"Where's your dorm?" he asked her once they came out of the restaurant.

"Huh?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

"You picked this place because your dorm was close by, didn't you?" Junmyeon asked. "Where is it? I'll drop you."

She gestured down the street. "Two blocks away from here," she told him. "I'll guide you, so you won't get lost."

He chuckled slightly. "Don't worry, i don't usually get lost," he assured. "The one who does get lost often is Lay."

She laughed. The two walked the two blocks down the road, talking. Or at least she did. He just listened.

She enlightened him with tales from her predebut and debut days, pointing to various places and telling him about the fun she had with her members. He got to know the convenience store they frequented (one similar to theirs), the store they bought all their clothes from before they debuted, the tteokbokki place she loved to snack at...

She definitely had a lot of memories on this lane. He made a mental note to show her around his dorm too, she'd know him better too, just like he was now getting to know her.

She stopped in front of a building and turned to him. "Well, this is my dorm," she said. "Do you want to come up?"

He politely shook his head. "Maybe not today," he said. "I actually have a schedule in the afternoon." She nodded, understanding. "And besides, I don't think your members would be too happy with a random guy just in their dorm room."

"You're not a stranger, Suho-shi," she told him. "The girls know about you, and me, for that matter. I don't think they'd mind." She paused for a short moment. "But I think you're right. Our dorm is a mess. I definitely don't want to show it to you."

He smiled at her. Just then he noticed that they were holding hands. In fact, they'd been holding hands the entire ten minute walk. He reluctantly pulled his hand away.

"I...uh...I should get going now," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Before you go," she said, stopping him from turning around. She dug into her purse and brought out a few notes. "For the taxi fare," she smirked, pushing them into his hand. 

He stared at the money, looking back up to her. "What is this?"

"Taxi fare, remember?" she asked. "Our deal was that you'd pay for the meals and I'd cover the taxi fare." She put her hand up as he made a motion to return the money. "You're not giving it back to me, Suho-shi. You're using that to pay for your trip back to your dorm, and then you will send me a text saying that you used the money, alright?"

He found that he couldn't really argue with her, instead giving up and laughing lightly. "Alright, you win." He held up the notes. "I'll use them well."

She nodded. "You better."

She waved to him and made her way into the building as he waved down a taxi. Still smiling like an idiot after their little conversation, he got into the taxi, casting one last look at the building. He made it a point to memorize the building and street name, so he could drop her off at any time. 

He turned his gaze back to the money in his hand, counting it. It wasn't much, probably just enough to get him back home. Maybe that's what she wanted. She did say that she'd just cover the taxi fare.

He sighed, and then was hit with the realization that they had spent the entire outing talking informally.

Since when did they get close enough to change forms?

***

"Lay, get ready fast!"

"Xiumin, where's your mic? Did you check your mic?"

"D.O, get your outfit evaluated again by the stylist!"

"Baekhyun, go get your hair done!"

Another day...another stage...

Junmyeon rushed around backstage, making sure that his members were ready to go on stage. Just the fact that he was using their stage names instead of their real names was an indicator that he was stressed.

Chanyeol, all ready with hair and makeup done, came over to him. "Hyung, the makeup artist is free. You should get your hair and makeup done now."

Junmyeon nodded to the younger, casting a quick look over at the rest of his members, all of whom were either getting dressed, already dressed and getting their hair done or completely ready and squeezing in a quick practice before the show. 

He quickly told Chanyeol to make sure that the ones who were getting dressed would hurry up, as they had less than an hour before they had to go on stage. He made his way to the empty seat in front of the mirror with the stylist standing behind it, greeting her and sitting down as she got to work on his hair. 

"Have you thought about dying your hair?" she asked him all of a sudden.

"Dying it?" he asked, looking at himself closely in the mirror. To him, he saw nothing wrong. "Our comeback isn't even till a few more months."

"Well, your natural hair's starting to grow out," she pointed out, shifting a lock of his hair to show the black roots beginning to creep in. "You'll need to get a touch-up or dye it."

He stayed silent, playing with his hair a bit before calling Jongin over. The younger came up upon being called. "Yeah, hyung?"

"Is it too noticeable?" Junmyeon asked.

Jongin seemed to have got the message without him even having to specify what was troubling him. "No, it's not noticeable unless you push your hair back."

Junmyeon turned back to the stylist. "Then leave the bangs down for this performance. I'll get a touch-up done before the next."

She nodded and proceeded to style it.

His mind went back to the conversation he had with Eunji the night before over phone. She had also pointed out that the dye was wearing off.

He wondered how she noticed.

Just as the stylist began to apply makeup on his face, he received a call. Excusing himself after seeing that it was from his manager, who wasn't present at the venue, he went to the side and picked it up. 

"Hello?"

"Ah, Junmyeon-ah!" his manager's voice sounded on the other end of the line.

"What happened, hyung? Did something go wrong?" Junmyeon asked, worriedly. 

"No, nothing that you need to worry about." Junmyeon relaxed as he heard that. "I just hope that you and Eunji-shi have gotten close enough."

"We've been doing all that's asked from us," he stated. 

"Good, you've been working hard. It's just...in three days, Dispatch magazine wants to do a segment on idol couples."

"Then you can ask Kai and Krystal to go."

"I already asked," Manager Hwang seemed down. "They said that Kai and Krystal have got all the publicity they need."

"What about Baekhyun and Taeyeon?"

"Also rejected. They're not hot enough."

"Hot enough? What do they mean by hot enough?"

"I have no idea. That was just what they told me."

"Do they have to cover someone from EXO?"

"They want to, at least."

Junmyeon paused, the reality of the situation slowly sinking in. "If Kai and Krystal are out, and they don't want to cover Baekhyun and Taeyeon...then that means..."

"They want to interview you and Eunji."

Just as he thought.

He took a deep breath. "We can do it, hyung. Just make sure that Eunji-shi also gets the notice."

"Will do," Manager Hwang affirmed. "Wait...you are alright with this, aren't you?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" Junmyeon shakily asked. "It's just our first public interview, in a magazine, which almost definitely includes a photoshoot. Yeah, no pressure at all."

***

A/N: And their relationship starts going more public with their first magazine interview!

Stick around for the interview. It won't be next chapter directly, but it will be in the chapter after that.

Hope you guys enjoy!