Before Luhan could get back at Kris, a photographer pushed through the sea of people and motioned for them to get together, the three of them for a photograph. Kris and Luhan eagerly stood on either side of her and she felt her head get lighter by the second. She could smell them quite well and it was hard not to because they were so close and not that they wore strong perfume, but she could recognize subtle colognes that they used. Trying to contain all the emotions that she had at the moment, she tried to smile naturally at the camera and caught her breath when Kris put his arm around her shoulders. She was right about to faint though when Luhan’s arm went around her waist. It could’ve been fine if he just let it rest there, just for the picture. But no, he reached over so his hand was holding her side firmly and and thank GOD AND BUDDHA and all higher beings that she lost the weight she wanted to lose before the trip because the way that Luhan held her at that moment was RUTHLESS. As he squeezed, she tried to move away and saw what he was trying to do.

She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow and sure enough, he was smirking. The more he squeezed her, the more she moved away which led her closer to him. And man was it working. She pouted and just decided to be bold to make him stop because the photographer was obviously waiting and had other things to do, so she wrapped her arms around both Luhan and Kris and pulled them towards her and well. She tried to ignore the fact that she was touching Luhan’s bare skin and hard muscle. Not that he complained. Nor did she.

“Okay! One!” the photographer was counting in Korean and she once again put her most calm smile and she noticed that the camera changed to a Polaroid. She crossed her fingers and saw the strong flash of the camera. She gave a start but recovered quickly. The photograph printed and just as she wished, it was handed over to her.

“Okay guys, play time’s over,” Eunsoo came through the crowd and trapped her wrist in his fingers and waved quickly at Kris and Luhan. 

“I didn’t get to talk to her yet!” Kris yelled behind them and Eunsoo gave a dismissing wave.

“Lots of time for that later!” he yelled back before slamming the door shut behind them. “Jenny,” he started sternly and she fought again the urge to hurt him so she only scowled at the back of his head.

“Yes?” she answered as politely as she could.

“You’ll have an hour to change into more decent clothes for the dinner. I’ll bring you back to the hotel and have you get picked up. The hour starts now,” Eunsoo said and by then they were in the back of the venue where a car was parked, waiting for them. It will be impossible for her to get ready since it took about twenty minutes to get to the hotel. She opened the passenger’s seat and Eunsoo clucked his tongue, cocking his head to the side to signal her to go to the back. She saw the windows were tinted. She then obediently moved to the back and settled herself in.

—-

Eight ten pm, the little alarm clock on the bedside table told her as she was pulled back into the bathroom turned change room in her suite. The same stylists were  there and this time, the two that dressed her up earlier were relaxed. They already had something prepared.

She was seated back on the chair and her hair was just lightly re-touched, the diamond clips were changed into small white flowers. It made her face look more vibrant, healthier and livelier. She quite liked it. She was only re-touched with makeup as well, her lashes bared from mascara and was curled again, even more so this time and was placed more mascara. The makeup was still light but as she looked at her face for the few seconds she was given, they made her face more lively, really, more….flawless. Jenny was impressed but only for a little while because she wasn’t given the time to breathe until she was pushed into her closet and was stripped bare of her shirt and jeans. A white dress was slipped in her arms and rested on her sides. It was strapless and it zipped on her side, the top half of her torso was sequins and the bottom half, which was the rest of the dress until halfway down her thighs, were slight ruffles. It was shorter than what she was used to but when they whirled her around to a full length mirror, she had to admit she looked damn pretty and adorable. Again, she was only given a few seconds before a pair of heels were slipped on her feet. 

“Uhm,” she started to protest and they saw her discomfort. She wasn’t good with heels. Considering this, they slipped them off and slipped on black flats instead with a cute little black puffy rose on the tip. She was thrown a black purse.

“Hurry and put the little things you need in that purse. The car is waiting,” one of the ladies told her and she rushed out to her shoulder bag.

What was there to bring? Not like her phone worked in Korea, her phone plan was the cheapest….so she grabbed her lip balm, her hand lotion, her gum and a few thousand Korean won that she had exchanged back in Canada. It seemed like a good idea when at the time she exchanged money and luckily, it was. Better have some cash just in case. So she stuffed those in the small purse and was pushed out to the lobby and out into the same car from the venue. Except this time she didn’t recognize the driver. Furrowing her eyebrows, she jumped when the back door opened on its own. She peered in and sighed in great relief to see Kris there.

“Hey Baby girl!” he yelled in English, loudly. He knew that it would echo through slightly domed entrance of the hotel, and if her ears were warm earlier that night then they were thoroughly burnt as people turned to look at her. She jumped right in the back seat beside Kris and bit her lip. She tried to sit with as much finesse as she could muster but hit Kris with her small purse when he didn’t stop laughing.

“You’re terrible,” she mumbled and suppressed a smile which Kris chuckled at.

“You’re embarrassed~!!!!” he teased and she hit him again. “Oh,” he said, “bold,” and they both laughed a little.

She fanned her face to calm herself down and looked at Kris when he tapped her bare shoulder with a finger. She pursed her lips lightly and raised her eyebrows.

“Yes?” she asked and smiled a small smile.

“We’re having a detour,” Kris smiled at her charmingly and why did he have to smile? Her cheeks warmed up and she hated it when that happened because then it meant that her cheeks were pink and when her cheeks were pink——

“We’re here!” Kris said excitedly, effectively interrupting her thoughts. Playfully, he pushed her out of the door that was opened by the driver and even lifted his foot up, threatening to kick her out of the door. She chuckled at him and he winked before she stepped out.

She never really looked at where they were, but she could see a river in the distance, and a silhouette of a tall figure was shadowing the dim light of the moon. She looked behind her and the car was still there. The back seat window opened and she saw Kris beckon her towards the tall figure.

It was pretty obvious to her who the tall figure was, but she wanted to think that maybe she had small episodes with each member, as a segment of the program they seemed to be filming while she was there. 

Filming?

She looked behind her and in front of her and beside her as she was close enough to the tall figure but she couldn’t spot cameras. 

“This is isn’t part of what you won for the contest….” Luhan’s voice flowed through her ears and she suddenly felt weightless….her heart was beating fast and her breath hitched when he stepped out of the shadows. Instead of the moon shadowing the trees, silhouetting Luhan, he shadowed the moon, stepping in like a lone star, and took her hand in his.

“This…you won for simply being you,” he squeezed her hands and Jenny couldn’t help but feel her heart beat in her ear, her fingers go soft in his and her eyes drown in his deep brown ones.

But then she furrowed her eyebrows.

“We know nothing about each other,” she said and began to doubt his sincerity and he laughed out loud.

“You’ll know about me tonight….but who said I don’t know anything about you? Jenny Lee, aspiring pianist, attending one of the most prestigious Universities in the world. Jenny Lee, petite, humorous and musical. Jenny Lee, my number one girl,” Luhan smiled and her jawline, “Jenny, who do you think chose the winner for the contest?”

She stopped her train of thought for a moment and gasped.

“You???” she asked in sincere shock.

“I did. We did a rock, paper, scissors thing with the members and I won. The contest was Kris’ idea, but the winner was picked by me,” Luhan brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and chuckled as she stood there, still in shock.

Luhan himself chose her as the winner. Luhan himself studied her, knew about her and then chose her. Luhan himself….she couldn’t help to have tears spring in her eyes and he noticed this in an instant.

“No, no! Don’t cry! Your eyeliner will smudge!” Luhan swiped his thumb gently on the bottom of her eyes and she just breathed in to try and stop it, “Baekhyun will make fun of you if you’ll have messy eyeliner,” Luhan pouted and she had to laugh at that.

“Anyway,” he took her hand again, “Shall we take a small walk by the river? I know it’s not as romantic as the beach like Tao, but I hope it cuts it,” he laughed and so did she.

Little did he know that everywhere with him was more than just somewhere that could ‘cut it’.

“Let’s know about me, shall we?” he asked and brushed his fingers again on her jaw.

She had so many questions and the smile on his thin lips made her know that she will get to know him truly. The real him. More than Luhan of EXO.