"So you're saying that this girl in the photograph isn't your girlfriend?" the interviewer asked.

"That's correct" Chanyeol replied.

The interviewer and the rest of the EXO members gaped behind them where a large plasma screen had a photograph of Chanyeol and Suji in an embrace. They were at the talk show and, like most of the EXO members anticipated, the interviewer had asked about what happened yesterday. Chanyeol and Suji's scandal had spread like wildfire overnight.

"The fans say that the girl in this picture might be someone at SM Entertainment" the interviewer stated as he read off his cue cards. "Other fans say that she might be Lee Sooman's daughter, Lee Suji."

Chanyeol fought to keep his poker face on. "That's right, the woman in that picture is Lee Suji."

Suho glared at him. Chanyeol saw Suho and read his expression: What are you saying, Chanyeol?

He stared back at him: Trust me, he said with his eyes. "I had met coincidentally with Suji-ssi while I was, erm, running some errands." Again, Chanyeol mentally kicked himself for the lame excuse. "And I ran into some fans who recognised me. There was a large crowd of fans and I was afraid that Suji-ssi might get hurt so, I drew her closer to me. But the fans misinterpreted my intention. It's all just a big misunderstanding."

The interviewer nodded accordingly.

"Chanyeol is a very caring person" Suho interjected. "He's not the type to turn his back when someone is in trouble."

"That's true," Chen affirmed, backing Suho up. "He's always trying to help others even when we're practising or when we're struggling with something."

Chanyeol listened as the EXO members tried their best to reinforce Chanyeol's fabricated story. They needed to convince the media that Chanyeol was not in any relationship at all, especially not with Lee Suji. That would overcomplicate things not only for Chanyeol and his relationship with SM Entertainment but, for the rest of the EXO members too.

"Well, now that's been sorted out," said the interviewer as he moved on to the next topic, "can you tell us more about the concept of your new song? In particular, the fans would love to know more about your promotional material that has been recently released on social media." The interviewer navigated the plasma screen TV behind them to show photos from their photo shoot a few days back.

The EXO members were surprised to see how well they had turned out. The photos were on a slide show which showed each of their individual photos with Nami.

"It was quite the provocative shoot," the interviewer mentioned. "And there has been quite a stir amongst the fans. They'd love to know who the female model is."

The EXO members exchanged looks with each other. Suho answered, "I apologise but, we aren't allowed to disclose information on the model."

"Oh? And why not?" asked the interviewer curiously.

"We have to respect her privacy as she would like to keep her identity anonymous."

The interviewer was surprised, "Anonymous? That's quite a strange thing to say for a model. Surely if she modelled with worldwide stars like yourselves, she would like to be well-known?"

Suho rubbed his neck nervously. "That may be the case but, I guess she wants to stay in keeping with our concept."

"And what would that be?" the interviewer enquired.

"It's temptation," Xiumin replied. The interviewer turned to him. "Temptation can come in all forms: it's anonymous. That's why the model wears a black mask."

The interviewer turned around and watched as different photos of Nami appeared. In every single one of them, she was indeed wearing a mask. "How fascinating!" the interviewer exclaimed. "So you mean to say that the model wore a mask the whole time you were with her?"

The EXO members nodded.

"So you never even got to see what she looked like?" the interviewer pried.

Chen replied, "No. She was insistent that she keep her identity a secret."

"How peculiar! She must be quite the mystery woman, then."

The EXO members exchanged looks. Kai and Sehun sniggered under their breath.

"Speaking of mystery women, I guess we've come to the point in the show where we ask the EXO members about their ideal woman," announced the interviewer to the camera. "Let's start with you, Suho-ssi..."

Like the EXO members had practised, each EXO member gave an account of what they found attractive in a woman. Almost everyone's answer was identical to the one they had given to Nami when they practised before. All but, one of them. When it was Chanyeol's turn, Xiumin noticed that his answer had slightly changed.

"Physical looks don't really matter to me," Chanyeol responded, "what I like most in a woman is her unpredictability."

The interviewer was intrigued. "Unpredictability? Chanyeol-ssi, do you like girls who are exciting?"

Chanyeol smiled. "Yes, I like girls who will make every day interesting for me."

As the interviewer rounded off the show, Xiumin stared at Chanyeol from afar. There was something about Chanyeol's answer which irked him. Something about Chanyeol had changed but, he couldn't put his finger on it. And he was unsure of whether he should trust what his instincts were trying to tell him.

~*~

After visiting Baekhyun, the love doctor, in his room, D.O contemplated on what he could do to make Nami look his way. Do something rather than say something that would let her know that you care... Baekhyun's words echoed in his mind. But D.O didn't know what exactly that 'something' is.

He sighed as he paced around the living room, doing some light tidying, after a messy Baekhyun. As he picked up his snotty tissues with a gloved hand and a bin bag in the other, D.O spotted Nami's broken phone, lying forsaken, on top of the coffee table. He stopped what he was doing.

He remembered glancing over it last night and must have forgotten to give it back to her. D.O took off his rubber gloves and inspected Nami's phone once more. There was a crack on the screen and when he tried turning it on, the screen remained black. "She must have been devastated when this broke," he thought to himself. He remembered how she had fought to get her phone back from Chanyeol a while ago, and how she had floored him to do so. "It must be very important to her."

Suddenly, D.O had a eureka moment: do something rather than say something that would let her know that you care. He glanced down at the phone and knew what he had to do.

~*~

"Nami-ah! You shouldn't be up there!" D.O rushed to Nami's side to help her down the stool she was standing on. He had just returned from outdoors. "What were you trying to do? You could have fallen!"

"I was just trying to reach the pasta" she replied innocently. She held onto D.O's hand for support as she hopped off the stool. "You needn't worry, I was being careful."

D.O pouted, "That doesn't matter! Why were you trying to get the pasta in the first place?" He peered at the work surface next to them and saw that there was also a bottle of ready-made bolognese. "Are you trying to make spaghetti?"

Nami nodded. "I just felt like having some today."

D.O sighed. "Well if you are going to cook spaghetti, I might as well help you."

"Will you really?" D.O watched as Nami's face lit up and his heart stirred. Her smile always made him feel tingly inside.

"Y-yeah" he replied as he started taking out the necessary ingredients. "But why do you have a sudden craving for spaghetti?" he asked, trying to make small talk with her.

Nami helped him by preparing the hot water. "It's because I usually eat that or Japanese food during special occasions."

Special occasions? thought D.O to himself. "Oh? And what's the occasion?"

Nami replied casually, "It's my birthday today."

D.O stopped what he was doing and turned to face her. His eyes were as wide as saucers. "What? Today's your birthday?"

Nami smirked at D.O's reaction. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell us? We would have prepared something!" he felt a whirlwind of emotions.

Nami shrugged. "I guess after all the commotion yesterday, it just slipped my mind." She smiled at him, "But it's not a big deal. I don't normally do anything special on my birthday. I usually just celebrate by eating food."

D.O watched as Nami looked down as she put the pasta into the pot to boil. Somehow, she looked a little sad.

"Well, we can't let this day pass by without doing anything special," he told her firmly. Nami gazed up at him and he added, "we'll have a mini-celebration--here--in the dorm."

"D.O-ah, you really don't have to--"

But before Nami could finish what she was saying, D.O had run out of the kitc