Soon, I started seeing the fanny-pack dude everywhere. I could’ve sworn I heard the camera’s shutter go off a couple of times too, but every time I turned to see, he had the cam down. Soon, I was sure I was either being paranoid or losing my mind. He looked harmless enough, and I didn’t know why I obsessed over him.

“Min, don’t look...but I think that dude with the blue fanny pack is following us,” Do-hyun whispered to me all of a sudden, when we were ordering some ice cream at a cafe. 

I wasn’t losing my mind after all. Well, that, or Do was also losing his mind. Either way, I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve noticed, too.”

“Let’s try to lose him?”

“Okay,” I replied, grabbing my ice cream cone from the barista. 

Do-hyun waited to get his and we were off. We hoped we looked like we were only strolling around eating some ice cream, but in reality we were bouncing around the whole place aimlessly, trying to get rid of the creep. It didn’t work. It was like he was everywhere at once—and I grew nervous. 

“That guy just doesn’t give up, does he?” I asked Do-hyun in a low voice after once again finding the weird fanny-pack creep hanging around. 

“Nope, doesn’t seem like he will. I’m gonna text Joe.”

I nodded. Joe was his favorite guard and had been with him since our debut. We all kind of had our own preference, except Tae who literally didn’t care. Mine was Seong-gi, this middle-aged man who was more like a father figure to me. I did not want to text him. He would’ve scolded me for leaving without telling him. 

“Should we try to lose him there?” Do continued, discreetly pointing to a larger shop with three stories full of great hiding spots. “You know, separate and then meet at the men’s changing rooms?”

“Okay.” It was an old tactic we had used back in the day when encountering creeps, and/or paparazzi. It almost always worked, and then our guards could speak to the salespeople and get them to lead us out through the staff corridors. I still felt uneasy. “But, Hyung, please keep your phone at hand.”

Do-hyun looked at me with an unreadable expression when we entered the shop. Then he raised his hand towards my face but froze right before he touched it and then let it drop to his side. “It’s gonna be okay, Min. Joe already replied he’ll be here in a moment. Let’s just lose this fucker real quick and head home.”

I nodded and scurried in the opposite way. For a moment I pretended to look at the backpacks hanging at the wall on the right end but in reality I was looking at the fanny pack dude. He was lost for a moment, then decided to go after Do-hyun. Whew. Do was way better at this game than I was, so I trusted him to shake the creep off. 

Still, I took my time exploring the huge store gradually, taking my time heading towards the men’s clothing section. Even when I reached it, I made sure like a hundred times I didn’t see any bright-blue fanny packs anywhere near me, before making my way to the changing cubicles. 

I was about to wonder if Do-hyun had made it when he appeared from behind a corner and pushed me inside one of the fitting rooms. When I was about to open my mouth to question him, he downright smashed his hand across my mouth and shushed, pulling the curtain close with his other hand. 

He backed me all the way to the back and pushed me against the wall. Gradually, his grip on my mouth loosened and all what was left was his index finger still held across my lips. 

“The creep’s close,” he mouthed, his voice so silent I barely heard anything. 

Not that I could've concentrated anyway. My eyes were wide and my heart was beating a thousand beats per minute—and it wasn’t because of the creep that had been following us through the day. To be completely honest, at that moment the creep was the last thing on my mind. Instead, all my body and mind noticed was Do-hyun. 

Do-hyun, Do-hyun, Do-hyun.

It was like my heart beat to the sound of his name. For a brief second I thought he would feel it beating, since he had his whole upper body pressed against mine. I was technically pinned between his torso and the wall. Then I reasoned myself that even if that would’ve been the case, he was way too preoccupied in keeping us silent and listening to the rest of the shop. He didn’t even look at me, he was looking at the curtain for the smallest movements.

Me, on the other hand…I did look at him. I couldn’t have ripped my eyes off him even if I tried. And I didn’t try. I was too busy studying his handsome face and feeling his body on mine to remember I wasn't supposed to do this to myself anymore. 

Looked like I was still painfully in love with him. It was time to stop pretending I wasn’t. I had lied to myself for two years—enough for me to start partially believing said lie. In reality, the army and time away from him had only managed to lull me into some kind of false hope that I had gotten over him. Clearly, I hadn’t.

Eventually Do-hyun grinned in victory and turned his deep and dark eyes at me. I was suddenly scared stiff that he would somehow find out about my deepest secret—maybe he’d turn into a mind reader or something. If my heart had beat fast before, it was now hammering against my ribs even faster.  

Of course Do-hyun couldn’t read minds. But he did freeze stiff upon meeting my eyes. Or the time froze, I wasn’t sure. 

Then he moved his finger off my lips so slowly, leaving them tingling. His expression was unreadable—he didn’t even blink. Neither did I. For one brief, fleeting moment, I could’ve kissed him so easily. Our lips were less than a few centimeters apart. 

Someone ripped the curtain open and at once the moment was over. We snapped away from each other as if we were zapped with a jolt of electricity. 

Both of us turned to look at the intruder at the same time. I had somehow anticipated it would’ve been either Joe or the creepo, but instead… It was a middle-aged, huge man with his black hair slicked back and a cord attached to an earpiece, towering over us. One I recognized all too well.

Seong-gi.

For a moment that felt like a year, he studied us with a deep frown between his eyebrows. Then, the only thing he said with a nonchalant, deep voice, was, “Follow me.”