There were few things in life that Park Yejin truly regretted. Dying her hair that awful blue color during that mandatory Tokio Hotel phase in high school, that was a regret. Becoming friends with Jongdae, probably should count that as a regret on most days. But splurge online shopping when she got paid? Never, she definitely needed those cute oversized sweaters and that overpriced pair of ankle boots. Doing the right thing was never something she usually regretted either. Key word there: usually. She was starting to regret being a fundamentally good person about a week ago, after the posted onto the fan cafe. She just had to protect Byun Baekhyun. She just had to do the right thing, and she was really hating it.

Why?

Girls would burst into her classroom, crowding around her desk and begging to know more about her experience with the Byun Baekhyun and asking if there were more every single damn day. And everyday it'd be the same, tired, worn out response. 

      "Everything I posted is literally all that happened. Please, go back to your class, I need to finish this composition!" She begged a poor, eager first year, who still looked bright eyed and hopeful about the future. But crushing that hope was not Yejin's job today, only turning away another disillusioned fan who thought that this freak chance meeting was something out of one of those fan fictions written on tumblr or one of those archive websites. It wasn't, he was a normal... well, as normal as an idol could be, and she was a normal girl. There was nothing else to it, she'd probably never see him again. But everyone else seemed to think differently and wouldn't stop bothering her about it. She just wanted to compose and do college things in peace.

A cackle came from behind her as the first year walked away with a disappointed look, and Yejin turned to glare at her ever unhelpful best friend.

    "Well, well, lookie here Beth --"

"Do not call me that outside of the lounge, I told you!" Yejin snapped, not having any of Jongdae's bull today, shutting her laptop and shoving it into her bag, she needed to finish this song somewhere in the peace and quiet of not campus. Jongdae kept laughing, following her.

    "I get it, I get it. A little sensitive today, are we?" He asked, grinning. Yejin glared.

"What do you think--"

    "Excuse me?" The duo turned to see a group of girls, all fashionably dressed and wearing the tell tale Baekhyun fanclub wristband that Yejin totally did not also have but kept on her keys because she didn't like to have that kind of attention from other girls as well. Yejin sighed. 

"Yes?"

    "You... met Byun Baekhyun right??" The lead girl eagerly asked, the rest of the girls coming closer to hear Yejin's response. 

Yejin sighed through her nose. "Listen, I'm sure you already know everything. Please leave and be productive members of society." As she turned to walk away, a hand secured her wrist and pulled her back.

"No! We're tired of hearing that, we all know it's a lie!" One girl insisted, the others starting to glare. Yejin looked down at her wrist and to the girl holding it. She yanked it once more, pulling Yejin closer, "So tell us the truth, now, because it's either something else happened, or you're a fake."

Jongdae whistled lowly as he saw the signs: Yejin's eyes squinting, her left wrist that wasn't being held twitching, and her upper lip curling into a sneer. Those girls had made a huge mistake. 

     "I'll say it once more, because it seems that you're all ing deaf," Yejin hissed. "I did not meet your fake boyfriend Byun Baekhyun, he ing ran into me," She yanked the girl's wrist, causing her to yelp, "And he helped me fix myself up and then I went on my merry way to work." Twisting the girl's wrist to turn her towards her friends, who were all looking wide eyed and definitely frightened, "And that's ing it, and you can tell everyone else that wants to ask me again that if I ever hear the name Byun Baekhyun ever again or have someone approach me about it, I will not be happy. Have I made myself clear?" She all but snarled, pushing the girl roughly into the arms of her friends. They made themselves scarce after that, and Yejin sighed, pushing a hand through her hair in resignment.

"Someone's fiesty today. Damn, you really scared those girls, didn't you?" Jongdae noted, observing how the group scurried away as quickly as they came.

     Yejin rolled her eyes. "People just need to have a lesson taught, especially when it comes to trying my patience --"

"Excuse me?" 

     Yejin and Jongdae froze in their spots, and Jongdae slowly slid his eyes over to Yejin, shoulders tensing once more. He braced himself for turning and facing the poor poor fan who thought it wise to approach her after the previous scene.

"Look, I already told you--" Yejin started as she turned around before stopping in her tracks as she locked eyes with the person before her. Jongdae looked over and stared, jaw dropped and eyes wide.

There, standing before her, fidgeting a bit and looking nervously around him, was none other than the source of all her misery.

"Oh my GOD it's Byun Baekhyun!!" He whispered excitedly to Yejin, who just looked at him with her 'Are you SERIOUS stop that' face. She could never take her best friend anywhere.

"No ." She hissed back, before turning her attention to the idol.

    "Uhm, hello..." Baekhyun greeted politely, "You're... parkbjin, from the fan post?" He asked. 

She nodded slowly, "...Yes that would be me." Before elbowing a hardly containing fanboying Jongdae beside her. Seriously, pull yourself together Jongdae.

    Baekhyun smiled, "First off, thank you for doing that, I really appreciate it." 

"It's really no problem?" Yejin shrugged, "But why are you here?" She knew as well as any other person that an idol doesn't just randomly show up on your campus and approach you over a fan post. It's very unheard of.

    "I'm glad you asked!" That signature smile hadn't left the idol's face yet, and Yejin could even admit to melting a little on the inside, "I came to offer you something as a proper thank you."

"Oookay..." She said, confusion and disbelief clear in her tone. Idols don't thank people personally, especially actally in person. "That's awesome and all, but you really don't have to."

She felt a very sharp nudge in her side and side glanced over at Jongdae who actually looked angry, practically throwing his head towards Baekhyun. She raised an eyebrow at him in question. "Excuse us for just one second, Byun Baekhyun." Jongdae smiled, clenching Yejin's arm and dragging her a bit away.

"Yejin as your best friend and personal advisor is it my advice to take the damn offer, whatever it is." He hissed, pulling Yejin closer.

She wrinkled her nose. "Jongdae, I don't think that--"

"Who cares what you think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity with your idol!! You don't think, you just go with it! Don't you watch the dramas???" He interrupted, that insistent tone that Yejin always lost to coming through. He wasn't going to let up.

Before she could try and speak up, however, Baekhyun's meek "Excuse me?" came from five feet away. He looked a little confused, and Yejin turned to him.

"Sorry about that. You were saying?" Jongdae encouraged him to keep talking, which Baekhyun smiled at. Yejin totally did not have a slight moment of weakness at that smile, she would insist.

"I just, uhm, if you'd like, I noticed that your bike was kind of, you know, ruined, so I wanted to see if I could replace it?" He asked, looking at Yejin with wide eyes. She glanced at Jongdae, who was once again violently jerking his head. Between the two of them, she had a sinking feeling that she would not win. She sighed, shaking her head. "Why? My bike's still functional..." But she was stubborn and wouldn't go down without a fight, after all she was Park Yejin.

"... You really saved me and my manager there, honestly." Baekhyun admitted, ducking his head as a small group of students passed by, "He was freaking out but you were nice enough to say something."

Yejin shrugged, "Really, it was just the right thing to do."

"And I want to reward you for doing the right thing. So what do you say?" His response was quick, and surprised Yejin. She wasn't reall expecting him to give a concise answer like that, but she couldn't find a rejection for him, no matter how hard she tried. Looks like she couldn't win this time, even if she knew it was inevitable before getting into this short debate.

"... Fine, if that's what you want. But!" She held up a finger, "It's gotta be my old bike. Just pay for the repairs and some new paint, it's not that old and it'd be  a shame to just throw it out over a broken handlebar." 

Seeing Baekhyun's face light up may or may not have given Yejin some heart palpatations, but who was checking anyways. He grinned, "Awesome! Let's go!"

"W-wait!! Right now?" She yelped, feeling him tug at her wrist. He glanced back at her in confusion. "....Yes?"


"I-i have class--"

"No you don't!!! Have fun Yejin byeeeee~" Jongdae sang, pushing the two forward and scampering across the quad, leaving Yejin in shock and Baekhyun in more confusion.

"Kim DAMN Jong ING Dae--" Yejin started to curse, but was cut off with a small,

"So it's Yejin, then? What's the B for then?"

She looked over, eyebrows raised and she almost laughed as she realized the situation happening right now as they made their way off campus towards his car. "Am I actually making small talk with Byun Baekhyun? Incredible." 

"I believe that's what it's called, yes. So, what's the B stand for?" Baekhyun had always reminded her of a puppy, and now that she was having a conversation with the guy, it was definitely a puppy he resembled, in her opinion. She hesitated before getting in the car, then realized that this whole situation was absolutely insane, so what's actually talking with the dude going to do?

"Alright, well," She started, "It stands for my English name." 

Baekhyun nodded eagerly, starting the car and buckling up, Yejin doing the same. "Oh! You're Korean-American, then?"

"Kind of, yeah you could say that. My name's Bethanne, or Beth for short." Yejin explained, finding the fancy interior of the car fasincating. So this is what a rich luxury car looks like on the inside...

"Pretty." He commented, and Yejin's cheeks most definitely were warm at the small compliment. "I wish I could visit America sometime. Are you from LA?" She snorted, most people did assume when she said she was from America, she was from some part of California.

"Seattle, actually. Washington. Little more north than that." She corrected, suddenly feeling a little homesick. South Korea was beautiful and she loved it here, but really, there's no place like home, and mentioning it made her yearn for a chance to see her family again.

"Oh! Cool!" Baekhyun was always so eager to respond positively to her responses, despite how short they could be. 

"Yeah." She sighed, "So I'd ask you about yourself but--" She trailed off, glancing over at the idol. She saw something change for a small moment, but quickly replaced with his usual happy demeanor.

"Yeah." Was his own response. They lingered in silence, the awkward tension building up until they finally made it to the bike store. Yejin all but threw herself out of the car, desperate to get away from the tension that was nearly suffocating.

The bike store visit was relatively uneventful, having met the store clerk of the store (A bright, cheerful boy with the nametag "Hoseok" written in lime green letters, who was insistent that Baekhyun was his friend, Taehyung, which broke the tension with a loud laugh. Having someone think that an idol like Baekhyun was someone else just killed Yejin.) and working out a deal where Yejin could bring in her bike and all expenses would be charged to Baekhyun's company card. While Yejin wanted to reject the card, he was quite insistent and said he even had permisson from the CEO himself to use it for her bike expenses. The drive back was quiet, but instead of a suffocating, awkward tension, there was a pleasantness to it. He pulled to the curb of the dormitory she had given him directions too (It was Jongdae's, but the boy had texted her insisting that she came over as soon as she was done, and as always, Jongdae got his way.)

Before she got out of the car, he grabbed her wrist. She looked at him, eyes wide, but relaxed when he stayed put, giving her a bright smile instead. "Thanks, again." he said, sincerity in his tone. Yejin smiled back.

"Hey no problem. Oh, good luck with your comeback! But don't forget to take care of yourself, okay?" She reminded, smile still in place as she kept the door open. He looked up at her, something flashing through his eyes before he smiled again.

"Thanks. Bye, Yejin. It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too, Byun Baekhyun." And she closed the door, both assuming that it'd more than likely be the last time either of them were in contact with the other.

POP IDOL BYUN BAEKHYUN SEEN SHOPPING WITH ANOTHER GIRL: IS BAEKYEON NO MORE???

Of course. Of course, Of course of course, Joonmyun thought the morning he woke up and saw his phone had at least thirty two notifications. Nothing can be that easy. Baekhyun had to find the girl. He had to be a nice person.

"Taeyeon's going to be out for blood today." He groaned, flopping back onto his bed. It was not going to be a pretty day at XO Entertainment. 

"Who is she???! How long have you known her??!" Furious question after screechign question was being thrown at Baekhyun, while he clutched to his seat in the conference room in nothing short than complete fear. Taeyeon had been mad before, sure, and he's come to handle that. He's come to realize the truth of the saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." 

"Taeyeon if you would just listen ---" He tried timidly, only to sink in his chair as her eyes burned into him. 

"No! I hate you!! I'll ing ruin you, Byun Baekhyun for what you did to me --" Baekhyun paled as she continued ranting. Taeyeon knew she had details and stories on Baekhyun that would indeed ruin him if Dispatch or some other form of paperazzi got ahold of the information. This was it, this was the end of his career, and Yejin probably hadn't even gotten her bike fixed yet --

Both the yelling and his inner troubled monologue was interrupted by Joonmyun, his ever loving, white haired angel, bursting through the doors, phone in hand, tie askew, before locking onto the couple and rushing towards them. "She's his new stylist, Taeyeon! It was all just a misunderstanding, please settle down!" 

....Huh? Baekhyun looked agape at Joonmyun, but while Taeyeon was looking towards Baekhyun for some confirmative, the manager gave the "ing shut your mouth and let me handle this or I swear to god--" gesture and look combo before Taeyeon turned towards Joonmyun, fury still strong but curiosity peaked. 

"Oh really?" She pursed her lips, glaring down at Joonmyun. Like she was waiting for him to snap. Frotunately, Joonmyun had somehow gathered all of the shards of his shattered nerves and decided to face her head on. 

"Yes. He wanted to give... Chanyeol's cousin a hand so he met up with her as discreetly as he could, but of course the pap had to follow him after the whole car incident, you know." Joonmyun sighed, shrugged and waving his hands.

She looked over towards Baekhyun, who just eagerly nodded. "Y-yeah, that's right! She's from the, uh, States! So she's been gone for a while, so when she came back Chanyeol asked to set her up, and since I needed a stylist --" 

"But it's a girl. I don't want another girl touching your face." Taeyeon frowned, fury diminishing and Baekhyun could let a little spark of hope for his career ignite again. "Don't worry, babe, we hired a man to do my makeup, they've worked together before and totally know how to work around each other. She's just really good at hair and I wanted to give her a shot." Baekhyun continued, and Joonmyun had to hand it to him, the boy's been taking his acting lessons pretty seriously. 

"Well... Okay. But I'll be keeping a close eye on Chanyeol's cousin and friend, got it? I don't care if she's related to him, I don't want anyoen getting so close to my Baekhyun." She nodded, before her phone went off, and with a chaste kiss for Baekhyun and a little finger wave to Joonmyun, she had gone off for her vocal rehearsal and an early afternoon CF filming. As soon as that conference room door closed behind them, both males let out an audible sigh of relief. 

"...." Joonmyun groaned, tousling his hair before fixing his tie. Baekhyun blinked up at him. 

"We gotta get Yejin again."

I'm so sorry for not updating TT^TT I've been so busy with school and work and family and all of these things that I just couldn't find time to upload this chapter -- But I do have about half the story drafted, so I can type those up over a longer break (hopefully soon and not over fourish months) for you all! So, Byun Baekhyun is actually nice, Yejin's from America and Jongdae is... well, he's Jongdae ^^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please anticipate my other two stories, RUN. and The Hepburn Syndrome ! Happy Reading and Happy Tuesday!
~Rye