I held the tin of cat food in my hand, trying hard not to look at the various snacks displayed on the counter. I only had enough money for the cat food. Can you believe how much cat food costs these days?

                Why did I come to the convenience store to specifically buy cat food anyway, you may ask?

                Well... I used Claude’s remaining cat food for my science project, okay? Shh! No more questions. Let me just... At least I bought a replacement, right? Yeah, yeah, it’s not gonna be enough for a week, but that’s not the main point of the story here!

                Okay, so I was just waiting in line at the convenience store, holding the cat food in my hand. Why would it matter what flavor I bought? You’re not the one who’s gonna eat it!

                ANYWAY.

                So this guy in front of me was taking a really long time paying, okay? And at first I was like, ‘Okay, maybe he’s just looking for the exact change, I shouldn’t rush him or anything... But then he was taking A REALLY long time. So I just took out some of my change and put it on the counter. It was no big deal, the guy was like only a buck fifty short.

                And then he turned to face me.

                Tia throws a pillow to her sister after Kia so dramatically paused her story. “Who was it?”

                Kia rolls her eyes. “Suho, of course. How many times do I have to emphasize the fact that Suho and I are gonna get married and-”

                Her sister throws another pillow and cut through her words. “You met Suho in the convenience store? SUHO? Kim JunfreakingMyeon?”

“I told you, it was him!”

“PROVE it.”

                Kia shoves her phone in front of Tia’s face. “See? It was him!”

                Tia’s mouth falls open. “And he asked you on a date?”

                Kia grins and her eyes glaze over. “He asked me on a date... It was a dream come true. This is how it all starts, Kia. He falls in love with me at first sight at the convenience store and after I finish high school, I bet he’s gonna ask me to marry him. He’ll probably be rich by then, so we don’t have to worry about me not going to college or anything...”

                Tia waves a hand over her sister’s eyes. “Okay, let me stop you right there. Firstly, I’m personally going to kill you if you don’t go to any form of tertiary education institution. And Kia! You’re a freshman! Did you lie to Suho about your age? He can get arrested for dating a minor, didn’t you know that?”

                Kia blows a strand of hair off of her face. “It’s just a movie date, sis. Stop worrying. It’ll be like, a senior taking his junior for a smoothie after school. Why would anybody get arrested for buying a smoothie for someone else?”

                Tia shakes her head. “I don’t know... Something doesn’t feel right... I should ask... never mind.”

                Ignoring her sister’s Monologue of Worries, Kia twirls in the black dress she’s wearing. “How do I look?”

                “You look like Morticia Addams from The Addams Family.”

                “Is that good?”

                “She eats spleens and earthworms for dinner, you judge for yourself.”

                Kia shudders. “Maybe I should change.”

                “And why are you wearing a dress, even? It’s a movie at the cinema, right, not a red carpet even. Just wear jeans or something.” Tia suggests.

                Kia shakes her head, her eyebrows in a tight knit as she pulls out clothing after clothing from her closet. “I need to wear something that speaks about my personality. T-shirt and jeans can’t do that.”

                Tia takes the discarded clothes and folds them back. “I don’t get why you’re so in love with Suho, anyway. I mean, a semi-Goth like you should be crushing on Tao, or maybe even Kris. But instead, you like Suho, who has a permanent smile on his face. It’s incomprehensible.”

                Kia throws a heavy jacket on Tia’s head. “That’s why it’s called love, sister darling. It doesn’t make sense, yet it makes perfect sense.” She twirls again, this time in a pair of olive pants, paired with a white tee and a long black cardigan. “This is better, right?”

                “Hmm, without the cardigan, you’d look like Heechul in ‘No Other’.”

                “That’s good, right?” Kia asks for the second time today.

Kia fidgets with her black watch as she waits for Suho to show up at the cinema. She’d only been waiting for seven minutes, but it felt like eternity. After all, she IS meeting with Kim Junmyeon, more commonly known as Suho, the leader of EXO-K.

                “Oh shoot. Kia was right. The date IS going badly. I’m so glad to have you, Keith.” Kia says as she her blue shirt. Oh, why, why, why?! Why does she have to be right ALL THE TIME?!” Kia wails and smacked the pillar she’s leaning on.

 I KNEW it was all too good to be true. It must have been a hallucination. I was standing too long in the line that I imagined Suho to be standing in front of me, smiling like he is now.

                Suho is smiling brightly, waving at Kia from ten feet away.

                Pouting, Kia bows her head. “See, I’m hallucinating again. I don’t get it. He looks so real.” Kia says as Hallucination Suho comes closer.

                “Hi there, Figment of Imagination. Nice to meet you.”

                Suho laughs. “What did you call me?”

                “Figment of- Oh, hi oppa!” Kia loses her footing and her back slides off the pillar to the ground.

                Suho holds out a hand to Kia, helping her up. “Are you okay? Have you been waiting long? I’m so sorry. You must have been tired of waiting.”

How can he be a hallucination, you idiot? You TOOK A FREAKING PICTURE WITH HIM! Kia reprimands herself in her mind.

                “It’s fine. I just arrived myself.” Kia says, pulling herself back together. Suho’s smiling at her weirdly, like he’s trying not to laugh.

                “What?” Kia asks, her imagination running wild.

Shoot, I bet my pants are ped.

                “Are you laughing at me?” Kia asks, her voice caught in . How can I fix my pants in front of him?!

                “No, no, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at us. Look!” Suho says, pointing to his pants.

What, his pants are ped too? Kia thought before realizing that Suho’s pointing out their outfits.

                Suho’s wearing a black shirt with an olive jacket and blue pants with a black hat, while Kia’s wearing a black cardigan with olive pants and a blue shirt. Kia squeals. “We’re wearing matching clothes!”

                Take that, Tia~! I told you we’re meant to be!

“It’s like destiny put us together, haha.” Suho laughs and Kia died a little bit inside.

                He said... He said that we’re destiny! DESTINY! Oh my god!!! Suho’s shipping himself with me!!!

                Shdashdfashfjasfhjsdgfhsghkjvbcsduwebbewvbcj!!!

                “So what should we watch?”

                “The sunset, of course. On a beach in Bora-bora.” Kia says with a faraway look in her eyes.

                “I thought you wanted to see Madagascar?”

                “Madagascar’s fine too, but I don’t think we’ll get to see animals much. WE might be getting wild on our own, if you know what I mean...”

                “Sh... Should I be scared right now?” Suho asks hesitantly, staring at Kia.

Kia stares back at Suho, then at the cinema counter nearby. “Oh. You meant the movie? I thought you’re asking about our honeym- you know what, nevermind. Madagascar sounds fine.” She says, walking fast to the counter to get tickets.

Suho stares after her, regretting his impulsive decision to ask a fan on a date.

Oh, dear. What did I get myself into?

As he and Kia enter the cinema and look for their hall, Suho continues to curse himself.

Dude, what were you thinking?

Usually, when someone does something nice for you, you treat them to coffee and that’s it. Maybe sit down for a chat, but THAT’S IT. But noooooooo, you decide to ask her out on a DATE.

She’s a fan, you said. Fanservice is always good, you said.

DO YOU REALIZE HOW CRAZY SOME OF THE FANS CAN BE?!

What if she’d planned it all? What if... What if she purposely made all the ice cream in our dorm magically disappear even though Kyungsoo swore he got some when he went shopping. What if SHE was the one who took out all the coins and small change from your wallet and deliberately ‘helped’ you when you were paying so that you’d owe her a favor?

Okay, maybe that was a little bit far-fetched.

BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

And anyway, look what’s happening now. She’s already imagining that you guys are on a honeymoon. Serves you right, Junmyeon. This is what you get for being jealous of Sehun’s new girlfriend.

“By the way, I apologize for calling you oppa earlier. That was presumptuous of me, Suho-sshi.”

Suho’s attention snaps back to his date. “Oh, that’s okay, you can call me oppa.”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

The mental image of Suho that sits on his shoulders, the taller, more muscular but smaller-scaled version of him bangs its head on Suho’s neck before throwing itself down Suho’s shoulder, proceeding to run away down the cinema halls.

I should stop doing this to myself, Suho thinks.

“Hey, should we get popcorn?” Kia asks, finally making Suho realize that she just paid for both their movie tickets.

“Oh my gosh! You just paid for me! Again! I’m sorry, I’m supposed to be treating you, not the other way around. I owe you, after all.” Suho gushes, taking out a twenty dollar bill from his wallet and handing it to Kia.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, here’s your change. Do you want popcorn? Should we share or do you want your own?” Without listening to his answer, Kia strides to the snacks counter, leaving Suho to once again stare after her.

Junmyeon. That girl is NOT normal. Normal girls would at least pretend to refuse your money at first before finally accepting it. But she accepted at the first offer, and she gave you CHANGE. Other normal girls would probably accept all of it.

Junmyeon. Run. Now.

Despite the warnings of the smaller-but-actually-taller-and-more-six-packy version of himself (who came back with a poof), Suho finds himself staying. “She’s not exactly a normal girl, but at least she didn’t say anything like, ‘we’re husband and wife, the concept of ‘owing’ doesn’t exist in our marriage’ or something weird like that. And she’s honest financially. And don’t forget that she DID help me out in the store earlier. Maybe I should still give this date a chance.” He says to himself, before going over to the counter to join Kia.

                And the smaller- but-actually-taller-and-more-six-packy Suho just about self-combusted.

“So... Kia Mishra.. That’s a unique name. You’re not fully Korean, are you?” Suho asks Kia while they wait for Madagascar 3 to start. The hall that they’re sitting in is quite empty as Madagascar is in the final weeks. So they’re not really bothering anyone by talking.

“My mom’s Korean, but my dad’s Indian.” Kia says, offering Suho some popcorn.

“Indian-Korean, huh? Wow, that’s an interesting mix. You’re Inrean. Or is it Kodian? You look like just a Korean though. Except for your eyes. But then again, with plastic surgery, anyone can recreate those eyes.” Suho says.

“I DID NOT have plastic surgery!” Kia exclaims, a hand lightly slapping Suho’s arm.

Suho laughs. “I didn’t say that, haha. But are you sure?” he says, smiling cheekily.

“Why are you bullying me?” Kia asks, pretending to sob into her hands. “You’re supposed to be the Guardian of EXO and all fans!”

“Haha, you’re right. I’m sorry. From now on, I promise to take better care of you during the rest of our date.”

“Don’t you get tired of saying, ‘the Guardian Leader’ so many times, though?”

Suho sighs. “I do. It’s kinda hard to say something so punny and cheesy over and over again. I just try hard to look serious.”

Laughing, Kia says, “So THAT’S WHY YOU HAVE THAT WEIRD FACE!”

“Excuse me? Weird face?”

“Yeah! I’ve always thought that you try not to laugh while saying introductions! I was right!”

Suho laughs along with Kia. “Does it really show that much?"

"But yeah, it’s awkward sometimes. Just as awkward as whoever has to tell the ‘EXO derives from EXOPlanet’ story. That’s why we let Chanyeol does it, usually. His deep voice makes everyone take him more seriously.”

Kia laughs again. “I know what you mean.” She puts on a serious expression and starts to say in a deep voice, “When the skies...”

“OH MY GODDD!!! Don’t even get me started on that!” Suho shrieks, a little too loudly. Several people turn to face them and one person shushed.

“Sorry!” Kia says loudly and she gets shushed too.

She giggles as Suho slides down in his seat in embarrassment. Kia grins at him. “Oppa... Umm... maybe... maybe we should just watch the movie now.” She giggles again. “Wow, someone was excited. I didn’t know that you’re such a fanboy of Morgan Freeman.”

---------------------------------------------------

The movie ends about an hour and forty minutes later. Suho and Kia walk side-by-side in the midst of other movie-goers back to the cinema main area.

“What did you think of the movie?” Suho asks, rubbing his hands together to restore warmness. The cinema was cold, really cold.

Kia shrugs. “It was okay. Kinda fun. But that Afro Circus part is really annoying.”

Suho gives Kia an intense look before breaking into a “Dadadadadada circus dadadadadada afro!”

“Please don’t.” Kia says with a laugh. “Man, how can something so annoying be so catchy?”

And before long, the two started a dadadadadadadada-circus-dadadadadadada-afro congo line out of the cinema.

“That was fun!” A random guy high-fives Kia as the conga line breaks. Several more people high-five Kia and Suho and wished them a good night. A lady wearing a DBSK tee pats Suho’s back and says to him, “Your girlfriend is really cute. And boy, can she conga!”

Suho grins. He doesn’t bother to correct that lady that Kia wasn’t his girlfriend. It’s good enough that she didn’t realize him as a member of EXO. Suho’s glad he borrowed one of Chanyeol’s disguise glasses. “Hey Kia, remember me?” He calls out to Kia, who’s holding hands with some kids in a circle, still dancing.

Kia smiles at him and says bye to the kids. “Hey! Of course I still remember you! I was just letting you have some private moment with your DBSK ajumma fan girlfriend back there.”

Suho laughs. “Funny, because she called YOU my girlfriend.”

Kia freezes a bit and blushes. “Oh, look! A hockey table!” She drags Suho to the hockey table and put some coins in. “Come on, Guardian Leader!”

Suho takes his place on the opposite end of the hockey table. “Okay, but it’s no fun if we just play it like this.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s an ice hockey table! It’s totally fun!”

“Well, how about this? Each time someone scores, the person who scores says a word, and the other person says a personal fact about that word.” Suho says with a malicious grin.

Kia shrugs. “Okay, why not? You better crank up some Suho facts, Guardian Leader, because I’m really good at this.” Kia says as she starts the game.

“Pfft, I’m not too bad ei-“ Suho’s word is cut off as Kia scores a goal.

“Ah-hah! Acting!”

“is something I’d like to try. I think I’d be the best actor in EXO-K.” Suho says confidently, and he scores a goal. “Purple.”

“is my second favorite color, right after black.” Kia answers. “Yay, another point! Kyungsoo!”

“-makes the best kimchi spaghetti ever. He’s sweet and momsy, but also naggy and y at times. Sometimes I think that he’s got a split personality.”

“Fried chicken!”

“is Onew’s favorite food, haha. Hey, you’re really good at this! Anyway, Sehun and Baekhyun and Jongin like chicken too. Chanyeol likes pizza more. Kyungsoo and I prefer steaks. Ugh, why am I losing so miserably?!”

“Because you at this game?” Kia provokes Suho by doing some fancy hand moves with the hockey puck before she slides it to Suho.

“Hah! No, YOU ! Haha, that was such an epic fail!” Suho cries out as he scores. “Your word is school.”

“Freshman, majoring in acting. A tolerable place most of the time.”

“Oh, I thought you majored in conga.”

Kia laughs before she scores another goal. “Oh, look, I’m almost winning! Umm... Angel.”

“is what I would call my girlfriend if I have one.”

“Ships!” Kia says excitedly, scoring the winning point. “Yahoo!”

 “I’ve been on a cruise once or twice.”

“That’s not the ship I was talking about, and you know it.”

“Alright.” Suho sighs. “So maybe I’ve been trying to create a few ships of my own.”
                “A few?! You said you fell in love with Luhan at first sight, then you cling on to Kai, then you helped wipe D.O.’s sweat, then you flirt with Kris on Happy Camp, and then you say you watch Sehun sleep, then you... honestly, oppa, you’re just as bad as Luhan is.”

Suho laughs. “So sue me. But seriously speaking, and this is off-the-record, okay? It’s all just for fun. I mean, we all hug each other when celebrating and stuff, and sometimes we do hold hands while we walk...”

Kia makes a giggling-bubbling-squealing noise and Suho rolls his eyes.

“BUT! But we’re not like that at home. We’re just normal boys who like to eat chicken and play games, you know?”

Kia nods. “Us fangirls are normal people, too, you know. We don’t really stalk our objects of affection ALL the time. And we use our money for clothes, too, not just albums and posters.”

Suho smiles. She’s right. And so far, except for the honeymoon thing, this ‘date’ has gone like any other date would.

He takes her hand and asks, “Well, then, girl-assumed-to-be-my-girlfriend-by-a-DBSK-ajumma-fan, wanna go for a drink?”

“I can’t have alcohol.” Kia panics.

“I wasn’t talking about alcohol.”

“Wanna get some bubble tea?”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thanks for sending me home.” Kia says as Suho’s car stops in front of her home.

“Thanks for trusting me to send you home.”

“No problem. You are the guardian, after all.” Kia says with a smile. She takes out a rectangular package from her bag and hands it to Suho. “I got this for you the other day, but I don’t really know how to send it to you. Well here you go. Goodnight!”

“Kia, wait!” Suho says and Kia stops.

“Yeah?”

Suho takes off his seatbelt and lands a quick peck on Kia’s cheek, making her cheek turn red. She runs inside the house quickly after that.

“Oh, look, he’s up.” Sehun’s face is the first thing I see when I opened my eyes. My elbow felt sore and there’s a red mark on my arm.

“What’s going on?” I asked groggily as Sehun looked over at his girlfriend. “Tia, why are you here?!”

“I’m sorry, oppa, Sehun dragged me in. I wanted to see you and told him that I’ll just wait outside, but he insisted that we wake you up.”

“Well, yeah, since we have a date to go on. Hyung, where are you going?” Sehun asked as I make my way into the kitchen. I heard Tia scolding Sehun on my way out. “His arm is all red! I told you not to hit him!”

Like usual, once I’d woken up, I check the kitchen table for food before I brush my teeth.

“Where’s everyone?” I asked Kyungsoo, looking around the otherwise empty dorm.

“Oh, hey, good morning hyung. Chanyeol’s at that MT. Kai’s still asleep and Baekhyun’s out shopping with our manager. By the way, Sehun and Tia were looking for you.” Kyungsoo said as he cut up some cucumbers. That boy is always either cooking or eating.

“I know, they were in my room.”

“Hyung, I told you Tia needed to talk to you.” Sehun said as he and Tia entered the kitchen.

“Oh yeah, what is it?” I had a feeling what she’s gonna talk about, though.

Tia took a deep breath before she spoke. “Did you go on a date last night with a girl named Kia Mishra?”

Wow, she’s straight to the point. “Yes, I did.”

And the interrogation continued. “Did you know that she’s 8 years younger than you are? You could have gotten arrested!”

“It was just a movie date, how can anyone get arrested?”

“And hyung, what if someone saw you last night?” Sehun asked, much to my disgust. He’s totally taking Tia’ side.

“Hey, that’s not fair! You go on dates with Tia too!” Kyungsoo was the one who stuck up for me.

“Thank you, Kyungsoo.” I crossed my arms. Tia and Sehun looked at each other before she spoke again.

“Did you know that she was my sister?”

I nodded and took a sip of the juice Kyungsoo poured for me. “I did. But I wasn’t stalking her or anything. I just happened to run into her yesterday.”

“Was it a fanservice date?” Tia looked fierce. Sehun told me that since their mother died, Tia’s been sort of a mother figure for Kia. Now I can see the lioness-side of her.

“It was, at first. But then it turned out to be just a date. A regular one.” I said. And it was the truth.

For celebrities, especially newbie idols like us, dating is something that you shouldn’t expect to do. It’s hard enough to find time to actually get to know somebody; it’s even harder to keep the relationship going. Unless you’re actors and spend long hours with the other party on set, dating is practically impossible.

In fact, the company didn’t even have to prohibit us from dating; we ourselves know that it’s just something that we couldn’t do.

But then Sehun here, always the daring maknae, just had to crush on Tia. And he asked her to be his girlfriend. I don’t know where they go or what they do on their dates, but he’s careful about it, so I don’t really worry about him.

I worry about Chanyeol more. He’s working at this bubble tea cafe where his crush works at. Sure, he only works for two hours on weekday mornings; but that doesn’t mean some fan couldn’t see him.

In spite of my Guardian role, though, I find myself envying my brothers and their guts. How can they risk so many things just to pursue someone they like?

 Maybe that’s why I asked Kia on that date yesterday. Just to feel what it’s like. To be with someone other than your group mates. To walk alongside a girl who enjoys your company just as much as you enjoy hers. To be on a date.

“Yup, it wasn’t JUST a fanservice date. I kinda like your sister.”

“ARE YOU GONNA MARRY HER?” Sehun and Kyungsoo said at the same time, while Tia had opened in shock.

“No! You guys, don’t overreact!” I exclaimed. These people. They watch too much dramas.

I looked at the empty glass in my hand and realized that I haven’t even brushed my teeth, but I already drank a glass of juice and ate some of Kyungsoo’s pancakes. Oh shoot. Well, never mind. He doesn’t have to know that I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.

I try to put on a straight face and not look at Kyungsoo as I said the next words. “It’s just that... It’s nice to go on a date with a fan sometimes. You get to know them, and they get to see another side of you, hopefully a nice one. It’s a great form of publicity, but it’s fun enough so that you don’t get stressed over it. In fact, it gave me a great idea...”

But then during one of my brainstorming time (okay, I was taking a shower), I thought about how I want this story to kinda be a pilot to the other oneshots, like a prelude to the other dates.

And noticed how I used 3 POVs in this fic? First it was Kia’s (actually, it was her narrating the story to her sister), then a general POV, then it was Suho’s. That was because I want to start it out as a fangirl POV (which is what I’ll mainly use for the requested oneshots), but then I want to shift the focus towards how the dynamics of a celebrity-fan date would be. Yes, the story’s awkward and not all that fluffy, but then again, when you just met someone, that’s how it’s supposed to be, right?

I'm sorry for keep forcing my views on you guys and writing these ridiculous long endnotes that no one ever read. I read once that a good writer is supposed to inspire, not MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE something.  

"Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire."

-William Butler Yeats-

LOL, I'm getting so totally carried away that even I don't know where I am. Someone pull me back, quick!

See, I told you guys I take myself very seriously as a writer.

 Sigh. Sorry, that was just me building an excuse for writing a pretty lame fic.

BUT I STILL CAN’T BE FLUFFY!

Don’t lose faith in me yet though, dear readers & requesters. I’m going to try my best to become a better fluff writer for all you beautiful people. Besides, this fic is supposed to be for my little sister. I just used her for my fanfic-writing ambitions and plus I don’t approve of her crush on Suho XD.  For the requested fics, the focus is going to be on the fans and the date itself instead of my ambitions, I promise. Don’t worry. =)

BTW, this has been a date-with-a-not-so-random-fan date.

The next date will be with Taemin. =)