Sojin tried to regulate her breathing as she did her hair in front of the bathroom mirror.  The areas under her eyes have darkened recently.  She picked up the concealer and lightly dapped some under her eyes.

            “Although you haven’t officially debuted yet, we are still investing lots money in you.  You understand, right?” Her manager said with a distinctive coldness in his voice.

            “Yes.” She meekly nodded. “I’m very grateful for such an opportunity.”

            “Sojin-ah, step up your game.  Or—” He paused deliberately.

            She tried not to furrow her eyebrows to give way of her level of nervousness.

            “If needed, I can always arrange for you to work as a beer girl at my brother’s club for awhile.  You can work on your stage presence there.” He smirked, seemingly anticipating the young girl’s reaction.

            She shook her head frantically. “No thank you.  I got this.”

            “For your sake, I hope you do.” His eyes bore frighteningly into hers.

            ‘Today is a new day — a new start.’ She kept telling herself.  She smiled brightly at her reflection in the mirror.  She was like a doll that any girl would envy.

            Her lips tightened at the sight of Minwoo when she stepped out of her room.  She didn’t know what was so special about that brute of a tomboy that Chanyeol seemed to find no problem hanging out with and that guys such as Minwoo thought worthy of protecting.  She thought if Minwoo decided to play the role of a knight in shining armours for the young fighter, then he should have played it through the end and not settled for a halfassed job.  All the self-proclaimed ‘acting sunbae’ did as of late was interrupting every interaction she had with the young fighter regardless of her intention, and only left it at that.  She wished that he would just take one step further and make a more fierce attack towards the young fighter’s maiden heart.  At least that would save her some troubles.  Right now, he was just nothing but a nuisance.

            Ignoring him, she made her way downstairs.

            “Aren’t you going to greet me?” Minwoo asked.

            She stopped partway through the stairs.  ‘Why that nerve of his…’ She clutched her hands into fists.  She turned around and put on her sweet smile as usual.  “Sorry, didn’t notice you were there.”

            “My oh my, our Sojin is sure full of manners.” He said sarcastically.  He was not falling for her sweet façade even for a second.  He understood the kind of hardships the young trainee was probably going through as he was once in a similar position.  However, Sojin’s perplexed targeting of Gayeon was completely unacceptable.  To him, this girl was simply lacking in the moral department.

            “As an acting sunbae to Kangjoon, shouldn’t you be at least as busy as him?” Sojin asked innocently.

            His expression darkened.

            However, she did not flinch and continued to hold her head high.  Her eyes were that of unwavering determination.  She thought it was time she put an end to his bullying.  She was not going to let someone petty like Park Minwoo to get in the way of her ambitions.

            For what seemed the longest time, the both of them held onto the fierce staring contest, neither showing signs of backing down until a voice spoke up.

            “Why is everyone gathering on the stairs?” Dongwook looked from Minwoo to Sojin while walking down the staircase.

            “Good morning Hyung.” Minwoo smiled. “Oh nothing.  I thought I saw some spilled water, so I was just warning Sojin to watch her steps.”

            Dongwook looked carefully at the area where Sojin was standing.  “Nope, don’t see anything.”

            “See, Minwoo oppa.” Her voice was as sweet as usual, but her eyes were no longer as angelic as they first seemed. “I told you that you were seeing things.”

            ‘If that’s how you want to play…then game on.’ Unbeknownst to both of them, they had the exact same opinion.

            Chanyeol carefully decorated the chocolate cheesecake and the serving plate with some cherry chocolate sauce.  Satisfied with the presentation, he wiped the edge of the plate clean as finishing touch.  Delighted with his first time creation, he took a picture of the dessert.

            “Now you really got me curious and jealous of the lucky lady.” Hong Seokcheon, South Korea’s most prominent openly homoual celebrity spoke up after seeing the younger boy’s lovable expression.

            Chanyeol laughed, “Hyung, she is just a friend of mine — an adorable dongsaeng at most.” He was seemingly telling the last part more to himself.  He put the dessert in the fridge.  “So no need to get all jealous.  Hyung, thanks again for letting me borrow your kitchen.”

            “No problem.  You can thank me more properly later when you bring the rest of your members here for dinner next time…especially Kai.” Seokcheon winked and left the kitchen.

            Chanyeol only smiled awkwardly in response.  At least he was thankful that the older man was not interested in him.

            EXO’s Overdose was heard all of a sudden.  It was his phone’s ringtone.  He grinned and quickly picked it up when he saw Gayeon’s name.

            “Hello?” He tried to sound nonchalant.

            “Hello Oppa, it’s me, Gayeon.” A voice spoke up from the other line.

            “Yeah, I know.” He couldn’t keep himself from smiling at the sound of her voice after all.

            “Just want to let you know I’m heading out right now…and…” She hesitated. “I-I’m wondering i-if it’s okay to b-br-bring another person along?”

            “Huh?” At first he thought he heard wrong, but when she repeated more clearly for the second time, he could only be compelled to respond with an open manner. “Of course, the more the merrier.”

            “Okay then…See you later.”

            When the conversation ended, he sighed.  He wondered just what was he hoping for?

            “So he agreed?” Sojin asked, her eyes twinkled with anticipation.

            Gayeon let out a weary breath as she hung up the call.  She knew that Sojin had a crush on the charismatic EXO rapper and that she had agreed to help as a friend.  She felt the older girl trusted and relied on her enough to be this open about her love life.  There was nothing wrong with helping a friend, right?  Then why did she feel irritated for some reasons?

            “So?”

            “Yes, he agreed.” She found herself forcing up a smile in front of the older girl who was like a sweet angel in every aspect.

            “Thank you Gayeonnie!”  Sojin went up and gave the younger girl a big hug.  She was ecstatic.  Sojin had quickly dismissed the suspicion of Gayeon taking a liking to Chanyeol when the young fighter agreed to help her.  Of course, nothing would have gone as smoothly if she didn’t meet the young fighter and learned of the latter’s plans for tonight about an hour ago.

            “What are you two up to?” Minwoo saw the two girls and went up to have one of his arms over Gayeon’s shoulder protectively. “Can I join?”

            Before Gayeon could say anything, Sojin responded with delight.  “Of course, it would be perfect if you could join us, Oppa.” She then looked knowingly to Gayeon’s direction. ‘It would be killing two birds with one stone.’ She thought.

            He was puzzled over what was the devil in disguise up to this time.  She was usually not very fond of him after all.  Nonetheless, he answered without much hesitation, “I would love to.”

            Gayeon was taken aback at Sojin’s suggestion and even more so at Minwoo’s response.  She thought he was planning to stay over at a friend’s house tonight.

            Chanyeol’s eyes widen and his mouth hung slightly open at the sight of Minwoo and Sojin trailing in behind Gayeon.  “How did one more person turned into two?” He brought up somewhat ponderously.  He almost regretted it when the words escaped his mouth.  After all, he didn’t mean to sound petty.

            “I guess it somehow turned out this way.  Sorry, I should have told you earlier.” The Deadly Beauty apologized.

            “No, I was just a bit surprised that’s all.  But like I said, the more the merrier.” He managed to come up with a steady smile.

            Though, he was not as prepared to meet the unexpected guests as he thought.  One guest was someone he would rather avoid interacting with for the time being.  The other guest was someone he was not in the mood to see, especially with Gayeon around.  Having both sitting at each of his sides had made the situation even more insufferable.  He almost considered seriously that all this must be a hidden camera prank.

            “Wow, this is Hong Seokcheon-sshi’s restaurant…” Minwoo mentioned as he looked around the place.  “Chanyeol-ah, are you that rich?  How did you manage to book the entire floor?”

            Chanyeol almost choked on his glass of water.  Seokcheon had been convinced one-sidedly that Chanyeol was on a secret romantic rendezvous and therefore had taken it upon himself to give the young boy the entire floor for the night.  “Hyung, trust me, I didn’t realize I was that rich either.”

            “Channie, you looked thinner.”  Sojin pouted.

            “Haha…Yea, the schedule is pretty hectic lately…” He answered with a bit of uneasiness as he wondered when she had decided to call him ‘Channie’.

            Gayeon shifted her eyes from the two and tried to focus on the various dining utensils in front of her.  She tried to distract the small yet strange discomfort that was settling in her heart.

            “Gayeon-ah, you dropped a spoon.  Here, use this instead.” Minwoo added his clean soup spoon to her dining set. 

            Embarrassment overtook her face.  She could only mumble a “thank you”.

            Sojin noticed how unusually silent Chanyeol had become at Minwoo and Gayeon’s simple exchange.

            The dinner went forth, for the majority of the time, with a layer of uncomfortable quietness that none of the presented would have imagined initially.  Fortunately, the mood changed when the restaurant owner, Seokcheon, walked up to the table with plates of chocolate cheesecakes in a large serving tray.  Everyone responded with full satisfaction when Seokcheon asked for their dining experience thus far.

            “So who’s the lucky lady, Son—”

            “Hyung, Hyung!” Chanyeol frantically went to Seokcheon’s side and took the tray from the older man.  He wanted to kick himself for forgetting the dessert.  “I got this.”  He told Seokcheon while giving the restaurant owner a subtle eye signal not to say anything further.

            Seokcheon who was quick to get the hint gestured the group to enjoy the rest of the meal and almost immediately went out of sight again.

            “Channie, aren’t you going to set those plates on the table?” Sojin asked with a blank expression on her face like the others.

            “Yes…” His voice soon trailed off into another awkward phase of silence.

            “Then what are you doing?  Are you planning to hold onto the tray like that for the whole day?” Minwoo raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

            “Oppa, the plates are going to drop if you’re holding like that.” Gayeon went up and tried to help Chanyeol to balance the tray.

            “Wait a minute!” Chanyeol immediately halted her off.  Reluctantly, he lowered the tray and revealed four plates of mouth-watering chocolate cheesecakes.  However, one particular plate stood out from the rest.  It was especially decorated with a cherry on top.  Blueberries and black berries were laced around the plate.  The main attraction of the plate was the words, on the otherwise empty area of the plate, written with cherry chocolate sauce.  The words were ‘Pretty pretty Song Gayeon, Congrats!’

            Chanyeol grinned sheepishly, “I made this for you…” He wished that there would be a sudden power outage so that no one would even have the slightest chance to notice how much his ears were heating up.  He was certain that he would not have been as embarrassed if the two extra, unexpected guests were not here.

            Gayeon cracked open a gummy smile upon seeing the cheesecake. “Oppa, you really made this?  It looks so professional…”

            “Well, I do admit that my talent surprises even me sometimes.” He responded proudly.

            Just like Gayeon’s sudden warm smile, the layer of invisible ice from earlier suddenly melt away from the table.  The four of them chattered away throughout the rest of dinner.  However, Minwoo, who glanced at Sojin from time to time, noticed how the girl was a bit stiff and seemingly put in a lot more effort than usual.

            When dinner had come to an end, Sojin suddenly brought up. “Gayeon-ah, didn’t you say you have to be somewhere with Minwoo oppa?”

            It took the young fighter a few seconds to fully understand what the older girl meant — Sojin wanted alone time with Chanyeol. “Ah…yes.”

            “Really?” Minwoo turned to Gayeon.  He was still clueless as to what was happening.

            “Oppa!” Gayeon punched Minwoo playfully on the arm.

            Chanyeol was beginning to feel that he had to keep up with his smile with some force.

            “Didn't you mention that we will go star sighting after my match?” She was secretly glad that this was the truth so that she didn’t make any fumble over the words.

            “Oh right…” Minwoo’s memory of the promise was slowly coming back to him. “Alright, let’s go then.”

            “Okay, see you two later.” Gayeon waved the two goodbyes.  She quickly shifted her attention to Sojin when she caught Chanyeol’s eyes.  She did not know why she had done that.  However, strangely she found Chanyeol’s eyes dull for the first time.  There wasn’t the usual playful spark in his eyes.

            “Don’t they look cute together?” Sojin asked as she and Chanyeol strolling along the sidewalk.

            “Who?” Chanyeol responded absentmindedly.

            “Gayeon and Minwoo oppa.  Don’t you…” Her voice trailed off when Chanyeol suddenly stopped in track.

            “Sorry Sojin, I just remember I still have to meet up with a friend.” He said, somewhat monotonously.

            “Huh?” She gave him a confused look.

            Just in time, Chanyeol saw a taxi up ahead.  He waved it over and led Sojin to the taxi.  “You go home first.” He told her.

            Before she could protest, he already closed the door and the taxi driver was already driving away.  She could only stare helplessly through the rear window until his view completely vanished.

            She slumped back in the seat.  She tried to even her breathing so that the tears won’t come down streaming uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.  She thought she had the perfect opportunity, but could not believe that she still ended up losing to that tomboy somehow.  She almost wanted to laugh. 

            When Gayeon and Minwoo finally arrived at the star viewing tower after more than an hour trip, Minwoo’s phone rang.

            “Are you serious?!” Minwoo could not help but shouted into the phone.  “You better pray it’s not damaged.  I’ll be there right away.”  He massaged his temple after he ended the call.

            “What’s wrong Oppa?” Gayeon asked with concern.

           “I was supposed to head over to my friend’s house to pick up my precious model car collection…” He sighed.  “Well, I forgot about it and now he just told me that his house is flooded.”

            “Then I guess you should go and see.” She urged.

            “Yeah, I know…Sorry, Gayeon.  You can get home first.  Sorry, I promise I will definitely make it up to you next time.” He apologized.

            “No worries.” She smiled lightly so that he would not feel as guilty.

            When Gayeon got home, she went straight to the backyard and popped herself down on the big wooden bench.  She looked up at the tiny blue and white speck of lights across the raven sky.  ‘There’s no need to see go star viewing at a faraway place when we could have just see it right here…’ She thought to herself.  She had looked forward so much to star-sighting with Minwoo.  However, when the event was cancelled at the last minute for the second time, she found that she was not as disappointed as she had expected. 

            The whole day had been an interesting roller-coaster ride for her.  She tried to reflect on it, yet at the same time, she was afraid to dwell too deeply on it.  She was scared for the first time in a long while what she might discover.

            From a distance, she saw a familiar outline of a person walking towards her.  A breath got caught in for some reasons.  It was Chanyeol.

            “So how was your date with Minwoo hyung?” Chanyeol asked rather sluggishly as he took a seat right next to her.  His breath reeked of alcohol.

            “Oppa, did you drink?” She asked, the surprise in her voice could not be concealed.

            Ignoring her question, he pointed at her forehead all of a sudden.  “I will show you a trick to get Minwoo hyung in no time.”

            “You’re drunk, Oppa.” She stated with worry in her voice.

            “You need to know how to seduce a man.” Then he laughed suddenly.  “Actually, you do know…but let me show you properly.”

            Deciding that he would only continue to babble nonsense, she attempted to get him on his feet so that she could lead him back inside the house first.

            However, he stopped her and put his hands firmly on her shoulders.  He said, “You got to look at him right in the eyes.”

            For the longest time, he only stared at her without saying anything.

            In her mind, she knew she could easily rid of his hold.  Yet, at the moment she could not seem to even lift a finger as he looked into her eyes.  Like the last time with the omelette episode, she found her heart beating unbelievably rapidly.  With much effort, she tore her gaze away.

            He held onto her chin and motioned her to look at him again.  “And if he looks away, make sure he doesn’t.”

            She felt a shiver down her spine even as her face heated up when he slowly traced his thumb along the outline of her lips.

            Her eyes widened in shock when his face inched closer.

            The night was surprisingly quiet despite a few calls from the neighbouring cicadas.  The light breeze passing by was just perfect during the starry midsummer night.

            Before Gayeon could come back to her senses, their lips met. 

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Author's Note:  Sorry, I was busy with house moving the past week (& the start of a new school semester) so I didn't have a chance to write (let alone update) until today.  Hope you all will enjoy this chapter!