Chapter 7(1)

He had ended up coming with Suho hyung, as odd as that may sound. The person who was bringing Baek was, unfortunately, SeungHwan manager hyung. He had had to beg Suho hyung and even bargain with some less than noble promises – like washing his back and folding his clothing articles into nice little piles so that he could stop hearing Baekhyun nag about his mess. Most of all, leader hyung had made him promise that he would tell everything.

And though he was reticent at first, Chanyeol wondered what he was so afraid of. If he had told Baekhyun from the very beginning and suffered all his teasing, there was nothing to worry about Suho hyung.

Suho hyung had been the one talking to the manager hyung and they had ended up coming alone with Suho hyung driving HyunKyun hyung’s Kia SUV. Chanyeol had no idea of what he had told the older man, but as far as Suho hyung was concerned he was also only meeting his high school friends, at least while he didn’t make him spill the whole truth), thus hopefully, HyunKyun hyung couldn’t dream that he would be meeting Ji Woo.

Shifting the gear in order to park the voluminous vehicle, a few streets above the street where 259 was, Suho hyung seemed to have the question stuck in his throat.

“So… are you going to explain?”

Taking a deep breath, Chanyeol fiddled a little with his fingers. Suho frowned slightly, unused to see the younger of the two with a meek stance.

“We’re just… meeting some friends of mine from high school and some friends of theirs. I thought you might enjoy it since the majority of them go to K.ARTS and…- ”

“Chanyeol-ah.”

Chanyeol gulped, thoroughly aware that the leader knew there was something more to it. What had he been thinking? Kai and Sehun would have no control over their gossiping tongues, of course.

Suho sighed deeply, a hand coming up to rub his face.

“Chanyeol… speak. We’ve been through too much because our communication wasn’t always so good”

 Tao’s childish smile flashed behind Chanyeol’s eyes and he immediately try to press back the feelings that rose in his chest, flinching. Suho hyung always suffered the most with the group’s problems. Especially, because being the leader people would often ask him questions and demand explanations. But Tao leaving, the kid he had taken care ever since they had met when they were still rookies (Baek had been like that too), had affected Suho hyung even more than when Kris hyung, who had helped him shoulder all the responsibility, had done so as well.

“Just tell me what’s wrong. You have to remember that no matter what you think it’s your private life it can affect us all as a team. So, if nothing else, please think of me as your team leader and tell me what’s wrong with you.”

“Hyung… I…” Before debuting, Chanyeol had frequently been called aside by this hyung to be told off in his usual non-offensive, understanding way. Suho hyung had been worried a lot with his unstoppable mouth and, sometimes, violent energy. But he had been twenty and a little more foolish than now, and that was saying a lot already about Chanyeol. Knowing that Suho hyung was, once more, worried because of him was lodging a ball of guilt in his throat. Now older, Chanyeol recognized that if it weren’t for this old-spirited wise person, EXO probably wouldn’t have made it to where they were today. “There, really, really is nothing wrong with me. It’s just… Well, I’m sure you know already. I met this girl.”

Suho might have tried, but it was utterly impossible to hide the way his face morphed when he mentioned having met a girl. He furrowed his eyebrows and unknowingly thinned his lips. And the younger couldn’t help but to notice.

“Hyung, you really have to trust me in this. I know I haven’t been always the most responsible person, but you have to believe me that I wouldn’t jeopardize us.”

“Then what are we doing here?”

Suho hyung’s voice tone wasn’t judgmental and he didn’t have a threatening glare that would only come out when one of them ed up. Baekhyun had suffered from it for almost a week, after Dispatch had caught him and Taeyeon sunbae. Chanyeol took courage from that but still wasn’t able to look him in the eye when answering, choosing to look out of the car window while he mumbled a feeble answer.

“I just have to figure this out.”

“I’m not judging ok. I know it’s natural for us to find people we’re attracted too. This is just a reminder that you have a lot of pondering to do before heading to a relationship or something of the likes. You can’t do it half-assedly”

Leaving the sight of the cold street, where carton boxes were piled by a back door (probably from a bar, since they were from a tequila brand) and finally facing the inside of the car, Chanyeol thought over an answer to his hyung but found none but the one he had already given.

“Hyung, I honestly don’t understand what’s going on between Ji Woo and I right now. For me to give you an answer, I need to figure what I feel for her and if it’s worth to even do all that pondering you’re talking about…”

“Fine. Fine, then do just that.” Suho hyung smiled his tired, warm smile and Chanyeol wondered why he had come if he was so terribly tired? He had ran to hyung because he was absolutely sure Hyunkyun hyung would only allow him to go somewhere like that if he went with someone older since they were the responsible bunch. Suho had been is automatic answer since everyone went K.Arts and Suho hyung, though on hold, was also a student there in the theatre department. “Shall we go?”

When they were side by side in the sidewalk fully equipped in their hoodies or  hats and masks with black simple clothes, Suho hyung looked up at him, as Chanyeol led the way, and the way the eldest’s eyes crinkled slightly just revealed immediately how the other was about to joke around.

“So I heard she’s a little special.”

Chanyeol ignored him poignantly but his cheeks immediately warmed and turned red.

“Tch. Annoying couple of maknaes that doesn’t know how to keep quiet.

“Baekhyun told me.”

“What?!”

His incredulous face might have worked against Suho’s façade. He started laughing loudly right away at Chanyeol’s outraged reaction that had even stilled him in their path.

“I’m kidding, it was the kids. I just wanted to know if Baekhyun really knew. How can you tell everything to that snarky kid and not give one word to this older brother of yours?”

“Aish, hyung~! So lame!”

Fighting the inner itches at Suho hyung’s poor attempt at a joke and a way to know more about someone else’s life, Chanyeol resumed walking, avoiding Suho’s questions.

“So… is she really a pianist?”

“Hm… yeah.”

“How did you guys meet?”

“We have mutual friends.”

“How is she?”

“Can’t you wait and see for yourself?”

“Why wait when you can tell me? Besides, told by you…”

“We’re here.”

259 tall but lean dark wood door rose from the corner that they had just taken.  Suho observed it for a little and offered him a kind smile. Chanyeol silently questioned how it had been possible that he had hurt Ji Woo’s hand in a vicious way like that.

The door was closed and he chose to knock on it first instead of ringing the bell, even though she had told him that on days like these it was only their little group inside the bar and no one else.

Neon purple light emerged from behind the long lacquer counter to the back and only then, looking at it from the outside did Chanyeol notice that it had ceiling-high glass walls but they were completely cover from the eyes outside with very thick velvet burgundy curtains that dragged through the floor. Not a speck of light or curiosity from the outside penetrated the enclosed space. It smelled like cigarettes inside. Someone sat in a grand piano with a decadent cigarette between his artistic fingers.

The person who opened the door greeted them with a pleased smile and immediately letting them in, even before they had taken off their masks and head apparel.

Chanyeol figured this should be Seo Jaemin, place’s owner and Ji Woo’s high school friend. He was very handsome in not very manly way. In a way, he reminded him of Luhan hyung who looked so much like a girl and yet behaved like a tough man all along. Jaemin’s voice was even deeper than Chanyeols.

“Welcome, welcome. You’ve been awaited. Do come in Chanyeol-ssi, Suho-ssi. ”

“Thanks.” Summoning his celebrity state of mind and happy go lucky attitude, surprising even kind Suho hyung who looked at him as if he had been reborn, Chanyeol decided to risk it to see if he really was right. “Are you perhaps, Seo Jaemin?”

“How did you know that?”

“Heard about you.”

Chanyeol whistled a little, not really dwelling on how a guy could be so lithe, hands on his pockets and passed through him. Suho smiled brightly and waved.

“Hi, I’m Exo’s leader, Suho. Nice to meet you, Jaemin-ssi.”

Soft music, probably something from the piano, fluttered softly from the inside. They advanced in the small hallway from the door to the dance floor and bar. The both of them were exhausted and he wanted a drink, in the least.

“O-Oh… neh”

The same table they had been the only other time Chanyeol had came was heavily populated, Woo Jin and the others were there. Hyun Seok was looking intently to the person who was playing the piano as if he could memorize and reproduce the way that person’s fingers glided over onyx and ivory and make the same deep, chirpy sounds. Min Jung sunbae was nowhere to be seen, but Eun Soo and Dal Soo seemed to be fighting, quietly, about something. Sung Woo sunbae was laughing loudly to something a petite, curvaceous girl was saying, dangling her martini glass. She was a little edgier looking than what he expected for what he presumed would be Kim Nana, Jaemin’s counterpart in the position of Ji Woo’s best friends. Kim Nana had a modern pin-up air to her. Even though she wasn’t exactly chubby per se, by Korean standards she would be considered so, especially since she was small. But where other girls her age would have felt intimidated and awkward by that image she looked and felt very at ease with it. Woo Jin was speaking to an older woman who also sat at the table, while they both enjoyed a lively performance of something that, Chanyeol was almost sure, was most definitely Mozart. The older woman had the looks of an aged yet wise and beautiful goddess. She shouldn’t be a day over forty but there was a high possibility she was.

“Hey guys” no matter how hard his day had been and how anguished he had been, to meet these people again was wondrous and he really wanted to make the most of it. Woo Jin got up and offered him a wide smile.

“Are you wearing eyeliner again?” he asked before greeting him, his mood was high and he seemed less that shy little boy who had stood behind him when bullies came to steal his lunch and who Chanyeol protected with his then new gained height. But the taller of the two could only be happy for him. He had always hoped Woo Jin would be able to show this kind, charming side of his to others. “I’m glad you came, thought you wouldn’t make it.”

Chanyeol shrugged and tried to keep a steady voice, while introducing Suho hyung to everyone. EXO’s leader seemed taken aback by the grandiosity of the space containing so little people but who seemed to fill up the large room all the same. He couldn’t say that he had been convinced to come with a mere text from the girl.

“Yeah, we had a photo shoot and a meeting, so we were kind of busy but I thought I wouldn’t hurt to come see you guys,” Chanyeol looked at his watch, poignantly “even if I am two hours late”

A gorgeous woman emerged slowly from the side, just when the piano playing came to an end. She must have been closer to her thirties than twenties but had a very distinctly naive expression and doll-like eyes. She seemed reluctant to come in and was dressed in plain suit pants and a fine white shirt, something akin to a salary woman’s attire that had come here straight from work, still her plainness couldn’t hide the beauty in the soft curls of her hair or her pale skin tone. She approached Hyun Seok quietly and sat by him. Noticing the way Chanyeol stared, Woo Jin laughed softly.

“Yeah. Hyun Seok got himself a noona” in a conspiratorial tone, the smallest whispered indicating the small woman with his chin, while smiling a cute reserved smile. “Who would guess, right?”

Chanyeol laughed loudly and when he was about to explain to Suho hyung the similarities in D.O. and Hyun Seok, the older one was already gone. He had gone to greet the person who had been playing the piano. The older woman who had been sitting down and watching the performance also got up to greet his leader, and for a moment Chanyeol was slightly confused.

Noticing his baffled expression Woo Jin laughed a little again a nudged him.

“What were you expecting, bringing one of K.Arts top students? They are both professors there.”

“Chanyeol-ah!” Suho hyung was using his official face and Chanyeol knew better than to disobey or be anything but at his best behavior. With a nod and a cheeky smile to Woo Jin, Chanyeol walked towards his leader and the two elders. Suho received him with his motherly smile, pulling his much taller figure towards himself and introducing him with a big smile “This is Park Chanyeol, he’s the instrumental magician in our team.”

 “These are Kim Myung Bak sonsaengnim and Wang Seo Jin sonsaengnim. They both teach at K-arts  school  of music.”

Chanyeol tried hard not to flinch at the lame introduction which could come only from Suho hyung. Bowing to the pair of apparently bohemian professors, Chanyeol uttered the usual words for guidance and expressed the honor it was to meet the two of them.

They were pleasant and remarked how the school needed good students like them, praising both Chanyeol and Suho in their proficiency. Especially Kim Sonsaengnim seemed especially interested in Chanyeol’s talent for the piano.  He made the immediate attempt to deny it.

“I really don’t have any skill, sonsaengnim. All I know is to play some of our songs…”

“Why are you being modest? When you’re in the recording room, all you ever do is play instruments.”

“Well, since I don’t have a voice like Suho hyung…” the cynicism in the remark was lost in Suho hyung, who chose to push him lightly towards the piano. But the last thing he wanted was to play piano in front of all these people who had a either had a degree or taught it. “I limit myself to play instruments, but it’s definitely a big deal. I’m not even that good.”

“Oh, Oppa! You’re lying. You’re even good at singing”

She was wearing above the ankle dark blue fitted dress pants and a careless loose dark grey t-shirt, tucked in. In her feet were deep red small heels. She looked effortless beautiful, her hair falling around her beautiful, compelling visage in natural waves. If the other women he saw before were gorgeous, Ji Woo was ethereally overwhelming. She had apparently none of the softness the other persons possessed on the outside. She seemed tough and cool, but the way her high pitched voice had come out to drawl the oppa that had left her lips, immediately showing her natural aegyo showed yet another side of her.

“Yeah, well, since you’re here, I don’t think there’s the need for anyone else to take the piano.”

It might have been offensive to the person playing it before, especially since he was right in front of him. But Ji Woo had stolen all his common sense away with her entrance and the happy smile that she was offering him right now, walking to his side. After realizing his faux pas Chanyeol looked to