'[BREAKING] NATION'S TREASURE KWON SERI DATING ACTOR BYUN BAEKHYUN

Top star and actress Kwon Seri (30) was caught on a date with actor Byun Baekhyun (27) at Byun's Hannam-dong home last night. Kwon was seen leaving Byun's home at around 2 am, with Byun accompanying her to her car.

According to sources close to Kwon, the couple has been dating since February of 2018. They were introduced through a mutual acquaintance and soon developed romantic feelings for each other. 

Kwon Seri is famous for starring in the megahit Hollywood action movie "Danger(2017)". Meanwhile, not much is known about actor Byun Baekhyun. His official profile notes that he debuted in 2016 and has starred in a few web dramas. He is currently starring in the minidrama "Dreams Come True", alongside actors Ahn Garam and Lee Hyemi.'

Minju had been staring at that headline for a good five minutes when she finally registered Sua's hands waving in front of her face. "Hello? Earth to Minju! Are you that surprised?", she teased. "Are you sad? I didn't know you liked him that much." 

No. That wasn't it. Minju's head was buzzing. If what she experienced the previous night was true, it meant that the couple had already broken up. The report was false. At least partially. What bad timing the paparazzi had. She wondered how Baekhyun was going to handle this mess. No confirmation articles were released yet.

She scrolled downwards to see the paparazzi shots proudly included in the article. They were grainy and taken from an awkward angle. But it was obvious that the people in the pictures were the two she met the previous night. Even in the dim light of the streetlamp, Seri's face was shining. The photos captured her in a perfectly-timed shot. Her mocking sneer looked like a lovely smile from the angle the shots were taken from. 
Then her eyes caught on to something.

She quickly scrolled to the comment section. It wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. 

'[+92,747,-17,086] Wow she has low standards lololol
 
 [+88,402,-4,800] he's a nobody but he lives in a place like that... God is so unfair

 [+61,405,-4,491] I earn more than him lets get married Seri 

 [+49,032,-9,887] did you fatties think she would date you? Idiots lmao

 [+36,803,-7,295] congrats~ you look good together~
 
 [+19,459,-1,085] at least he is handsome haha

 [+12,483,-287] seri looks like a goddess even in paparazzi photos TTTTT 

 [+9,976,-98] lololol who is that person standing behind them... hilarious'

 
Minju gasped. In the corner of one of the pictures, stood a lone figure hidden in the shadows behind Baekhyun. The face was fortunately blurred but the small frame and the narrow shoulders gave away that it was a girl. Minju's eye's widened. It was her. She scrolled to see if anyone else had noticed her in the comments.

'[+1,467,-29] guys look a delivery girl is standing behind them lol ing funny 

 [+754,-34] whos that in the background lmao 

 [+124,-3] wow the journalist took a photo of a citizen

 [+21,-0] i wonder who that girl in the back is'

"Hey, are you okay?", she heard Sua ask. "You look like you're sick." Minju didn't answer. Her head ached. Why? Why? God, why? She felt Sua placing a hand on her shoulder and forced a smile, "I'm okay, just a little tired. Busy day yesterday."

Sua frowned, worried. "Are you sure?", she asked. "I think you should go home and rest. I'll take notes for you, today." Minju's heart warmed. She was grateful to have a friend like Sua. She slipped her fingers into Sua's and gave her a reassuring smile, a real one this time.

It was almost the weekend. Minju was desperately waiting for the days she could sleep in and rest all day. She didn't have classes on Saturdays, but she had work. She was going to apply for a full scholarship the next year. If it got approved, she could quit working at the franchise. That was the main reason Minju paid so much importance to her studies. She had a chance to get the scholarship with her usual grades but being at the top was always better.
Higher grades meant a higher chance of having it approved. Studying and working at the same time was stressful, but it was all for the best.

As soon as she reached the restaurant, Sujeong bombarded her with questions about the scandal. Had she heard about it? Did she know who they were? Minju didn't understand why it was something to be so excited about.

"Did you see that girl?", prodded Sujeong. "The one in the picture. It's just so funny. Everyone wants to know who she is!"

Minju forced out a laugh. "Haha. I guess it is funny." It wasn't. At all.

"Did you see what she was wearing? The vest." Sujeong brought he phone up to Minju's face and zoomed into the said picture. "Look! The logo. It's orange! It's from a chicken place!"

Minju was stunned. "H-how do you know? You can't even see the logo. Also, orange logos aren't used only by chicken restaurants.", she asked nervously. 

"You don't trust me?", the other girl asked with mock surprise. "I have a cousin who's a majoring in computer science. I asked him to improve the picture quality if he could." She swiped on her phone to show her another image. "Look, it says 'chicken'. Too bad the logo was a lost cause. He said it was too hidden by the shadow. I wish it was someone from our company."

"But... why?"

"Isn't it obvious? She's already getting so much attention. She's even trending on social media." Minju's eyes widened. "If she was from our franchise, wouldn't we get a lot of new customers? After all, the Kwon Seri is also a customer now."

Sujeong halted suddenly as if she thought of something just then. She looked up at Minju and asked, "Wait, Minju... Didn't you do a delivery last night around this time?"

"W-what? No. I mean. Yeah. B-but it was around here!", Minju scrambled for words. She didn't understand why she didn't want anyone to know that it was her. It just didn't feel right. If she told Sujeong or Sua, they'd ask her if what the article said was true. It wasn't. And she didn't know if she was allowed to reveal what had actually happened. She wanted to protect her privacy, and also Baekhyun's.

Sujeong chuckled. "Chill Minju! I was just teasing you.", she said as she checked her nails. "Besides, I don't think anything like this can ever happen to you."

What's that supposed to mean?

"I mean, this is something too exciting to have happened to you. You never get tangled in messes. It's more likely to happen to Mrs. Lee than to you." Sujeong answered with a laugh.

Well, she wasn't wrong. "Haha. That's right, there's no way haha."

As usual, Minju's shift ended before she realised. She was too lost in her thoughts to keep track of time. Sujeong left an hour early yet again. It was a friend's mother's birthday this time. Minju greeted Mrs. Lee goodbye and went on her way home. Fifteen minutes later she was in the warm embrace of the steam filling the small bathroom in her flat. The warm water cascading down her body eased the exhaustion out of her muscles. The fog had rinsed her mind of all thoughts and all she wanted was to dive right into the covers and slumber off to sleep. Dinner be damned.

Her hair damp, she slipped on her underwear and a stray T-shirt and made way to the mattress lying in the corner of her room. Sleep was right around the corner of her eyes when she heard a message ding on her phone. She decided to ignore it.

Minju woke up the next morning and got ready to carry out her daily routine. She decided to not pay mind to the events that happened recently. They were distracting her from college and she couldn't afford any distractions. Not when the finals were just two months away.

She reached college twenty minutes earlier than her usual early self and headed straight to the library. The small pack of digestive biscuits in her bag served as breakfast. She was ten minutes into taking notes from a free online lecture on the library system when she was interrupted by a call from Sua.

"Where are you?" Sua's voice asked soon as she picked up the phone. "The library. Why do you ask-" Sua ended the call before she Minju could finish her sentence. Minju was pretty used to that.

She was browsing for another lecture when Sua burst into the room. "What the are you doing here?" She asked while moving her arms dramatically. "I woke up extra early to be here first and you're still here before me? , do you even sleep?"

Minju just smiled. "For real babe, how many hours do you even sleep? Look at your face. You look worn out. Are you even eating properly? I swear, if you're lying about not missing dinner, I'll stuff your face with my spaghetti each morning!"

"Spaghetti again?" Minju teased. "Hey! That's the only thing I know how to make! And pasta! And ramen! And eggs!"

"You should be thankful your roommate knows how to cook."

"Are you sure you don't want to move back in?" Sua asked with a frown. "My roommate is graduating this semester. You can move in. I'll help with the rent. You know my parents are loaded." Sua was kind. She was raised by loving parents who owned acres of farmlands. Her being so easy going and friendly unlike other rich students was what made her popular with other students. Unlike Minju she was always surrounded by friends. Granted, not all of those friends were there because they liked her and not because they wanted something from her. Which was why Minju didn't want Sua helping her pay her rent. She didn't want to leech off Sua like her other friends. Using her school supplies already made her feel guilty enough.

Minju wanted to move in. She did. Being with Sua made her happy. She was tired of returning from work to an empty room every day. Not to mention the cooked meals the dorm provided three times a day. She smiled sadly at Sua. "You know I can't." 

Sua opened her to protest but Minju stopped her. "I love you, Sua." She meant it. " I'm fine, I swear on your spaghetti."

That made her crack a smile and she punched Minju's shoulder.

"Hey, by the way. Did you check the link I sent you last night?" Sua asked as they walked to their class. Minju shook her head. "You didn't ?! It's about Kwon Seri's scandal!" 

Minju stopped in her tracks and whipped out her phone from her pocket. She anxiously clicked on the link. In the half-second it took for the link to load, a bunch of thoughts passed through her head. Did they deny the news? Did they reveal that they had broken up? Did they get back together?

What happened was far, far worse than she had imagined. Her knuckles went white as her grip on the phone tightened. She stared at the headline trying to fully process what it said.

'[BREAKING] KWON SERI'S SIDE "DATING NEWS FALSE. BYUN IS DATING THE  DELIVERY GIRL WHO IS A FRIEND OF KWON SERI"'

Wait. What? WHAT? Did the article just say Baekhyun was not dating Kwon Seri but the delivery girl? Delivery girl meaning Minju? Baekhyun was dating Minju? What in the world? Minju continued reading the article as Sua looked at her curiously.

'A representative from actress Kwon Seri's agency has denied the reports of her and actor Byun Baekhyun dating. According to Kwon, she had accompanied her longtime friend to a delivery location which was the home of Byun. Byun is dating Kwon's friend and ordered from her restaurant. The pictures have been taken out of context. Kwon was only greeting Byun, who is a fan of hers. She requests her fans to not bother her friend and her boyfriend, Byun.'

Minju read on, flabbergasted. "Minju, is something wrong?" Sua said from beside her but she ignored it.

'[+54,868,-279] of course. seri wouldn't date a nobody like him

[+52,265,-103] So the delivery girl is the girlfriend? Wow. She's a celebrity now.

[+39,887,-2,456] thanks to this he got attention... ing leech

[+22,435,-6,776] I want to know who the girl is

[+16,374,-11,879] are they writing a drama? this isn't believable at all

[+9.107,-22,517] shes lying. why would the girlfriend be standing at the back?'

"She's lying." The words slipped out of Minju's mouth before she could collect herself. "What do you mean? Who's lying?" Sua sounded worried now.

She looked at Sua, eyes shaking. She didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but she couldn't contain herself anymore. "I need to tell you something." 

"WHAT?! THEY– YOU– YOU ARE–" Sua scrambled for words. Minju had dragged her into an empty classroom and told her everything that had happened. "So you're saying that you are the girl in the photos. And you saw them break up, right?" Sua asked and Minju nodded. "That means they're lying. T-they used you!"

"I know. But why? Why did they have to lie?"

"To save their shiny asses, that's why!" Sua exclaimed. "You should sue them!"

Minju looked at her in surprise. "Is it that bad? They didn't reveal my identity or anything. Is that something they should be sued for?"

"They used your identity to protect themselves! Even if they didn't reveal who you are, they still don't have the right to use you without your permission! You either sue them or demand compensation."

Before Minju could disagree reply, a group of students noisily entered the classroom. She grabbed Sua's hand. "Let's go."

Sua bugged Minju the whole day. 'Do something! Don't just let them take advantage of you like this!' 

How? How could she do anything? How would she contact them? What could she possibly do? What would she say?

She couldn't concentrate on her classes or work. The matter weighed on her mind more than she expected it to. She hadn't asked for this. All she had wanted was to go home after a long day at work. 

Sujeong interrupted her during work to talk about the scandal again but Minju was too tired to listen to her gossip. She had been hearing about it all day from her classmates and customers alike. Her mind was screaming  SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. Minju pretended to be busy and expertly evaded Sujeong's raving.

Around an hour later, she felt Mrs. Lee tapping on her shoulder. "There's someone asking for you outside. He says it's urgent. I think it's a classmate of yours." she told Minju. "He's sitting at table four".  Someone was looking for her? Who could it be? She didn't have many male friends, or friends at all. 

Minju muttered a thanks to the manager and took off her mask and cap. She washed her hands and wiped them on her apron. Table four. It was in one of the corners of the store, away from the glass doors and windows. He sat facing the wall so she couldn't see his face but she could make out what he was wearing– a white cap and a black hoodie. She had already walked to the table when she caught sight of the blond hair peeking out of the cap. It was far too late. There was only one person she knew who had platinum blond hair.

Minju's froze in astonishment as Baekhyun turned his head to gaze up at her. Her rounded eyes said she had obviously recognised him. Baekhyun's eyes traveled down her astounded face, dirty apron and worn-out shoes. He looked at her straight in the eyes.

"We need to talk."