Your POV

“No problem,” Onew said, “but why so formal all of a sudden, _____-ah?”  

“No..no reason,” you stuttered, ‘I just didn’t want to put you through all this trouble.  I…ah…I see that you saw one of the new designs…did you..uh..like it?”

He had a curious expression- I wondered if he knew how nervous he was making me.  Did he see all those sketches!?!  Ottoke?!  I’ll just die.  Someone shoot me NOW!  eep!

He glanced down at the sketch again before handing me the pad along with my bag.  “Looks interesting, but it’s hard to tell what it will be like in real life…,” he trailed off.

I ripped out the pages of quick outlines I had done in the cab and quickly snapped the pad shut and jammed it back into my bag.  “Yeah, I can explain kind of what I’m thinking now, but we still haven’t talked about this job, and if I’ve even going to take it.  I was bored on the ride here, and just jotted these down as a way to pass the time.”  I smiled in relief. 

THANK YOU GOD! I guess he didn’t see all that other stuff.  I am so lucky right now.  I should go gambling while the luck is still with me.

“Bwo?!  Is that for the new album?!”   Bless Key for his spooky extra-sensitive hearing!    Still smiling, I turned and half-skipped back over to the guys, Onew following behind.   I laid all the sketches out on the floor, and they all leaned in, picking one up , and then hunching together to discuss it before picking up the next. 

“Ahem…,” I cleared my throat, putting on a serious look.  They quieted down, and looked at me expectantly.   

“First of all, I want to ask this.  Who decided that I should try for the job?  Did Mr. Lee Soo Man?  Has he even seen any of my work?”  I took a deep breath, trying to keep from getting worked up all over again.

“Or did you guys just feel sorry for me since my parents….since they passed away?”  The smiles dropped from their faces, and suddenly they were looking at anything but me.  “Well,” I asked again, waiting.

“Jagiya, it wasn’t like that…,” Key finally started, putting out a hand to hold mine.  I stayed passive, raising a skeptical eyebrow.  His hand dropped to rest on my knee.  His voice faded out and he glanced toward the others for support.

“Noona, please don’t be angry,” Taemin said earnestly, “we think that you have great talent, and we wanted something new for this album.  Something to impress our fans with a new side- and you know us, the real us.”  Minho nodded along, slinging an arm around Tae’s shoulders in encouragement.

I glanced to the left to find Jonghyun resting his chin on his up-drawn knees, held there by arms wrapped around his shins.  “Ne- I know it sounds strange,” he agreed, “but we trust you to do a good job.”  He blinked slowly. “And…for me, I’d like to have you around more.”  He gave a flirty grin and made a “chu” kissy noise.  Groans sounded around the circle.

Key reached over and slapped the back of his head. “Yah, dumbhyun!  This is supposed to be serious!” 

I just shook my head, smiling slightly, and looked to the person I suspected was responsible.  “What about you, Onew-ssi?  This was all your idea, ne?”  He started to speak, but I interrupted with one last warning.  I captured his gaze, the atmosphere around us going quiet again.

“Don’t lie to me, Lee Jinki.” 

Someone gasped a quick indrawn breath.  I don’t know if it was because I had used his full name, or if my tone just that terrifying.  It was so quiet, the faint sounds of music from down the hall filtered in and settled into throbbing background music. The tension underscored by that muffled beat would have served perfectly as a climactic moment in any drama, but was even more powerful since this was real life.

If he tells me that it was out of pity, no matter how prettily worded or disguised, I won’t be able to do it.  I have my pride.  I will not be pitied.  Especially not by him.  My heart couldn’t take it.

I refused to look away to see who had gasped, but I could tell that everyone was watching our interplay.  They were hanging on the slightest changes in our breathing, in our look.  Maybe they felt like I did, that the next couple of minutes might radically alter the future.

A/N:  Short chapter- Lunch Update!  :D