"He's really pissing me off" grumbled Baekhyun to Chen. "Look at him!"

Chen and Baekhyun glimpsed at Chanyeol who had been smiling to himself as he practised the choreography to 'Monster'. The EXO members were in the dance studio again, rehearsing the songs from their album, 'Ex'Act'.

"He's been grinning from ear to ear since this morning and it's creeping me out, Chen! Do something!"

Chen raised a brow at Baekhyun. "He's just in a good mood because he has a date later on today."

"A date?" Baekhyun was surprised. "With Little Umma?"

Chen nodded. "He asked me if I knew what type of flowers Nami-ah liked, earlier."

Baekhyun was confused, "Why would he ask you?"

Chen shrugged. "Maybe because she used to come and hang out with me and Xiumin-hyung a lot before. I dunno. Either way, when I asked why he wanted to know, he said that they were going on a date later this evening."

"Who's going on a date this evening?" The pair turned around to see Suho eavesdropping on their conversation. "Are you talking about Kai and Krystal?"

"No, hyung" Baekhyun replied. "We were talking about Chanyeol and Little Umma. Apparently, they're going on a date tonight."

Suho was surprised. "Oh." He frowned. "Why didn't either of them tell me?"

Chen was amused, "Do they have to tell you?"

"Of course! I'm responsible for keeping all of you kids in order." He turned and marched up to Chanyeol who was now, busy messaging on his phone. He still had a wide grin on his face. "Chanyeol-ah" Suho called him.

Chanyeol broke away from his phone and saw Suho was in front of him. "Er, yeah, hyung?"

Suho pursed his lips, "I heard from Chen and Baekhyun that you're going on a date with Nami-ah tonight. Is this true?"

Chanyeol shot daggers at Baekhyun and Chen who happened to be in his line of sight. He sighed, "Yes, hyung. It's true." He didn't want any of the other EXO members to know because he knew they would interfere with his plans.

Suho let out a hmph. "Okay, then. I just wanted to know."

"You're not going to stop me from going?" Chanyeol asked, astounded. He definitely thought Suho, of all people, would be the most against him going on a date.

Suho scoffed, "Why would I do that?"

"Because of the media and scandals and the fans--all those things. You usually grill me about that stuff."

"Yah, Chanyeol-ah" Suho said, unimpressed. "I'm your leader, not your mother. I only want to look out for the team but, I'm not going to deny you your rights to have a relationship."

Chanyeol was still in disbelief, "But you're usually so uptight about the no-dating contract."

Suho sighed. "Even if I try to enforce it, does it really stop any of you guys from secretly dating?"

Chanyeol thought for a moment and remembered that Kai was secretly dating Krystal from f(x) and how Baekhyun had secretly dated Taeyeon from Girls Generation. Suho had resisted their relationship in the same way as he had resisted his relationship with Nami. But in the end, he would always give in and tell them to be sensible and try not to cause any scandals that would negatively implicate the group.

"No, I guess not" Chanyeol responded.

Suho smiled at him. "Just make sure you're careful while you're outside. Try not to attract too much attention and make sure you wear a disguise."

Chanyeol nodded. "Don't worry, hyung. I'm planning to take Nami-ah to one of the least busiest cinemas in town so that there's less of a chance that we'll get noticed. We'll be watching one of the last screenings too."

Suho nodded approvingly, "Okay, good." But before he turned away, Suho gave him a warning look. "Be sensible Chanyeol. No hanky-panky, you hear?"

Chanyeol coloured at his hyung's words. "Suho-hyung! I can't believe you're telling me that! I'm a gentleman!"

Suho had a brow raised, "That's not what it looked like during the retreat."

Again, Chanyeol blushed as he remembered how Nami and himself had made out in front of the EXO members. In his defence, he wasn't the one who made a move on her. She was the one who had pushed him down and started kissing him. Suho chuckled deviously at Chanyeol's embarrassed face before leaving him.

~*~

"No, D.O-ah, like this" Kai moved his arms in a fluid motion as he crossed his legs over to finish into a different position. "That's how you do that part."

D.O sighed, "I'm just not getting it today." He walked over to his water bottle and sat down. His shoulders sank deeper as he leaned back on the wall.

Kai observed D.O as he sat down next to him. "Something up?" He watched a quiet D.O sip on his water before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"No, nothing."

Kai wasn't convinced. Ever since dinner last night, D.O had been really quiet. And in contrast, Chanyeol had been more hyper than usual. Kai knew he wasn't the brightest out of the EXO members but he definitely wasn't the dullest tool in the shed. Something was going on and he had an inkling of what it could be.

"You know, D.O-ah, you can always talk to me if there's something bothering you" he kindly offered.

D.O gave him a weak smile. "Sadly, it's something neither you nor I can fix" he replied cryptically.

Just as Kai was about to ask what D.O meant by that, the door suddenly opened and in walked Nami. Kai heard D.O take in a sharp intake of breath as his round orbs laid eyes on her. Kai watched D.O closely and saw how his gaze never left her profile as she walked over to Chanyeol.

Nami looked different today, D.O observed as he watched her walk across the studio. She was wearing a pink hoodie and her long hair hung loosely past her shoulders as she didn't have it in a pony-tail or a bun like she usually did. He watched as a smiling Nami went up to Chanyeol first, to hand him the snacks that she had brought over from the dorm.

Chanyeol's face beamed at the sight of her and D.O noticed how his already wide grin, grew even wider as she approached him.

He knew what was unfolding in front of him without having to think about it. D.O had played Chanyeol's role, in a film, before and he recognised the way his expression lit up at the sight of Nami. It was like the stage directions from his script flashed in front of his eyes as he continued to gawk at them from the sidelines. Smile at her lovingly... Nervously talk to her... Speak with sincerity in your voice... These were the basic stage directions to demonstrate the feelings of love. And it was as clear as day that those two were in love. Something had changed overnight and now, they were closer to each other than ever before.

D.O felt a stab in his heart.

Nami bid farewell to the EXO members after dropping off the snacks. She said that she needed to get some housework done before their date in the evening and that she and Chanyeol would rendezvous outside the cinema later on. Kai watched as Chanyeol hesitantly let her go. He turned to D.O and saw the suffering in his eyes as he watched her leave. Kai finally realised what was going on.

With a light tap on his back, Kai told him, "C'mon D.O-ah. Let's get more practice done. You'll get better soon, don't worry." But Kai's last sentence wasn't referring to his dance moves.

D.O smiled at him weakly as if he knew what Kai was talking about. "Yeah. I know I will. It will just take some time."

~*~

"It's a good thing you called me or else your date this evening would have been a disaster!" Hyun-suk exclaimed as he helped me choose what to buy from a rack of clothes. "How is it that you don't own a single stylish-looking outfit in your wardrobe? It's just plain criminal!"

We were at the department store nearby SM Entertainment HQ. After I had left the EXO members at the dance studio, I had asked Hyun-suk to help me buy an outfit I could wear for my date with Chanyeol in the evening. Last night, I had discovered that I didn't have a single article of clothing that would be suitable for a date. All I had were yoga pants, jeans, T-shirts and hoodies.

I sighed, "I told you, I prefer wearing comfy clothes. And besides, skir