Chen's POV

I quickly left the room, not wanting to see her so disappointed, or maybe just not wanting to feel my own disappointment. We unfortunately had a CF filming session scheduled for tonight, and it would undoubtedly take up the whole night and maybe even more.

I went through the sequence of events and my script for the CF in my head as I waited for the elevator, hoping that I wouldn't be late. It wasn't too difficult, just trying to act natural while saying horrendously cheesy lines. Nothing we haven't done before.

I could already imagine Rachel's reaction when she saw it; the way she'd laugh cutely, faint smile lines on either side of her face appearing, how her smile revealed all her teeth, lighting up her face with a glow so brilliant.  

Slowly, my thoughts started drifting back to what she had said. The flash of hurt on her face.

Pay a friend back, you know?

...you already have her...

What had she really meant by that?

The opening of the elevator fished me out from my thoughts, gladly. I stepped in, pushing the button for the ground floor, and checking the time repeatedly on my phone. The floor numbers on the display seemed to decrease so unbearably slowly, one by one. Maybe I should've taken the stairs.

I didn't mean it that way.

You already have her.

Had I just gotten friend-zoned?

The elevator finally reached the ground floor, and I quickly walked towards the front door, knowing my manager would already be there waiting in his van with the other members.

Suddenly, the sound of an incoming call filled the silence, and I hurriedly grabbed my phone, expecting to be reprimanded for being late. It was indeed my manager, and I sighed, debating between picking up or just rushing outside to meet him, as he was probably calling to tell me to hurry up anyway.

I ended up deciding to pick up. "Hello?"

"Yes Jongdae, I'm actually calling to alert you that tonight's CF filming has been cancelled and rescheduled to the day after tomorrow."

I paused, not sure if I was hearing right. "What, why?"

"Something about them having double booked. Don't worry about it." He said, sounding surprisingly casual about it.

"Oh, so that means...we get tonight off?" For a second, I felt a little lost, unsure of what else I'd be doing. Our free time was so rare that I had trouble coming up with something else to do.

"Yes, go enjoy, Jongdae-ya. You guys deserve a bit of a break anyway."

"Thanks, hyung." I hung up and was greeted by the hushed silence of the lobby again. There weren't too many people here at this hour; trainees would be still in their classes or practicing. I could hear the distant rumble of cars during rush hour, and the usual small crowd of fans casually waiting by the front door.

Then a thought struck me. Now that my schedule's been cancelled, I could actually take up Rachel's offer and we could go get dinner or something.

Then I paused.

Just forget I ever said anything.

Would it be such a good idea to take up her offer? Was it an offer at all? What had her words really meant?

I shook the thought out of my head as I found myself waiting for the elevator yet again, this time going back up to the practice rooms to find her.  I hoped that she would still be there. She didn't seem to have any other schedules tonight if she had asked me to go get food with her.

The elevator had gone up a few floors before it stopped and the door opened. It really couldn't take any longer- I just wanted to get there quickly before she left... If only my manager had told me about the cancellation earlier, then maybe I wouldn't be feeling like this. I started a text to her, wanting to ask if she was still free.

Then as the doors were about to close, the clicking of heels against the marble floor caught my attention, and I looked up to see Minnie walking in, a slim hand catching the elevator door before it close.

"Oh hey," I greeted, "fancy seeing you here." A smile crept up my face.

She raised an eyebrow at me, her eyes twinkling like the glittery makeup surrounding them. "I could say the same to you. Since when does the oh-so-popular Kim Jongdae not have a schedule to attend to?"

"Someone was lucky enough to have their CF filming cancelled tonight." I chuckled.

"No way! Wow, you don't say, that company must not like money or something." She laughed, bumping my arm lightly.

"Hmm maybe that's true." I shrugged, heart feeling a bit lighter. "Who would make the mistake of double-booking their film set?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically, "seriously? It'd be more likely if they were too broke to hire your expensive asses and just needed an excuse," she said, stifling a laugh.

I found myself laughing with her, forgetting about everything else in that moment. "Yah, excuse you, your royal highness, you think you won't have an even higher net worth in a few years?"

"I guess we'll find out, if I ever manage to debut." She smiled, trying to poke me but I manage to dodge in time.

Soon our laughter died down and the quiet settled in. My thoughts from before came drifting back, and I realized that I didn't even have a place in mind for dinner, if we ended up going.

"Hey, where's a place to go for dinner nearby? Something not too fancy but has good food and a good atmosphere." I asked, ready to search up a place on my phone.

"Hmm what about that new place down the street that just opened recently? It looks like a nice cafe, doesn't it?" Minnie suggested, looking at me questioningly, still with a smile on her face.

I thought back to the times when we drove past that place, and the owners were just doing the last renovations before opening. The atmosphere seemed light and casual there, not too romantic or formal, which was definitely a plus. This way we wouldn't be too awkward nor would anything be too obvious.

"You're right, that place does looks pretty cool." I nodded, turning back to look at the little display that showed the floors we're passing, as if staring at it would make it go faster.

"Hey, since you have the rest of the night free today, why don't we just go now? I haven't had dinner either and was just about to head to the cafeteria actually."

I froze, trying to come up with a safe excuse to fall back on. "Oh I uh-"

"Come on oppa~ You seem so stressed these days with all those schedules and you're hardly ever free. Let's go and just relax for once!" She said excitedly, linking her arm through mine.

Just forget I ever said anything.

I thought about it, unsure about Rachel's words, like what if they were lost in translation, or what if I had heard wrong in the first place? She seemed so keen on taking back her words anyway...

After hesitating for another moment, I saw how Minnie was looking at me so expectantly and gave in at last.

"Okay then, let's go!" It wasn't as if I wouldn't get a chance to see Rachel again. The next time, I'd definitely be sure to ask her to go somewhere with me. I smiled at the thought of that.

"Yes! We'll have so much fun just like old times." Minnie said, beaming brightly. I made my face match hers, thinking back to a few years ago. Before all the schedules came along, when we had free time, when there was less stress, when we didn't have to worry about scandals...

Yes, tonight would be enjoyable.

She pressed the ground floor button once again as the elevator finally stopped at the tenth floor where the practice rooms were. As the elevator door opened, my heart seemed to stop as this time I caught sight of another familiar figure standing by the door.

Rachel walked in. 

Your typical k-drama scene~ ;) 
More is revealed about Minnie and Chen's relationship hmm