Chapter 2 : It's gonna be me

“So once again you’re portraying your alter ego?” Alice inquired with a raised brow.

Kyungsoo, Jonghyun and the two of us were walking to the Italian restaurant we usually frequented for lunch. I must accept I had been complaining to Jonghyun about my assignments for the next issue since the very moment we stepped out of the magazine headquarters, so I was confused by Alice’s question. “You know… that girl… the Ungrateful .” She chuckled, shaking her head disapprovingly. 

Judging by the way he had encouraged me to express my frustration, Jonghyun didn’t seem to care about my supposed ungratefulness the slightest bit and Kyungsoo was probably too uninformed to share his opinion on the matter. However, Alice frowned at me and shook her head judgmentally, every now and then since the very moment we had left the writing department for lunch.

I was well aware my colleague found my worries rather silly and unfounded, “how could you possibly dare to feel burdened by such an exciting task?” she had repeated phrases along those lines more times than my fingers could keep count of; but to be honest, Alice was just being simple-minded because, of course, she ignored the reasons behind my behavior. 

“Alice! Watch out that language!” Jonghyun scolded scandalized, covering his mouth with the palm of his hand. He gave her a reproachful look before I managed to stick my tongue out at Alice, looking like a little kid who had just won a silly argument.

No doubt I could be considered an ungrateful who didn’t appreciate the “privilege” of having so many different interviews with top stars, but this specific edition of Vogue Girl was not just a regular release. I could unequivocally affirm that the March issue was in effect the most important issue of the year. Claiming that my articles would probably become the most influential ones for the magazine was not an exaggeration and I definitely wasn’t trying to boost my ego or sound pretentious with that statement. They indeed were. 

If you don’t believe me, then just ask the thousands of thousands of EXO fans who were supposed to buy Vogue Girl that month because they wanted to see their beloved idols appear in the “Pink Wings” campaign.

“Joan is just a very professional writer who dislikes mixing business with pleasure” Jonghyun teased, gaining himself a poke on the ribs. “Ouch!”  He massaged the place I hit with my elbow as he glared at me.

“It serves you right” Alice burst out laughing as she patted our friend on the shoulder. However, I failed at recognizing the hilarity of the situation because the whole EXO topic I had been trying to avoid was about to be mentioned. 

EXO, if you people are unaware, is the hottest boy group of the moment. They’ve become quite a phenomenon, gathering millions of fans not only in South Korea and Asia but all around the world. As extremely talented and good-looking they are, they’re still better known for having an overprotective and extra-loyal fan base that would go as far as to rip heads off if needed, in order to support and protect their favorite group. A very questionable hobby and obsessive behavior, if you wanted my opinion, but those facts only confirmed that my concerns were definitely not baseless. One misplaced word in my article and I would’ve automatically become the most loathed reporter of the year. 

Not like I was afraid or anything, but truth to be told, I wasn’t especially fond of the idea of writing articles that brought me so much trouble. And especially not, when I was “romantically” linked to one of the members of the group. 

And when I say that I was “romantically linked” to one of the members of EXO, I’m obviously not accepting the accuracy of such statement. That only was the general consensus my friends had come to, assuming that the aforementioned individual held something other than a mere professional interest in me. To be honest, there were several incidents supporting my friends’ theory, but that claim was unrealistic, exaggerated and completely taken out of context. Reality was rather different, although no one seemed willing to believe me when I said that the particularly tall and deep-voiced jerk that went by the name of Park Chanyeol and I we were not, by any means, romantically involved. 

I couldn’t deny that I certainly felt attracted to him and deep inside I had been cloaking my feelings for Chanyeol behind the equally dangerous argument of being close friends –probably too close in the eyes of everybody else–, but the sad reality was that we were nothing but mere friends and our “romance” was doomed to remain merely platonic for my own sake.  Yet, of course, people didn’t get it.

“You guys will forever go on about Chanyeol, won’t you?” I pursed my lips and looked away just in time to catch Kyungsoo staring at me with rounded eyes, puzzled by the nature of Jonghyun’s remark –I supposed.  

Do Kyungsoo, the Lifestyle Section Editor of Vogue Girl was an incredibly sharp and intelligent man, but he just never took notice of any social cue. I was pretty positive he would’ve always been lost in most of our conversations if it had not been for my "translations" or better said blunt clarifications. 

I sighed loudly, suddenly feeling emotionally drained at the thought of EXO. Chanyeol and our complicated status as “friends” was one of those topics one couldn’t just think about without having a massive headache. I shook my head vigorously as if I’d get rid off those mortifying thoughts by doing so, but in exchange, I only received a frown from Alice’s boss. The guy looked so confused at both my behavior and Alice’s & Jonghyun’s jokes that for a moment I was tempted to leave him alone in his world of obliviousness and walk away. But in the end, I decided I couldn’t just let him live ignorant of the “fun”, even if it involved my co-workers laughing at my expense. 

Modesty aside, I was just too good sometimes.

“They insist I have something going on with Chanyeol, so they’re teasing me” I briefly explained before Kyungsoo could even formulate the question I knew he was going to ask anyway. His expression beamed as if I had just decoded an intricate riddle for him, but he still dared to nudge me with the elbow, putting a sly smile on his face.

“Don’t even try– ” I threatened, but it was too late, he had already joined the other two on their Let’s-Torment-Joan Day. 

Minutes later, when we were finally seated at a table and waited for our food to come, Alice dragged me away from the guys with the excuse of going to the ladies’ room. Since I was still sulking over the articles, I didn’t notice that my friend had a strange expression crossing her face, at first. But, once she stopped me before I could step into the ladies’ restroom and pulled me to a corner of the restaurant, I immediately realized she had something to say. 

“You won’t believe what Jonghyun heard from one the assistants of the marketing team.” Alice glanced at me with a mixture of skepticism and anxiety. That almost explained why she looked so eager about fixing her makeup back at the table.

“What? If she said Jenny likes Gael, those can barely be considered news–” 

“No! Of course not! This is seriously big news!” Alice waited for a short moment, expecting me to show any sign of anticipation, but I only gave her a plain look. “Apparently Kyungsoo told Siwon and Gael that he is dating someone!” She put unnecessary emphasis on the last words and my eyebrows went up automatically, suddenly feeling interested in the “big news”. But Alice hadn’t even dropped the bomb yet “And the woman in question is like 20 years older than him!” 

My natural reaction to Alice’s news was to burst out laughing loudly –very loudly. The idea of Kyungsoo dating someone was itself unrealistic, let alone the fact that someone was 20 years older. 

“Alice, honey, are you sure they didn’t mean…” I tried to come up with a better explanation to such a rumor, but I honestly couldn’t think about any besides that it was a very bad and lame joke from Jonghyun. It wouldn’t be a first –the bad joke–, but, on a second thought, it didn’t sound like Jonghyun to go as far as to make up false rumors. “I don” t know-” I stopped to think about it in detail, frankly unwilling to accept such farfetched reality. “Siwon! Siwon told Gael and Kyungsoo he’s dating someone older?” That totally made sense “Or Gael told Kyungsoo and Siwon that he’s dating someone older?” I reasoned, trying to make my speech as clear as possible. “No, no, Gael can’t date anyone! He’s Jenny’s. Are you sure they didn’t mean Siwon?” I corrected myself mechanically. 

Alice looked one hundred percent relieved by my reaction because she cracked a smile.

“I don’t know but everybody is talking about it now and no one seems to believe it is true but I think that he might have said that” I looked at her profoundly confused “You know, everybody is thinking he’ll go by himself to Cara's masquerade and maybe he was embarrassed to admit so in front of Gael and Siwon, so he lied instead.” I put on a pensive face. Lying about such trivialities was not Kyungsoo’s style at all.

“Who knows” I narrowed my eyes “But I’m 99% sure that it’s just a misunderstanding. I think Siwon is the one dating and Jonghyun just got the facts all mixed up” I ventured.

“Oh, God- well…good!” Alice stammered bringing her hands to her hair. She definitely seemed to be a lot more relaxed after hearing my hypothesis. “It doesn’t sound real at all, no?” She gave me a hopeful look with rounded eyes, it almost sounded as if she was trying to convince herself of the implausible of the situation. 

I only nodded in agreement. Of course not.

“Ok, great” But apparently, there was something else. Alice fidgeted with the hem of her silk blouse and cleared up “Because I was actually planning to ask him to come to Cara” s birthday party with me.” Alice avoided my eyes as she spoke and I almost choked with my own saliva. 

All that secretiveness finally made sense and the whole situation clicked in my head. To be fair, I had always known that there was something else going on behind the hatred Alice and Kyungsoo professed for each other but I had to admit that Alice’s idea was quite bold even for someone like her. I pondered for a second, not knowing what to say. In the end, I just chuckled and ruffled her hair affectionately.

“And I was counting on you to be my partner for the night!” I smirked, touching my forehead dramatically, as though I were the main character in a play. 

“Chanyeol hasn’t asked you out to the party yet?” Alice gasped and then huffed exasperatedly. 

Truth to be told, I had been dropping subtle hints here and there since the day Cara had announced her plans for a masquerade on Valentine’s Day, hoping that Chanyeol would get the message across and would ask me to go with him. But apparently, he was just as oblivious as Kyungsoo.

It made me slightly disappointed to think about it so I laughed it off instead. 

“Not like I’m expecting him to” I pretended to be unaffected, but Alice still tried to find a logical explanation to his lack of action.

“He surely has a packed schedule on Valentine’s Day” She muttered. It could be just a product of my imagination but I thought I noticed a hint of hesitation in her voice almost like she knew it wasn’t the case. 

“Oh, no! Actually, his plans for the day don’t include any public appearance” I shrugged. My colleague seemed so sorry about mentioning Chanyeol that I tried to reassure her that I was ok by linking arms with her as we started to walk back to the table. I was pretty convinced Jonghyun and Kyungsoo were uncomfortable sitting in silence as they wondered where the hell we were. “Turns out last year EXO received so many chocolate boxes that they had to give them away in one of their fan meetings and apparently a fan received the exact same chocolates back.” Alice and I both laughed amused “It was quite a mess so they’re planning to keep a low profile this year.” 

“An incredibly wise decision" Alice recognized with a nod.

 

                                                                                   

Lunch, just like any other day, was filled with jokes from Jonghyun, who generally enjoyed updating us on the latest gossips of the magazine employees. And though Alice and he were always exceptionally talented in the art of bothering me, that day their talents seemed to be flourishing like cherry blossom trees during springtime. I was the main target of their teasing throughout the entire meal. Chanyeol being the main topic.

“What are you planning to gift Chanyeol for Valentine’s Day?” Jonghyun asked as soon as dessert was served. His words carried pretended spontaneity, but judging by the tone of his voice, I could tell he had been waiting for the perfect moment to ask that question. 

I was about to glare at him but he reacted rather quickly and wrapped an arm around my shoulders in an attempt to appease my anger as he winked at me viciously. “You know I’m just joking, right?” he pinched my cheek cheekily. 

“Speaking of what…” Alice cut me off before I could scold Jonghyun for using his manipulative ways on me “…has everybody found a partner for Cara’s party yet?” She inquired casually, far too casually in reality. I could tell that she was dying to hear Kyungsoo’s answer. Or better said, she was dying to confirm if the rumors surrounding him were true. 

At the risk of sounding like a perfect , my honest opinion was that such groundless story could hardly be real. I highly doubted that the Kyungsoo I knew were to date an older woman and so Alice –and everybody else at the magazine– did. Yet, my brunette friend still needed to ask that question. She was probably expecting her boss to admit he didn’t have a partner and probably, in her imagination he would've gone as far as to confess that he was planning to go all by himself to Cara’s masquerade. However, what came up from that question was an absolutely unforeseen situation that put me in a very difficult position. 

“I’m ashamed to admit this but I’m completely counting on either Siwon or Jonghyun to invite me so I won’t end up going by myself” I joked winking at a puzzled Jonghyun “Though I’m sure Emma and you already planned to go together” I glared at him, pouting accusingly. “No?” The guy shook his head and patted my crown like if he was petting a dog.

“No, my little Joan, but don’t count on me. Chanyeol gave me a death glare just for talking to you the other day, I don’t think I want my name written in his Death Note” Alice and Jonghyun enjoyed teasing me so much that they burst out in hysterical laughter. They looked just like a pair of evil hyenas.
 

“What do you think about coming with me, then?” Kyungsoo blurted out of the blue, taking advantage of the fact Alice and Jonghyun didn’t seem to be listening to anything over their loud shrieks of laughter. 

“What?” For a moment there I didn’t notice he was addressing to me. We weren’t precisely known to be the closest of the friends, so his invitation honestly caught me off guard. I was flustered and confused, to say the least.

“I said, come with me to the masquerade” Kyungsoo repeated clearly and nonchalantly. Upon realizing what had just happened, Alice’s expression hardened and Jonghyun’s jaw dropped quite dramatically. I was speechless.

“Stop joking, you guys.” I tried to coolly continue with the conversation as if nothing had happened, but the look in Alice’s eyes broke my heart. “You all have been pestering me non stop. It’s getting really awkward.” I said, but Kyungsoo just smirked and leaned forwards on the table. He looked directly into my eyes and raised an eyebrow amused. 

“I’m not joking,” He said, triggering Jonghyun's gossip radar. 

The layout designer really looked as though he wanted to capture the moment in a videotape or something of the sort. The most random and absurd event to ever happen at Vogue Girl was happening just before his eyes.

In my case, my mind was a complete mess and although Kyungsoo’s invitation was unexpected, my thoughts were mostly occupied by Alice and our previous conversation. I couldn’t stop feeling guilty, imagining the way she must have felt then.

“I actually didn’t mean to invite you until later today, but since Alice brought it up..” Kyungsoo shrugged and then glanced at me inquiringly “So, what do you say? Let’s go together.” He repeated once again. 

The scariest part of this entire situation was how calm, serious and impassive Kyungsoo remained while everybody else completely freaked out. He didn’t seem to mind Jonghyun’s and Alice’s astonished faces. For God’s sake! He didn’t even seem to care about my own shocked expression. 

“I- ehhhh…” I turned to look at Jonghyun, who avoided exchanging looks with me. “Well- I-” then, involuntarily gave Alice an apologetic look “I actually-” 

“For freak’s sake, Joan!” She rolled eyes looking utterly annoyed “What are you waiting to accept his invitation!” she half shouted, half muttered, causing Jonghyun and Kyungsoo to regard her oddly. “You’re embarrassing him! Just say yes!”

I imagined Roman’s and Priscila’s possible reactions to this whole chaos and I suddenly felt the urge to facepalm myself. If I wanted people to stop pestering me about EXO, Kyungsoo had just given them a new topic of interest. 

“And Friday the 13th hasn’t even arrived yet, Joan.”  That annoying voice inside my head reminded me before I could gather the courage to reply to Kyungsoo’s question with a simple and heartless “Yeah, sounds good.”