Tears fill her eyes as she remains sitting on the floor as he bends down in front of her, his hands reaching for her face. Gently,he wipes her tears and turns her slightly around so that her teary eyes meet his. “Choi Yo Na, you promised me that you wouldn’t cry without me there to console you? So why were you sitting here all alone? I know we made that promise when we were 8 but don’t act like you’ve forgotten it because I know you better.” She blinks slowly, trying to stop the tears but failing.“ Seung Ho-ah!” That’s all she says but the pain and sadness in her voice as she plaintively whispers his name makes him stop his scolding. Instead he once again wipes her eyes before pulling her into a tight hug as she sobs her heart out,gently rubbing her back. He’s on both his knees now and it is definitely an uncomfortable position but right now,his best friend’s need for comfort takes precedence over any momentary discomfort.

      A few minutes pass as he continues soothing the silently sobbing girl before a yell breaks the silence enveloping them, “Cut. That was perfect Jieun-ah and Suho too. Much better than I expected since this was only the first take. Suho,you can head back since that was your last scene for today. Jieun, we’ll continue after lunch.” At his yell, the two of them break the hug and nod their heads at the director as the staff around them bustle clearing up the set. Suho watches in silence as she wipes her tears before remembering he has some tissue in his pocket. Hesitantly he hands it to her and she smiles gratefully at his gesture mouthing a thanks.

     His manager is probably waiting for Suho to return to his waiting room so that they can head back to SM but he remains beside her, his determination from yesterday to get closer to her still fresh in his mind. “Oppa.” Not expecting her to be the one to start the conversation, he just stares at her questioningly. There’s a slight red tint to her cheeks but he isn’t sure if that is her blushing or her make up. “Thank you. My manager told me that you personally asked your fans to be nice to me during our special stage yesterday. That was so cool of you and I am grateful for it.” She’s smiling sweetly at him and as always he can’t help but return her smile, “IU-ssi…” “Aniya,you call me Jieun. No need for the IU-ssi anymore. It’s only fair since I call you oppa. Besides,we just shot a scene where we hugged each other for five minutes,calling me IU after that is just weird.”

     Not letting the chance go, “So Jieun-ah, does this make us friends? Or am I still just a co-star to you?”.  IU doesn’t answer instantly, instead she gets up as he follows suit, staying in step with her as walks in the direction of their waiting room. “Oppa, can I be honest?” She glances at him and he wonders how bad her answer is going to be but still he nods anyway. “We can be friends for now but honestly, your fandom is kind of scary so I’m not sure how close we’ll be once filming and our drama promotion ends. Even now while filming I have to be careful around you to be honest. I’ve been there, done that and I’m more careful about these things these days. I’m used to getting hate for absurd reasons but I still prefer to prevent it if possible because it hurts my fans the most. No offense, oppa because I really do enjoy spending time with you on set.”

    So this was what Luna had meant when she had said that IU could be brutally honest when she felt comfortable enough around someone. He couldn’t even blame her because even when he had asked his fans  to respect her, there had still been quite a few comments dragging IU on the Pann articles about the special stage they had done to promote their drama. Forcing himself to accept what little she was giving now, he nodded again, masking his slight hurt, “ So what you mean is that you’ll treat me as a friend in private but in front of others, we’ll just act like co-stars at least while we're still filming? I can work with that for now. Also Jieun-ah,I’m really sorry for all the negative comments on the articles yesterday.” “Ani,oppa,you don’t have to apologize for what your fans do. That’s not something you can control. Also I’m sorry if you got hurt by my words earlier.” She smiles hesitatingly at him after her apology, her eyes clearly conveying the sincerity of her apology and he grins back, silently letting her know that he isn’t offended.

      They reach their waiting rooms then and she waves briefly at him before entering hers and Suho waits until she closes the door before sighing. He had already known that other female idols outside of SM were wary of interacting with EXO because of how scary some of their more hardcore fans were. The guys had complained about it previously and he had simply shrugged it off, not being interested in those female idols or any female idols then for the matter but now he clearly understands their emotions. The funniest thing was s kept saying they envied him for working with both IU and Suzy when reality was that the one he had been a fan of for quite a while  who was also the only one he was interested in, was keeping him at arms bay for annoyingly valid reasons whereas the Nation’s First Love was again one of those he wasn’t interested in despite how sweet she was. Shaking his head in frustration, he enters his waiting room, those thoughts plaguing him even as he answers his manager’s questions about how the shooting had went.

          She was staring at the script intently and to any observer, it would have been obvious that IU was working hard on memorising the script but the truth was that despite her numerous attempts to focus on her script, IU kept feeling guilty for being so direct with Suho earlier. Honestly, some of his fans were quite scary and she knew first-hand about that because somehow some of them had even managed to get her number when the news of her starring in the drama alongside Suho had been released, a fact that only she and her managers knew because she didn’t feel like worrying the people who cared about her. Her managers were working hard to find the leak but they had yet to  find anything.

   It had started out simple enough at first simply telling her to take good care of Suho since it was his first drama, laced with a hint of warning but after she, Mino and Suho had been spotted eating together with their managers, they had started cursing her out. That was nothing she couldn’t deal with since she had become somewhat immune to being cursed at ever since she was cursed at her debut stage. Those words didn’t hurt her anymore even if they still sometimes shocked her. Then after yesterday’s special stage, she had received so many voicemails and messages threatening to kill her as soon as she switched on her phone after hanging out with Jonghyun and it had honestly terrified her-the rage their voices held when all she had done was sing a song with Suho so much so she had finally confided in her managers about it. She had thought she could deal with it without worrying them but hearing those messages had left her shaken.

   STtill  IU hadn’t wanted to give in to them by distancing herself from Suho but her managers had pleaded with her after they had listened to the voicemails themselves and knowing that they had her best interests at heart, she had to give in. Still she couldn’t shake of the feeling of guilt that lingered after she had brushed off his offer for friendship earlier. She had caught the flash of hurt in her eyes and had wanted to blurt out the full reason why she was being cold to him then but it was probably better for him if he didn’t know the full extent of his fans scariness. Besides, there wasn’t anything he could do. She would be changing her number probably by tonight and this time would be more careful about who she gave it too.

       And to think that her heart had honestly fluttered yesterday when she performed with him. IU had wanted to deny it even to herself but the slight disappointment she had felt when her managers had told her to avoid Suho as much as possible had pretty much made denial useless. Closing her script,she let out a long sigh. “Look at it this way, Jieun. You can now nip it in the bud before you actually develop feelings for him.” Shaking her head at how absurd she was being talking to herself, she stands up and stretches. At least she had managed to act out the crying scenes well in spite of her lack of sleep last night. Acting was a great way for her to release all of her pent up emotions, something she couldn’t really fully do as the singer IU. It was the most therapeutic thing for her especially during times like this and after she had cried her heart out, she had felt much lighter. Too bad Suzy wasn’t shooting today because Suzy could always be counted on to make her laugh.

       Deciding to leave her waiting room instead of trying to memorise her script when she didn’t have it in her, IU signals her manager, Hanteo oppa. There would probably be a food truck outside, one of the benefits of working with famous idols even if everyone was preparing for the drama to fail but if there wasn’t one then she could just stop at the nearby restaurant for a quick bite with her manager. Opening the door, IU follows her manager out but stops in her tracks when she spots the person in front of her. “Unnie!!!”. Despite it being something she would normally only do in private, IU suddenly pulls Yoo In Na into a quick hug, needing that moment of human contact to help center herself.

     Startled by IU’s uncharacteristic action, Yoo In Na stands still briefly before responding by rubbing IU’s back, “Jieun-ah, are you ok? Was filming that tiring?”. IU breaks the hug  grinning, pushing her previous depressing thoughts to the back of her mind, “Just a  bit. Why are you here, unnie?” At that moment, IU realizes that her best friend didn’t come alone and she smiles as she greets the familiar face, “Anyong, Hanbin ah. I didn’t expect to see you here. Did you tag along to see Mino? If I’m not mistaken, Mino starts filming in an hour or so though. I don’t think he’s here yet.” Staring at him, IU wonders if she should put him into the list of male idols to avoid close contact with that her managers are busy compiling but then B.I grins cheekily at her and she decides that for now, since he hasn’t really debuted yet, she could still be friends with him. So she grins back,fist bumping him while In Na stares dumbfounded at the surprising closeness between her hoobae and Jieun. She had assumed B.I had wanted to tag along with her to the filming site to see Mino act and maybe get an autograph from Jieun and Suzy.

      “Omo, when did you two become so close? I’ve never seen you fist bump anyone else before besides Chanhyuk. Jieun-ah, why have you been keeping secrets from me.” She shakes her head at her younger friend, indicating her disappointment but IU just grins at her cheekily, secretly grateful for their surprise visit since her spirits were already lifting, linking  arms with In Na unnie together and walking towards the exit while B.I follows in step with them and Hanteo oppa trailing behind. “Unnie, whenever you were busy filming, I hung out at YG’s training center a few times with Chanhyuk and Soohyun. I met Hanbin and the rest of his team there. They’re all really cool especially when they dance. They move in ways I will never. I’m the closest with Hanbin though.”

      B.I grins at her chatter, smiling proudly at being called her favourite since it was the first time Jieun noona had actually mentioned that. He was so going to brag about that to the rest of ikon later. “Noona, you haven’t visited in a while. Bobby and Jin Hwan were especially sad. We even prepared a special performance for you.” In Na smiles fondly as Jieun reaches out to pat B.I’s head, glad that she had made more friends. The evil side of her also relishes the idea of seeing Mino’s dumbstruck face when he finds out that his younger fellow trainees are closer to Jieun than he is. She is pretty sure that he isn’t aware of it either since he hadn’t mentioned it yesterday when he had called her to rant about EXO Suho’s and Jieun’s performance. The boy had it bad and while In Na wasn’t honestly sure if Jieun would accept him, it was still worth a shot anyway.

     “Anyway, we came to visit you because YG sent a food truck over for Mino while  Tablo and I sent a ‘dessert and drinks’ food truck just for you.” Jieun  smiled broadly at that, “Yes!!! I was hungry and hoping one of the fanclubs had sent fan support over. This is even better but shouldn’t Tablo oppa have sent something for Mino instead, unnie?”. B.I bursts into laugher, “Ani, noona. Tablo hyung is so funny. He said Haru likes you better and he does too so he chose you over Mino.” Jieun’s smile grows broader at that, “I should thank him and Haru later then. But Mino isn’t here yet. Will he be eating it later then?”.  Before In Na could answer, B.I beats her to the punch, “Hyung came together with us actually  but apparently the director had something to talk to him about.”

      In Na nods, “Yup so lets go eat. I’m sure you’re probably starving since you always skip breakfast.” Hearing her unnie’s motherly tone makes IU even more happy and she beams as she nods. They’re outside the studio now and as soon as the three of them step outside, IU hears shouts from the fans outside and any lingering sadness she might have had disappears when she sees her fans waving enthusiastically at her. It still surprises her whenever she sees her fans waiting for her when they can’t even be sure they’ll spot her after all these years. She waves back at them before turning back to In Na unnie, “Unnie, how about you go first and save a few spots for us along with Hanteo oppa? I’ll go greet my fans and Hanbin can tag along because my fans keep saying I don’t have any dongsaeng celebrity friends besides Akdong Musician so I’m going to go prove them wrong. Or do you want to come with us to take some photos?”. “Ani, you two can go and greet your fans. I’ll go find Mino and get food for all of us.”

    IU and B.I walk towards where the fans are waiting while In Na and Hanteo oppa head towards the two food trucks set up with tents and even tables for all of the staff to sit and eat. Her boss never did things half-heartedly. A few minutes later, she’s sitting at an empty table with four plates filled with food waiting for Jieun and B.I to come back but knowing Jieun. it would probably be a while since that girl loved spending time with her fans. Hanteo oppa was sitting with the stylists and Jieun’s other staff. She was just about to call Mino when she spots the director in line to get food but then the guy she was searching for sits down in front of her. “Anyong, noona. I’m sorry it took me a while longer because the scriptwriter wanted to discuss something with me. Where’s IU and Hanbin?”. “Mino-ah.” By now, Mino knows In Na noona well enough to know that there must be a reason for the smirk that she’s sporting so he just waits for her to go on, she’s probably gonna for still not getting close enough with IU or something along those lines. “Do you know that Jieun is actually close to ikon because she used to visit the YG training center to hang out with Chanhyuk and Soohyun? She even said that she likes Hanbin the most and that they dance really well. Poor you, your dongsaengs got close to her without even trying as hard as you.”

      Well Mino certainly hadn’t expected to hear that. It makes sense though since Akdong Musician who are on hiatus and ikon who are still trainees would be using the building which had basically been his home before Winner’s debut whereas Winner had been using YG’s main building since winning because they had been working on their debut album and were now busy preparing songs for their second album. Frowning slightly, he had never thought that he would be jealous of ikon when it comes to the woman he likes, “Noona, you don’t have to keep rubbing it in. We’ve only been shooting for about two weeks, I’ll get close to her soon enough. No wonder Hanbin wanted to come along then. They never mentioned it even when they knew we were performing together for MAMA. Ah, those brats.”

        Honestly,he’s only half joking. It’s not like he can even scold them since he still doesn’t feel like sharing his feelings with anyone as of right now, well anyone besides Yoo In Na noona. Now that he thinks of it, no wonder Bobby and Hanbin had been quick to help IU when she had slipped on the stairs at Hong Kong. Hanbin had even been extra careful to keep an eye on her after that so that she wouldn’t trip again. Then again, they were probably just dongsaengs to her right? It was something that he could use to his advantage maybe. The more connected their shared circle of friends, the more likely the chances of getting closer to her because while she was very friendly to him, there was still a barrier between them. In Na noona had told him that it was because she was normally wary of getting close to idols so Mino definitely had his work cut out for him. In Na noona’s smirk grows wider when IU and Hanbin approach their table, her laughing at something Hanbin had said while Hanbin gestures wildly and Mino just gives her a pointed look to stop teasing him.

      IU spots him sitting there and waves brightly at him before sitting next to In Na noona like he had expected she would. Thanks to his lucky calculations, Mino was sitting in the chair in front of her, leaving Hanbin to take the chair beside him. “Anyong Mino-ah. I honestly didn’t expect to see In Na and Hanbin today. Thanks for bringing them along with you.” Mino would be lying if he said that the easy, affectionate way she mentioned both In Na noona’s and Hanbin’s doesn’t make him slightly jealous but he masks it instead grinning widely at her and saying a you’re welcome which earns him an amused grin from In Na noona which he blatantly ignores. The four of them continue making small talk as they eat and Mino is actually grateful that Hanbin came along since he sharing funny tales about Mino to IU which makes her laugh and In Na noona chips in with her own stories about Jieun.

     IU had never been as talkative when she had been eating with Suho and him but to be fair, they were still basically strangers then and all of the people watching them probably didn’t make it any easier. The only time IU’s smile dims throughout their conversation was when In Na mentions that it's sad that Suho couldn't join them but she simply replies with a shrug before directing the conversation to Hanbin’s rap skills. She had been quick to cover it up but Mino can’t help but wonder why Suho’s name had made her slightly uncomfortable, it hadn't before. Had something happened between the two of them yesterday?

    After  finishing their lunch, the four of them are walking to the food truck parked a bit further from the tent simply because IU wants to take a photo so that she can thank Tablo and In Na on instagram, something she had also done when her official fanclub had sent a food truck last week too. Mino keeps quiet instead of joining the animated conversation between the three of them, enjoying the side of IU that he had rarely seen before besides when she had been with Suzy. Since he was only listening to them talk, he immediately notices the  girl wearing a mask standing a few feet in front of them.

     He smiles politely at her wondering whose fan she is but she pays no attention to him, instead glaring balefully at someone in their group. Mino looks back and forth between her and the people he is walking with and it only takes him two looks to realize that she is glaring daggers at IU. The girl suddenly starts walking closer toward them and she reaches for something from her bag and he sees that it is eggs. Moving as quickly as he could, Mino steps in front of IU and turns his back so that he is facing her and his back is facing the strange girl and barely a second later,he feels the eggs he had spotted in her bag hit him as IU stares at him in shock, only now realizing what is happening while In Na lets out a loud gasp.

I'm back! ^_^ With the longest chapter yet with about 3700 words. So it would be nice if you all would leave a comment saying what you thought. Whenever I get writer's block, I look back at all the comments even the earliest ones and it really does help motivate me. I honestly didn't feel like writing because of writer's block but seeing your comments and knowing that there are people who are interested in this story really did help. So thanks again to everyone who has left comments before. I hope you all continue doing so.

As for including the scary fans, well you can't really exclude them from EXO's fandom even though they might be a minority. Honestly, I'm kinda making these story up as I go because intially I had even wrote quite a few chapters in which the love story moved very quickly but then most of you who commented said you'd prefer a slow burn so I decided to change things. Now I'm just going where ever my muse takes me.

 Also feel free to suggest what you'd like to see in the future chapters. While I can't promise to include everything that you suggest, if I feel like it suits what I'm planning or if I feel like it actually works better than anything I had planned out, I'd definitely include it. Honestly, I'm grateful to the person who suggested using food trucks( you know who you are ^_^) because it helped me come out with this chapter. I apologize for any gramatical mistakes and mixing of tenses, I when it comes to tenses.

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it.