Sasaeng || 백현

+ fourteen

+ fourteen

Chanyeol and Narda took a cab to the mall and he took care of the fare despite her protests for them to split it. He assured her that it wasn't a problem for him to pay it, and that it was the gentlemanly thing to do. She rolled her eyes at him playfully and finally accepted, telling an anecdote about a cousin she had back home in the Unites States. She told that he liked to take care of the bill whenever he went out with his girlfriend, and that he always said that he felt offended if he let a woman pay only because it was traditionally a custom in their culture, the way he was raised. 

The kpop idol laughed and admitted to her that Korean was culture was very much the same in that way. If a boy had a girl he fancied and invited her out to eat, he was the one who needed to pay for everything. He personally preferred it that way because he saw it as polite. How could he invite someone for dinner and then expect them to pay the bill?

They were dropped off right at the entrance of the mall. 

Six Malls Over Korea.

Narda looked up at the multi colored neon signs at the top and said to Chanyeol, "I've been here before. I won a contest and was given a gift certificate that I still haven't used."

He nodded. "I saw you on television."

"Did Baekhyun see me too?" She wondered. Nearly a month later was when it really hit her and she felt subconscious about it. "I can't believe I really did that. So embarrassing." She brought a hand to her face as she felt a blush coming forward.

Chanyeol crinkled up his nose. "Lets not talk about Baekhyun."

"Sorry." She replied.

He walked into the mall with Narda beside him, and he led her deep into the building until they found the pizza place. It was something like the bars she saw back home. Like Buffalo Wild Wings with televisions and beer adverts all over the place. The only difference she saw was that all the signs were in Korean, and that the neon signs and adverts displayed Korean athletes such as football players. Back home, since she lived in a primarily Hispanic area, she was used to seeing cutouts or adverts of football stars like Chicharito, Miguel Layun, or Giovani Dos Santos.

At the counter right by the entrance of the restaurant was a young man who stared at Narda for three reasons. One, she was dressed in a schoolgirl uniform. Two, she was foreign. And three, she was dining with none other than Chanyeol of EXO. It would have been a surprise if he hadn't recognized the kpop idol.

The two exchanged a few words in Korean about where Chanyeol wanted to sit with Narda, and the host walked them over. Of the newest advertisements, she spotted one with a familiar national team logo. On one side were Chicharito, Oribe Pertalta, and Memo Ochoa. On the other were three Korean National team players which she didn't recognize. The announcement was both in English and Korean. 

January 30th, 2014. 09:00 KST. Mexico vs South Korea in San Antonio, Texas. 

As they sat down across from each other and were handed their menus by the host, Narda jumped in her seat with excitement. The host walked away to give them a few minutes to think about which toppings they wanted on their pizza. 

The smile was wide on Narda's face and Chanyeol asked her in a teasing voice. "What are you suddenly so happy about?"

Her eyes gestured to the promotional poster on the wall which was not too far off from where they sat. She began to explain, "I almost forgot that my national team is playing against your national team tomorrow. We should have just came to watch it then so that I could proudly wear my green jersey in a restaurant full of Koreans."