Dad Joke of the Day: So a vowel saves another vowel's life. The other vowel says, "Aye E! I owe you!"

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"Good morning!"

Somin's jolly voice was the first sound that reached Ariya's ears, causing her to jolt out of her dozing, slumped self on the coffee table. "Huh?" She glanced at the wall clock, then raised a panicked brow at Saebyul who was working on the stove behind her. "If she's up, does it mean we have schedule in fifteen minutes?"

Somin laughed, "No, I'm just up early today!"

Saebyul looked back at Somin who was dreamily gazing at her reflection in the mirror with distant eyes. "When did you return last night?"

"Um... a little after midnight."

"Did you catch up on the choreo?"

"Hmm? Yeah... parts of it." She replied but her mind was elsewhere. She could hardly catch any sleep because of the previous night and its certain exciting events.

Ariya glanced at her suspiciously. The entire previous week her bandmate was cranky, either because of her injury or some other reason but this sudden change of mood was obvious. "How did you return?"

"Huh?"

"From the main building, I mean. Did you hail a cab?" Ariya repeated, referring to their practice room.

The idiotic smile on Somin's face dimmed as the question required some thinking. Because she could have easily blabbered the truth if she hadn't paid attention to what was being asked. Sehun had, of course, dropped her back but they made sure to be as discrete as possible by stopping the car a couple of blocks away from her dorm behind a convenience store. As nerve-wracking as walking alone in the dead of the night was, she still preferred it because it was always going to be less scary than the world knowing about him and her. "Uhh, yes..." She smiled at Saebyul. "What are you making?"

"Green tea."

"Great, leave me a cup too, will you?" Somin requested. "I'm going to change and wake Jae up." Ariya frowned, exchanging a glance with the leader: Somin strongly despised tea.

In half an hour, their manager had arrived to pick them up. As Saebyul, Ariya and Rio nibbled on their apple slices, which could hardly count as breakfast, their manager updated them with the recent changes in their get up, issued in the morning by Cube's visual team assigned to them.

The rest of the day was spent rushing through various make-up rooms to get their hair done. They'd shot the aesthetically themed music video a month before, but the hair colors needed to be altered again for comeback schedules. It was hectic, especially when the air conditioners were failing to cool the room as they should have, resulting in the girls sweating profusely. To top it off, their company decided to shoot the whole thing to give the fans an overview of the 'making' which meant the girls were forced to comment only nice and scripted stuff.

For most of the day, Somin felt herself protecting her cell phone from everyone's sight while waiting for any sign from him. Now that things have progressed between her and Sehun, it was only natural to be secretive. Though she was bursting to tell her bandmates like any other girl would, this case was different. Here, it wouldn't be appreciated.

It was almost midday, by the time the five of them showed off their newly dyed hair to each other, styled to perfection after completing a photoshoot. Saebyul looked ethereal in her golden blonde head, it shone like the sun complimenting her pale skin so well. While Ariya pulled off her magenta hair with its tips shaded scarlet, looking like an exquisite ice cream flavor.

Somin only had a horrified look on her face as she gawked at her reflection. It was white blonde and light pink with turquoise highlights. "I look like a freaking marshmallow." She whined, when the camera stopped rolling.

Before Somin could protest any further, her manager tried to placate her. "It doesn't look so bad, besides it matches the concept! I know you're possessive about your hair but I can't fight with the visual team. Please, don't make it harder."

Letting out a strangled noise from her throat, Somin grumbled, "They could have asked my opinion!"

Every occupant of the room burst into laughter. "You're funny." Jae rolled her eyes.

Rio piped, "What about me?" She had steel grey locks that shimmered in the bright light. The others burst in praising comments, nodding their head in approval. The maknae's smile brightened.

After two hours of dance practice with her bandmates, Somin felt confident in her moves though she knew could have done better if not for her injured forearm that would twitch in pain at times leaving her howling in pain, reminding her of the little stunt she had pulled. With half an hour of a well-deserved break, the girls opted to rest. After a competitive session of rock-paper-scissors, it was decided that Jae would be refilling the water bottles, the functional water dispenser being on the ground floor.

As the eldest girl trudged out of the room, she heard footsteps and howls of manly laughter. Peeking behind, she spotted Btob passing the same hallway. Her eyes found their maknae in an instant but quickly looked away when she noticed him looking back. Her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment upon being caught. In a matter of few seconds, Sungjae's footsteps matched hers. Jae's eyes widened when she felt his presence beside her but resumed in keeping her head hanging low.

"Hey."

She threw him a glance. He was grinning widely at her, looking as breathtakingly gorgeous as he always did. His group had spent the previous week in Malaysia, that she knew, but what caught her attention was the golden tan he had seemingly acquired by the trip. It made his smile more addictive, making her heart sink in the pit of her stomach. "Umm, hi." She bowed, training her eyes at the floor again.

Sungjae shoved his hands in his pockets. "I heard about Somin's accident. How is she doing now?"

Jae nodded. "Quite better. It's just her arm so.." she shrugged.

He pursed his lips. "You guys are having a comeback too, must be hard on her."

"Hmm, but she got her dressing removed this morning because it's healing, so it's all good." Jae purposely took the stairs and not the elevator, for reasons unknown to her.

Sungjae threw her another glance after a minute of silence. "And you? I heard you were there too when this happened?"

Jae chuckled. "I don't scream my lungs off, looking over my back when I'm riding a scooter." As they reached their destination on the ground floor, she started refilling.

Sungjae's eyes widened. "She did that?!" When Jae nodded, laughing, he shook his head. "That's ridiculous, she needs to be careful."

When silence suspended between them, Sungjae cleared his throat. Jae looked up, thinking he was about to leave her company and join his bandmates but quite surprisingly, he took one of the plastic bottles from her hand and came to stand closer to her. Jae's surprised eyes followed him when he started to fill it from the cooler beside her. A tiny smile unknowingly adorned her lips.

"Did you watch 'The Beat'?" He asked, conversationally.

She bit her lip. She'd totally forgotten he'd asked her to check out the new variety show his group was shooting when they chatted a couple of times here in the main building. Sensing her silence, he turned towards her and chucked after seeing her sheepish expression like a kid who'd broken a precious vase. "It's okay if it slipped your mind. You guys were busy too.."

Jae quickly nodded. "Yeah, but I did watch the latest episodes of We got married."

"You did?" His eyes rounded.

Her gaze fell on the ground, she smiled lop-sidedly, shrugging like it was no big deal. "Yeahh, it was trending. Everybody was talking about it so I had to see what was all the fuss about." And she did. After watching that particular clip, where Sungjae and Joy had almost kissed in a swimming pool, Jae was dumbfounded and had to binge-watch the previous episodes through the night. Now seeing his face, she was suddenly reminded of everything she had watched, every intimate scene he'd shared with his co-star, his wife. Sungjae and Joy cooking, Sungjae and Joy doing a piggyback ride, Sungjae and Joy clutching each other while climbing a rope bridge. Sungjae and Joy, the cutest couple ever. Her stomach did a flip-flop thinking about it.

"Ahh." Sungjae only hummed, his eyes searching for any kind of emotion on her features but she was intent on concentrating on the water bottle she was gripping.

When Jae realized he was still waiting for a comment, she met his eyes and nodded appreciatively. "It was fun to watch, you guys look great together."

It wasn't a lie though, she thought. They do look good together, and if not for the uneasy tingling in my stomach, it was actually fun to watch.

Something unreadable flashed over his eyes for a second but it vanished before Jae could read it. Sungjae mumbled, "Thanks."

"Are you still recording, sunbae-nim?"

"I guess a couple of episodes are left. Some special segments that's all." He answered. Then he reprimanded lightly, " And hey, don't call me that. Just call me Sungjae."

Jae smiled and nodded. "Joy sunbae-nim's skin is flawless. She's so pretty. "

"That she is." He grinned, his face held an expression that tugged at her heart.

She opened her mouth to ask what had been itching her all this time. "Yeah, so.." His head turned towards her. At that moment, it occurred to her how strange it will sound. I am in no place to ask such personal questions. Stop being so awkward, duffer. For a moment, she wished she could ask for somebody's advice, Somin probably, that girl has a special way with words.

Jae changed the topic. "How was your trip?"

He shrugged. "The usual. From schedule to hotel and hotel to schedules."

"That's pretty dry."

"I know!" he huffed. "But they wouldn't let us go outside for sight-seeing. I mean, man it's so frustrating, there were so many tourist spots where we were staying. Minhyuk Hyung and I even tried to sneak out after our concert, but boy, were we wrong..." He sighed, meeting his eyes with the girl before him who was listening attentively.

"Our security team was--"

The bottle in Jae's hand slipped accidentally, banging on the tiled floor. "Oh no!" She gasped loudly, her hands cupping her mouth. Sungjae's jaw dropped as his eyes followed the water spurting out from the bottle, trickling in all directions. When a surprised chuckle escaped his mouth, she met his eyes to find him amused by the situation, chewing his lip. While what Jae felt was nothing but shock and of course, guilt. Also, a little embarrassed by the ruckus she just made in front of him.

They both were aware of how their agency loved to make their trainees do such labor. At least, Jae remembered quite bitterly how she and her groupmates would do more cleaning and maintenance of their practice rooms rather than doing the actual practice, it was what Somin always called 'child abuse'. It evidently reduced after debut but that still wouldn't stop anyone to miss an opportunity. So when Sungjae quickly grabbed the already-filled bottles, ready to run his ass away and threw her a questioning stare while she stood there in shock and said, "What are you waiting for?! Come on!"

Sungjae could almost see a couple of janitors coming their way, judging from their bright uniforms. Anxiously, he held her wrist and made a run for the elevator. As Jae was yanked out of her frozen state, she heard somebody calling from behind which led her to accelerate their speed. Before her, she could see Sungjae punching on the arrow buttons on the elevator urgently. "Ugh, it's occupied!" He groaned.

A minute later, they were sprinting up the stairs. He felt thrilled, to say the least. He could feel the gusts of air flowing through his whole being. It felt nice to be a little mischievous sometimes, to break the small, harmless rules. Sungjae was laughing merrily and only the sound of it made Jae laugh along. By the time they reached Aurora's practice room, the two of them were out of breath. Sungjae gently let go of her hand and leaned over his knees, panting furiously.

Jae took a deep breath. "I feel so bad."

He rolled his eyes. "It's fine. If you stayed any longer, they would have made you scrub the floors. Do we want that, now?"

Jae pouted her lips, nodding, "Hmm."

"Don't worry. It's not our job anyway."

"Yeah." She eyed the bottles he had placed on the floor. "I hope that would be enough for you thirsty girls?"

"Of course." She grinned. "Thanks for helping me. You should get back to your bandmates, they must be looking for you, sunbae-" He, again, gave her a scolding look at the honorific to which she smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay, it was not important or anything. We only came to get back our handphones."

"What?" She frowned. "Why?"

Sungjae sighed loudly. "Don't you know? They're monitoring our chats and contacts again. Our manager took the phones in last night. I hope they didn't pry too much."

"I know, that's awful." She looked genuinely sorry. "Anyways, I'll get going." Jae pointed back to the practice room. He nodded. "I'll see around in 20space?" He didn't know what made him say that, and once the words made their way out in the thick air, Sungjae realized he might have crossed the line. What? It's just a friendly lunch you're proposing! His other side rationalized. 

But she just smiled prettily and shrugged before turning back to the door.

-

Saebyul groaned, "What's taking her so long. It was just four bottles, honestly."

Ariya yawned from the couch. "Maybe we should ask someone else to bring us a water bottle."

Somin, whose eyes were fastened on the mirror as she went over the dance steps continuously, still believed that her moves were not up to the mark though she didn't want to share the pain she felt with others, it would only burden them so she resorted to practicing alone, determined to get better. She said, "Rio, why don't you go check?"

The maknae gruntled and poked her head out of the door. "I don't see her anywhere." Then she slowly paddled towards Somin, leaning against the mirror.

The elder girl called annoyedly, "Hey, move. You're blocking my view."

Rio shyly closed in on Somin. "Yahh, unnie." She pouted. "You promised me something."

"What?"

She whispered. "Chanyeol Oppa's gym!"

Somin chuckled. "Get over it, it's not going to help anyway--"

"But you promised me." Rio cried out indignantly. Somin could see the maknae's cheeks rising in color, her fists clenching and she braced herself for a wailing tantrum. "I've been waiting so long to go there, it was so hard to find the correct address and now you're just ditching me like that! How could you lie to me when you--"

"Woah, woah cool down!" Somin placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulder to placate her. "Fine, I'll come with you but not until we're done with the promotions. Okay?"

"Really!" Rio's tear-filled eyes lit up. "Phew... I almost thought you'd backed out."

"Um... I had backed out." She pointed out. "But I know, the fangirl inside you will poison me to death so... yeah."

Rio rolled her eyes. "I'm not that crazy."

"I'm not kidding, you guys are pretty touchy."

The maknae chuckled, shaking her head as she plopped on the couch. Her attention diverted to the ringing phone. Ariya yelled. "Yah Somin, your phone has been ringing for the third time, just pick it up."

The girl shot back in surprise. "Why didn't anybody tell me." Since morning, she'd been waiting for Sehun to call her, it must be him. She quickly turned off the music and reached for her phone, a giddy feeling erupting in her guts. Though she hadn't saved his number but she could recognize it anywhere. Skipping off to the bathroom while her leader's suspicious gaze followed her, Somin received the call.

"Hi."

"Were you asleep?" Was the first thing Sehun asked like a grumpy, old dad. But once he said it, he realized a sweet 'good morning' could have sounded so well. He groaned inwardly for not being able to plan this well, even after taking an hour to think what he was going to say to her.

"No, just busy practicing."

"Oh, okay." He gulped. Is she going to speak? Or do I need to say something? Think, idiot! "Umm... so, how's your arm?" Bingo! that's a genuine question.

Somin laughed merrily. "What recovery do you expect overnight? It just pains a little when I lift it, otherwise, the dressing is removed."

"Hmm." Sehun nodded. "You should use pain relief spray for that, it's quite effective."

"Okay doctor." 

Sehun bit his lip. Just say it, Sehun. It's not like she's going to refuse!

"So... when's your group's comeback?"

Somin frowned. Is that all he's going to talk about? "Yeah, the music video will drop this Friday. We're currently releasing teasers." 

"That's nice. You must be really excited. I hope you guys do great." Sehun cheered but his tone was anything but that. Honestly, if I don't ask now she'll get a wrong image of my intentions. What is even stopping me, he groaned. Deep down, he knew the answer. It had something to do with his fear of starting something they both would fall so deep into that it would be harder when it's time to stop, his fear of commitment.

"What were you doing? Any activity today?"

Sehun shook his head. "Not really. We'll be wrapping up the recording for our winter album today. I'm free mostly." 

"Oh, that's nice." Why does she sound so casual while I'm the one having a nervous breakdown like a hopeless person? When the silence on the line became too suffocating, Somin decided there was nothing he was going to say regarding last night. She felt a pang in her heart. "Anways, I'll get going."

Before he could say good bye, Somin hung up, feeling disappointed. Raking his fingers through his thick hair, Sehun sighed. "Aishh."  He felt like a pathetic scaredy cat. You weren't so hesitant to kiss her last night were you, and now you can't even say a few words to seal the deal? His conscience reprimanded him constantly.

Suddenly filled up with a surge of confidence, he decided that what's done is done. Holding back now will only lead to trouble though not holding back means bigger trouble but he forced aside all the negativity. In a flash of a second, Sehun was ringing rang her up again. And within two rings, Somin received it, as if waiting for him.

"Hello-"

"Will you go out on a date with me?"

A delightful smile etched on Somin's lips and before she could stop her emotions, she was grinning ear to ear and the thumping in her chest was increasing. Though unbelievable to herself, she found herself blushing at those words. Oh, how much I'd longed to hear that from him. On the other line, she could hear heavy, nervous breathing. "Uh... what makes you say that out of a sudden?"

"Excuse me?" His eyes widened in horror. For a second, he thought he'd dialed somebody else's number in rush and asked them out. Even the idea was frightening. After being totally sure that it was her and she was just teasing round in her usual manner, he relaxed. "Stop it!"

He heard Somin giggle. "I'm serious. A minute ago, you were acting like a boring ass grandpa and now you're-"

"Do you randomly kiss strangers at night and pretend it never happened the next day?" He smirked.

"Good, you remember it. I thought you had developed amnesia overnight or something." She chuckled.

Sehun shook his head, smiling. "Anyways, so, will you?"

"No."

He gulped the lump out of his throat. Is she really denying it? And there goes my new found confidence. "What?"

"I can't go on a date with you." Somin declared bemusedly.

"Because... you're busy..?" He hoped that was the only reason.

"Yeah, that too." She shrugged.

"And why else?"

A cheeky smile flashed on Somin's face. "Because you have to earn it." Followed by her wicked chuckle, making Sehun massage his nose bridge but a grin made its way nonetheless. "Aghh, of course."

He heard Somin's laugh on the line, then a sudden gasp. For a minute she didn't speak and then whispered, "I think someone's outside. Bye."

And just like that, she was gone.

When Somin tiptoed out of the small washroom into the practice room, her eyes widened upon seeing Sam crouching on the floor. Her muscles were immediately tense. "What the hell are you-"

She stopped upon seeing him settling a few water bottles on the floor. He stood up, his eyes fixed at her, making her slightly uncomfortable. His lingering gaze broke and he slowly walked out. She was reminded of her last conversation with him the previous night. And it was not pretty at all.  Her eyes shot accusingly at her bandmates. "Who let him inside?"

"I did." Rio bit her lip.

Somin hoisted her hands on her hips, her voice louder. "Why did you do that?"

"For water--"

"It could wait. I told you not to bring him any closer to us than he is-"

"Is he blackmailing you again?" Ariya asked. The younger girl just sighed. It was true that he had taken advantage of their relationship and all the data he had about her to use it against her just before her debut. But that issue had already been settled. She hoped it wouldn't happen again.

The door quietly opened again, revealing Jae. A very flustered and slightly out-of-breath Jae. Her goofy smile slipped when it met with the sullen expression on her band mate's faces. Seeing the already placed water bottles on the floor, she laughed nervously, catching up that she had been half an hour late.

"Um, hi." She wiggled her fingers. Rio and Ariya narrowed their eyes, advancing towards the girl.

"You good for nothing--" 

"It's all your fault!"

"Ow, ow!" Jae rubbed her butt as the girls were proceeded to smack her. She scooted away from them in alarm. In the midst of the action, her legs tangled with Ariya's, taking her down with her. As the two of them crashed onto the floor, the rest of the three burst into laughter. Some of Jae's hair strands were inside Ariya's mouth, causing the Japanese girl to gag comically. "Yah, I'm older than y'all, give me respect!" Jae whined, she attempted to stable herself.

"I'm going to give you another punch if you don't start explaining right now." Saebyul chided. "One floor, honestly, it's just one floor away!"

Jae averted her gaze. "Uh, I ran into sunbae-nim. It just felt rude to avoid them when they're in the mood to chat, that's all."

Somin narrowed her gaze. "Who exactly?"

"Sungjae sunbae-nim." Though Jae shrugged nonchalantly, Somin could see past her. She could tell she was gushing inside. Somin felt guilty when she remembered she'd given her word to Sooyoung about helping her with this. She wondered if Sungjae had any feelings for her friend because as far as Sooyoung told her, he should be dying to take her out. But that wasn't happening.
By now, she could conclude that if Jae felt something for him, it wasn't one-sided. And this fact made Somin more confused. Why was he leading on both of them? At that moment, one more thing dawned upon her; if Sungjae is ever going to make a move on any of the two girls, he might be needing my help in setting them up since I am a mutual person and also one he could comfortably talk to. Yes, he was cheeky but he wasn't that bold a guy to do it by himself.

Somin offered the elder girl a hand, pulling her up. When she was on her level, Somin whispered in her ear. "What did he talk about?"

"He was asking about you."

Somin rolled her eyes. "Sure, what else?"

Jae's eyes immediately rounded up, "Oh yes, he also told me that Cube is monitoring all their artist's phones again. I bet next turn is ours!"

Somin's breath sucked in her throat. Holy Shit. I have to do something!

---

"And in the end, all I'll add is that Aurora really really hopes that you'll enjoy what we've prepared for you. We worked pretty hard on this concept, please show us a lot of love!" Saebyul made the 'fighting' sign before the screen with a good-natured smile plastered on her face. The girl group was currently holding an Instagram live as a part of the promotional schedule, the release of their first full album was just two days away now.

"Don't forget to watch the music video once it drops." Rio smiled widely. She leaned down to read the stream of comments. "Ahh... spoiler?"

"We've already given quite many..." Ariya mumbled.

The leader searched for the manager behind the camera in question. The older woman nodded slightly. Saebyul turned to the camera and grinned. "I guess we can show you some of the moves." She gestured towards her mates. "Somin? Ariya?"

The two girls got up from the sofa and positioned themselves. Somin crouched on the ground while Ariya stood before her. The girls hummed the melody from behind while the lead dancers showed the main point of the choreography perfectly. They broke out clapping and an array of 'oohh' and 'daebak' when they stood to settle on the sofa again.

"I hope you guys liked it. We have a lot in store for you!" Somin cheered, thinking about the several songs in this album with dance performances.

Rio who was monitoring the comments turned to the visual, "Somin unnie, they're asking about your hand?"

A warm smile placed on the said girl's lips. "Ahh, thank you. I'm doing quite better now. I'm a little anxious of the performance because I want to present my best to my fans. I'll give it my best. Saranghae!" She made a heart with her hands.

In ten minutes,  the girls immediately collapsed on their backs when the live wrapped up allowing them to relax. "Unnie. Do you think we can manage a win this time?" Rio muttered.

Jae nodded. "Of course, we've improved so much. I'm expecting one."

"Me too," Ariya added. "I promised my brothers I'm going to send them remote control cars if I win. I hope they don't remember that promise."

The girls smiled, shaking their heads. Somin sighed deeply, she wished she had a family member to celebrate these moments too. To call and tell someone about her achievements and hear them say how proud she made them feel. Her heart yearned to hear that. Usually, Seungmin Oppa was there, but nothing could fill the void of a full, complete family in her heart. Her mother would never praise her on something she despised all her life and her father, well, he probably didn't feel the need to. I wonder if that wish will ever see a reality. At moments like these, she missed Sohee the most. The two sisters used to stick together like twins, always knowing what was on the other's mind. Somin sometimes foolishly liked to imagine how different her life would be if Sohee was beside her. It always left her dejected.

Shaking her pessimist thoughts, she got up, making her way out to 20space to grab something to eat when her phone rang again, flashing Sooyoung's pretty face. "Hey!"

"Nam Somin." Her friend's tone was deadly.

Somin resisted herself from rolling her eyes. Half of the time, she didn't even know what wrong she'd done. "That's me, I guess..."

"Do you mind explaining to me what the fuck is Oh Sehun doing outside Red Velvet's recording room this very moment, requesting to see me?" She demanded.

"What?" Somin clapped her mouth, halting in her steps. Shit, Sooyoung doesn't know yet. "Yeah, well, about that..." She trailed off, her cheeks flushing.

"I'm waiting."

"We're kind of-- uhh, kind of seeing each other..? I don't know-" A loud gasp resonated from the other line. 

"What!" She could tell Sooyoung was trying hard not to be loud but the shock was evident which turned into anger and then anticipation in few seconds, her emotions all over the place. "You didn't even tell me anything, Som, you secretive little bitch! And I told you to let it go, let him go but--ugh you should have shared with me! What's going on now? Is it serious? Oh Jesus, are you really dating?"

"I can't say anything right now." She replied with an unsure tone. "But the question is, what is he even doing out there?"

Sooyoung shrugged. "You tell me that.  I bet it has something to do with you."

She sighed. "Look, just go outside and meet him. I have no idea."

"Okay, I'll call you back." Sooyoung complied. "And that does not mean you're forgiven for keeping secrets from your best friend!" She scowled before hanging up.

Her hunger dismissed, Somin marched up and down the hallway, anxiousness written over her face. She couldn't fathom what could Sehun have to do with her friend? Don't tell me he's going to beg her for help to make me go out on a date with him? No, he's not stupid, he knows that it must be confidential. What else could it be? She was puzzled.

She pulled out the band holding her hair and ran her fingers through her scalp to ease her mind. Her head was spinning. Nothing was scarier than the prospect of anybody else knowing about this. 

In five minutes, the much-awaited call finally came through, causing her to jump in suspense. "Yes?"

Sooyoung was laughing on the other end, in fact, it took her a couple of moments to stable herself from her fit. "Ahh Somin--! You little shit."

"What did I do?!" She was alarmed.

"It was so awkward to talk to somebody I've never really spoken off camera!" She complained.

"Will you just-"

"Are you ignoring him or something?" Sooyoung said. "Gosh, he looked so confused, poor boy. Said he can't reach you out, out of a sudden. Is there something wrong with your signal service? He asked if I knew anything about it. I obviously didn't, so he told me to let you know that he's trying to contact you for a few days."

Somin was rendered speechless. Smacking her temple as the big picture finally started making sense. "Shit!" The urge to pull out her hair at her stupidity was overwhelming her. Simultaneously, she was filled with guilt at the trouble she'd put Sehun through, he must have felt so lost. 

Sooyoung sighed on the line. "What's wrong?"

"Oh Sooyoung, it's all my fault! I-- let me tell you everything. You see, my company is conducting an inspection of our phone galleries and contacts again and I was honestly scared they'll find something out so I blocked his number and deleted all the chats, everything. Since I was already ticked off before they asked for my phone, I had time to wipe all traces clean."

"That's so wrong." She sympathized. "But the question is, did you unblock him after the inspection?"

"Yeah, well... that's the problem." She scratched her head. "I forgot to."

"Way to go."

"I know, I know, I'm a terrible person." Somin resigned. 

"It's okay, though. I'm sure he'll understand." Sooyoung told her. "But I have to hear the details, girl! How did it happen?"

"Don't fret, I'll tell you everything. She promised.

"You better! I might need some tips from you." Sooyoung convinced her. "Speaking of which, did you happen to mention something to Sungjae?"

Somin bit her lip hearing the hidden hope in her friend's voice, she hated to see her falling so hard for someone so indecisive. "Uhh, no I didn't have the chance to. But I'll give it my best."

"Thanks, Som."

Late at night, by the time the girls had retired to their dorm rooms at last after another hour of practice, Somin finally found the opportunity to unblock Sehun's number and called him nervously once she was sure she could hear light snores from the bed beside her; Jae was asleep. Though it was risky, it was a risk she was willing to take.

He sounded surprised when he received the call. "Oh, look who decided to--"

Somin babbled the entire apology she's formed in her mind. "I'm so sorry! I really am, it totally slipped my mind-"

"It's okay." Sehun shook his head, he knew there must be a reason for her unforeseen disappearance. "Must be your agency?"

Somin sighed downheartedly. "Yeah. I just hate them."

He chuckled lightly. "Oh, the game's only started, love. It's just the beginning, you'll see how far these people can go."

Somin's lips formed a pout. She lightly flicked the window open to let in the chilly air. She desperately needed something to stop the increasing throbbing in her head. The girls had had a restless week, everything was rather frenetic. "Don't scare me." She whispered in a small tone.

Sehun laughed softly. "It will be fine, you'll get through." Though they were just randomly spoken comforting words, she strangely believed him.

"I hope so." She took in deep air, laying her back on the soft pillow and closed her eyes. "I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble."

Sehun smiled as he leaned against the dorm balcony. It really was a peaceful, cloudless night. "You didn't." He enjoyed this kind of Somin. Who wasn't teasing, wasn't arguing about something silly, one who only needed his comfort to lean into.

"I'm leaving this weekend for Hongkong." He told her and Somin immediately felt her heart dip in a pit. "Tour?"

"Yeah." When quietness settled between them for some long moments, he tried to cheer her up. "Let's play a game."

"Hmm?"

"I've sent you something, you'll have to look at it first."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Where?"

"On Instagram."

"What?" A stunned smile broke out in her features as she sat up eagerly. "How do you know about my account?"

"You think I haven't done my share of stalking?" Sehun smirked. "Okay, just kidding. I asked your friend, Joy. Well, go ahead and take a look now."

He could hear a shuffling noise so he waited. Somin's fingers swiped on the screen in a rushed manner. After a few moments, Somin gasped in shock as she opened her DMs. "You really did! let me see... ooh nice dp, hmm... it's a picture!" She frowned, staring at the screen. "What's this, Sehun?"

He grinned, suddenly feeling anticipated. Though he wished they weren't doing this on phone. He desperately wanted to see her reaction. "Come on, read it."

Narrowing her eyes to adjust her irises to the sudden light. He had sent her a picture of... "Tickets? They seem like tickets to a... game?"

Sehun nodded quickly. "Yes, that's right!"

"I don't get it."

Jerking himself off the railing, he stood straighter, hands moving in the air to describe efficiently. "Can you read which teams are facing each other?"

Somin glanced at it. "South Korea vs. France!" She laughed cheerfully. "Okay this is getting fun."

"Hmm, so it's really simple." Sehun said. "We'll go watch this game and if South Korea wins, you're granting me a wish. If France does, well, I hope that doesn't happen but if so, I'll grant your wish."

Somin pursed her lips as the information absorbed in her brain. "What's your wish?"

"You know it." He shrugged. 

Her lips curled gleefully on their accord. "So, it's basically them playing a game and we're betting on it?"

"Bingo."

Nodding approvingly because she was always up for a little, harmless entertainment, "Okay, we're on! You've been doing some pretty brainstorming, Oh Sehun. I'm impressed."

He felt pleased with himself for earning her praise. To be honest, he was anxious if she'd just laugh at him or actually go with it. Basking in euphoria, he boasted. "That I did. Had to do some searching on the internet and luckily they were playing test matches and I thought we can use it for our own little game."

"Hmm." Somin felt her worries and aches leaving her system. Stretching her hind limbs, she exhaled loudly. He questioned, "You'll go, right?"

"What? That's part of the plan too?" She lifted her eyebrow. "It's not safe, Sehun."

"What if we don't sit together? I'll check if they have more than one VIP boxes and we won't arrive at the same time either--"

"When is it?"

"This Thursday." He responded.

She sucked in air and released it in one go. "Are you mad, that's tomorrow, I can't come. I've got all booked days."

Somin's answer left him dispirited. But the downside was, he knew he was in no place to be mad at that because he'd been in her shoes too many times. He knew how busy one could get one their group was releasing an album. There was no other choice left but to understand her reasons. "Okay. Maybe I'll cancel these tickets and we can go some other time?"

"No, it's a pretty good set up. Why don't you go with any of your groupmates? I swear I'll keep my eye on the score through any online site." Somin tried to make up for it. She clung the phone to her ear hoping she'd somehow get a sign that he was okay. When he emitted a long breath and didn't say anything, she spoke. "Don't be sad."

Sehun smiled slightly, as he clutched his coat and fastened the buttons. "Alright, but you better be online all the time!"

She grinned. "Of course."

"Have you thought of your wish?"

Somin nipped at her lower lip. "I'll give it a thought when I win."

"If  you win." His tone turned terse.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Okay, tell me about your day." She slipped under her covers as he started speaking.

--- 

Sehun craned his neck to get a better view from the windscreen of the car. A frown crawled on his features as he witnessed the thick traffic jam. "Do you think we can reach before the match starts?"

Jiseok, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at the dial of his watch. "Can't say anything."

The maknae collapsed on the leather cushion and groaned. "Fate is not on my side tonight."

To start with, he'd gotten up late in the morning, an outcome of the long and quite enjoyable phone call with Somin last night, which eventually resulted in reaching late to practice. He was severely dehydrated because he didn't even get a bite of breakfast in his system which is why the practice didn't go as smooth. Then he practically begged each of his group members to accompany him to the match but all of them wanted to lie in and relax during the free evening considering the long, tiring weekend ahead.

In the end, Sehun sullenly submitted in front of the sale's managers door to come with him because he knew going alone at a public event would cause him trouble from the agency. After much persuasion, Jiseok agreed. 

After another hour of ear screeching bonking of horns and slithering through the roads, they arrived at the Dongdaemun Stadium located in the Northern askirts of Seoul. As soon as he got out of the car, Jiseok took the lead while a few sturdy body guards clearing the way for the idol. Keeping his head low, Sehun troudged to the VIP box after showing his tickets and settled on his seat.

He saw a text from Somin on his phone. Have you reached?

Yes, just now, he typed back. Are you watching?

Of course :) Gotta witness my win.

He smirked, shaking his head. There was no way France was going to win tonight. He put his phone away when Jiseok took the unoccupied seat beside him, handing him a tub of popcorns quietly.

"I never took you as a person to be interested in sports."

Sehun shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not a crazy fan but... I enjoy it from time to time."

Jiseok nodded. Sehun asked, "What about you, hyung?"

The elder man smiled slightly. "My little daughter is a crazy fan so she's always dragging me to watch with her."

Sehun smiled. "That's sweet. Isn't she interested in K-pop?"

"Just a little."

He nodded solemnly. Shifting in his seat, Sehun turned towards the man with an expression that held gratitude. "By the way, thanks for accompanying me. I know you didn't have to but it means a lot to me." Though he hated giving the ticket that he had bought for Somin to anyone else, he was still glad he wasn't alone.

Jiseok chucked, rubbing the younger one's back. "It's fine."

The manager observed the maknae for a while. His eyes followed him when he'd excitedly jump in his seat whenever an announcement was made. He commented after a few minutes. "You look pretty excited."

A skittle laugh was what he got. "I am!" Sehun grinned. "Oh look, it's about to start!"

The next hour passed in a flash. Sehun's eyes remained trained on the pitch the whole time, his fingers nervously fidgeting with his cuffs. With every passing minute, he was becoming impatient, oh dear, he wanted to win really bad. He could hardly sit still, jumping whenever he thought South Korea was going to score. Though he still managed to maintain an interesting chit-chat with the manager through out, it was nice bonding in his opinion. Maybe if we become close enough, he might keep the secret and help me sneak out with Somin later on.

The best part was that Somin did stick to her promise and was aware of all that happened on a pitch and he didn't feel her absence anymore. Sehun slurped on his smoothie. "Seriously, does scoring usually take this long?"

"Yeah, of course. The competition's tight though." Jiseok answered. "We can leave early if you want. You have a long weekend ahead-"

"No, no it's fine!" The maknae assured him. 

Jiseok's phone vibrated. As he glanced at it, his posture tensed instantly as he told Sehun, "I have to take this."

"Yeah?"

"Are you busy? I found some more."

Jiseok's cautious eyes fell on the idol immersed in the match and nodded after some consideration. "Okay, speak."

"So I went to her agency today and asked about." Jung updated him. "She's almost 21, she's half Korean and half French and the group's visual and lead dancer. Her fanbase is quite strong for a newbie, she even won a Rookie award last month. She's appeared in many dance studios. Most of the trainees I talked to said they're intimidated by her though they think she's cool. The people she's friends with--"

"Jung." Jiseok's voice alone depicted his irritation. "This is not what I want. If I needed this type of information I could have searched it up myself, there's the internet, you know!"

Jung cowered at the sharp disapproval. "Look, just listen to me. I've heard she's not on good terms with her family. We can target that, right?"

Jiseok narrowed his eye, shaking his head. "If she doesn't care about them, why would it matter to her if we target them. Who told you that anyway?"

The peon shrugged. "Dunno, there was this dance instructor I ran into, said he used to be close to her."

He hummed. "Be careful though, don't raise suspicion."

"Don't worry. I'm trying to squeeze something out of the staff too, maybe they'll tell me something."

"Look-" He was distracted when Sehun yelped in joy, clapping furiously as their team scored. He continued in a low, controlled tone. "As far as I have gathered, she's pretty and people adore her. If you can just find out if she's ever gone through plastic surgery or anything like that, any type of beauty treatment will work, okay? Look into that. Ask her make up artist if you have to. There's nothing else that can blow out a beautiful person's fame than the public knowing it's not original."

Jung nodded, impressed at his senior's genius idea. "Alright noted. That guy also gave me her personal number."

"What?" Jiseok shot up from his seat, catching Sehun's attention for the first time. "Is it her personal number?" When Jung confirmed, he laughed, "Woah, this guy is really something! Ask him more, if she has had any scandals, okay?" Sehun's eyes flickered to his manager curiously. What is he planning?

"Yes."

"And about this number, well, leak it on any online website anonymously, her group's fanpage preferably. We'll know if it's real or not when the fans try it."

"Are-are you sure about this, sir?" Jung's eyes widened. "I mean, that could be troublesome.."

As a manager, he knew the hassle when an idol's number is leaked, it takes days to control the situation. Jiseok smirked. "Dead sure. Do as you're told."

When he ended the call, Sehun glanced at the elder man. After forming the words several times in his mind, he started, "Hyung, who was that?"

"My junior, Jung."

"What were you talking about?" The maknae chuckled to lighten the atmosphere. "For a second, it seemed you were planning to..." to leak a number were the words that jammed in his mouth before Jiseok's scrutinized gaze fell on his face, accusing him of eavesdropping. 

Jiseok passed him a tight smile. "It's nothing. Don't meddle your young mind into this."

Sehun didn't pry further deciding to let it go, he didn't even speak anymore except for the time he was cursing because the tables had unexpectedly turned and anyone could tell that South Korea needed a miracle to pull off a victory.

-

Grumbling under his breath, the maknae jumped in the car and almost collapsed on the leather seat, swearing incoherently. Today's definitely the worst day of my life, nothing less than a disaster.

Before any lurking fans could snatch the opportunity to surround the car, Jiseok told the driver to hurry up and pull out from the parking lot. Then he turned around to face the maknae who looked adorably cute with that sulky frown on his face. "Hey, cheer up! Don't take it to heart."

Sehun shook his head, glaring at the phone. 

Jiseok tried again. "Let's grab something to eat, okay? What will you like?"

"Nothing, just drop me at my dorm." He decided to give Somin a call himself. It was like deliberately giving permission to tease the shit out of his poor soul but he wanted to know her wish nonetheless. As nobody picked after five rings and he was directed to voicemail, he cried out. "Ugh, why isn't she picking up!" He stashed the phone in his pocket moodily.

His sales manager turned again and raised an eyebrow. "Who are you calling?"

"Oh no one, hyung. Just my--uh my mother."

Sehun winced at the sound of his terrible lie.

-

"Oh, you're back." 

Three smiling heads lifted when Sehun set foot in his room with a contrasting scowl pasted on his features. The leader, Jongdae and Jongin were occupying a single bed, hardly fitting on it, totally engrossed in a video they were watching on a cell phone. The leader remarked, "How did it go?"

The maknae only gruntled in reply, tossing the contents scattered over his bed, which mainly included Suho's clothes, on the floor. "I fucking lost."

 "It's okay, bro. Just a match. Happens all the time." Jongin nudged his agemate with his foot.

But why now? "I thought our team was supposed to be good."

Jongdae laughed, "Of course it is! You were too excited in the morning, but it's honestly okay." They tried to make him feel better but the frown on his face was determined to keep its place.

They got back to watching their video and the sound of those cheerful guffaws which repeated after a few seconds was making Sehun more annoyed. Just when he was about to beg them to escort their asses outside, Jongdae and Suho started wolf-whistling, looking at Jongin who's ears were turning a darker shade.

"Yah, stop it!" He grinned from ear to ear.

"What is it?" Sehun looked over in surprise. Suho quickly turned the phone's screen towards the maknae and he could see a beautiful girl, upon more scrutiny, he recognized her as Krystal noona, their labelmate. Beside her was Kai. It was a shot from their photoshoot from the latest edition of W Korea.

A smile finally crept up on Sehun's face, they did look good together. "She really likes these pictures too!" Kai happily shared.

"You already took her out?" Jongdae bawled, hitting Kai's arm. "You didn't tell us!"

"Aigoo. Calm down hyung, I haven't. We're still playing 'friends.'"

"What's stopping you?" The maknae inquired.

Kai shrugged. "Dunno, I know she's into me. But how do I ask? I mean, she's a senior and.."

Suho chuckled, "Bro, if that's the case, you gotta take lessons from Baekhyun."

The four of them laughed. A voice called out, "Did somebody say my name?" Baekhyun wandered inside with a smile, wearing only his vest and shorts.

Sehun released a heavy breath. If Jongdae hyung and him are present in the same room, it indirectly meant there will be no peace and calm, only disturbing uproar. Shaking his head, the maknae reluctantly got on his feet, as his bandmates chatted loudly, to take his leave. Maybe he could rest in the living-- "Hey, take your phone. Somebody's calling you." Baekhyun pointed at his phone.

Sehun immediately took hold of it from the side table but it was too late. "Miss Paris?" Baekhyun's mouth dropped, his eyes shining. "Who's miss Paris? Aish, where are you going!"

Jongdae wailed indignantly. "Yah these dongsaengs are keeping too many secrets--"

But the maknae had already scurried out of the room, smiling to himself and his hyungs only watched in awe, jaws dropped. He left poor Suho to answer to everybody's pestering. Thanking his stars upon finding the kitchen empty, he slid over the marble slab and picked his ringing phone. 

"Hey, loser."

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny."

"Whatever you say." Somin's tone was melodious, she sounded too happy over her motherland's victory. "You lost your own bet, that's what matters."

Sehun shrugged, lips curling dejectedly. "I could have won! Things were steering in my favor if it wasn't for that stupid penalty. Even a child could tell!"

Somin grinned hearing his endless complaints. "It was your idea, after all."

"I'm never doing something like this again." He swore, placing a hand on his heart. "Never, I tell you!"

"Woah, you're really pissed off."

"Do you expect me to dance in victory?" He scoffed. "I knew it wasn't my day."

Somin smiled, shaking her head. "Anyways," He inquired. "What's your wish?"

"Take a guess."

Surprisingly, there was nothing he knew that Somin would want. She never told her desires, her secrets to guess from. "I think I've had enough games for today."

"Okay, I'll tell you then." Somin inhaled a big chunk of air, bracing herself. She would be lying if she said that it wasn't something her selfish heart had wanted since the very beginning she'd seen him. "My wish..." Sehun listened intently. "...is to grant your wish."

Sehun's lips parted, his face glowed with a mixture of happiness and surprise, both. One would say he was stupified by the way his eyes gleamed like a child who'd just won his favorite toy. But she was no toy, she was a girl, the girl who had somehow held his heart captive the day their eyes first met. It was a connection too strong to ignore. The bubbling feeling in his chest didn't allow his brain to formulate a reply so he only ended in stammering with an expression of content. "Tha-thank you."

He wished every day to be this unlucky, to lose like that, only if it meant he'd have her at the end of the day.

---

Somin slammed shut the door of her cab after handing the older driver his bill. Tugging at the edges of her coat, she hurriedly made for the shed of the majestic hotel standing in front of her. She'd heard the name before, Tuscany Courtyard, but never been there and just judging by the exterior of the place, adorned with five magnificently illuminated fountains and garths where vibrant pansies bloomed, she could tell she would never have afforded it anyway.

It was a rainy night, in fact the first of the fall season. She was careful not to splash the few puddles sprinkled over the floor. Once inside, she made her way to the reception before her eyes could run astray towards the luxurious interior. The whole place was furnished with a European touch, imperial chandeliers hung in their glory flashing on the regular hustle-bustle beneath, glass windows that reached the roof, wooden furniture with intricate carvings. The main lobby was dipped in a hue of beige shade. Before she had the chance to admire any further, a man, probably a butler, escorted her to god knows where and she followed silently.

She nervously clutched her black Chanel bag. That one accessory had cost a thousand dollars, gifted by her chic, bubbly aunt Clara, her mother's younger sister. Her aunt was shocked to find out that her niece didn't own a Chanel accessory, during Somin's last trip to France a couple of years back, and took her shopping that very instant while explaining wisely in her thick accent, 'investing in one timeless item is never a bad idea, mon petit oiseau, and the pièce de résistance of any French woman's closet is a Chanel bag. You need to look like a De La Cour girl.' De La Cour was her surname, from her mother's family. And that's how this particular luxe item came in her possession a few years back, but Somin only took it out for special occasions and was glad she had the opportunity to use it today. [mon petit oiseau= my little birdie. pièce de résistance= masterpiece.]

Soon enough, Somin was shown to a private room. The man opened the door for her and left. As soon as she stepped inside, her heart elated when her eyes fell on Sehun who passed a warm smile. Her eyes traveled to his attire. Needless to say, he looked royal good. His dark hair was combed back, simple and classic. His crisp grey shirt was tucked in neatly ironed black slacks. Sehun's tall posture radiated his good taste in fashion-- minimal and charismatic. But Somin didn't feel insecure, she'd paid effort too.

"Will you stand there staring like that?" He chuckled. "Come here."

With a content smile, she stepped closer to him. They were seeing each other after two long weeks of her comeback. In the morning after the night she'd said yes, he'd flown away to Hongkong while Somin got indulged in her busy schedule with interviews, music stage performances, and radio shows. Aurora had finally won their first most awaited music win on Music Bank for 'Cherry on Top'. She was so excited for this day and now it was finally here.

He tugged at her trench coat and she slipped it off, pulling away from her face mask and cap gently, careful not to ruin her sleek hair bun. Sehun's thick eyebrows went up to meet his forehead as his eyes shamelessly devoured her beautiful curves, evident in the off-shoulder forest green dress that clung to her. Silver earrings were dangling from her ears and the charm bracelet was in its usual place. Her lips, dipped in a bold shade of red, lifted up as she jokingly smacked his chest. "Stop it!"

"You just look beautiful, that's it!" He protested, pecking her cheek.

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself."

"But you look better."

She threw him a look of false boredom, lifting her hands in a punch, "Wanna fight?"

In fifteen minutes, they were seated on the round table, the ricotta toast and steaming hors d'ouevres were served as appetizers before them. The diner they lodged in was a private one, having a nice night view from the balcony. Sehun spoke as their champagne glasses clunked. "Cheers to your music win?"

She smiled. "Cheers."

Taking a small sip, Somin asked, "Is it normal not to cry when you earn your first win? I tried so hard to bring some tears because everyone cries but it was such a happy moment, how could I cry..."

A loud laugh escaped his mouth as he shook his head, "Well, it's up to you. Most of my hyungs cried like babies."

"That's cute," Somin remarked. "All of my bandmates broke down except me."

Sehun's outstretched fingers stroke her hand. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you guys won."

She grinned, holding his hand. "That's true."

Sehun set down his glass and sat back in his chair. "I had this weird dream last night."

Somin hummed, encouraging him to speak. "So, I was having an argument with Vivi-"

"Were you barking or was he speaking human?"

Sehun facial muscles contracted in thinking, he scratched his head. "I don't remember. Does it matter?"

"I guess not."

"Yeah well, we were arguing because he had decided to move out because..." Sehun's lips tightened into a tight line as if holding back laughter at the stupidity of the scenario. Somin nudged him from under the table, "Stop laughing on your own, tell me!"

"Well, Vivi said he--he didn't like the tiny socks I was buying for his paws."

Somin joined him in the laughter. The image of these two arguings was adorably cute in her head. He continued, trying to keep a straight face, "And then he picked his briefcase angrily--"

"Okay great. That dog has a briefcase now?" She giggled. "What's next? He wins the election for the States?"

"No, no!" His hands motioned her to pay attention. "Well, yeah, there was this black leather briefcase, he picked it up and walked out of my house. And outside, there was a..." He thought for a second. "... a basketball court."

"You have a basketball court in your--"

"I don't. But I'm definitely gonna get one, it looked so damn rich of me. So anyway, you were playing basketball with your bandmates while I was still convincing my pet not to leave me, running after him." He threw her a flirtatious wink, "You were wearing this tight little mid-length sweatshirt, now need I mention how hot that--"

She hit his arm indignantly, "Don't turn this into a dirty dream."

Sehun enjoyed the look on her face. He said after controlling his face that seemed to break out into smiles all the time, "Okay, I swear it was just a small detail, I didn't stop to ogle at you. Vivi was leaving me, for heaven's sake!"

Somin's eyes narrowed in disbelief but the teasing smile never left her face. "Alright."

"Just saying, you should consider doing CFs for sports gear, it would be awesome."

" I'll keep it in mind."

After her approval, he explained, "Then, it started snowing. And it turned into a blizzard, a really bad one, you know." He shivered at the thought of it. 

"And then?" She lifted an eyebrow. "Did we all start ice skating?"

Sehun chuckled with a disapproving flick of his head. "Well, it snowed so much that... Vivi disappeared." His tone turned so solemn that Somin had to remind herself that he was only joking. Her mind became blank at this part of the dream, it was crazy mad where it was going.

"Why, because he's snowy white?" She tried.

"Yeah! And then we all started looking for him, your friends with me, and cleaning the snow and calling his name. But surprisingly you were the one crying in anxiety, not me." Her mouth dropped in surprise. "Then I woke up."

She sighed in relief. "What a strange brain you have."

"I totally freaked out when I couldn't find Vivi anywhere after getting up. I was seriously considering reporting it but then he emerged from my pile of dirty laundery." Sehun shrugged. "But just to be on the safe side, I canceled all the orders I have placed for his clothing accessories." 

She laughed again, shaking her head, making Sehun float on air, seeing the beautiful upturn of her lips. When he rang the waiter after some more chatting, the man arrived dressed lavishly and placed two menu book on the table. Somin glanced at it and asked, "What do you serve for dessert?"

The waiter laid another menu sheet before her. She hummed and nodded, skimming through the pages. "I'll have a slice of classic New York cheesecake with raspberry topping first."

Sehun gaped at her questioningly. The waiter had a similar reaction, he asked politely, "Okay ma'am, what about the main course?" He pointed at the menu he had placed earlier. Somin smiled generously, "Oh, he can choose for both of us."

Sehun shot her another look before placing an order for both of them. As the waiter left, the male idol asked, "What was that?"

It took her a minute to register what he was talking about. "I like to have my dessert first. Most of the times I'm not even allowed dessert because of the diet but I try when it's possible."

"Oh, is that uh-- a medical condition, perhaps?"

A corner of her lips raised. "I just don't see the point of waiting." She sighed dramatically. "What if I die eating my dinner and don't get to have my dessert?"

He looked totally baffled at her theory. "Is that probable?"

"Possible!" Somin shrugged nonchalantly. " Embolism bursts, an asteroid hits the restaurant, anything can happen. I'd die without having eaten the one thing I wanted most." She looked satisfied with her explanation.

Sehun licked his upper lip, thoroughly amused. And I'm the one with the strange brain? he thought. "The odds of that happening are quite--"

"Tell you what," She leaned in to gaze into his eyes seriously. "I know you're into me. Swear to me on your true soul that I'll make it through all main course and last till dessert. And I'll wait till the end." An entertaining smiling sat on his lips. As he opened his mouth, she lifted a hand, "Before you answer... remember, that if I die, you're going to have to live the rest of your life knowing not only did you like me, but you denied me of my one last indulgence. My last wish!"

He was slightly shaking from laughter under her challenging gaze. "Are you prepared to show that kind of responsibility, Oh Sehun?"

A defeated laugh escaped his lips as Sehun lifted both of his hands up, "Okay, eat as you like." And she fell back in her chair triumphantly.

Their order arrived, she was starving so she wanted to dig in right then and there. It was mostly Italian cuisine which comprised of mouth-watering Fettucine Alfredo pasta with cheese oozing from every corner and sour beef stew and Chicken parmesan along with beans salad. She nibbled on her cake as he told her all about his tour in Hongkong.

In midst of his story about a fan who gifted him a whole set of chocolate bubble tea, Sehun stopped short, eyes wide as if he'd just remembered something. Somin tapped his hand to bring him back but his eyes returned to his plate in annoyance and he slapped his forehead. "What?" She asked, worriedly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah... I just.." He sighed. "Why are we eating this, I planned to.." He wasn't making any sense.

Somin stared at him as he pushed his plate away. She started, "Look, tell me-"

"I'm ordering again." He announced as he rang for the waiter again. "What, why!" She cried out in surprise.

"I read somewhere that if you treat a girl to sea food on your first date, it leaves a good impression."

Mouth agape, Somin gawked at him for one good minute as he innocently stared back. "What?"

She laughed, "Are you crazy? You're not doing to do anything like that. It's stupid, Sehun."

"But, I just--"

"I think we've had enough of first impressions, believe me. It's so unnecessary." She clasped his hand over the table and pumped it. He threw her a disbelieving look, "But it's our first date--"

"Honestly, I love what you've ordered. I don't know where you read that--"

"It's not a bother for me--"

"Stop being like that or I'll start teasing your spoiled, rich ass again!" Somin threatened him, holding a finger. His heart thumped at the way her big, beautiful eyes poured into his, quite threateningly though. He shook the thoughts away from his head.

Sehun lips formed a small pout. "Fine."

"Great, now start eating like a good boy!" She spooned some pasta and shoved it in his mouth which he opened happily. She grimaced at what she was doing, feeding your partner was something she'd always found insanely cheesy.

Taking advantage of her sudden action, he whined, "Can you come over to this side?" He gestured at the spot beside him. "This table is too damn big and I want to hold your--"

"Ohh, you cheeky, little liar." Somin sneered. "Don't try to be romantic! I know you're only interested in stealing a bite of my cake slice, aren't you!" She giggled to herself merrily. "It's so heavenly, I won't share." She stuck her tongue out.

Sehun shot her a are-you-fucking-serious look, rolling his eyes.

"What, you don't want my cake?"

"No, idiot."

"Well, I'm not coming until I'm done with this." She made heart eyes to her plate.

Sehun was glad to see her smiling, enjoying herself. He'd waited for months to finally take her out, call her his girlfriend. Knowing the reason behind her smile was him made his adrenaline rush. It's the cake you idiot, his brain corrected. But I paid for that cake! His heart protested back.

Somin ran her gaze around her surroundings with a bewildered look. "Sehun?" He looked up. "How much did you pay to book this place?"

He frowned. "Why?"

"I wanna know."

"It doesn't concern you." The way he was trying to dodge both, her eyes and question, confirmed Somin's doubts. She left half of her cheesecake aside and sighed heavily. "You know I can just search up the charges of a private diner in this hotel. Please save me from the trouble."

"Dunno." He shrugged casually. "270,000 won. I guess?"

"You paid that much!" Somin screamed, springing up from her seat. That's just the booking fee! Her thoughts ran wild, glancing at all the food laid before her. It must have been so expensive.

"Hey, hey, hey calm down. That's why I didn't want you to know." Sehun helped her back on the chair. "It's not much, honestly."

Her eyes were still wide and she placed a hand on her heart. Fixing her determined gaze at the man in front of her, Somin said, "Sehun, listen to this, loud and clear. You're not allowed to spend so much on me from now on."

His brows met. "I'm not-- look, it's for our privacy, alright?"

"Yes, but any cheaper place could have--" She narrowed her eyes. "Wait a second, this whole four-star hotel, seafood, does it have anything to do with that 'first impression' scheme of yours?"

Sehun's adam's apple bobbed as he smiled nervously, "Haha, what are you talking about.."

Closing her eyes, Somin massaged the corner of her eyes, elbow resting on the table. She didn't what she was exactly feeling but guilt was one of them. Knowing the difference of their class, she felt herself as someone greedy gold-digger to have him spend so much on their date. Her eyes met his confused face again and tried to make her point. "I don't care about any of this, Sehun. These high budget dinners or--or anything else you've planned. I--I only want your company." Her voice cracked. 

Sehun's gaze softened, he quietly stood up, dragging his chair closer to hers. Once he was seated next to her with the damn big table not acting as a hindrance between his urges anymore, he didn't hesitate to lace her fingers with his. His other hand wrapped around her delicate shoulder.

Somin looked up at him. "I don't want to upset you, but, please I'll only feel burdened if you do these things. I don't want any of us to feel insecure." Her gaze dropped to her lap as she smiled slightly. "I know you have a lot of money and-- I don't even want to think about that-- but when you're with me, you don't have to be the rich, famous idol. Can't we just be two ordinary people with extraordinary feelings?"

Her words left Sehun spellbound. For a moment, all he could do was gaze in her eyes, the profound meaning of the words sinking in. "Of course, we can." Her face broke out in a radiant smile. He liked that idea so much, being each other's escape, not having to be worried about all the petty things people in his career worry about. For once, doing something that wasn't scripted.

He brought her hand that he was holding to his mouth and pressed a hard kiss on the fingers.  When he set it down, Somin suggested, "But now that you have already ordered food worth my whole group's net worth," She joked. "we're going to eat until we've gained a few kgs. Come on, dig in!"

And so they did. She helped herself with many servings, forcing him along to do the same so that they'd get in trouble regarding their weight with their agency together. As they finally moved on to their dessert. He wondered, "When's your birthday?"

"12th March. Why?"

"Oh my god," He smiled, surprised. "Mine is 12th April!"

"Wow, that's cool!" 

"So, that means..." His eyes trailed far as he was thinking. "You're older than me." Somin was taken aback by his conclusion. "By a month."

She argued back. "That's not possible, you definitely look older than me.."

Sehun had a shocked expression. "Okay nice, I'm dating a noona--"

"Don't you call me that!" She exclaimed, hitting his shoulder. 

"Somin noona!" He teased.

"Shut up!" Somin was flustered. With him being her senior, it never occurred to her to match their ages. "That's not possible, you don't even look like a 95' liner."

All traces of smile wiped from his face. "Oh... you're a 95' liner?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Sehun made a face, his disapproval shown clearly, he was having too much fun mocking her even though it didn't matter if she was older. It was just a month, for heaven's sake. "I am older, then. I'm a 94' liner."

He'd never seen a more relieved look on her face. "Thank god!"

"But it's okay if you were older honestly, Baekhyun hyung dated an older girl too. He always said it was more fun."

She chuckled, "What this got to do with him? Everybody has their own taste. I like older guys, as long as they're not too old."

Sehun agreed. "Kai's into one of our label mates too. Do you know her? Krystal noona?"

Her eyes went wide. "Really! I like her so much, she's so pretty."

"I guess, but the idiot can't pluck the courage to just ask her out."

"Does he know about us?" Somin asked. "Does any of your bandmates know?"

Sehun paused before answering. "No. I'm not planning to tell them either."

"But why?" She asked, puzzled. "I mean, if it's something that not prohibited in your group, and your label doesn't put a 'dating ban', you should share with them."

"I'm not ready." He looked uncomfortable but then a smile crept on his lips. "But I wonder what I'd say to them when I am."

She slid closer to him, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, Somin raised an amused eyebrow. "What?"

He copied her actions, facing her now, and enjoyed the close-up. "I'd say... hyung, I found a girl." Her smile widened. Sehun continued with a loud voice as if actually talking to his hyungs. "She's got a killer smile and her body is to die for. No one has a personality like her. When she starts talking, you'd never want to hear another voice in the world again."

"You're exaggerating--"

"Well, that's what would make them jealous. Jongdae and Chanyeol hyung would probably start beating me for hiding it, but whatever they do wouldn't erase the fact that I found a girl."

Her eyeballs slowly ran over his sculpted facial features. The deep eyes, strong nose, and those lovely pair of lips that she wanted to kiss so bad but was holding back herself with much effort. No matter how many times she looked at that face, it'd always leave her breathless.

After a minute she realized, he was slowly closing in. Somin settled back in her seat, her fingers reaching for the sling of her leather hand purse. "I had a good time, but I should get going. It's getting late and--"

Sehun felt a little displeased when she pulled away, but he wasn't giving up so easily either. "You had a great time or you're having a great time?" His question threw Somin off guard. "Because if you're having a good time, then why rush to end it?"

Trying to subdue the growing hammering in her chest, she opened her mouth to say something, anything, her brain was more focused on the guy before him. "Stay," Sehun mumbled. "Isn't it so hard to make time for each other, already?"

"Yes." Was her blatant reply, then she quickly shook her head. "No, I-I meant no!"

Chuckling, Sehun's hand held her shoulder as he closed in and kissed her. It took her less than a second to give in to her urges. With her fingers creeping towards the back of his neck to run them in his hair, she deepened the kiss. His weight pushed her on the back of her chair when he tilted his head, pushing his tongue in her heated mouth that seemed to take it well. When they pulled back, she couldn't help laughing at his face. It was smudged with her red lipstick. She reached forward to wiped it off with her fingers but it still didn't satisfy her, instead, the action made it spread more.

"It's alright." He rolled his eyes, laughing before leaning in for more.

---

Loud music boomed in Aurora's practice room since an hour but the girls hardly progressed with the dance covers they were practicing. Now that their promotion schedule was tight, most shows asked them to show their dance skills over the songs by the seniors, due to which their managers had advised them to learn those as well.

Saebyul and Ariya were trying HyunA's Red and were getting better at it every minute, but the same was not the case with the other three who chose Btob's Insane. It was a little tricky to copy a male choreography. "How many times do I have to tell you to skid first, and then fold your arms after a little hop!" Somin scowled at the maknae after the fifth try of the same move. "Why do you keep doing it the other way round?"

Rio dramatically collapsed on the ground making all the occupants of the room rush to her. "Is she okay?!"

"Did she take her injection?" Ariya worriedly wiped Rio's sweat.

"Oh she's fine." Jae rolled her eyes. "That's called acting."

"What?" Saebyul's brows joined.

Somin laughed a little, recognizing the younger girl's retaliation to her scolding. She kicked her butt lightly, making Rio yelp in pain, eyes opened. 

"Aigoo, this girl gave me a heart attack!" The leader commented in relief. Such events of one of the members blacking out weren't new during comeback promotions, but with Rio's medical condition, it was more worrisome.

"She keeps blowing up on me!" The maknae pointed at the lead dancer with a sickenly cute pout directed at the leader. "Scold her, unnie!"

"Yah!" Somin cried out. "It's better than getting embarrassed on camera in front of everyone. You should listen to me attentively when I'm teaching you--"

"You know," Jae smiled sweetly. "If it's so hard we should just ask for one of their members to come and teach us."

Somin shot her a sarcastic look. "I would have taken that seriously if I didn't know you were saying that just to see Sungjae."

Saebyul barked in laughter. "That's right, haven't you been lurking around their make up room a lot lately?"

Jae blushed to her roots. "You guys are assuming things..."

Ariya reminded them. "We should start packing up, the driver will come in five minutes." They had a live radio show broadcast in the evening.

The leader groaned, "Shit, I forgot. Who's going to clean all of this?"

After a game of rock-paper-scissors, Somin was chosen to stay behind to discard the empty rice boxes and arrange everything back in place. With much annoyance, she agreed. "Don't take too long." The girls scurried out in hurry after changing in another pair of clothes that were less sweaty. Somin was disconnecting the music system when the door to the room was knocked. "Yeah?" She called absent-mindedly.

A male head popped inside. Sungjae's eyes traveled across the room, a little disappointed but he came over anyway, giving her shoulder a friendly squeeze in greeting. "How's my dongsaeng!" 

"I'm good!" 

"Congratulations on your win. The song was so good honestly, I couldn't stop listening to it on loop." His addictive smile was sincere.

"Thank you." She grinned. Sungjae leaned against the wall as did her chores. "The MV shooting was awkward honestly. I mean most of it was CG."

"Yeah, I noticed. I mean you were sitting on a freaking cloud, sipping juice!" Sungjae chuckled. "And Jae, wasn't she in a bathtub of... hearts?"

Somin emptied diet coke cans in the bin, nodding. "That's what I'm saying. But the dance break was my favorite."

"Yup, your transition!" He hooted. "One minute you were doing this cute little thing with your hands and then boom! The whole expression changed into a stony smirk!"

She grinned, glad to see his enthusiasm.

"Where's the rest of your group?"

Somin shot him an amused look. "They just left. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." He shrugged.

She realized that this was the moment she'd been looking for all through the past month. So she trotted closer to him, hands on her hips. "So, how's shooting with my bestie going?"

"It's fun." He smiled. "Joy's a really innocent person, always in tune with her emotions, it makes all the acting so easy, you know."

"Acting?"

"Yeah, I mean, I told you how worried I was too before I started out with her. Mostly because we'd be working in such an intimate setting but thinking over it now. Her personality is quite lovable." Sungjae explained.

Somin locked her gaze with him to read the emotions in his eyes. Was that praise friendly? Or something deeper? He certainly sounds like he's fond of her.

"I'm happy for you." She took hold of her jacket, it was getting colder at night, and wrapped it around her torso. Ticking the lights off, Somin gestured him to come.  "Joy told me that you guided her a lot."

Sungjae shrugged, holding the door open for her before following her. "She was nervous because it was her first variety show, I felt I had to be her strength." And you became her crush too.

"The viewer ratings are crazy." She stated. "I'm surprised to see the number of people shipping you both. But now I think about it, you guys look cute." 

Seeing her suggestive smirk, he laughed a little, scratching the back of his head. "Haha, what are you talking about.."

"No, I'm serious." She continued hopefully. Somin knew there was a limit she could intervene in his personal matters. Beyond that, it would feel forceful and she couldn't just go and impose her best friend's feelings on him. It wasn't Somin's place to do that anyway. But tonight, she was prepared to, at least, touch that limit. Do everything she could for Sooyoung, for their friendship. Encourage him, offer him my help, implant the idea of dating Sooyoung in his head... but the rest, the rest was the role of his heart and I can't have control over that.

"When I saw you both the first time on TV, I couldn't help fangirling over the two of you. For a minute, I thought... it sounds absurd but, I thought there was something going on. It looked so real to me, Sungjae! Like you weren't only doing it for show."

A confused smile curled on his lips as they walked to the main lobby. Is that a compliment for my acting skills? "Thanks..." He cleared his throat. "I told you, pulling off the screen-chemistry with her was easy. I do like her."

Somin shot him an amused look, but inside, she was still trying to figure out if 'I like her' was platonic or not. "Well..." She nudged his shoulder and winked. "If you need any sort of help, you know who to ask."

Somin knew that part was true. If he ever wants to ask Sooyoung out, he was definitely reaching Somin out to set them up. Sungjae pulled a deep breath, determined to divert the topic. "How's your arm?"

She chuckled. "It happened a month ago and now you're asking?"

Sungjae flustered. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, dude. I'm as good as new now." She assured him with a smile.

When she reached the exit door, her steps halted and turned back to him. She knew she'd almost risked their friendship tonight by her nosy suggestions, but she owed it to her best friend and hoped with all her heart that he secretly harbored feelings for her too. "Thanks for walking me out. I'll get going."

He nodded, gulping a little. Why am I so nervous?! She's my friend, she knows me. His feet couldn't stay still and his mind was a bit hesitant if it was right to ask what he was here for in the first place. Just when he spotted Somin, his only chance, waving to him, he jumped forward and grabbed her wrist.

Her eyebrows raised in question. "What--"

"I do need your help, actually..." Sungjae quickly let go of her hand.

"Yeah?" Her heart elated with happiness. Sooyoung's going to be over the moon!

"Can you give me Jae's number?" Somin's heart dropped witnessing the shine in his hopeful eyes. 

"What?!" She exclaimed, befuddled.

"Uh--your bandmate, Jae... Kim Jaekyung, remember?" Running his fingers through his hair, he said, "I've run into her quite a lot of times and--and I found her quite interesting."

Somin continued to stare at him in despair, she felt her heart crushing for her best friend. I can't even say I didn't see this coming, it was almost inevitable.

"So, you see, I'm flying to Thailand tonight and I--well, I'd like to stay in touch with her. I hope you get me." He peered at her with an anticipating expression.

Her eyes closed on their accord and her fingers massaged her temple, trying to block the bitter reality before her. But it was true, Sooyoung's month's old love was one-sided, nothing more. God, how am I even going to tell her? And what? 

Sungjae raised an eyebrow, shaking her shoulder. "Are you okay? I know, I know what you're thinking. That you guys aren't permitted to exchange numbers but I really thought over this Somin, I'm sure I can risk this little breach of restrictions." His voice was so convincing that it made her look at him again. For a second time that night, Somin felt her heart flatten. He came to her as a friend to ask for the kind of help she'd just offered him a few minutes ago... but with different intentions.

Who's side to take? Somin pondered. Who am I loyal to anyway?

She bit her bottom lip, taking a step back. She hated to be in this position, all she wanted was to run away from this complicated little love triangle. Her throat felt dry; though she delivered the cruel words with much difficulty, yet she did, "I'm sorry. My phone's dead right now. In fact, I should charge it for later. I can't give you the number now." Or ever. The obvious drop in his face made her realize how many people she was doing wrong to and the number was more than one. Only in the love of my best friend. Because if I go along with this, am I betraying Sooyoung?

"Oh.."

"It's so risky. Why--why don't you think over it during your trip again, hmm?" 

Her phone chose the exact moment to ring, showing her manager's name. Sungjae's eyes whipped to the cell phone in her hand questioningly. When he looked up at the extremely nervous girl again, Somin rushed outside in one swift movement, leaving him just as confused as ever.

As soon as she entered the car, she received her manager's tongue-lashing and Rio's complaints of making them wait so long but there was only one thing that registered in Somin's mind. It was guilt and shame. Guilt because she'd killed the chance and hope of something beautiful between her two label mates, and shame of being caught.

She glanced to her side to find Jae, smiling through the glass window, her eyes gleaming, waving excitedly at Sungjae who was only looking at the ground with a disappointed expression. Jae's incoming remarks about his handsome figure which she only whispered in Somin's ear made the regret racing through the girl even worse.

I'm sorry Jae. I feel terrible for your bad, but, I had to do this.

---------------------------

Yes, yes go along and hate Somin all you want :D
We all make some pretty stupid decisions in our lives sometimes, that's the beginning!

So, what do you think about our little love triangle, tried to make things a litle spicy! And Somin and Sehun? I spent days thinking over their first date, wanting to make it special... dunno what I ended up writing myself ._.

Anyways, thank you so much for waiting patiently for my book. I know it's been forever since I updated last, I was kinda worried I'm going to loose readers, but I got busy and will get even busier because college starts this week and I can't promise any specific time to update next but please understand, every moment I find free will definitely be spent on the next chapter ( I honestly have no life to follow beside that, unless Kai has a solo, then I'll be jamming on that ;)
 But I'll live on your feedback in the meantime :)