“That’s all you’re having?” Mr. Ok asked you after he heard you only ordered for a drink. 
You smiled at him. “Ne. I’m still full.” You said. Lunch was just two hours ago. You ate lunch at home alone since Dona is already at work when you came home from Joonmyeon’s apartment.
“Are you sure?” Mr. Ok asked you one more time and after you nodded, he finalized his order with the waiter and then turned to you again after the boy has left. “So how are you and Joonmyeon now?” He asked so casually and you awkwardly smiled at the empty plate on your table. You can’t look at him. Then Mr. Ok laughed. “Joonmyeon told me that you rejected him too many times that he lost count, because you didn’t want to break the contract and disappoint me.” You gnawed on your lower lip, anxiety overwhelming you like a blanket big enough to cover your frame. “You didn’t disappoint me, Maya.” He finally said. 
You looked up at him and opened your mouth to finally speak when he beat you to it.
“Oh wait, you actually disappointed me.” He added. 
Your words got stuck on your throat. What?
“You disappointed me when you ditched Joonmyeon on your first date and disappeared without any explanation.” He sounded like it was a bad memory to remember. “s and I had suffered his very rare mood shift.” 
You nodded. “I regretted doing that. Although at that time, that was what I thought was the best thing to do.” You said. 
Your conversation halted to allow the waiter to serve your orders. 
“Joonmyeon told me about Inhye.” He said when you were alone once again.
“She’s just concerned. She cares about the group so much.” You said in defense of the other manager. 
“Don’t worry about her. Joonmyeon’s already spoke to her. She’s like a mother to the boys, but she realized what she did was uncalled-for.” Hearing that made you feel better. At least, Inhye-unni has already had a change-of-heart. It would be difficult to continue with the thing you and Joonmyeon have if someone close to them doesn’t approve of it. 
You still feel so overwhelmed. You can’t believe that you’re having such a calm conversation with Mr. Ok about your relationship with EXOs leader. “What are your worries, Maya?”
Bravely, you looked up at the man’s face. “T-this is my... Uhm, this is the first time I- uhm, the first-” Not like that. Rephrase! “J-Joonmyeon-ah is my first- is the first person-”
“He’s your first boyfriend?” Mr. Ok was laughing at what he could figure out with your stammer. “Wow. That’s why he’s suddenly become so possessive and sensitive about you. He wasn’t like that with his previous girlfriends. He’s the cool and open type.” 
You don’t really want to talk about his previous relationships. You don’t want to imagine. “A-Are you going to tell SM about me?” You asked instead. That’s actually the biggest of your fears. That they would stand in the way and force you to separate. 
“Don’t be concerned about other things. As long as you both have an understanding, you just focus on that, Maya.” He said, frowning. “You only have to understand and accept the nature of Joonmyeon’s work and SM will be your least of worries.” 
That was pretty vague. “What do you mean, Mr.-oppa?” You corrected yourself immediately but that slip didn’t escape Mr. Ok’s ears. 
He was shaking his head, laughing when he explained further what he just said. “They’re idols but they’re still boys. They get attracted too. SM can’t control that. What they can only do is damage control.” He started. “As long as their relationships doesn’t reach the fans’ knowledge, SM will keep their hands off of them. Let’s them do whatever they want. It’s part of their contract to protect their image and careers. A dating scandal isn’t called a scandal for no reason. Korean fans are very possessive. SM isn’t the antagonist in here. Idols receive a lot of hate and the stocks gets affected when they’re found to be dating.” He explained lengthily. You understand now. SM isn’t going to be a problem if you and Joonmyeon keep your relationship from the public. That thing is clear now and it made you breathe easier. “Baekhyun and Taeyeon unfortunately had to suffer. You see, the company’s stock was affected because angry fans are boycotting the merchandise and all. Fans are customers. Unhappy fans is bad for business and for idols. It’s more difficult if both of you are idols.” He shared while eating. “But Joonmyeon’s a clever boy. He knows what he's doing and he wasn't chosen as EXOs leader for nothing. He and Sunyoung even lasted two years. There were small hear-says’ but there were never proofs. So when they’ve gone separate ways, it’s like nothing happened. F(x) and EXO were unscathed.”
You gulped. Joonmyeon had a two-year relationship with another idol? From the group F(x)? You don’t know anyone about that group though but- well, you’re suddenly curious but you know you shouldn’t even bother because it’s in the past now. 
Mr. Ok probably noticed your expression. “Mianhe, Maya. I shouldn’t have told you that.” 
You gave him an assuring smile. “It’s okay.”
Then he suddenly said. “The boys don’t have a schedule on Valentines day evening.” 
The day after tomorrow is Valentines day. The day before Valentines day is your birthday. You don’t have any plans on the 14th because you don’t know what Joonmyeon wants or how couples really celebrate that day since you’ve always been a single girl, but you have a plan for tomorrow. 

$$$

You woke up from the sudden movement of your bed. When you opened your eyes, you saw Dona beaming at you. She’s on your bed; jumping up and down, holding a green box on her hands. Then she started singing the happy birthday song.
You were laughing when she finished singing the song in the highest tone you’ve ever heard in your lifetime. Even before you opened the gift, you hugged her really tight that you heard her complain that she doesn’t want to die of a hug.
She gave you a CD of a classical music collection. You thanked her again and again. But since she’s working today until evening, both of you just went out for a quick breakfast together. After Dona has left, your parents called you and greeted you on Skype. 
In the afternoon, you went to Yeouido to personally submit the melody you created for the lyrics Mr. Gong sent you. You spent the rest of the afternoon there because you had to discuss the melody you created. He seemed very pleased about the outcome and even had you record it in a studio in an instant so he can make the writer of the song listen to it. He revealed that the song is going to be included in Jung Seunghwan; a Kpop Star finalist’s first album. Mr. Gong said he works closely with a record label called Antenn