I stayed in the practice room and played the piano for a little while after he left, trying to clear my thoughts. Chopin's beautiful Nocturnes have always helped me express my emotions, this one calming me down to a slow andante with each trill. I tried to keep my thoughts from wandering off into other realms...like thinking about how he wrote my name over that page.

What did that even mean?

Instead, I pictured myself on a stage, with everyone watching me. What would it be like to perform in front of so many people? To have the pressure of perfecting each and every move in the dance, while adding just the right touch to the notes. I could imagine the exhilaration, adrenaline pumping through my veins as the crowd cheered my group on. As if we could really impact the lives of so many people out there.

When I finished playing the piece, I quickly gathered my stuff and put it away, definitely not forgetting to take the page that Chen had written my name on. It was around dinner time and I was planning on picking up dinner at the cafeteria before going back to the dorm, hopefully before it got dark outside.

The sun was starting to set, streaking the sky with a palette of warm colours behind the sparse clouds. Such a beautiful sight was rare to see, as I usually stayed back to practice until the early hours of morning, and I smiled as it strangely reminded me of the first day here, a few months back.

I waited for the elevator, the little numbers on the screen showing that one was coming all the way from the lobby, while the other one seemed to be held in the basement level. Either one would take forever to get all the way up here.

Slowly, my thoughts drifted back to what happened earlier. So what had he meant by writing my name? Was he just testing my abilities to read Korean? I had mentioned it earlier during the lesson after all. Or was he just doodling during our lesson? But why would he be doodling my name--Stop, Rachel, stop this. I quickly wiped the thought from my brain though there was still a smile on my lips and a bounce in my step that I just couldn't help.

With a sharp bell sound, the elevator arrived and the doors opened, cutting through the silence of the floor.

My breath stopped as I noticed who was inside. Chen and Minnie were standing there, smiling at each other just like the first day I ever saw them. Only this time, she had her arm linked through his.

I didn't know what to think. How to react.

My heart was pounding in my chest restlessly, feeling anxiety of sorts creep up on me.

Okay, just calm down. Walk in like you do normally, push the button, and either look down at your phone or up at the numbers.

Chen's smile faded when he saw me, eyes widening in surprise. Minnie, on the other hand, gave me the tiniest of smiles, so I gave her a small wave back, purposely avoiding looking in his direction.

A queasy feeling made my stomach sink, not because I saw them together, but I was hurt at the fact that he had lied to me about having a schedule tonight...just to avoid being with me.

Is that why he had lied to me?

I got off of the elevator and headed to the cafeteria, leaving them behind me. The whole time, I could feel Chen's eyes on me, as well as the immense tension hovering in the atmosphere, so I was glad to be out of such a claustrophobic environment. After picking up some food, I took the bus and headed back to the dorm, feeling numb.

Was it really necessary to lie to me?

When I got home, set my stuff down, and immediately headed into the shower. After drowning out my feelings and thoughts with some hot water, I returned to my room and climbed onto my bunk bed. I pulled out my phone and just browsed on different social medias, not feeling up to doing homework or practicing lyrics.

"Whee!" I heard a shout, then screams of happiness got louder before finally coming into the room. Minnie skipped into the bedroom holding her giant phone in her hand, spinning around. I eyed her, my mind spinning.

She said something quickly in Korean, I guess more to herself than to me, then went to the walk-in closet and dug through, pulling out a beautiful short black dress. She must have had a lot of clothes if she had to keep some of it in this closet as well as in her own room. Minnie held up the dress in front of her then looked over at me, a questioning look in her eyes.

This seemed like the ultimate confirmation that Chen and Minnie were indeed dating.

That eased my mind a bit, at least knowing that I wouldn't have a chance with him and that I was just over-thinking all those times before.

I gave her a thumbs up before she turned into the closet again and picked out a pretty white blouse with a short maroon A-line skirt. She glanced at me again and I raised a finger, indicating my preference for the first outfit. She nodded and flashed a smile, skipping to the washroom with the little black dress to go change.

I sighed and continued to surf the web on my phone. Then suddenly, a thought popped into my head. Did the public know about Chen and Minnie's relationship? Why hadn't I thought of just searching it up before?

I did a quick search with the keywords "EXO", "Chen", and "girlfriend". There were many results, but they were all either fan fiction related or jokes. There was nothing related to Minnie, and not even a single rumour. Hmm, interesting. One search result did catch my attention, however. My finger hesitated over the link to "EXO's Ideal Types", but curiosity got the best of me.

The page seemed to load agonizingly slowly for Korea's fast internet speed, but once it did, I quickly scanned the list of members' names until I found the one I was looking for. "Chen: A noona who can take the lead and take care of him; someone who has pretty eyes when she smiles." My heart sank even more after reading that; it was no wonder he has someone like Minnie. Someone who's older than me, more mature than me, and definitely prettier. Someone to understand him better, who's just as talented as he is. Someone who matches him perfectly.

A while later, Minnie came out with the dress on and her makeup done as well. As I expected, the little black dress complimented her nice figure perfectly and accentuated her thin long legs, especially with her matching black pumps. The black also matched with her long black hair and sleek bangs, giving her a mysterious edge.

"Looks good!" I complimented, giving her another thumbs up. "Where are you going?"

She thought about it for a while, as if thinking through her vocabulary of English words.

"Date. Jongd-- Chen." She smiled, eyes gleaming as she twirled once more, then grabbed her purse and left the room. She looked so happy that I almost felt happy for her.

She was going on a date with Chen. Hearing that said out loud was very different from just thinking it in my head. I knew that it was normal, seeing as they were a couple and all, and I really shouldn't be feeling this way. But I knew it wasn't the fact that they were going on a date that bothered me so much, but the fact that he lied to me about having a schedule to avoid me.

He could've just told me about the date. Why was he hiding it? I guess that he didn't need the world knowing about his personal life. Did he not trust me enough? My mind kept tormenting me with all these dark thoughts.

Yet he had said that he wanted to continue our lessons. He had written my name in Korean on his doodle sheet. I had thought that that and the many moments we had shared before, might have been something special. They were moments that I had held close to my heart.

Was I only looking for what I wanted to see?

Sometimes that little piece of hope is what ends up killing you the most. I lied down on my bed and ended up falling asleep, my dinner long forgotten.

Happy Halloween everyone! 
Guess who's going to watch Luhan's movie tomorrow (I'M SO EXCITED ADKJFAJFD)