3 days later…

“And here I thought you were joking,” a sweet nasally voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to find the girl who has been plaguing his dreams for the past couple of days.

“I was wondering if you were avoiding me,” he replied.

“Did you seriously come here everyday?”

“Do you think I did?”

Avoiding his question, she sat across of him, careful to not spill her latte or drop the blueberry muffin and forks. “Don’t you have a schedule? EXO is a hot commodity these days.”

“We’re on break for a few more days before preparing for our concert,” he explained as used his fork to dig into the muffin.

“I see,” she murmured as she leaned back to stare at him.

She sat for a long time after their lunch thinking about why she was comfortable around him. And to her dismay and surprise, she realized that the ache in her heart seemed to dull when he was around. It was nice. And maybe she trusts too easily, but it seemed as if he actually cares about her. And only God knows how much she wishes to be loved and cared about after everything. She sat wondering of all the people in the world, why it had to be Byun Baekhyun.

In truth, she was avoiding him. She didn’t want to see if he really was at the café, waiting. But she couldn’t help but feel relieved, happy almost, that he was there, just like he said he would be. She didn’t want to be let down again. And though they’ve only met twice under the circumstances, she couldn’t help but want to be friends. To have someone to talk to. ‘But you already have friends to talk to. Why not talk to them instead?’ she thought. Even she didn’t know how to answer that question.

“What are you up to today noona?” the blonde man asked taking a sip from his Americano.

“I have a meeting in an hour at the office,” she replied as she looked at her watch. “I just came to get something to eat and drink. I should actually head out now.”

She stood and grabbed her purse. “I’ll see you around!”

“Sooyeon noona!” he stopped her. “Can I come with you to your office?”

She froze. “Baek, I don’t think that’s wise. If someone sees us…it wouldn’t be good.”

He was silent, contemplating. “Lunch then.”

She relaxed at the tone of his voice. “Are you always this demanding with your noonas?”

He laughed in response. “I’ll text you. Have a good meeting.”

With a wave of her hand, she continued to make her way out of the café.

“Oh and noona. I came everyday so far.”

She felt her heart skip a beat.

------

After she left, Baekhyun was left to his thoughts.

His thoughts were scrambled, all over the place. The only thing that stuck was that he was drawn to her. He wanted to be her friend and as much as he didn’t want to admit, maybe something more. He wanted to see her, talk to her, make her laugh. He wanted to be there for her.

He hadn’t felt anything like this before. It wasn’t like how it was with Taeyeon. And he didn’t know to explain it. The lightness he felt when they were together. The jitters he felt when came within a mile of her. The joy he felt when he made her laugh. It was different yet so familiar. ‘I sound so corny’ he thought.

And though he was drawn to her, he would not pursue her in that way. He couldn’t. And he wouldn’t. ‘Friends, only friends’ he chanted as he stood to leave.

-----

“Baek, where have you been?” asked his BFF, Chanyeol who was seated on the couch with Sehun. He had just entered his dorm.

“Went to get some coffee,” he answered as he slipped off his coat.

“And you didn’t bring some back?” pouted the maknae.

“Pssssh, as if!” he laughed, joining them in their routine of morning cartoons.

“Yah Baek, you’ve been sneaking off early in the mornings to get coffee lately.” Chanyeol was wiggling his eyebrows and smiling suggestively. “Are you meeting someone secretly?”

He tensed slightly but relaxed just as quick. “And who would I be secretly meeting?”

“Taeyeon noona,” guessed Sehun.

“No,” he responded giving him a ‘what the heck’ look.

“So you admit that you are meeting someone then!” exclaimed Chanyeol who pumped his fist in the air as if he had won something.

“I’m not,” he replied as he laughed slightly. “Seriously.” He didn’t want them to know about her. She wouldn’t want anyone to know.

“You know we don’t believe you,” Chan laughed.

“There’s no one. Really,” he laughed, pretending there weren’t any butterflies in his tummy as he thought of her.

“Whatever,” replied Sehun as he stuck his tongue out like a child. 

------

Three hours later, Baekhyun was in his room that he shared with Chanyeol, scrolling through Instagram.

“Hey Baek,” Suho greeted as he opened the door to his room. “We’re gonna get some lunch. Wanna come with?”

He shook his head. “Thanks hyung but I wanted to get some work done for school before concert prep starts. I’ll just eat whatever we have here.”

Mama Suho gave him worried eyes. “Are you sure? We can bring you something back if you like.”

“Ani, I’ll be fine!” he reassured him.

After Suho bid his goodbye, he listened for the door closing before texting Sooyeon.

[Hey noona. Where did you want to meet for lunch?]

It was a few minutes before he got a reply.

[Hey Baek. Sorry, I don’t think I can do lunch today. Things are a little busy right now at the office so I can’t leave. Another time?]

He couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed because he was.

[Neh, it’s alright noona. You work hard. I’ll talk to you later!]

He tossed his phone to the side and rolled over onto his belly. ‘Aish, stop being disappointed,’ he reprimanded himself in his head.

He abruptly sat up thinking of an idea. Maybe he can bring lunch to her. Of course he wouldn’t eat with her (he could already hear her telling him he can’t come up to her office) but if she’s as busy as she says she is, she’ll probably skip lunch. And he couldn’t have that.

Dressing as inconspicuously as he could, he pulled on his coat, hat and mask before setting off.

----

He had searched the internet for the address of Blanc & Eclare. He was crossing his fingers, praying that this was the correct address or else he’d feel stupid.

Entering the tall building, he headed for the directory to see what floor she was on. Scanning the electronic directory/map posted on the wall, he found that she was on the 22^nd floor. He cheered internally as he made his way to the elevator, pressing the button for the floor he wanted.

As the doors closed, he made sure to look anything but Byun Baekhyun. He lifted his gray scarf, making sure it covered his mouth and shifted his black rimmed glasses and a maroon beanie appropriately.

Once the door opened, he entered the lobby area of the floor before walking to the frosted double doors.

“Hi! Can I help you with anything?” asked a small petite girl from behind the desk.

“Uh, yes. I have a delivery. For Miss Jung,” he responded as he held out a medium sized lunch bag.

The girl looked at him strangely before reaching for the bag. “Um, okay. How much did it cost?”

“Oh! No, nothing. It’s already paid for. She had already paid,” he rambled.

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll give this to her.”

“Thanks,” he exclaimed as he turned back to head to the elevator.

“What a weird guy,” he heard the girl mumble softly, making him blush.

-----

“Unnie!” she heard along side a knock from the inside of her office.

“Come in,” she called out as she scanned over the document in front of her. “What is it Ji Min-ah?”

“Unnie, the lunch you ordered is here.”

Looking up she took note of the bag Ji Min carried. “I didn’t order lunch.”

Ji Min’s eyes widened. “Chinja? O-oh. A guy came and dropped this off a few minutes ago. He said that you ordered and paid already. I thought…”

“It’s alright Ji Min,” she said giving the girl a small smile. “Give it here.”

After years of working in the entertainment industry, she was used to getting things from fans. But it wasn’t always sweet gifts that made her way to her. She’d gotten her fair share of hate mail and gifts. She even made it a rule to never eat anything that had been homemade, just as precautionary measure. She remembered what had happened to Yunho-oppa and shuddered at the thought of it happening to her.

Opening the lunch bag, the first thing she spotted was a folded piece of paper.

[Noona, I hope you are working hard. I figured that because you are busy you may skip lunch. It’s already after 1 and I’m betting you haven’t had anything yet. Tsk tsk noona. We can’t have you starving so I bought you something. Enjoy! – Baekhyun]

She was surprised that he had brought this over. Pulling out the contents, she found kimchee chigae, rice and kimbap. She laughed when she saw he also put in a blueberry muffin.

She pulled out her phone.

[Yah, Byun Baekhyun. That was risky.]

[I didn’t get caught! Kekeke.]

[If you did, I’d have your neck! But thank you :)]

[Anytime noona. Eat your lunch now. And enjoy the muffin :)]

Shaking her head, she turned to her lunch and smiled before digging in.