He was the very definition of a gentleman.

She had to admit, she didn't expect this from him. She wasn't very perplexed when he lead her in and held the door open for her, but then he took her over to the table, pulled out a chair for her and only sat down when she had settled in.

"Go ahead and decide what you want to eat," he told her. "I'll pay."

She shot him a look. "You paid last time, didn't you?" she pointed out. "Let me pay this time."

He shook his head. "It's okay, I'll do it," he said. "Think of it as my honor."

She chuckled slightly. "But we're friends, aren't we?" she asked. "Don't friends pay for each other?"

"Don't worry about it," he assured. "I have the money and need to spend it. Let's just keep it as our thing, alright?" He gestured to the two of them. "Between the two of us, meals are on me. You can pay for everything else."

"What else is there?" she complained. 

"Well..." he paused for a moment to think. "Taxi fare?"

She playfully smacked his arm and he held it, feigning hurt. "Okay, fine," she said, sighing, "You can pay." 

He looked like he'd just won a million dollars, and she laughed it off as she went over the menu, deciding what she wanted to have. "What're you getting?" she asked. 

"Hm?" he seemed to be distracted. "Me? Oh, I'm not sure..."

"The options are good,right?" she asked.

He nodded. "We don't have a place like this near our dorm," he said. "You're lucky, Eunji-shi."

She beamed, closing her menu and placing it in the center of the table. "Well, I've already decided what I'm going to have," she said. "Do you need help?"

"You know this place well?" he asked. She nodded. "Then, yes, I need help."

She leaned over the table and he turned his menu so that she could look at it. "Ah, yeah," she said, pointing to a relatively cheap dish. "This is good for breakfast. You should get that."

He nodded. "I guess I will."

"Along with that, choose a coffee or hot beverage," she suggested, turning the page to the drinks listed. "Take your pick."

Deciding, he called over a waiter and allowed her to give her order first. Once she was done, he pointed to the dish she had referred him to, not really knowing its name and ordered a vanilla latte for himself. The waiter bowed and left their table, but she caught him turning around to see the two of them. 

She didn't understand the fuss. She'd visited here with Apink before, both in disguise and out of it. While the waiters kept changing, they were familiar with them.

Why were they acting like they were some big deal now? 

Why couldn't they just be a normal couple on a date?

Suho seemed to notice her slight fidgeting and instantly reached a hand out to hold her hand that was lying on the table. this brought her attention back to him. She saw an expression on his face she hadn't seen before, a mixture of comfort and...something else...was it weariness?

"I know," he simply told her. "It's hard, but we're idols. It comes with the job." He took a deep breath. "Don't focus on them, focus on me instead."

She didn't know why, but she found herself believing his words. Maybe it was the tone of his voice, which had now taken a lower, softer sound. She could feel the vibrations of the words hit her, soothing her heart. She found herself relaxing.

She nodded. "Alright..."

He shot her a smile. "That's better now, isn't it?" he asked. 

He pulled his hand away to rest his arms on the table, and she felt the place he was holding become cold. She missed the warmth of his hand.

"How...how did you do that?" she absentmindedly asked.

He shrugged. "When we just debuted, a few of the guys would be incredibly self-conscious," he said. "I used to help them by telling them to focus on me instead of the crowds."

She smiled. It really did come with being a leader. "Did you hold their hand too?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, never..."

A ring from the counter brought them out of whatever trance they were just in. He immediately turned around to see what the noise was while she rubbed her head. 

What the heck just happened?

Finally remembering, she reached into her purse to pull out a white envelope. "Oh, Suho-shi," she said, getting his attention again. "Junhyung-sunbae asked me to give you his regards, and he also owed you some money?"

"Ah, yes," he took the envelope. "Tell him thanks when you meet him, or should I come and thank him myself?"

"In this particular situation, I think it would be more polite to meet him yourself, but I'm not sure when he'll be next at the Agency," she said. "If I see him, I'll pass on your thanks."

He nodded. "Thanks for doing this."

"Why did sunbae owe you money anyway?" she asked, curious.

"Well, you remember Chanyeol's scandal where he was seen leaving CUBE Entertainment's building?" She nodded. "We were there meeting BEAST and Junhyung told me that he needed to get something from the nearby store. I sent Chanyeol with my money to get it, and he said he'd pay me back."

"And that's when the incident occurred?" she asked.

He nodded. "So, that's why he seemed a bit guilty when I last saw him..." she said.

"Guilty?" Suho asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I'd never seen him this jumpy before. He was skirting around, talking fast, shifting on his feet...I think he blames himself for Chanyeol's incident."

He threw his head back and sighed. "I blame myself, Chanyeol blames himself, Junhyung's blaming himself too...it's all just a massive blame game."

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

He gave her a small smile. "I'm fine," he said. "I'm just tired of blaming myself and others when things go wrong."

Silence fell over the two of them for a few minutes, as she looked down, finding a sudden interest in the table decorations. He took the time to look around and ran a hand through his hair, leaning on the table once again. 

At that very moment, the waiter reappeared with a massive tray bearing their meal, placing their drinks and dishes in front of them. She gave him a small thank you, grateful for the diversion.

"Oh, and sunbae did say to pass on his congratulations," she piped up, the thought striking her.

"He did?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

She nodded. "Yeah, he told me that he hopes we stay happy together."

"So..." he said, dragging it out. "He doesn't know..."

She lightly shook her head. "No, he doesn't," she clarified. "Only our group members, the managers and the CEOs know about it."

He took a sip from his cup as he contemplated it. She had also been surprised, she had thought that at least the groups in the agencies would know, but that didn't seem to be the case. From what she had derived, only the people immediately affected, that is, the CEOs, the managers and the members, knew about their relationship.

It was definitely unsettling.

"Anyways..." he said, bringing her out of her thoughts, "how is she doing?"

"Who?"

"That idol involved in Chanyeol's scandal," he clarified.

She paused for a moment as it registered. "Oh, her? Yeah, they kicked her out." 

"What?" He put his fork down. "They did?"

"Yeah," she said. "She ended up admitting that she kept up the scandal so that she could mooch off Chanyeol's fame.  And they promptly took her out of the group." She leaned over the table a little so she could whisper. "But get this, this wasn't the first time she attempted to pursue an idol to take advantage of him."

"It wasn't?" he asked, now curious.

She hummed in disapproval. "Before she was scouted, she attempted to ignite a scandal with another boy group member. Which one was it again?" She paused to try and recollect the name. "Ah, Super Junior!"

"She tried to go after someone from Super Junior?" he slowly asked.

"I don't know exactly who, but yeah, she did. The only problem was that she wasn't the only one...so...her plan failed, and then she passed the audition at CUBE."

Suho quietened down, shocked. He leaned back against his chair, arms crossed over his chest. She could tell he was making a mental note to talk to one of his Super Junior seniors and investigate this further.

He then uncrossed his arms and picked up his fork again. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "This isn't the time and place for a conversation like that. I think it killed the mood."

She smiled at him. "The mood is always there, Suho-shi. Whenever you're there." She meant every word.

***

A/N: Another day. Another important presentation. Another chapter.

I was listening to Smyang Piano's piano covers while writing this. Is it weird how piano covers can fit anything, even if the song is sad it can still fit a happy story? I don't know what it is about that instrument, but I love it. 

You can find him on YouTube, he makes piano covers of Kpop songs. Definitely a must check out for Kpop fans!

And I've been obsessed with VIXX's Error album recently. I know it's two years old, but what can I say?

Anyways, hope you're enjoying the direction of this story so far.