“I like your belly,” Baekhyun teased Joonmyun, poking at the small sliver of skin the leader was showing. Joonmyun covered her stomach with her hands and tried to pull down her crop top a bit. She had a nice set of ‘eleven’ abs and a toned body from her workouts but she was only comfortable with showing so much skin.
    
Their theme for this shoot was just the simple white shirt, blue jean look. All the boys were fitted in white v-necks with light washed blue jeans but the girls had a bit more variety. Joonmyun and Baekhyun were squeezed into tight white crop tops but the leader had short sleeves and high-waisted jeans and Baekhyun had long sleeves and a pair of high waisted shorts. Minseok was wearing a sleeveless top that showed off her pretty shoulders and a pair of dark washed jeans. Kyungsoo was in the same pair of jeans but her shirt was just a simple v-neck that covered all the way down to her waist.
    
Baekhyun spun in her chair and turned to face Kyungsoo. She eyed the younger girl standing and scrolling through her phone and got up to approach her.
    
“Let’s switch shirts,” Baekhyun said, grabbing the hem of Kyungsoo’s shirt and lifting it up a bit. Kyungsoo let out a squeal of surprise and nearly dropped her phone as she tried to pull her shirt back down.
    
“No,” Kyungsoo protested, wrestling Baekhyun’s grabby hands away from her and shuffling closer to Minseok.
    
“You’d look so hot in this shirt though,” Baekhyun complained as she stepped towards Kyungsoo again. “Literally your s would look so nice in this shirt,” she said, gesturing towards Kyungsoo’s chest. The younger girl turned pink at this and crossed her arms over her chest. She was well aware that she had the nicest set of s in this group but it didn’t mean she liked to bring any more attention towards them.

“I’m fine with what I’m wearing,” Kyungsoo said going back to looking at her phone. She had an interview lined up for her new movie in two days and the press questions had just been emailed to her.

“No but seriously for the next concept let’s stick Kyungsoo in the raunchiest outfits we can find,” Baekhyun said excitedly, clasping her hands together. “She’s got the s and the and the thighs and it’s about time that the world knows.”
    
“Baekhyun you know that Kyungsoo doesn’t like to show skin,” Joonmyun said, walking over and wrapping her arms around Kyungsoo’s waist. Kyungsoo nodded and snuggled into the leader. Joonmyun loved all of her members dearly, no matter how many headaches they caused her, but she did have a special spot in her heart for her ever obedient Kyungsoo.
    
“She has no problem walking around in just her thong and tank top at the dorms,” Baekhyun grinned. “I have the pictures to prove it!”
    
“You know I have problems with sleeping in pants,” Kyungsoo protested, mouth dropping. “And that’s only in the summer when it's super hot too!”
    
“Please don’t send those pictures to anyone,” Joonmyun groaned, bringing a hand to her forehead to rub away a pending headache. Kyungsoo was considered one of their most conservative members and a leak like that would have everyone talking for months and damage control would not be easy.
    
“Oh they’re for my viewing pleasure only,” Baekhyun winked. Kyungsoo smacked her arm and the other vocalist just laughed.
    
“Please don’t bruise each other before the shoot,” their manager walked in, looking rather frazzled. “Chanyeol barely dodged a bloody nose because Sehun and Jongdae decide to play baseball with a grapefruit.”
    
“Sehun tried to hit a homerun?” Minseok asked.
    
“Oh please,” Baekhyun huffed. “The brat probably struck out each time.” They all turned to their manager for confirmation and he just nodded looking very stressed still.  
    
“The photographer wants all of you out on the floor so he can make sure you all fit in his vision,” the manager made jazz hands to emphasize the word.
    
“Last chance to switch,” Baekhyun told Kyungsoo, pulling at the girl’s shirt again.
    
 “Yeah no,” Kyungsoo pushed her away again and was the first to walk out of their fitting room.
    
The space set up for the shoot had a simple light, gray backdrop and the lighting was already set up. The photographer and charity’s staff were running around to do last minute check ups and Kyungsoo noticed the boys standing against a wall just waiting. She walked over and caught Jongdae’s eyes, who sent her a cheeky smile.
    
“I heard about the grapefruit,” she told him, standing next to him against the wall.
    
“Okay it was Chanyeol’s fault for standing right in front of second base,” Sehun peeked out of his place on the wall and looked at her.
    
“Who told you to put second base right in front of the wall charger?” Chanyeol defended himself also peeking out of his place in the wall.
    
“Why do we even have grapefruits in our dressing rooms?” Baekhyun asked as she approached and stood in front of them. “They’re so bitter.”
    
“Like you?” Jongdae asked, cocking his head innocently.
    
“Jongdae that wasn’t nice,” Minseok shook her head when she arrived.
    
“Baek is making it way too easy today,” Jongdae laughed.
    
“Is everyone here?” The photographer asked, running into the room with his camera slung around his neck.

“All accounted for,” Joonmyun piped up as she stood next to Jongin on the other side of the wall.

“Perfect,” the photographer clasped his hands together. “Get in your pairs and I’ll do one more lookover before we start the shoot. We’ll do the couple shots first and then the individual shots before finishing with the group.”

With a shuffle of their feet, the eight members quickly paired up with their assigned partners for the day. Kyungsoo stood to the right of Jongin and the younger male held her shoulder and gently squeezed. Chanyeol and Joonmyun stood together next and the leader fixed a wrinkle on his shirt while he poked at her cheek. Sehun and Baekhyun were standing together, the younger male stiff as he remembered their encounter in the morning. He was going to be lucky if Baekhyun didn’t “accidentally” heel him during their shots. Lastly, Jongdae and Minseok had their arms hooked together, used to being paired up for shoots. The photographer paced slowly back and forth in front of them, eyeing them up and down carefully.

“Is it possible for these two to switch tops?” he asked pointing at Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. The younger girl turned pink and a big smile grew on Baekhyun’s face.

“I would really rather not,” Kyungsoo spoke up.

“I don’t mind,” Baekhyun said quickly, looking at Kyungsoo with a glint in her eyes.

“It’s just that Kai has a very y image and both of you in v-necks looks a little too homey for me. It’d be better if both of you had the y shot and Sehun and Baekhyun had a more covered up shoot. I know that those two can give me the aura I need,” the photographer explained.

“Is there any other way around it?” Kyungsoo asked, hands starting to sweat. Jongin noticed her discomfort and squeezed her shoulders again. He knew that she got super self-conscious about herself even though she looked more than fine. The photographer pursed his mouth and thought about it for a few seconds. He walked down their line once again before he made a suggestion.

“Can I have Minseok and Kyungsoo switch spots?” the photographer asked. The two girls switched quickly and the man looked over their new partners once again.

“Perfect,” he nodded his head. “Minseok’s shoulders will look good with Kai and Chen and Kyungsoo have a very sweet image going on. We’ll go with these couples. Chen and Kyungsoo are up first.” The two vocalists moved to the backdrop and their makeup artists closed in on them for final touch ups. Everyone else moved to the seats in the back to wait for their turns.

“What’s with the pout?” Minseok asked, poking at Jongin’s lips. “Not excited to be my partner?”

“It’s not that,” Jongin said, shaking his head. “I was just hyped to be doing a shoot with Kyungsoo again. It’s been years since we’ve been paired for anything. And I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages. She’s been so busy with her filming and I’ve been doing rehab to fix this dumb leg of mine,” he punched thigh. He had landed wrong during a concert a few weeks ago and had just recently been cleared for activity again.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Minseok reminded him gently. “Accidents happen all the time.”

“They happen too often for me,” Jongin complained.

“Good good!” the photographer praised Jongdae and Kyungsoo all of a sudden. “You two look great together!” They were currently doing a back hug, Jongdae’s arms wrapped around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and Kyungsoo’s hands clasped gently on top of his. Jongdae had his signature smiley eyes and lip curls pulled up while Kyungsoo beamed with her smile.

“They look so cute,” Joonmyun cooed from next to Jongin. “They don’t get paired up often either. Maybe this will become a trend after today’s shoot.” Jongdae seemed to whisper something into Kyungsoo’s ear and the girl burst into laughter, turning around and hitting him lightly on the chest, head almost buried in his neck. The photographer clicked his shutter at the right moment and captured the perfect candid shot of them. Jongdae’s hands were resting on Kyungsoo’s hips and their smiles seemed to be infectious.

“This is going way better than I imagined,” the photographer was practically glowing with them. “Changing your partners was the best thing I could’ve done for this shoot. Let’s get a few more shots before we do individuals.”

“Chanyeol when it’s our turn please don’t rest your arm on my head,” Joonmyun requested of him.

“But you’re the best head rest,” Chanyeol whined, pretending to stomp his feet like a child.

“Sehun you have to stand on the right because the left side of my face is better,” Baekhyun told him as she adjusted a stray strand of hair in his face.

“But my left side is better too,” Sehun said.

“Your right side looks better than my right side,” Baekhyun reminded him.

“I guess that is true,” Sehun smiled smugly all of a sudden.

“I’ve fed your ego too much,” Baekhyun realized, lips pulling into a straight line. “I’ll just have to kick it down a few notches later.”

Kyungsoo was scheduled for her individual shots first so Jongdae joined the group in a seat next to Minseok. Even though Kyungsoo was typically shy and quiet, she was used to the click of the camera shutter now so it was easy for her to slip into a few standard poses and throw some looks at the camera.

“She looks so girl next door today,” Baekhyun commented, “even more than usual.” Sehun nodded in agreement. Kyungsoo had the least amount of makeup out of all eight of them and her hair had been styled into loose waves.

“Do you think those top actors hit on her?” Sehun asked.

“Inappropriate topic of conversation,” Joonmyun warned him, shooting the youngest a look. They could talk about this stuff but only in private, not around outside staff.

“I’m just curious,” Sehun defended himself. “Kyungsoo is a pretty girl and guys like them can be total wolves.”

“She knows better,” Jongin shook his head firmly. “Soo would never get herself into that mess.”

“Unlike a certain someone,” Baekhyun singsonged, sending Jongin an accusing look.

“Says the first perpetrator,” Jongin shot back accusingly. Baekhyun’s face fell suddenly and she turned away from him. It was quiet between the seven of them for two seconds before Baekhyun got up and walked quickly out of the room and towards the dressing rooms. A sensitive nerve had been hit and there was no taking it back.

“Jongin that was really mean,” Joonmyun said quietly, very disappointed in him. Out of the nine members that they had now, Jongin and Baekhyun had given her the most stress in the past five years and she had expected them to be able to lean on each other.

“Yeah that was a move Jongin,” Jongdae agreed. “You should apologize later. You know how she feels about that.”

“She should know how I feel about it too-” Jongin tried to argue.

“Baekhyun wasn’t aware of the severity of the consequences when it happened,” Joonmyun reminded him. “You knew fully well what would happen Jongin. You knew it.”

“What happened?” Kyungsoo asked, sensing the tension after she was done with her shots. She touched Jongdae’s shoulder and he got up to go get his shots done.

“I’m gonna go check on her,” Chanyeol said, getting up all of a sudden and quickly disappearing behind the hall.

“Jongin just said something very insensitive towards Baekhyun,” Minseok told her. “We’ll talk about it later.” Kyungsoo knew better than to press and let it go. She had an idea of what had happened but it was an area that she hated delving into too. She would rather do a lingerie shoot than talk about it.

Baekhyun was curled up in a tiny ball, pressed against the wall and one of the makeup vanities. Her head was resting on her knees and she fought hard to not cry. She knew she ed up badly in the past. She had messed up so badly but she worked so hard for redemption and to regain everybody’s trust back. Baekhyun was finally in a good place again but stupid Jongin just had to knock her back a few steps. She had been forgiven and ready to forget everything but every once in a while the guilt would creep back up and make her feel like absolute again. She hated that feeling so much. The sound of someone opening the fitting room door and then knobby knees knocking into hers made Baekhyun look up.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking at Chanyeol squeezed into the tight space in front of her. He was too tall for his own good and also too kind for fitting his gigantic self into the smallest place possible with her. Baekhyun had been expecting Joonmyun or Minseok to come after her.  

“Thought you needed a friend,” Chanyeol answered, nudging her knee with his.

“Jongin’s a ing prick,” Baekhyun told him, anger in her voice.

“He wasn’t being very nice,” Chanyeol agreed. “But you know he’s still stressed and sensitive about it. He didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I didn’t ask for any of it either,” Baekhyun said.

“I know Baek,” he said, reaching out to pat her knee softly.

“I don’t want to talk to him for the rest of the day,” Baekhyun pouted, crossing her legs so that they would be more comfortable. Chanyeol didn’t have the privilege of doing so with their limited space.

“You don’t have to,” Chanyeol reassured her. “I’m sure everyone will understand.”

“You’re too kind Yeol,” Baekhyun sighed. Chanyeol was stupidly kind sometimes. Their friendship had been some type of rollercoaster the past few years. They had been attached at the hip pre-debut up to two years post-debut but then the scandals had hit and they drifted a bit. Chanyeol was dealing with his losses his own way and Baekhyun was going through the repercussions of her actions. Then that night had happened and things had changed drastically between them. It had gotten to the point where Baekhyun couldn’t even stand in the same room as Chanyeol without feeling like she couldn’t breathe.

Somehow, someway though they had patched things back up in a mismatched fashion. There were moments where she could be with Chanyeol and they would laugh and hangout like they had never not been best friends. But then there were the dry spells where they avoided each other and didn’t know what to say to each other. Baekhyun didn’t know what to make of it. She didn’t think Chanyeol did either.