[Glad to have updated this weekend! Thank you for all the sweet comments and upvotes! I'm so happy! I wasn't gonna update, because I felt under the weather, but your encouragement pushed me!! Also, I am currently spazzing over the release of Fire by BTS! HAHAHA!]

This was not a date, for sure. 

"Ah Reum? Do you want me to repeat the question? I said, would you like to go to the zoo-"

"I heard it." She simply answered. 

By this time, Chanyeol's arms were folded across his chest. He had one eyebrow raised at her. "So zoo? With me? This Saturday?"

Ah Reum thought long and hard. There were probably three questions flooding her mind. Why the sudden invitation? Why the zoo? This wasn't a date, right? 

A more serious thought interrupted her decision process. Chanyeol plus a specimen of the opposite in a public together was a giveaway to crazy stalker fans. If they were caught, fans would suspect. It was easy to announce that she was EXO's publicist, but sasaengs, they would not stop. Heck, they probably knew Chanyeol better than he knew himself. If news broke out that Chanyeol was sleeping with her, his life was doomed. Death threats would be an everyday thing for Chanyeol, and Ah Reum did not want that for her bed friend. She would delicately protect him like a proper publicist should.

"I realize that you need a breather from the stressful celebrity life, but I think that it would be best if you visit the zoo with Baekhyun, or Sehun. And, I think Ji Hoon needs me to proxy for him on Saturday." She said, and the Ji Hoon part was true.

Next he heard a frustrated groan from Chanyeol. "I hope you realize that if I needed a breather, I could simply go to your apartment and slip under the sheets with you." 

Ah Reum stopped in her tracks. What did he mean by that? Did he mean to say that the whole zoo-get together was for her? Impossible. Chanyeol, most likely, did not remember that she liked animals. Indeed, that was the situation.

"Anyway, never mind. Let's begin. I want to try a new position." He uttered, eager yet frigid.

While the new position felt like heaven on earth, the sudden aloofness from Chanyeol did not feel very nice at all. 

The succeeding week went usual for Ah Reum. Work was work, and expectedly, it was taxing. Documents and news reports about SNSD was not supposed to be on her desk, but SNSD's publicist decided to play chicken at the last minute. Hence, she found herself calling Dispatch to stop releasing evidence about the rumored couple.

Also take note that Ah Reum, who worked out thrice a week, had been feeling signs and symptoms of the flu. The heavy rains should be blamed for this. Mornings, she felt vibrant. By night, her body was limp as a vegetable. 

And for the whole week, Mister Park Chanyeol was silent. He stopped telling stories and ranting over the smallest things. He was a regular at her apartment, and she was a regular at his, but the awkward air was there.  It was there, it hung loose, it was obvious. Something was up.

Who was she kidding? This week had been far from usual.

So the solution was calling Chanyeol into her office, Thursday, mid lunch break. He had just gotten back from rehearsals, and she was a witness to sweaty, makeup-free Chanyeol. Peculiarly, Ah Reum preferred Park Chanyeol au naturel. He had blemishes on his forehead, bags under his eyes, yet one could not resist that naturally-handsome face of his.

The bone structure, slightly rosy skin, and chapped lips still seemed gorgeous on him.