It's like any other day. The sun came up. The wind blew in and the leaves decided it was time to fall and follow the breeze. The average man went to work and the children went to school. But today is also a rare day. Today is also a special day. A special day for Lay. A day where he is just a man.

It's one of the very few free days he has, and the even fewer days when he can meet up with whoever he wished. Be it friend or stranger. Be it man or woman. He can do as he wishes.

"I'm going out," he says casually as he grabs his coat and keys.

"Oh, Yixing you're leaving already?" Suho asks him before he can duck out the door.

He knew this would happen. Their leader always had good intentions. He didn't want to lose anyone else. This year had been difficult for all of them. It was only natural to hold your toys a little tighter when someone had unexpectedly stolen one away. Yixing remembers doing so so many times as a child. But they weren't toys and no matter how much you want to hold people close, that can only be done if the person wants to be held close.

Yixing saw the way Suho looked at s. He didn't want to lose another brother. He had told Suho he was going out today, but he danced around the questions of where he was going and who he was going to be with.

"Yeah, I'm going to have dinner with a few friends I haven't seen in a long time," he responds. It's true. He hadn't seen this person in a while and they were going to have dinner. He just might have overstated how many friends and the fact that this person was just a friend. Suho sighed.

"Okay, have fun and just don't be back to late." He looks around before adding, "We don't want to worry the managers."

"Don't worry, I won't." 'I'll come back' he wants to add but he doesn't want to alarm Suho anymore.

He heads down the stairs and puts on his hood. The sun is setting and the evening rush has started, but Yixing is unaffected by this. Today he will enjoy his walk and talk to whoever he chooses, act like nothing's happened.

He wanders the streets for a little while, he purposefully left a little early to be able to do this. He was always running from schedule to schedule that he sometimes forgot the charm of the city. That despite the time, it was always alive. He could hear street musicians playing in the background and smell the food of the street vendors. He liked seeing people sitting outside convenient stores enjoying a small snack together. A small break, a chance to recollect themselves and perhaps just breath. He knew a chance like this wouldn't come along for quite a while. He was going enjoy this moment. He had to. Or else he feared he would get swept away and forget everything.

Beep Beep

Beep Beep

The alarm on his phone went off to tell him it was time to get going or else he would be late. And he knew he really didn't want that.

He walked to a small coffee shop, the memories of how he had discovered this place coming backing to him. It was about seven months after he had come to Korea to be trainee and his Korean wasn't the best. He knew how to get home and to the SM building just fine but  he was always a bit nervous to venture out on his own. But his teacher had always suggested going out and listening to the Korean being spoken in the streets. She told him it was the best way to learn. Then again this was the same teacher that told him if he wanted to learn Korean quickly he should get a girlfriend.

So there he was, slowly venturing out more and more each week. It was by pure chance he had ran into the small coffee shop when it had started to rain to heavily for him to keep walking. Joonmyeon had told him to take an umbrella and he even remembered to grab one before he left the dorm but he had foolishly forgot in one of the practice rooms.

The coffee shop was very small compared to other ones along the same block but it beautiful nonetheless. Behind the counter was an older man perhaps in his late 50s and a woman, who Yixing later learned to be the man's wife, came in from another room, she must have heard the door open.

He greeted them and in his poor Korean had apologized for dripping water all over their floor. They waved off his apology and offered him warm tea. It reminded him much of how his grandmother would treat him.

He decided to keep this little coffee shop a secret.

It wasn't until he met her that he ever brought someone to the coffee shop. He even introduced her properly to the elderly couple who ran it. It felt odd. Almost like he was introducing a secret girlfriend to his parents.

"Annyeonghaseyo," he says as he walks in.

"Oh Yixing ah, on time like always. Such a good boy," the ahjuma said from behind the counter.

Yixing smiles, his dimple becoming apparent before he asks "Am I the first to arrive?"

He always avoided asking for her directly, who knows who could be listening. Not that there were many people inside but he always wanted to be careful.

"Nope, if only you had arrived a bit earlier," the ahjuma replied.

She knew how to answer this question.

"Ah, well I guess I'll just have to be earlier next time," he says. "I'll see you in a bit, the usual as always please."

Yixing bows politely and then walks to the back of the coffee shop walking toward the bathroom, but turns left to face another door. He opens it to another small room. There are a couple futons along the wall and a small table set for two in the middle of the room. Across the room from him is a young woman putting up her coat on a coat rack. This is what made today special. She made today special.

She turns when she hears the creaking of the floor signaling someone had entered the room. She too had been looking forward to this. All day. All week. All month. She didn't care that he had to go back to different dorm, to a different company, to pretending they didn't know each other because tonight they were together. She smiled and said, "Annyeong Oppa. I missed you."

"I missed you too Minji ya," he replied.

She giggled and looked down when he called her by her real name. He never used her stage name when they were together. She never asked why, but she liked it.

The truth was that Yixing like calling her by her real name because it helped everything feel more real to him. The fact that he has random but albeit intimate meetings with such a big sunbae. Intimate not in the sense of physicality but in vulnerability. They were both more stripped down when they saw each other.

He remembers when he first saw her in person. It was backstage at the 2012 SBS Gaeyo Daejun. He had seen her preform and was in awe of her group, he had seen her go past s to be seated in between them and B1A4 sunbaenims and he distinctly remembers thinking "Such odd hair. Odd, but pretty. Hmmm" His mind wandered for a bit after that. But it was backstage where the true beginning was.

*******

It was after the awards ceremony, and all the artist were either getting cleaned up, dressing down ready to go rest or dressing up to go to an after party. The Yg sunbaenims had left a little before the rest of the artists as they all always did. The YG family were going to celebrate the coming of new year together it seemed as they came out of their waiting rooms in what looked like dinner formal apparel. The ladies of 2ne1 where dressed head to toe showing off their femininity but still in modesty. Their fierce make up was replaced with subtle eyeliner and their cheeks were adorned with simple blush. Nothing to extreme. The Big Bang members were also dressed to impress, in slacks and dress shirts. With the exception of G-Dragon, they all went with an elegant jacket to compliment their outfits. Their leader on the other hand went with a bold neon blue jacket. And Lay thought that G-Dragon sunbaenim was the only person alive who could wear that to a dinner party and it would still be considered elegant.

Lay couldn't see the Epik High members or Lee Hi, assuming they were still in their rooms. But the other YG artists were just socializing with each other and other idols. He saw Bom and Dara talking to a few of the stylists occasionally bursting out into laughter, CL was talking to G-Dragon and Daesung. Taeyang was talking to Hyunseung from B2st and Seungri was talking to Hara and Nicole from Kara. Walking through them he and s greeted them and wished them a happy new year. When Exo got close to their waiting room is where they encountered their SM sunbaes. They greeted their Super Junior hyungs and hugged a few of the F(x) members. It was then when Xiumin asked "Where's Amber and Luna?" The members answered that they had gone to visit some of their other idol friends. Deciding he wanted to do the same, Lay excused himself and told s he would be back as soon as possible.

He was walked out of the room and almost immediately bumped into the missing F(x) members.

"Yixing Oppa!" Luna exclaimed. "Congratulations on such an awesome stage."

"Oh thank you Luna, it  means a lot coming from you sunbaenims,"he said bashfully.

"Oh our oppa is to modest," Amber added. "Come here," she said as she pulled him in for a hug. Yixing being used to Amber's friendliness chuckled as he let her hug him.

"Amber unnie you're manhandling him. You call that a hug? Sheesh," said a voice he couldn't quite recognize. It did sound familiar and Yixing could swear he had just recently heard this voice but he just couldn't place a name or face to it.

When he turned to look for the voice he saw purple. The odd but pretty hair.

"Yah! Sister how could you say such a thing!" Amber exclaimed only causing the other two girls to giggle.

Yixing on the other had was still in shock and was taking in her appearance. Minzy wasn't wearing anything he was used to seeing her in. She wore a simple white cashmere sweater, black tights, a black A-line skirt and black booties. The only accessories were a few silver rings on her fingers and a golden cross on a chain around her neck. She didn't look like a superstar that had just performed for thousands but rather the girl at church you were always too shy to talk to. And Yixing couldn't will his mouth to say even a small greeting to his sunbae.

Not knowing what to do Yixing begin to shift uncomfortably. He didn't want to seem rude but he didn't know what to say.

Minzy noticed the Yixing's hesitation and said to Amber "Unnie, you haven't introduced this poor guy, what kind of sunbae are you? You have to lead your hoobaes well."

"Aish Minji ya if you wanted me to introduce you to Yixing Oppa all you had to do was ask. No need to imply I treat the hoobaes badly." Amber said before she teasingly added. "And before you ask me, yes he is single."

Yixing could feel his ears turn red as his eyes widen. Amber did always have a tendency I'd saying things like this.

If Yixing was shocked, then Minzy was floored. Minzy's jaw seemed to come unhinged as she started at Amber with wide open.

Yixing also noticed a very pretty blush adorn her cheeks. He wondered if it was true what they said about 2NE1's maknae, that despite her fierce girl image she was still innocent and pure. He assumed that her blush came from the idea of being set up by Amber and not that Amber had implied that Minzy liked Lay. He didn't think that highly of himself.

"Unnie! Look what you did," Luna exclaimed as Amber laughed uncontrollably. "Now they will forever be awkward with each other."

"Oh Luna you exaggerate," Amber said once she calmed down a bit. "Lay, this is 2NE1's y dancing machine Minzy," Minzy's face blushed scarlet as soon as she heard Amber say 'y'. "And Minzy this is Exo M's charismatic and sensual dancer Lay." It was safe to say that Lay's face matched the shade of a ripe tomato as he heard his sunbae flatter him.

"Ah, Amber unnie you really do like to make me feel uncomfortable don't you?" Minzy said.

"You know it Mingkki," she replied with a wink. "

Well Luna and I should be heading back before Victoria unnie starts to worry so….bye."

And with that Amber grabs an unexpecting Luna and quickly leaves the two dancers alone, both of which still hadn't been able to look each other in the eyes.

Minzy, who felt as a sunbae should make sure the hoobae felt comfortable, was the first to speak.

"Um, I'm sorry about Amber unnie Lay shi," she said with a small smile, a slight blush still adorning her cheeks. "She likes to tease people a lot as you might already know. I think I make it a little too easy for her sometimes."

Lay blinked once. And then once more. He really didn't know what to say to the pretty girl in front of her.

"Ah, no sunbae I'm sorry if I caused you any inconvenience. You were spending time with Amber and Luna sunbaenims and I just burst in. I'm sorry," he said as he bowed to her.

"It's nothing to worry about Lay shi, I was only accompanying them back to their waiting room," she said.

There was a small pause. The two were both so shy the only thing they could do was muster up a small shy smile.

"Um, well I think I should head back to my room now,"Minzy said. "It was nice meeting you Lay shi." She bowed to him and started to turn around.

Now Lay was left with a small dilemma. He was originally walking the way Minzy was starting to walk in. He could turn around and go back to his waiting room, he could wait and let his sunbae walk in front of him or he could walk with her.

But Lay decided to be bold and said: "Sunbae would you mind if I walked with a little since it seems we are heading the same way?"

Lay to this day doesn’t know how he was able to ask without stuttering.

Minzy smiled at him and said, "Of course Lay shi."

It was that smile that made Lay feel comfortable enough to give her a full blown smile, dimple and everything.

It was a comfortable walk for the both of them, they were both shy yes, but they were no longer awkward.

"You were part of SM The Performance as well weren't you Lay shi?" Minzy asked.

"Yes, sunbaenim," Lay answered.

"Oh please don’t call me sunbaenim, it feels so awkward," Minzy said.

"Then what should I call you sunbaenim?"

"Just call me Minzy, I assume you are older than me Lay shi, most people usually are," Minzy giggled.

"I will turn 23 this new year," he says.

"Yes you are older than me. I will turn 20," she said. "But I wanted to compliment you on your stage, you all danced very well and looked very cool on stage."

Lay could feel his face heat up at the compliment.

"Thank you very much sunb- ah Minzy. We practiced very hard," he said.

"Well your hard work payed off Lay shi."

The two continued to walk in silence for a bit, untill Minzy had to turn a corner into a different hallway.

"Well it was very nice meeting you Lay shi, I wish you and your group good things in the new year," she said with a smile.

"Umm, Minzy I hope I am not overstepping but I wonder if we could perhaps meet up to maybe dance or talk again…"

He asked while rubbing the back of his neck. He knew for sure his cheeks were red and hoped he hadn't just offended his sunbae. Making friends in this industry was hard, even more difficult with anyone from the cool swagtastic YG family.  Even their dancers were considerably cool.

Minzy couldn't believe how cute Lay looked as he asked her. If she had any hesitations before they disappeared when she saw him trying not to blush and his trademark dimple was just slightly making an appearance. It made her heart flutter a little to know such a handsome guy was subtly saying he would like to see her again.

"I would love meet up to dance or talk again…" she replied as a light blush adorned her face again.

"Umm do you by any chance have your phone so I can give you my number. I forgot my phone in my waiting room," Lay couldn't curse his forgetfulness enough at this moment.

"Ah, of course," she says as she takes out and hands him her phone.

He saves himself as Exo's Lay fearing she would forget him (what he didn't know was that later on in the night Minzy edited his to 'Exo's Charming Lay' as she saw that was more fitting).

"I will text you now to make sure you have my number as well," Minzy said. The truth was that Minzy wanted him to have her number because she feared she wouldn't have the courage to text him first. (Lay in turn saved Minzy's number as 'Cutie Minzy' and made sure that s NEVER looked through his contacts.)

"Well until next time Lay shi," Minzy said with a bow as she turned to walk away, trying to hide her new spring in her .

*******

That feels like a very long time ago now. And with 2014 soon coming to a close, they are both ready for a new beginning in 2015. This year had been kind and cruel to them both. But it will be okay.

He turns off his phone.

He hopes the other members go to sleep soon and don’t wait up for him. He hopes they don't wonder and worry about him and that they can find solace with each other.

Because he and Minji will catch up on the things that have since the last time they met. Tonight he doesn't have to lie and say he doesn't have a girlfriend, even though his relationship does feel like he is having an affair. Oh if only the fans knew.

Yixing goes over and turns on the radio. It's an old radio and he needs to carefully turn the dial to find the radio station he wants. It takes a moment but when he hears the soft nose of a piano he knows he found the right one. He takes off his coat and placed it next to Minji's. He then walks over to Minji who had started to pour them both tea.

 "May I have this dance?" he asks in the most  gentlemanly way possible.

Minji giggles softly before saying "you may."

Yixing smiles as she walks toward him and places her arms around his neck as his goes around her waist.  And there in the middle of the room the two dancers  fall deeper into the feelings they have for each other. There they forget about the loneliness that had unexpectedly come with the life of an idol. There in that room in each others arms they remember the are not alone, that they have each other.

Even if only for today. 

Author's note: I'm sorry this is so late. This is especially for LovelyLeAnn This is loosely based off G-Dragon's song Today, but I took it as Lay is having an affair with Minji and both of them feeling like they are betraying their fans. Not so much as one person cheating on their boyfriend/girlfriend. Give the song a listen.

Also, the first person to guess correctly the next Minzy pairing gets to pick the next pairing. Hint: He is someone close to Lay's age.