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[velvetfxexo]

The Star & His First Love (pt 10)

Characters: EXO D.O./Kyungsoo + OC

Type: Fluff

Length: 11.1K (I know, I surprised myself as well)

Doh Kyungsoo only fell in love once, and he got rejected. Nothing more, nothing less. Years later, he meets his first love, again.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 {Part 10}

Part 10 - Healing, Hiding, Hesitating

“So the red you keep seeing before your blackouts was?”

“The rose Kyungsoo gave to me when he confessed. Plus blood from the accident. My blood, to be precise.” I said matter-of-factly.

“And the white?”

“The blinding headlights of the truck.”

“See? Not so bad. right?”

Dr. Stiles beamed at me, looking very pleased about my progress during our sessions. I’ve gained my lost memories back, but of course I wanted to make sure the trauma wasn’t going to affect me anymore.

Clara and Dr. Stiles told me a long time ago that I can be cured if I’m determined enough. But back then, I was scared and constantly hiding from the truth. Both of them already knew back then that I was in denial, so the best they could do was let me be at my own pace, patiently waiting for me to be ready.

After all those sessions, I can finally say that I’m well again.

“You and Clara have always been right,” I softly said. “You’ve known it all along and I kept pushing past it. Thanks for being patient with me.”

Dr. Stiles just chuckled while he scribbled something on his notes. I realized that this is the last time he’ll be doing that. I’ve only been consulting with him for a year, but I feel like I’m going to miss talking like this. I mean, I’m glad that I’m okay now, I’m just gonna miss the convos.

“It was nothing, it’s our job to be patient with you. Everyone has a different way of coping, but we’ve always known that you were gonna get past it. Time was just what you needed.”

“Yeah, a lot of time.” I sighed, still thinking about all those wasted years. Kyungsoo and I could’ve been together sooner. Then again, Dr. Stiles did say that if I rushed into things, it would’ve made my trauma worse.

“I still remember the first time you had an episode,” Dr. Stiles muttered. “At first we thought your trauma will be related to driving, since you got in a car crash. But you drove pretty well afterwards! Didn’t even flinch when you were behind the wheel.”

“As if I wasn’t traumatized by a car accident,” I laughed, remembering Clara’s words and frantic face when I almost drove to the airport when Sehun called me awhile back. “Turns out my episodes were related to remembering Kyungsoo.”

Dr. Stiles nodded, looking pleased that I was openly talking about this topic I’ve avoided for a long time. “When you came back from California, Clara wanted to check if you still had dissociative amnesia. So she recommended having sessions with me. Then we found out you can remember almost everything except anything D.O.-related.”

“I was really scared of finding out the truth. It just caused anxiety attacks and more episodes, so I tried hard not to think about it.”

“Exactly, and since you’ve always avoided the topic of D.O., we had to try different methods. First was the reunion. The reason Clara kept agreeing to hold those get-togethers was because she was trying to get you two in one place. But your schedules always didn’t match.” Dr. Stiles explained.

“I knew those get-togethers weren’t always random.” I chimed in.

“Then she tried teasing you, testing if you had feelings for D.O.,” he continued. “I think she knew. At first she was worried, because you were getting dizzy when the topic came up, so she tried to stop teasing you for a while.”

“I know, I wasn’t oblivious to the teasing, doc.” I chuckled.

“Yes, you were just in denial,” he snickered. “D.O. also helped, trying to remind you of your memories together. After he found out about your episodes, he was determined to help you out.”

It still made my heart flutter thinking that Kyungsoo still cared for me even then. He still wanted to help me get better, despite me forgetting about him all those years. Any other person would’ve hated me for that. I really don’t deserve someone like him.

“At first we were worried that he might be going overboard. We told him to always take it slow with you, because you’re still prone to get episodes. But I guess he was as eager to get you cured.” Dr. Stiles added.

“That’s why he went to me that morning..” I said, remembering that time Kyungsoo suddenly showed up at the breakfast bar in the wee hours of the morning.

“That was all his doing. We didn’t push him to do anything.” Dr. Stiles said, his hands were suddenly up in defense. “Going out like that was a risky move, but he did it for you anyway.”

“Yes, I get it. Gosh, you and Clara say the same things.”

“Well, we are in the same field.”

“But you’ve helped me both a lot,” I interrupted. “Thank you, for that. Really.”

“It wasn’t all us,” Dr. Stiles said, then pointed his pencil at me. “It was you, and a bit of D.O. too. Clara and I were just here to give you that needed push.”

“Thank you for constantly pushing me.” I laughed.

“I think it was because of your.. feelings for D.O.,” he suddenly mused. looking down at this notes and twirling his pencil in his fingers. “You had strong feelings for him. So strong you wanted to overcome your trauma.”

I almost had an urge to roll my eyes, but a snicker came out instead. “I was healed by the power of love then? Sounds cheesy, doc.”

“I just said feelings, not love.” he smirked. Darn, he caught me there.

“Remember when you went to your old school just to see what he wrote on that.. wishing well? Or wall? Now that’s blind determination!” he suddenly exclaimed, that annoying but playful smirk still on his face.

“Hey, don’t blame me. I panicked, I wanted to remember!”

“You could’ve just asked him, wow, girls really do like to complicate stuff.” He scoffed. I just laughed and shook my head in disbelief.

“But see, your determination helped you remember. Feelings so strong, you went all the way to---”

“Wow, really doc, just because I’m talking about it freely now doesn’t mean you can tease me about it.” I swiftly interrupted. He chuckled, then went back to having a serious face, but a hint of a smile still on his lips. “I apologize. But I’m being honest. If you weren’t determined, you would’ve never gotten cured.”

I sighed, and nodded. “Yeah, I was determined to fix things between Kyungsoo and me too.” I owed Kyungsoo that much, he also waited patiently, and blindly at that. He wasn’t even sure if I was gonna come back.

“I don’t know if Clara mentioned it to you already, but I told her that maybe the reason I forgot Kyungsoo was because I was thinking of him during the accident..” I faltered, remembering that I didn’t mention to Clara what I really felt that time; it’s the only part that I left out. Dr. Stiles seemed to detect that I was hesitant, so he just stared and waited for me to talk, like he always does.

“I was scared,” I paused, realizing this was the first time I’m telling this to anybody. “No, I was more than scared, I think. I was.. terrified.”

“Of what? Terrified of dying?” Stiles asked slowly, and softly at that. He was using his psych tone now. I smiled and shook my head. “I wasn’t afraid of dying. More like, I was afraid of leaving so soon.”

People have said this again and again, that your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. But during that crash, while the car was rolling around, all I could see was his face. Kyungsoo’s face. 

“I was afraid of leaving Kyungsoo alone,” I finally said. “I didn’t want to leave him.”

Dr. Stiles had a solemn look on his face, and he urged me to go on.

“I mean.. he wasn’t going to be alone, he had family, friends, fans even. But I didn’t want to leave his life. Not yet, at least,” I chuckled softly. “He just debuted, and we were about to see each other that day. We were just getting started.”

Kyungsoo and I had always been a team. Even back then, we were tight. You won’t see one without the other. I wouldn’t say he’s my soul mate or anything, and they can call me cheesy all they want, but it was always the two of us.

“We had plans, promises, and goals,” I continued, with emphasis to each word. “I wanted to accomplish all those with him, and I was scared that we won’t be able to do it. It sounds self-centered, but that’s what I felt during the crash.”

For a while there I sat in silence, the thought suddenly occurring to me that Kyungsoo and I were still somewhere in between. Would I still be able to accomplish everything with him?

I sat there unmoving, before I realized I was still sitting in front of Dr. Stiles. “I’m sorry, I don’t know if I explained that well.” I muttered.

“No, I get it. I understand perfectly.” Dr. Stiles smiled, before leaning back into his chair. “I’m sure D.O. would’ve felt the same, or worse even. I’m positive he would’ve wanted to accomplish all those goals with you as well.”

My heart warmed at the thought, and I remembered what Clara told me, that during my accident Kyungsoo said he didn’t care if people in the hospital would see him because he’d easily give up being an idol for me. If I was fully conscious that time I would’ve hit him across the head for saying such things, but knowing Kyungsoo said that made me realize that he was ready to give up a successful future just to be in a simple future with me.

“And I get it,” Stiles added, instantly snapping me out of my momentary reverie. “You’ve always seen D.O. to be a part of your future.”

I nodded, quite elated that he put it out in simpler terms. “Kyungsoo is the only clear and constant thing I see in my future,” I mused. “Believe me, there were lots of times I’ve imagined different scenarios of how my future would turn out, and he was there, always. Kyungsoo is in every version of my future.”

He’s in all of it.

“All of it? You ate all of it?!”

All of the boys suddenly turned to look at Kyungsoo shouting at Baekhyun from across the dance room. He was looking inside a paper bag, eyes slightly wider than usual.

“I’m sorry, I hadn’t eaten since lunch, I didn’t realized I ate all of it..” Baekhyun said apologetically while walking towards Kyungsoo. This time he looked really sorry about it, so Kyungsoo just sighed.

“It’s fine, I’m sorry for shouting.” Kyungsoo said, while looking inside the empty paper bag. Baekhyun managed to chow down the sandwiches he made in one go.

“Let’s just order chicken then,” Yixing suddenly piped up, while patting Baekhyun’s shoulder. “I’m feeling hungry too. Since you ate the snacks Kyungsoo made, you get to call and order for us.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll order,” Baekhyun said while taking out his phone. “The usual right?” Everyone just made noises or mumbled in reply. Then Baekhyun went outside the dance room to order from their favorite chicken place.

“So, Kyungsoo when are we gonna meet Dana?” Minseok suddenly asked, while lying down on the floor. Junmyeon was also lying beside him, trying to do sit-ups. 

“I don’t know, maybe when the tour is over?” Kyungsoo mumbled.

“So we’re not gonna meet her until next year?!” Jongdae sat up from the nearby couch and exclaimed in his loud voice, making Sehun beside him flinch. 

“She’s busy too, she has to fly overseas. Our schedules don’t match.” Kyungsoo explained. It’s only been a few days but he misses Dana already, and she has to fly to Tokyo so they might not see each other soon. Maybe.

“You need to get used to it, not seeing each other all the time.” Junmyeon said from where he was lying down on the floor. For a moment there Kyungsoo almost saw a sad look in Junmyeon’s eyes, but it was gone in an instant.

Sehun suddenly stood up from the couch, motioning for Kyungsoo to come with him and talk. Kyungsoo just shrugged, following Sehun to the nearby window. The others looked at them curiously, but didn’t say anything.

“What is it now?” Kyungsoo asked.

Sehun looked at the others, making sure he was out of earshot. “Hey, I know you really like her, but don’t leave us just yet okay? You could still see each other and--”

“Sehun! For the last time, I’m not leaving the group!” Kyungsoo cut him off, but still managed to let out a small laugh. But Kyungsoo gets where Sehun is coming from. Of course he would be worried about more people leaving.

“I know I made you guys worry the past months, when I was sneaking off and going back late, but I won’t be careless again,” he explained, lightly hitting Sehun’s shoulder. “I love Dana, but I love you guys too, even if you guys are a pain in the neck.”

“So you do love her!” Sehun exclaimed happily, a big smile on his lips, and his eyes turning into crescent moon shapes.

“Funny how you caught on to that part.” Kyungsoo scoffed. He did love Dana, he wasn’t going to deny that. That was one of the things he was sure of.

“So when are you really gonna ask her?” Sehun asked, putting his arm around Kyungsoo. Again, the older one just shrugged and simply said, “You’ll see.” Sehun nodded, he knew Kyungsoo was planning to surprise Dana soon, but he wasn’t sure about the details because Kyungsoo was really secretive about it.

“Hey guys, we have a problem,” Baekhyun suddenly shouted after entering the dance room again. “I think the place where we get chicken is closed, no one’s answering.” Everyone except Kyungsoo groaned. Then they started talking all at once.

“What are we gonna eat now?” Jongdae asked.

“Just order something else.” Junmyeon suggested.

“But I was looking forward to chicken..” Yixing muttered.

“Yeah, me too!” Sehun and Minseok said in unison. In all the ruckus, they didn’t notice that Kyungsoo said something and headed outside the dance room. 

“There’s this chicken place near my sister’s cafe. We could just order from there,” Jongin said from his corner of the room, sitting near the outlet where he was charging his phone. “But the chicken place there doesn’t do deliveries, so we have to go there ourselves.”

“Your sister’s cafe isn’t that far, let’s just drive there.” Chanyeol suggested, finally standing up from the spot where he was charging his phone too. Chanyeol wanted to just drive around again, it’s a perfect opportunity since their manager wasn’t with them at the moment and was taking care of their plane tickets and accommodaions for their next tour.

“Yeah, I was about to suggest that. I have to get something from the cafe too, so might as well.” Jongin said, finally standing up and stretching his long arms.

“Since you’re going to your sister’s cafe, please buy me an iced americano.” Minseok requested, his face lighting up at the thought of coffee. Then he also stood up to get his wallet from his bag.

“Oh! I want a vanilla latte!” Baekhyun suddenly chimed in. All of a sudden everyone was requesting their orders and taking out money from their wallets.

“So who else is gonna come with us? We can’t carry everything. It might spill in the car.” Chanyeol asked. As expected, no one answered, so they decided to play rock paper scissors. In the end, Sehun and Baekhyun lost. After finalizing everyone’s orders, the four of them hurried out of the dance room. Junmyeon, Jongdae, Minseok, and Yixing were left, lying on the floor and quietly talking.

Kyungsoo went in shortly after, confused that half of the boys were gone.

“Where’s everyone?”

“Didn’t you see them on their way out?” Jongdae asked, turning his head to look up at Kyungsoo.

“No, I went to the bathroom. So where are they?”

“They went to buy our chicken,” Yixing said. “Kai also had to get something from his sister’s cafe.”

“Wait, I already told Dana to bring us some chicken here!”

Everyone suddenly sat up, surprised at what Kyungsoo said.

“Wait, what-- why didn’t you tell us?” Junmyeon exclaimed.

“I said earlier while you were all arguing that I’ll take care of it, then I went outside to call her.” Kyungsoo explained and sighed, but didn’t look surprised that his members didn’t hear him say it.

“You asked Dana.. to buy us some chicken?” Junmyeon slowly asked.

“She lives near Kamong Cafe and the chicken place Jongin was saying, so I asked her to buy us chicken. Plus I also wanted to see her.” Kyungsoo explained, scratching the back of his head.

“You really told her to bring us food.. at this hour?” Junmyeon asked rhetorically. He was still looking at Kyungsoo in disbelief.

“What? She doesn’t mind. Besides, she wanted to see me too.” Kyungsoo countered, earning teasing looks from Jongdae, Minseok, and Yixing. “Hey, you all wanted to meet her too.” 

“Then we better call those four and tell them to come back.” Junmyeon simply said.

“No, who’s gonna buy our coffee? Jongin had to get something from his sister too.” Minseok whined.

“Okay, okay, settle down. I’ll tell them to not buy chicken and then bring Dana back here with them.” Kyungsoo said, after tapping his phone and putting his phone close to his ear. Suddenly they heard a ringing sound from across the room. It was coming from a phone connected to an outlet.

“That’s Jongin’s phone. Call Sehun or Baekhyun. Chanyeol also left his phone charging.” Jongdae said. Kyungsoo called Sehun’s number, knowing he’ll answer quicker than Baekhyun. Then Kyungsoo was startled by a loud vibrating noise from somewhere, and they all turned around to look at where it came from.

“It’s coming from the table?” Yixing asked. Kyungsoo approached the table where their bags were, and saw Sehun’s phone there. The kid left his phone too. Then Kyungsoo decided to call Baekhyun, but the number can’t be reached. “Why the hell isn’t Baekhyun answering?” Kyungsoo muttered.

“So no one else brought their phones?” Chanyeol suddenly laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. They were about to call Kyungsoo and ask if he wanted coffee or pastries, but it turns out Sehun and Jongin left their phones, and Baekhyun’s phone battery ran out because he was playing games.

“You didn’t bring yours either!” Jongin pouted from the backseat.

“Because I thought you guys were bringing yours! I was charging my phone like you were.” Chanyeol said, still laughing. Situations like these just made him laugh.

Sehun groaned, he deliberately left his phone on the table, but he didn’t know these two would leave theirs too. Baekhyun was shaking his head beside Jongin at the backseat, also finding the situation funny. “Chill, we’re just gonna get chicken and we’ll get back in no time.” He said.

“He’s right, let’s just buy Kyungsoo anything..” Chanyeol said. “How did he like his coffee again?”

“With two spoons of cream..” Sehun suddenly whispered beside Chanyeol while stifling a smile, and earning a loud snort from Jongin at the backseat.

“No, that’s how his girlfriend likes her coffee!” Jongin laughed, and soon Sehun laughed along with him, not able to contain his laughter any longer. Chanyeol and Baekhyun looked a bit confused, and kept asking the younger ones to explain. Sehun and Jongin then told them that Kyungsoo kept mentioning that he still knows how Dana likes her coffee that time he was drunk. He wouldn’t stop blabbing about it for some reason, and they found it really entertaining.

“Dana’s not his girlfriend yet though.” Baekhyun remarked.

“It’s just a matter of time.” Sehun shrugged, still laughing.

“You think they can make it?” Baekhyun asked thoughtfully.

“I have no doubt about it.”

“I’m just worried about the two of them, you know how it is. I hope they can both handle it..” 

All four of them went quiet at what Baekhyun said. Yes, they knew it was difficult, especially at this time. Having a relationship was one of the downsides of their job. Some fans will fully support you, but many will be against you. If it’s hard for the idol, it will be even harder for their partner.

“Dana is strong.” Sehun finally said after the silence. He only met Dana once, but there was something about her that says she’ll fight, and that she’ll do anything for Kyungsoo. 

“Kyungsoo's also strong. They’ll make it.”

They all agreed, because they knew Kyungsoo would surely do the same.

Chanyeol, Sehun, Baekhyun, and Jongin were relieved there weren’t many people at the chicken place at this hour, but they had to wait for 20 minutes because someone before them ordered exactly the same amount of chicken they wanted. The restaurant had to prepare more chicken and they had to wait a bit.

“Sehun and I will go to my sister’s cafe first and order coffee.” Jongin said.

“Sure, we’ll just meet you there.” Chanyeol nodded.

Jongin and Sehun walked briskly to the cafe just a few minutes away from the chicken place. They kept their heads down because a few people walking on the street kept turning around to look at the two of them. Though they might not be fans because they weren’t following the two of them yet.

When they reached Kamong cafe, there was only a group of three girls seated at a table on the far end, and a woman ordering at the counter. There wasn’t too much customers at this hour, so they felt relieved again.

Jongin walked up to the counter, greeting the guy there. The guy smiled brighty at Jongin. “Did my sister go home already?” Jongin asked, looking around.

“Yeah, she left already, but I think she was going to a friend’s house.” The male employee, or the barista explained, then he handed two cups of iced coffee to the female customer in front of him. “Here’s your order, miss.”

Jongin shrugged and went to the door leading to the cafe’s back room, and told Sehun to order what the guys want while he looked for something. Sehun was casually looking at the pastries in front of him, and he was about to order when he noticed that the woman was still lingering by the counter. She looked familiar though..

“Wait, Dana?” Sehun asked in a soft voice, almost a whisper.

Sehun saw the woman suddenly stiffen, but she didn’t turn to look at him. It was like she didn’t hear what he said. He also noticed she was wearing earphones, so she might have not heard him. He was about to reach his hand out to tap her shoulder, but she suddenly turned around so quick and went to a nearby table.

Sehun turned around to look at her, and he confirmed it really was Dana. She placed her orders on a table where there were two big bags of food. Sehun recognized the logos on the paper bags, and realized they were from the chicken place where they were at earlier. So Dana was the one who bought chicken before them? But for what? And for whom?

Sehun tried to meet her stare but Dana was looking everywhere except at him. The more he stared, the more he noticed there was something off about Dana. She was fidgeting, like she didn’t know what to do. One of her hands was closed tightly in a fist, so tight that her knuckles were almost turning white. And her other hand was.. shaking? 

Then Dana suddenly looked up to meet his eyes. She looked serious and calm, but her eyes were saying something. It’s like she was warning him about something, but she wasn’t talking. Sehun raised an eyebrow in question, so curious about what’s up with her. He was about to walk towards her when she suddenly took her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen quickly and brought the phone close to her ear. Then she turned around, avoiding Sehun’s eyes again. So Sehun didn’t take another step further.

“I wonder what’s wrong..” Sehun whispered to himself. Then he remembered why he was at the counter, he still hadn’t ordered for the other members yet. While he was pointing at the coffee on the menu board, he suddenly heard Dana talk loudly.

“Hello sir? Yes, I’ve bought the food already. I’ll go back to the office right now.”

What office? Dana doesn’t even work in an office. Sehun wondered. He was pretty sure Dana owned restaurants but she wasn’t an office worker. Plus, she was her own boss. Who is she calling sir?

“Yes sir, I’m sorry for taking so long. Do you want anything else? I’m at a coffee shop,” she said too loudly. It was like she was deliberately making the conversation be heard. “Please wait for a moment, let me write those down.” Then Dana suddenly went beside Sehun at the counter, but her attention was on the barista. “Excuse me, can I have a piece of paper and a pen?”

The barista tore a page from his notebook and handed it to Dana. Sehun continued ordering, but he was still confused as to what was happening with Dana. She was scribbling something on the paper, and her other hand was still holding her phone. “Oh, wait Sir, I forgot, I didn’t bring my card, so I have no extra cash to buy coffee.” Dana suddenly said, still talking loudly, as she was subtly sliding the paper towards the counter near Sehun. 

Sehun wanted to volunteer to pay for the coffee instead. He placed his hand on Dana’s shoulder, and she suddenly flinched and moved away from him. It’s as if she didn’t want him touching her. Sehun was surprised, and Dana’s eyes were wide, and full of warning.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I won’t be ordering anymore, you can order first, sir.” Dana suddenly told Sehun. He was even more confused than ever, a bit taken aback that she avoided his hand. He was just going to tap her shoulder and no more. Was she touch-sensitive?

“Okay sir, I’m sorry, I’ll go back to the office this instant.” Dana finally said, and put her phone back in her pocket. Dana went near Sehun but she wasn’t looking at him, but was looking at the barista again. “Excuse me, may I have extra tissues? Sorry for all the bother.” she loudly said again.

When she was handed the tissues, she half-ran to the table to grab the bags of chicken, and she immediately went out of the cafe, leaving Sehun in confusion. At the same time, Jongin came out from the back room.

“They’re not here yet?” Jongin asked, looking for Chanyeol and Baekhyun who still haven’t arrived from the chicken place. Then he stopped short when he realized Sehun was still at the counter. “Where’s the coffee?”

Sehun suddenly snapped out of confusion, explaining to Jongin that he just finished ordering because he got distracted. He realized Jongin didn’t notice Dana because he hasn’t met her yet. But Sehun didn’t mention seeing her.. yet. He doesn’t know why, but he had a gut feeling he shouldn’t say it out loud.

“Distracted? Why? What took so long for you to order?” Jongin asked.

“Don’t worry sir, I can make the orders in a jiffy.” The barista offered. Jongin smiled and waved his hand. “Ah, no, we’re not in a rush, I was just wondering what took Sehun so long.”

“Ahh, the smell of the chicken is making me hungry!” 

Jongin and Sehun turned around to see Chanyeol and Baekhyun entering the cafe, each holding a paper bag with their orders of chicken inside. They sat on a table near the counter where the two younger ones were standing.

“Your orders will be ready in five minutes, sir.” The barista told Jongin.

“Thank you, you don’t have to rush, alright?” Jongin said, before walking over to sit with Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Sehun stayed at the counter for a while, he was still in a daze wondering what was up with Dana. He decided to turn around to go to the table with the other members when his eye suddenly caught the paper that Dana left on the counter. 

His eyes just scanned it in a split second, but he suddenly saw his name written on the corner. “What the--” he suddenly muttered, slowly moving closer to the paper but not touching it. 

There was something off, he was sure of it. He still can’t forget the warning look in Dana’s eyes. Sehun pretended to casually look at the menu boards again, then he suddenly asked for tissue from the barista, just like what Dana did earlier. He looked around subtly, making it look like he was admiring the cafe’s interior, but he was observing the customers inside. There was only the same group in a far away table, three girls with their heads bowed down, tapping away at their phones.

Then Sehun casually placed the tissue above the paper on the counter. After making sure no one was looking at him, he took the paper along with the tissues and went to sit with his members.

“Chanyeol, what’s wrong? You look like you’re gonna kill someone.” Baekhyun half-laughed when Sehun reached the table. Sehun noticed that Chanyeol had a deadly look in his eyes. He was glaring at something.

Jongin turned around to where Chanyeol was looking at, and there was nothing or no one else in the cafe, only the small group of girls at a table far from them. 

“What is it?” Sehun finally asked. Chanyeol just subtly shook his head. “Let’s just take the coffee and leave.” he whispered. Sehun and Jongin looked at each other, absolutely clueless. 

Why are people being so cryptic today, Sehun thought. He still hasn’t wrapped his head around what happened with Dana earlier. They waited for a few more minutes, randomly talking about other stuff, when the group of girls hurriedly went to leave the cafe.

“Leave, just leave.” Chanyeol whispered after the girls went out of the cafe. The three members suddenly whipped their heads in surprise.

“Hey, what’s wrong? What did they do to you?” Baekhyun asked, turning around to look at the girls who left but they were out of sight already. Chanyeol just let out a heavy breath. A few moments later, the barista came to them with their orders in two paper bags as well. Then they all smiled and thanked him before leaving.

Chanyeol seemed to be in a rush, his mood very different from earlier. They went across the street where his car was parked, and hurriedly went inside.

“Mind telling us now?” Baekhyun asked from the backseat.

“Sasaengs.” Chanyeol said. “The girls there were sasaengs.”

“What? How did you know?” Jongin suddenly exclaimed. When Kamong Cafe opened, he was worried that sasaengs might try to invade his family’s privacy. Now that they were at the cafe, he can’t help but feel uneasy.

“I know their faces.” Chanyeol answered, a short and annoyed reply. They weren’t used to Chanyeol being like this, so they didn’t press further. They knew about the sasaengs, it was a normal thing for them now, not that they were okay with it. But those sasaengs must’ve done something really wrong to make Chanyeol remember them.

“So were they there, because they knew we’d be coming?” Jongin asked. Chanyeol sighed, the tension leaving his body, but they all knew he still felt annoyed. “I don’t know, probably. Why else would they be there? You know how they are.”

“But they didn’t do anything while we were there..” Baekhyun added.

“They knew we were gonna be there, for some reason,” Chanyeol said, shaking his head. “They were the sasaengs that sneaked into the SM building a few months ago.”

They gasped in surprise, they remember the group of girls that somehow got into SM. They had official access passes so they were let in by security. The question was how they got the passes and who gave it to them. Until now the staff don’t know how that happened, so SM cancelled all the special backstage access events to fans until they could get to the bottom of it.

Chanyeol was the one who caught the sasaengs that day, they were sneaking into EXO’s practice room, so maybe that’s why he must’ve remembered their faces so well.

“You know why they were at the cafe? They were probably confirming that we were gonna be there. They were confirming that their source, whoever that is, is right.” Chanyeol explained. Baehyun groaned, and Jongin shook his head, looking very disappointed. Sehun just looked out the car window, not at all surprised, because he knew obsession could make one do extremes.

It was sickening, that somehow those sasaengs had access to private information. It was scary, no one else knew that they were gonna be at Kamong Cafe because they just decided it on a whim. Yet the sasaengs knew where they were gonna be. Someone must’ve followed them, or something. 

Then Sehun suddenly remembered the incident earlier.

Dana.

He looked at the paper in his hands that he hid with the tissues. When he read and made out the letters, he suddenly let out a laugh. He couldn’t believe it.

“What’s funny?” Chanyeol asked beside him, not turning to look at the younger one because he was driving. Sehun shook his head, still smiling out of bewilderment.

“She knows.” Sehun said.

“Who knows what?” Chanyeol asked, still not looking at Sehun but at the road.

“Dana knows about the sasaengs. I can’t believe it.” Sehun laughed. Suddenly Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongin made surprised noises and kept asking questions. Sehun just handed them the paper Dana left at the counter, and explained to his members what happened at the cafe while Dana was there.

“Dana was the girl at the counter earlier? I didn’t know!” Jongin pouted.

“Wow, how did she know?” Chanyeol was suddenly smiling, obviously bewildered too.

So that’s why she was worked up earlier, Sehun thought. He still has yet to find out how she knew. Dana really was something else.

On the paper, Sehun’s name was written on the top left corner, and on the middle written in big letters was none other than the word SASAENG.

“Holy shit.”

I let out a heavy breath after I closed the door to my apartment. I never thought I could get out of that situation. The timing was impeccable, and of all places, of all the many days, it had to be at that moment. I was panicking internally but I had to stay calm. I had to be careful. I had to protect Kyungsoo and the boys.

It all started earlier in the afternoon, when I went to the breakfast bar after my last appointment with Dr. Stiles. We closed the cafe early because Lyra, the artist that Kyungsoo recommended, was about to start on the mural at the cafe. I came to check on her first, and I allowed her to stay as long as she liked.

“I have to go somewhere later in the evening, is it okay if I leave you here with one of my employees? She’ll come later in an hour.” I asked her.

“Yes, it’s okay, thank you again.” Lyra smiled. 

After that I went to my small room, or office, to get some documents and fix up some stuff to bring to my trip to Japan, when I suddenly heard other voices talking to Lyra. From what I can hear, they were like, three different people talking. They were girls, based on their voices. Did she let them in for some reason?

I was about to go out of my office and ask them to leave because we were already closed for the day, when one of them suddenly said in a loud voice, “Just tell us, Lyra! Working in SM must be a joy, right? Give us the deets!”

The loud voice made me stop in my tracks, and I slowly walked back to my office silently. I left the door ajar so I could hear what they were talking about. There was this sinking feeling in my stomach, and my instincts were telling me not to meddle too quickly.

“I said it before, I’m not telling you anything! Leave me alone!” Lyra suddenly said in a loud voice. One of the girls laughed, and said, “Fine, but we know you’ll budge soon. See you around.”

Then I heard the opening and closing of the glass door. When I was sure there was nobody around anymore, I went out of my office and headed towards Lyra at the other end of the breakfast bar. She had both her hands in her face. She wasn’t crying but she was groaning loudly and it looked like she was very stressed out.

“Lyra, what happened?” I suddenly asked. She turned to look at me. At first she was surprised that I was there, but her face suddenly changed and looked very worried.

“Please be careful, please be careful of them.” Lyra said to me, her voice cracking. She held my hands tightly and was looking at me with so much worry in her eyes. My mouth was agape, not sure what was happening here.

“What? Me? What are you talking about? Who were those girls earlier?” 

“They are obssesed fans of EXO. They are sasaengs.” Lyra said, her head bowed down. My eyes widened, I knew what sasaengs were and have read about them. 

“W-why should I be careful of them?” I silently asked. It was a stupid question. I didn’t even want to ask because I was afraid of hearing the answer, but Lyra eventually said it.

“They’re suspecting that sir Kyungsoo has a girlfriend now.” she said. I didn’t know what to say, I expected it, but not this early. Surprised was an understatement. “But don’t worry, they don’t know it’s you. They don’t know who it is yet.” Lyra added.

I was a bit relieved by that, but still, they’re already suspecting. 

“But what happened just now? Why were they talking harshly to you? They were asking for information?” I asked, remembering the commotion I heard earlier. Lyra nodded her head, and explained that the sasaengs know her because she works at SM, and that they were snooping around the breakfast bar because they knew that Kyungsoo ate here. They were also suspecting that Kyungsoo and his girlfriend might’ve been seeing each other here because he posted about it.

Kyungsoo just posted a photo of the food here yet they already speculated that he’s dating. Those sasaengs are really something else! But it’s scary, because their hunches were right. They’re close to finding me already. 

It was a good decision that I registered this place under my senior employee’s name. At first it was because I didn’t want the media to know I owned the place, but now it’s convenient because I didn’t want people like those sasaengs to have even the slightest clue about me, and Kyungsoo for that matter.

“Why should I be careful of them in particular? I could report them for harassment if they try something.” I told Lyra. Hell, I could even report them for harassing Lyra for information earlier. But Lyra just shook her head, saying that those sasaengs are good at leaving no trails, and that it’s hard to find evidence against them. She then explained that those three girls were the worse kind because they would willingly hurt people because of their obsession.

“There was this one idol whom they gave food as a gift, and there were pins inside the food. Fortunately the idol wasn’t hurt because the food was inspected first.” Lyra shared. I felt sick to my stomach, how far would they even go?

“How do you even know all these stuff about them?” I asked curiously, trying to distract myself. Lyra chewed on her lip, like she was thinking if she should answer me. Then I told her she doesn’t have to tell me if it’s confidential, but she suddenly talked.

“I was friends with them before. They were my friends.” Lyra said. My mouth was wide open again, not expecting this bit of information. Then Lyra took out her phone and showed me a photo. She was in the middle, with three girls beside her. They were all hugging each other and smiling wildly. Lyra pointed out that the three girls with her were the same girls earlier, and that I should remember their faces.

“I know it sounds bad that they were my friends, but I didn’t want to be like them, so I stopped being friends with them,” Lyra explained, a sad and distant expression on her face. “Then I got a job at SM, and they started bugging me again. They weren’t the people I knew anymore.”

I suddenly felt sad for her. Imagine your friends going down the wrong path. And now they’re bugging her just because she works at SM.

“I know it sounds sketchy now, you don’t have to trust me now, I could stop doing this project if you’re suddenly doubting me---”

“No, I trust you,” I suddenly said to Lyra, my hand squeezing her shoulder. “Because if you were like them, you would’ve told them about me a long time ago. Plus, I heard you telling them off a while ago.”

Lyra smiled, looking grateful that I trusted her. I admit I hesitated for a few seconds, but I remembered that Kyungsoo recommended her, so he must’ve trusted her. Also, I caught that sad look she had on her face when she was talking about her friends. It also took courage for her to admit that she knew those sasaengs personally. She could’ve just kept the information to herself because it can be used against her, but she chose to confide in me even though we were not close.

“I’ll send you the photo of the sasaengs on your email, please be careful of them. Remember what they look like.” Lyra said while tapping at their phone. I thanked her, and she just shook her head. “It’s nothing. EXO has been so kind to me..” she suddenly confessed. “You’re one of the people they care about, so I have to take care of you too.” she said. I suddenly felt like crying at what she said. I hugged her tightly after that.

So imagine my surprise when I saw those sasaengs at Kamong Cafe. I wasn’t even supposed to be there, I was just watching a movie at my apartment when I got a call from Kyungsoo, asking me if I was busy and wanted to meet up with him at their building, and meet the other members as well.

Then he asked if I could buy chicken for them at the chicken place near my apartment. Of course I agreed, I was more than happy to have time with him and meet the boys. I knew they were busy with rehearsals for their tour, and I was flying to Tokyo tomorrow night, so this was the only time I could see them before they also go on tour.

After I bought the chicken, Kyungsoo suddenly called again. I had my earphones on, so I just talked with him without removing them.

“Hello, I bought the chicken!” I said, raising the two bags of chicken even though he couldn’t see me. 

“You did? Ah, that’s great. Did you happen to see Sehun and the others?

“What? No, I didn’t see them. Are they coming here?”

“Yeah, well you see, there was sort of a mix-up, they went there to buy chicken too. They didn’t know I already called you to buy.”

“Why not just call them then?”

“That’s just it, they forgot their phones here, and Baekhyun isn’t answering.”

“I don’t know why I’m not surprised.” I laughed while walking back to my apartment. “Wow, so you’re gonna have twice the amount of chicken? Should I go back to the chicken place and stop them if they’re already there?”

“Nah, it’s fine, we can give extra food to the staff.”

“Good idea, might as well.”

“And hey, they’re going to Kamong Cafe, do you know that place? It belongs to Jongin’s sister.”

I suddenly stopped on my tracks, because I was already passing in front of the cafe. “Perfect timing, I’m outside the cafe.” I said.

“Really? Cool, can you just wait for them in there? Then you can ride with them in Chanyeol’s car on the way back here.”

“Why can’t I use my car instead?” I said while going inside the cafe. There weren’t any people around, only a group of girls at a table.

“I want to drive you home myself later.”

“Alright, do you want any coffee by the way?” I asked him softly while looking at the menu board. The place was too quiet so I lowered my voice. The cafe employee greeted me with a smile and I smiled back. 

“Just plain iced coffee would do.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later then.”

“What, no ‘see you Soo?’” he laughed.

“I already said that earlier, you know.”

“Ah, you don’t want to say it in public.”

I chuckled, of course I had to be careful because other people might hear his name, even though it is just his nickname.

“Of course I don’t, now hang up, I’ll see you in a while.”

“Okay, wait for the boys there.” Then he ended the call.

Shortly, I ordered two iced coffees. The barista politely told me to wait for a few minutes because he was fixing up one of the machines at the back room, and I said no worries and that I wasn’t in a rush anyway. Then he went to the back room and said he’ll be back in a few.

I didn’t want to sit down at the table, so I just stood by the counter and looked at the menu boards, pastries, mugs, tumblers, and the cute cup designs.

“So when are we going back to that All-Day Breakfast place?”

I suddenly froze while looking at the mugs. I slowly turned my head to look at where the voice came from, and it was from those group of girls at the table on the end. There were three of them. One of the girls who was facing in my direction caught my eye, and I casually darted my eyes away and looked around the cafe. I tried to make it look like I was admiring the interior design.

Come to think of it, the cafe does have a good design. Simple, but nice to look at. I should ask for pointers.

I gave quick sideway glances at the girls, just to make sure they weren’t watching me or didn’t seem suspicious of me. They were tapping at their phones and talking, not looking at me anymore. They somehow looked familiar. There was a face that popped up in my mind, but I didn’t want to think of it. It can’t be. Or could it?

“Are you sure we’re not wasting our time by going there? The food’s good, D.O. does have good taste, but I don’t think he’ll be going back there any time soon.”

I was a bit flattered that the food was good, but internally groaned when I heard them say Kyungsoo’s name. I was right. The universe does have a way with things. I casually took out my phone while leaning on the counter, and I checked the email Lyra sent to me.

These were the same girls earlier at the breakfast bar. They were the sasaengs that Lyra was talking about.

I bit the inside of my cheek. They don’t know me at all so I’m not feeling a bit panicked. But I think I should get out of here quickly when I get my order. I should get out and try to find the boys, and warn them not to come in here. Who knows what these girls would do?

“The nerve of him to go on and date. He doesn’t have the right to date!”

I froze again at what one of the girls said. From the corner of my eye I could see one of them looking at me, so I casually bobbed my head and hummed to a song, pretending I was listening to some music while wearing earphones. But in fact, there was no music playing at all on my phone.

“I know, right! None of them should date. They should only focus on us! We’re fucking supporting them and making them famous! Without us, there wouldn’t be EXO.”

“EXO should be fucking thankful that we’re still here even after all their scandals! All those members leaving, and Baekhyun dating? What the actual fuck right?”

“They deserve all the hate. Serves them right. I hope they break up and stop the charades soon.”

I was feeling sick with what they’re all saying. I can’t believe it. 

“They have the nerve to focus on other women when we fans are here! We’re devoting all our time to them and they go around and date? Nuh-uh, fuck no. We’re not having any of it.”

“If I find out who D.O. is dating, I’ll make her life a living hell. I’ll make her wish she never met D.O. at all.”

My hands were shaking, not out of fright, but out of anger. I wanted to shout at them so bad, and tell them that they don’t own their idols’ lives, that their idols don’t owe them anything except work hard to give them wonderful performances and songs. Don’t they get it? Idols love their fans so much, that’s why they’re working hard, practicing, and improving all the time.

The cafe employee suddenly came out of the back room, making the girls stop ranting. I was still pissed, clenching one of my fists so hard to stop it from shaking. The employee or barista apologized for making me wait, and I took out one of my earphones using my other hand, just for show. I didn’t want those sasaengs to think I can hear even with earphones on. I had to be careful, like Lyra said.

“Again, thank you for you patience, Miss! I’ll prepare your order now.” he said. I smiled and nodded my head. He asked if I’d like to sit while waiting, but I just said that I was sitting all day and needed to stretch my legs a bit. Then I pretended to look around the cafe again and walk casually, putting my earphones back on.

I went to the other side of the cafe, near the sasaengs. But I didn’t spare a glance at them, and just pretended to look at the displays. From my peripheral view, I could see them looking at me, but when I passed them and went to the displays on the wall, they went back to talking. This time, they were talking in hushed voices.

“Remember that girl at the hospital, like 3 years ago? Other fans thought she was D.O.’s girlfriend, so they sent her death threats and followed her around. That was so hilarious, really! They did a good job!!”

I suddenly drew a sharp intake of breath. They were talking about Clara.

“It’s good she wasn’t his girlfriend, but she still deserved all that. That’s what you get for spending time with D.O. in a closet. The fucking nerve.”

I was suddenly seeing red. I could stand them talking about me, but when it comes to other people I care about, I’m not going to just stand here. 

But at the same time, I couldn’t move. I was frozen on the spot. I wanted so bad to teach them a lesson, but I kept thinking of Clara and Kyungsoo. Would they want this? Would they want me to fight? Clara always told me to don’t mind things like these, but I remember how hurt she was when the sasaengs kept pestering her back then.

Also, Kyungsoo. He never cared about what anyone else thought. He doesn’t care what these sasaengs would think of him, if they hate on him or not. He wouldn’t want me to fight. It would just burden him more.

I inhaled sharply, and walked back to the counter. I didn’t look at the girls again, instead I kept thinking of a way to lead the boys away from here without being seen. If these sasaengs see me with the boys, it would be the start of a whole mess.

“Hey, how are you doing?” a male voice suddenly said from behind me. I was deep in thought that I didn’t notice people coming in the cafe. The owner of the voice suddenly walked up beside me at the counter and was talking to the barista. “Did my sister go home already?” the he looked around. He met my eye and I almost gasped. He smiled briefly before turning to look at the barista again. 

“Yeah, she left already, but I think she was going to a friend’s house.” The barista said, then looked at me to hand out the iced coffees I ordered. “Here’s your order, miss.”

I had to stop my hands from shaking when I took the coffees. I tried to act natural as possible. Kai is already here. Crap. It’s a good thing he doesn’t know what I look like yet. He didn’t recognize me. Kai then went to the back room where the barista went earlier. I was debating internally if I should wait for him outside, but the sasaengs might see me. When I finally decided to just leave, I suddenly heard a familiar voice to my left.

“Wait, Dana?”

Shit.

I didn’t have to turn to know it was Sehun, because I recognize his voice. I pretended not to hear him. He shouldn’t be seen talking to me, the sasaengs are still here. I quickly turned around and went to the table where I placed the bags of chicken.

Should I leave now and go first? But I don’t want to leave them here with those sasaengs. Do they even know these sasaengs? I have no idea at all. I tried looking around casually again to check if the sasaengs noticed that Sehun talked to me, but they were busy tapping on their phones, and giggling. They were also stealing glances at him, paying no attention to me. Of course they were delighted that EXO was here. I wanted to wipe those smirks from their faces.

One of my hands was shaking so bad, I don’t know what to do or how to warn him, and at the same time I wanted to leave so that he won’t talk to me. My other hands was still clenched in a fist, still angry about what those sasaengs said earlier.

But I needed to warn Sehun. I looked at him and met his stare. I tried to look as calm as possible. But how can I warn him without talking? This was harder than I thought. He raised one of his eyebrows, probably weirded out with me. I realized I shouldn’t make eye contact with him for so long because the sasaengs might suspect a thing. I took my phone out and pretended to make a call. I turned around so he doesn’t have to look at me anymore. 

Just don’t come near me Sehun, I pleaded in my mind.

I had to do something. I couldn’t leave them here. I need to warn him, but I have to do something that will give me more time. I suddenly had a stupid idea, but I had no other choice at the moment.

“Hello sir? Yes, I’ve bought the food already. I’ll go back to the office right now.” I said very loudly. I saw one of the sasaengs turned to look at me because of my loud voice, but she went back to looking at Sehun.

I need to go near Sehun and warn him. Think, Dana.

“Yes sir, I’m sorry for taking so long. Do you want anything else? I’m at a cafe.” I walked around casually, not going near Sehun but pretending to look at the menu boards with the handwritten list of food and prices. That’s it, I could write him a warning!

“Please wait for a moment, let me write those down.” I pretended to say, and quickly went to the counter beside Sehun. But I avoided his questioning look, and asked for paper and pen from the barista. He promptly tore a page from his notebook and gave it to me. I was holding my phone with my other hand and began to scribble quickly on the paper. Darn, my hand is shaking.

I wrote Sehun’s name at the top left corner in small letters, and I wrote the word SASAENG in big letters. I almost forgot that I was in a pretend phone call, so I talked again.

“Oh, wait Sir, I forgot, I didn’t bring my card, so I have no extra cash to buy coffee.” I said. This is embarrassing, but I don’t care right now. I slowly moved the paper closer to Sehun, pretending to be absorbed in the phone call. Look at the paper, Sehun!

But I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder, and was shocked to find Sehun touching me. I immediately moved away, and my eyes widened. I tried to give him a warning look. Don’t touch or talk to me, I wanted to say. Luckily the sasaengs could only see the back of my head from this view, but I didn’t want to risk talking to him. So the best I could do was to casually slide the paper closer to him. God, I hope he sees it.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I won’t be ordering anymore, you can order first, sir.” I said, and motioned for Sehun to take my place at the counter. I even waved my hand towards the paper. I really hope he sees it later. Sehun moved a bit closer to me, but he still hasn’t noticed the paper.

“Okay sir, I’m sorry, I’ll go back to the office this instant.” I pretended to say on the phone, then put it back in my pocket. I moved a bit closer to where Sehun was standing, and casually slid the paper even closer to where his hand was. I need one last distraction to distract the sasaengs, if ever they were watching us. “Excuse me, may I have extra tissues? Sorry for all the bother.” I said loudly, and I removed my hand that was covering the paper.

Then I half-ran to the table, grabbed the bags of chicken in one hand, and the two cups of coffee in another. How I managed to carry all these, I will never know. All that I know was that I was panicking. I just kept praying that Sehun would see that paper.

I flung myself toward my sofa, tired that I ran all the way back to my apartment carrying all the chicken and coffee. I texted Kyungsoo, apologizing that I didn’t go back with the boys. I told him to call me if he could and that I’ll explain everything. I’d feel better talking to him than texting what happened.

More than 30 minutes have passed but Kyungsoo still hasn’t called. I texted him and apologized again, asking if he was mad or hurt that I bailed on them, but he didn’t reply. I also tried calling him, but he wasn’t answering. I didn’t overthink - maybe he was just busy eating or rehearsing. I was used to him not replying in an instant so it was okay.

What I was worried about was whether or not Sehun and the others had any unpleasant encounters with those sasaengs at the cafe. I hope nothing happened. I didn’t want to think about what those sasaengs said because I might get angry all over again.

I stood up and walked to the table, frowning at the bags of chicken. I was supposed to have a good time with the boys tonight. I was really looking forward to meeting them all finally. Again, time wasn’t on our side.

I sighed, realizing again that I have to prepare myself for more occurrences like these; that I have to hide, pretend I don’t know them, sneak out, and more. It really was going to be hard. Plus, what those sasaengs said really unnerved me. There was only three of them and I almost lost my temper. What if I run into more of them? Could I even take it?

Was I prepared to receive death threats like what happened to Clara? Was I prepared for all the hurtful words or even possible harm that would come to me or those close to me?

Honestly, none of these mattered back then. All I thought of was Kyungsoo, and that I was happy to be with him, and that he felt the same. For me, nothing else mattered. But I guess I didn’t see the big picture enough. I couldn’t even do anything right when I was at the cafe, I felt like I was panicking too much.

Can I take all of it? Will we be able to make it?

Several loud knocks on my door suddenly broke me out of my reverie. Then I heard an all-too-familiar voice on the other side.

“Dana? Dana, are you all right? Are you there?”

What was he even doing here? I made my way to the door and unlocked it, not rushing. “You know, you could’ve just called me back or--” but I wasn’t able to finish what I was saying because Kyungsoo tackled me in a hug. He almost knocked the wind out of me.

“Soo, what the--”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” He cut me off, and took my face in his hands. He was scanning my face for something, and looking at me entirely. 

“I’m fine, why would I be hurt?” I chuckled. Kyungsoo let out a heavy breath. Then I went around him to close my apartment door.  Then he explained that his phone was in his bag and he was rushing to come here that’s why he couldn’t text or call back.

“Sehun said you knew about the sasaengs,” he added. I held on to his arm and led him to the sofa to sit down. “I thought they did something to you.”

“What, no, they didn’t hurt me, they don’t even know me.” I explained. Kyungsoo must’ve panicked and thought that the sasaengs found out about us.

“Then how did you know they were sasaengs?”

“Well, Lyra told me. She told me they broke into SM a few months back.” I said, leaving out the part that they were Lyra’s friends. I felt like it wasn’t my secret to tell anyway.

“Yeah, Chanyeol did confirm they were the same people,” Kyungsoo said while shaking his head in disapproval. He removed his cap and his hair was all disheveled. He was also sweating a bit. He also explained that the sasaengs left as soon as they saw Chanyeol, and didn’t do any harm to the boys at all.

“Thank God they didn’t do anything. And don’t worry, the sasaengs don’t know me yet, but I guess we have to be careful next time because they’ve been going to the breakfast bar.” I held out my hand to fix his hair, and he didn’t seem to mind. He seemed to be leaning in to my touch.

“I’m really sorry about this, I shouldn’t have asked you to buy food.” Kyungsoo sighed, eyeing the bags of chicken on my dining table.

“That wasn’t your fault, none of us knew that sasaengs were gonna be there.” I said. It was scary though, how they were at the right place at the right time. This encounter just reminded me to be extra careful next time.

“Still. Junmyeon was right, I shouldn’t have asked you to come at this hour.”

“Aw, I didn’t get to meet them again.” I exclaimed, reminded that I didn’t get to see the boys, again. When will our schedules ever match?

“It’s okay, they understand. They were the ones who told me to come here and check on you,” Kyungsoo explained. I can’t help but smile. How sweet of them! “Jongin said it was a pity he didn’t recognize you.”

“Yeah, but he smiled at me though. I guess I’ll have to meet them another time..”

“You’re leaving for Tokyo tomorrow night, right? I’m sorry I can’t spend the night with you, I have to go back at SM later.” he said. It was sad that he still had to rehearse during the wee hours of the night. But they were flying for their next concert soon, so they had to practice.

“It’s fine, Soo. But please eat before you leave. Look at all these food you made me buy.” I stood up and dragged him to the dining table. I handed him his iced coffee, too bad the ice melted already.

He sat down on one of the chairs and began taking out the chicken from the bags. We sat eating in silence, talking once in a while about random things again, and I told him about how I warned Sehun about the sasaengs, and pretending to talk to someone on the phone. Apparently Sehun told Kyungsoo how I was quick to act on my feet, and he was amazed how I managed to handle it well even though I was fidgeting.

“I was really panicking! I tried my best to look composed.”

“Sehun said it was cool how you got through it. All the boys even applauded when they found out.” Kyungsoo laughed.

“Well, I think all those years of our note-passing at high school paid off, don’t you think?”

Kyungsoo suddenly let out a loud laugh and raised his palm for a high-five, a gesture which of course I returned. When was the last time we did a high-five? I think it was still back in high school!

“There’ll be more moments like these, you know.” Kyungsoo suddenly said afterwards. I knew the words he wasn’t saying. That question that was hanging in the air; This is just the beginning, are you still up for it?

I was full of worry and hesitation earlier, but I’d give anything to be with Kyungsoo like this. Just simply spending time together, eating, and laughing. If he was happy like this, there’s nothing more that I want. His happiness is what matters to me the most.

So I answered his unvoiced question.

“I’m ready for anything, Soo. As long as I get to be with you.”

He smiled at me in the softest way, and sighed heavily. His shoulders relaxed, the tension leaving his body. It was like he was nervous that I might back out. He doesn’t have to worry anymore, because I’ll face all of these head on with him. When I was dying, I was afraid of leaving him alone, and not getting to accomplish all our promises and goals. Everything that happened today just reminded me of how much I want to be with him.

I can take all of it.

We’re gonna make it.

✨ The Star & His First Love

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

So I noticed in my last update of The Star & his First Love that I had lots of typos, I made sure to re-read it before posting but still I made mistakes. I’ll edit those later on. I think it was also because I was “rushing” to post it because some have been asking for updates subtly (I didn’t publish your asks, sorry), and if rushing updates just compromises the quality, I’d rather not update quickly at all.

But don’t worry, I’m gonna finish that fic, it already has an ending, I’m just editing everything and writing the in-betweens. Also, I’m busy with my own personal life, I have a job too and it’s tiring :)) Writing fics has been my relaxation during the weekends, and I want to go back to that feeling of just writing without pressure.

And to top it all off.. I’ll be posting an update tomorrow. ;) 

[velvetfxexo]

(Late) #HappyYeriDay

Yeah, I know I’m late again. I’ll just edit the date.

But happy, happy birthday to our beloved maknae, Yerimie! Multi-talented member who can sing, dance, rap, and compose songs. Little squirtle, I hope you enjoyed your day and thank you for always being strong. 

We love you for it. Stay happy! 

[velvetfxexo]

#EXO_Olympics

Are you all excited for later?!

Join on the fun at twitter! Keep tagging EXO's official twitter account and use the tag #EXO_Olympics! This day will go down in history!

[velvetfxexo]

(Late) #HappyWendyDay

I was busy the past two days so I wasn’t able to open my tumblr and schedule a post.. belated happy birthday to the girl with the golden voice; the sweetest, fluffiest, Seungwannie! I hope you enjoyed your day!

[velvetfxexo]

I just realized that I started some of my fics with a low word count in the first few chapters, like 2k or 3k, then the word count started getting higher with each chapter

I DON’T KNOW WHY, IT JUST HAPPENS

[velvetfxexo]

The Star & His First Love (pt 9)

Characters: EXO D.O./Kyungsoo + OC

Type: Fluff

Length: 9.3k (I didn’t expect it to get this long!)

Whenever EXO goes on interviews and is asked about love, Doh Kyungsoo always gives the same, short, and vague answer. He only fell in love once, and he got rejected. Nothing more, nothing less.

Years later, he meets his first love, again.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 {Part 9} Part 10

Part 9 - Firsts, Flicks, and Fans

He’s a star now, so he must be used to going to fancy places. Should I wear a fancy dress too? But is he really the type to go overboard like that? I don’t think he is. 

He likes watching movies as well. Maybe a simple movie date? I should dress casually, shouldn’t I? But wouldn’t that be hard, anyone could see us in public, right? Would face masks and caps help? Should I wear a disguise?

“Why did I even agree to this?” I cried out in frustration and threw myself on my bed, where different kinds of clothes were laid out. Cocktail dresses, evening gowns, formal blouses, simple shirts.. I’ve put everything I have out here, and I still haven’t decided.

The problem isn’t what I’m going to wear. The problem is where.

Where are Kyungsoo and I going on a date?

Apparently I agreed to go on a date with him while I was drunk at their dorm. I don’t remember any of it, but I didn’t protest. Of course I wanted to go on a date with him! Plus, the fact that he was the first to ask made my heart flutter. Too bad I was too drunk to remember it.

I even asked him if I said or did anything else while I was drunk, but Kyungsoo said nothing else happened. But I could swore I saw a slight smirk on his face when he said that, like he knew something I didn’t.

“Are you sure nothing else happened?” I asked, even though I knew we both weren’t the type to do one-night stands or make drunken mistakes. Hell, I haven’t even kissed anybody yet, so why would I?

“Nope,” he said, with a pop. “Nothing else happened.”

“If you say so,” I shrugged. “I believe you.”

Kyungsoo raised both his eyebrows. For a while he looked taken aback--like he can’t believe I was easily convinced by what he said, and that I can’t remember anything from that night. Then again, I used to have amnesia, this wasn’t new!

“So I’ll pick you up on Saturday, then? I’ll text you when I’m there.” Kyungsoo said while he walked me to the elevator. There wasn’t anyone around the hallway, so it was safe. Too bad I haven’t seen or met the rest of his members yet.

“Sure. Where do you plan to go?” I asked, trying to hide my excitement.

He pressed on the down button of the elevator, making it instantly light up. I could’ve gone down the stairs but he insisted it was safe to take the lift at this time of day. “Oh, it’s a surprise.” He replied casually.

I didn’t realize he was one for surprises! “Okay, but what am I going to wear?”

In a few seconds the elevator doors suddenly opened, and Kyungsoo motioned for me to go inside. I reluctantly stepped in and turned to him, waiting for an answer.

“Just dress up like how you’d think we’d go on a first date.” He said while smiling. Then he held out his hand to press the button going to the basement parking, where Kim--or Yerim--and I came in.

I raised a brow in question, but Kyungsoo didn’t reply. Instead he just smiled softly and waved at me. “See you, Dana.” I heard him say before the elevator doors closed. “Uh, see you, Soo.” I said, not sure if he heard me.

That time, I didn’t think too much of it because I thought it was going to be simple. But hell, I was wrong! I’ve been going around my room for hours, thinking of what to wear. I even called Clara and asked about what she thinks, and she just laughed, saying we were both dorks. But she told me to just wear what I think I should, and that Kyungsoo wouldn’t mind if I get it wrong. Would he?

Even so, I feel like he’s subtly challenging me, to see if I knew him well enough to know what we’d do or where we’d go on a first date. The problem is we never officially talked about this, even back in high school. We never talked about our ideal or dream dates or anything, so I have no idea. At all.

The Kyungsoo I know is just simple, and doesn’t like anything extravagant. Would he still be that way even though he’s a star now? He liked food and cooking like I did, so would he want to go to a fine dining restaurant? 

Does he like to go on casual dates? Strolling at the park? Or going to amusement parks? But that would be too risky. Kyungsoo wouldn’t want to go out in public like that. Or would he? 

I ruffled my hair in frustration. I didn’t want to think about this too deep. My final decision is that I’d go with the first thing that came to my mind. When he said “date” there was only one thing I pictured in my mind. Of course I’d be open to anything he wants to do, but there was a scene that instantly popped in my head when I thought of a first date.

If I’m wrong, Kyungsoo wouldn’t get mad or get turned off would he? He’s not like that. He wasn’t that type back then. Well, now, I’m not so sure.

But I hope I’m right.

My phone suddenly lit up, and a text message from Kyungsoo popped up, saying that he was already here. Not a second later, there was a light knock on my door. If it wasn’t too quiet in my apartment, I wouldn’t have heard it. I walked to my door and paused, not wanting to see Kyungsoo through the peephole and find out if I’m wrong. I sighed, looking down at what I was wearing. What the hell, here goes.

The first thing I saw was that Kyungsoo was wearing his eyeglasses.

The last time I saw him wear those was in high school. He didn’t wear them all the time, only when he felt like his eyes were tired. His eyesight was a bit okay back then compared to now. I saw in some of his videos that he narrows his eyes and squints lots of times, making people think that he was glaring at them. When in fact, he just couldn’t see well.

He was also wearing a cap, like always. He was carrying two brown paper bags in both arms, and are there.. vegetables in one of the bags? Then my eyes slowly trailed down to what he was wearing.

He was wearing a black hoodie with a plain white shirt, and black sweatpants.

“Well, these bags aren’t getting any lighter.” Kyungsoo said, while smiling at me. Then he suddenly went past me and made his way to my kitchen and placed the bags on the counter. Then he started unloading the bags, placing vegetables and other ingredients on the counter.

He didn’t even blink when I opened the door awhile ago.

Like he knew I was going to make the right choice.

“Where do you keep your pots, Danes?” he suddenly asked, snapping me out of my reverie.

I shook my head and tried to hide the smirk on my face while I closed my apartment door. I tried to be nonchalant, but I can’t help feeling giddy. Like Kyungsoo, I was also just wearing a shirt and sweatpants.

Staying in and having a meal together was the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of a first date with Kyungsoo. Luckily, we thought of the same thing. He was all smiles, like he was really happy that we were on the same wavelength.

“Of course we’d think of the same thing, we’re best friends.” I said while washing some of the leafy vegetables he brought, trying to hide the fact that I was having trouble thinking of what to wear earlier.

“Really? You didn’t do a double take? ‘Cause I did.” Kyungsoo simply said beside me, while dicing meat on the chopping board.

“You did?”

“Yeah, I thought what if Dana changed?” he explained, while putting the diced meat in the pot with simmering water. “After all, you went to France and California. Who knows if your tastes are different now.” 

“Actually, I did think the same, what if you’re different because you’re famous now.” I handed him the vegetables and he placed them on the chopping board.

“I guess we both haven’t changed then,” he smiled. “It’s been what, 5 years?”

“Yeah, 5 years. I can’t believe it’s been that long..” I faltered.

“Stop that, I know what you’re thinking.” Kyungsoo said while he was chopping some of the vegetables. “It’s not your fault you forgot me, it was because of the accident, and you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

My eyes widened at what he said. “So you remember everything I said when you were drunk that night?” For a moment Kyungsoo stopped chopping the veggies, but continued soon after. “Yup, I remember everything. Too bad you can’t.” he suddenly laughed.

“I swear to the heavens, Soo. What else did I do when I was drunk?” I whined, and now I was sure that I did something really embarrassing that night. I didn’t force myself on him, did I?

“It was nothing big, you were just whining.” Kyungsoo plainly said, like he didn’t want to talk about it. “What we should be talking about was that day you went to school and got locked in.” Suddenly one of his hands was on his hips, and he was looking at me like he was judging me.

My mouth was half open, not sure what to say, and partly surprised that he brought it up and looked like he was going to scold me. “Look Soo, I’m sorry I caused you trouble. I know I caused a lot of rumors--”

“I don’t care about the rumors, Dana, I never did,” Kyungsoo interrupted, then he lifted the lid on the boiling pot, checking the meat. “My problem is you should’ve just asked me instead of going to school. What if we got there too late? You might’ve frozen to death or something.” Kyungsoo was literally scolding me, but there was real concern in his voice. He must’ve really been worried that time. Clara also cried that time. There wasn’t really much I could say.

“I’m sorry, again, I know all of you got worried.”

“Which reminds me, you owe Jack a photo or something. He was also worried sick that time. He kept blaming himself too.” Kyungsoo said while looking at me. I almost forgot about our school guard, Jack. He visited me at the hospital one time, but I was so sleepy that time that I drifted off accidentally. 

“I know what I did was stupid. It’s just that I was too shy to ask you about it,” I said, my voice getting softer. Kyungsoo staring at me didn’t help either. “I didn’t know if there was still something between you and me. I was too afraid to ask.”

The bubbling noise in the pot made Kyungsoo peel his eyes away from me. He sighed heavily after tossing in the veggies in the pot. “Well Danes, now you know. Like I said, it’s you that I like,” he paused. “And not Sohyun.”

“What?” I shook my head, confused with the smirk on his face. “Why Sohyun, all of a sudden? I didn’t say anything about Sohyun.”

“Are you sure?” he teased. “You asked me when you were drunk, if I liked Sohyun or not.” I gasped loudly and had to cover my mouth.

“Noooo,” I said. “You’re kidding!”

“You really did. That’s fine, you don’t have to feel embarrassed. Just know that it’s only you that I like.” Kyungsoo plainly said. Why did this guy have to be really straightforward? He doesn’t know how his words make my heart jump every time. He’s been like this since high school. 

“You do look cute together, but she’s young.” I said, not sure what else to say.

“Yup, she is. And she’s not you. No need to get worked up over it.”

“I’m not worked up, I was just curious.”

“If you say so.” Kyungsoo said while clearing up near the sink.

“So tell me about the movie with Sohyun.” I was curious to know about his acting gigs. He was washing his hands on the sink when I asked him. “It’s a movie about being in love for the first time, at a young age.” He explained.

“How did you get into the character for the movie?”

Kyungsoo raised a brow in question. “Am I in an interview?"

“This is preparation for when they ask you this in the future!” I handed him a small towel to dry off his hands. “You want to know what I really thought?” he asked. I just nodded, while checking the soup he was making in the pot.

“I thought about you.”

I almost dropped the pot’s lid. Almost. “Me? Why?”

“Well, it was about first love. I thought about you in high school. How I felt during those times.” He said while looking up at the ceiling, like he was thinking back to those times in high school. I just nodded my head and hummed in response. He continued talking. “There was a scene where Sohyun was practicing like a radio announcer--”

I suddenly held out my hand. “Stop, stop, don’t give me spoilers! I want to watch the movie.” He held out both his hands in the air. “Okay! In that scene, I was thinking about you, really. I was imagining that it was you I was listening to. I was smiling from ear to ear.”

“That’s really sweet and mushy of you.” I teased, but I was just trying to hide the fact that I was feeling all fuzzy because of what he said.

“You like it anyway.” he chuckled. I didn’t reply to that because he was right. “I also limped for a bit during filming, because of your incident at school.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know when I climbed over the school gate to get to you, I jumped down. Hell, that was high,” he said, shaking his head. “Never doing that again.”

“Come on, I said I was sorry!”

“I know, I’m just messing with you,” he said while squeezing my arm. “Sohyun even joked that it was her character that was supposed to be limping and not me---” 

He suddenly stopped talking because I gasped again. “Sohyun’s character is limping?” 

“I--no, I mean, it’s--I’m not gonna say anything more!”

I wanted to watch some of the shows and movies Kyungsoo was in, but he wanted to catch up and talk with me instead. 

“I didn’t ask you on a date so you could watch my face on the screen.” he groaned. “I’m here, in the flesh!”

“I know, I just want to see just a bit. How about one episode?” I said while placing my laptop on the coffee table. We were at my living room, he was seated on the couch and I was on the floor just in front of him.

“Okay, fine. Just one. I get to pick what you watch.” Kyungsoo suddenly sat beside me and typed Exo Next Door on the search bar. “Here, just watch one episode of this.”

“Ah, I’ve seen this before but I haven’t watched.” I did see this web series awhile back when I was immersing myself in EXO, but I never got to watch it yet. While I was sitting and watching the episode, Kyungsoo was busying himself in finishing the soup he was making.

“Hey, this is a bit unfair, it’s only 16 minutes long.” I exclaimed after the first episode was done. I just heard a soft laugh from Kyungsoo in the kitchen. “Exactly why I suggested it.”

“Plus you weren’t even in the first ep for long, you were there for like, 5 minutes. Can I watch the next one?” I asked. I just heard a groan, before Kyungsoo agreed. 

Every time Kyungsoo showed up on the screen I’d pause it and make a comment. Then he’d roll his eyes and say, “Do you really have to pause it every time you see my face? I’m literally here in front of you.”

When the second episode was done, I kept pestering him about what was going to happen on the next one, until he just told me to watch it. Then I watched the next one after that, and the next, and the next.

“Soup’s done,” I heard him say, then he placed a bowl of it in front of me. I thanked him and he sat beside me on the floor, while I watched the rest of the episodes. I kept commenting how hilarious Sehun was in this, and he kept agreeing.

“Soo, your soup’s delicious!” I said after a few spoonfuls.

“I know it’s not like your cooking, madam chef, but it’s the best I can prepare on short notice.” he said while smiling. I had to look at him pointedly so he could stop calling me madam chef. 

“But I love how you cooked it, it tastes like home. You don’t get this in fine dining.” I explained.

“I’m glad you loved it.” Kyungsoo looked delighted. I wasn’t even kidding, he made the soup really well. He must’ve been too happy at my comments that he let me finish the whole web series. It wasn’t long before we finally reached the last episode, and we ate up all the meat & veggie soup.

“Aww, Chanyeol got the girl in the end,” I teased. “You were too soft in this show.”

“Really? What are the points I can improve on?” He suddenly asked in a serious tone, and he looked eager for my response.

“I was just joking about you being soft, Soo. You were great. I had second lead syndrome because of your character.” I explained. He didn’t look convinced and he was chewing on his lip.

“Are you just saying that because it’s me?”

“I’m serious, you did great especially towards the end, when you were contemplating about someday the girl you like will like you back,” I described. I stood up from the floor and plopped down on the couch. “My heart really ached at that part!”

Then Kyungsoo sat down beside me on the couch, and suddenly put his arm around me. “Well, thanks then. You know I was also thinking about you during that scene.” 

“Me again? Why, you know I already like you! I’ve liked you since high school.”

“Well,” he sputtered, “Not when you forgot about me and left me hanging for a while. I was really heartbroken about that.”

I groaned because he was making me feel guilty again, but I know he was just teasing me about it. “I’m sorry I left you hanging,” I snuggled closer to his neck and closed my eyes. “I cried lots of times when I couldn’t remember you.”

He suddenly moved his head to look at me, surprised at my confession. “You cried? When was this?” his teasing tone was gone, and he looked worried again. He took my hand and gently held it, his round eyes full of concern.

“It was when I flew back here from Califonia, and met up with Clara. She told me about you and how there was something between us,” I said while slowly rubbing circles on Kyungsoo’s hand. “I could feel that you were important, and I somehow knew at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t dig up memories. It was all blank, and it hurt too much to think.”

Kyungsoo placed his head on my shoulder and hummed in response, urging me to go on.

“I was still in therapy that time, so I wasn’t fully healed. Thinking too hard still gave me headaches back then. So it was hard trying to remember you back then, even though I wanted to. Badly.”

“You shouldn’t have forced yourself too much. It must’ve been hard for you as well.” he said apologetically, holding my hand tighter.

“I tried not to think about you back then. I even kept chanting to myself that if I think about it, it’ll only get worse. Turns out I just needed more time, and that I should’ve learned about the accident earlier.”

“I still get shivers when I think about the accident,” Kyungsoo soflty said beside me. “That was one of the worst days of my life. I thought you were gone, really.” He let out a heavy breath. “Time stopped.”

“Clara said you called the ambulance and paid all the bills. I never got to thank you for that. I’ll pay you back sometime.”

“No, there’s no need for that. I wanted to do it.” he firmly said, and he said it with a finality that left me with no choice but to keep quiet. “I felt the exact same thing when I saw you faint during the get-together.” he recalled. I had almost forgotten about that incident, it seemed so long ago.

“Clara said you drove like hell.” I chuckled lightly.

“Of course, I didn’t know what was happening, or what was going to happen to you. Time stopped again when I saw you fall on the floor,” he explained. I never thought he’d become that frantic again. Clara wasn’t kidding when she said Kyungsoo really does care for me more than I know. “It was like everything was blurred--that everything else didn’t matter--and you were the only thing I was focusing on.”

We just sat there for a few more hours, talking about our lives and updating each other. It was just like old times when Kyungsoo and I would spend time at the Wishing Well at school. All we needed was each other’s company, and we could spend hours just talking. Fairly enough, we never ran out of things to talk about. Everything just went and flowed naturally. 

“This is nice, I’ve missed this.” Kyungsoo suddenly said while we both stared at the television. Somewhere throughout our conversation, we managed to open the TV and play a movie, but we couldn’t stop talking to each other.

This time it was my head resting on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, and he was caressing my hand. He also kept looking at it like it was some prized artifact. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, but the way his thumb kept grazing my palm was making me ticklish.

“It’s weird right, how we haven’t talked for a long time, but it seems like time hasn’t passed.” I said. It was just like that when I was talking with Kyungsoo, like the past years we were away from each other didn’t happen.

“It’s a good kind of weird.” he mumbled.

“But I think that’s just how it is with best friends,” I muttered. Kyungsoo seemed to stiffen but I still went on. “Best friends can go months or years without talking to each other, but when you talk again, you can easily pick up where you left off, like nothing has changed.”

He suddenly turned to look at me, making me lift my head from his shoulders. I was surprised to see a serious expression on his face. That stare would’ve scared anyone off, but not me. Never me.

“But we’re more than best friends, right?” he slowly asked.

I couldn’t help it, I tried stifling my laugh, but it still came out. I suddenly remembered the scene in their web series, when he told himself he wouldn’t ask a girl to be his friend. It looked just like this! But his face remain unchanged, making me bite my lip to stop from smiling.

“I’m serious.” he said in a low voice.

“I can’t believe you even had to ask that!” I said while shaking my head in disbelief. “Awhile ago we were saying how much we liked each other. Now you’re having doubts?”

He let out another heavy breath before answering. “I’m just worried that you might think this is too fast. I mean, we could slow down and--”

“Really, Soo? Too fast?” I swiftly interrupted and flicked his ear, making him raise one of his hands in defense. “We’ve delayed this for a long time already. Remember what we wrote on the wall?”

“On the wishing well?” One of his hands was still raised, like he was sure I was gonna flick him again. He still had those reflexes. I used to hit his arm back in high school, so I’m not surprised his defenses are still up.

“The wall, gosh, don’t you realize how dorky wishing well sounds?”

He suddenly placed his arm around me when he realized I wasn’t gonna flick him anymore. Back in high school he’d flick my ear back or even hit my arm back lightly. He must’ve grown out of it now. “Well, we thought it up. Not letting it go.”

“Fine, at the wishing well, you wished I could give you an answer.”

He scooted closer to me, leaving no space between us. “Yeah, and you wished I could ask you again in three years.” He still remembered word by word.

“So it’s been more than that, it’s been six years now!” I exclaimed. “Yet you still think that we’re going too fast?”

“Wow, someone’s impatient.” Kyungsoo scoffed, and a playful smirk appeared on his heart-shaped lips.

“We wasted three years, Soo,” I muttered under my breath, then I lifted my legs off the floor and onto the couch, hugging my knees. “I don’t think I want to waste any more time.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t hide the amusement off his face. Clearly he was enjoying how I was whining like this. “So you’re saying, we should get together again?”

I clicked my tongue in response, annoyed that he even had to ask. Wasn’t it obvious already? I nodded my head one time, looking anywhere but at him.

“Like, right now?” he asked, the amusement evident in his voice.

“Nah, why not in another three years?” I sarcastically said. Kyungsoo laughed, his beautiful, deep voice startling me for a bit.

“There’s the sassy Dana I know.” he laughed, pushing the hair out of your face. “I kinda missed this sarcastic side of you. You used to curse a lot in high school. I don’t hear you doing that anymore.”

Now that I think about it, I didn’t really curse much anymore. Profanities kept coming out of my mouth back then in high school. Kyungsoo was the same, another reason why we instantly clicked back then.

“I don’t know, I still do sometimes, but most of the time I just don’t want to. Maybe I’ve grown out of it.” I shrugged. Maybe that attitude of mine disappeared when I lost my memories, I thought to myself while laughing.

“Yeah, you’ve become tame.” Kyungsoo mumbled while stifling his laugh. It made me turn and narrow my eyes at him again.

“I’m not tame, I can still hit your arm and leave a red mark.” I said while waving one of my hands and hitting the air around me.

“I know, but I like this tame Dana. It’s kind of sexy.”

“Sexy?” I exclaimed, making my hand drop on my knee and making a loud slapping sound. Kyungsoo looked startled but he just smiled it off.

“Yup, it’s kind of attractive, like you’re a mature young woman.”

I felt the heat rising up to my cheeks. In an attempt to hide my embarrassment, I poked Kyungsoo on his side, making him cry out loud in surprise and recoil from my touch. This time I held my own hand up, thinking he was gonna poke me back but he just placed his arm around me again--tightly this time--and held my right hand so I can’t tickle him again.

“Why don’t we just watch this movie--whatever it is.”

Kyungsoo was awakened by the sound of a faint ringtone somewhere beside him. He blinked several times, before he realized he wasn’t in his room. It still looked a bit dark out, the dawn barely breaking. But there was enough light to see Dana, sleeping soundly when he turned to his right. He must’ve accidentally fallen asleep beside her last night without meaning to.

He turned to his left and found his ringing phone on Dana’s bedside table. It was only 6AM on his phone, and he inwardly groaned when he saw Junmyeon’s name on the screen. He slowly rose from the bed, careful not to wake Dana up, and made his way out of her bedroom.

“Hello? Sorry, I forgot to text you guys last night..” Kyungsoo mumbled when he answered the phone. Junmyeon sighed on the other end. Kyungsoo could imagine their leader shaking his head in disappointment.

“That’s fine, Sehun told us you had a date with Dana. Chanyeol and Jongin were just surprised you weren’t in the room with them when they woke up.” Junmyeon said in a relaxed tone. Kyungsoo was relieved that Junmyeon wasn’t in the mood to scold him.

“They’re up? Why are you all guys up this early? I thought it was our day off.” Kyungsoo said. He opened Dana’s refrigerator, thinking of what kind of breakfast he should prepare for her.

“It’s Sehun’s fault, he wanted to go on a early morning jog, and he woke up everyone else,” Junmyeon said while stifling a yawn. It sounded like he didn’t want to wake up at this hour as well. “Anyway, are you gonna spend the day there again? That’s a long date.”

Kyungsoo would just love to stay here all day with Dana, but she mentioned last night that she had something to take care of at the breakfast bar. The thought of going with Dana on her errands also sounded good to him, but of course he can’t go out in public.

“Nah, she’s going out later. I’ll head back to the dorm after I make her breakfast.” Kyungsoo sighed, knowing that going out with Dana was never going to be easy. But she wanted to make it work, and so did he. 

“Guys can you just--okay fine,” It sounded like Junmyeon was talking to the members, and it sounded noisy in the background. Just typical EXO dorm noise. “D.O., Chanyeol and Sehun wants to talk to you.”

“Kyungsoo! How’d it go?!”

Kyungsoo knew that it was already Chanyeol on the phone with him because of the loud and deep voice. He almost had to move his phone away from his ear out of surprise. “It went well, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo plainly said as he placed some coffee grounds in the coffee maker. He was amused at how he could easily find where everything was. Dana was organized in the kitchen just like him.

Chanyeol groaned from the other line. “What, that’s it? He just said it went well.” Kyungsoo knew that Chanyeol was relaying the message to Sehun. Ever since he gave the go signal to Sehun and Jongin to tell the other members about Dana, they haven’t stopped bugging him about it. They were always giving him meaningful looks and teasing him when they had the chance.

“Sehun wants to know if you asked her to be your girlfriend again!” Chanyeol said. Kyungsoo scoffed, remembering last night. He was supposed to ask Dana that question while they were watching a movie, which turned out to be a chick flick. But he was surprised to see her already sleeping soundly on his lap. He thought she was quiet because she was concentrating on the movie, turns out she already drifted off to sleep. 

“I was about to ask, but she fell asleep.” Kyungsoo explained while he took out a pack of flour from one of Dana’s cupboards, planning to make pancakes. He remembered carrying Dana into her room last night. He was supposed to sleep on the couch, but he stayed beside Dana for awhile, looking at her peaceful face while she was sleeping. He didn’t know how but he must’ve fallen asleep at some point.

“That’s because you’re too slow!” Kyungsoo heard Sehun say in the background, making Chanyeol laugh out loud. He could imagine the boy waving his hands around in disbelief.

“Yeah, you were with her all night, that was more than enough time.” Chanyeol commented. Kyungsoo just sighed, knowing they had a point. But he just enjoyed talking to Dana about trivial stuff and all her experiences in France and California, that he kept pushing the question back.

“I’ll try later when she wakes up,” he said. The coffee was already done, so he poured some into two mugs. He just had to add two spoons of cream to Dana’s coffee. “You guys are more worked up about it than I am.”

“We’re just excited for you!” Chanyeol commented, and Kyungsoo could imagine the big smile on his friend’s face. 

“Thank you, it means a lot.” Kyungsoo said. He wasn’t one to be fluffy around his members, but it touched him how this seemed important to them as well. 

“It’s nothing, it’s not everyday you see someone taming Doh Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol laughed, and he heard a roar of laughter in the background and recognized the rest of the members’ voices. Kyungsoo realized they must’ve put Junmyeon’s phone on speaker mode at some point.

“When I get back, you guys are finished.”

“So how did it go? Are you two together now?”

I sighed at Clara’s question. She sounded too excited, but unfortunately I couldn’t give out exciting news yet.

“Last night was amazing,” I said. It was a date full of laughter, talking, and flirting. I enjoyed every bit of it. Too bad I had to fall asleep in the middle of watching the movie. “But we’re not officially together, yet.”

I could imagine Clara’s eyes rolling at what I said. “Come on now, you should’ve made the first move if D.O. was that slow.”

“Hey, I did! I opened up the topic, but I guess we both got.. distracted.” I tried to hide my smile. I did talk to him about it, but I got embarrassed when he told me was I attractive. I got caught off guard, not expecting that at all. Then the topic changed again, and we ended up watching the movie.

“Uh-huh, yeah,” Clara said, not convinced. “Try harder next time. Who knows what else could happen?”

“Like what, another accident?” I scoffed, then suddenly smiled at a bunch of teenage girls who suddenly entered the breakfast bar. This was why I went here to the breakfast bar today; for the past week, we’ve been having lots of teenage customers. My staff didn’t know why, and I wanted to check for myself.

“Of course not an accident,” Clara suddenly countered. “What if he meets a girl, you know, like an actress?” she joked, and I knew what she was talking about.

“For the last time, Clara, I wasn’t jealous of Sohyun. I just said they looked cute! She’s a kid!” I said, exasperated. I lowered my voice when some of the teenage girls sat down at the bar to look at the menu board.

“Okay, so you weren’t jealous. But you sure were updated.” Clara laughed. Earlier I kept sending her photos of Kyungsoo and Sohyun, some were from interviews and behind-the-scenes videos. I kept telling her how they look cute together. Apparently Clara thought I was having a jealous fit so she decided to call me.

“I met Sohyun, she was a nice girl. She and Kyungsoo are just friends.” I don’t know why I even had to defend them to Clara, maybe I just didn’t like how she kept teasing me about it so I was being defensive.

“I’m just messing with you Danes. Now get back to work, stop stalking Kyungsoo on the internet! Bye!” she remarked, and laughed loudly. Before I could talk back, she already ended the call. Typical Clara.

I turned to look at the teenage girls near me, seated at the bar. They looked approachable, so I decided to talk to them for a bit. They smiled brightly at me when I told them I was the owner of the place, and they kept praising how yummy the food was. I found out they’ve already been here many times this week.

“Thank you for dropping by. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you find out about this place?” I asked. Like I told Kyungsoo before, this place doesn’t get too much young customers because it wasn’t instagrammable, like Clara said.

“It’s because of Red Velvet!” one of the girls excitedly said.

“Because of our red velvet cake?” I asked. We also served red velvet cakes here. I didn’t know they had a liking for it.

“No, no, Red Velvet! The girl group! We went here because of them.”

I blinked, confused at what they were saying. There’s a girl group named Red Velvet? I feel like I’ve read the name somewhere in the internet before when I was reading EXO articles. The only thing I recall is that Red Velvet is also under the same agency as EXO. But these teens went here because of Red Velvet? What’s the connection?

“Come on, show her the video!” One of the other girls urged her friend. One of them tapped on her phone, and turned the screen to me. “This is Red Velvet!” I looked at her phone, and she was showing me some sort of music video. There were lots of pretty colors and a catchy tune. What were they singing? Dumb dumb? Was I hearing it right?

Suddenly five girls in bright-colored outfits appeared, dancing and singing. So this was Red Velvet. I was watching intently and slowly nodding my head to the tune, when I suddenly spotted a familiar face about thirty seconds into the video. My eyes widened, but I kept watching. Maybe I was wrong? Then I saw her face again. Was that--? Surely it wasn’t? But they look so identical!

About a minute into the video, when the camera closed in on the girl I was staring at, I gasped. I knew it! I knew one of them looked familiar! It was Kim! Or Yerim?

Yerim is in Red Velvet?!

“This girl, what’s her name?” I pointed at the phone screen when a shot of Yerim in a car suddenly appeared.

“That’s Yeri! Kim Yerim! She was added to Red Velvet earlier this year! She’s really cute, isn’t she?” the girl gushed. I nodded my head, saying that Yerim was charming and pretty--not mentioning that I’ve met her already. Yerim’s hair is dark now in the video, not sure if she permanently dyed it or it was temporary.

“So you found this place because of Red Velvet? I still don’t get it.” I muttered while still watching the music video. Maybe Yerim told them about this place?

“Didn’t you know? Red Velvet ate breakfast here a week ago!” the girl told me, surprised that I wasn’t aware. But I really didn’t know about it because I was busy the past week. The girls told me that Red Velvet was spotted eating here one morning, and some fans took photos with them. Word spread out to Red Velvet fanclubs, and they decided to check the place out.

“Honestly at first, we just visited this place because Red Velvet came here,” one of the girls said. “But now we keep coming back because we love your food! It’s so delicious, really!”

I smiled, delighted that they came back for the food. Wow, thank you for the free publicity, Yerim. I’d have to thank that girl sometime, if I see her again. I suddenly realized what she meant when she mentioned that we’d be seeing each other often; they were in the same company with EXO and Kyungsoo.. so yeah, I would probably see her again.

Their fans would kill to be me right now.

After talking to the girls and thanking them, I went in my small office for a while, watching videos of Red Velvet. I also ended up reading articles about them too. I still can’t believe Yerim is in this group! She also dances and sings well too! 

About half an hour later, there was a knock on my office door, and one of my employees peeked inside. “Hi Miss, someone’s here to see you, she says she’s an artist you hired?” 

“Oh she’s here! Kindly send her in, please.” I smiled. A few seconds later, a girl in a plain black shirt and jeans came in. She had short hair and a small figure. She was carrying a notebook and a clearbook. I stood up from my desk and she held out a hand to me.

“Hi, my name is Lyra. I’m the artist recommended by sir Kyungsoo.” she said while shaking my hand. She had an accent that I couldn’t figure out, it was clear she was not from around here. “Thank you for coming. I’m Dana.” I said. Then Lyra handed me the clearbook she was holding. “These are my sample artworks.” she said in a cute tone. From her way of speaking, it was like she was still learning her way around our language.

I almost dropped the clearbook out of shock, because her artworks were amazing! She did paintings, murals, digital artwork, graphic illustrations, and more. She can even design posters and make magazine layouts. “You’re a freelance artist, right? How did you meet Kyungsoo?” I asked while flipping through her clearbook.

“Yes, I’m a freelance artist, I was hired by SM, part-time.” she said in a clipped manner. I didn’t know she worked for SM! I thought Kyungsoo said she was a freelancer? Then again, I didn’t know how these things work. But I trust Kyungsoo anyway.

“I see. I love your work, and the only thing I ask is for you to design a mural for this place. I’ve already picked the quote,” I explained to her. Lyra was nodding her head and taking down notes. “The quote is, there is no sincerer love than the love of food.” I smiled, because the quote also reminded me of Kyungsoo. Food was also something that brought us together in high school. I suddenly remember earlier in the morning, when he made me breakfast. I would love to wake up to that everyday.

“That’s a really nice quote, miss Dana.” Lyra commented, smiling up at me, snapping me out of my reverie. I hope she didn’t notice me spacing out. “Thank you Lyra, I’ll show you where I want the mural to be done.” I led her out of the office, off to show her the blank wall. But we were suddenly greeted by noise when we came out of the office.

My employees were running around, the kitchen looked and sounded ten times busier, and when I glanced at the glass windows, my mouth fell open. There was a long line of teenagers outside the breakfast bar, waiting. Why the hell are there so many teenagers today? I looked at one of my employees, asking her what the commotion is about.

“We don’t know either miss, they suddenly came, and we had to tell them to wait outside because all the tables are occupied.” my employee explained, and she looked like she was panicking but trying to hide it from me.

I was also mildly panicking, but I needed to keep a calm face so they won’t get affected. “There are new tables and chairs back at the storage room, I just had them delivered here yesterday. You can set them up outside.” I calmly said. Then my employee went to do my bidding.

“Oops, almost forgot,” I turned around to see Lyra also looking at the teenagers outside with a confused look on her face. “I’ll show you the wall..” I mumbled, then led her to the far end of the restaurant, pointing at the blank wall. Lyra nodded, and said she could make sketches of the mural and send it to me tomorrow. I handed her a business card I had in my wallet.

“Thank you, you don’t have to rush. Just send it to me through email, I’ll also send you the dimensions of the wall--” I suddenly paused, noticing the teenagers waiting in line outside. I recognized the logos on the shirts some of them were wearing. I know those logos too well. They’re EXO’s.

My eyes widened when I realized that all of them lining up were either wearing EXO shirts or caps. Some even had black lightsticks on their hands with EXO’s logo on it.

I suddenly panicked and did a quick scan of the restaurant. Was Kyungsoo here? Was any of EXO here? Why were their fans here? Did they find out about me and Kyungsoo? Too many questions were flooding my mind, and if I wasn’t good at controlling my panic now, I would’ve had a headache and fainted again.

“Don’t worry, they aren’t here.” Lyra suddenly said beside me. I almost forgot she was still here, I got too distracted by the EXO-Ls outside.

“I’m sorry?” I didn’t get what she said.

“The boys aren’t here.” Lyra whispered, giving me a knowing look, before nodding her head at the fans outside. Then I realized that she knows. She knows I was panicking and scanning the room for EXO. But.. how?

More questions invaded my head, but before I could ask her, she suddenly took out her phone and tapped on the screen quickly. She suddenly smirked, then looked up at me again. “I know now.” she said, then she showed me her phone.

“D.O. posted on EXO-L’s official app, 30 minutes ago.” she whispered.

Kyungsoo had something to do with this? I tried to fight the panic in me and focused on the photo she was showing on her phone. At first I was puzzled, it was a photo of a plate with a pancake, few fruits on the side and half-eaten bacon. What kind of photo was this?

Then it clicked in my mind, that it was Kyungsoo’s food when he first came here to me in the morning! I remembered that he took photos of it! Why the hell did he post this now? And on their official app? My eyes scanned for the caption below the photo.

Hello, this is D.O. of EXO.

Love the food here, breakfast all-day. :-)

Did you have a good meal this morning?

Eat well, our EXO-Ls. Health is the most important.

My mouth was agape, Kyungsoo didn’t even mention the exact name of this place, although he did mention “breakfast all-day,” and the only thing he posted was a photo of his plate. But their fans already found this place in less than an hour. How could they find this place with just a photo of an almost-finished meal?

Really, their fans are no joke.

I thanked Lyra for showing me the photo. I was still confused what her relationship was with EXO, and it’s like she read my mind, because she suddenly whispered, “I work for SM, so I know things.” she smiled at me. I just nodded my head in understanding, and apologized that we had to cut our meeting short. “I understand, good luck with the customers!” she politely said before turning around to leave.

I let out a heavy breath and went to the kitchen to help out and prepare food. Looks like I’ll need to hire more staff sooner than I thought. This was going to be a long day. “Thanks a lot, Soo,” I mumbled to myself, but can’t help but smile. Though I’m still confused if I should be glad about this or not.

I thought the customers would stop coming in the afternoon, but the line just kept getting longer. We had to close up early because we were running out of stocks of ingredients. Some of the fans whined about it, but we promised free milkshakes for those who were still here. Then I had one of my employees collect the names of people lined up, and we told them to come back next week. I decided we had to close up on the weekend to fix everything up.

I was planning on fixing up the place a long time ago, Kyungsoo and I even talked about it, but I was planning to do it the month after this because I’m packed this month. 

I was exhausted from all the work, but I have to admit I missed going around and working in the kitchen. Ever since I had my own restaurants, all I did was check up on them because I had people that work for me. It was one of the reasons why I only hired a few people for All-Day Breakfast, so that I could also help out and cook. I forgot how tiring it is!

I was lying on my bed with my clothes all around me, because I was packing for a trip, when my phone suddenly rang beside me, and Kyungsoo’s name popped up on the screen.

“Kyungsoo, what the hell?” I immediately said upon answering.

“Well, hello to you too.” he quipped.

“I’m pretty sure you know what happened today.” I groaned.

“Wow, did news go out that fast?” he sounded amazed.

“Are you freaking kidding me? There was a line outside the breakfast bar, and I thought it would never end!”

Kyungsoo just laughed on the other end, pretty amused by this. At first I was irritated, but hearing his voice and his laugh seemed to wash out all the stress. I couldn’t stay mad at this guy even if I tried.

“I'm sorry for all the mess,” he suddenly said. “I didn’t know they’d find it that fast, EXO-Ls really are no joke.”

“You have amazing fans. Scary, but amazing.” I muttered, remembering the long line of people earlier. That wasn’t even a fraction of their whole fandom.

“I heard Red Velvet visited the breakfast bar, so I thought it was good that I posted about it too, but in a discreet way. I didn’t even mention the name of the place! I’m really sorry.” Kyungsoo said apologetically. 

“No, it’s fine, Soo. I was just.. overwhelmed earlier. I didn’t even know Yerim was in Red Velvet! Then you suddenly posted that photo. A little head’s up would’ve been nice.”

“I was supposed to tell you right now, we just finished rehearsals for our tour. I didn’t expect they’d find the place that fast, really.” I could imagine his eyes widening while explaining to me.

“You’d have to give your EXO-Ls more credit next time.” I joked.

“I know, they’re really something else. It’s been 3 years already and I’m still amazed at what they can do.”

I continued rolling up some of my clothes and placing them in my luggage, my phone between my ear and my shoulder. “You and your fans are lucky to have each other.” Despite all the issues, EXO’s fans have stayed stronger than ever. I think this was their busiest year yet.

“I guess you’re right. By the way, are you busy? Want to eat dinner?” Kyungsoo suddenly asked. As much as I wanted to, I don’t have enough time. “I can’t, sorry, I still have to pack for my trip.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I have to go to Tokyo the day after tomorrow. I have a sudden important meeting with one of my business partners.” I paused, thinking of what clothes to bring. I think it’s autumn season now in Japan.

“You didn’t mention it. Until when will you be gone?” he suddenly sounded sad, but I wasn’t sure of it. 

“Two weeks, maybe? Not sure. It depends.” I was also going to check up on one of my restaurants while I’m there, so I’m not sure how long it was gonna take. I didn’t want to give him an indefinite date.

“Are you going to your restaurant in Tokyo as well?”

I raised my brow in question, even though Kyungsoo couldn’t see me. “You know I have a restaurant there?”

“What, I know things about famous chefs.” he joked.

“Kyungsoo, I swear--”

“I’m just kidding. I saw it on the internet. What, you know what’s happening with EXO too and I’m not complaining.”

“Well, I don’t have to search anymore ‘cause I can just ask you.”

I placed a fancy dress and some jackets in my luggage. I suddenly remembered that some of the people I’m meeting with always dressed up too fancy. I needed to look the part too.

“Have fun in Tokyo then. Call me when you’re not busy. I’ll miss you.”

“Already? It’s only two weeks, Soo. Compared to six years.” I said, subtly cluing him in on the topic we didn’t get to finish last night. But he just laughed and seemed to miss the point.

“I know, I’ll still miss you anyway.”

I sighed, not wanting to ask again. He didn’t even bring it up earlier in the morning. Maybe he wasn’t ready after all? I decided to brush it off for now.

“I’ll miss you too, good luck on rehearsals and on your tour. Where are you guys headed this time?” I asked. At first there was silence on the other end of the line, and I wasn’t sure if the call was disconnected. But a few moments later, Kyungsoo’s voice was back. “I think we’re going to Singapore next week.”

“Bummer, when I come back from Tokyo, you won’t even be here.” 

“I know. But we can still call each other.”

“Yes, please update me when you have time.” I felt a little sad that our schedules don’t match. I realized it was gonna be like this most of the time. I had to get used to it if I wanted things to work out between me and Soo.

“I will. Again, I’m sorry about earlier. I just wanted them to know how much I really love your food.”

“For the last time, it’s okay, and thanks for loving my food, Soo.” I joked.

I heard a deep sigh on the other line before he spoke again. “I want them all to meet you, you know.” he softly said.

I smiled at the thought, but the fans suddenly came to my mind. I also remembered what happened to Clara back then. I wasn’t ready for all of those things. Yet.  Maybe someday I will be.

“The world isn’t ready for me yet, Soo.” I scoffed. He hummed in response, because he also knew it all too well. If it was difficult for me, it was even more for him. We were both quiet for a while, before he talked again.

“The first step to them accepting you is getting to know you.”

“They can get to know me some other time.” I said.

“I posted the food from your place because I loved it. I wanted them to know what I loved. I loved that place, because it was yours.”

I smiled, my heart suddenly warming up at what he said. Kyungsoo really knew what to say to make my heart flutter like this. He’s the only one who could do this, no one else.

“It’s a hint for them, so they’ll know about who and what I love.”

I was trying to process what he said, then I got distracted when I suddenly heard other voices from his end. “Uh, I gotta go, Dana. Call me again, okay? See you.”

“Yeah, sure, okay.” I said, still confused. “See you, Soo.” Then he ended the call shortly.

Did he just indirectly tell me he loved me?

✨ The Star & His First Love

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

#HappySeulgiDay

Just dropping by again to say happy birthday to our adorable Seulgi bear!

Such a softie but a rude one on the dance floor! Enjoy your day, queen!

[velvetfxexo]

Star-Crossed (Masterlist)

Jongin, Soojung, and Seulgi have always been friends since they were trainees. Now they’ve all debuted in their own groups, and are prospering separately in their careers.

Everyone at their company knew how close they all were, but in a flash, they drifted apart, all at the same time.

There were stories and hear-says, but no one truly knows the exact reason of the estrangement.

Up until now, only the three of them know.

Characters: EXO Kai/Jongin + f(x) Krystal/Soojung + Red Velvet Seulgi

Type: Angst, Fluff, Friendship

Series: Stars Don’t Fall (Canon!AU) 

Part 1 - Maybe

Part 2 - coming soon

Part 3 - coming soon

Part 4 - coming soon

Part 5 - coming soon 

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

Star-Crossed (pt 1)

Characters: EXO Kai/Jongin + f(x) Krystal/Soojung + Red Velvet Seulgi

Type: Angst, Fluff, Friendship

Length: 2.9k

Jongin, Soojung, and Seulgi have always been friends since they were trainees. Now they’ve all debuted in their own groups, and are prospering separately in their careers.

Everyone at their company knew how close they all were, but in a flash, they drifted apart, all at the same time.

There were stories and hear-says, but no one truly knows the exact reason of the estrangement.

Up until now, only the three of them know.

Part 1 - Maybe

“How long have you trained, Seulgi?”

It was in the script she received beforehand. Even though she knew they were going to ask this question, she still pretended to be taken aback for a bit, the bright smile not leaving her face.

“I was a trainee for 7 years, since I was in grade 7,” she paused. “I was a trainee at the same time as f(x)'s Krystal and EXO's Kai."

She already told herself to not mention them. She had already thought it over and over. But their names still managed to slip out of her mouth. You’re so stupid Kang Seulgi, she told herself. She’s surely going to regret this later on. What will the two think when they find out about this?

"When Krystal and Kai debuted, did you go through a hard time?" The MC asked, snapping her out of her reverie. This time, the question wasn’t from the script. The MC was merely curious. But still, she was unfazed.

"I didn't go through a hard time,” she instantly replied. “When f(x) debuted, I had only trained for about 2 years. I thought that I should try harder and thought, 'I will debut too', but that turned into 7 years."

Everything she said was the truth. She wasn’t envious that the two debuted first. She was more than happy for them, plus she had always thought that she needed to learn and train more.

Yes, it was true she didn’t take it hard when they debuted first. But what hurt her was what happened after they debuted.

But nobody needed to know about that anyway.

“So did you ever do rebellious stuff when you were still a trainee?” another one of the MCs asked. She inhaled sharply, but not loud enough for them to hear. A memory of going to Han River riding bikes with Soojung and Kai suddenly came to her mind. She remember the exhilarating feeling of escaping, sneaking out, and just having fun.

Come on, Kkangseul! Keep up, would you?

My legs hurt from dancing all day, Jongin! I’m not as athletic as you are!

"There's a type of deviating we did as trainees,” Seulgi explained, smiling at the memory. “We told our trainors we would go to Han River to exercise, but we'd go eat ramen instead.”

Ah, all that biking made me exhausted. Let’s go eat ramen!

Soojung, how about our diet? We still have to eat healthy for 3 days!

I hate dieting! Let’s just go eat, please Seulgi?

“We're not supposed to eat ramen. We ate ramen and rode our bikes." Seulgi added with a laugh. She wished she could go back to those days. Not the days they’d train hard and watch their weight, but the days that the they would just hang out without a care in the world.

Maybe that was why she mentioned them earlier. Maybe part of her wanted them to know she still remembers the good ol’ days, and that she thinks of them as happy memories. Maybe she wanted things back the way they used to be.

But she knows that it wasn’t easy to do that right now, when all the two did was avoid her and pretend she didn’t exist. She knew it was impossible, but part of her still hoped. But she was also getting tired of it all.

“Good job today Seulgi!” her senior, Kyuhyun said. All the while giving her a smile and patting her shoulder. She thanked him back and waved, before heading out to where their manager was. Seulgi liked to think that Kyuhyun was also one of the reasons she was well-received by the public even before she debuted, because Kyuhyun praised and mentioned her several times while he was an MC in the show. She was even on the top search for real-time searches that day.

Seulgi was thankful that all their seniors took good care of them. It was genuine, and they all showed concern. She loved the bond that the artists in their company had. They were a family.

Soojung and Kai were her first family. Even though she hated to admit it, part of her missed them. But it was just all kinds of awkward whenever they’re in the same place together. It just irritated her, but she just chose to brush it off.

“Seulgi, can you head in to the building first and give this to EXO’s manager? You know him right? I have to attend a meeting later.” Their manager suddenly told her when she entered their van. He handed her a large paper bag. She took a peek inside and there were bottles of what seemed like protein drinks.

At first she nodded her head, but later realized that she actually had to go to EXO’s practice room, and might run into Kai. But Seulgi didn’t want to refuse her manager’s request, so she just sat quietly while looking out the window.

When they arrived at the company building, Seulgi headed out of the van first and bade the manager goodbye before he drove away. Seulgi turned to enter the building, pushing the glass doors, when she was suddenly enveloped in a hug from up front.

“Seulgi bear!! How are you?”

It was Amber, all smiles at her. She hadn’t seen Amber in a while because f(x) was busy preparing for their upcoming album. Seulgi missed this friend of hers. They were also close during trainee days. She often wonders, that if Amber can still be close with her, why can’t Soojung?

“I’m good, we just filmed for Radio Star.” Seulgi happily replied.

“I hope you’re not pushing yourself too hard. There’s more to come, you better prepare yourselves!” Amber said jokingly. It’s only been a year since Seulgi debuted with Red Velvet, and it was no joke. She was glad for all the training, because those hard days did prepare her for the real world.

They’ve just started, and Seulgi knew it was going to be a rocky road ahead. Looking at Amber reminded her of that. “How about you? You guys alright?” Seulgi said softly. Amber offered her a small smile, and nodded. “We’ll get through it. You don’t need to worry.”

It’s only been a month since it was officially announced that Jinri, or Sulli, was leaving their group. The last year was hard for them since Jinri was caught up in lots of rumors, so she took a hiatus from promotions. It came as a shock to her that Jinri would be leaving f(x). Jinri was also her close friend during trainee days. Seulgi wanted to comfort her, but the girl wasn’t around much and they hardly ran into each other.

Seulgi can’t even imagine how hard it was for Amber and the others. But they’ve always put on a bright smile and positive energy for the camera. It was tiring, having to pretend like you’re okay all the time. But it came with the job.

“Let’s hang out more next time, okay?” Amber said, before hugging Seulgi again and going out of the building. Catching up with Amber would be a good idea. Maybe she can ask if she knew something about Soojung.

Then again, Seulgi was also not the type to ask about things. She wonders if Soojung even told Amber about why they’re avoiding one another. But even then, why wasn’t Amber awkward with her if she knew something? See, thoughts like these just frustrate Seulgi more, so she just chooses to brush it off like always.

She made her way to the elevator and pressed the button to the floor where EXO’s practice room was. She was a bit nervous, crossing her fingers that Kai wasn’t there, and that she didn’t have to run into him. “I shouldn’t even be avoiding him, why am I like this?” Seulgi asked herself, slightly hitting her forehead.

She was tired of turning around corners and avoiding them. She didn’t have to, because she knows she didn’t even do anything wrong. It was Kai and Soojung who started the avoiding game. At first she thought maybe they were just tired or that they didn’t see her, but the next occurrences looked intentional.

There was a time that Seulgi rode the elevator on the first floor, and someone was half-running and telling her to hold the door. Turns out it was Kai, and when he reached the elevator, his smile faded when he saw Seulgi. Then he gulped, and said “Never mind, I’ll take the stairs,” before turning around to leave. Seulgi was baffled at that time, there wasn’t anyone else in the elevator but her. Why did he need to avoid her?

But now she was used to Kai not looking her way at all, even in public when she’d bow, he just passes by and pretends he doesn’t see her. It was annoying at first, but now she got used to it like it’s a normal thing. Taemin, Kai’s best friend who she was also friends with back then, sometimes passes her just like Kai does. But sometimes he smiles, and she don’t really get what’s up. Maybe he knows something?

Running into Kai was okay, Seulgi could now pass by him on the hallway and not feel anything at all. She’d just be indifferent. She was just nervous today because she has to purposely walk inside their practice room. Plus, the fact that she mentioned him and Soojung today in the show they filmed. Would he know about it already?

Seulgi could take Kai, but Soojung was another thing. Even before, Soojung always had an icy cold stare, which Seulgi knew was just really a facade. Soojung’s personality is the opposite of what people see from the outside. But whenever they pass by each other in the hallway, Soojung’s stare was different. 

Soojung doesn’t greet her or talk to her at all, but she always makes eye contact. She wasn’t feeling awkward at all. In fact, it was like she always had something to say to Seulgi, but ends up not saying it at all. Seulgi tried smiling at times, but Soojung didn’t smile back and just kept looking straight ahead. Sometimes she pretends she’s reading something at her phone, or pretends she’s fixing a part of her blouse, just to avoid Seulgi’s greeting. 

There were times she wanted to ask them so badly, but they all haven’t talked in a long time. It’s been almost a year or two since they all drifted apart from each other. And now, they can’t even stand to be in the same place at the same time.

It’s extra hard when they’re all in the same company, and Seulgi has to bow to them because they were her seniors. She didn’t mind bowing. It’s just that they didn’t greet her back. It’s like they’ve never been close friends.

When the elevator finally arrived on the destined floor, Seulgi made her way to EXO’s practice room. She was hesitant at first, because she heard music coming from the door, and she thought they were rehearsing.

Seulgi tried to take a peek at the small glass panel on the door. She realized EXO wasn’t rehearsing, they were just sitting on the floor, talking, and playing with their phones. She tried to look for their manager, but she can’t seem to spot him.

One of the members stood up, and suddenly waved at her. It was Junmyeon, smiling at her but with a confused expression on his face. Seulgi felt embarrassed that she was caught peeking at their practice room, but she calmed herself because she had a reason after all.

The door swung open, music blaring, and Junmyeon greeted her brightly. “Seulgi! Do you need anything?” His loud voice made some of the other members turn their heads, and they greeted her and smiled. Chanyeol waved frantically to her as well.

EXO members were all nice to her and Red Velvet, and not just nice for-the-sake-of-it, they were genuine about it and always liked taking care of their juniors. Chanyeol and Junmyeon were the ones who were always happy to see them, patting their heads and waving like crazy. Except to Joohyun - they were somehow shy around her. Only giving her bright smiles but not acting too playful. Then again, who isn’t shy around Joohyun? 

It also made Seulgi think. EXO weren’t acting weird toward her or her group, so maybe they don’t know anything about what happened with her and Kai? Maybe he didn’t tell anyone about it? 

“Our manager just told me to hand this to your manager.” Seulgi said, while handing the big paper bag to Junmyeon. He took out one of the bottles, and Seulgi was right that they were protein drinks.

“What? Your manager told you to bring this? He shouldn’t have asked you to do that.” Junmyeon said, while shaking his head. Seulgi shook her head as well and waved one of her hands. “It was nothing, he said he was going to a meeting. I was on my way in anyway.”

“But still, thank you. Sorry for the trouble.” Junmyeon said apologetically. He look bothered that I had to bring the drinks to them. He was just like Joohyun in many ways, always worried about other people. Maybe it was a leader kind of thing?

“Anyway, how are you girls? How’s Yerim? Or should I call her Yeri now?” Junmyeon asked. Yeri was also a trainee, and she was added to their group just a month ago, officially debuting. Everyone was excited for her, and at the same time nervous because she was young. She was somewhat the agency’s baby. Everyone adored her.

“We’re doing okay, more schedules as usual.” Seulgi said. They just released their first album, and they were much busier with promotions than before.

“Love the new song by the way! Dumb, dumb, dumb---” before Junmyeon could finish singing, Sehun already commented from inside the room. “Oh no, he’s gonna sing Dumb Dumb again!”

“Junmyeon, don’t do it in front of Seulgi, you’ll embarrass us!” Chanyeol said jokingly, making all the others laugh.

“Hey, I can dance to Dumb Dumb!” Junmyeon retorted, then did the choreography with fingers pointing at his head.

“We’re sorry you had to see that Seulgi!” she heard Sehun say from inside.

“Nonsense, Junmyeon can dance it well.” Seulgi brightly said, gaining a big smile from Junmyeon, then turned around at his members with a look on his face that says I told you so.

“You’re being nice Seulgi, Junmyeon dances weirdly!” Chanyeol laughed.

“What, you’re one to talk!” Junmyeon said, gaining more laughs and jests from the others. He suddenly remembered Seulgi was still here, and she was giggling along with them. “Sorry, you know how they are.” Junmyeon shrugged.

“We’re just as crazy.” Seulgi said, thinking of her members. She thinks that they’re all noisier combined.

“So you girls must be a handful to Joohyun too.” Junmyeon commented softly. Seulgi was surprised at the sudden mention of Joohyun but didn’t think too much of it. “Joohyun is just as crazy as we are! She doesn’t back down either when we tease each other.”

Junmyeon smiled softly, and there was a look in his face that Seulgi can’t figure out what meant. But it was gone before she knew it. “Well, good luck to her as well.” Junmyeon said while laughing. 

“Oh, which reminds me, I have to go now and practice. I’ll head out first.” Seulgi said, waving. The others bid her goodbye, and Junmyeon nodded his head, thanking her again for bringing the drinks, before closing the door.

Seulgi was about to turn around the corner when someone almost ran into her, making her stop in her tracks. The person brushed by her but turned around to mutter a short apology.

“Sorry! I’m sorry!”

She suddenly froze, recognizing the voice and turning around to see Kai looking at her, with a big smile on his face. He had a hand held out, saying sorry again, before he went inside EXO’s practice room and disappeared from her sight.

Seulgi couldn’t move, she didn’t even get to respond to him. Was that actually Kai, and did he just smile at her?

It was the first time in a long time he’s said a word to her, and he smiled! She couldn’t believe it. She suddenly felt weird and fuzzy, and realized she missed that smile of his. It was one of the things she loved about him when they were trainees, aside from his passion in dancing. He always had a lovely smile and a laugh that was so contagious. 

He was so passionate about dancing, always wanting to improve himself, all while keeping a positive outlook in life. It was one of the things that made her fall for him back then.

Could this be it? Were they starting to be okay again?

Seulgi suddenly felt excited, there was a skip in her step when she was making her way to Red Velvet’s practice room. She was suddenly in a good mood, and her energy was up. She was so hyped for rehearsals. Joohyun and the others kept asking her why she was so energetic, and she just said she had a good rest. But they knew there was something behind her smiles.

It was just a small interaction between her and Kai, but it was still a good one. Seulgi started to hope that yes, maybe things could go back to the way they were. It would take some time, but this interaction was a step towards it. A small one, but it was still a step.

But she should’ve known better than to get her hopes up.

Because just a few days after, word spread out in the company.

Kai and Soojung were finally dating.

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

The Star & His First Love (pt 8)

Characters: EXO D.O./Kyungsoo + OC

Type: Fluff

Length: 6.6k

Whenever EXO goes on interviews and is asked about love, Doh Kyungsoo always gives the same, short, and vague answer. He only fell in love once, and he got rejected. Nothing more, nothing less.

Years later, he meets his first love, again.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 {Part 8} Part 9 Part 10

Part 8 - Doubting, Drinking, Dating

“You are reckless, and you freaking drive like crazy!”

Clara was breathing hard and her eyes were wide, holding on to her seat belt and looking at me like I was madwoman. “It’s as if you weren’t traumatized by a car accident! What the hell, Dana!” 

The moment Sehun told me something was wrong, I immediately jumped up from our table and ran out to my car. Clara followed me, almost tripping on her way out. The car engine roared like crazy when I started it and Clara was so shocked when I started driving fast. My first thought was to go to the airport, fly to China where they were having their concert tour, and go to Kyungsoo. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but my mind doesn’t think straight while panicking.

I gave the phone to Clara and told her to talk to Sehun. She hesitated for a while, before finally grabbing it and talking. I told her to ask him where they are in China, and I heard Sehun’s loud exclaim from the other line.

“China?! We’re not in China, we’re back at our dorm!”

Then I swerved so hard and turned around, remembering that their dorm was just a walking distance from the breakfast bar. We were just there, we could’ve just walked! I mentally slapped myself.

Sehun told us to wait back at the breakfast bar, and that someone was going to fetch us and bring us to their dorm. He said we were going to enter through the parking lot so dispatch wouldn’t see us. Meanwhile, Clara was still waving her hands frantically while talking to me. We were standing outside the breakfast bar.

“That was crazy, you know! I’ve never seen you drive like that! And you were planning to go to China on a whim? You are unbelievable!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry! I panicked!” I shrugged, not having any more explanations to say. It was simple as that, my panic got the best out of me. A million thoughts flew into my mind when Sehun said something was wrong with Kyungsoo. I thought something happened overseas, but they were only at their dorm. Come to think of it, since when did they come back from their tour in China? Why hasn’t Kyunsgoo called me yet?

“Is that--”

I turned to look at Clara, and she was staring at someone walking towards us at the sidewalk. I recognized the strawberry blonde hair and the get-up. It was Kim. She waved quickly at me, and came closer, a skip in her steps. I smiled, happy to see her again so soon. She pulled her face mask down and beamed at me.

“Hi Dana!”

“Hi Kim, back so soon?”

“Wait, I’m right, it really is you!” Clara suddenly said, pointing at the young girl. Kim’s eyes flickered to Clara, and gave her a wink. Then she put a finger to her lips, telling Clara to keep quiet. Clara managed a small laugh, and shook her head lightly.

“Do you know each other?” I asked, looking from Clara to Kim. 

“Yeah, I see her around at the breakfast bar. Right?” Kim answered almost too quickly, smiling sweetly at both of us. Clara blinked a few times like she didn’t know what to say, but she nodded afterwards, saying that they did talk a few times. Kim wiggled her eyebrows at what Clara said. I was still confused, but was even more surprised when Kim began tugging at my arm. “Come on, let’s go.” she said while lightly pulling me from where I was standing.

“Wait, what? Where? Go where?” I didn’t want to move, we were waiting for someone and I needed to go see Kyungsoo. I could go with Kim on another day.

“At their dorm. You want to see Kyungsoo right?” Kim said, almost laughing. I was taken back, Kim was the one that Sehun sent to fetch us? I looked at Clara, and one of her eyebrows was raised, and she crossed her arms. She chuckled, like she wasn’t surprised at what was happening. I was still baffled, but I nodded and let Kim drag me, then I realized Clara wasn’t following.

“You two go ahead, I have somewhere to go.” Clara said while waving her hand at us. “Wait, I need you there!” I exclaimed, but she just laughed and shook her head. “No, you don’t! You’re fine. You’re gonna be alright.” Before I could say anything else, Clara turned around and walked away, still waving her hand with her back to us.

“Let’s go Dana, we have to be quick.” Kim quietly urged beside me, and she had another face mask in her hand, asking me to wear it. After placing it over my mouth, I let her drag me behind one of the buildings, and we walked briskly. I was still clueless as to what’s up, so I asked her how she was related to Sehun. Kim just said she was a close friend of them, and Sehun asked her to fetch me. It still didn’t really make sense. When will the world give me a break? I just had revelations after revelations, and I think there are more to come. 

Kim just kept walking straight and didn’t look around, like she was avoiding eye contact with everyone. I think it was about five minutes when we reached EXO’s dorm. Instead of walking towards the entrance, Kim pulled me to the side and went around the building. I realized we were going to the underground parking lot. There was a guard standing near the way to the parking and he held out his hand to stop us. Kim suddenly let go of my arm, and slightly brought her face mask down. She greeted the guard, and when the guard recognized her, he smiled back and gestured her to go on. That was quick.

“I’m sorry, we need to take the stairs. We can’t run into other people in the elevator.” Kim explained. I nodded, because taking the stairs wasn’t a problem for me anyway. Apparently EXO lived somewhere on the fourth floor. When we arrived, Kim opened the door leading to the hallway and took a peek first before turning around to nod at me. I followed her out after realizing there was no one around on this floor.

We made our way to the other end of the hall, and stopped at the last door. Kim took out her phone and tapped quickly on the screen, before knocking lightly on the door. Will they even be able to hear us out here?

Apparently they can, because we suddenly heard a click on the door, and it slightly opened to reveal a tall man peeking out.

“Finally, come in.” He urged, then Kim lightly pushed me inside. The door was closed and locked almost instantly the moment we came in. Kim hurriedly went to the living room, which was out of my sight, and I heard her squeal lightly and talk to someone. She was talking to another girl, from the sounds of it.

“Sorry for the mess, I didn’t get to clean up yet.” I turned to look at the source of the voice, and it was the tall guy who opened the door for us. I realized it was Sehun. He smiled at me, and gestured me to go to the living room. It was the first time I’m seeing him this close and in person. He was the youngest of the group if I remember correctly, but wow, he towered over me. I noticed there was a tired look in his eyes. Lack of sleep? Exhaustion? But I guess he’s more tired of the issues happening to his group right now.

I felt guilty for a while, but the way he smiled at me - like he was really happy to see me even though it’s the first time we met - made the tension drop. He made me feel comfortable, and somewhat safe.

The living room was just small and simple, as expected of the place, with two couches, a coffee table and a TV. There were paper bags and clothes on the floor, not much of a mess if you ask me.

Kim was sitting on one of the couches, and she was talking excitedly to another girl. My eyes widened because I’ve seen the other girl before. She noticed me staring and stood up, her cheekbones rising when she smiled. That’s when I recognized her.

“Aren’t you Sohyun?” I asked. It really was her, she’s a young actress and I’ve watched her dramas before. She nodded her head, reached out a hand and shook mine. “Yes, I am Sohyun. It’s nice to meet you.” She beamed at me. Now I’m really confused to what’s going on.

“Sohyun worked with Kyungsoo, they just finished filming their movie this month.” Sehun explained, he must’ve noticed the confusion in my face. I didn’t know that Kyungsoo was filming for a movie! I knew that he had acting projects, but I didn’t know there was an ongoing one. Sohyun nodded again and added, “Yes, we’ve been filming for the movie since June.”

If they’ve been filming since June and it only ended now, Kyungsoo must’ve been really busy! They were going on concert tours and all. No wonder he didn’t have time to contact me. He must’ve been tired all the time. I suddenly felt bad, for the hundredth time today. Then I remembered why I was here.

“But where is Kyungsoo? Can anyone tell me what happened?”

“We just had a photoshoot earlier, and we had dinner with the movie crew..” Sohyun explained, and looked at Sehun, not sure if she should continue. Sehun just laughed and said, “It’s fine, you can tell her. It’s her by the way, the one I was talking about.” Sohyun’s face lit up and she held my hand again. “Then you’re Dana? Right? I knew you looked familiar! I’ve seen you lots of times! It’s nice to see you in person!”

“What? You’ve seen me? When?” I suddenly asked. I don’t remember seeing Sohyun anywhere, so how could she have seen me? She covered her mouth, trying to hide an embarrassed smile. “Uhm, well, during break times on set, I would see Kyungsoo watch videos on his phone. It was an interview of you on a cooking show, I think. When he noticed me eyeing his phone, he said he just likes cooking so he watches shows like that.” Sohyun explained. “But I noticed that he keeps watching the same vid over and over. Then he smiles widely when your face shows on the screen.”

I felt my face getting hot, so I tried to cover my cheeks with my hand. Kyungsoo, that dork. I hoped Sohyun was the only one who noticed him doing that. “I found out you were a chef, and I just thought that Kyungsoo admired you because he liked cooking,” Sohyun continued. “I didn’t know you were his girlfriend!”

“What—I’m not his girlfriend! Why does everyone keep saying that?” I exclaimed in a high pitch voice. I felt so embarrassed then and there. Sehun and Kim couldn’t hold in their laughs, and Sohyun just waved her hands in the air. “But that’s what he told me earlier when he was drunk, so I had to rush him out during the dinner!”

“He’s drunk? Where is he?” I asked, going over the fact that Soo told Sohyun I was his girlfriend. Sehun led me to a door on the left, the two girls following as well. “No worries, he’s right here.” Then Sehun slowly opened the door. I peeked inside, and saw a figure seated on the floor, with his head resting on the bed. It was Kyungsoo, and he wasn’t moving. Was he asleep? Why didn’t he just lie down directly on the bed?

“Kyungsoo doesn’t drink much, you know,” Sehun whispered while looking at me. “Funny enough, he only drinks when it’s related to you.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Me? Why me?”  Sehun just shrugged, but he had a curious expression on his face when he looked at me.

I heard Sohyun sigh behind me, and then she told us what happened with Kyungsoo earlier. “Everyone during dinner was drinking alcohol. Kyungsoo and I were the only ones who weren’t. We only had iced tea. Everything was going well, we were all talking and laughing, when I saw Kyungsoo snickering at something on his phone. I think it was a photo of you.” I was suddenly curious about what photo he was laughing at. I didn’t know he had a photo of me, but then again, he also had a video. Who knows what else that dork has? 

Sohyun continued, saying that Kyungsoo showed her the photo. “He said, ‘Do you see this girl? Isn’t she pretty? I’m proud of her, do you know she won awards already?’ Then I noticed his voice was different, like it was a bit higher than before, and his face was pink. He was drunk, and I also smelled it on his breath.” She scrunched up her nose, recalling the memory.

We were all startled when Sehun suddenly laughed loudly. “He was just like that before! He also got drunk and kept saying ‘Sehun, I miss her! Sehun, I miss her so much!’ I can’t believe it happened again!” He was clapping his hands now. I closed my eyes and shook my head, these kids, really. I was already embarrassed as it is!

Kim hit Sehun on the arm and told him to stop laughing. Sohyun went on after she stopped giggling. “But really though, he was saying a lot of things. He even whispered to me, ‘Don’t tell anyone, but she’s my girlfriend!’ I was surprised, but I was getting more nervous because he might say more. There were so many people around! So I borrowed his phone and called the most recent person he texted. Luckily it was Sehun.”

Sohyun then told Sehun about the situation during that time, and he told her to bring him home to their dorm before he says anything else. Both of them knew that Kyungsoo didn’t really drink, and aside from being talkative like Sehun said he would be, they don’t know what else would happen and how he’d act. 

Luckily, Sohyun got Kyungsoo out of the gathering. I asked if she knew why Kyungsoo started to drink during their dinner, but Sohyun didn’t know as well. He was just drinking iced tea at first, then he switched to alcohol and he may have had three or more drinks before she started to notice.

“God, Kyungsoo is a mess.” I muttered under my breath.

“Dana!!”

The three of us suddenly whipped our heads to the direction of the voice, and we saw that Kyungsoo was awake—sort of. He was smiling widely, and it’s like he was fighting the sleepiness in his eyes. He was waving his hand frantically at me.

“Dana!! I’m sooooo happy to see you!”

Sehun, Kim, and Sohyun looked at each other and started to snicker. It was a delight for them to see the stoic Kyungsoo like this. The three seemed to be afraid of me so they instantly covered their mouths with their hands when I turned around to look at them. Kyungsoo looked behind me, and perked up when he saw Sohyun.

“Sohyun!! You’re here! Hey, that’s a secret, alright?” Kyungsoo said while waving a finger at Sohyun playfully. Sohyun just nodded and made a face at him. “Yeah, yeah. You’ve been a bother tonight Kyungsoo. You owe me one.” Kyungsoo just made a thumbs up at her, which made her snort. 

After that, Sohyun told us she had to go because she had a table reading tomorrow. She shook my hand once more, saying again how nice it was to meet me in person. She turned to leave, and Kyungsoo followed her with his eyes, and that’s when he noticed Kim also standing by the door.

“Yerim! Why are you here?! Are you visiting Sehun again?”

“Oh god, someone stop him.” Kim said while she laughed. She tapped Sehun on the shoulder, waved at me, and also turned to leave with Sohyun.

“Yerim?” I asked, confused. Did Kyungsoo call her Yerim?

“See you next time, Dana.” Then she winked at me. “I told you we’ll be seeing each other often.”

Before I could say anything else, she left the room, taking Sohyun with her. I turned around to look at Kyungsoo again, still sitting on the floor, smiling at me. Then he slowly raised his arm, gesturing for me to come closer to him. I rolled my eyes but obliged anyway. When I was standing beside him, he tapped the carpeted floor with his hand, asking me to sit. It was much easier to sit on the bed, though.

“Look, I think I’ll stay over at Chanyeol’s room. It’s just a few doors away.” Sehun suddenly said, who seemed eager to leave.

“No, it’s okay,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll leave in a while.” Then I suddenly heard Kyungsoo whimper beside me. I didn’t turn to look at him because I might laugh at the sight. I can imagine Kyungsoo pouting, and I don’t know if I can keep a serious face. But seeing Sehun bite his own lips to stop his laughter, it became harder to contain my own.

“Nope, he needs you right now. I think you’re the only one who can handle him.” he snickered. Kyungsoo suddenly waved his hand at Sehun, like it was only now that he realized one of his members was here. How much did he even drink?

“There’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry, and if you need me, you can call me using Kyungsoo’s phone.” Sehun said to me, while he waved back at Kyungsoo. “I’m sorry we had to meet like this, but I am really happy to finally see you.” Sehun added, before the turned around to go and close the door, leaving me and Kyungsoo in here. I heard a faint sound of another door opening and closing, meaning Sehun has already left the place.

At first, neither of us was talking. Kyungsoo and I both just sat on the floor, unmoving and staring at each other. Kyungsoo’s arm was still rested on the bed, and he looked at me like he was memorizing every detail of my face. I sat properly, and also moved closer to the bed so I could rest my arm on it as well.

I just stared back at him, then I noticed the slight bags under his eyes. He must’ve been really exhausted, filming a movie and going on tours back and forth. How does he do it? It’s not only physically draining, but mentally and emotionally exhausting as well. How does he carry all that weight on his shoulders? I will never know.

If we even get together, will it even work? Will it even last?

“I missed you.” 

I was startled when he suddenly spoke, his high pitch voice was gone, and the deep one was back. He smiled softly at me, but his eyes were sad. I knew those eyes all too well.

“I missed you too, dork.” I whispered, then held out my hand to fix his hair, all sticking up in places. I realized it wouldn’t make a difference because he cut it short again. He always did like having his hair short. Back in high school, all the boys wanted to grow out their hair and Kyungsoo would just keep it shorter and shorter. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shaved all the hair on his head one day.

In the midst of fixing his hair, he suddenly reached up to take my hand, and he intertwined his fingers with mine. He was just staring at both of our hands before he spoke again.

“I’m sorry.”

I lifted a brow in question, not sure what he’s apologizing for this time. Then he looked up at me with those big eyes.

“I was too busy the past months, I didn’t get to call,” he paused. “I didn’t want you to think I was too clingy, you weren’t even my girl yet.”

I could swear I felt my cheeks heat up at the mention of my girl. I casually bowed my head in an attempt to hide my embarrassment. “No, it’s fine, I know you’re busy, and with everything that’s happened to you guys, I understand.” I plainly said, because the past months have been rough on EXO again.

Kyungsoo huffed a laugh, like he knew I would say that. “Don’t say it’s okay, I knew you kept thinking that I was avoiding you,” he said, then he placed his hand on my cheek and kept patting it playfully. “I didn’t think you’d miss me like that.”

I shook my head, hair shifting. “Wait, how did you even know that?”

“Clara told me,” he said, with a tone like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s why I sent you flowers.”

“Hold on, we both couldn’t contact you that time. How did she manage to tell you?” I asked. I removed his hand from my cheek and held on to it instead.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo paused, like he was suddenly thinking of something to say. “She told someone, then that someone told me.” I wasn’t the type to pry, so I didn’t ask who that someone was. If Clara wanted to tell me, she’d tell me herself. 

“Thank you, by the way, for the flowers. I loved them.” 

“I was witty right?” Kyungsoo said while laughing and rubbing circles on my hand.

“Yes, Soo. Forget-me-nots. Really witty.” I chuckled.

“Yeah.. I didn’t want you to forget again,” he softly said. His face suddenly fell and I stiffened at his expression. “I got lonely, you know. When you forgot me.”

All the guilt came washing down again, I just wanted to evaporate at the spot. I held on to his hand tighter. “I’m sorry Soo. I must’ve hurt you a lot. I’m really sorry.” 

“But you were hurt more, the accident, everything, I’m sorry that it was because of me that--”

Before he could finish speaking, I placed my hands on both the sides of his face. “No, it wasn’t your fault. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s it. I don’t want to hear you apologizing for it again, please.” 

He opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it again and nodded. It was like I was scolding a kid. He took both of my hands again and held onto both of them. “I’m glad you’re back though,” he said. “It was hard seeing you moving on after the accident.”

“I’m really sorry, I just forgot because of my condition, and I couldn’t contact Clara, there was no one to--”

This time, he was the one to place his hands on both sides of my face. Then he moved his face closer to mine. “That wasn’t your fault either. It did hurt, at first. I missed you, and I saw you moving on with your life and you never contacted me again.”

I gulped at the close proximity. I could feel his breath on my face. The last time I was this close to his face was in high school when he was asking if he had something in his eye. Now that I’m seeing him up close, I could see his features even better. How I miss staring into his eyes. People would use to tease him about his eyes, but I’ve always loved them. And those heart-shaped lips..

“Did you kiss anyone?”

I suddenly blinked several times, and scrunched up my eyebrows together. Did I hear him right? “What? No. Why the hell would you ask that?” I slowly moved away from him, and he lightly let go. But there was a smirk on his lips.

“Are you really drunk, Kyungsoo?” I suddenly asked. I just came to realize that he’s been dead serious the past minutes we’ve been talking, and there was no trace of the drunk Kyungsoo anymore.

As if on cue, he shrugged his shoulders much too high, and answered in a higher voice. “I don’t know, do I look drunk? Am I really drunk?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, suddenly becoming suspicious. “Are you.. are you acting, Kyungsoo?” But his expression didn’t change. He didn’t even smirk. He just shrugged again and said, “Who knows. Maybe. Maybe not.”

I kept studying his face, searching for signs that he might really be acting, but damn, he was really good at showing a neutral face. I have to give him credit for that. He tilted his head while staring back at me, then his smile slowly grew. What is he up to now?

“You didn’t answer my question yet.”

I had to pinch the bridge of my nose. He wasn’t gonna let this go, I’m sure of it. “Why are we suddenly on the topic of kissing?”

“So you haven’t kissed anyone?” he asked, the smirk back on his lips.

“No, I haven’t kissed anyone. Why would I kiss people I don’t like?” I said, a bit exasperated that I had to even explain.

“Then you’d only kiss me?”

I didn’t expect him to ask that, but since he’s drunk -- at least I think he is -- I might as well play along. “Yes, I’d kiss you because it’s you that I like.” He’s drunk, so he wouldn’t remember this, would he? Damn, I should’ve asked Sehun if Kyungsoo remembers what happens during the time he’s drunk.

Before I could say anything else, Kyungsoo suddenly moved his face closer to mine. I let out a small gasp, and his hand was on one side of my face. I could feel his breath again, and he was slowly moving his lips closer to mine. I inhaled sharply, not sure what to do, so I just closed my eyes.

But instead of feeling his lips on mine, I was suddenly flicked on the forehead - hard, making me open my eyes again. “What the hell?” I said out loud. Kyungsoo was shaking his head and waving his index finger at me.

“You’re still an idiot, you’d let anyone kiss and grab you like that?”

My mouth was open, not sure of what to say. It’s not like I wanted to kiss him at the moment -- well, maybe I did, but he played me! Where did he even learn how to do a move like that? So this is what drunk Kyungsoo is like!

When you still weren’t replying, he suddenly added, “Besides, why would I kiss a girl who forgot me?” Really? He was really playing this game? I didn’t want to get too irritated at him, so I just remained silent and folded my arms.

“Let’s play a game,” he playfully said. I knew it. I raised a brow in question, trying to play along. Then he continued, “I’ll ask you questions about me and see if you really remember. Then I’ll let you kiss me.”

I almost lost my balance, and to think I’m already sitting on the floor. I waved a hand frantically at him. “Oh, no no no. I’m not gonna play this game with you.”

“I knew it, your memory really isn’t back. Ah, I was right.” Kyungsoo said, shaking his head and looking away, a grin plastered on his face.

“Hey mister, my memory is back perfectly.” I suddenly boasted.

“Then why don’t you wanna play? Scared that your forehead will get red?”

I don’t know why I’m so hyped up to prove something to him or beat him at his game, maybe because I felt a bit frustrated that he attempted to kiss me and I was disappointed that he didn’t. He had the gall to play me like that, really! 

“Then let’s do it! Ask me anything!”

“Okay then,” he said, rubbing his palms together, looking very amused that I agreed to play. “If you get a right answer, I’ll let you kiss me.” 

“I don’t want to kiss you. I want to flick your forehead!” I said while making a flicking motion with my fingers, and eyeing his forehead as if there’s a target on it.

“Really? You didn’t want to kiss me? It didn’t seem like it a while ago..”

“Just shut up and ask me, Soo!”

He laughed, then shook his fist. “We play rock paper scissors first, then whoever wins gets to ask the question.” I waved my hands at him again.

“You can’t keep adding game on top of game! Why don’t we just take turns?”

He smirked at me again and tilted his head. God, another snide remark is coming again, I’m sure of it. “Why? Still bad at rock paper scissors? At this age?”

“Just shut up and play, Doh Kyungsoo!”

“They were playing.. rock paper scissors?” Junmyeon asked, very slowly. 

Sehun kept nodding his head, finding it hard to convince the other members. It was funny though, how they were all staring at him with surprised looks on their faces. Junmyeon was standing near the dining table where Jongdae and Jongin were seated. Minseok was lying on the couch with Baekhyun beside him. Chanyeol was on the other couch, and Yixing was standing at the side. 

It was supposed to be game night with all of the members at his and Junmyeon’s room, but thanks to Kyungsoo’s stunt, they had to stay here at the room Chanyeol shared with Jongin and Kyungsoo, just a few doors away, though.

“I heard it, they were shouting rock paper scissors, and shouting questions at each other like some game show.” Sehun tried explaining. He went back to their place just a few minutes later, because he was supposed to grab some drinks from the fridge. When he passed the room where Kyungsoo and Dana was, he heard all the shouting.

“Kyungsoo is drunk, with his first love, and they’re.. playing rock paper scissors?” Jongin asked, with emphasis to each phrase. He just repeated what Junmyeon said.

“They were pretty loud.” Sehun said.

“Are you sure it’s just rock paper scissors?” Baekhyun asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Minseok, who was beside him, instantly hit him on his arm.

“Ahhh stop that! Kyungsoo wouldn’t do that.”

“I didn’t even say anything yet!” Baekhyun exclaimed. Everyone else just shook their head or chuckled.

“So who’s winning?” Yixing asked.

“Winning what?” Sehun asked.

“Rock paper scissors. Who’s winning?” Yixing asked, very casually. Sometimes he just wanted to laugh at Yixing for being very simple like this.

“I think Kyungsoo is winning, because Dana kept saying ouch.”

“Sehun, really, are you sure they’re just playing?” Baekhyun asked again, then he suddenly jumped from the couch and ran away from Minseok who was about to hit him again.

“I think they’re going to drink, 'cause I was about to grab some soju and there were none left.” Sehun explained. He came back to their room for drinks, but all he saw was a fridge with no soju and a note on their dining table, obviously written by Dana, saying she’ll pay back the drinks.

“That’s fine, let them drink. Maybe they’ll finally get together after that.” Yixing said while laughing. He sat down beside Chanyeol who was busy tapping at his phone, but stopped when Yixing was now beside him.

“Kyungsoo missed her a lot, remember during the tour in China, he tried to take his phone from our manager?” Chanyeol laughed. They all felt bad for him at the time, the management was stopping him from contacting Dana. He had no choice but to follow. He was always righteous, but it surprised them when he tried to secretly take his phone. He didn’t get to use it, unfortunately.

“He really did. Yixing’s right, we should just let them be.” Junmyeon added. He may look calm on the outside, but they knew too well that he was worrying again. As expected of the leader.

“Kyungsoo’s smart enough, Junmyeon. You don’t have to worry about him.” Jongdae said, smiling up at their leader.

“I know, I know. I just don’t know if it’ll work out well between them. You know how it is.” Junmyeon explained. Everyone nodded, because they all knew too well how hard it is to be in a relationship when they’re idols.

“I think they’re gonna be fine. She likes him, he likes her. That’s all that matters.” Sehun simply said, like it was one plus one. For him, nothing else would matter as long as both would take the effort to be together. Yes, dating as an idol was hard, so you have to have the stomach for it. Wrong, you need to have the stomach for it all. But he believes that if you really, truly, unconditionally care for someone, nothing else would matter.

“You’re sure she likes him as much as he does? Like, genuinely?” Baekhyun asked, suddenly coming out of the other room where he ran off to earlier. 

Sehun nodded. He saw it in Dana’s eyes, how she was worried and frantic when she arrived at their place. He’s seen many emotions through many people’s eyes, he knows when someone’s just messing with him or being genuine. Dana’s wasn’t just genuine, it was something even more. “She’d fight for him, I just know it,” he said. “She’s a tough one. I saw the fire in her eyes. They can do this.”

Everyone just nodded silently, trusting Sehun and his words. Even though he was the youngest, there were times that he was the wisest. Maybe that’s why he was so great at holding the group together, especially during the rough times.

“I wonder what they’re talking about now..” Minseok said thoughtfully.

“Maybe Kyungsoo’s telling her how much he misses her, just like last time.” Jongin laughed.

“I missed you so much, you know! Like, France was fun and beautiful, but you weren’t there, so it wasn’t really fun!”

Kyungsoo was trying hard to suppress his laugh. He kept nodding to what Dana was saying. This is the first time Dana has drank like this, and he found out that she really has a low tolerance for alcohol. She was just on her third shot of soju and she was already confessing things.

She didn’t know that he sobered up real quick. He was getting a bit tipsy because of the soju right now, but he was thinking much clearer than earlier. He was surprised that Dana suggested that they do a drinking game instead, so that the stakes were higher. But he thinks it was because her forehead was getting redder now. He’d flicked her forehead more times than she flicked his, but he made sure to do it lightly. Still, her forehead turned red.

“We both don’t really like to drink, so whoever answers wrong, gets to drink.” She challenged earlier, with a smug look on her face. She must’ve forgotten about the part that she might actually get drunk and forget what she’s doing or asking.

Kyungsoo asked three questions about his music playlists in high school, and she mixed up the singers and song titles. He was surprised that on her third shot, she asked a subjective question.

“Do you like Kim Sohyun?”

“What? There’s no right or wrong answer to that.” he chuckled.

“Ahh, but look at this, people are starting to ship you both.” Then Dana showed a video she searched for on the internet, it was a behind-the-scenes clip of him and Sohyun filming their movie. He read from the comments that they looked good together.

He just scoffed and shook his head at Dana. “She’s 6 years younger than me, she’s practically a little sister to me.”

“Age doesn’t matter! So do you like her or not?” she urged.

“No, I don’t. I like you, not her.” he pointedly said. Dana giggled, and threw her phone on the bed. “I thought so.” Then she suddenly poured soju on her shot glass and downed it before Kyungsoo could stop her.

“Why did you drink that? I didn’t even ask you yet!”

“Oops,” she said, her voice getting higher. “I forgot. Oh look, I forgot again.”

Kyungsoo smiled, amused at the scene before him. He missed Dana a lot, and it was refreshing to see her again. Even more fun that she’s getting drunk for the first time.

“It’s my turn to ask the question right?” she suddenly piped up. It was actually Kyungsoo’s turn, but he was having so much fun that he just let her. “Yup, it’s your turn. Ask away.”

“Okay! So are you gonna kiss me now?”

This time, he really couldn’t hold in his laugh. Dana looked at him, a confused look on her face. “What? You don’t want to kiss me?” she asked.

Kyungsoo couldn’t answer because he was busy laughing. A while ago, he didn’t want to kiss her because he himself was drunk. But now, he didn’t want to kiss her because she was drunk. When he looked at Dana, she was pouting and she looked like she was really annoyed. He tried to straighten his face as best as he could.

“Of course I want to kiss you too,” he slowly said. “But you’re drunk, and I wouldn’t take advantage of that.”

“It’s not like I don’t want it!!” Dana whined. Kyungsoo covered his mouth with his hand. He remembered Dana’s face earlier when he didn’t kiss her and flicked her forehead. She looked disappointed! She tried to deny it but he saw it too quick.

“Kyungsoo, just kiss me!” she shouted. All of sudden he covered Dana’s mouth with his hand and shushed her. He knew it was already late at night, she might disturb everyone on their floor with her shouting. Not to mention that she was shouting about kissing!

“I knew it, you just don’t want to kiss me.” Dana whined, removing Kyungsoo’s hand from her mouth.

“No, it’s just-- alright, alright. I’ll just kiss you here.” Kyungsoo held both sides of Dana’s head, and planted a kiss softly on her forehead. Then he smiled and stared at her. “There, better?”

Dana smiled back, but before he could even blink, she suddenly moved closer and planted a kiss on his lips. It was quick, and was just a smack that didn’t last for even two seconds, but Kyungsoo could swear his heart was gonna come out of his chest. “That was better.” Dana said, then rested her head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

She was getting sleepy, so Kyungsoo carried her to the bed. She didn’t protest, and snuggled up with one of the pillows. He placed the blanket over her and fixed her hair. “Dana, I have on last question.” Kyungsoo whispered.

Dana only mumbled back. “Mhmm?”

“Let’s go on a date. On the weekend.”

“Mhmm.”

“What was that?” he asked, not sure if that was really an answer.

“Okay, let’s go on a date.” Dana replied, her voice getting too soft for him to hear, her face buried on the pillow.

“Really? Can you promise that?” 

“Yes, I promise.” she said much louder.

Kyungsoo smiled, then turned on the lamp next to the bed before he turned off the main light in the room. She never liked the dark, so there had to be any source of light beside her.

Before he left the room, he planted another kiss on Dana’s head, simply because she gave a correct answer to his question.

✨ The Star & His First Love

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

The Star & His First Love (pt 7)

Characters: EXO D.O./Kyungsoo + OC

Type: Fluff, a bit of angst

Length: 7.2k 

Warning: Slight mention of accidents

Whenever EXO goes on interviews and is asked about love, Doh Kyungsoo always gives the same, short, and vague answer. He only fell in love once, and he got rejected. Nothing more, nothing less.

Years later, he meets his first love, again.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 {Part 7} Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Part 7 - Sorry, Secrets, Soon

It was like opening your eyes and seeing the early morning light. You knew it was coming, like it always does everyday, you just weren’t sure what time you’d wake up.

It was like falling into the ocean and finally meeting the cool, harsh waves after walking around the beach all day. It was within your reach, you just didn’t want to jump in just yet.

It was like finding the light switch after fumbling in the dark for far too long. You knew it was somewhere there, you just had trouble finding it is all.

Gaining back my memories of Kyungsoo felt the same.

They were just there, tickling at the back of my mind. I knew he was always there, and it only needed some time for him to come knocking again. Maybe it was the trauma, or the pain that came with the memories that took me so long to open the door. Maybe I was also just scared to find out about everything. Maybe I was terrified that I hurt him. Even when the memories were all scattered, I always remembered the feeling. I did like him, I liked him very much. 

Whenever I saw him on tv, on the internet, or even in print ads and billboards, it felt like my heart was being squeezed. That’s him, the guy I used to like. But he’s famous now, and he didn’t contact me anymore. It was hard not remembering what happened during the past 3 years. Did I reject him? Did he reject me? Did I hurt him? I decided to think for myself that we simply just went on our separate ways.

But with all the memories of Kyungsoo that came flooding back, also came the memories of the accident that happened 3 years ago.

The accident that started all of this.

The accident that made me forget Kyungsoo.

All those missing memories came back slowly during the time I was resting in the hospital. It wasn’t overwhelming like the time when I was at our old school, when I suddenly felt dizzy and had the splitting headache that caused me to faint, be locked in the campus at night, have a sudden phobia attack, and get a bad case of the flu afterwards. I can’t believe I was bed-ridden for a week after that.

Everything about that day was a disaster. I could chalk that moment up as one of the worst and unluckiest days of my life. But apparently, it wasn’t the worst, because nothing could top the accident. 

Clara had lied when she said I slipped, fell down a flight of stairs and hit my head hard. I knew something was fishy about that, and every time I mentioned it, she seemed much too eager to change the topic. Now that I think about it, they’ve avoided talking about that topic with me for several times already. I’m not even mad or irritated, because I knew they were just worried.

Clara and Dr. Stiles were apparently watching me over the years because I was still in danger of having an internal bleeding in my brain. Which happened for the first time during the accident.

I also found out that Clara was worried sick the day I fainted at our campus – she thought I had internal bleeding again because I had the symptoms, but thankfully it was a false alarm. She was so happy when I was brought to the hospital that day and they found out I only had the flu and was over-fatigue. She was so relieved that she cried again.

Right now, Clara and I will be meeting up at my breakfast bar, so we could catch up some more and that everything can be clarified. We’ve talked a few times over the phone after I got out of the hospital, but we didn’t get to meet up since I had some conferences to attend to and Clara was booked the past weeks. I’ve managed to put up most of the pieces of my memories together during the time I was recovering, and I only have a few more questions left. Mostly they were about Kyungsoo, but he can’t meet up with us today.

Kyungsoo. I wonder how he is now?

At first I thought I was an absolute mess, but right now I can’t imagine what Kyungsoo’s going through, especially with EXO. Apparently, a rumor was spread about Kyungsoo going out in public and meeting up with someone at a hospital for lots of times this month. I realized that the first one was the day when I fainted during our high school get-together, and the second one was when I fainted at our school. But I found out from Clara that the actual first time was 3 years ago during the accident, and Clara herself got dragged into that mess as well. I’ll have to ask about that later.

But that didn’t stop Kyungsoo from visiting me during the second time, the one where I was hospitalized after getting locked in the school. He came by about three times more because he promised. But he had his manager with him and another one of his members - his name was Junmyeon, I think. He and their manager always stayed at the far end of my hospital room, always politely giving space for Kyungsoo and me to talk. Kyungsoo explained that he might not be able to visit because of his schedule, which of course I understood and told him not to worry about it. I didn’t know at that time that there were already rumors, and that his company was probably stopping him from visiting me. Clara said his hospital rumor died down for a bit, because they saw that Junmyeon and their manager came with him during the next visits. People ended up deducing that maybe Kyungsoo and Junmyeon were visiting an old friend or something.

We thought that was over, but another big news about EXO came to light. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire. The thing now with Kyungsoo and his group is that another one of their members is leaving. I’m not that updated with these kinds of events, but Clara told me that it’s already the third member that’s left in two years. They’ve only gotten famous recently, they have a big fanbase now, so they’re the hottest topic everywhere. Clara said the issues are not good and there’s negativity everywhere. I’m not sure how Kyungsoo is holding up, and I’m really worried. At first I didn’t know if I should contact him or not, because I don’t know what stage we are right now, or if we’re even at that stage. I feel bad that I was the reason he got tangled up in those small rumors. I’m walking on thin ice right now, not sure if I should take another step or back. Either way seems risky.

My anxiety got the best out of me, so I tried calling him, but his number can’t be reached. Clara also can’t reach him, and we’re not sure why. At first I was so paranoid, thinking that he’s trying to avoid me or that he hates me now because I caused the rumors again. Clara kept telling me that Kyungsoo wouldn’t hate me at all because he cares for me more than I know, but it still didn’t soothe my worries at all.

But the next day, a delivery was made to my apartment. It was a simple, white pot with soil and small blue flowers planted in it. There was a pale blue ribbon tied around it and a small note, with only the word soon written on it. My first thought was Kyungsoo. Did he send these? If he still remembers, I said back in high school that I didn’t like receiving bouquets of flowers because I feel bad when they wilt and die. I took a photo of the flower pot and sent it to Clara, who immediately replied.

Clara: So is this from D.O.?

Me: Maybe? I don’t like to get ahead of myself, but I can’t think of anybody else

Clara: HAHAHAHAHA ;-)

Me: What’s so funny

Clara: It’s from him alright HAHAHA

Me: How did you know?

Clara: Don’t you recognize the flowers?

Me: I’m not an expert, Clara

Clara: They’re forget-me-nots! HAHAHA

Me: Oh. Lovely. And?

Clara: He’s literally telling u not to forget about him HAHAHA

So I waited patiently from another response or anything from Kyungsoo, but there was nothing aside from the flower pot. I was desperate for updates so I searched the internet for anything about EXO. I looked like a giddy fangirl from an outsider’s point of view. Aside from the hospital rumors and the news about Tao - the third member who left - I also found out that they were going to Hong Kong for their concert tour. That explains why he’s busy or not contacting me. There wasn’t anything I could do about that, so I just continued reading articles about them and watching their videos. I slowly got immersed, and I found out lots of things about EXO by the end of the month. Clara laughed so hard when I called her and told her about it, saying that I’m now an EXO-L.

Almost two months has passed since I got out of the hospital and since I last saw Kyungsoo. They were still on their concert tour, and I’m not sure when they’ll be back. I haven’t updated myself with what’s happening with EXO because I had business to take care of as well. Today was my only free day this week, so Clara and I decided to meet up and talk.

I pushed open the door to the breakfast bar and was greeted by one of my employees at the bar. I smiled and nodded, about to make my way to the table where Kyungsoo and I sat before, but there was a girl already seated there. I was about to turn and find another table but I recognized the girl as a regular customer the past month. I remember her by her strawberry blonde hair and the face mask she always wears. My employee said she comes by almost everyday, staying in that same place. Sometimes she orders a lot of food, sometimes just a milkshake, sometimes just sitting and staring outside, sometimes staying for hours. They don’t have a problem with her though, she always smiles at employees who pass by and she always orders something.

A lot of times she has a face mask on, sometimes she wears a cap or bucket hat. I saw her face the first time without a mask when I came to pick up the bills. She was slurping a shake at the bar. We made eye contact, I smiled at her and she smiled back. She looked young, about 16 or 17. For some reason she kept staring at me as I was talking to my employee at the bar. It wasn’t a menacing stare though, more like she was curious. I just shrugged it off back then.

I was already walking away when I heard a voice call out behind me. “Hi, excuse me?” I turned around and saw that the girl was standing up from the table and had her hand held out in a wave, looking at me. She smiled, face mask down, then walked towards me. She was wearing a cap this time and her hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore simple clothes, just a white shirt and black jeans. I smiled back, quite curious about what she wants.

“Hi, you’re the owner of this place right?” she said in a small, cute voice.

“Oh, yes,” I was a bit startled. “How did you know?”

“Just a guess.” She smiled brightly. She seemed nice, so I just went along and talked to her.

“Well, thank you for coming by always. We don’t usually get kids your age these days.” Now that I’m looking at her face to face, she seems quite familiar, like I’ve seen her even before she became a regular here.

“Really? Well, they’re missing out on a lot.” she said, and she seemed proud that she often came here.

“That’s really nice of you to say.”

“It’s nothing, the food is really good, and I love how homey the place feels.”

I really don’t know her, but I love her already. She’s cute, and I can’t explain it but there’s something in her eyes that tells me she’s wise, like she’s way beyond her years. I still didn’t get why she stood up and called me though. It wasn’t because she just wanted small talk right? I was about to ask when she beat me to it.

“What’s your name, if you don’t mind?”

“Oh, it’s Dana.”

She smiled after I said my name, like she knew something I didn’t. But maybe it was just me overthinking. I suddenly heard a ringtone, and she took out her phone, looking at the screen. She sighed and raised an eyebrow. I realized I didn’t ask her name yet.

“How about you? What’s your name?”

“Oh,” she seemed startled for a bit but she smiled back, then put her phone back in her pocket. “It’s.. Kim. Just Kim.”

“Kim, will I see you again another time?”

“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other a lot more in the future.” she smiled and adjusted her cap so it could hide her eyes. “Dana, it was nice meeting you, but I really have to run now.” I felt a bit sad that she was already leaving, but I just nodded and bade her goodbye, and she told me she’ll be back again soon before heading out the glass door.

My employee cleared Kim’s table while we were talking, and she had already served me food, so I just sat there at the table waiting for Clara. While I was eating, I remembered that time when Kyungsoo and I also sat here during that one morning. I blushed at the thought, it seemed so long ago, and that was so awkward, thinking back. I was so stupid, he hinted at a lot of things but I didn’t realize it back then.

“I know what you need in this place. A mural.” 

He was probably checking if I remembered the mural behind the gym, the wishing well.

“I liked that song too. I helped with the lyrics.”

I wanted to slap myself, he asked me what my favorite song was from their albums, and the one that I chose was My Answer, and it turns out it was what he sang to me when he confessed to me back in high school. That’s why he looked so shocked and flustered after.

“I’d like to order something else. May I order your number?”

“Why the hell are you so red?”

I was broken out of my reverie when I saw Clara standing in front of the table, looking at me, a smirk on her lips.

“Oh, shut up.” I said, annoyed at her smirk. She must’ve caught me blushing, and I could still feel the heat on my cheeks. She just smiled knowingly.

“I know you’re thinking about D.O., don’t worry ‘cause I’m sure he’s thinking about you too.” she said. I whipped my head around and checked if there was anyone within earshot. Then I put my finger to my lips. “Shh! Don’t say his name, someone might hear you!” There were only a few people in here, and most of them were adults, but still.

“What, is he Voldemort now?” Clara laughed. I just stared at her pointedly. She just shrugged, borrowed my fork and took a piece from the waffles on my plate. “Yeah, sorry, I forgot it’d be hard for you when people find out you’re his girlfriend now.”

I felt my face turning hot again and I just lightly hit her arm. She didn’t even flinch. “Clara! We’re not even—we haven’t even talked!” But she just rolled her eyes and smirked again.

“Again… so dense, even after he went here in the morning just to see you, after he found you at our school, after he visited you at the hospital, after he only went to our high school reunion just because you were coming—”

I suddenly cut her off. “Wait, what? He went to the reunion because I was gonna be there?”

“Yeah, duh, I texted and invited him lots of times before that, but he never replied. I was starting to think that he changed numbers or something,” Clara said, while taking another one of the waffles on my plate. “Then I texted him that you were coming. That’s the only time he replied and came to the gathering.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. I didn’t know what to think, I was a bit overwhelmed, thinking that he really wanted to see me even then.

“Did you know he wasn’t even gonna stay the night? He had a schedule the next day, but he slept over because he hadn’t talked to you yet.”

“Are you freaking serious?” My eyes widened at that. I’m finding it hard to believe that Kyungsoo intentionally missed a schedule because of me. “So was he the one that brought me hangover medicine?” I suddenly remembered someone talking to me during that time, but my brain was half-asleep or something.

“Probably. He asked why you were knocked out, and first I said you were probably drunk. He didn’t even believe it, saying you never liked drinking alcohol,” Clara explained. “He didn’t know about your episodes yet, so I said it was probably a migraine.”

“Yet? What do you mean he didn’t know about my episodes yet? Does he know about it now? Did he found out during the times he visited me at the hospital?” I don’t remember telling about it to Kyungsoo. It was never brought up when we talked during those short visits. He just kept asking how I was feeling, if I was eating well, and if there was something I’d want the next time he visits so he could bring it for me. After that they’d left in an instant. All his visits wouldn’t even last for more than 20 minutes.

“Oh yeah, about that..” Clara slowly gulped, then reached for my glass of milkshake and took a sip. I ordered food for her because she already ate half of mine. Then she continued. “D.O. already knew about your episodes before that.”

“What?!” I blurted out almost too loudly, a few heads looking in our direction. “Since when did he know?” I whispered.

“After our get-together. That first time you fainted.” Clara whispered back, moving closer to me. “Remember that time you went to Stiles’ office after that incident? He went there the same day!”

“How did he– why did he– what?!” I couldn’t absorb all the information in one go. Clara slowly explained that Kyungsoo suddenly showed up after my appointment, and asked what happened the past 3 years; what happened after the accident and how it affected me. Dr. Stiles and Clara then explained everything to him, and he was in shock afterwards, constantly blaming himself again for what happened. My heart wrenched at the thought of Kyungsoo blaming himself. It wasn’t his fault, it was mine.

After Kyungsoo and I graduated from high school, I had an opportunity to go to France on a scholarship and study culinary there. Kyungsoo was so happy for me, he even seemed more excited than I was. At that time he wanted to study performing arts but they couldn’t afford it. Luckily he was scouted by someone from a famous entertainment agency after he joined a random singing contest. I was worried at first, because we’ve researched that the agency had difficult training programs. But Kyungsoo wanted to go through with it, saying we should both pursue our dreams. By the time I was about to leave for France, he wanted to come with me to the airport but he had training to do. I told him training was important right now, and that we shouldn’t be getting in the way of each other’s dreams. He understood, and bade goodbye to me at our house but not coming with me to the airport.

Communication was hard when I was in France, calling overseas was expensive, and the letters we sent to each other always got delayed. Still, we kept sending each other letters and photos. I keep telling him of my experience at the culinary school, how inexperienced I felt and how scary the trainors and chefs were. Kyungsoo also told me about how strict the agency was, how he even had to lose a bit of weight, and how competitive everyone was. He was a bit worried at first because some of the trainees had a bad first impression of him just because of his eyes, but they soon became his friends after.

Then I received a letter from Kyungsoo, telling me that he was going to debut in a new group soon. I was so happy for him, because he’d only been training for two years yet he’s gonna be a star! He must’ve worked so hard, and it made me so excited for him that I decided to fly back home to surprise him. I left in the middle of school break, and my parents were in California so I had to go back by myself. When I got home I used my parent’s car to drive to Kyungsoo’s agency. There were roads that were being fixed at that time so I had to go the long way. I got lost while driving, not familiar with some of the new roads, but I just kept going. I also felt sleepy and tired at the time, coming back from almost a 12-hour flight. But I couldn’t wait to see Kyungsoo. I decided to call him that time, it took a few more rings before he could answer.

“Hello? Dana? Is this really you?” Kyungsoo said on the other end of the line. I could hear the excitement in his voice.

“Yes, you dork! Are you busy?” I put my phone on speaker mode and placed it on the dashboard. I realized I’ve been driving around in circles, but I’d have to deal with that later after this call.

“We just finished practicing a new dance.. I can’t believe it, I’ve debuted already!” he said while catching his breath.

“I know!! I’m so happy for you! And wait up, you’re dancing?!”

“Of course, I need to dance, I’m in a group—hey, why are you laughing?!”

“I’m sorry, I’m proud of you! It’s just that I haven’t seen you dance!” I said in between giggles.

“Hey, I’m not bad at it, I actually have some moves in me! I only found out during training. I was also surprised!”

“Well, I can’t wait to see how you dance!”

“You can! They’ve uploaded our music videos already, search for Mama or History! I also have a stage name now, they call me D.O.”

“What? D.O.? Let me guess, because your last name’s Doh?”

“Real creative right?”

“Uh-huh.” I laughed.

“Oh shut up, as if you could think of something better.”

“I’ll think of something, and yeah, I’ll search for your music videos later. I’m so happy for you, Soo! I really am.”

“Thanks, Danes. We also had our debut showcase already. That was one of the best days ever, I can’t explain the feeling. I wish you were there to see it all!”

“Yeah, I really wish I was there too.” then I suddenly yawned a bit too loudly, and my eyes were getting heavy.

“Wow, okay, sorry, are you bored already?” Kyungsoo laughed.

“What? No, no. I’m just sleepy, the flight was 12 hours for god’s sake.” Before I realized what I just said, Kyungsoo had already reacted.

“Flight? What flight? Where are you right now?”

I didn’t have too much energy to deny it, so I just went on and told him that I was back and on my way to him right now. He was so happy he started shouting. I could almost hear other people in the background from his side, asking him what he’s jumping and shouting about.

“You’re really here?! What the hell, Dana! Why didn’t you tell me?! I would’ve fetched you at the airport!”

“I wanted to surprise you, silly! Oh well, surprise!”

“Where are you now, exactly? And why are you on the phone while driving?!”

“I’m not even holding my phone, you dork. But yeah, I don’t know where I am. Is this a new road? I passed some sort of supermarket and there are like, more roads being fixed.”

“What? Why are you there? Turn around, go back to the supermarket. Wait for me there. You’re actually close but going the wrong way.”

“Okay, okay. I’ve been driving in circles and I’m sleepy as hell, I really don’t know where I’m going.”

“Tsk, you should’ve slept first, why didn’t you just visit me tomorrow?”

“Well I wanted to see you!” I said while turning the car around.

“You’re amazing, you know,” he softly said. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, dork.” 

I swear that I only blinked my eyes a few times, then I was suddenly greeted by a blinding, bright white light and a very loud, ear-piercing honking. I didn’t know where the truck came from, everything happened too fast. I tried to swerve and avoid it, and I heard a very loud screech. The next thing I knew, I was being thrown in the air, hitting my head on the window of my car. Their was a loud crash and my car was rolling several times. I heard glass shattering, and painfully loud crunching noises. Was it the car? Was it my bones? I only realized I was screaming so hard when my throat hurt and I could feel pain.

There was a big impact, and the car suddenly stopped. My body hurt everywhere, and I couldn’t move. I tried to open my eyes, and everything was upside down. There was lots of red.. on the dashboard, the windows. Was it my blood? I coughed, suddenly smelling smoke and burning rubber. I could hardly breathe.

I didn’t know how long time has passed. I was not moving, I could feel pain everywhere even if I moved the slightest. My head was hurting so badly, I could feel blood still trickling on the side of my face. Am I going to die now? Am I already dead, even? There was nothing I could do about it, so I just closed my eyes, wishing the pain away.

But then I heard it, my name being shouted several times. The voice was getting closer and closer, until I could almost hear it a few feet away from me.

“Dana!! Dana! No! Dana!! Answer me!!”

I knew that voice like I knew my own name. I wanted to answer, but even moving my mouth was painful. Every time I opened my eyes, there was sort of a spinning sensation, then everything was blurry. I couldn’t even turn my head to look at the person calling me. I just heard more shouts, and I felt a hand squeeze my own.

“Dana, god no, Dana.. I can’t get you out.. Please hang on, hang on!!” He was crying, I could feel the anguish and pain in his voice. I didn’t know if it was blood or tears that I felt sliding down across my cheek. I couldn’t do anything. More shouts were heard, and I could hear sirens all around me.

“Please help her!! Please save her!!”

Those were the words that I last heard before I blacked out completely.

I felt a hand on my cheek, wiping the tears that were falling. I blinked and saw Clara holding out her hand, with a very apologetic look on her face.

“You’re crying, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head, and wiped my own tears. I didn’t realize I was crying while remembering the accident. “No, it’s okay.. I was just.. overwhelmed.” Clara told me that I was very, very lucky to have survived that accident. After being hit by a huge truck that sent my car flying and rolling away, it was a miracle that I was still in one piece. I had broken bones, but my head received the most damage, and I suffered from internal bleeding. It was fatal at that time, and I lost a lot of blood. But maybe it wasn’t really my time to go, because I was saved. Clara was an intern at the hospital I was brought to, and that’s when she saw Kyungsoo.

“I didn’t know it was you that was being brought to the emergency room,” Clara explained to me. “Everyone was in chaos because you were almost dying. Then I saw him. He was running after you and he wanted to come to the emergency room but of course it was off limits. He was shouting your name over and over, and he was crying so hard. He was a mess.” 

I closed my eyes and tried to shove the image of Kyungsoo being devastated like that. I know, I was the one in an accident, but it was heart-wrenching to imagine Kyungsoo in pain as well. Clara continued her story, saying that Kyungsoo was making a scene in the hospital, and that people were starting to notice. Normally, people got hysterical over accidents, but they were starting to recognize him. EXO D.O. is here, making a scene. Crying for someone. When she saw that people were starting to take out their phones, she dragged Kyungsoo from where he was crying on the floor, and took him to a spare room. She tried calming him down, explaining that there were people outside, and that he wasn’t an ordinary person right now. He was D.O., a member of the rising group EXO. He can’t afford to have a scandal right now.

“He was going crazy, I had to stop myself from hitting him across the face,” Clara said. “But he calmed down when I kept mentioning you. I told him you probably wouldn’t have liked it if his career got jeopardized because of your accident. He even said he was ready to give up everything for you.” Clara smiled lightly, and I also smiled a little. This was the first time I’m hearing about their side of the story, so I urged her to go on.

Clara said that he calmed down for a bit, but when they got out of the spare room, people were suddenly taking pictures. “I covered my face that time with a clipboard I was holding, but Kyungsoo didn’t even try to cover his face. He just stared at them blankly,” Clara explained. Her eyes looking outside the window, like she was suddenly visualizing what happened back then. “They started crowding us. Next thing I knew, he was being dragged away from the crowd by someone. He turned around to look at me, like he was gonna say something, but he was already gone.”

“Then what happened? Did the people follow him?” I asked.

“Some of them did, but the others, especially some teenagers, who I think were his obsessed fans, were crowding me and shouting at me angrily. They told me to leave Kyungsoo alone, they were even demanding to know if I was in a relationship with him! When I didn’t answer, they started throwing stuff at me. It was crazy. I locked myself in the spare room. I was there for hours. They wouldn’t leave!”

“I’m so sorry..” I squeezed her hand from across the table and looked at her sadly. Clara just shook her head. “That wasn’t your fault or his. It was the crazy fans. I was stuck in that room for hours, Stiles was the one who got me out. He was also an intern there at that time.”

“Then the rumor came out on the news? But I didn’t see any article about it..” I said, searching my mind for articles I’ve come across the past weeks. 

“Nope, you won’t see a thing, because I think the agency covered it up.” Clara said, then took a long sip from the strawberry milkshake I got for her. “But unfortunately, the obsessed fans had photos of me and they posted it in their blogs. Some online entertainment portals wrote about it too, but it didn’t blow up because the agency was good in keeping things neutral. Then the scary part happened, some of the obsessed fans were stalking me everywhere, sending death threats and all. It was all starting to get to me so I moved away.”

“That’s horrible! I didn’t know some fans could be like that..” I softly said.

“You’re too pure for this world. Ugh, that’s why I was also worried for you at that time, I kept thinking what if they found out that Kyungsoo was at the hospital because of you and not me? But luck was really on your side that day, no one found out, and you survived.” Clara said matter-of-factly.

“How did you know about my condition? Is that why you suddenly became close to me afterwards?” I asked. I remember that time when I was moved to a different hospital that catered more to psychological problems, Clara was there checking up on me, also Dr. Stiles. 

“I was there when they were asking if you remember anything. You had a severe head injury and they had to check how badly affected your brain was. When they started asking about the car crash, you suddenly started panicking, and that was when you started screaming, saying that it hurts.” Clara shook her head. “God, I almost cried you know! You scared me so much.” I didn’t remember Clara being there, but I remember that it did hurt, and that I was sedated lots of times.

“That’s when we ruled out that you were traumatized about the incident, and had dissociative amnesia. Then you don’t remember anything about high school, you didn’t even remember me at first!” Clara said accusingly. “But you were remembering little by little, and after more sessions I realized you couldn’t remember Kyungsoo, and you felt dizzy when you tried to remember.”

I flinched, feeling so guilty that I had forgotten him. Kyungsoo who was one of the most important people in my life. Kyungsoo, of all people. “Maybe because it was him I was thinking of during the accident,” I said. Kyungsoo was the only thing in my mind during the crash, so maybe that’s why he was the one I forgot the most. I was traumatized too much that I didn’t want to remember the crash, and that’s why I couldn’t remember him as well. “I was back here because of him, and I don’t know if I was hallucinating, but was he also there at the scene of the accident?” 

Clara nodded, saying that Kyungsoo was the one who called for an ambulance in the first place. She also said that it was fortunate that he got to me on time, because if he didn’t, I might have died already. Then I was shocked when Clara added that Kyungsoo was also the one who paid for all of my hospital expenses, because they couldn’t get a hold of my parents that time. He paid for everything, until my parents were finally able to fly here.

“Then they took me back to California with them,” I said, bringing the pieces together. “And I forgot about Kyungsoo.”

“Yup, you did.” she simply said. Clara wasn’t there to guide me when I was overseas, so there wasn’t anyone to help me remember Kyungsoo and all other memories. I eventually forgot about him, continuing on with my life. I felt really horrible thinking about it, that I’ve left him alone for three years.

“He looked for you before you left. I don’t know how he got my number. I sent him updates. He knew you were moved to a different hospital, but he couldn’t visit because the issue wasn’t dying down yet with some of the fans. He couldn’t even see you off when you went to California.” Clara explained, tapping her fingers on the table as if she’s on edge. “I didn’t know you had something going on at the time. I only knew you were close in high school. After you left, Kyungsoo and I didn’t contact each other again.”

“Then the reunion was the first time you saw each other again?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, I always see him on TV, but yes, it was the first time we talked personally again.” Clara also said that she kept a low-profile during that time, she was even changing up her look several times so that some obsessed fans wouldn’t recognize her. Luckily, EXO became so famous the next year with their song Growl, that the issue died down on its own.

“I was surprised that you contacted me last year. You were still checking up on me even then?” I asked her. Last year, she sent me an email while I was in California, and asked about my health and if I would be coming back home again. I told her that I was coming back early in January. Then we met up again, and did some catching up, eventually becoming close friends.

“Yes, I was checking up on you. I didn’t know if you and D.O. were talking again or what. He was really affected when you got in that accident, and he didn’t get to see you off when you left. I tried texting him after, but he never replied. I don’t know why but I suddenly felt guilty and responsible, maybe because I was in the middle of it all when it happened.” Clara said. I really felt sorry for her that she got dragged into the mess. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Then again, she got to calm Kyungsoo down during that time, and even helped me recover.

“Then when we you came back here, I tried asking you about Kyungsoo. I laughed so hard back then, because you said Kyung-who?” Clara smiled, recalling the memory. “I thought you were joking, turns out you were dead serious.” I remembered that she showed me a video of Kyungsoo at that time, he was singing and performing. Then I started feeling dizzy, like I recognize him but it hurt too much to think about it. She took me back to the apartment I was staying in so I could rest. That was when she explained to me who Kyungsoo was, and who he was in my life.

Clara could only provide a few details, like Kyungsoo and I were so close back in high school, and that there was a rumor that he asked me to be his girlfriend but I rejected him. She left out the part that Kyungsoo was there during the accident, because she didn’t want to mention the accident at all, since it might trigger my trauma. I cried when she told me about Kyungsoo. I didn’t know why, but maybe the memory of him asking me to be his girlfriend seemed familiar and important but I couldn’t remember any of it, and I felt frustrated so I cried.

At first it hurt, trying to remember things about Kyungsoo. I was constanty in disbelief, thinking that this member of the famous group EXO was an important part of my life. I had doubts back then, thinking that if he was important, why did I forget about him? If I was also important to him, why didn’t he contact me ever again? There were nights when I just cried myself to sleep because I felt hurt while thinking about him, without ever really knowing why. I didn’t know what happened between us. Clara also didn’t know anything and she felt helpless. Every time I struggled to remember, my head and my heart hurt. The pain was just there. I tried to keep him off my mind, to not think about him so that there was no pain. It worked for a while, but he was everywhere. EXO was everywhere.

I remember when I saw Kyungsoo arriving at Clara’s house during the reunion. My head suddenly hurt, but I realized I was just so nervous that I wanted to throw up. What would I say to him? I don’t remember anything. What if he found out I forgot him? Will he get mad? Will he get hurt? Or did I already hurt him?

But during that morning when he visited me here at the breakfast bar, he already knew I forgot about him. He already found out from Clara and Dr. Stiles. He already knew, but he still went to see me. He still wanted to talk to me. Even after everything that happened, he still came to me, and it gave me a sense of hope.

I just stared at Clara, watching her finish her food. This girl is golden, she helped me and Kyungsoo so many times just because she felt like helping. She never asked for anything in return. It was all done in good faith. I sighed heavily, really thankful for her. She seemed to notice the heavy sigh and my meaningful stare, so she raised an eyebrow in question. “What is it now?” she said.

"Do you think he.. wants it to work?” I slowly asked. It was a question I was scared to bring up, but I think I’m just more scared of the answer. Even though there were signs and Clara kept teasing me, I wouldn’t believe it because I wanted it to come from Kyungsoo himself.

“Danes, honey, I know he does.” Clara said. I must’ve looked unconvinced, because she was the one who sighed heavily this time, like she was so done with all that’s happening. She smiled at me and shook her head. “You know what Dana, can you do something for me?” she asked out of the blue.

“Anything. What is it?”

“Just make it work,” Clara smirked. “Talk to him again, and make it work.” 

I smiled back at her tone. Because yes, I wanted to make it work too.

I took my phone out and was about to call Kyungsoo when his name suddenly popped on my screen, and I gasped a little. He was calling me! Clara looked over and I showed her my phone screen. She urged me to answer it immediately, so I pressed the green answer button.

“Hello? Soo?” I looked away from Clara and her smirk, and glanced out the window instead. I didn’t realize it was getting dark already. Time flew by fast.

“Uh, hello? Hello? Is this Dana?”

I was suddenly startled because a different voice answered. I looked at my phone screen again quickly, and it was Kyungsoo’s name and his number. It wasn’t a wrong caller. But who’s talking to me right now?

“Yeah, this is her. Who is this? Isn’t this Kyungsoo’s number?”

“Oh, hi! Yes, this is his phone. I’m sorry, this is Sehun, I’m one of his friends and also from EXO.” he explained. My eyes widened at this and I mouthed to Clara that it was Sehun. She looked surprised and even said Oh Sehun out loud.

“Yeah, I know you, Sehun,” I said in a softer voice so nobody around could overhear. “Is something wrong? Why are you calling using Kyungsoo’s phone?”

“I didn’t know who else to call. I think you’re the only one who could help.” Sehun explained. How did he even know me? Did Kyungsoo tell him about me, by chance? But what got me was the sound of worry in his voice.

“What is it Sehun? Tell me.”

There was a small pause before Sehun answered.

“I think.. something’s wrong with Kyungsoo.”

✨ The Star & His First Love

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

#HappyKaiDay

Just passing by to greet Kim Jongin, my first love, a happy birthday!

Nini bear, I hope you’re having a good time, don’t push yourself too hard! We’re proud of all the hard work you’ve done, and it’s amazing to see how you still manage to improve every time! You’re doing great, and I hope you know how much we love you for it.

Keep doing what you love, and we’ll be here all throughout your journey. Thank you for making us your muse.

See you soon, Jongin. 

[velvetfxexo]

The Star & His First Love (pt 6)

Characters: EXO D.O./Kyungsoo + OC

Type: Fluff

Length: 5.5K

Whenever EXO goes on interviews and is asked about love, Doh Kyungsoo always gives the same, short, and vague answer. He only fell in love once, and he got rejected. Nothing more, nothing less.

Years later, he meets his first love, again.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 {Part 6} Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Part 6 - Dusk, Dread, and Dawn

“Three years then. I’ll ask you in three years. No go-backs.”

“Okay then, that’s a promise.”

“I’m gonna wait, you know. You better not be messing with me.”

I woke up with a start.

Why is it so dark? What time is it?

I blinked again and again, but I still couldn’t see anything. It was cold, and I found out that I’d been lying on the ground. Wait, what am I doing on the ground? Where the hell am I?

I realized it was dark all around, only the faint light from the moon was helping me distinguish the figures around me; trees, a building at the other side, and more trees. The wind kept blowing and I can’t help but shiver. I didn’t have a jacket with me so I helplessly clung to the sleeve of my thin sweater. This place seemed oddly familiar.

I tried to stand but my legs were like jelly, and I had nowhere to hold on to for support. Several questions were already invading my mind. Where am I, how did I get here, what did I do here.. 

Shit.

I’m at school.

I’m at our high school campus.

The realization hit me like a truck and I had to keep my breath steady - I didn’t even realize I was breathing so hard already. I fumbled for my phone in my pocket and stared at the screen on standby. It’s 6:30PM.

I’m locked inside the school.

I stood up way too quick, my sight suddenly blurring and my head spinning. I was overwhelmed by everything happening right now, and more even so by the memories I remembered. I remember everything now. I can’t believe it, I can’t believe I’ve done nothing the past years! I was internally panicking, it was pitch black and I was stuck inside the school. I tried to shove the feeling away. I’m not afraid of the dark anymore. I’m not afraid anymore, it’s gone, it’s gone. But the more I tried to tell myself, the more my heart hammered in my chest. Stupid irrational fears. I can’t let the panic get to me. Panicking won’t help, panicking won’t get me out of this.

My phone suddenly rang and vibrated, causing me to drop it. Shit. My hand was shaking when I picked it up, and saw Clara’s name on the screen. Thank god! I immediately pressed the green button to answer the call.

“Oh --- god, where -- you? We’ve --- calling for—”

The line was choppy at first, and I couldn’t make out parts of what she was saying.

“Clara— Clara—” I realized my voice was shaky, and my throat hurt. I suddenly felt thirsty and hungry. How many hours was I out? I haven’t eaten since morning! My last meal was at 6AM. How will I get out of here? What time will I get to leave this place?

“Dana? Hello? What’s happening? Where are you?” 

The gates are locked, there’s no light. Where will I go and where will I stay? How can I enter the buildings with no lights on? A hundred thoughts and questions were flooding in my mind. This was the panic taking over. I frantically looked around while walking. Jack said the field was the only place with light. I need to go. I need to stay away from the dark.

“Clara– it’s dark, I can’t see anything–” I suddenly said. I almost forgot she was on the phone with me, my panic was making my thoughts sway. It’s so cold here, how can I keep warm? What if I get hypothermia or something? 

“What the–? Calm down, don’t cry, what happened? Tell me!”

Crying? Was I crying?

“I f-fainted, my head hurt, it h-hurt so much,” I suddenly tripped on something I didn’t see, and I landed on soft ground, covered with grass. Grass? Am I at the field? I tried standing up again but my legs were shaking. “I can’t move, I can’t move my legs..” I muttered to myself.

“Dana, tell me where you are!”

I don’t know where I am. I’m standing on grassy ground, but only the school field has a grassy ground. Where are the lights? Why is it still so dark?! I rubbed at my chest, trying to control my breathing and my hearbeat. Stop panicking, stop panicking. But it was hard to think straight, not with the cold, my phobia, and slight dizziness picking at me from all sides.

“It’s c-cold, I can’t see, I can’t breathe..”

I need to stay somewhere, I need to stay put and think straight. But where? I rubbed at my face and realized it was wet with tears. Crap, where should I go?

“Dana, where are you?! We’re coming to get you!” Clara frantically said. I know where to go. Back to the wishing well.

“W-w-wishing well, back of the gym. The wishing well, back at school, hurry.” My teeth were suddenly chattering, and my voice was shaking. I don’t know if she understood me - I turned around and made my way back to the gym. Even in the dark, I could get there. I knew that place by heart. That was the only safe place I could think of at the moment.

“Dana! Please! Tell me exactly where you are!”

Darn it, I almost forgot about Clara again!

“Clara, I’m at school! I’m at our old school--”

But there was silence on the other end, and my phone’s light suddenly disappeared, leaving me alone in darkness. I tapped at the screen, but nothing was happening. I pressed the buttons on the side on the phone, but it still wasn’t lighting up. That’s when I remembered, when I checked the time on my phone, the battery was blinking red. There were also missed calls that I didn’t check at the time.

I’m so stupid, that was my chance of getting out of here, and I blew it. I let the panic get to me. I closed my eyes hard, took a deep breath, and tried to handle my emotions better this time. I wanted to cry even more, but I know that won’t get me anywhere. I cursed myself and tried walking again, slowly, back to the wishing well.

“That’s it everyone, thanks for today!” the group’s choreographer said, and applauded them for a good job. They all clapped as well and thanked their choreographer for his hard work.

Kyungsoo wiped off his forehead sweat with the back of his hand and made his way to the desk at the far end of the room, where his phone was. It was unusual for him to check his phone, he rarely even uses it, but he was waiting for something, but more like someone.

He perked up when he saw a text message on the screen. But it wasn’t from the person he was expecting. It was from Clara, she texted about half an hour ago. He was excited to read the message anyway, because she never texted him unless it was about Dana. His eyebrows scrunched together when he read what she texted. 

Hey, did u see Dana this afternoon?

Kyungsoo gulped, and the gears in his head were turning. He met up with Dana in the morning but he hasn’t seen her afterwards. Why did Clara suddenly ask if he had seen her? Him, of all people? It was a bit random to text him about this, unless she knew something. Did she know they were together in the morning? Were he and Dana spotted together? Did someone see? He knew it was a risky move, going out in public like that. He didn’t even have their manager with him, and he met alone with Dana. Anyone who would’ve seen them at that time would’ve had suspicions for sure.

Were there articles about it already? He didn’t want to check yet, a bit scared of what he might find. His eyes drifted to his members, who were joking around and laughing. He didn’t want to burden them anymore - he felt bad when he didn’t return for practice after attending the get-together with his high school classmates. He wasn’t supposed to stay the night at Clara’s house, but he didn’t want to leave, Dana was there. He hasn’t seen her for years, and this was his only chance.

Their leader, Junmyeon, kept asking him why he didn’t return immediately the day after. Their rehearsal was delayed for hours because of his absence. Kyungsoo didn’t want to tell Junmyeon that he waited for a chance to talk to a girl, and he didn’t want to say that he rushed her to the hospital and risked going out in public again. Their group had more than enough issues already, two Chinese members leaving, an ongoing issue with another Chinese member, and a dating scandal, even. Everyone was on edge, and he didn’t want to add to the tension. He kept it a secret instead, and apologized profusely to Junmyeon and everyone else, saying he won’t burden them again. He knew they weren’t mad, but were more likely worried. Sehun even asked him if he was leaving the group and he had to assure him thoroughly that he wasn’t thinking of such things.

He decided to act casual as he replied to Clara.

I haven’t seen her. Did something happen?

Kyungsoo kept tapping his foot on the floor, staring at his phone for a reply. Clara usually replied instantly, what’s taking so long? He was aware that only five minutes have passed, but that girl texts back at lightning speed, especially when they were talking about Dana. Calm down, Kyungsoo. She’s probably having dinner or something, he thought to himself. You’re not the only one with a tight schedule.

Feeling impatient, Kyungsoo looked up from his phone, and he accidentally locked eyes with Sehun, who was watching him from a few feet away. One of Sehun’s eyebrows raised in question. Kyungsoo blinked a few times before he averted his gaze, and kept his face neutral. He didn’t want to tell this to their maknae, not now. But even then, Sehun was already getting suspicious. Earlier, he kept asking where Kyungsoo went in the morning, and why he kept looking at his phone during breaks. Kyungsoo just plainly avoided both questions, saying he was just bored. He casually looked at his phone’s screen again, but still, there was no reply.

“So, who’s Clara?”

Before Kyungsoo could even blink, his phone was snatched from behind and was in the hand of their tallest member.

“What the fuck, Chanyeol?!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, while desperately trying to reaching for his phone. Chanyeol was holding it up, and running around the dance room. At this, all of the other members turned to look at the commotion.

“Kyungsoo’s texting a girl!” Chanyeol shouted, still running around.

“Really?! Are you sure?” Sehun said and ran after Chanyeol. The other members - Baekhyun, Jongin, and Jongdae - flocked around Chanyeol as well, and Kyungsoo couldn’t stop them. Minseok, Yixing, and Junmyeon stayed where they were, looking from Chanyeol to Kyungsoo. Apparently they were confused with what was going on. The ones gathered around Chanyeol suddenly shouted all together, yelling and jumping around. Kyungsoo approached them and held out his hand, death glare on, and Chanyeol placed the phone back on Kyungsoo’s hand with a wide grin on his face.

“Kyungsoo’s texting someone named Clara!” Baekhyun exclaimed. 

“D.O., what’s the meaning of this?” Junmyeon suddenly asked, with a curious expression on his face. Kyungsoo was about to say that Clara was just an old classmate when Sehun suddenly piped in, “Is she the one, Kyungsoo? The one you were talking about?” 

They all looked from Sehun to Kyungsoo. His eyes widened, a memory of being drunk and opening up to Sehun flashing in his mind. He didn’t know what to say, even if he said no, they would still ask questions. Words failed him, and he kept opening his mouth and closing it again.

“What? What is Sehun saying? What does he know?” Jongdae suddenly asked, and he lightly stomped his feet on the floor. “You told Sehun about it, but not us?” he whined.

“Kyungsoo, if she’s that girl, how long have you been seeing her? Why didn’t you tell us?” Jongin suddenly asked, a mischievous smile on his face. Crap, he forgot that Jongin knew about it too. He vowed never to drink recklessly again.

“And did I hear it right? Did you say Clara?” Minseok asked out of the blue.

“Kyungsoo, answer us, is it her? Your first love? The one from high school?” Sehun urged, with a hint of seriousness on his face. They all gasped and fell silent for a few seconds.

“No way--the girl from high school you kept mentioning in interviews?” Chanyeol asked, his grin still plastered on his face, his eyes even wider than they usually are. Yixing suddenly stood up from where he was sitting on the floor. “I knew it, is that why you went back late that one time? You went to a high school reunion right? You met up with her!” Yixing said brightly, and snapped his fingers. Kyungsoo gulped, he didn’t expect things to escalate this quickly. Everyone started to make noise and talk all at the same time, asking about the girl, saying their own theories, clapping and happily yelling at Kyungsoo.

Junmyeon lightly tapped Kyungsoo’s shoulder and said, “Hey, if this was about her, why didn’t you just tell me?” he said with a soft smile on his face.

“I--I wasn’t sure how you’d take it..” Kyungsoo softly said. Junmyeon just shook his head and laughed. “Well, there’s your answer.” Junmyeon said, nodding his head to the direction of the members. They were all happy, and they all looked excited. They were all crowding Kyungsoo and asking him to tell them about it. He never expected this reaction from them. His heart suddenly felt strangely warmed by it. Before he could speak, the phone in his hand suddenly vibrated.

Clara was calling.

Clara never called him, she only sent texts. What was happening?

“Is it her? Is she calling? Answer it! Answer it!” Jongin said excitedly over Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“I have to go..” Kyungsoo said, grabbing his bag from under the desk. The members whined and told him to stay, but he felt that something was wrong. Clara’s call ended, and a text from her popped up on the screen.

Important. Call when u get this.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about it,” Kyungsoo explained as he put his cap on his head and swung his bag across his shoulder. “But Sehun and Jongin can. Ask them about it.” Jongin and Sehun suddenly looked at each other, obviously surprised at Kyungsoo’s remark. They’ve been keeping it a secret for the past year, but apparently Kyungsoo is now ready to open up to the others.

“Where are you going? Are you going to see her?” Junmyeon asked. This time, Kyungsoo didn’t avoid the question, and simply nodded his head. Junmyeon didn’t ask any further, he just smiled and nodded, urging him to go.

“Give our regards to Clara!” Baekhyun shouted before Kyungsoo went out the door. Kyungsoo turned around and pointed at him.

“First of all, it’s not Clara. It’s Dana. Her name is Dana.”

He could still hear the members’ loud yelling and clapping when he turned to the elevator at the end of the hall.

When he reached the ground floor, he called back Clara as he made his way to his car. She answered on the first ring.

“What’s wrong?” he immediately asked when she picked up. Then he suddenly heard sobbing on the other line. “It’s Dana, we don’t know where she is, I think she fainted again, and we can’t find her---” Clara bawled before finishing her sentence.

“What do you mean you can’t find her? Did you trying calling?”

But Clara just kept crying. Kyungsoo kept telling her to calm down first but she wouldn’t stop. Then he heard someone else talk on the other side of the line. 

“Hello? D.O. is this you? This is Stiles.”

“Yes, Dr. Stiles, it’s me. What’s happening? Where’s Dana?”

“We don’t know where she is, we called her and she seemed like she was in trouble. She said she fainted, and that she’s cold and can’t see anything.”

Kyungsoo's heart felt like a rock inside his chest. He cursed himself, he was just with Dana earlier in the morning, he can’t believe that she had an episode again. He was blaming himself because he visited her and tried talking about the past. Did it cause her to have dizziness again? Was it his fault?

Kyungsoo turned on the engine on his car and put his phone on speaker mode and placed it on the dashboard. “She didn’t say where she was? What else did she say?” he asked, and he drove away from their building.

“She only said one thing, that she was at-- the back of a wishing well? She was stuttering and we couldn’t understand the rest. We’ve been looking up places where there are wells, and we’re going to this park at the other side of town---”

“Wait, did you say, wishing well?” Kyungsoo interrupted. 

“Yes, that’s what we heard. Do you know what place she’s talking about?” Stiles asked. If Kyungsoo was right, it was back in their old school. But what would Dana be doing there? Did Dana suddenly remember and went back? His eyes suddenly widened at the thought.

“Dr. Stiles, I think I know a place, but I’m not a hundred percent sure. Could you check other places, please? I might be wrong.” Kyungsoo explained. He didn’t want to waste time, just in case he was mistaken. Stiles agreed and said they’d look for other locations. “I’ll call you guys when I find her. If I’m right.” Kyungsoo said, before ending the call. 

I swear to god, that girl is stubborn. She could’ve just asked me, Kyungsoo thought while shaking his head. Back in high school, Dana was the epitome of stubbornness. When she didn’t want to do something, she would take the hard way just to avoid it. He saw that same stubbornness in her eyes back at the breakfast bar. It was like she wanted to ask a lot of things, but she was stopping herself. Don’t hold back, Kyungsoo kept thinking. But Dana really stood her ground and didn’t ask about anything. He knew that she was starting to remember bits and pieces, but was afraid to ask about it. 

Then again, he himself was also hesitant to ask about a lot of things. He wanted to ask if she still felt the same way. He still can’t believe that Dana was getting headaches from remembering things related to him. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was he a bad part of her past she wanted to badly forget? He wanted to ask but didn’t want to risk her having another episode. Kyungsoo still felt bad about the accident three years ago. He still partly blames himself for what happened.

He tried testing her memory several times, asking about random stuff from high school. He mentioned putting a mural, testing if she could remember the mural behind the gym where he confessed, but she seemed to miss that. He also tried if she remembered how they said goodbye to each other, he’d say ‘see you’ and she’d reply ‘see you Soo.’ It was a joke between them, because it sounded like ‘see you soon.’ But she didn’t seem to catch that either. But to Kyungsoo’s surprise, Dana also remembered a bunch of stuff, and she didn’t get dizzy the whole time they were together.

He didn’t want to hope, but Kyungsoo saw it in her face more than once, the way color crept into her cheeks when he caught her staring at him, or when she remembered stuff and when he praised her. It was hard for him to keep his face neutral during those times, he wanted to laugh at her blushing face, but fortunately he managed to stop himself. The Dana from high school would’ve slapped herself for even blushing at his comments. Like him, Dana was sarcastic and liked to curse at times, not really the prim and proper type. Now she’s the complete opposite, getting all shy and quiet. She’s become tame, he laughed while thinking to himself.

He also can’t believe that Dana knew one of their songs. They’ve only released that album 4 months ago. What’s more, it was the song. It was a pity she didn’t remember that it was the song he wrote and sang for her when he confessed back in high school. He continued writing it and asked their management if it could be a part of one of their future albums. Luckily, it was included in their second album. What would Dana think if she found out that the song My Answer is about her? She must’ve realized at some point that she heard the song before, because of all their songs, it was the only one that stuck to her.

With more determination than ever, Kyungsoo sped up his car, praying hard that Dana was alright and that she really was at that wishing well.

“Why is it so fucking cold..” he said to himself when he got out of his car. He grabbed his phone and another jacket from the backseat, remembering that Stiles said Dana was cold. Didn’t she bring a jacket? Even in high school she didn’t like to bring her own jacket and would use his jacket instead. Kyungsoo couldn’t drive all the way to the school gate because the road was still being fixed - which was like how it was even back then - and because a car was parked near the street light ahead. Was it Dana’s car?

He ran to the car and tried peering through the windows. The car was heavily tinted, but it didn’t seem like anybody was inside. He knocked on the glass and tried calling Dana’s name but there was no response. If this really was her car, she’s probably inside the campus, at the wishing well like she said. Kyungsoo hurriedly went to the school gate, but cursed when he realized it was locked. He tried pushing the gate but it wouldn’t even budge. They’ve improved the gate since the last time he was here.

Was Dana even at this place? Why was the gate locked? Was she stuck inside, for some reason? Kyungsoo stared through the gate’s spaces, realizing it was pitch black inside. Dana has nyctophobia, and he wasn’t even sure if she’s gotten over it yet. Where are the fucking lights? Where’s the security? His mind suddenly drifted to Jack, the security guard they used to get along with. Did he still work here?

Kyungsoo looked around, and couldn’t see any other entrances to the school. The walls were too high to climb over and there were no trees nearby that he could climb on. His only option was this gate, which has gotten higher than the one he used to climb over back in high school. It also looked harder to climb on, because there were only a few places where you could place your foot on. But Dana was could still be in there, somewhere. Cold and afraid. He had no other choice but to climb.

It was easy at first, but got difficult near the top. Kyungsoo didn’t know where to place his foot. He had to heave himself up and rely on his upper body strength to reach the top part of the gate. Thankfully, he managed to reach the top in one heave. He groaned, his arms suddenly aching, but was suddenly thankful for his members for urging him to go to the gym. He carefully went across the other side of the gate. Now, his only problem was how to go down. The next step was too far for him to reach. He needed to let go. 

“Well, fuck, here goes.” He said, then jumped. Kyungsoo stumbled and fell on his side, but other than that, he didn’t get hurt. That didn’t stop him from muttering curses though. He looked around, trying to gauge where he was. He wasn’t sure if the school’s interior changed or what.

Kyungsoo squinted, and raised his phone so he could have a bit of light. There was a faint light from the moon, but with his eyesight, it was hard to see at all. He just walked straight, trying to remember where the gym was. It was across the school field, if they didn’t tear the place down yet. 

“Dana?” he shouted, but there was no answer. He tried calling Dana’s name once in a while, hoping that she could hear it wherever she was. He stopped short when he suddenly felt the ground turn from hard to soft. Was he at the school field now? He tried touching the ground, and it was grassy. If he was at the school field, the gym had to be straight ahead. Kyungsoo kept walking, and if he was right, he could be at the gym in no time. He knew the way to that place by heart. It was his and Dana’s sanctuary. 

He finally reached a building, and went to the side. He was walking with his hand on the wall, when he suddenly heard a soft coughing. “Dana?” he shouted. Kyungsoo ran to the direction of the sound and looked around frantically. “What the f--” he almost tripped on something, and realized he had nudged someone’s foot on the ground. He pointed his phone screen towards it, and saw a small crouched figure on the ground. She coughed again and sneezed, then looked up at him.

“Dana! What the hell!” Kyungsoo crouched and helped her sit up. He touched her face and she was freaking cold. “Dana, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked. But she only stared at him with glassy eyes, like she wasn’t absorbing what has happening, that he was here. Kyungsoo made her wear the other jacket he had with him, and put the hood over her head. She still wasn’t talking, and she was only looking at Kyungsoo, like she can’t believe he was here.

“Can you stand, Dana?” Kyungsoo asked. She seemed to understand this, and she shook her head. She tried to stand up, holding on to Kyungsoo’s arms, but her legs wobbled and gave way. “Never mind, I’ll have to carry you.” Then in a flash, Dana was suddenly in Kyungsoo’s arms, and he was carrying her away.

“Why were you even here? At this hour? Were you locked in?” Kyungsoo kept asking, but Dana still wasn’t answering. Instead, she put her arms around Kyungsoo’s neck and hugged tight, and snuggled her head against his neck. Kyungsoo gulped, and hoped she couldn’t feel his heart hammering through his chest. He slightly moved his lips to her hair. “It’s fine, I got you.”

He stopped at the gate, and realized they won’t be able to get out as well. Dana can’t climb, and he wasn’t that strong to carry her. Plus he wouldn’t risk her falling and getting injured. He walked to the guard house near the gate and slowly placed Dana down near the door. “I’m just gonna call someone.” Kyungsoo said, taking his phone out of his pocket and dialing Clara’s number. Dana nodded, bringing her knees closer to her, and clutching the bag she had with her. Clara answered on the second ring, and Kyungsoo told her that he found Dana at their old school. Clara said they were about to call the police before he called, but thank god they didn’t. They don’t need this to come out on the news. Their only problem now was how they could get out of the school, with the gates locked and all.

Kyungsoo and Clara were debating on calling the police to help them get out when Kyungsoo suddenly felt a tug on his leg. He turned around and Dana was holding on to him, and had a small piece of paper on her other hand. He put Clara on hold and bent down next to Dana. He saw what she was holding out, it was a business card. Kyungsoo looked at it quizzically, not sure what to do with it when Dana suddenly spoke. “Jack. Call Jack,” she softly said, pointing at the business card. “He can open the gate.” her voice faltered. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened at the realization and began calling the number on the card. Dana stared at him as he talked, and when she saw him smile, she smiled too, even when she couldn’t understand half of what he was saying.

“Jack’s coming, we’re gonna get out in a little while.” he brightly said. Then he suddenly took both of Dana’s hands and started rubbing them together. “Your hands are freaking cold..” Kyungsoo softly said, then he sat beside Dana while still keeping her hands warm. When Kyungsoo stopped to check his phone again, Dana wrapped her arms around the arm he wasn’t using, and snuggled closer to his neck again. She was really tired, and she was cold. She felt Kyungsoo’s hand lightly brushing her head, and before she knew it, she must’ve drifted off to sleep again.

I must’ve woken up several times already.

It was dark earlier, but now there was faint light peeking out from the window to my right. It was like dawn was breaking. Was this what it felt like to be drunk, waking up several times and not knowing where you are? I looked around, and the walls were white, and there was someone sitting on a chair near my bed, and his head was resting near my hand. He seemed to be sleeping. He even looked like Kyungsoo. Am I still in a dream? Awhile ago it was like Kyungsoo was saving me from the dark.

I touched the hair of the person sleeping near me, and he suddenly shifted, turning his face to look at me. Wow, he looked a lot like Kyungsoo, they could be identical twins. Or was this really him? I’m still dreaming, right? I was staring at him, and he just blinked while staring back. He broke the stare and started rubbing his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he suddenly asked. He even sounded like Kyungsoo. This dream looked too real all of a sudden. “I don’t know, you look real.” I said and I poked him in the cheek. He felt real too. Was I really awake now? I looked around and saw a dextrose tube attached to my left arm. So I’m in a hospital? Since when?

“What is it with you and mornings?” Kyungsoo softly whispered, and he gave me a lazy smile. He looked like he was up all night, but the way he smiled at me made me feel like I was worth staying up all night for. If this was real, I just realized he’s been with me for two mornings straight. Fans are gonna kill me, again.

Kyungsoo lightly touched the side of my face. “You’re not cold anymore, you feel any better?” he asked. What cold? I’m only feeling warm inside right now. Kyungsoo suddenly smirked, and I realized he must’ve seen my face turn red. He shook his head and was about to stand up when I grabbed his hand. He looked at me in question, waiting for me to say something, but I just stared at him. The corner of his mouth quirked up suddenly, like he seemed to understand, even if no words came out of my mouth.

“I have to go, they’ve been looking for me all night. You’ll be okay here.” he softly said. “Plus, it’s only 5AM. You should get more sleep.” I didn’t realize it was still that early, and that’s when I felt my eyelids getting heavier. I heard a low chuckle from Kyungsoo. “You’re still not letting go of my hand.” he laughed. I realized I was holding his hand tight, so I loosened my grip on it, and slowly placed my hand back on the bed.

“I’ll come back, that’s a promise.” he said and smiled, patting the top of my head. What am I, a puppy?

He suddenly laughed deeply. “A puppy is cuter than you are.” he joked. I must’ve said that out loud. I just smiled lightly, blinking and fighting hard to stay awake, but Kyungsoo urged me to continue sleeping. “Sleep. I’ll be back when you wake up.” he told me. I smiled and nodded at him, as long as he comes back, it’s alright. I can’t fight the sleepiness anymore.

“See you.” he said, before turning around to leave.

“See you, Soo.” I softly said. I finally let the sleep take over, and closed my eyes slowly.

Before I could drift off, I saw him open his mouth and smile in relief.

Because I remembered.

I remember everything now.

✨ The Star & His First Love

🌟 Story Masterlist

[velvetfxexo]

#HappyKyungsooDay

Just went here to say Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people on earth, our precious Doh Kyungsoo! Thanks for bringing joy in EXOLs' lives and for taking care of your fellow members. 💙 You've done well in being an idol and an actor and I wish you all the happiness in the universe because you deserve it. All of it. See you soon, Kyungsoo.

[velvetfxexo]

OH RIGHT it was just a typo i meant the star and his first love i'm so sorry omg

It's cool, I was just kidding hahaha 💙 but I can't express how thankful I really am for those of you who are reading it right now. ✨

[velvetfxexo]

omg your ask is finally open i've been meaning to tell you that i love the star & his lover so much. thank you for writing it! i'm lookig forward to your updates ♡

Thank you! I really appreciate it since this is my first try at writing a fic! 💓 I also hope you guys are talking about the star and his first love (not a different fic) and just had a typo error *sweats nervously* hahaha but I get it 😂😘 Thank you very much for taking the time to read, really. 💖💞