~Epilogue~
6 Months Later

 

Paige looked up from the table she just finished wiping down. “I don’t care who you are dating, you’re going to get fired if you keep getting distracted.”

“I’m not going to get fired,” Amy snapped.

Paige rolled her eyes. They had plenty of reasons to be distracted that afternoon, but they still had a shift to finish.

“I don’t know how you’re getting anything done. Aren’t you nervous?” Amy asked.

“Why on earth do I need to be nervous?”

“You haven’t seen him for over a month…”

“I’ve talked to him, every day.”

“It’s not the same thing!” Amy said in a pathetic whine.

“Look, I know how much it hurts to not be Siamese twins with your Tao,” Paige began sarcastically. “But, clingy will get us nowhere.”

“I’m not clingy!” Amy pouted.

“Not outwardly, but you sure come off that way anytime I talk to you. So, you know it’s true.”

“And I don’t want to share a limb with Tao…”

Paige scoffed. Actually, it was a completely loud boisterous laugh.

“Shut up.”

They were lucky. Right now it was in-between the lunch and the dinner rush. They were catching up with the cleaning while virtually no guests were in the restaurant. Otherwise, they might have both been fired.

“We have another hour left, lets just get this place ready!” Paige encouraged, trying to keep the conversation away from the night ahead.

Exo-M had been on a steady China promotion for the past month and a half. It had been about 6 months since the girls had reunited in China, only getting to spend about 3 days there before schedules brought them back to Korea with the boys. Paige had set up in the apartment with Amy, both of them juggling part time hours at the restaurant while taking on other tasks.

Amy had successfully enrolled in language courses, taking on two at a time in hopes of teaching English and at the least, being able to converse fluently in the languages that they were more commonly exposed with.

Paige had continued her studies in digital art, but had been finding more of a pull towards interning her way into a company rather than finishing up any sort of degree. Her portfolio was built up enough to be decently impressive. One company, in particular, she had high hopes of hearing an acceptance from.

Paige finished with the tables and walked back to the kitchen to help organize and set up for the evening menu.

Amy was still busy making scattered to-do lists before the boys came home that night with the promise of taking both of them out.

“Hey, Paige,” Amy called towards the kitchen.

“Yes?”

“What do you think about a dress? Should I wear a dress tonight?”

“Did he tell you where you were going?”

“No…”

“What if it’s outdoors?”

“Tao got lucky that he hasn’t tried to take me anywhere more outdoorsy than the Zoo and that one park we all went to. Plus, it’s going to be in the evening. Where outside would he take me?”

“You may end up just strolling around.”

“Well it’s summer! A dress would be breezy!”

“Then, wear a dress…”

Amy grinned, knowing in her head just exactly what she would wear.

Paige came out from the kitchen, shaking her head. “Honestly, I don’t know why you insist on getting any sort of approval…”

Her sentence was interrupted as two guests walked into the restaurant.

The standard welcome was caught somewhere in Paige’s throat.

“TAO!!!!” Amy squealed.

Paige rolled her eyes as her bouncy best friend practically flew through the restaurant and into Tao’s open arms.

“Why is it that you’re never that excited to see me?” Luhan asked Paige, pointing at the couple.

“Do you want me to scream in the middle of public, in the middle of my work shift, and practically knock you over?”

He shrugged. “I can take it.”

“I am that excited. I just know how to control myself,” Paige laughed.

“Shut up,” Amy murmured while still hugging the life out of her boyfriend. Then she pulled away suddenly. “You weren’t supposed to see me until after work!” She said accusingly.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Tao smiled.

“But I’m not ready! I’m a mess! And it’s the first time you’ve seen me in forever! And… Oh God, my hair.”

Tao stared at her incredulously.  He blinked a few times and honestly couldn’t find anything to say. She looked absolutely amazing to him. She looked dolled up for work and as if she hadn’t been flustered or stressed the whole day. He couldn’t imagine her looking any better, nor did he think she could ever honestly look worse.

“Your hair is fine, babe,” Tao murmured.

Amy smiled. Her eyes danced. She couldn’t drink him in enough visually. He was there, really there, in his absolute perfection. She looked up at his eyes, which were lined perfectly and might have shown a little exhaustion from the travel and touring, but the eagerness within his gaze proved that he couldn’t be bothered by it. His hair was hand combed and perfect in her opinion. Tao lowered his face towards hers, blatant intent readable across his features.

Luhan cleared his throat.

“Still on the job, Amy,” Paige blurted.

“You are SO annoying!” Amy stated, whipping her head around to glare at Paige.

Paige turned to Luhan and smiled. “One minute, okay?”

Luhan nodded.

Paige disappeared back into the kitchen.

“How much longer do you have left to your shift?” Tao asked Amy.

“Less than an hour,” Amy replied, thankful that Tao was still holding her in his arms and not quite making her get back to work. “Mmm, Tao, can we head back to my place so I can change before we go out?”

“Sure, but we will want to hurry. I have a destination in mind, but there’s a lot for us to do.”

“Promise! I’ll be quick. Where are we going?”

“Not telling,” he said with a smirk.

Amy narrowed her eyes at him. “Mmmm, fine. I don’t care anyway as long as we have some fun.” Amy’s eyes widened for a moment, “You don’t have an early schedule tomorrow, do you?”

Tao shook his head. “Something in the afternoon, so if we’re out late, it’ll be okay.”

Amy smiled.

“Lets go!” Paige announced, practically skipping from the back. She was already out of uniform, dressed for the evening.

“What do you mean?” Amy asked.

“We’re off work. I went back and asked, and we’re good to go.”

“But, you’re also changed!”

“I brought an outfit with me. If we’d gone back to our apartment, I might have worked on my hair or something, but this is cute, right?"

Luhan walked up behind Paige and looped his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder. “It’s perfect, let’s go,” he whispered.

Paige flinched from the goose bumps that the whisper produced, but turned her head to flash him the corner of her smile. Luhan let go of her waist and instead, slid his hand from her elbow to her wrist before letting his palm slide against hers and holding her hand.

“Good night, you two,” Luhan said to Tao and Amy as he pulled a blushing Paige from the restaurant. They got into one of two waiting cars, Luhan giving instructions to a destination and the both of them driving away from the restaurant.

“Shall we?” Tao asked.

Amy threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

“I couldn’t wait!” she said after pulling away. The shocked look on his face was worth it. “Let’s go!”

 

---

 

The taxi stopped on the side of a very populated street. The sun was only almost setting and the nightlife was definitely beginning to surge. They had already spent a bit of time at the apartment. Tao impatiently sitting on the couch while Amy was busy in the restroom getting ready for the evening. When she’d emerged, satisfied with her ‘date’ attire, Tao had reacted with a smile on his face but nonetheless still pulled at her wrist to hurry her out the door.

“Seriously, what is the rush?” Amy whined.

“I just want to enjoy being downtown. I don’t get the free time to get do much exploring myself, especially now.”

“But, won’t people recognize you if we’re downtown?”

Tao shrugged. “Possibly, but it’s still easier to get away with it when none of the other band members are with me.”

Amy frowned. As much as she wanted to spend all evening with him, she didn’t want it to be interrupted.

Amy glanced around the scene from inside the taxi. She was only slightly worried about attracting attention, but she also had an idea.

As they exited the taxi, Tao grabbed Amy’s hand into his own and began to walk them into the crowd towards the countless shops, restaurants, and sights that made up Hongdae. She looked at him, finding that his expression was such of a child’s, eager and happy to have the freedom to be there with her.

Amy spied a clothing store to her right. This should be perfect, she thought. She tugged on Tao’s hand, getting his attention. “Can we go in here?”

Tao looked over the shop and frowned. Then he returned his gaze down to Amy’s expectant one and threw a smile on to cover his initial negative reaction. “Sure.”

Amy let go of Tao’s hand as soon as they were inside the shop. She quickly eyed each section of clothing until she started to find what she was looking for.

Tao looked around, but there was nothing in this particular store that appealed to him. He was, however, slightly curious as to what Amy was after. They weren’t at a particular designer store. The clothes seemed a bit trivial and somewhat bright in color.

“No! No!” Tao fiercely replied, when moments later Amy came up to him holding up shirts and hats that while not identical, definitely matched.

“But honey, no one would recognize you in these and it’ll be our first couple outfit!!!!”

“No!”

“But they always do this in dramas! It’s cute and sure, the guys are predictably never really 100% for it but they do it because they love their girlfriend’s sooooo much! Please??!?!”

“You’re serious?” Tao asked, dryly.

“I didn’t even pick the most hideous things here. These are cute,” Amy replied, defensively.

“Alright. Give me the outfit. I’ll go change.”

Amy squealed, and then laughed. She was truthfully more thrilled to hide Tao’s normal gorgeous appearance beneath the rather ordinary clothing than the fact that they were couple outfits. But, if she had told him that it was just to hide him, he would have denied them. The ploy about couple outfits had been a sure fire method. Amy smiled to herself as she slipped on the shirt and fit the hat with her hairdo.

Outside of the store, they resumed their evening of enjoying the busy street and all it had to offer.

The sun set not much later allowing the lights of the street to glow while the outside surroundings turned dark. Amy remembered the last time she had been in such an area. It had been freezing then, on the cusp of winter and coldest part of autumn. That was when everything had changed for her. She remembered the hours that had passed in frantic wait for her best friend’s reappearance. She remembered how her whole body had been cold from their lack in remembering proper jackets for the night out.

The air, now, was warm and comfortable. The night barely made a difference from the warm day that had proceeded. Had she been stuck in Itaewon on a night like tonight, she wouldn’t have been in quite the worrisome situation. She didn’t, however, doubt for a moment that Tao would have still come to find her the same way he had then.

Amy squeezed his hand in hers as she remembered.

“What?” Tao asked, reacting to the squeeze.

Amy smiled and shook her head, “I was just remembering that night in Itaewon.”

Tao pulled quickly on her hand forcing her to collide against him. She laughed breathlessly. “That was our first kiss.”

“It was. But, you only kissed me because of the anxiety of the situation, right?” Amy prodded.

“I liked you before Itaewon, I’ll have you know.”

“When?”

“Maybe when piggybacking you through the mall. Maybe it was when we were watching the movie back at the dorm. Or perhaps it was back at the airport when you came screaming out of the terminal doors.”

“But when did you know, for sure?”

“I made a firm decision the following morning. You grabbed my hand before I could leave the room after having the fever. After you fell asleep, and I left the room, I knew I wanted to stay with you.”

It wasn’t that they were exhibitionists or anything, but the moments just always seem to arise when they were amidst crowds. Amy flung her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her so that she could adequately kiss him. Tao complied, keeping the kiss light, yet meaningful feeling more appreciative than too intimate.

He pulled back after a few moments and stared down at her. She could have drowned in his eyes and not cared.

He looked around for a moment, locking one arm around her waist and pulling her off to a somewhat secluded corner from the majority of the crowd.

“What was the point in dressing me up like this if you’re just going to attract attention by kissing me in public?” Tao asked with a smirk.

Okay, so he wasn’t an idiot that was for sure. Amy shrugged, a small blush rising to her cheeks.

Tao leaned forward and laid a quick peck on her left cheek, making her glance up at him. As soon as she’d done so, he took her lips with his and kissed her soundly, away from the prying eyes of passerby’s and tourists. 

 

---

 

“Why did Amy and I never think or know to do this?!” Paige exclaimed while standing at the edge of the ferry.

“You can’t do everything in two weeks. And…both of you have been busy since then,” supplied Luhan, who was standing next to her, more enjoying her reaction than the view itself.

“I bet it’s gorgeous in the winter when the sun sets earlier,” Paige murmured.

“Oh, but really cold. Right now it’s perfect, don’t you think?” They had boarded a ferry to tour a part of the Han River. Sunset was in an hour and Luhan promised they had more on the agenda after the cruise.

“Things are too perfect,” Paige whispered, mostly to herself but not without being heard by Luhan’s perceptive ears.

“Too perfect? What is that? Is my Paige overthinking again?” Luhan pushed himself away from the railing on the edge of the boat and stepped closer to Paige. She was purposefully staring out at the view, trying to ignore what Luhan was going to make into a conversation.

“Paige,” he said seriously.

“Things are working out better than I had thought. I guess it has just taken me by surprise,” she admitted.

“Nothing’s perfect though. I don’t get to see you for weeks at a time. You both are still working at the restaurant when you,” he stated while pointing. “You are talented enough to have gotten one of those internships.”

Paige bit her bottom lip as she turned herself towards him. “About the last internship…”

“Hey, there are a ton of companies in the area, you’ll get an internship eventually. I know you really thought you had this one, but it’s okay!”

Paige stared at him for a good hard minute before she let a bright smile stretch across her face. She loved him. She loved him so much. She had to hold back from taking him into her arms and hugging the life out of him.

“I was accepted.”

Luhan did a double take. So this is what she had meant by too perfect. Luhan had already been in the greatest mood knowing he was coming back and could take her out. He was even more ecstatic when they had made it home ahead of schedule and he could go surprise her. He had spent the entire late afternoon memorizing everything about her as they were enjoying their time together, but the level of joy he felt at that moment was somewhat indescribable.

In one quick step, he closed the distance between them.

Paige was caught slightly off guard, thinking he was about to pull her into some rather embarrassing PDA, but what he did was much worse. Placing his hands firmly at her waist he hauled her up into the air and spun her a full two times eliciting an equally exciting and terrified scream from her lips.

“OH MY, Luhan, put me DOWN!”

“Ha ha! You were accepted!” he belted out in reply. When he finally lowered her down she punched his shoulder.

“When!? When did you find out?” Luhan asked.

“Three days ago.”

“And you didn’t call me?!”

“I wanted to tell you in person. If I didn’t think I’d see you for another week or so, I would have. I haven’t told anyone yet.”

“Amy’s going to kill you.”

“I’ll worry about that later. I’ll tell her first thing tomorrow.”

Luhan raised a hand to touch her cheek, enjoying the pure happiness that radiated from her eyes. It might have been a bit egotistical to think so, but he imagined that maybe she’d not looked like this very often before he’d met her. He wanted to believe that all of this was because she was here, with him.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead against hers, enjoying the proximity.

“It’s not too perfect,” Luhan whispered. “It’s how it should be.”

Paige pulled back slightly and looked up at him, waiting for his eyes to open. She didn’t want to ruin the moment with words. All of her thoughts sounded ridiculous following his last statement. Instead, she let her hands glide around each side of his waist, pulling him towards her until there was no distance between them. Closing her eyes, she stole the small gasp that had escaped his lips.

The internship was hers. Luhan was hers. In that moment, all of Seoul was hers. Yes, everything was perfect.

 

*The Actual End*

 

---

 

 

 

Now for a long Author's Note - Read if you'd like - it really has no bearing on this story....

 

1st of all, I wrote in my Author's note in Chapter 29 that there would be an Epilogue, so for anyone who finished this story, this should NOT be a surprise.

2nd of all, Thank you... THANK YOU to all of you who subscribed and took the time to read this story since it was advertised. I had been trying since January (before completion) to win a bid and really hadn't saved up the Karma points for it...but I kept trying. And I did so because this story just kept flying under the radar and I was really hoping people would enjoy it as much as myself and my best friend enjoyed countless nights brainstorming scenes and dialogue.

3rd - I'm mumbling something incoherently about how Kris really isn't supposed to come off as a bad guy, and neither is Kai. Because well I love Kai (my bias, ya know) and I miss Kris.

Backstory: As readers have guessed in the comments, yes, my friend and I wrote this using ourselves to base the 2 female leads from... at least, to get the story going... I really do dye my hair red and I was a visual art major (not digital, but *shrugs*) and my best friend has blonde hair and is really going to work on learning languages and what not... Paige is me (kinda, not really) and Amy is pologirl0611. I know I know... we're a lil crazy, but it made it easier to imagine for our first Fan Fic.

On that note... What began as our first fan fic is now finished. Hopefully, my writing will improve as well as my imagination and ability to create stories.

 

If you enjoyed the fluff... 

Might I direct you to Fading Away (Short Story - 3 Chapters - Sehun focused) - Written by me (MyHappyExoBubble)

My coauthor has 2 fluffy one shots - Chanyeol's Perfect Date (2 Shot - First Shot is Chanyeol focused, Second Shot is Kai focused - All of Exo appears)  AND My Pillow Loves Me (1 Shot - Super Junior's Ryeowook focused).

 

If you would like to read a short story disguised as fluff...

Might I point my finger towards Always and Never ... with Baekhyun (6 Chapter Short Story, Baekhyun focused, with ExoK members). - Written by me (MyHappyExoBubble)

 

And for something completely different.... This is my current work in progress:

It's rated M.

It ships LuKai + 1

It's fluffy, but it's also angsty... and well..... read the whole forward, okay?

Inclusion

 

<3