Author's Note: 

TA-DAH~ LOL Hope you dear readers will enjoy this chapter. I'm touched that people voted for my story and the amount of subscribers surprised me in a good way. I honestly didn't expect a lot of people, so THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart :') 

And in the previous chapter, some of you asked why 'Joonmyeon was mad'. To clarify, it's when he found out about the little accident Sehun and Luhan got themselves into. He's angry that s got hurt. 

So again, go on with the story. Enjoy! xx

24^nd May, 2010

Approximately 3 months later...

                There was one Park Chanyeol standing still with his head bowed. He sighed, looking weary with a half-eaten doughnut in hand. Chocolate-crusted. His faraway gaze narrowed as he crossed his arms, a facial expression that showed he was clearly deep in thought was sported. If ever someone was to know what the 17-year-old was thinking...

                 ‘He’s a beast!’ His inner voice screamed. ‘Wu Yi Fan is a beast!’

                Chanyeol grumbled some gibberish under his breath, releasing the pent-up dissatisfaction of the moment. He got into thinking and that resulted in him mentally stabbing none other than his (secret) husband, Kris with a fork.

                His mind flew back to random events in the past few months. He clearly remembered the day he and Kris finally did it.

                And Kris was a beast! Chanyeol frowned.

                That heartless man - 2 years older than him - gave Chanyeol only 2 days to recover! The soreness he felt wasn’t fully healed before Kris attacked him, showering kisses on Chanyeol’s neck as he was fiddling about in the laundry room before dragging the younger into their bedroom and Chanyeol was pretty sure they didn’t leave the bed until Kris was satisfied.

                The laundry was left for another 2 days before Chanyeol remembered about them.

                But it wasn’t always Kris. Mostly Kris did initiate their intimacy but Chanyeol did jump the other because Kris was damn y in his reading glasses. A permanent grin was etched onto the other’s face and Chanyeol’s face was painted rosy pink as he slapped the other because the smug grin was so annoying. And that one time too, when they showered together....

                Ehem, so yes, the shower wasn’t exactly the innocent shower Kris planned but the satisfied husband obviously wasn’t complaining.     

                And right now Chanyeol wasn’t alone. In fact, he was standing in line with the said man (beast) and two other of their members, Joonmyeon and Luhan. In line to buy movie tickets. The plan for the day was to watch a movie to celebrate the 3 May-born members, Joonmyeon, Baekhyun and Tao – deciding on the latest date, Joonmyeon’s birthday for a get together. And since Joonmyeon was an economical guy, or so he said he was, they planned a Monday matinee 2 days after the other’s 19^th birthday.

                This was probably going to be their last time to just go to the cinema like any other normal people before their planned debut early 2011.

                They were given a month before SM planned schedule would be acted upon them. It wasn’t easy to be an idol, not at all. The grooming needed a lot of time and patience – they need to be perfect before the public would acknowledge them. Chanyeol knew that, as well as the rest of them. Even the name for their group needed a thorough thinking. And the changes they went through was way too fast – he heard they were splitting the members into groups, then the plan was to debut all 12 in one big group before the changes went on and on again. There was also a plan to make them a uniformed dancing group.

                Chanyeol then watched the two in front of him chatting animatedly, his dessert still abandoned. Luhan was probably the most fluent in Korean of the four. Kris was too, but there were times he stuttered one word or two out due to the foreign pronunciation. Despite the funny accent, that didn’t stop Luhan from chattering Joonmyeon’s ears away.

                The idea was Joonmyeon should pick out what they were going to watch and since the two of them had the longest arms, they should carry the snacks and drinks in. Luhan was supposed to- no, Luhan just wanted to tag along with them. It was the first time he stepped into the Cineplex and wanting to learn everything needed for future reference.

                Instead of going for the booth, Luhan wanted to try one of the automatic ticketing machines. Thankfully, there weren’t that many people and now there were only two girls standing in front of the birthday boy and his curious sidekick purchasing the tickets. Then it was their turn.

                “Cool!” Luhan cooed.

                “So here...” Joonmyeon began teaching Luhan how the device worked. Chanyeol’s silent husband peeked over the two, nodding one in awhile, awed when their tickets shot out. Chanyeol didn’t know Joonmyeon had a credit card, he raised a delicate brow. Those machines only accept payment through cards.

                Obviously, Luhan had a hand in picking out the movie. They were watching Iron Man 2. The first was good and Chanyeol couldn’t wait to watch the sequel. But they had an hour to spare so...

                “Why don’t we eat first?” Kris interrupted his thoughts.

                “Yeah good idea, I skipped breakfast in a hurry,” Joonmyeon said sheepishly, rubbing his nape.

                Like any other people, when you’re in a group as big as theirs, it got rowdy. But they managed to find a table that could fit all 12 of them.

                Yixing was calm when his food wasn’t attacked by the ever-hungry Baekhyun and Tao. Jongdae brought his camera along, snapping some views and planning to get the film printed into photos. Joonmyeon shared some fries with Kyungsoo, the two talking in hushed whispers. Kim Jongin was silent, still down that his best friend was pulled out from their group and Sehun watched him as the dark-skinned member played the food around in his plate. Sometimes the magnae would nudge the other to open his mouth. Jongin complied, munching silently.

                Their two eldest members? Luhan was talking the other’s ears off but apparently Xiumin was ignoring him, favouring his selection of warm dim sum instead. Chanyeol only ate his doughnut, not hungry for anything else while Kris got a burger.

                When his spouse sat down next to him with that food in hand, Chanyeol’s nose immediately crinkled up. The aroma hitting his sense of smell wasn’t pleasant that only when he turned away to Yixing on his other side that his nausea quelled.

                “Oh, are you okay, Chanyeol?” Yixing asked the white-faced member, putting his spoon down.

                “Yeah, just a little queasy, but I’m fine,” the other reassured. Chanyeol took a huge gulp from his bottle of water, trying to avoid the sudden attack on his sense.

                Strange...he thought.     

                Apparently, Kris noticed the ‘off’ way Chanyeol was acting that he tapped the other on the wrist. Reluctantly, Chanyeol faced the co-leader.

                “You okay?” the 19-year-old frowned, getting worried when he noticed the pallid colouring of his wife’s face.

                Chanyeol nodded around the bread he was eating. And when he gulped down the food, his nose was attacked again by the God awful smell. Gosh, that stench! He stared distastefully at Kris’s abandoned burger. The said man was in the process of tearing the plastic covering of his bottle cap.

                “Hyung, that thing smells awful,” he whined, shoving the other’s food away harshly.

                Kris widened his eyes. Surprised at the other’s sudden show of aggressiveness. Did Chanyeol just throw a little tantrum his way?   

                “Wha-“ Kris was about to voice his own dissatisfaction when he saw Chanyeol’s slightly teary eyes. Eh? He didn’t smell anything ‘awful’ from his food, was it really that bad? Had the food gone bad?

                ‘Is my nose numb or something?’ he thought. The younger had turned away from him right after he literally just slapped the innocent sandwich. Chanyeol was acting weird, not his usual weird but weird...weird. And that was saying something as Chanyeol ate everything – never once did his wife complained as if all food suited his taste. Not a picky eater, never. The picky one was him. 

                Frowning, Kris scooped up his hamburger and almost shoved it into Jongdae’s nostrils if the other’s reflex didn’t kick in.

                Startled, the younger cursed. But Kris wasn’t particular.

                “What are you doing, hyung?” Jongdae grumbled - brushing his nose clean and his voice came out in a higher pitch.      

                “Do you think it’s gone bad?” he asked, sniffing at the food himself and still couldn’t determine if it really was expiring.

                “What?” Jongdae scooted closer and took a whiff off the hamburger in the other’s hand. He frowned. “Aneundaeyo,” he said before going back to his own meal. 

               “Hmmm,” Kris pursed his lips. Well, maybe it was just Chanyeol not liking the smell. Cautiously, Kris took a small bite.

                The taste was fine all along!

                He glanced at Chanyeol. The younger was still sitting with almost all his back toward Kris. Maybe his wife was ill. He’d ask him later.

                ~~

                “Ppalli ppalli (hurry up, hurry up),” Luhan whisper-yelled.

                Kris let out a small ‘tsk’ at his impatience. In the dim lighting, Luhan had his hands on Jongin’s waist, pushing the other slightly in his hurry to get to his assigned seat. The sitting arrangement was 7 and 5 on two rows. Kris thanked the heavens that he chose to sit above the noisy 5 (Baekhyun, Tao, Sehun, Jongin and Luhan). While the 5 were fussing about, Joonmyeon was already seated, followed by Kyungsoo, Jongdae, Xiumin, Yixing, himself and Chanyeol. And he watched the kiddies now fighting over the 3 buckets of popcorn. The movie wasn’t even rolling yet.

                Kris was sipping on his coke when Yixing whispered something into his ear. The other was using Mandarin.

                “Yifan, you spend too much time with Canlie nowadays that you two smell like each other.”

                It was as if somebody just poured ice cold water over him. He slightly choked.

                “What do you mean?” Kris couldn’t cover the sharp bite in his tone, switching to his mother tongue. Fear crept over him. Was Yixing on to something?

                Yixing smiled softly showing his deep dimples, the colours from the massive screen danced across his face.

                “You know, I got quite a good sense of smell,” he tapped his nose lightly. “I use it to recognize people too sometimes. And lately, I found out that you two shares a scent, it’s like you’re one person now.”

                Yixing chuckled. But he didn’t comment anything more. Nor could Kris say something.  

                Luckily, the movie started, lights turning off but Kris was uneasy. It wasn’t until Yixing patted his knee that he looked away from the screen. He couldn’t focus on what he was seeing anyway.

                “Yifan, you know whatever it is you’re keeping from us, I don’t mind. I can keep a secret,” the other assured.

                And Kris trusted him.

                He gave a slight nod to his fellow trainee and relaxed into his seat, only then noticing how tense he was. Just then he felt another touch on his forearm, this time from his spouse and noticed Chanyeol worriedly looking at him. He was thankful that it was bright at the moment; the shadow casted on his wife’s face made him looked ethereal.

                “Hyung, you’re edgy,” Chanyeol stated simply. Sneakily, Kris took the other’s hand in his and intertwined their fingers on his lap. Through that, he assured the younger that he was fine.

                Chanyeol complied, quickly getting engrossed with the movie and popping a caramel-coated corn into his mouth. Lately, Kris noticed the alarming amount of sugar the other consumed; it was honestly making him worried. He wrestled his attention back to the screen, not wanting to waste Joonmyeon’s money.

                ~~

                Kim Jongdae grunted as his body fell onto the mattress. Home at last! He stared at his ceiling sleepily before suddenly remembering what he wanted to do. He shot up from the bed and rushed into the bathroom. He needed to shower.

                Once he’s out and dressed for sleep – in just a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt, Jongdae remembered the stack of photos he left on his bed. The photos he took when they were at the Lotte World, their casual outings, Jongdae’s collection of food – all that. Included in that pile of memories were the random shots he was sure the other members took too. He bought a new photo album for these. Jongdae jumped onto his bed, pretty excited to reminisce.

                As he was sorting the pictures out and sliding them into the album’s pockets, one particular photograph caught his attention. He squinted at it, making out the setting – a food court. His eyes glanced over it before sticking it into the folder.

                But then Jongdae stopped. And frowned at the snapshot – lifting it up to his face.

                The blood suddenly drained out of his face as his eyes widened. His shocked eyes were transfixed onto a very, very familiar face. He gulped nervously.

                “...Chanyeol?”    

                The photo fell like a dead leaf from his trembling hand.

                The photo was the one Jongin snapped at Lotte World.