“Hey Carrie! Thanks so much for coming. The boys are getting restless and I’m trying to get them to learn.”

               She shook her head in dismissal as she tried to catch her breath. EXO-M’s dorms were neat and very clean. The walls were white and there was a settled hint of peacefulness. That is until the first screech pierced the air.

               “Ah, hyung, you’re cheating!” It was Chen and he sounded indignant.

               There was a snort and Xiumin answered in rapid Korean that Carrie could not catch. Kris grimaced when Tao begins protesting softly as well. He led Carrie in and saw the boys throwing pillows at one another, their cards scattering everywhere.

               “Guys! This is Carrie. I invited her here especially so she could teach you guys Chinese. So. Chen. Xiumin. Would you guys want to work with me and Luhan or this lovely lady?”

               There was another thud as Xiumin ran to hold Carrie’s hand. “I’m the oldest! I get the lady!” He turned to wink at her and she blushed. He didn’t seem to be so bold during the variety shows. Xiumin grabbed her and pulled her into the room. “Lessons start now!”

               Lay and Tao followed. Xiumin sat Carrie on the bed and bowed. “We’ve never been properly introduced. I’m Xiumin.”

               Lay helped to translate and the baozhi’s face fell. “She can’t understand Korean?” he asked.

               Carrie shook her head apologetically. “I’m only talented in two languages. Mianhe! But how about we make a deal. I’ll teach you amazing Chinese and you teach me Korean so I can communicate with my Super Junior oppas.”

               Xiumin’s face fell. “Super Junior But why? You’re supposed to be an EXOtic!” he pretended to throw a fit. “I want an EXOtic for a teacher!”

               “Of course. I love EXO, but I always wanted to be able to see Super Junior perform and speak to them. So deal?”

               He scowled. “Okay. You win.”

               Carrie spent the next few weeks at EXO-M’s dorms, helping them. She made sure that they could understand the most basic questions and tried to think of things they may ask. She focused on Xiumin and found that he was a fast learner. He absorbed the vocabulary and within days, he was stringing sentences together.

               “你要不要和我去吃点东西？我付钱。” He grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up.

               She laughed. “Yes, let’s get the other members.”

               He grabbed her arm before she could stand. “Wait, no no. Let’s just go get things alone. You know, so you can evaluate how much I learned. It’ll be fun! Besides all of us going out together would be bad. Fans would be attracted.”

               “And fans wouldn’t know that you’re alone with a girl?”
               He shrugged. “You’re my teacher! 老师! 老师!”

               Carrie sighed. He can be very stubborn if he wanted to be. When they were leaving, Kris gave them a weird look but Xiumin waved. “A date,” he whispered in Korean, knowing full well that she would understand.

               Carrie smacked his arm. “No, we’re going to let him test out his skills on some real life conditions.”

               The food court that they went to was crowded and filled with delicious scents. Xiumin looked around and grinned. He bee lined straight for a certain booth and Carrie followed. When they got closer, she rolled her eyes. Leave it to him to find the only buns restaurant in the place.

               “Hello, ahjumma,” he greeted the lady. She nodded and smiled. “Can I buy some buns for this lovely lady here?”

               The lady grinned at Carrie and asked Xiumin which flavors he wanted. He hesitated and Carrie held her breath. She just taught him this three days ago. “Pork! Lots of pork and vegetables. And can we have some with shrimp?”

               He turned to Carrie and grinned proudly. “I got it right didn’t I? I ordered it right!” He looked super proud of himself. She nodded.

               “Yes you did.” He hugged her on impulse and turned slightly red. The slightly long fang on the right side of his mouth slipped out when he grinned, creating an adorable canine look.

               He paid, understanding completely the numbers and didn’t have any difficulties with greeting the other salespeople who were watching. When they sat down, Xiumin took up a chopstick and blew on a bun until it cooled before placing it in front of Carrie.

               “You eat it first. I can-” he popped it in.

               With a very serious face, he said in perfect Chinese, “Less talking and more eating.”

               She narrowed her eyes at Xiumin. “You know, me teaching you Chinese is not so you can be a smart aleck. I don’t think Kris would appreciate it.”

               Suddenly, overhead, a familiar song started to play. Carrie clapped her hands. “Perfection! I love this song! Oh my gosh. It’s Henry’s part!” She started to do the dance. When the song ended, she found him looking very displeased.

               “Are you really that obsessed with Henry?”

               She nodded. “He’s the best. I love Henry. He’s Mr. Mochi Cheeks.”

               He looked down and picked up two buns. Placing it against his cheeks, he smiled. “I’m Mr. Baozhi Cheeks!” Carrie laughed and coughed.

               “Ahem, stop making a fool of yourself. People are watching.”

               He shrugged and pulled her out of her seat. “I want to test my skills one more time.” They walked to a market and he picked out a couple T-shirt with smiling buns on them. “Look! We were so meant to be. These shirts even have baozhis on them!” He grew extremely excited and asked for the price.

               In order to get a discount, he offered to dance a part of MAMA and the saleslady gave the shirts to them for free. Xiumin looked extremely proud of himself. “It’s good to have a super star boyfriend.” He said.

               Carrie choked. “Excuse me?”

               “I meant, a pretend, you know. It’s good to be associated with a super star.” He placed a fist to his cheek and bbuing-bbuing. Carrie laughed and pushed him.

               “If you ever reveal this side of yourself on television, no fangirl will ever take you seriously.”

               He gave her the shirt. “Wear it. I want the guys to see when they get back.” She decided to humor him and pulled it on over her blouse. He grabbed her hand and they walked back to the dorms.