(Come hither : 3)

Jongdae

 I plopped down beside Baekhyun on the bus and tightly pulled my black hood around my head. I looked over at my friend. He had the goofiest smile on his face and was totally unaware of the fact that everyone could see him.

“Hyung, put your hood up!” I hissed and yanked it over his head. He kept on smiling, but pulled on the strings to make the hood tighter around his head.

“That girl is the biggest klutz I have ever seen in my life,” Baekhyun giggled, muffling the sound with his hood. “Did you see her?! She fell and when she asked us to help her, she looked like she saw a ghost.”

“Shush,” I muttered. “Don’t openly talk about people on a public bus.” The girl had taken the seat behind us and I wasn’t sure if she was the rabid fan who would spread crazy rumors. For instance, tomorrow there would be news about Baekhyun and Chen from EXO abducting a girl and taking off with her bags. Not only would it ruin our name, but we would be severely chastised by Lee Soo Man. Then again, it’s more believable if Baekhyun was the only one framed.

“Ah, ne,” Baekhyun grew silent. He didn’t talk for a few minutes, but soon enough he began chuckling. “Do you think I might be her bias? That’s why she was so shocked?”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Dream on.”

“You’ll be wasting your time if you do that.”

I spun around and found myself face to face with the girl that fell.

“Holy--” Baekhyun yelped and I slapped my hand over his mouth. The girl smirked and cocked her head. She isn’t like the utterly gorgeous girls with thick makeup and perfectly done hair, but she also isn’t like the extremely shy girls who cover their faces whenever they see an idol. This girl had a clean face with big eyes, round cheeks, and medium-length black (Yes, black!) hair. She looked literally effortlessly beautiful.

“Uh,” I stammered. “I apologize for anything stupid Baekhyun has said.” I smacked him on the back. “He’s a funny guy who doesn’t know when to stop talking.”

“Jo--” Baekhyun grumbled, raising his voice. I pinched his arm and he stopped talking, but simply glared at me.

“Nah, it’s okay. I am pretty klutzy. Sorry for falling on you guys.” The girl shrugged.

“You said ‘sorry,’ but I don’t think we heard a ‘thank you’.” Baekhyun snorted and slapped a hand over his mouth, realizing what he just said.

The girl raised an eyebrow and stared at him. “Um...thank you...for reminding me that I was almost killed?”

“If I didn’t say something in the first place--” Baekhyun snapped back, but I quickly interrupted.

“Hey, you know EXO, right? The newest band in the KPop industry?” I smiled widely and encouragingly.

She blinked a couple of times and hesitated. “I’ve heard of them, but never really investigated. Who are they?”

Baekhyun, who was angrily chewing on his gum, choked. Spluttering, he turned to her and exclaimed, “We’ve been all over the place! In your school, in the subway, on the Internet, even on this bus!”

She nodded slowly and responded, “I said I never investigated. So are you guys that EXO?”

A bit astounded by the turn of events, I quickly nodded.

“Oh, cool. What should I do for you celebrities? Would you like a drink?” she pulled out a bottle of apple juice from one of her bags and handed it to me, smiling.

I silently took it from her and bowed my head. “Thank you. I’ll drink this as we’re practicing.” Unscrewing the cap, I sipped a bit of the apple juice. It was slightly warm, but it was good for my throat at least.

She cocked her head. “Practicing? Practicing for what?”

Baekhyun jumped in at this and excitedly said, “We have dance practice. We’re heading towards the SM building now.”

The girl just nodded her head a couple more times and grinned. “Ah, that reminds me. I’m heading to SM right now for an audition. What is a good song to perform?”

Baekhyun began choking again and I did a spit-take all over my seat. “WHAT?!” we both shouted in unison.

She looked at us with a ‘what-are-you-doing” expression. “Why are you guys so surprised? It’s just an audition...”

“For one of the biggest entertainments!” I exclaimed. “Are you any good? Have you auditioned for anything before? Any contests? How about training?”

The girl blinked a few times and sighed, sagging her shoulders. “I’ve performed a few times, but haven’t actually considered a career in music until recently, to be honest. I've only learned how to sing by watching videos, but my friends were pressuring me to audition. So, I’ve got my form, my luggage, and my voice, but no planned performance.”

At once, Baekhyun and I began to flood her with suggestions.

“You should sing an SM artist’s song.”

“Make sure that you are absolutely comfortable with it, but it’s still a bit challenging for you.”

“Never sing a dance song. Never.”

“Maybe Taeyeon noona or BoA noona has good songs for you to sing.”

“If you don’t actually listen to SM artists, then sing an old song.”

“Goose’s Dream or I Have a Lover are pretty good.”

“Make sure you show that you can dance as well. Move around a lot.”

“Make eye contact! Show them that you have confidence!”

“Drink lots of water beforehand, no sugar!”

“I GET IT.” The girl yelled at us and folded her arms. “Geez, I’ll just sing ‘Can You Hear Me?’ by Taeyeon. I’ve been singing it the longest.”

“Good, I like that song!” I happily clapped my hands. Then, I realized something. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we know your name. Would you mind telling us?”

She looked at us warily and slowly answered, “Eun Ae. Park Eun Ae. And you guys are from EXO...?”

“Ne!” Baekhyun excitedly jumped in his seat. “My name is Byun Baekhyun, and this guy is Kim Jong--I mean, Chen.” He patted me lightly on the back.

“Yup...that’s right. I’m...Chen.” I winced a little. It was a simple name, but it would take me awhile to get used to it.

“Kim Jongdae, is it not?” Eun Ae beamed at me. “I heard you sing at the Gayo Daejun. Really impressive!”

Heat flooded into my cheeks and I lowered my head. Nodding, I replied, “Yeah...I’m that Jongdae.”

“He’s the main vocalist of EXO-M!” Baekhyun proudly exclaimed and patted me on the back. “And I’m the main vocalist of EXO-K. You see, the group is split into two sub-groups. One will be promoting in China, while the other will be promoting...” he paused and eyed the bags in the seat next to Eun Ae. “Why do you have so much stuff if you’re just going to audition?”

Eun Ae pursed her lips and looked at the bags. She one of the straps and grew quiet.

Then the thought hit me. “Eun Ae...you didn’t run away, did you?” I gently asked her.

She looked up at me with her large, brown eyes and simply stared. I nodded and glanced at Baekhyun, who was also silent and solemn.

“If SM doesn’t accept you, what will you do?” I calmly asked her. “Where will you stay?”

She shrugged and mumbled, “I can always stay on the street. Maybe bribe a school teacher to let me stay in the school at night,” She pouted and exclaimed in frustration, “I don’t know! I just ran out last minute from impulse!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll think of something.” I reassured her, to my surprise, Baekhyun’s surprise, and Eun Ae’s surprise.

“Dude, are you crazy?” Baekhyun hissed and smacked my arm. “We just met her, who knows, she might be some kind of criminal trying to trick us!”

Both Eun Ae and I shouted at him for thinking such thoughts. “If I were a criminal, I would’ve mugged you guys the moment I fell on you!” she snapped, glaring at him.

“Baekhyun, we can’t just leave her if we know she’s pretty much homeless now. Come on, what if she makes the SM auditions? Either way, we would be helping her.” I told him with my ‘think-about-it’ voice.

“And what if she doesn’t?” Baekhyun looked at me with his ‘I-already-thought-about-it’ glare. “At least 90% of the auditioners don’t even have true talent. She could be one of them.”

“Fine!” Eun Ae shouted at him. “If I don’t make it, I’ll find my own place to sleep for the night or even for the rest of my life. If I make it, you’ll be providing a shelter for me.”

The bus suddenly screeched to a stop, and the three of us were lurched forward in our seats. Baekhyun and I, tightly pulling on our hoods, got off the bus first. Eun Ae trudged behind us, dragging her huge bags.

When we got off, she threw her bags on the ground and flipped her hair. “I’m ready.”  

Yay, subscribers already! =^.^= Thank you so much!

@Renzei27 - Waha, so enthusastic XD I wrote a bit beforehand, but I shall stop posting chapters for tonight. Chapter 3 wil be up tomorrow!

@way2awesome1 - Thank you! Aww, looks like a cute story (: