My heart was pounding nervously as the line kept moving up, fewer and fewer people in front of me. The dreaded scale lay on the floor in front of the first person in line, awaiting for us to step on it before it spat out a horrendous number on the screen. The trainer stood beside the scale, eyeing each of us carefully to make sure that we didn't cheat on this. Not that I knew how to, but I had picked an outfit that had lighter fabric, if that helped at all.

Minnie was in front of me, her long hair tied up today in a high ponytail that was waving from side to side as she bounced on her toes, looking readier than the rest of us. I could see the other girls who have finished the weigh-in, stretching at the sides of the room, some of them looking disappointed while they talked in hushed voices.

"You're okay," the trainer said, waving an arm to let Jiwoo, who was in front of Minnie, go. One more person until it was my turn.

"Hello," my ears perked up immediately at the melodic voice, almost not believing what I was hearing. "Can I borrow Ms. Yoonmi-ssi for today?"

Our trainer narrowed his eyes, giving Chen a suspicious look, while Chen on the other hand, stood there with sparkling eyes, seemingly trying to hide a smile. "And what would be your reason?"

"Ah, I need her to practice our duet." He flashed a cheeky smile, and at this point, the rest of the class had stopped whatever they had been doing, and was staring at the three of us. Well, mostly at Chen.

"You're doing a duet with a trainee, Jongdae-ya?" The trainer asked, crossing his muscular arms.

"It's for the upcoming SM Town concert! I can't reveal too much; it's a top secret. Anyway, don't worry, I'll return her back to you next time!" Chen said cheerfully, giving me a mischievous grin before leading the way out of the gym. I followed him, turning back to give our trainer a small smile and a shrug. Minnie had a stunned expression on her face, a mix of surprise and annoyance. I almost felt bad, but those thoughts quickly disappeared when I felt Chen wrap an arm around my waist.

"I told you, you can't get rid of me so easily," he teased, voice light and relaxed.

I rolled my eyes. "Because I definitely wanted to."

"Hey, your story was pretty convincing though," a hint of an amusing smile playing on his lips.

"Can you not remind me?" I elbowed him slightly, pouting at the embarrassing memory. "Anyway, so this duet we're doing, huh?" I changed the subject, anticipating whatever he had in mind.

Chen's gaze flickered over, lips curving into a W-shaped smile. "We can do the duet later, if you want to," he paused, eyes turning to thin crescents as he gave me a sidelong glance, "but first I actually need your help with something."

"Um, well I'm not sure how I'll be of any help, but okay?" I replied, more curious than ever.

"You'll see," he sang as we continued walking down the hall in a direction I'd never gone. The next thing I knew, Chen moved his hand from my waist to my hand instead, lacing our fingers together as he guided me along. The spark of electricity tingled along my arm, jumbling the thoughts in my mind as it ran. I could feel the thin metal of my bracelet resting against my wrist, a comforting presence amid the quickening of my pulse.

We came to a hidden stairwell, a small winding one that looked different than the other ones in the building. It was well lit by the natural light streaming through the large window, almost giving it a surreal feeling like something from a castle.

We headed up the stairs until we reached the top, where there was a set of heavy doors that reminded me of that lounge on the rooftop that Luhan had shown me. These ones, however, led to what appeared to be a library.

"SM building's very own library," Chen introduced, gesturing for me to enter.

The place looked very cozy with carpet lining the floors, sofa chairs all around, and tall shelves filled with books. It was spacious and felt like you could spend the day here hiding out alone and get lost within the silence.

"Wait but why is there a library in the SM building?" I lowered my voice to a whisper to match with the hushed environment. He led me towards the other side of the place, weaving between shelves until we reached the windows on the other side, the view stunning.

"Apparently it's been here for a really long time and they just didn't bother changing it into something else more practical. Not many people know about this place though, so I like to come here and think sometimes." He said, still gazing out at the view. I wasn't sure which floor this library was on, but it was high enough to see peaks of the horizon peeking between the skyscrapers dotting the skyline. It faced a different direction from where the gym faced, where I had already gotten used to staring outside as I ran on the treadmill.

I sat down on a sofa couch, looking at the nearest shelf and examining the rows of books lined up. "So...there are just random books here?" They were in Korean, most of them hardcover and important-looking.

"There are a variety of things; some company records, music-related books, biographies and such." He joined me, sinking down onto the other sofa couch, "Anyway, what I need you help with is finding an English book."

"An English book?" That perked my interest. "There are English books here too?"

"They have other languages too," he shrugged, "how did you think I improved my Chinese so quickly?"

"Through your group members?" I chuckled, "Besides, doesn't Kris speak English?"

"Kris? Yeah he does..." Chen suddenly looked confused at my mention of Kris.

"Well, I mean, he could've also helped you look for the book you're looking for." I tried hiding my laugh as best I could as I watched his face come to a realization.

He blinked. "I- I didn't even- he's probably busy-"

I broke out in laughter, trying to stay quiet while he looked lost and embarrassed. "It's okay, I get it; you probably wouldn't enjoy his company quite as much as mine. Don't worry, I won't tell him."

He let out an exasperated sigh, face-palming.

"Come on, let's go find the book." I jumped up then pulled him along with me.

I picked a random direction to go in as I had no idea where the foreign language section was, and Chen didn't comment. It was fun exploring the library shelf by shelf, having him translate to me the different genres labelling the aisles.

"So are you going to be studying this book too or what?" I asked him while scanning the titles of the English books after finally arriving at the small section in the corner of the library. "Do you want me to translate it too?"

"No it's okay, it's not important, I'm just reading it on the side."

"Oh okay, let me know if you ever change your mind though," I said absent-mindedly, "or, I mean I guess you could just ask Kris to translate it," flashing a smirk, I turned to the other side of the shelf to continue searching there.

"Yah!" He gave me a dull look through the empty space in the shelf. "I'm still your sunbae, you know."

Smiling, I quickly escaped from his view and hid behind the books between us. I bent down slightly, as the space between the tops of books and the shelf above them was perfectly in my line of vision.

"Yah, are you running away now?" Chen peeked through another space as I was attempting to scan through another shelf.

"No, of course not, Jongdae sunbaenim." I shrugged, breaking into quick steps contrary to my words. I went into another aisle, and he followed me closely.

I rounded the next aisle, trying to put some distance between us by using the shelf between us. I caught glimpses of him from the spaces between the books and the shelves, a rush of adrenaline and a smile every time we met eyes.

I headed for the next aisle, hiding myself behind a shelf of large books before I noticed that he wasn't on the other side.

Instead, he was a few feet beside me, leaning nonchalantly against the shelf as he waited for me to realize he was there.

I squeaked a little, startled, and then broke into a run. I weaved through aisles, completely forgetting the layout of the library and just going all over the place.

Until I found myself running straight into his arms, unable to stop fast enough, and nearly knocking over a large hardcover that was sticking out.

"Caught you," he hugged me tightly, making me give up any plans of escaping again.

"No!" I pouted, leaning against him.

He chuckled at my reaction. "Hey, EXO wasn't on Running Man for nothing."

The thudding of footsteps got louder and we quickly broke apart before seeing a librarian walking past while giving us a look of disapproval. It was strange because I hadn't noticed any other people here yet.

"Let's get out of here before they kick us out." Chen took my hand again, only heading towards the door when the library disappeared behind another aisle.

"Phew, that was close." My heart was still pounding hard and I let out a breath of relief once we got out of the place. I then remembered something and stopped walking. "Oh my gosh, we totally forgot about your book!"

"Don't worry about it," he put his arm around me, guiding me forward.

"But don't you need it?" I looked at him worried, but he seemed really relaxed about it.

"Well...no. Considering that it doesn't exist." His eyes danced, a mischievous look in them again.

"It doesn't exist- wait, don't tell me that you never needed to find a book in the first place and you pulled me out of class-"

"Shh," he stopped and turned towards me, pressing a finger to my lips lightly, his own were curving up at the corners. "It was an excuse, but I know how those weigh-ins are so nerve-wracking and I didn't want you to be anxious from that."

I pouted, not revealing how much his words made my heart skip a beat. "But I'll just have to do it during the next class."

"Well," he paused for effect, grinning, "there's always that duet we're doing for the SM Town concert." 

So so so sorry for not updating in a really long time >.< it's been hectic and now finals are here ): 
I hope y'all enjoy~