.two.

Rae spent the entire night at the pier clinging to Lu Han's side. Yena didn't think too much of it, since she was confident that Lu Han loved her and was probably only entertaining Rae to be polite. She also understood her friend. Rae had mentioned to the two of them that she had once been a big kpop fan when she was in high school, but talking to a boy who had once been in a kpop group--a group she had been a fan of, no less--was probably a thrill to her. 

Julia tried to interfere several times because she saw the way Yena had been pushed to the side by Rae in her excitement. She also saw the way Lu Han was starting to look a little uncomfortable as the night went on. He continuously shot Yena looks every now and then, begging her to take him out of his misery. But she'd just shrug and shoot him a small frown. She didn't want to seem like she was being rude to her friend. But it was Julia who took it upon herself to help them.

Several times she had tried to pull Rae away from Lu Han, linking arms with her playfully and telling her that maybe they should leave the happy couple alone. She especially made sure to emphasize how Lu Han and Yena were a couple. 

Each time she tried to do that, Lu Han shot her a grateful look that was later dropped from his face when Rae would refuse to leave his side and cling to him even more. Even when they went on the amusement park rides, Yena ended up sitting next to Julia because Rae just would not leave Lu Han alone. By the end of the night, Yena was slightly annoyed. But she was able to hide it. Lu Han, on the other hand, was a little more obvious. His patience with Yena's new American friend was dwindling quickly.

As the night reached midnight, the four of them headed back to the university dorms. They had taken an uber back, and then Lu Han walked Yena back to her dorm. Julia had gone in quickly and got in the shower to give them privacy. But they stood outside her door while they talked. Yena and Lu Han were both a bit grateful that Rae lived in a different residence hall, one that was all the way on the other side of the campus. So she left after quickly saying goodbye to them, since she didn't want to be out alone.

It was cold outside, since the school was located on top of a mountain. But they decided to go outside into the picnic area to talk. They didn't want other people to listen to their conversation.

The two of them sat outside and Lu Han quickly slipped out of his jacket, settling it over her shoulders. Yena smiled at him gratefully. 

They sat in silence for about a minute before Yena began awkwardly. "I'm sorry about my friend Rae." There was a hesitant smile on her face. There had been a hint of annoyance within her when she saw her friend so close to her Han. But now that she thought back on it, she thought that it was just an innocent fan trying to talk to her idol. She wished she could have been a bit more tolerant of her in the moment. "She must have been very excited to meet you."

She knew she had been in the same daze when she finally got to meet her bias group Super Junior, her two favorite members too. She acted like a total fool in front of them and to this day she still shuddered to remember the memories. If she could go back in time, she'd have stopped herself from saying so many embarrassing things.

Lu Han smiled at her, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. He was only that sheepish and calm with her. Yena knew that he was mostly a quiet boy. But when it came to the fans invading his space, he had no remorse snapping at them. There had been many instances in which he had lost his patience with a few fans. But it was only with fans who tried to shove phones in his face or tried to touch him as he walked past. He had no problem with the fans who were well behaved.

"Its fine." He assured her. Then he admitted a bit shyly, another thing that was uncharacteristic for him. Lu Han wasn't too shy. But around Yena he was like a shy little boy. He just wanted her to like him so badly because he liked her so much. "But honestly, I kinda wished they'd have left us alone for a bit. So we could be alone. Its just...been so long since I've seen you. Your other friend seemed to get the message."

He was of course talking about Julia.

Yena smiled at his words, recalling what had happened that night at the pier. She would have to thank her room mate later for that, even if her efforts had been futile. "Yeah. She kept trying to pull Rae away from you."

The situation was quickly becoming an amusing one for the two of them. Yena let out a bubbly laugh and he soon joined in. As they sat there in the picnic area outside her dorm building, overlooking the rest of the mountain, she laid her head on his shoulder comfortably. Lu Han was cold, his skin had broken out in goosebumps. But even then, he was the happiest he had ever been in weeks because he finally got to be with his Yena, if even for a little while.

They sat there in silence for another short while before Yena mentioned something to him. "The other boys asked me if you were doing well. I told them you were doing better. But I don't know if you still want to talk to them, since I know SM made them cut contact with you publicly."

"I still talk to all of them." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders like it was nothing strange about it. "Even Yifan. I just keep in contact constantly with Yixing, Sehun, and Minseok." Though a bit more sadly, he added, "Minseok talked to me really often until his messages trickled down to a few awkward texts every now and then. Sehun clung a bit more to me, even though I could tell he was a bit resentful that I left him. But Yixing and I still talk every day."

Yena couldn't help but feel sad about that. They had all been so close at one point. It broke her heart to think that the only one that was in constant contact with him now was only Yixing.

It probably didn't mean that they didn't care. They all just had their own busy schedules to take care of.

-

Lu Han was in Los Angeles for a whole week, visiting Yena at the university every single day, then he had to return to China to fulfill some schedules he had made before travelling. He had mentioned to Yena that he wanted to start writing and making his own music. He was going to launch himself as a soloist in the next few months. Yena was sure SM Entertainment wouldn't like that, since he was one of their artists and they would no longer get any money out of him, but she supported him fully and publicly. She didn't have to hide from SM because she was no longer part of their company either.

As soon as he left the country, the thing Yena most dreaded happened. 

People at the university found out about her and her connections to some prominent kpop idols. It had been none other than her friend Rae who had told everyone she knew about it.

Yena first found out that other people knew when the Korean language teacher approached her after her music class one day. She also taught piano, a class that Yena took with her on Monday mornings. After class ended, the Korean woman stopped her and mentioned very casually, as though testing the waters. "I heard that you have a brother who is a famous kpop idol in Korea. Why didn't you tell anyone about it?" She raised an eyebrow at Yena in question. When she heard the news, she wasn't entirely sure that it might be true. But she decided to ask Yena about it anyway. There weren't very many Chinese idols in Korea, and by the last name, the professor knew Yena wasn't Korean.

The Chinese exchange student instantly went red in the face, giving the truth away without saying a word. 

She tried to deny it at first. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The professor caught her in the lie, mentioning matter of fact, "Your friend Rae told me."

Now Yena felt the color drain from her face. Two entirely different expressions happening in a matter of seconds and displaying themselves on her face. Since she had been caught in her attempt at denying the facts, she heaved a sigh of defeat. "Okay, yes. My twin brother Tao is part of the kpop idol group EXO. I just..." She dropped her voice into a whisper, her eyes darting one way and then the other. "I just didn't want anyone to know because I don't want people to treat me differently for it. I just want to be a normal student here."

The last thing Yena wanted was to be known as Tao's sister. She wanted to be Huang Chuyen the singer, the violinist, and after that she could be her brother's sister. She wanted to accomplish things on her own.

"I was thinking you could come to my Korean culture class and talk to the other students about what its like to live in Korea." She explained. 

Yena accepted, though a bit reluctantly. Her cover was blown anyway and people knew of her status. What did it matter anymore? She could go to that class and speak to the students. But she didn't have much to tell since she mostly stayed in Seoul, doing everything SM Entertainment told her to do. Whenever she did leave Seoul, she was in China, and that had nothing to do with Korean culture. Maybe she could talk about the few tourist attractions she saw when they went around Seoul for EXO Showtime several months back.

When Julia found out about Rae telling everyone, she was fuming. She was probably even more upset than Yena was.

"That's some bullshit that she told everyone. I mean, she could have asked first if you wanted people to know." Julia huffed angrily in their dorm. She was sat atop her bed, while Yena sat on her own, both girls with their legs crossed and their plates of food in front of them.

Yena had to skip her photography class to attend the Korean culture class that day. But the Korean teacher had talked to the photography teacher before hand and she had been excused without a problem. Now she was sitting in her dorm room, waiting for it to be twelve fifty so she could go to the classroom. Julia also had the hour off to have lunch and the two girls had gotten together in their room.

A sigh escaped Yena's lips. "Yeah. I didn't want anyone to know, and now the whole school knows."

"You should have stopped her from the moment she was all over your man." Julia said, still fired up. She was eating from her chicken salad, but she was so angry that it looked like her fork was violently stabbing the greens and the chicken bits.

Yena shrugged, knowing there was nothing she could do about it now. "I didn't think she would tell the whole school."

Another sigh escaped the Chinese exchange student's lips. It was only a few weeks into the semester, and already things were not going as she planned. She wanted to go unnoticed the whole semester. But that had all changed. Now she had to get through it with people looking at her, and seeing only Tao from EXO' sister.

-

since its the second chapter it has a lot of exposition. but i thought i would update this because its the book that takes place immediately after yifan's story. so i will try to update both of them at the same time.

now i have to go get in the shower quickly so i can go to bed early. i have to wake up at 3am tomorrow morning to go to work.

thank you all so much for reading and keeping up with this series.

i hope you have a wonderful night!

-clary