Jongdae plasters a grin on his face as he emerges from the company SUV, greeting the cameras aimed at him with a, "Aanyeonghaseyo, EXO Chen imnida." The internet almost had a breakdown last week when Jongdae was revealed as the first ever EXO member to join We Got Married. Their rabid fans haven't turned any less rabid over the years, but at twenty six, Jongdae has honestly had enough. He doesn't mind taking some hate. At least, he reasons, it separates his fans from the crazies. The doors automatically swing open to reveal a very excited Baekhyun, holding a large placard with the show's logo on it, surrounded by flowery hearts.

"What on—?" 

"Sur~prise!" Baekhyun almost makes jazz hands at him, hindered only by the sign. "We Got Married!!" Jongdae stares at him horrified. Yes, South Korea is becoming progressive but this is not what he signed up for. 

"Yah…." Words find it hard to leave his throat. Baekhyun bursts out laughing at his face before punching him on the shoulder.

"Don't look so horrified man! I'm here to MC, but I'm not that bad! " The color returns to Jongdae's face. 

"No of course not, I was wondering if they actually paid attention to you calling me your ideal type," he sticks his tongue out at Baekhyun who turns a little red and hits him on the head with the sign. 

"That was a mistake! I wasn't listening," he hisses. 

"Details, details," Jongdae waves him away. The director clears his throat behind them, reminding Jongdae he needs to hurry up. Baekhyun straightens himself and puts on his best smile for the camera. 

"Okay are you ready for your mission, ChenChen?" 

"Mission?" Jongdae really is mystified. Baekhyun nods cheekily at the camera which at once annoys Jongdae and makes him want to pinch the other's cheeks. 

"You have twenty minutes to find your future wife's favorite cake and return. If you get it right, I'll let you pass." 

"What?! What if I get it wrong!" 

"You'll go back and get it again." Jongdae starts running dramatically as Baekhyun yells, "if you fail after twenty minutes, you don't get to meet her."

Jongdae makes a panicked face at the camera for effect and runs to the nearest café. He pauses for a second to catch his breath, and to wave at the fans who cheer for him. 

"Can you make separate boxes for your best chocolate, strawberry and fruit cakes?" A PD giggles behind him and Jongdae knows he's made the right move. He rushes back to Baekhyun and hands him one of the packages. 

"Strawberry? Nope. Sorry, go back." Jongdae has half a mind to punch the smug smile off his face. 

"Here." He hands the fruit cake package. Baekhyun falters for  second and then shakes his head. 

"Sorry, you fail." But then Jongdae still isn't finished. 

"Chocolate." Baekhyun purses his lips. 

"What chocolate?" Jongdae throws his hands up in the air. 

"Oh I don't know! I just got Kyungsoo's favorite!" 

"Fudge?" 

"Yes…" Baekhyun claps him on the back, hands him an envelope and packs him off towards the elevator. Once the doors shut on a shocked Jongdae and his VJ, he turns to the camera. 

"I'm not sure how I feel about my wife having the same favorite cake as Do Kyungsoo…." He laughs but it comes out a little high pitched and nervy.

On the ninth floor, which is where the envelop had directed him, the doors part (Jongdae knows they'll add dramatic slow motion and music to go) to reveal a very petite figure. Jongdae knows her. He watches her new cop show every night he can afford to with Baekhyun. 

"Annyeonghaseyo," she bows, and flips her short hair back. "Cho Ara imnida." 

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"Tell us what your first impression of her was." 

Jongdae sits alone in the interview, and nervously his lips which the PDs craftily caption 'Kim Jongdae nervous at meeting his wife.' 

"She's pretty, like on TV…. I watch her show with Baekhyunnie." He laughs shyly. "She's very cool on the show. I was hoping she wouldn't be that cold in real life." Jongdae eyes the PDs, knowing they're lapping up his carefully planned responses. Oh well at least she's alright to be around. Not that he could say that to the cameras. No, for all the audience cares, he is smitten by her. 

"Introduce yourself please." 

"Hello, I'm Cho Ara, and I'm an actress. You can catch me on 'Seoul Watch' at nine thirty on Saturday nights." She smiles politely at the camera. The director nods in appreciation. Casting Ara was a carefully calculated move. Jongdae was notorious for his trolling and pranking, not to mention he was the poster-boy for skin-ship. Ara was known to be more reserved, strictly business within the industry and preferred to keep her distance from people. WGM would be her first variety show. 

"Jongdae-ssi said he watches your show regularly," the captions ran. 

"Aah… well…" Her eyes drop to her lap in a shy smile. "I'm glad he knows who I am." 

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When the first episode releases, there is a schism online with half of Jongdae's fans tearing Ara apart if only for being Jongdae's onscreen wife and the other half thinking their awkward as hell first meeting rather cute. Ara wonders how anyone in their right minds would like their "first date", though as far as first dates go, she'd never expected to have one in SM's boardroom. Jongdae, she realized was nice, rather relaxed after five minutes of being around and brilliant dazzling smiles all around. Still it couldn't cut through her awkward shell as she muttered short answers to his questions. She might have also bowed too hard and smacked her head against the table while thanking him for the cake. Perhaps that awkward charm is what made the fans feel secure of her sweeping Jongdae off his feet. Her phone beeps. 

'1 message from Kim Jongdae.' 

"We did well! Hwaiting for the next episode!! (^O^)v" 

Ara grins and attends to the call of her company's director asking her to be a little more relaxed over the next shoots. Perhaps Jongdae would break her awkward bubble eventually. 

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