The place is tucked away inside a bubble tea shop aptly called Serendipitea. The tea shop looks inconspicuous enough at first glance, with its pastel colored walls and its cute mismatched chairs and tables. But at the far end of the shop, a door misleadingly labeled the fire exit actually opens into a tiny speakeasy appropriately called The Exit by its patrons - a fortunate few who know of its secret location. How they know of the place is most likely through word of mouth, from a girlfriend of a friend of a boyfriend of a colleague, etc. The creative, artsy crowd of Seoul go around in very small, overlapping social circles - everyone knows everyone and they all go to the same, snooty venues. The more hidden it is from the public, the more hipster the place is.

How Chanyeol stumbles upon The Exit is a different story, in which he…well, he literally stumbles upon the place. He had come from a dinner with friends and had somehow lost his way back to his dorm from the restaurant in an attempt to run away from crazy fans, and found himself in a street he didn’t recognize. It was late, approaching midnight, and all the establishments along the street were closed save for the tea shop. So he dashed inside and hoped to lose the fangirls chasing him by getting out through the store’s other exit – because all stores have a backdoor, right?

Except this one didn’t.  He had forcefully opened what he thought was the door to the fire exit and had run through it expecting to find a well-lit staircase or a back alley on the other side. Instead, he found himself in a tiny, dimly lit room without windows, comfortable looking couches lining the walls and cocktail tables scattered all over, a bar at the far left of the space and a tiny DJ booth at the far right.

It should be said that he took note of all this as he fell unceremoniously to the floor, tripping on air after he had come through the door and landing with a thud on his stomach, right cheek to dirty carpet.

And that is how Chanyeol made a grand entrance into The Exit, stumbling into it in all his Kpop Idol glory.

Thankfully the place was nearly empty except for a girl who stood behind the DJ booth. She didn’t even look up at the sight (and sound) of Chanyeol falling all over himself, too busy working on her laptop. She did find the time to scold him, however.

“Ya, we open at midnight. Have some bubble tea outside and come back later,” she all but yelled at him in heavily accented Korean, still not looking towards his direction, eyes glued to her laptop.

And that is how Chanyeol met The Love Of His Life Formerly Known As Miss Music Snob, as he would eventually (fondly) call her.