Angel of the Morning || 백현

.one.

.one.

-

"Just go with him. He's practically begging. I can't help but feel bad for him."

-

Baekhyun could not understand why she was getting so emotional around him if they had only ever met once before. Sure there was the coincidental fact that they had both been at the museum that particular day, looking at that particular exhibit. And those two people in the portrait did look just like them. But he didn't think something like that would have such an effect on a person. It certainly didn't with him. 

He extended his hand out for her to shake because he wanted to be polite. But he placed it back down by his side when she was too much in shock to shake his hand back. In the blink of an eye, things turned awkward between them and he quickly walked past her to take his seat. He then got his phone out of his pocket and pretended to look busy, all the while, he could feel the burn of his eyes on her. He tried to go through all the names in his mind and his memories, searching in them for a Park Minji, but he was almost certain that he did not know her. Yet, she definitely seemed to know him.

He felt some sense of relief when the other EXO members started piling into the room one by one. They each greeted her with a handshake and a wide smile, and she was able to recover from her initial shock expertly. She greeted them back and thanked them for doing the interview despite the delay they were having. But her eyes continued to linger on the boy in the room who was familiar to her. The one who was identical to her husband. Everything about him was the same--his eyes, his voice, his whole appearance. But was this really her Eun? Or was this his descendant? Or was it just a boy who merely looked like her Eun and had no relation? All of this was probably just some big coincidence. 

There were two rows of six chairs each for the EXO members to sit at. Baekhyun sat in the second row, in the far end, opposite from her. Minji thought that now her chances to get to know him or talk to him had gone out the window. He had probably thought she was strange now and would never talk to her again. 

Minji tried to get through the interview as fast as possible so that she could get out of there and save face. She asked them about their career and their rise to the top in such a short time, she asked about their come back and their latest song Growl, and random little things that the fans wanted to know. It had all been prepared on flashcards days before the interview. And she spent most of the interview only looking at Baekhyun, which she later regretted because he continued avoiding her eyes as though she were a deadly disease. Then she thought about the backlash she would probably get from the fans too. She would likely receive threats because she kept looking at Baekhyun of EXO.

As soon as the cameras were off, she bowed again and thanked them. Then she raced out of the room. The boys' faces dropped in disappointment. They had all been told of a cute girl interviewing them and all wanted to have the chance to talk to her once the cameras were off. But now she was running away from them and only Baekhyun knew why. She was embarrassed that she had stared at him for far too long and wanted to save face.

Minji went back to the dressing room where Hajin was waiting for her. In the room, there had been a television for the make up artist to watch a raw version of what was happening during the interview. As she entered the room, Minji saw the look of shock on her friend's face. On the television screen, there was nothing now, only static. But Minji knew that her friend had been watching and it was the reason for her shock. "Your husband...the tenth prince." Hajin said in awe, fingers grazing the television screen. When Minji said nothing, she continued, "He's...an idol in this life?"