?..Ye..ah..i guess…it sounds kinda…like that?’

‘Eeh~Well, if it’s oceans n stuff, then Jongin would know right..’

For a moment Jongin stared quizzically at Minseok hyung, tryina decipher his comment – then like puzzle pieces falling together, the light flashed in his mind – oceans, seas, waves – seafood!!!!!!!??!!!! That could only mean - ‘SEEHUUUNN!’

Giggling, Sehun ran down the stairs, chased by a roaring Jongin, dodging around the balustrade and diving into the M van just in time to escape his outstretched hand

That Idiot!!

 

 

That idiot…

Jongin sighed, tugging Jjanggu’s leash closer

Everyone knew - the hyungs making full use of the opportunity to – despite all his protests to the contrary, everyone was convinced he was ‘totally crazy’ for that chick, or whatever

Between Chanyeol hyung attempting to wind Kyungsoo up in a red blanket (apparently trying to transform him into a red lobster, so ‘Kai would come back to him’) and Junmyeon hyung, convinced he was helping, offering to drive him to the restaurant, and the idiot (and the other idiot) snorting and giggling in the corner, he’d had enough – grabbing the first pup that had come to hand, (Jjanggu, lolling about on the sofa after the third pizza he’d stolen from their dinner table), he’d made his escape, jogging down the road, wheezing pup at his heels, only slowing down when he reached the crossing off the River

 

He’d unconsciously headed right here, after all…

 

Since that night…almost a fortnight ago..that he’d met her here, he’d kept coming back – every single night, for hours on end, he’d sit on these steps, willing himself not to think about her, desperately trying to tell himself it was his habit to come here after all, even before he’d ever known of her – and inevitably, despite trying to convince himself otherwise, with a distinct taste of pleasure as he gave in, devoting himself to day dreaming about her…

The way her eyes had flashed angrily at him..

The way her skin glowed so meltingly..

Her voice, the accent making her words sound so exotic…and…

Her tones so soft and cultured..delicate…well bred…

 

Her hair, dancing..teasing…fluttering in the breeze…

Just like –

 

 

HUH!!!!

 

Just like that!

Swallowing, he looked at the figure on the embankment, white shirt twinkling in the surrounding gloom

 

It was her!!!

 

It was her!!!!!!!

 

Abruptly, Jongin came to a standstill, his hand reflexively clutching at the leash, making Jjanggu whine in puzzlement, and bump against him with his head

‘Sorry..’

 

He slowly took a step down…

Then another.

 

Even from the back, he knew it was her – sitting there, resting her chin against her hands, perched on a step close to the railing..

Looking out onto the water

 

His heart was pounding so hard, how could she not hear it!!

 

He felt like his head was buzzing, his mouth going dry…

 

Dammit!!

 

Not again, c’mon man, you’ve had a gazillion girls before, everyone loves you, c’mon, dude it’s beyond ridiculous to get so nervous just for -

 

‘Go..Good evening.’ Clearing his throat, and swallowing, he breathed the words out, coming to a stop just behind her

‘Ah!’ Startled, she almost jumped – turning to him in shock – before snapping away, to look back out into the water –

 

Huh.

Wait.

 

Waitaminute.

 

 

She was crying!!!

 

Her eyes had been gleaming….

In that split second their gazes had locked, he’d seen the tears glistening like diamonds on her lovely lashes..the red touching her cheeks…

Looking closely, he could see the slight shake in her shoulders..the tremble in her hands as she pressed them to her face..

The shiver in her voice as she whispered ‘Good Evening’ back at him

 

 

Without thinking..without pausing to even wonder at himself, he stepped down, and sat, close beside her, tugging Jjanggu’ s lead, as she quickly tossed her head, turning her face in the opposite direction, away from him.

 

Whoa

 

Okay crap, why did I sit down!!!

Dammit, okay, say something, Jongin

 

Like, what

 

For god’s sake, she’s crying man, do something!!

 

 

Dammit she smells so good

 

He was close enough beside her that the wind blew her hair against his shoulder, strands fluttering across him…

Flowery…

 

Her hair smelt like flowers..honeysuckle..and lavender..and something..

It was a thoroughly heady mixture

 

Their arms were just a few millimetres apart…the warmth from her body radiating through him…

 

Dammit stop, don’t think like that right now, she’s crying!!

 

‘I…is everything okay?’

Idiot! Of course everything’s not okay, why is she crying, coz it’s fun??!

 

‘Urrmm..yes..’  her voice was breathy, her face resolutely turned away from him

 

Crap

Okay, what do I say….

 

As the silence surged, he pushed his fingers into Jjanggu’s back, nervously, for the sake of giving his hands something to do..

Rubbing his fur, and petting him

 

In little circular motions, reaching to tug his ears, then over to his snout, as the puppy yipped happily

 

The familiar motions soon took over his mind, calming him down – ah, it was always restful to play with his babies… - for a moment, he even forgot all about her, all about the situation, all about the weird panic gripping the floor of his stomach, and he laughed out loud, as Jjanggu stretched out,  luxuriating under his ministrations – only to slip and slide frantically as he fell right off the stair – he’d really put on so much weight he couldn’t even fit on! – and to his shock, was rewarded with a chuckle from beside him

 

Jongin gasped, holding his breath, at the sound of that laugh, throaty, and oh so ily husky, from the weight of her tears, as she laughed again, reaching over one delicate hand to Jjanggu’s head, as he managed to regain his balance, and flop onto the step, looking like he’d just completed an expedition to climb Everest

His hand froze, his fingers clenching in Jjanggu’s fur…

Then slowly, he started petting him again, as her fingers moved too…

Just inches from his, playfully tugging at Jjanggu’s fur..

 

‘H…He’s….another one?’ Her voice was sniffly…

Crap…

It’s so cute!!

 

This is bad, I can’t..

‘Umm.’ He didn’t pause his petting, his fingers moving in tandem with hers, as Jjanggu purred under them like a cat, his tail wagging like it’d fall off, at all the attention he was receiving

‘This is Jjanggu…the one you already met was Monggu, n I have one more at home – What?!’  he gasped, as she giggled lightly, her shoulders grazing his

‘No..nothing..’

‘What??!’

‘Umm-mm’ She shook her head, her hand rising to cover modestly, as she fought to hide her smile – her eyes were still glistening, her long, beautiful lashes still heavy and gleaming, the colour high on her cheeks…

As Jongin watched wordlessly, she reached back to Jjanggu again, unconsciously leaning closer to him

‘it’s just…’

‘Just?’

‘Well, those are funny names’

‘Huuuhhh?!’

She giggled properly this time, her eyes crinkling at his exaggerated outrage, and he laughed out loud, his voice hearty in the silent night

‘They’re perfectly good dog names!!’

‘Ye…aah…’ she grinned

 

She was teasing…

 

Fighting the really strong impulse to grab her and kiss her right there, Jongin looked over her bent head, a y smile tugging at his lips

‘Well, what’re dogs called in your country then??’

‘Umm....Coco? Pochi..Momo..ah! a neighbour had one called Choco….

Hey! What’re you laughing for now??’

 ‘Nothing, nothing..’ straightening, Jongin waved a hand, still shaking with his hoots

‘Tao’d fit right in there, then!’

‘Hmm?’

‘His dog’s called Candy..’

‘Ah! That’s a common doggy name too!’

‘....well, Monggu’s good too ok!’

‘Yeah, yeah’ Pacifically, she raised her hand – and patted his

For a moment, the world spun before his eyes, the universe shrinking to the feel of that soft..warm touch on the back of his hand…

Then she lifted it away, to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and he could breathe again

 

They sat there for a while, side by side in companionable silence, broken only by little pet words and giggles as they played with Jjanggu

 

 

 

 

‘I…I was just being silly..’ She pressed her fingertips under her eyes, smoothening over the swollen, heavy lids, before wiping then against the knees of her formal dress trousers, her words breaking suddenly through the night that had deepened around them

Slightly startled as he was by the abruptness, Jongin didn’t interrupt, waiting for more – wanting to know, wanting to hear - and sure enough, the words slid out of her slowly, little by little

‘It was probably my fault, I should have known better…I mean..this always happens, I have the worst temper..and afterwards, I always feel terrible..’

‘Did something happen…at..work?’ He hazarded a guess and held his breath, nervous, and dreading saying the wrong thing..

‘Umm.’

She looked down at her hands, her fingers twisting tightly against each other in her lap..

‘I got into a fight with the manager..’ Her breath hitched as she spoke. ‘I work Fridays at this Chinese place..and… well, the Manager there’s always been quite..well, horrid, really, he gives me the worst shifts, and pushes more work on me than I can possibly handle, and then lays into me the second anything, anything at all, goes wrong, no matter who is at fault, I’m the one blamed…and… ‘

 ‘But.. you own a whole Chain, don’t you??? You‘re way above any Restaurant Manager…wouldn’t they all be all over you, trying to keep in your good graces!?’

She smiled wryly at his incredulous tone, and looked away, out towards the pitch black waters, and the flickering lights at the distant shore ‘No, no, not him – well, umm.. quite a few of them do try to curry favour with me – though of course, most people in the Restaurant business are just genuinely  nice, really…really nice..’ She flicked him a sharp glance, and Jongin fought to hide a chuckle at how adorable her ‘protective, claws-out’ mode was, instead nodding emphatically in agreement, making her turn back to the restless river

‘But..well..this guy..is just…really mean!! I guess… he hates me because of that, because of who I am… And..today there was a mix up with the order – we had these VIP guests, a member of the National Assembly , and some CEOs of Environmental firms..and with people like that, the best trained waiter – the ‘Silver server’ is supposed to carry out the service, I had nothing to do with it, and I was working the regular floor as usual…

But… something happened, and see, the guests were purely vegan? And they ended up being served a grilled pork shoulder, chicken feet and Ox tongue, and…’

‘Whoa!’ Jongin hooted, the hilarity of the situation striking him – before he clamped his lips together, horrified, as he risked a glance towards her, scared he’d offended her – but he needn’t have worried – a small grin was tracing the corners of her lips, tugging at them, and her eyes sparkled with laughter for a moment – ‘yeah, and it was really rare tongue, too!’

But then she continued, and gradually, her voice fell lower, her lids turned darker ‘Well, he dragged me to the back, through the entire restaurant, yelling his head off at me, how, I’m not a princess here, and did I think I could do whatever, because of who my father is, and how, far from being anything special, I was a disgrace, and if it wasn’t for my name, no one would hire trash like me..and…’

As she spoke, she kept her face steadfastly turned to the water, not looking at him..but Jongin could well see the hurt beneath her eyes that smouldered like burning embers as the words spilled out of her vehemently, her little chin trembling, but still upwards bravely – and more than anything, it was that that set off a dull cold ache through him, her braveness, the way she fought to appear thick skinned, even when she was so fragile…

‘I….. I ..I know I only got hired at these places because of that, because the owners are friends of my Dad’s… normally I’d have to train waay longer , have much more experience, to get jobs so easily, the higher end restaurants are obviously particular about the staff…

But…I never slack off..or..i do everything they ask of me, you know? Yet..i…if i..see, I’m the only child, and my dad’s been, always been, so set on having me take over – and me too!! Ever since I was little, I always spend all my time at one of our places… every day after school, I’d bribe one of the drivers to take me straight to the restaurant, instead of home..and Dad would always pretend to get mad, but he wasn’t really, he’d..he’d take me about with him, when he went on his rounds through the kitchens, he’d let me sit at the reservation desk and greet people..and..whenever anyone came in, who was big in the industry, his friends, he’d introduce me as ‘the little owner’…I…i..just…

Theres nothing else I wanna do, you know? Nothing that means as much to me as taking over the restaurants.. the family business… it’s… It’s my dream…it’s my only dream!! Especially after Dad got ill..I just..I just wanna show him that I can do it, ya know, that he needn’t worry about me, coz I can do it, I’ll be fine, the restaurants that he built, will be fine!

But…if I can’t even manage being a waitress, if I can’t even do well on the floor, how can I possibly….

How….will I ever be… ‘

For the second time that night, it was like his body moved on its own – if he’d stopped to think about it, he’d never have been able to have the guts, but at that moment, he didn’t even think – he just wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her close

She clung to him, sobbing helplessly now, frustration, and worry, and fear at having let herself down soaking into her anger and hurt…. burying her face in his shoulder as he held her tight, and rubbed her back, resting his chin against the top of her head as her hands clenched into his shirt, and Jjanggu placed an inquisitive paw on her knee, reaching to her hand comfortingly

 

 

‘So..sorry..’ She snuffled, rubbing her face with trembling hands, as she finally pulled away

‘Do..don’t..mention..it..’

He swallowed, staring at the little pearly tear clinging to the corner of one eye

She was so close…

Her warm body still trapped in the circle of his arms….the weight of her slender figure pressed against his side…

 

Her eyes upturned to his….

 

‘Ah!’ Blushing crimson, he quickly let go, turning away and rubbing his hand on his knee

Awkwardly, she sprang away, turning her face aside, and blushing just as much as him as she quickly wiped at her eyes, and waved her hands in front of her face

Struggling to keep her still shaky voice normal

‘Well…well…Anyway, after, when..he…once he got me in the back, away from everyone, he….’ She cleared , waving her fingers negligently, like she was dismissing it, like she could hide the shock and pain and distress cast fathoms deep in her eyes ‘Well, I’m sure he just wanted to scare me, it was more threatening than anything, he just wanted to frighten me, and of course, when a big lout like that wants to put the fright up a woman, it’s..not….well..theres just one way he can think of doing it, isn’t there… ’

Her voice trailed off as her hands reached up to tug the collar of her shirt up, her arms reflexively moving protectively in front of her chest….

‘What!!’ Spluttering in the rage that had abruptly exploded through him, pounding a thick ooze through his every pore, Jongin rounded on her, his fingers clenching vice-like over her arm ‘Didhe?????’

Startled, she gasped up at him, her drenched indigo eyes turning cherry round. ‘Ohhh! No..no..’ she shook her head, gently wrapping her own fingers around Jongin’s and softly moved them away, her touch lingering on them lightly for a couple of beats, before fluttering off.

 ‘He couldn’t, as soon as he - I..i..hit him over the head with a saucepan..’ she whispered, her voice filled with dread and outrage at herself

‘….arrh?’ It was like he’d taken a roundhouse kick to the stomach – his anger instantly cut off cleanly and completely, and it took a moment for him to consciously appreciate what she’d said – before he burst into hoots of laughter, his extreme relief spiralling it riotously wild – and after a long, shocked moment listening befuddled to his mirth,  the drollness of the incident suddenly struck her too, she joined in, her lower, more sedate laughs like sparkles through the night, lacing with his own voice, melting in… just the sound so seductively heady…

 ‘He…..he lost his balance and fell face first into the pineapple soufflé….’ She wheezed out, setting them both off into yet another bout of laughter, before she managed to get ahold of herself.  ‘It was back behind the kitchen, a walk in storage area, which is kept chilled? For products that have to be kept cool, but not frozen or refrigerator cold, you know?  So the trays are packed in rather close…so when he fell into the pineapple soufflé, he managed to tip over the entire rack beside it, with the leftover punch from the Handicrafts Society luncheon…next thing you know, there’s an almighty clatter, and he’s sitting on the floor his face covered in soufflé, and bathed in bright red punch, which was dripping off his chin in streams, spluttering and blowing bubbles like a fish ….it was pretty spectacular now that I think about it…’

Jongin was practically crying with laughter, her deadpan, serious face as she recited the encounter making it all the more hilarious

‘Well, anyway, the others rushed in, the Maitre d’, and the other servers, but right in front was the Chef – who proceeded to yell his head off at the Manager, for ruining his soufflé ,’ you barbarian’ ….’

 She lost it herself them, giggling helplessly, before throwing her head back and laughing – the first time Jongin had heard her laugh freely, and her voice sent shivers through him – it was somehow huskier than he’d expected, yet feminine and delicious, like aged cider, as she guffawed along with him, the long lines of her delicately convulsing throat forming the most seductive sight he could’ve ever imagined…..

Gradually, panting and gasping, their laughter died down, and Jongin quirked his lips at her ‘It must be awesome working with you’ he teased, bumping shoulders friendlily. ‘Oh, if you think that’s funny, you should hear about the time there was an outbreak of the flu, and I had to double as Sous Chef at the Italian restaurant!! After 3 hours, everyone started dropping the most thinly veiled hints that maybe I’d like to take off too, and ‘doesn’t she look pale?’’I’m sure she looks pale’ ‘I think she’s coming down with it too’ etc etc’ She grinned as she imitated the voices, laughing at herself –

 

 

But gradually, her smile faded, and her eyes turned dim, and Jongin could see the pain well up again in their depths, as she looked over the water, the flashing diamond lights of passing cars on the opposite shore reflected in those impossibly violet orbs.. Helplessly he watched as a chill seemed to set in, enveloping her, obliterating the warmth that had sprung up between them, and somehow driving him insurmountable distances away

 

 PART SIX~ CONSIDERATION

The silence descended on them again – and this time, with an awkwardness stretching heavy enough to make even Jjanggu prick his ear and whine.

 

Jongin shuffled his feet uncomfortably. 

He needed to….

……….

Looking back, Jongin would always remember that moment as one of the times he could really think of him as on the level with Einstein, or that tall kid from the big bang theory – a certifiable genius. Maybe it was the feeling of crisis about the whole situation that had sparked off a hot flash of inspiration..or maybe it was the desperate desire to hear her laugh again..maybe it was the fear, as the silence stretched and deepened, that she’d up and leave – or maybe, just maybe, some chance alignment of stars had bagged him a miracle…either way, his thoughts had jumped along seemingly mundane tangents – a vague memory of his mom being seriously miffed about something, his Noona’s first sleepover, an old French movie Kyungsoo had once downloaded, that they’d both stayed up all night to watch, and a bowl Chanyeol had left in the freezer, that no one was allowed to touch on fear of death ---

 

Okay, if a girl’s upset, really really upset, it’s always a perfect time for ….

..

 

 

‘Urrmm…’

‘Hmm?’ She hummed in question, keeping her eyes lowered.

‘Would you… - ah, there’s this place here that sells really good ice cream..’

‘Ice cream?’ She turned to him, surprised laughter strumming in her voice

Ah! Finally!

Jongin grinned involuntarily in reply – it was the first time she’d looked directly at him like this – looked him in the eye with a light in hers that was almost like..like he was someone close to her, like he was more than a customer or a stranger…it struck him then, that even when they’d been laughing together, even when she’d laughed, openly, just inches from him, it wasn’t as intimate as this – and it was so infectious, her suddenly honest expression, alive and wonderfully feminine, instead of her usual politeness.

For ice cream??

 

Oh crap

This was seriously too cute!!

Quickly, he turned to fumble with Jjanggu’s leash, taking deep breaths , trying desperately to keep his face cool and collected. Clearing his throat, he growled, ‘Yeah… It’s just a small stand, run by this elderly couple… but it’s really yummy homemade ice cream…’

She laughed out loud merrily, this time with sheer happiness, and he couldn’t help it, his eyes refused to stay away, a strange choking lump forming in his throat…

The way her eyes crinkled…

The way her neck stretched and her hand gracefully rose to modestly cover those full, naturally rosy lips –

Making his bite his tongue, to suppress the cry that almost slipped past him – don’t!

 

‘Yes!!! Absolutely, let’s go!!’

 

‘Yup!’ Grinning, he stood up, shaking Jjanggu’s leash, making the fat puppy whuffle and whine in protest at being made to stand up again, just when he was settling in for a nice snooze, then reflexively held out his hand to her

‘Ah! Thank you!’ She picked up her coat and handbag with one hand, and lightly placed the other in his

 

It was totally natural, right…

 

Badump

 

Her soft, smooth palms and delicate fingers slipping against his hard, much bigger, rougher ones…

Her warm weight pressing into him for a moment…

His fingers closing around her hand in response…

 

Naturally…

 

Badump badump badump

 

She wasn’t even looking at him, preoccupied with adjusting the strap of her handbag over her shoulder….

 

C’mon, just moments ago, he’d actually had her in his arms, while she was crying, and this was actually so much less than that!!

 

Why was his heart beating so fast, then, like it would burst out of his chest!!??

 

Badump BAdump

 

His fingers tightened around hers..

 

All he had to do..was tug her closer…just a bare few inches…

 

 

‘Thank you’ Smiling, that polite mask over her features again, she smoothly slid her hand away, straightening the collar of her shirt

 

Ah

 

Biting down that inexplicable sharp pang of hurt loss, he turned around starting to head up the steps.

 

‘C’mon’

She followed him, after waiting for a minute, for Jjanggu to stop trying to entangle himself around her legs, clad in their small heeled pumps, laughing at his struggles

 

 

 

 

‘Soo…’

‘Hmm?’

They were walking down the small, picturesque street, the golden streetlamps pooling their jewelled light over them, the cicadas singing in joyful chorus at the beautiful summer night…

Jjanggu keeping obediently to heel – ha! He was too fat to be naughty, that’s what!

And her..

Walking beside him, her hair swishing silkily about with every step..

‘You work at like, three different restaurants!?’

‘Umm! She nodded up at him, her fingers resting lightly on her shoulder, over the strap of her bag.

‘Bubbleoca thrice a week, Monday through Wednesday, and Chan Dong Hun on Tuesdays and Fridays..and over the weekends, I work at the Trattoria…’

‘Eeeh~~ ‘ he whistled through his teeth, totally not committing her schedule to memory, or suddenly plotting excuses to start accompanying Sehun on his bubble tea runs on those days. ‘Isn’t that waay too tiring??!!’

She shrugged, her brow wrinkling

‘Umm..kinda…’ She shrugged again, as if to say she couldn’t help it ‘They all have totally different types of customers, and service, and of course, products, so I can learn a lot…and they let me work around my schedule so I don’t miss any classes…’

‘Whoa!! Classes??’

‘Hm?? Yeah…college…?’ She shot him a quizzical glance, making him laugh

‘Okay, come on, that’s waay too much!!’

She gave in, giggling and nodded – ‘I know!! I keep trying to chuck it – I mean, I already know more about the practical, necessary aspects of running a business, than I’ll ever learn in a lecture hall – but my parents are stuck on me getting a degree!!’ She pouted prettily, acting majorly put on, and he laughed again

She was so hard working..efficient…. industrious…

‘Ah! You speak Korean really well, though!’ He stopped short, pointing his finger to emphasize, his vehemence lending his eyes an intensity and heat that was almost palpable

‘…Ah..thank you..’  She blushed and looked down. ‘I’ve been learning since high school…’

‘Eeeh~~ how come??’

‘Huh? Ah..well…ya know…just like that..’

Eeehh..

Jongin frowned as he watched her fingers lift and her necklace, the gold winking in matte tones..

Just like that..huh.

Oblivious, she continued, ‘And when I was starting college, Dad opened the branches here, and we moved here, so…’

He couldn’t explain it – but the feeling that she was ‘keeping’ something from him – of course it was ridiculous, of course it was idiotic to even think anyone would suddenly start divulging every last bit of personal information to someone who was a total stranger…

But.

 

 

 

But….

He forced himself to bite down that surge of irritation, but it still broke the surface,  his hand clenching on Jjanggu’s lead so tightly, the poor puppy tripped and fell against him, making his complaints in high pitched yelps

‘Ah! Sorry sorry sorry’ blushing and reaching down to pet the offended pup, he waved one hand at her as she turned, one eyebrow raised in concern.

‘It’s nothing’ His voice was curter than he meant it to be – and almost immediately, he could see the frost light into her eyes

Struggling to sound mellow, like as if every little thing about her wasn’t engineering a totally exaggerated and unwarranted response from him, or something, he growled ‘I guess it was just a stone or something..’

‘Ah…’

She moved closer, bending down to pat Jjanggu ‘There, there, boy….. it’s all better now… Who’s a good puppy~~ Who’s a good little puppy~~’

Involuntarily, he snorted, waving his hands in apology as she raised an eyebrow at him ‘No, no, I was just….’

‘Hmm?’ She was glaring at him now, her fingers still entangled in Jjanggu’s fur, as she bent over him, opposite Jongin who was squatting beside the pup

‘Ah…’ Blushing, he looked away, his hand reflexively moving to cover his lips’ That is…errm..nothing, nothing, let’s go’

Vigorously, he stood up, brushing himself off, and tugged Jjangah’s leash ‘C’mon boy, c’mon!!’ and set off down the road at a fast trot

‘Eeehh~’ he could hear the annoyance in her voice, and he grinned to himself, though making sure she couldn’t see – after all, it was waayy better for her to be annoyed with him for some unknown reason..

Than coz she knew he’d been thinking just how lucky her customers were, her bedside manner was impeccable!

 

They continued walking, in what had settled into a companionable silence… Jongin feeling a hidden thrill everytime he had to slow down his pace to match her feminine stride…

He wasn’t even questioning the random little things that were suddenly able to fling him about from the happy excitement to angry annoyance, to hurt, to laughter… like a pinball…

 

If it was her…

If it was her, he didn’t want to question anything anymore… not his own reactions, not his suddenly adolescent emotional state, and definitely not slip back into the endless loop of –

 

Ahhhhhh

 

There it was again. The stab of discomfort and guilt piercing into him again - SHE’S the one who sold us out!!!

EXO was….EXO was everything to him..the hyungs…wasn’t this totally betraying the one thing..his most precious thing….

 

Seriously, wtf is wrong with you, Kim Jongin, you don’t even know her for crying out loud..

This whole thing is crazy anyway…Theres no way I can so totally lose my cool around a damn woman, is there?! Granted, she’s cute and all, but I’m in friggin EXO I have friggin models, and top actresses, and idols flinging themselves at me every which way, I have my pick of the hottest women in the country, theres no way I can be so….

 

‘Hey!’

‘Huh?’ She stopped, turning quickly towards his sudden call

‘What do you think about me?’

Her eyes widened, her lips curling into an ‘O’, as she gaped at him….waiting for him to add a modifier..laugh it off..or continue..say anything..

But he held his ground, holding her eyes with a burning gaze. Refusing to back down.

‘……..ummm….’ She titled her head to the side, discomfited…blushing and hesitant….

He sighed, ‘Never mind… Let’s go.’

 

He let the leash in his hand hit his thigh as they walked, feeling suddenly reluctant.

He hadn’t meant to…

He really had had no intention of saying something like that..but once the words were out – he’d just…

Really wanted to know.

 

But maybe it was better this way…

Without a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’…

After all… it wasn’t like he didn’t already know right?

 She…pretty much… hated him, right?

 

But then, she’d actually cried in front of him….confided in him…That’s not something you do in front of someone….

Esp since..from what he could tell of her, she was really not the type to show such vulnerability in front of anyone

And why the hell was she so happily walkin’ beside him now????!!

 

Just as he was about to ruffle his hair in irritation, she stopped – and, trying and failing to catch his attention by calling polite ‘excuse me’s’, placed a gentle hand on his arm

Which worked, extremely effectively, to totally switch off his trance like a physical blow

 ‘Eh??’ He blinked blankly

‘Urmm…..is this the place?’

‘Ah! Yes!!’ Turning, he grinned at her sheepishly, looking adorably cute and boyish

‘Sorry..woolgathering..’

She laughed  - ‘Ah! There it is again!’ He thought, feeling suddenly light hearted and supremely happy – somehow in that instance, managing to wipe out all the unease that had been soaking through him,  and patted his arm lightly before moving away

Grinning, he tugged Jjanggu’s leash – though he didn’t need to, the pup was already heading to the door, entranced by the scrumptious smells wafting out – so eagerly, that he actually waddled right into the glass door, yelping in surprise – making both of them burst out laughing..

His deep bass tones contrasting beautifully with her alto

‘He really likes ice cream, ne!’

‘He likes anything edible, the fatso~ Just a bit earlier he stole, like, 3 pizzas from our dinner! At this rate, I’m totally gonna get kicked out of the dorms…’ Jongin’s words, though annoyed in themselves, were spoken with such obvious love, and that inexplicable pride of ownership, that Risa couldn’t help the warmth in her smile

‘Ehh~~ But isn’t that just coz you spoil him?’ She teased, and Jongin exclaimed, blinking widely, his voice carrying a hint of a pout – ‘No I don’t! He totally stole them all himself – ‘

Jjanggu put an end to the conversation then - choosing that moment to start barking at the top of his voice, in irritation at the daft humans who were standing around and talking while there were such interesting smells coming from just a few paws away!!

‘JJjanggu, stop it!! C’mon now, old chap, stop barking, you’re making trouble, c’mon, I’ll buy you an entire vanilla ice for yourself, k, stop – ‘

This time, Jongin, who’d bent down, patting the eager puppy in hopes of calming him down was cut off by a different interruption – Risa, giggling uncontrollably down at him, her eyes glimmering with laughter

‘Huh???’

‘Yeah…you’re right…you don’t spoil him at all…’ She wheezed, making him spring to his feet and start protesting loudly – before catching the joke himself

As their chuckles faded, their eyes still held, and she smiled quietly at him, tilting her head invitingly towards the door

He nodded, biting his lower lip, and reaching ahead, pulled open the door, letting her step in ahead of him – and blushing fiery at the little glimpse of the nape of her neck as she inclined her head in thanks as she slipped past him, he entered the little shop too.

Immediately, the warm scent of freshly baking cones washed over them, lacing through the frigid air in delicious

‘Waa!!’ Exclaiming excitedly, she danced to the counter, leaning almost right into the glass fronted shelves as she read the names off the tags

‘Chocolate coffee..Chocolate twirl..Chocolate Seven Eighty..Chocolate supreme..Chocolate surprise..chocolate berry swirl.. Wow, omg, this looks so good!!‘

 

Jongin gaped at her swirling hair, as she turned this way and that

Everything about her was a mystery, incomprehensibly hidden in those impossibly deep black eyes..

 

Was she proud and haughty? Shy? Reserved?? Her frequent moments of glacial formality seemed to point along these lines…

But… the way she’d laughed her head off..the way she’d made him laugh…the way she looked at him sometimes….

The way she was flitting about now, like the most graceful, happy butterfly to spot a meadow…

Wasn’t she just utterly Fun and playful and cute?

 

And even worse, what about him….

She could go so easily from treating him like he wasn’t half bad, to looking like she wanted to nail him to the nearest tree…

 

Aarrgh, he just couldn’t get a handle on this!!

 

 

But somehow…incredibly, it was that very thought made butterflies twirl about in his stomach…soda pop in his veins

His heart settle into a rhythm so hard and fast and loud, it was a wonder the whole store didn’t hear him

 

It was..somehow… the same as that split second before you step on stage… the lights blazing right in front of you, the hardwood floor just a pace ahead…the crowds already screaming your name at the top of their lungs…

The cameras prepped and pointing, and the first trickles music starting to sound…

 

Something he’d never thought he could possibly feel anywhere else…

 

 

Then she turned back to smile at him – warm and open and friendly..and..no..more than friendly…kinda..possessively??

it was like the world stopped in its tracks, even his excitement was blown away and he just stared, mesmerised…

‘Ah! Jongin-ah! Welcome!! Ah, and you brought Jjanggu too! There, there, wushiecushie, whoshea liwwle cutie…’

 

Jongin snapped his mouth shut, chuckling, and nodded to Mrs Lee, who had just breezed in through the curtains leading to the back kitchen, and was now engrossed in petting a fully approving Jjanggu

‘Good Evening!’

‘Ah! Good evening, Good evening…’ She smiled and straightened up, brushing her hands on her knees. ‘It’s the usual Berry banana, I presume’

Jongin laughed in acknowledgement, and tilted his head over at Risa.

‘How ‘boutchu?’ He grinned at her, halfway to a smirk

‘Ah!’ She looked at the display again, her hands clutched together, a pout forming cutely over her luscious, rosy lips.

‘I don’t know…I just can’t decide between Chocolate Central, and Polish Chocolate…’ She turned big, glimmering eyes at him

 

WhoaaaOkayCrapSeriously now, this is too much…

 

But damn, was this fun!!

 

 

 ‘You know, it’s not all just chocolate’ he teased

Grinning cheekily at him, she stuck her tongue out. ‘Ice cream that’s not chocolate is not worth eating’ she flicked her hair over her shoulder with an exaggerated movement of superiority, breaking off to laugh at herself – then, catching sight of the chocolate fountain playing happily near the far wall, pranced off towards it, almost squealing, followed by an utterly enthralled Jongin

‘Ah! You’ll totally get along well with Sehun!’ he commented, as she happily took up one of the biscuit cups balancing precariously on a sprinkles-laden tray, and scooped up some of the chocolate lava.

 

‘Ehh…’ She slowly sipped the chocolate, finishing half of it, before resting the cup in her palm, deliberately turning it round and round.

‘Is that so…’

 

‘Umm!! Sehun loves chocolate…’

 

‘Errmm…’ Nervously, she spun the cup around one last time, her eyes fixed on the deep, rich brown. ‘It’s really delicious…like, seriously…’

 

‘……yeah!’

 

‘It’s really rich..buttery..and with just this slight after taste of something..spicy..’

 

 

‘….yeah…’

 

 

‘Umm….’ Steeling herself, she slowly lifted the cup out. ‘I really can’t finish this all myself, or I really won’t be able to have an ice too - i’m sorry, i dipped in too much..and…it would be really wasteful..so…I mean, I didn’t realise so much would flow in..and…buying a second one would really.. – ‘

 

‘Are you offering me the rest of your chocolate??’

 

His incredulousness must’ve been evident in his voice – though, fortunately, she didn’t interpret it correctly, her head snapping up, and her eyes suddenly flashing with that magnificent fire, the colour high on her cheeks

‘Well, I know it’s weird, I was just thinking of you wasting your money on another one, obviously, I know it’s weird to share or whatever, but God, you could’ve just said ‘no’, is there any need to take that tone??!!!’ She spun around, with an almost audible crackle, grumbling under her breath, making to throw the rest of the chocolate in the bin by the door ‘Honestly, there’s a limit to how rude a person can be..it’s not like I have some disea – ‘

When he grabbed her wrist, stopping her

‘No, no, I mean, yeah….Gimme!’ Stumbling over his words, he slid his fingers against hers, slipping the cup out of her hand, and quickly quaffed a swallow – when, over the crumbly cookie rim, he caught sight of the crimson staining her cheeks as her eyes slowly raised themselves from her empty hands

Eehh…

Grinning, his lips angled perfectly, he slowly brought the cup down, swallowing visibly… then took another languorously slow sip, sedulously letting the chocolate trickle down his throat…

Her tongue slipping out to along her parted lips as she watched, breathlessly….

 

Then suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Mrs Lee – agog with curiosity and interest, leaning almost all the way over the counter, her breath rasping with the scandalous spectacle in front of her

Ah !

Blushing, he quickly turned around, turning to the counter, clearing his throat hurriedly a couple of times

‘So…one berry banana cone for me, and one…Chocolate Central?’ he raised a (hopefully) politely disinterested eyebrow at her

‘Urrhm, erm, erm..yeah. Yes. Right.’ She nodded politely at Mrs Lee, furiously trying to cover her fluster

It was 15 mins later though that they managed to get out – Mr lee had come into the shop just then, and insisted on shooting the wind with him, asking and immediately dismissing his opinion on everything from the weather, to the political situation in Hong Kong, to whether the peonies outside looked blighted or not

‘Sorry about that’’ He jerked his head at her, as they walked along, making their way slowly back to the river

‘Ah! No, no, it’s fine!’ She waved one hand profusely, then took another bite of her ice cream

‘You were right, this is incredible!’

‘Riight??!!’ He laughed triumphantly, pointing one finger at her. ‘Ahh, they really make them so well, na~~ It’s so lucky, if Monggu hadn’t wandered off here last week, I’d never have found this place!’

 

‘Huh???

Wait, Huuuuuhhhh??!!! Last week??’

 

‘Umm…yeah?’ he titled his head curiously at her

‘Ehh..eehh..is that so..’

‘What?’ he grinned

‘Ah..no..just… you were so  friendly with them..it was like you’d known them for years!’

He laughed outright at that, sounding flattered. ‘eehh..is that so?’

They walked on, the conversation flowing smoothly, talking about random things – big and small, serious and funny…the silences in between comfortably friendly…

 

 

 

‘Hmm mm mm…’ Jongin hummed quietly under his breath, moving his hands in the steps from one of their older pieces

‘Eeehh~’

‘Hmm??’

‘You really love dancing, don’t you?’

‘Hmm???...Ah! This!! Sorry..’ Blushing sheepishly, he quickly pulled his hands down, stuffing them into the pockets of his jacket ‘Sorry, it’s just…my habit..’

She laughed

‘No, no, no… I gettit..it’s really really admirable that theres something you’re so passionate about...’

‘Mm..?’ His tone held a teasing note – that she totally missed, as she turned to him, hands and her gaze burning into him. ‘Yes!’ She spoke emphatically ‘I really admire people who are that driven!’

He gaped at her, entranced by yet another side to this woman, a new facet he’d just uncovered…

The passionate one is her… he thought, wondering at her earnest, flashing eyes, her skin taking on a faint pearly pink glow

‘Eeurm..’ Blushing, realizing he’d been staring waay too recklessly, he quickly snapped his head away, but nodding all the same. ‘Thanks..’

‘Ah!’ Suddenly realising she’d actually rounded on him, her nose inches from his face before he’d turned away, she blushed crimson, pure fire replacing the pale pink translucence, as she hastily pulled aside, clearing in embarrassment ‘ar..ermm..that is…that..ya know..’

‘Yeah..i mean, I gettit..’ he nodded reassuringly, and they continued along the tree lined avenue, the sounds of the River a comfortable swell in the distance, muffling the grand symphony of the night time city…. Here it was so quiet, they could hear the cicadas, the whisper of the leaves hanging overhead….even the occasional cry of a baby bird disturbed in its rest by the wind carrying tales of coming autumn…

Jongin had insisted on walking her to the bus stop on the far end of the Hang, from where she was to catch one home.

‘That was…Eururong, wasn’t it?’

‘Eh??!! Yeah!!’ He turned to her, looking thoroughly excited ‘You do listen to us, ne!’

‘Ha? What…everyone knows at least that one..’ She scoffed, waving her hand in denial, but he wasn’t to be refused – ‘Have you watched the MV?’

‘…Mmm..kinda…by chance..’

‘Eeehhh!! What about Overdose??’

‘Umm.’ She nodded, laughing at his eagerness, but looking, all the same, for some reason, really shy..

The conversation stayed on the band after that, Jongin excitedly describing their performances, (‘It was tough, we had to retake that seventeen times, and by the end, we were like – ah, that’s enough, we don’t even care if there are mistakes, we’re not doing this again!’

…………………

‘…….. and it was so much fun, we totally had fun that day, we didn’t need to keep set places, so it was basically just free style dancing……’

‘….it was the first time we went there, yeah, so it was a bit scary………’)

and showing her the movements  (‘ See, it’s supposed to be from left to right, not right to left like this~ demonstrating a wave)

Telling her anecdotes about the members…….

 

She laughed and commented teasingly on everything, her observations precise, and more than once, so on point, it took his breath away….

 

By the time they reached the bus stand,  he had her in splits, the atmosphere around them having somehow…mysteriously..solidified, concretely,  into something remarkably resembling friendship.

As the bus pulled in, she bent down, and patted Jjanggu on the head, tugging his ears ‘ Good bye, baby!! Good boy, good boy, Jjanggu, bye byee~~’ The pup whuffed in reply, reaching to her hand, and she laughed, straightening up..suddenly strained…

‘Errmm..’ She turned to him, and bowed formally, deeply. ‘Thaank You fo-‘

‘Who is your fav member?’

‘Huuhh??!’ She stared at him, utterly taken aback by his sudden vehement question

‘You know EXO pretty well right..you have to have a favourite member, everyone has their biases…so…

Who’s yours??’

‘Uurrmm…’ For some reason, she blushed furiously ‘ ah! I have to go..thank you so much for today, for everything..you …really really helped..thank you!!’ Stumbling over the words, broken by gaps of silence, she hastily turned away, making to board the bus

‘Tchah!’ He clicked his tongue. Then sighed. ‘C’mon boy, c’mon, let’s go home’ he tugged JJjanggu’s leash, and with a whine, the puppy turned with him – when –

‘Kai!’

‘Hmm?’ Reflexively, he turned back, a question in his eyes, at Risa who was half-leaning out of her window seat on the bus, entirely deserted on this late weekday night

‘My favourite member – Kai!’ she repeated, blushing completely tomato red, and yanked her head in, as the bus pulled out of the stand.