The late afternoon sun streamed in through the glass windows of Incheon Airport’s Sweet Desire Cafe as Kuri lounged in a comfortable sofa-chair, going through her interview questions again.

Now boarding: Flight MK1403, bound for Shanghai, China

As the text message arrived, she picked up her cup of coffee, and was focusing on rolling her suitcase out of the cafe when she bumped into someone, effectively spilling her mocha all over said person’s white trench coat.

“Hey! Watch it!” a very familiar voice scolded, as the victim of their little “accident” dabbed at his coat, realizing quickly that trying to get the stain out was futile. Her heart stopped, and she slowly looked up, towards his face and gasping aloud when she realized that the person she had bumped into was indeed none other than one of EXO’s members, Baekhyun. He looked at her, visibly irritated.

“How am I supposed to go for my meeting looking like this?” he muttered accusingly, glaring at her. “I-I’m sorry… But if it bothers you that much, maybe you could take your coat off?” she heard herself saying before the full impact of her words hit her and she cringed, wanting nothing more than to sink into the floor and disappear off the face of the Earth as his eyes narrowed dangerously at her. “Excuse me?” his voice was laced with irritation, and she took a step back, his anger making him seem a lot scarier than he actually was. She remembered reading somewhere on a fansite that Baekhyun was not one to get angry, but why was he so pissed now?

Duh, because you spilled coffee on him right before his meeting and he’s probably already cranky enough from his busy schedule and lack of sleep. Not to mention, you said something utterly stupid and inappropriate to him. She scolded herself silently, not daring to meet his gaze.

“Ah, there you are, Baekhyun-ah~” a cheerful voice sang, as Chanyeol approached the pair, before seeming to sense his fellow EXO member’s anger/irritation. Kuri sighed in relief as Baekhyun looked behind him, distracted for the moment.

“Hyung, why is your coat so dirty?” Chanyeol immediately asked, his eyes drawn to the dark spot on his hyung’s clothes. “Why don’t you ask her?” Baekhyun nodded stiffly in Kuri's direction, a stubborn glare on his face. “I’m going to go change, tell manager-hyung I’ll be a little late.” he muttered, rubbing frustratedly at the stain as he stalked off in the direction of the exit.

“Sorry about that, he’s only like that because this meeting was supposed to be a really really important one, that’s why he’s quite uptight about it.” Chanyeol apologized sincerely before turning to follow his friend. “I’m sorry about that too, it was my fault.” She said, carefully setting her now half empty coffee cup on the table in case it caused another incident. Chanyeol chuckled. “It’s fine, I’m sure it was just an accident; I’ll calm him down, don’t worry.” he smiled at her before he left in search of Baekhyun, craning his neck over the sea of people for the other boy.

Great. I just managed to piss off one of the members of the most popular boy band of this time. Could my day get any worse?  She thought sourly, and as she glanced at her phone, she saw that she had spoken (or rather thought) too soon.

A message flashed onto the screen:

Final Call for Flight MK1403, the flight will depart in 15 minutes with no exceptions, please board as soon as possible.

She cursed aloud, causing some heads to turn in her direction. I’ll have to sprint to get there on time. Hope I don’t die. Gripping her suitcase tight, she began her mad dash towards the airplane waiting ON THE OTHER END OF THE SECTION, as her heeled boots clattered loudly against the marble flooring.

Panting and out of breath, she looked up to see that the plane was still there, and the boarding attendants were looking quite concerned for her. “Miss, are you alright? Please get to your seat, we will be taking off soon.” a pretty air stewardess said as Kuri approached her, and after checking her ticket, led her down an aisle to her seat, smiling brightly as Kuri loaded her suitcase into the overhead compartment. “Please take a seat, and ensure your seatbelt is fastened.” with that, she left Kuri to move awkwardly past a man in an elegant looking suit. Her seatmate was reading a catalog, his eyeliner-rimmed eyes focusing on the words in front of him.

Wait. Eyeliner?

She dared a glance at him, and mentally face-palmed.

Of all people…

 She shrank against the window beside her seat, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. The aeroplane rumbled as the wheels began to turn, carrying them over the runway. In moments, they were in the air and she was watching cotton wool clouds drifting past in the bright blue sky. For once, she thanked her lucky stars that it was going to be a short flight and she closed her eyes, praying that it would be over soon. She could feel his presence beside her more than ever, and she bit her lip, plucking a random magazine out of the compartment in front of her and pretending to be absorbed in it.

After what felt like an eternity, the plane began to dip down towards land, much to her utter relief. As soon as the seatbelt light flicked off, she unbuckled herself, hesitating as she contemplated the pros and cons of staying put and waiting for Baekhyun to get off or to simply shuffle past him and hope he didn’t notice it was her beside him all the while. Just as she was about to come to a decision, he spoke.

“I knew it was you even if you tried hiding you know.” he muttered, and from his tone, it was clear that he still hadn’t forgiven her for the incident of a few hours ago.

“I’m sorry about that...that thing from a few hours ago? I didn’t mean it, I hope you can forgive me.” she mumbled sincerely, chewing on her bottom lip. “There’s no reason for you to apologize, I should’ve looked where I was going.” he muttered, though it was clear he was still a little annoyed as he took his possessions from the overhead compartment and joined the queue of people leaving the plane. She followed suit, careful not to stand too close to him.

However, as she stepped off the plane and out of the arrival hall, she was greeted by hundreds of screaming fangirls, many of them waving banners and boards with the names of various EXO members written on them. Dazed and confused by the sudden crowd, she tried to weave through them as the screams suddenly rose and peaked in volume. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the ten members of EXO step through the glass doors, minus Luhan and Kris, waving and smiling at their fans.

Managing to somehow make it through the screaming crowd, she shook her head to clear it as she stepped out of the terminal. Snowflakes whirled about the wintry night air as she shivered, her breath expelling in a fine white mist. Hailing a cab, she got into the warm vehicle gratefully, giving the driver her hotel’s name before she leaned her cheek against the taxi’s window, her eyes slipping closed as she fell into a light sleep.

The next thing she knew, the driver was calling to her in a heavily-accented voice.

“Xiao jie, wo men dao le. (Miss, we’re here)” he tapped on the seat lightly, jolting her awake. “a, dui bu qi, wo qian ni duo shao qian? (ah, I’m sorry, how much do I owe you?)” she asked sleepily, before taking out her purse and paying the driver before stepping groggily up to the hotel.

As soon as she caught sight of the building in front of her, though, she stopped short, sure the driver had got the place wrong. For in front of her was a magnificent 70 storey skyscraper, looking more like a place where celebrities hung out than a hotel she was supposed to be staying in. But there was the brightly lit sign, hanging just above the glass doors with ornately carved handles, each handle representing a dragon. The name matched what she had, all right. She stared in wonder for a moment, forgetting about the cold as she looked up, and saw that the night sky that was dotted with bright stars was framing the building like a beautiful backdrop.

Walking hesitantly towards the front desk, she gave the staff her details and was surprised as the keys to her room were handed to her with no other questions asked, and it was in this state of disbelief that she stepped into the elevator.

“Wait up!” a deep voice called, as the elevator doors opened again. A tall, blond man stepped in, standing next to her. He looked familiar…

“Excuse me, but are you Mr Wu Yi Fan?” she asked somewhat timidly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “... un.” he nodded, his face betraying no emotion of any sort. “Oh. I’m supposed to have a press conference with you in two days’ time, so I hope you’ll take care of me!” she bowed slightly, not even waiting for his response before she dashed out once they reached her floor, her face flushed.

My God. He’s even more attractive in person.

How do I interview him without getting flustered like that, aish…

I’m so screwed.