♫ Maybe - Yiruma ♫ 

EXO’s schedule for the day has finally come to an end. All the 12 members feel exhausted and worn out. Everyone just wanted to go to their respective rooms and sleep. Eating and bathing didn’t even occur in their minds.

None of them talked on their way home, not even the Beagle line who usually are the noisiest. And upon entering their dorm, everyone parted ways heading to their rooms without a single word. Chanyeol was the only one left in the living room.

He knew his body was tired, he knew he wanted to rest. But instead of going upstairs, he lied down on the couch with his mind wandering off to somewhere.

After five minutes of lying down and staring into space, he got up walked towards their door. He wore his training shoes back, grabbed his bike and went out to exercise and exhaust his fully awake mind.

Like the usual, he did a few laps at the Han Riverside. It was pretty late and as expected, the area was like a ghost town with no one lurking around. The air was cold but still tolerable for Chanyeol. He was speeding up as he was doing more and more laps.

On his supposedly last lap, he saw someone running from a little ahead of him. He tried honking at the person but it seemed like the stranger couldn’t hear it. He tried slowing down a bit and turning to the other lane so as not to hit the person. But as their distance from each other was getting little, the stranger ran to the lane where Chanyeol turned.

Thanks to the powerful yet deceiving peripheral vision and Chanyeol’s really loud and deep voice, the stranger was able to jumped back just a second before Chanyeol’s bike hit her. But her reflex didn’t save her from being caught in an accident. As she jumped back, her right foot twisted making her fall on the ground. She used her right elbow to lessen the impact but all it did was scratch and wound itself because of the rough surface it hit.

Chanyeol was surprised that he too fell from his bike. But as compared to the stranger, he wasn’t badly hurt. He was actually pretty fine, like nothing happened.

He looked behind him and saw a woman on the floor trying to get up. He rushed to her aid and saw that blood was all over her right arm.

“I’m sorry!” he said over and over.

He went down, kneeled in front and took the stranger’s arm to see how bad the damage was but the woman took her arm back without looking up and just said, “it’s nothing. It’s fine.”

“It doesn’t look fine to me at all,” he looked at her arm then her right foot, which the woman was slowly trying to move in a rotating manner. “Let me bring you to the hospital.”

“No need. I’m fine really,” while shaking her head and still not looking up.

Slowly, she used the left side of her body to lift herself from the ground. Chanyeol can see that it was really tough for her and so he offered help for the 2^nd time.

“At least let me help you get up,” he extended his hand.

The stranger finally looked up to see whose hand it belongs to. “I knew it,” she thought to herself as she saw Chanyeol’s wide and expectant eyes under his favorite Supreme cap.

She put her left hand on his and let him help her up from the floor. She immediately released her hand from his when she was on her feet. But the moment she let go, she almost fell again and her right foot felt a tinge of pain.

“Hold on to me for a while,” Chanyeol commanded. He put her left hand on his waist so that he could still move his right arm. The woman didn’t refuse and let him do some first aid on her.

Chanyeol removed the bandana on his head. He folded it in a triangular form and used it to cover the wound on her elbow part after applying pressure on it. Chanyeol paused for a while after. He was holding her weight without her noticing it.

“Uhm, can you take out my handcherchief?” Chanyeol asked without looking at her.

“Ok. Hmm, where is it?” She agreed innocently while looking at him waiting for the answer to her question.

“It’s in my right back pocket,” Chanyeol said. His face immediately turned red from the embarrassment.

The woman saw it but she tried to hide her own embarrassment. “Two red faces in one night will lead to nothing good,” she remembered one of her friends’ personal rules.

She was ready to support herself before removing her hand from his waist but she was surprised when she didn’t even waver at all. That’s when she realized how Chanyeol has been holding her up. She reached for his back pocket and took out the handkerchief as fast as she can so as to avoid any more embarrassing contact with the tall man.

“Thanks,” as she gave the handkerchief to him. He removed his cap, brushed up his hair and returned it before letting out a sigh of relief. He then smiled shyly while wiping all the blood on her arm. The woman bowed her head down and let out a shy smile as well.

“It’s done,” Chanyeol’s smile couldn’t be removed from his face as he looks at his clean work. He returned the handkerchief in his back pocket and looked at the woman.

“So, where do you live? I’ll take you home,” The woman turned her free hand into a fist immediately after she heard the question. Being in her defensive mode, she was ready to punch Chanyeol anytime soon. But he noticed it before she even moves it. He held it lightly and said, “relax. I’m just trying to help. I don’t mean any harm,” The woman gently freed herself from Chanyeol and slowly moved back away from him.

“You’ve done enough help. Thank you so much. And I’m sorry for bothering you at this late hour,” she bowed 90-degrees as respect and slowly turned her back at him to face the other direction.

“You’re going to walk?”

“I’m going to take a taxi.”

“Taxi? From here?” Chanyeol let out a small laugh. The woman looked around and saw how deserted the place is, except for the two of them. She knew that there was no taxi in that area at that time but she didn’t want to bother Chanyeol anymore that’s why she ended up saying such.

“Maybe, I’ll just walk then,” she bowed again in a 90-degrees manner.

She walked slowly trying not to feel the tingling pain from her foot. Incredibly, she was pretty good at it at first. But after some minutes, she couldn’t tolerate anymore the hurt and tiredness. She slowly went down on the ground, sat hopelessly and bowed her head in between her knees.

Chanyeol on the other hand watched her from a safe distance as she started walking away from where the accident happened. When he couldn’t spot her clearly anymore, he walked with his bike beside him and followed her silently. He could see her limping and yet she was still determined to go home all by herself.

“This woman is something,” he said quietly to himself. He admired the strong woman from afar and after a few minutes of stalking her, he noticed that she stopped and started to sit on the cold hard ground. He got on his bike and drove towards her.

When he was only a few meters away, rain started to pour. The woman didn’t move while Chanyeol drove faster to her aid.

He stopped in front of her. He removed his jacket and put it around her small frame. That’s when she moved her head to look at Chanyeol.

“You know you can’t reject me now,” Chanyeol confidently said. She smiled at him and started to move her body so as to help Chanyeol in getting her up.

She sat sideways on the space in front of Chanyeol. He drove right away as soon as he was sure that she’s sitting properly. “We’ll first find a place to stay under until the rain stops, ok.” He said, and she just nodded in response.  Chanyeol drove carefully so as not to meet another accident. They were drenched in rain when they arrived at an empty waiting shed. They sat on the bench side by side but still making a safe distance between each other.

The woman noticed Chanyeol shivering intensely. He was only wearing a black shirt under the jacket he lent her. She removed his jacket from her and wrapped it around Chanyeol. “I think you need it back,” she said. And she went back to where she was seated.

Chanyeol looked in her way and saw that she was trying to hold in the coldness she’s feeling. She kept on biting her lips and moving her uninjured foot. She was also clasping her hands so hard that he could already see the veins on them even in the dark.

He moved closer to where she was. “It’s ok to act weak when you’re with me,” he told her with a smile. “May I?” He asked politely after removing his jacket for the 2^nd time. She nodded and he started covering her body with it.

But instead of leaving it that way, he moved even nearer to her. He pulled her then into a hug, with the jacket reaching up to his bare arms.

She was surprised, but she didn’t quarrel anymore after feeling the comforting warmth from Chanyeol’s body.

“Isn’t this much better? Body heat is really the perfect weapon to battle coldness,” he commented feeling happy and satisfied with the warmth he’s receiving and giving. The woman was only able to smile. Feeling more comfortable as the minutes passed by, she started to move even closer and finally placed her head on his chest.

Chanyeol gulped with nervousness. His heart started to beat so much faster and he was sure that she could hear it. He didn’t know what to do anymore from the sudden burst of feelings. And so he hugged her tighter totally closing any space between their wet and cold bodies.

Without realizing it, they both fell asleep into each other’s arms.

After an hour or so, the rain came to a stop. Chanyeol was the first one to wake up. He only opened his eyes and didn’t dare move any other part of his body so as not to wake up the beautiful woman sleeping on his chest.

He just stared at the small figure in front of him with a smile. “I came out to tire out my mind so that I could finally rest my body. But it looks like my mind will be more alive now thinking about tonight.” As he was saying this in his mind, the woman woke up and immediately moved away from him making a fist with both her hands.

Chanyeol jolted and touched his chest from shock. “Woah! Hold your horses!” He exclaimed.

After a minute of recollecting herself and looking at the person in front of her, she put her guard down and sighed in relief. “I’m sorry. My reflex just..” she stopped explaining knowing that she couldn’t find the right words to say.

“That’s ok. It’s not like it’s the first time.” They both gave a shy laugh.

The woman removed the jacket from her, returned it to Chanyeol and got up. “Thank you for the warmth,” she mentally slapped herself after realizing what she just said and bowed down 90-degrees for the 3^rd time. She immediately turned her back after the embarrassment she just made.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home.” She answered without facing him.

Chanyeol grabbed his bike and stopped in front of her. “I’ll give you a ride then. And I will take no for an answer this time.”

“Then how about you take a low kick for an answer?” she offered.

“Why are you so brutal? I’m just offering some help. Are you a martial artist or something?”

“I don’t mean to be brutal. I just don’t know anymore how to stop you from offering help to me. I’m sorry.”  Then she bowed in the same manner again for the 4^th time.

“Hear me out first, ok.” she nodded. “I have no other intention but to help, if that’s what you’re worried about. I can’t just let you, in that condition of yours, walk home alone. I just want to make sure that you’ll arrive to your place safely since this accident has been all my fault.”

“I understand that and thank you for being so considerate. But I don’t want to be selfish. With your current status, I can’t just let you show yourself in public with a girl riding on your bike. We both might not get home safely, if you know what I mean.”

“So you know me?”

“Well of course I do! Who doesn’t?” The woman answered. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile that the girl she had been admiring for the past hours recognizes him.

“Why are you smiling?” The woman smiled, for an unknown reason, after asking him that question.

“Nothing. Why are you smiling too?” Chanyeol asked her in return. She touched her face and realized that she was but instead she answered, “I’m not smiling,” giving him a poker face expression.

“You know, you’re not good at lying,” Chanyeol smiled again. And she did the same too unconsciously. “Stop smiling you idiot!” Mentally talking and slapping herself simultaneously.

She came down to a decision after an embarrassing and heart stopping exchange of smiles with Chanyeol.

“Ok. If this is what’s going to ease your mind, you can just drop me off at the abandoned park. Are you familiar with it?”

“Yes, I am. But why there? Is that even near your place? Are you going to be safe there?”

“It’s just across my building so it’s pretty much the nearest and safest place for the both of us. People don’t usually go there so it’s a perfect place to drop me off without you being seen by anyone.”

“Well, that sounds great. So, shall we?”

“Yes,” she sat to where she was seated before and off they went to the abandoned park.

Along the way, Chanyeol was humming a tune. The woman was also familiar with it and so she joined Chanyeol in humming. It was Yiruma’s Maybe. Then a little later they started singing random songs together. Chanyeol was mesmerized by the woman’s beautiful voice. His deep voice harmonized well with her soft one. It was definitely a long night; a night that both of them wished to not end.

“We’re here,” Chanyeol said. His voice not as enthusiastic as it was minutes ago.

The woman went down the bike and thanked him for the nth time. Another 90-degrees bow was made by her. This time, Chanyeol did the same.

“My pleasure after hurting you with my recklessness,” he said.

“No. No. It was me. I wasn’t looking to where I was going,” she bickered.

“Ok. Let’s not argue now who’s at fault here. Just go home safely.”

“You too, take care on your way home.” When she started walking away, Chanyeol remembered something he must ask and called her back.

“Wait!” she looked back and asked, “yes?”

“May I know your name, please?”

“Gayeon. Song Gayeon.” After answering with a smile, she bowed lightly and continued walking away.

“Song Gayeon-sshi!” That was the first time Chanyeol called her by her name.

Gayeon faced him again and asked, “yes, Park Chanyeol-sshi?” That was the first time she called him by his name.

“It was nice bumping into you, literally.” Gayeon laughed and responded, “same here oppa.”

She walked away again after waving to him for the first time after they met. “Did I just call him oppa?” After the realization, she face-palmed herself as she walked towards her building.

Chanyeol watched her walk until he saw that she’s finally arrived safely in her building. He rode his bike and started driving to his dorm while talking to himself saying, “she called me oppa.” And a big satisfied smile was plastered on his face the whole night.

Few Months later

 During one of their practices, Chanyeol received an invitation to join SBS’s new variety show, Roommate. He was so excited that he immediately looked up on the internet who will be joining him in the show. He found an article and saw a very familiar name that made his heart skip a beat and put a bigger smile on his already glowing face, Song Gayeon.

After one of her regular trainings, Gayeon’s manager handed her an envelope. She opened it and saw that it was an invitation to join SBS’s Roommate. She always wanted to try living with other people that’s why she was looking forward to such opportunity. Upon getting to her place, she immediately looked up who will be the other cast members. When she read the article she found another reason to look forward to when they move in, Park Chanyeol.

Maybe this is their destiny. Maybe this is where their story will continue.