The contract signing went through as originally planned. Junmyeon and Jieun being IU as of the moment, both being the professionals that they are chose to put aside their questions for each other after work. Before exiting the building, Junmyeon requested that he and IU be left alone for a while in his office, while Chipmunk manager waits in the lobby with Secretary Park. 

Jieun and Junmyeon are facing each other, still seated at the latter's conference area of his office. Both are waiting for each other to initiate the conversation. 

Junmyeon is the first to break the ice. "So ... I guess we haven't really properly introduced ourselves, profesionally wise." he starts. "I'm Kim Junmyeon, the Vice President of K Group. It's nice to meet you, IU-ssi." he outstretched his right hand towards Jieun for a handshake. She reaches for his hand and firmly shakes it, they both nod at each other.

"Ummm... if it's not too much." Jieun looks down, embarassed for what she's about to say. "Can you keep it a secret that we're neighbors? It's just - it's just that the media likes to make up stories and it gets blown out of proportion. I just don't want to bother you with it too, I don't want to be a burden for the K Group's image." she hurriedly explained. 

Junmyeon's eyes looked apologetic upon seeing Jieun's all abashed by asking him this favor. He waits for her to look at him in the eyes and gives her a comforting smile.

"I won't tell anyone, don't worry. Besides, you're the only friend I have here, right?" he said in a very laid back manner. Jieun finally eased up and cracked a smile. 

"I mean, we are still friends, right? This won't change anything about us." 

About us? What exactly are we? right ... we're friends. 

Jieun nodded enthusiastically at him. "I'll still be your friendly neighbor Jieun back in the apartment." she affirmed. 

With the contract signed, IU is now officially the brand ambassor of K Group for their audio devices. For the following weeks, she'll be filming CFs and doing photoshoots for the new advertisements that will be played all throughout South Korea. Junmyeon, upon his father's request, will personally oversee each shoot and filming, to make sure that IU is cared for, being the company's newest model. Jieun's vacation is now cut short, she was supposed to be back as IU when her promotions for her comeback finally starts, but now, they have to squeeze her shoots for K Group while she still has no other schedules yet. It seems like she'll be seeing Junmyeon often, both as her neighbor and as the Vice President of K Group. 

--

The drive from K Group's head office towards Kakao M's office (formerly Loen/ Fave ent.) was awfully quiet. Chipmunk manager keeps looking at Jieun's direction, in the passenger seat, knowing that she's troubled by something. 

"Care to share?" he starts. 

"Share what, oppa?" she retorts. 

"Hmm.. like for example, how are you connected with Mr. Vice President?" he's teasing her now, smirking at his obvious question. 

Jieun looks away, her eyes focused on the road. "H - He's uhmmm... my neighbor." she stammered. Her eyebrows burrowed, arms crossed. 

"Are you sureeee? Seems to me that you're attracted to him. I know you, Jieun. You're practically my little sister now." Chipmunk continously taps his index finger on the steering wheel while driving. He gave Jieun a quick glance.

"Well, I can't blame you, he is good-looking and seems like a really nice guy. Just, be careful, okay? You know how the media is. It's fine if you like him, there's no rule saying that you can't." 

"I know oppa, I know." she mumbled, staring at the sky. 

--

IU and her team set out very early in the morning to go to the outskirts of Seoul for the shoot that will last the whole day. The concept that the company had in mind for the series of shoots and CFs for IU is being closely connected to nature. They wanted it to be refreshing, with her casually striding on a field of flowers and the rain forest, looking like a fairy with her innocent beauty.

For the first half of the day, they set out on the field of flowers. IU is styled in a white sleeveless dress, displaying her milky white skin. She barely had any make up on, as the concept for this shoot is to look as natural as she can. 

The production team is all set up and they start the shoot, first they took photographs of IU wearing the different models of head phones and ear phones that she'll be advertising. It went smoothly, and time passed by without them knowing. The whole production team, IU and her team were disrupted when they saw a luxury SUV coming followed with several food trucks. 

The luxury SUV halted right in front of the  shoot. A tall, good-looking man, with broad shoulders and very sharp facial features stepped out of the passenger seat. He's dressed in a loose black tee, ripped denim jeans, and black Converse shoes. His movie-like entrance made the women in the production and IU's team exchange whispers, all seem to be taken aback by the guy's appearance, making their hearts flutter and cheeks blush. Junmyeon stepped out of the driver's seat moments after, in a white short sleeved collared shirt, partnered with beige ankle pants and black loafers. The women once again exchanged whispers upon seeing him. 

Jieun locked eyes with Junmyeon for a moment upon his arrival but looked away quickly, continuing with the shoot. Junmyeon and the other guy with him went towards the food trucks and conversed with the staff for a bit before heading towards the director. 

Junmyeon and his friend bowed at the Director. "Good morning, Director-nim. We brought everyone food to thank you all for your hard work." 

"Oh, you shouldn't have Mr. Kim!" the Director said apologetically. "But, thank you so much! I'm sure everyone's really hungry." the director claps his hands to stop everyone from what the'yre doing. "Everyone! Let's take a break first, shall we? Let's all thank our very kind and good-looking Mr. Kim for taking care of us." 

Junmyeon locked eyes with Jieun again and this time flashed her a smile and she smiled back at him. 

"Hello, IU-ssi, nice to meet you again." he greets her, keeping it professional. 

"Hello, Mr. Kim. Thank you for your generosity, I sincerely appreciate it." she replies. 

"Uh, by the way, this is my friend Sehun. He just arrived in Korea today. I picked him up in the airport first before going here." 

"Hello, IU-ssi. I've heard a lot about you from Junmyeon. Nice to meet you." Sehun extends his right hand towards Jieun.

heard a lot of things from me? what things exactly? 

Jieun shakes his hand and bowed at him. "Nice to meet you too, Sehun-ssi." 

IU's stylists came rushing towards her to fix her dress and hair, wiping off beads of sweat from her forehead for being under the sun for a long time. Hanteo also came with an umbrella in hand. 

"Um, well then, I have to go and retouch first, Mr. Kim" Jieun hurriedly bid farewell to the two guys. 

"Of course, IU-ssi." Junmyeon nodded, his wistful eyes trailed at her walking away. 

It's been obvious that ever since the contract signing, Jieun has been avoiding Junmyeon even when they ran into each other in the elevator or in the hallway of their floor in the apartment complex. Junmyeon would invite her for lunch but she's always in a rush to say goodbye to him, saying that she has plans. Seeing that she's just being cautious about her being a celebrity and what other people may say, Junmyeon never had the courage to even text her to futher deepen their friendship. Although, it's safe for them to hang out in their floor at the apartment complex, they can't be seen together at the lobby as other residents may stir up stories. Even now during at work, Junmyeon respects Jieun's decisions and keeps his distance from her. It's even more dangerous to act friendly with her, with everyone's eyes gawking at their every little move. 

There are a total of 3 food trucks that Junmyeon and Sehun brought along. One is for the main course meals, one for desserts, and one for beverages. They also brought along another truck that is in charge of the tents and tables. Junmyeon and Sehun even personally helped in setting it up so everyone could eat to their heart's content. Everyone indulged in the food happily and kept on thanking both Junmyeon and Sehun whenever they pass by at their table. They were seated far away from IU and her team. 

"hey man, are you okay? you've been awfully gloomy ever since we arrived here." Sehun nudged at Junmyeon's shoulder. 

"All is fine, man. Don't worry about me and eat your food." he denied, keeping his head low. He leisurely eats his food. 

"You've got me now, your ever sooooo dashing bestfriend. We'll hang out all the time!" Sehun boasted, his right hand pounding at his chest to imply his greatness even more. Junmyeon cackled at his bestfriend's ridiculous way of cheering him up. 

"It's about her, isn't it? I've seen you stealing glances at her whenever you can, back when we were just setting up the tent and tables." 

"I thought I made a new great friend, Sehun. I really enjoyed her company e - even though it was .... short-lived. We really connected in so many ways... I miss her. But again, because of my identity and her identity, we can't even be friends anymore." Junmyeon lamented. Sehun pats his shoulder to comfort him. 

Unbeknownst to Junmyeon and Sehun, they're the talk of IU's team. The staff kept on stealing glances at the two.

"Unnie, those two look even better than most of the celebrities I get to see during your official schedules." Hyesun, IU's maknae stylist gushed. 

"I'm envious of Jieunie, she got to shake hands with that bad boy looking guy in the black tee. He's so tall, and have you seen his shoulders? So broad!" Johee-unnie, IU's principal stylist chimed. 

"But I actually like Mr. Vice President better, he looks so cleaaaan with his outfit. He's like an angel with his soft features. I bet he smells really nice too. His future girlfriend would be so lucky. He's so thoughtful bringing everyone delicious food, he even set up the tents and the tables." Hyesun added. 

Jieun had enough of the two gushing about Junmyeon and Sehun. "Johee-unnie, Hyesun-ah, keep it low you two. They might hear you, it's embarassing. They're our employers too, you know." she hissed. 

"Alright, alright." Johee-unnie throw her hands in defeat. The two eventually stopped, seeing at how Jieun's not in the mood for such conversations. 

Jieun quickly peeped at Junmyeon's direction and looked away instantly. She feels bad avoiding him but she has no choice but to spare him from all the drama that he might encounter if his name is linked to hers. He's too much of a sweetheart and Jieun feels like it's her responsibility to make sure she won't burden him and his company.

For now, she just have to be content with admiring him from far-away. 

-----

Seems like I really got into this chapter, and wrote a lot! So sorry for the slow burn but I promise that good things are yet to come!