"Darn it," she said in Japanese. "Was that a newspaper or something?" She picked up the envelope next to her and a look of pure confusion spread across her face. "Isn't this..."

"Isabela!" Jongdae ran to her. He knew he probably butchered her name, but there were more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. In a hurry, he could only speak Korean. "I'm so sorry! Are you hurt? Are you alright?"

"Ah, Chen!" She smiled sheepishly at him, patting down her hair. "Yes, I'm fine, sorry for the bother."

"Bother?" He exclaimed, frustrated at the whole situation. Of course they had to meet again like this. Of course he had to cause her to hurt herself. Fate was a nasty thing, playing with him like that. "Your arms! You're bleeding!" He knelt down and got a closer look at her now broken skin. He gently grabbed her wrist and in the street lights, he could faintly see the multiple scratches, blood pooling in the larger ones. He resisted the urge to throw up.

"Oh, this? Don't worry, with Chicago traffic, I've sustained much worse." She smiled encouragingly at him, which made him feel anything but encouraged.

"I'm so, so very sorry I caused this for you. Now your arms will scar, and it will be all my fault." He sulked, and she laughed.

"I'm Latina, I don't scar easy. And it's not a burden, really! I'm guessing the wind stole the letter?" She handed him the closed envelope, which was now wrinkled.

He sighed. "I have to repay you somehow. Please, allow me to atone for this!" He stood up and bowed at her. She sighed with a smile and stood up as well, shaking her head and dusting off her clothes.

"If you feel that deeply about this, then alright. What do you have in mind?" She asked him. Jongdae's phone dinged, signalling the incoming message. He fished it out and realized it was Junmyeon.

Suho US:

Hey, you okay? O_O We're gonna send you a PIN from the restaurant. We're already here. ^^

"Erm..." What could Jongdae do? His band mates would start to get worried if he didn't get to the restaurant soon, but he couldn't just leave Isabela there by herself after causing her so much trouble. He noticed suddenly, in the nearby distance, a shining bright sign: a convenience store.

The plan formed in his head before he could put it into words. Silently, he grabbed Isabela's bike and nodded towards the Walgreen's.

"Come on," he said. "It's time to pay back my debt."

Isabela followed him without a word. He perched the bike on a parking space designed for it and put the respective lock around the baby pink tube. They reached the doors and comfortably warm air welcomed them. A guard nodded at two, but said nothing. Jongdae took off his hood and revealed a black and blue snapback he had gotten at Taiwan. He walked across the aisles and found what he was looking for: band-aids, disinfectant, and medical napkins to clean her arms with. In the bright light of the convenience store, he could see gravel and small rocks still stuck on her skin, which made his stomach churn in horror.

"Hey, Chen, I'm fine," she said, seemingly reading his mind. "I've gone through much worse, so please don't worry."

He frowned but said nothing. She followed him to the cash register where he paid with his card, since he didn't have the country's currency, and with the bag in hand, he freed the bike and started walking in the general direction of the restaurant. If there was something good about him, it was that he had a great sense of direction.

"I don't mean to be ungrateful, but where are we going?" Isabela asked, and Jongdae looked back at her.

"We're walking towards that East Asian place you told us about. That's where the rest of the members are, and they're waiting for me. I don't think they'll mind an unexpected guest, especially if it's you," he tried to smile at her with all his strength, but he still felt so worried about her.

"Mm!~ I could really go for some ramen right now!" She smiled at him, and the balloon in his chest began to deflate.

"I'm really very sorry for causing you this amount of trouble," he bowed his head at her as they kept walking. She wrinkled her nose cutely and flipped her bangs out of her eyes.

"Oh, please, it's no trouble! And you're going to make it up to me with ramen, right?" She teased, and he nodded.

"Yes, I am. And anything else you want. Really, it's the least I could do after causing you to hurt yourself."

"You're beating yourself up for nothing, oppa." She smiled, and he blushed, happy that it was too dark for her to notice. "Really, I'm the biggest clutz in the universe. I run into walls all the time, I fall off my bike like it's a hobby, I hit my head on everything, which you would think it's impossible because I'm so short, but there you have it. I'm no stranger to a few scratches." She grinned with her tongue caught between her teeth, and he couldn't resist at smiling back.

"How come you're not all scarred up, then?" He asked, hoping he wasn't overstepping.

"I have Latina skin, which is thicker than East Asians'. I can have a scar for a few weeks, but then it fades and it's like nothing ever happened."

Jongdae furrowed his brow. "Do Koreans have thin skin?"

"I think people with darker skin tones have naturally thicker skin, but I may be wrong. Anyways, your cuisine and genetics, along with your skin care, all produce beautiful glowing skin. Aigoo, I wish I had skin like that!~" She whined.

The idol made a face at her statement. "Are you joking? Your skin is flawless!"

"Oh, thank you! Honestly, it's been this way since I started a Korean beauty regimen, so it's all thanks to you guys," Isabela giggled.

"Ah, my skin care is terrible! I always wake up with some sort of blemish, be it dark circles or spots, and have to cover it up with makeup," he confessed.

"At least it's not frowned upon that you wear makeup! Men here can't be caught wearing it, or else they would be fiercely judged," she explained, taking the lead going to the restaurant, since Jongdae looked a bit lost. "But my skin is nice right now because it's a good day. We all wake up with blemishes sometimes, especially if we wear heavy makeup during the day. I think it's a part of what makes us human.~ If we had perfect skin all the time, we would be like gods."

Jongdae pondered over that for a minute. He had always had this unattainable perspective of what the perfect man is supposed to look like: tall, muscly, having a beard, or at least being able to grow one, flawless skin, among other things. He was none of those. No matter how hard he tried, he still found himself stuffing his face all the time with unhealthy things, skipping the gym, and he thought it showed in his stomach. Most of the other members could expose themselves during concerts, but because he didn't share in their muscles, he always felt uncomfortable showing even some of his belly. He wasn't tall either, just a mere 5'8". He wished he could be like Chanyeol, who was always bright and cheery, along with being tall, having perfect abs and nice skin.

Although, now that he thought about it, he remembered times where Chanyeol had woken up with flaming blemishes on his skin. He could also remember paparazzi photographs of other idols and actors who had been caught with a bare face and showed their own flaws. He even recalled how a drama actor he had always looked up to didn't have many muscles, but somehow girls still found him attractive and even went "kyaaa~" over him.

I like the way this girl thinks, Jongdae thought to himself as he followed behind her. Imperfections make us human, so I shouldn't stress about small things like my skin or my abs. I need to accept myself as I am and work as hard as I can to make people like her happy.

"Ah!~ Here we are," Isabela announced as they reached the entrance of a place that didn't look like much. The neon red sign flashed the word "Open!". Jongdae looked up and read the large banner above them.

RISING SUN

AUTHENTIC ASIAN FOOD! LUNCH AND DINNER SPECIALS AVAILABLE!

A cat figurine waved at him from the window, and a paper fan was taped onto the glass. A bad imitation of Chinese tapestry fell like a curtain from the ceiling to the floor inside the restaurant. Jongdae frowned to himself. He had always hated how Americans depicted East Asia: haikus, fake wisdom, and fortune cookies. This place just reeked of stereotypes.

"I know what you're thinking," Isabela said, grabbing the bike from his hands and tying it to a nearby lamp post with a lock. "'Oh, this place looks totally fake! I would never eat here! It looks so cheesy and slightly offensive!'" She poked his arm teasingly. "But trust me, it's legit. You'll see.~" She walked through the doors without waiting for him, and he sighed to himself, not being able to contain his smile. He followed her into the dim restaurant.

Baekhyun nearly choked on his noodles when he saw Isabela. The rest looked equally as surprised: Chanyeol exclaimed some gibberish, Jongin went "WOH!~", Minseok made a face at Jongdae that translated to "Explain this?!", Junmyeon started a coughing fit, Yixing dropped his phone on the table, and Sehun grabbed at his head. The funniest one of all was Kyungsoo, who had spicy mayo all over his face and literally just gaped at her. He didn't move an inch. He just gaped like a koi.

"Look who I found!~" Jongdae gestured at Isabela, who bowed deeply.

"Hello, again," she said. The men seemed to regain their composure, and a lot of them cleared their throats.

"What happened to your arms?!" Chanyeol exclaimed. Instantly, everyone's eyes were on her scratched up skin. Jongdae decided he could crawl in a dark hole and live comfortably in there for the rest of his days.

"Ah, I fell off my bike, but Chen rescued me!" She said, standing up straight and smiling. He had to hold in a laugh, because it was so far from the truth. Then again, the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn't a lie. She had fallen off of her bike, although it had been Jongdae's fault, and he had rescued her, in a sense. The idol looked down at his shoes, grinning.

Was there ever going to be a moment when she didn't seem amazing to him?

"And now you're going to sit down while I clean your arms," he ordered her, and she silently obeyed, sitting down on a stool and letting Jongdae get to work.

"Ah, really, Isabela, you should be more careful!" Minseok exclaimed.

"I know~" she pouted. "I'm too clumsy. Please forgive the trouble."

"Hold still, this may sting a little," Jongdae said before spraying disinfectant on her arms. She took a sharp breath, but didn't move.

"Oi, she's tough!" Jongin exclaimed.

"Couldn't you have found something that hurt less, Chen?" Baekhyun teased.

"Shut up, aegyo," Jongdae snapped jokingly.

"OUCH!" Baekhyun took one of his chopsticks and made like he stabbed himself.

After the surprise died down, the members kept on eating while keeping an eye on Isabela and Jongdae. He could feel the members' eyes piercing into the back of his head, but he didn't turn around to meet them. The idol was busy extracting the small rocks and gravel stuck on her skin and then covering the scratches with band-aids. When he finished, she looked ridiculous. Isabela had sustained so many scratches with her fall, her arms looked like a very bad zombie Halloween costume. If the zombie had a year supply of band-aids.

"Ah!~" Isabela exclaimed, stretching her arms happily. "My arms feel much better. Thank you, Chen." She bowed her head at him. He blushed in spite of himself, and cleared his throat.

"Well, you said you were hungry, right?" Jongdae gestured to a menu on the table. "Order whatever you want, and I won't accept you ordering less than three things. If you don't pick, I'll pick for you." He raised his eyebrows at her as she put her hand to .

"Wah, three things?! I could never eat that much!" She exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Then take home leftovers. I told you I was getting you food, and that's what I'm doing," he said matter-of-factly and took his own look at the menu. He looked for the curry noodles, and found that they were surprisingly cheap.

Out of the corner of his eye, he peeked at Isabela. She was pouting and reading the menu in his hands from a bit far away, squinting to see the small print. He brought it closer to her, and she stuttered, but said nothing as she more easily read the words.

"Etto..." She murmured to herself. Jongdae recognized it from all the Japanese films he'd watched and resisted the urge to laugh. She even exclaimed in other languages, this girl. "I'll take the, uh... Beef ramen?"

He couldn't believe it. She was ordering in Mandarin.

The waitress smiled knowingly at her and nodded, writing down her order.

"Aish, my Mandarin is so rusty! Are you going to make us all speak it?" Chanyeol asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "You can speak in Korean if you need to, and I can translate. I just use this place a lot as practice. Most of the workers here are from Shanghai, and they're very patient with me." She smiled at the waitress, whose name was Pei, from her name tag. "Peiying, I'm telling them, uh... You do very well teaching me Mandarin, that I am very grateful."

"Ah, nonsense!" Peiying waved her off with her small notebook. "You're a very good student, and it's refreshing to have someone who isn't Chinese speak Mandarin to us."

"Refreshing?" Isabela repeated the word, testing it out herself.

"Refreshing," Peiying said in English, and Isabela bowed her head at her gratefully. The waitress patted her head, and Isabela blushed, laughing. "Ah, it's also not terrible having such a cute student!"

"Eh?" Isabela blushed deeper, surprised at her words. "Ah, Pei!"

"Hush, now let the man order. I hope with all these men being so handsome and well-dressed, they're paying for your food." She nodded at Jongdae, like she realized he understood every word she was saying. He nodded respectfully at the elder.

"I will be paying," he explained, and Peiying nodded at him like that's what he was supposed to do. "I'll have the curry noodles and this side dish." He pointed at a photo on the menu and the waitress wrote it down.

"You'll want rice with your meals?" She asked Jongdae, and he nodded.

"Yes, please, we are very hungry," he smiled and Pei scribbled her pen. They then ordered their drinks, and the waitress went on her way. He did notice before she left, though, that she gave Isabela a soft jab with her elbow and nodded at Jongdae. Isabela blushed so hard he thought he could smell the fumes coming out of her ears.

"So, Isabela!" Baekhyun smiled at her, pushing away his empty bowl of noodles. Man, that guy could eat. "Tell us about yourself."

"Eh?" Isabela squeaked.

"You know," Baekhyun shrugged. "Hobbies. Sports. Your favorite EXO member. Likings. That sort of thing."

"Waaaahhh?!~" She exclaimed. "My favorite EXO member?" Her cheeks turned pink.

"Sure, since you offered," Baekhyun teased.

"Erm," she looked uncomfortable for the first time in the night, "I don't think it'd be right for me to say that."

"Ahh, I see.~" Jongin followed, continuing Baekhyun's game. "It's Lay, isn't it?"

"Woh?" He looked up from his food like he was just noticing the conversation. "What about me?"

"Isabela said you're her absolute favorite in EXO," Baekhyun mock explained, and Yixing's eyes widened at her.

"What?" She quickly waved her hands at him. "No!"

"No?" Yixing asked, looking slightly confused and vaguely disappointed.

"Aish, that's not- I mean, I didn't-"

"Guys, you're so mean," Kyungsoo laughed, but did nothing to stop it.

"She did say she looked up to him the most!" Jongdae was surprised to see Junmyeon playing along, but he had to admit that Isabela was very teasable. The way her cheeks turned more red with every comment was the only reason Jongdae hadn't stopped them.

"Oh, so, I'm not your favorite? I thought I was!" Chanyeol pouted at her. The 8 men all looked at her expectantly.

"I-I-" She put her hands over her face and started shaking her head in embarrassment.

"Okay, I think that's enough," Jongdae said grimly and all the guys sighed. They went back to their food, except Baekhyun, who still looked at her.

"Hmmm~" He hummed. "I'll figure it out."

Isabela tried to laugh but it came out as a nervous squeak.

"Alright, then, what are your hobbies?" Jongdae asked before thanking the waitress in Mandarin when she brought their food on a tray. In his opinion, curry noodles had never smelled so good before. He broke apart the chopsticks and dug in.

"Itadakimas~" Isabela said in a very low voice she thought no one could hear and broke her own chopsticks. "Hobbies?"

"Yeah, what do you do in your free time and such?" Jongdae knew that Americans looked down on slurping soup, but he couldn't help it. The food was too good and he was too hungry.

"Well, erm, in my free time I like to practice my languages, I guess. Maybe watch movies or dramas in that language. Um, I also like to draw and listen to music. Maybe go for long rides on my bike into places I don't fully know yet." She took a bite of rice.

"Isn't a girl riding her bike alone dangerous around here?" Chanyeol asked.

"Hm?" She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Ahh, you're right," Minseok said, pointing at her with his chopsticks. "It could especially be dangerous if there aren't any people around."

"Oh,~" she said, and looked up, like she's just starting to consider this thought. "I don't know. Nothing's happened to me yet."

"You must have some awfully good luck," Sehun said.

Isabela shook her head. "I definitely do not have good luck." She didn't go into detail, but her expression made them not press any further.

The night went on that way. They softly interrogated her while she ate, and even when they ordered rice cakes, she was still being asked questions. The idols also , because it was so fun to watch her cheeks get red. Since she was already full when she finished her ramen, Jongdae ordered two more things off the menu plus some rice cakes for her to take home, totally not because she adorably resembled a chipmunk when she stuffed her face with them.

Sadly, though, the members had a full day of concert preparations the next day, and it was already after midnight. They needed to get back to the hotel, and all agreed to call Isabela a taxi so she wouldn't have to ride alone in the night. When the taxi arrived, Junmyeon swiped his card so he would be charged for her ride. Isabela thanked them all very, very much and they promised to get some rest after she insisted. Yixing put her bike in the trunk of the taxi, which thankfully was big enough to fit it, and they said their goodbyes.

When she was gone, EXO collectively let out a sigh. Jongdae the letter in his jacket, rubbing it softly along the wrinkled edges. He had promised her to get some rest, but rest could wait until after he finished reading the letter.

The walk to the hotel was filled with laughter and pulling and shoving and teasing. EXO had found their energy again, and even though they were tired, they had motivation and conviction to make their concert tomorrow a grand success. Isabela had told them she would be on the third floor. They needed to put on a show so bright it would reach even her.

When they arrived at the hotel, each pair went off to their respective rooms. Minseok and Jongdae both went into theirs, and Minseok collapsed on the bed and started snoring almost immediately. Jongdae took off his shoes and stretched. He felt so unbearably happy, like he was walking on clouds. It's a wonder what food can do to lift your mood, he thought.

When he was ready for bed, he took the letter out of his jacket and switched on the bedside lamp, casting a dim glow on the rest of the room. His eyes focused on his name written in purple ink that he now realized had glitter in it. He then took a deep sigh, and opened the envelope, revealing the two page letter she had written especially for him and while thinking only about him.

Just the thought of it made his skin tingle.