Not being one to shop often, he didn't think he would find himself agreeing to even go in the first place. However, he wasn't the only one with mighty persuasion skills as his guilt gave in to pouty lips possibly more powerful than his own. And so the dancer and the author were amidst the masses of people in a shopping mall after having breakfast at their shares apartment. Thankfully, everyone was wearing a face mask in the freezing weather, making Jongin blend in with the rest of the crowd.

He expected the shorter to drag him to every clothing store and force him to carry his bags. Though the first statement was true, Yerin actually didn't buy a lot and constantly asked if he wanted anything. What he found interesting was the fact that her eyes lit upon seeing a cooking hardware store rather than any of the clothing stores they passed before. There was no room for argument as Yerin waltzed right in without even turning back to make sure the male was following.

It was an understatement to say watching the author's eyes gleam at every utensil and cookware was amusing. She would allow her lips to form an 'o' as she brushed fingertips against merchandise and pursed them at seeing the price. Even without speaking, her actions spoke louder than any words could. At a particular baking pan, Yerin stopped walking altogether, admiring the seashell shape of the molds. Jongin peered over her shoulder and curved his lips upwards.

"Do you want me to buy that for you?" his breath ghosted the shell of Yerin's ear.

The dancer mischievously laughed when the shorter flinched and whacked him square in the chest. The whiteboard was taken out of Yerin's sling bag, cap of a marker uncapped with her teeth to begin writing.

Don't scare me like that! And its fine, I can pay on my own!

She huffed to emphasize her point. Not wanting to start an argument, the model let the other make her purchase. Old habits die hard. He even surprised himself with the bit of information from last night's re telling (if you could call it that.)

Making their way out of the shop, the author seemed to be playfully ignoring the taller. They walked in silence for a while and Jongin finally decided to give in to the petty argument. Spotting a Baskin Robin's in the distance, he scowled at the boy band advertised on the shop windows. With the absence of thirteen years’ worth of memories, the former idol couldn't even recognize the group. They must've debuted in the span of the lost years. Jealousy boiled in his stomach, because the last time he recalled HE was supposed to be the one advertised at the same ice cream store along with the rest of the members.

Pushing aside useless thoughts after rationalization but still burning with slight jealousy, he asked his wife of she wanted ice cream. Jongin turned to take a hold of the wrist of the person by him, only to grab a man with twice his muscle mass. The man raised an eyebrow and the former idol immediately retracted his hand in fear of misconceptions. Leaving with a grunt, the muscular man pushed ahead while Jongin kept muttering ‘sorry’. Where did the little author go? She couldn’t have gotten herself lost, could she? They just walked out of the store together; how the hell does someone get lost in such a short span of time?!

The dancer returned to the cookware store, practically running throughout the store, looking at every nook and cranny. However, the only result he got was weird and judging stares. Rushing out of the store, he started to call out for Yerin, pushing past crowds of people to scope areas he hadn’t checked before. Afraid that the author wouldn’t be able to hear his muffled yells, Jongin roughly removed his face mask and resumed yelling for her. Doing so created a stir among the shoppers at seeing a celebrity within close proximity. Despite the gasps and phones being taken out around him, the former idol only had his mind set on finding a particular author. He halted his search to catch his breath, realizing he wouldn’t get a vocal reply to show Yerin’s location from her anyhow.

Grabbing the nearest person, Jongin started spewing descriptions of Yerin to ask of her whereabouts. However, his apprehension muddled his thoughts, making him slip up on his speech and thought process.

“Excuse me sir. Have you seen a girl like a head shorter than me with kind of long, black hair? , that’s like the majority of girls. U-uhm, she looks cute,” to which Jongin paused to reflect on his pathetic description. He internally cursed for not being able to recall what the shorter wore that day to offer a better description than ‘cute’. “And…oh! She is carrying a whiteboard!” People kept shaking their heads left and right, claiming they hadn’t seen her.

‘What stores do girls usually go to?’ he wondered, entering stores at random. Customers at Victoria’s Secret eyed him skeptically with him wandering frantically. Workers at Etude House kept asking if he needed assistance in looking for a specific product. Being taught manners, he politely declined and rushed to the next store. After a little more than half an hour of searching, he stumbled towards a bench to take a break. How was it this hard to find someone in a shopping mall?! Some girls that were following Jongin (most likely former Exo fans) tried helping him and even encouraged him along the way, but there was still no sign of Yerin. That was until he looked up from where he was sitting. He looked behind him to see the shop was directly across from the cookware store – exactly where he started. Are you kidding?

Inside the Rilakkuma was the said author, browsing through the plushies put on display. A girl tried to hand him a water bottle, but he pushed it away to reject the offer. Thanking everyone for their efforts and wishing them well, he made his way towards his wife. Frustration, anger, and annoyance couldn’t begin to describe how he felt while approaching the oblivious girl. However, thoughts of ranting an angry speech dissipated when Yerin turned to him with bright eyes (he blamed the lighting in the store.) She practically shoved the white board in her husband’s face while clutching two plushies to her chest.

Which Rilakkuma looks cuter?

***

Exiting the store, Jongin lectured the female, though it didn’t come off as stern as he wanted it to be. Yerin ceased walking, hand her shopping bags to him with a notion for him to hold them. She uncapped her marker again.

Do you have your phone on you?

“Yes?”

Then you could have just texted me to ask where I was -.-

Jongin face palmed himself. Recovering, he coughed into his fist at what he was about to say.

“A-anyway, I don’t want y-you to get lost again,” he trailed off while offering his hand. Unlike her awkward husband, Yerin held his hand with ease and without hesitance. Well, she was already used to comfortable skin ship since they’ve been together for a long time. They’ve probably done A LOT more intimate couple things that Jongin couldn’t recall if they’ve been together for that long. He coughed again at his thoughts. Yerin gave him a questionable stare and he made the excuse of going to the Baskin Robins like he originally intended.

While shopping at the nearest supermarket close to the mall, Jongin observed the author, learning about her different attributes. For example, she was polite and always smiled to people that talked to her. It seemed like she was a regular at the store because the cashiers waved to her when the two entered and the butcher was welcomed them (giving them an extra portion of meat than asked). The author always held up her board which read ‘Thank you!’ after receiving the items needed for dinner. Jongin also made her hold his hand in the supermarket, trying to mask how flustered he was since he was the one that insisted not wanting a replay of what happened earlier. Another feature about her was she was touchy with people she was close with. At times, Yerin would lean her body against his and retract herself when he slightly shifted, remembering that the former idol wasn’t accustomed to the proximity. They ran into her friend there and Yerin clung to her upon setting eyes on her.

People easily recognized Jongin, but as Yerin’s husband rather than a celebrity. He was greeted with variations of, “Oh, it’s Yerin’s loving husband,” and, “It’s the lovely couple again!” by the regulars there.  His wife beamed with smiles for everyone while he gave tentative waves of at the title. They seemed to notice the distance between the couple and asked if anything happened. Jongin coughed again (maybe the cold is starting to get to him,) and Yerin reluctantly covered for him, writing that her husband was sick. The old women gave pitiful looks, offering them herbal medicines and listing remedies. The two laughed nervously and declined the offers, but old people were very insistent. So they left the supermarket with more medicine than actual groceries.

***

Dinner that night was hot pot with a portable gas stove sitting in the middle of the table. After the meal, Yerin insisted for the dancer to take a bath with a look he couldn’t oppose. In the midst of lathering his hair with shampoo, he cursed for not thinking of using his private dance studio before showering. He didn’t want to take another shower, so after washing his hair he opted to turn on the TV and flip through the channels. Nothing of interest came on. Even if he missed out on years’ worth of dramas, the plots were all generic. Girl falls for guy, the guy rejects her, she does something and the guy starts falling for her but he missed her chance, complicated problems happen for them which usually include an evil mother but the two ends up with each other, yada yada yada. He left the channel on with an overdramatic historical drama and tossed aside the remote on the couch, slumping into the seat while covering his eyes with his forearm. A groan left his lips and he turned to his right at the sound of furious typing.

“What are you doing?” he asked on impulse without even thinking. Yerin paused and met his gaze before typing again. The computer automated voice replied.

“I’m writing my book.”

“What is it about?”

“It’s part of the series that I’m writing about time travel.”

“Care to elaborate?” Jongin sat up straighter. Although everyone knows Jongin as Kai, the y idol that is passionate about dancing, he surprisingly was interested in literature, reading whenever his schedule would allow.

“Well, it’s about what if the government could manipulate time and all of the bad things happened because of the government, benefitting them in the far future. Only a specific part of the government knows about this technology and they force young adults in their facility to carry out these missions. One person tries to go against the messed up system, but the thing is the agents have devices inserted in them where the government could easily kill them if they don’t do the job.” Jongin could only gape like a fish.

“I usually don’t read sci-fi but god that sounds interesting. You came up with that plot by yourself?”

The author smirked. “Thanks for the compliment. But this is the second part of the series where someone tries to use the technology to go to other dimensions.” Her husband could only stare with amazement, mouthing a ‘wow’ to describe absorption.

“Have you written other books before?”

“Of course I have.”

“Were they like this one?”

“Nah. My debut novel was about my life of living with a celebrity husband,” she looked up to give a cheek smile, looking directly at Jongin. “And my other one was about if shadows acted like people.” Jongin noticed how the other smiled while typing, showing how proud she was of her work.

“Didn’t you mention you had to turn in your manuscript before the deadline? Are you almost done with what you have to finish?” Instead of typing this time, Yerin gave a dejected sigh and shook her head.

“I guess I should leave you to your work then…” Jongin stated despite wanting to converse more but a work was work. He almost missed how the author slightly jutted out her bottom lip before resuming to type.

Another drama was playing on the flat screen TV that he didn’t want to see. Instead, the tanned male chose to slouch further into the seat while scanning the room. The first time he did so, he only saw Rilakkuma and Pororo themed items that oddly didn’t look out of place in contrast to the sleek black and white furniture. If anything, they only made the room more inviting and comfortable, rather than stiff and sophisticated. Upon further inspection, Jongin realized that there was a bookshelf mounted on the wall. The bookshelf actually held a large collection to fill up the entire wall, now that he looks at it. How did he not notice before?

His love for literature draws him towards the collection. Also, authors keep copies of their own works, right? Fingers flittered across the bindings of books carefully, not missing one author name before moving on to the next. However, none of the books even included Yerin’s name. Did she go by a pen name? Or was she too humble to buy her own works? The answer to the second question was a definite no, remembering how confident the female was in talking about her books. At the far end of one of the shelves sat the only biographical book in the miniature library titled My Husband, the Idol. Plucking the book off of the shelf, the dancer flipped to the back cover and sure enough, it was the book Yerin had described earlier. Coincidentally, her other books were lined up next to the empty space of the book he had just taken out.

Putting back the autobiography in exchange for the sci-fi book, the male thought back to the night before. Yerin seems to go by a lot of names. Other than the reason for changing her name, Yerin seemed to be hiding more from him. He glanced back at the author, noticing how she would stare more at the ceiling than her laptop screen. It was only seven o' clock; she could afford a break, right? Jongin placed the book back on the shelf and plopped himself down on the sofa, the spot right next to his wife. Her head lazily lolled to face him before craning to the natural position, resuming pressing keys.

“Did you need anything?” Yerin rubbed her eyes afterwards.

“Well I thought you might need a break, so I’m here to distract you. Maybe get creative juices flowing.”

The author raised her eyebrows in amusement. “How so?”

“Maybe you could tell me a story – a different one from the one you’re writing,” the tanned male shifted to face Yerin better, putting his feet on the couch and crossing his legs. The raven-haired female followed suit.

“Alright, what do you want the story to be about?”

“I actually want to know what happened after I gave you my number on the first night we met.”

***

December 8^th, 2014

Ping

Sunhi gripped her pen tighter, biting the inside of her cheek to fight a blush from surfacing. Her face needed to remain aloof so others wouldn’t be suspicious of her. And of course, she had to forget toput her phone on vibrate on a day where the teacher was pissed off by catching some moron writing profanities on a poster. Who does that? Nobody even looks at those ‘educational’ posters. Out of all days, why did she have to forget to put her phone on vibrate today?! Hopefully, nobody noticed. Unfortunately, the teacher abruptly stopped scratching chalk against the board to face the class.

“Whose phone was that?” The teacher scrutinized his students.

The annoying kid looked towards Sunhi’s side of the room and called out, “Teacher, I think it came from over there!”

‘Shut the up, you ing snitch,’ she mentally cursed, almost snapping her pen.

Everyone pulled out their phones, unsure if it was their own phone. Thank god she had the most generic text alert. The teacher let go of the matter with a harsh warning to just turn off the mobile device and Sunhi sighed in relief. Whoever texted her needed a good thwack in the head.

Lunch rolled around and the first thing the female student did was pull out her phone. She needed to find which person to give a good smack in the head. Tightening her lips and curving them downwards, she frowned deeply, challenging even Sehun’s frown. However, the number was not one she recognized. The text preview on the lock screen immediately led her to unlock her phone, forgetting her original intentions.

From: XXX-XXXX

Hey, it’s Jongin! I heard you had exams soon so good luck! Study hard!

Sent 9:38 am

Instantaneously, her tense face fell. The thought never crossed Sunhi’s mind that the idol would actually text her, never mind do so the very next day. Well she couldn’t just yell at him now (well, technically text in all caps). The dancer actually gave two cents to text her despite his busy schedule and even wished her good luck in studying. A smile graced her face as Sunhi began typing an appropriate response.

To: Jongin/Kai

Thank you! I hope you do well with your schedule! Fighting~ ^^

Sent 11:34 am

“Ew, why are you so happy?” Her friend plopped down with her tray of food in the seat next to Sunhi. This friend was also the person that set her best friend up on the date.

“Geez, someone’s in a bad mood. Anyway, you know how you set me up on that date yesterday?” The other female let out a low grumble to show she was listening.

“It was a bit awkward at first, but we exchanged numbers! He even texted me today – and I almost got in trouble for it – but overall, it went well! We’re starting as texting buddies though. I don’t even know how you got connections to him of all people, but thank you!” Sunhi hugged the matchmaker in an embrace, but was stopped before she could.

“Wait, what? I just talked the guy I set you up with and he said he saw you ditch him! I just got lectured by him too!”

Sunhi choked.

Ping

____________________

A/N: Finally updated! School has started again and I'm busy now :/ Probably won't update soon with school and whatnot. I also wrote a oneshot... Anyway, I was excited to finally get to this chapter because of the cute interactions and the twist at the end! More twists to come...

I hope you guys think the cover photo and background is okay... Again, sorry for any errors that I'm too tired and lazy to go back and check!

I hope everyone is surviving school/job/life in general! (>.<)

I can't believe I forgot to put this at first, but Happy Birthday to Kyungsoo/Squishysoo/Creepysoo! (>v<)/ Also, happy Kaisoo day and Happy Birthday to the bae: Kim Jongin in advance!! (Not Mine)

~Audrey