His playful performance brought waves of laughter round the rooftop while she silently hoped her internal turmoils could go noticed. Though he had practically spilled it out in front of almost all her closest friends in Korea, he made sure only she alone felt the embarrassment of the situation.

She panicked the moment she understood what he was trying to imply and tried her best to maintain her countenance, suppressing the urge of running from the scene right away. Jeeze, she had to applaud his boldness to even dare to do such a thing.

To him, there was absolutely no rush to expect an answer from her tonight. He presented his confession in such an unburdened way to give them both an out of the situation. Because the last thing he wanted was to corner her, ruining their friendship entirely. He even prided himself of improvising and manipulating the scene so perfectly, that she could be enlightened without the chance nor the pressure of putting up a speech right away. "Let her sleep on it," he thought slyly.

It was absurd to realize there was zero window of opportunity for her to do anything about it (not that she dared), since everybody was making their leaves after the party. Still indecisive on whether she should see this as a lucky escape, she had to acknowledge through gritted teeth that she was practically being set up by Park Chanyeol. The ball had to be on her court for at least another night. Damn.

❧

2017/09/06 D-198

She did sleep on it. For two days.

She hadn’t been that naive. She knew Chanyeol oppa was sweet to her at the very beginning. Since RV’s debut, he had been supportive to their group like any concerned elder brother would behave. For years, their interactions had been limited to Hwaiting before comeback, Chukae after award ceremony and the occasional exchange of pleasantries when they touched base in the corridors of the practice room floor. And she had never found his attention exclusive to her among the other RV members.

Well she would definitely perceive their interactions for the past two months differently, after the night on the rooftop.

Like calling her Seungwan ah, instead of Wendy, seriously who called her that beside her parents? Like staring at her with a smile on his face when she performed? Like seeking her out for a conversation in the middle of a crowd? Like reaching for her hand whenever they go on and off the stage, lingering on her skin for a moment more than necessary? And she had thought Chanyeol oppa was only being goofy and over friendly resembling of a golden retriever.

To say she wasn’t attracted to him was such a huge lie. She had looked up to him starting from her rookie days. Let’s be frank, who in their right minds wouldn’t be attracted to Park Chanyeol? Half the female trainees she knew in the agency had a crush on him at some point, if not for the whole time. To grasp their chance to see Chanyeol oppa, they had fought rather uglily for EXO's concert tickets which were offered as a rookie priviledge in those days.

She still hadn't gotten out of the habit of fan-girling over him. (In May, she practically dragged Joy to EXO concert with her, depriving Joy from the rest she deserved the most, after her drama and the two overseas concerts.) Getting to know him more in the few collaborations they had since 2015 didn’t help killing her fantasy at all. His personality was as dreamy as his outlooks. He was down to earth, gentle, considerate and hardworking. If she were any ordinary girl, she would have been flattered as the receiving end of the attention from such an outstanding guy. But she weren't.

Despite how supportive the company had been encouraging courtships between the fellow label-mates, the consequence of being condemned by the public had prevented many from actually acting on their attractions towards one another. Her sunbaenim Taeyeon unnie and his group had been traumatised few years back and it was a total nightmare. Too much was at stake if two idols wanted to be more than just friends, especially when both of their groups were still active.

It was nothing personal but there were just more reasons for her (and for them) not to act on anything at all. She thought they both should have seen the light of it. She just hoped that her brains would help her form the right words so that his pride would not be wounded so badly.