Jongin's POV

I really did not expect her to come here at all. I guess that explains why i was so high the whole time. Because an unexpected gift was waiting to surprise me. 

And i must say, i was surprised alright. I know she likes our group and she's a fan but i didn't see it coming at all. She's bound to come to our concerts right?

Maybe because i stopped seeing her as our fan and saw her as our friend instead. And maybe because i was her secret admirer. Maybe that's why i wasn't expecting her presence here. 

It took me a lot not to hug her but i'll have to be patient. I've hugged her before but i was trying to comfort her. If i hug her now, what is she going to think about me? 

I don't even know if she likes me the way i like her. She could just be a fan and i could just be hoping for her to like me. I don't know. These attraction that i feel towards her is confusing as heck. 

I lived half of my life training and perfecting myself to be a better performer. I didn't have time for the opposite . I don't know anything about relationships or love.

But honestly, that's what i've been craving for ever since i first met her.

Author's POV

Jongin willingly led Hyejung to the lounge room where EXO spent most of their time at that day. They weren't allowed to go anywhere else besides the room, which was quite saddening to see because it seemed like they were locked in a cage. 

But EXO didn't seem to mind it at all. The lounge room was huge and honestly, they've been to hundreds of waiting rooms throughout the years. They were used to it.

There was a buffet right outside the lounge room and it looked almost like a wedding reception. That was where all the staff and members have their meals at. 

As Hyejung passed by the area, her eyes scanned through the stretch of food. Her stomach growled but she thanked herself for not being too loud or she would have embarrassed herself in front of the idol.

Jongin noticed her goggly eyes as she observed the servings. He cleared his throat and said, "You can have some if you want to." 

Hyejung shifted her eyes from the food to him and smiled innocently. She shook her head, "No no. It's okay, i was just looking." she laughed and looked at the tray of fried chicken. "It looks delicious." 

Jongin scoffed and whispered, "Trust me, it's not." 

The two continued their walk to the lounge room. There were staff members everywhere. From the production team, backstage crew, hair stylists, makeup artists. It felt so strange to Hyejung, acknowledging all their occupations and behind the stage work. 

She found it fascinating how there were so many people working for just 9 guys. They must have felt like kings of a kingdom. And then there she was. Jobless and under rated.  

The staff would glance at Hyejung once in awhile because it wasn't normal for the celebrity to bring an outsider into the area. If there were paparazzi's there, Hyejung would be in deep trouble. But the staff there were trustable and they don't like to interfere with the idols life. 

They prefer to mind their own business. Which is why they were hired to work there— they were trustworthy and professional.

"I seriously can't believe you came." Jongin told Hyejung as they walked slowly to the lounge room which was just a metre away.

"I can't believe you let me in!" Heyjung said in an overly shocked manner. She never imagined going backstage with EXO. Heck, being EXO's friend was beyond her expectations. 

"You're special." Jongin winked like it wasn't a big thing to say and pushed the door open.

For a moment, Hyejung forgot how to breath. Did she hear it right? And to add on to the abruptness, her 2nd favorite idol was standing in front of her. 

"Lay hyung!!" Jongin excitedly said.

Lay blinked his eyes with a dazed expression on his face. He always look clueless— one reason why Hyejung was insane over him. 

"Eo, Jongin-ah.. Whose this?" Lay asked looking at Hyejung and smiling at her politely. 

He's so much taller than i thought he was.

"Lay hyung, this is Hyejung." Jongin introduced like he was introducing his girlfriend.

Lay raised his eyebrows in amusement, "Hyejung? THE Jung Hyejung?" he asked. 

What does he mean by THE Jung Hyejung? Hyejung tilted her head to the left and furrowed her eyebrows slightly, confused.

"The one and only!" Chen shouted from behind before giving Lay a back hug. 

Jongin laughed when he saw that the girl was at a loss. He leaned his arm against the wall as he watched her shake hands with Lay.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Hyejung-ssi! The members kept telling me about yo-" Jongin quickly covered Lay's mouth with his hands. Lay doesn't have any idea that what he was about to say could get Jongin into trouble. If Hyejung heard what he said, she would want to go back to her hotel immediately.

"Lay hyung! Could you help me with that thing?" Jongin asked. Lay gave him a weird look and scratched the back of his neck. Jongin nodded his head to the left and said, "You know, that thing? Let's go!" 

Jongin and Lay left to go far away from where Hyejung was. He had to give the older one a talk on 'think before you talk'. Hyejung was left perplexed. Chen chuckled and waved her into the room so that he could introduce her to the family—stylists and makeup artists that they treated as older sisters.

"Hi Hyejung!" Sehun greeted cheerfully. 

"I knew i saw you just now!" Chanyeol smirked and patted her head. 

"Annyeong Hyejung-ah!" Baekhyun exclaimed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Hyejung was taken aback by all their chirpiness. 

They didn't really look shocked. They just seem really happy to see her there and it comforted her.

"Hey guys.." Hyejung said shyly. 

"You don't have to be shy Hyejung, we won't bite.. Friends, remember?" Baekhyun tried to comfort her.

Coming from the mischievous member of the group, Hyejung was flattered by his thoughtfulness. She was starting to feel more welcomed  and comfortable with them. She didn't want to think of the relationship they had as being friends with an idol anymore. 

Baekhyun slowly introduced Hyejung to the staff that were in the room. Introducing her to the whole crew would take the whole day and besides, they didn't know each other as well as they knew their personal stylists.

He introduced them one by one and all of them were older than the guys and her. Hyejung was the youngest among all in the room. Baekhyun cracked up a few jokes during each introduction just so that the younger one wouldn't feel too awkward. And it definitely helped a lot since she was laughing along with all of them.

No wonder they call him the mood maker.

Meanwhile, Jongin and Lay were having a not so serious talk in the dining area. Not so serious because Lay couldn't take Jongin seriously. Jongin was trying to explain to him that he shouldn't just say whatever he feels like saying because it could lead to a lot of dilemma.

Before, Lay was about to tell Hyejung that the boys have been talking about her non-stop. Every conversation they had would have at least 3-5 minutes of Hyejung as the topic. They would tell each other how pretty the girl was and how polite she was. They would rate her on a scale of 1-10 on the way she dresses or how proportionate her body was.

They weren't trying to be a bunch of erts. Boys just get out of topic sometimes and they find those kind of things interesting to talk about. They still respect all females equally. 

"Hyung! Just imagine how uncomfortable she would be if she heard!" Jongin told him.

He heard the way the other members talk about her and he would unintentionally join them too but when he realizes that it was wrong, he would stop immediately. She was a fan and what kind of idol would say things like that about their own supporter? 

"Aish, arasso!! I got it the first time you told me." Lay groaned and rolled his eyes. "If your fangirls know how nosy you are, you're own your own buddy." He joked. 

"I have Hyejung." Jongin shrugged.

"Including her." Lay teased, making Jongin glare at him.

"Seriously, don't mention about it again.. I don't want to scare her you know." Jongin said again.

"6. You said that 6 times. I'm not dumb Jongin." Lay groaned again. "Gosh, you nag like my mum whenever you have a crush on a girl." He stood up from his chair.

"Hey! What do you mean whenever? This is the first time!" Jongin retorted, following the older one from behind.

~~~

Hyejung only got to hang out with the guys for half an hour because when their manager found out that she was there, he immediately called Jongin out for a talk. And from the looks of it, he didn't look too fond of having her there. 

But Hyejung remained understanding about it. I don't belong there anyway, she thought. The guys wanted her to stay because if was so fun to be hanging out with someone that wasn't related to the world of entertainment for once. It brought back the memories from before they debuted. 

Hyejung fell into the bed once she entered the hotel room. She was exhausted alright. And her mind was losing it especially when there were a lot of overwhelming people surrounding her. 

"Meeting new people is tough." she said aloud. 

She shut her eyes for a few minutes but woke up before she could even fall into a deep sleep. Her phone was ringing in the pocket of her bag. She rose up from the bed lazily and sighed heavily. 

From being a sleepyhead, she instantly became wide awake when she looked at the caller ID. The call ended before she could even pick up. 

Pressing the call button, she pressed her phone against her ear and laid back into the bed again. 

"Jongin-ah, you called me?" Hyejung asked as soon as he picked up.

"Yeah.. Are you back in the hotel room?" he asked.

"Yes i am. Wae?" she asked.

"Are you tired?" 

"I'm okay.." she lied.

"Can you meet me at the rooftop of your hotel?" he requested. He knew where she stayed at since she asked her when they were chatting in the lounge room. 

"Umm, okay.." she spoke slowly.

"See you!" jongin told her.

She slipped into her shoes and headed to the last floor before taking the stairs up to the rooftop. He was already there. Still in the same white blouse as before.

She walked towards him and hugged herself immediately when the cold wind swiftly ran against her skin. 

"Aren't you cold?" Hyejung asked from behind.

Jongin turned around and instantly grinned at her without answering her question. He was carrying a coat on his right arm and a cute white box with ferrero roche in his left hand. 

"First." he wrapped his coat around her. "Second." he grabbed her hands and placed the box  on her hand.

"Thank you.." she smiled softly. "But what's this for?" she raised the box of chocolates.

"That's my apology for just now." he started as he adjusted the coat on her so that she wouldn't feel too cold anymore. "I felt bad that you had to leave and I couldn't even send you off.." he scratched the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry Hyejung.." he apologized innocently.

Hyejung let out a chuckle and shook her head. "Theres no reason for you to say sorry.. I understand Jongin. Your manager was just worried for your safety." she told him. 

Jongin turned around and faced the outstanding view of the city. "Sometimes it's not about the safety Hyejung.. Sometimes its just them trying to protect the name of the company." He chuckle like it was a funny thing to say.

Hyejung took a few steps to stand beside him. She wasn't that short but he was definitely a lot taller than her. She looked at him before giving the scenery her attention. It was magnificent that she could look at it all day.

"You miss living like a normal person?" she asked as if she knew what was going on in his mind. 

Jongin nodded his head although she wasn't looking. "You have no idea how much i want to go back in time." he confessed.

"I know.." she thought about the times when her parents only cared about her and would give their attention to her and only her. "But life doesn't work that way. We either live with it or suffer while trying to avoid reality." 

He nodded his head again and this time she looked at him. "I didn't think it would be this hard." he admitted.

"We don't know until it happens to us." Like how i didn't expect to be this close to you until i met you. "But Jongin, as a fan and your friend, i want to tell you that what you're doing actually helps thousands of struggling people. You entertain people with the spectacular performances and that itself can make people smile."

"You really think so? You don't think they're there because of how we look? You think they actually recognize our talents?" he asked.

"Of course! Are you insane!? You guys are crazy talented and it's not just the camera angles or perfect  make up that make you look great, it's your effort and individual speciality that makes people fall in love." 

Jongin laughed. "Thanks. I mean really, i almost forgot how good it feels to talk to someone who isn't all over the media." 

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you." Hyejung joked.

"We're going on a camping trip next week. And we'd love you to come along.. Are you in?" Please say yes. He pleaded silently.

Hyejung sighed. "You know i'm not allowed to.."

"But it's just me and the members. No makeup artists, no personal assistant and most importantly, no manager hyung." he smirked. 

Hyejung bit her lips as she goes into a deep thought. 

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Jongin told her. He really wanted her to come. He wanted to take the opportunity to get closer to her and know her better.

"I don't know Jongin. I don't think it's a great idea.." 

The thought of getting caught by paparazzi's didn't sound appealing to her. She would rather stay in the apartment, watch EXO's music video in bed for the whole day than stir up a controversy with them.

"Why? You're scared of getting caught with us?" Jongin asked as he crossed his arms.

She nodded. 

"I promise not a single person will notice us. I'll take care of you." Her heart was pounding and she felt nervous all of a sudden. 

"We'll all be there." Jongin reassured her again. He was desperate for her to come.

"Please?" He pleaded. He was determined to persuade her into the plan.

Hyejung tilted her head while she stared at the midnight blue sky. She tapped her chin in a graceful manner. 

"I just don't want you and the others to get into trouble." she unintentionally turned into a cute kid when she pouted. She was more worried for them than she was for herself. If she were to get bashed up by the other fans, she didn't mind. It will hurt but to her, it was better than letting them take the hassle.

Jongin pressed her cheeks with his palms. The girls concern was too adorable for him. "We're boys Hyejung, we'll be fine." 

Hyejung gave it another thought for a minute. She shrugged and finally answered the way Jongin was hoping for. "I'm in i guess." 

He looked content after she acquiesced in his request. But inside, he was in euphoria.