Today was going to be a challenge. Sen had been dreading this day for quite some time now, but she’d promised herself she was going to be strong. She’d gotten a wonderful pep talk from her boyfriend just that morning.

 

“Listen, you’ll be fine.” He said as he squeezed her hand a little. “You know, despite what people may think I’m not a very good dancer either.” And Sen chuckled at that statement. “But all you have to do is try your best.” Kris went on. “And if he still gives you a hard time, just cancel out his voice and move on. You don’t need his approval.” He smiled and hugged her close. “Let it be water off a duck’s back or whatever that saying is.”

  

Sen smiled thinking about it. If Kris could do it, surely so could she. She entered the practice room with Kelly, finding it still empty. Els arrived after a few minutes but by the time Noah, their hard- of a dance teacher came in, there was still no sign of Riki.

 

“I shouldn’t have left her in bed at the dorm.” Els sighed and Sen figured she was right. She just hoped Riki was on her way by now at least.

 

“Alright” Noah said, motioning them to the front center of the room. “Let’s do this. Where is the other one?”

 

No one spoke up.

 

“Ah for ’s sake” He grumbled and he walked over to the stereo. “Okay, we’re starting anyways.”

 

The music and there it was: their song! They’d never actually heard their finished song yet so for a moment, Sen forgot where she was as she listened in awe. She noticed only during the first chorus that Noah was already showing them some of the steps. They looked doable at first glance… with a lot of practice maybe. He let the entire song play out before he turned back around to the girls.

 

“Okay, you’ve heard the song now.” He clapped his hands. “Now for the moves”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sen was surprised with herself for how well she was doing. Maybe all the practice was paying off at last. She picked up the dance steps fairly quickly; still not quickly enough for Noah’s taste but then again, he was a crazy person so whatever; water off a duck’s back! He’d only yelled at her a couple of times when she’d bumped into Els or moved in the wrong direction. She actually quite liked the dance. It wasn’t all too difficult but the way in which they moved separately made the whole thing look a lot more intricate than it actually was. After about twenty minutes of practice Riki finally ran in, panting and red-faced. Noah didn’t say anything; he just glared at her as if she were a pile of poop. Only after having Sen, Els and Kelly go over the learned part of the routine three times did he address Riki, who was still standing awkwardly at the left side of the room.

 

“Are you joining us or not?” He shouted and Riki scurried over to the other girls. “Alright from the top!” He yelled and the music again.

 

Sen felt bad for her friend but on the other hand, Riki was a good dancer and she’d picked up most of the moves from watching from the sideline. If that had been her, she’d be completely screwed. During their five minute break, Riki went to go talk to Noah to apologize (brave soul), while Sen joined Kelly and Els for a drink and by the end of practice all four of the girls had the choreo down for the most part.

 

--

 

The rest of the week went by in a flash it seemed. Their days were packed with all sorts of debut related stuff and Sen couldn’t even remember when the last time was she’d had a good night of sleep. She’d been texting Kris a lot, since she didn’t have all that much time to see him. From now on it wouldn’t be just Kris that was busy. She would see him next Sunday evening though and she was excited about that. He was going to cook for her.

 

Sen: [Are you going to tell me what you’re cooking already?]

Kris: [I told you, it’s a surprise! ;) ]

Sen: [Kris-- at least give me a hint!]

Kris: [You’re going to love it!]

Sen: [That’s not a hint -_- ]

Kris: [I know, because everything I cook is delicious. I’m really talented.]

Sen: [-_-]

Kris: [But in other words, no. If you want to know, you’ll just have to guess! >:) ]

 

“What’s he saying now?” Els raised her eyebrow at Sen, who was sitting in the chair beside her.

 

“He’s just being an idiot.” She grinned down at her phone screen.

 

“Ah” Riki chimed in. “The usual.”

 

“Hey!” Sen retorted in a shrill voice, but still with a big smile on her face. “Only I’m allowed to say mean things about Kris!”

 

Riki laughed. “True, true”

 

The girls were sitting in a row in front of a huge mirror and a team of hair, clothing and make-up stylists were busy creating their new look. It was all really exciting, Sen thought. She couldn’t wait to see what her hair would look like. The hair team was busy putting some very interesting colors in it, which were exactly her style.

 

It took more than five hours to get all the girls finished. Sen was amazed when she saw her friends in their new look. They all looked drop-dead gorgeous. Els had kept her naturally beautiful blonde hair but they styled in a bob cut with a straight fringe accentuating her cute face and her make-up was the most natural of the four with soft pink tones and long eyelashes. Her outfit was comprised of a pastel pink top with a blue skater skirt and some long white socks. Kelly’s auburn hair was wavy and elegant, her eyes were smoky, her lips deep red and the dress she wore was the same scarlet color. She looked like she could be in a James Bond movie, Sen thought as she admired her. Riki’s hair came down all the way down to her waist and it was a warm lilac color. She also had a smoky eye and she was wearing a loose white top over some heavily distressed leggings.

 

“You guys look amazing!” She said, going up to them.

 

Kelly spun around in her dress making it flare up beautifully. “I know right!”

 

“Look at yourself though!” Els said and she turned Sen so she was facing the big mirrored wall in front of her.

 

She almost squealed but managed to keep it in for the sake of the staff. She stepped a little closer to the mirror to check herself out. It was awesome! Her hair was still the same dark blonde at the top but it faded gradually into locks of vibrant yellow and deep blue, going a few inches below her shoulders. Her eyes had a hint of pink on them and her lip was neutral. She had on a loose T-shirt that hung slightly above a high waist skirt with a heavy print on it, long socks with holes in them and a galaxy print cap.

 

Before they were even done fawning over each other, the team came back and put them in the chairs again. This wasn’t the only look they were trying today. The team needed to decide on many combinations for the four of them for all the upcoming shoots they had. Sen would have never thought it would be so tiring, getting in and out of pretty clothes all day but by midnight, when the make-over session was done at last, she was more than ready to return home.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sen was so tired all week but at the same time, she felt too excited to really be tired. It was a strange feeling. She wondered if idols felt like this all the time. She’d just had some precious sleeping time as they were drove to their location for the day. The van stopped and Sen stepped out, revealing a huge warehouse type building. Her heart was pounding as she walked inside. This is where their music video would be shot over the course of the next two days. Today would be the group dance shots and some of the solo shots.

 

A lot of what they were shooting was done in front of a green screen, which Sen thought was kind of a bummer. I mean, it wasn’t easy being all fabulous in a neon colored, empty room. They got to see a preview of what things would look like when finished though and Sen was digging it. It would look as if the four girls were standing on a rocky surface under a darkened sky, with lightning flashes all around them. It would look really cool with the outfits they were wearing.

 

They had to do their choreography what seemed like a thousand times. It wasn’t long before Sen was getting lightheaded from all the moving and lack of food and sleep. She started making some mistakes too. She didn’t understand why they needed a gabazilion takes of the same thing anyways; the first couple of takes had been fine if you asked her. When the director called cut for the final time, Sen thanked the lord and wobbled off set. The four girls only had a few minutes to recharge because the hair and makeup team was soon pushing them away from the snack table and into the changing rooms for the preparations for their first solo shots.

 

She’d thought dancing was her kryptonite but this was worse. Now it was just her against the green screen and a camera too close to her face. She felt nervous all of a sudden and her first take was clearly not to the director’s liking. She heard Kelly’s voice off to the side then. “You can do it girl! Release your inner goddess!”

 

She couldn’t see Kelly because there were bright lights shining at her from every angle but her voice was loud and clear and it was giving her the confidence boost she needed. “Work it girl! Show them what you’ve got! You’re a fabulous woman!” Sen felt herself loosening up and soon she was lip-syncing the song without really thinking about it.

 

She finally had some time for real food and rest after that, as she watched her friends do the solo shots. But the worst of the day was yet to come.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was raining ice cold water on Sen now as she tried to perfectly execute the dance moves to their song. The ground was slippery and her body was freezing but she had to get it right. The sooner they were done here the better.

 

‘This better look damn good on camera.’ She thought.

 

They were back to doing the group choreo shot but this time they wanted it to look like it was really storming around them. The girls were drenched with water that was poured from a machine that hung some feet above them. The whole thing ended up taking almost an hour. When they were done at last, the staff ladies threw blankets over the girls and rubbed their shoulders with it. “Go to the changing room and get warm as fast as possible” They yelled so the girls bowed their goodbyes to the rest of the set and hurried to get into some warm, dry clothes.

 

When they finally got back to their dorm, it was after midnight and they’d have to be up before sunrise the next day. They walked into their rooms and dropped to the bed at once.

 

“Today was so awesome.” She heard Riki mumble sleepily from the bed beside her.

 

“Myeah” She smiled and she realized suddenly how lucky she was to be doing all this. “Yeah, it really was.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sen felt like a truck had hit her the next morning when she got up. She hoped she wasn’t getting sick. The other girls seemed to feel the same groggy way so before leaving the dorms they took some vitamins with their extra healthy (but not so yummy) vegetable juice.

 

The video shoot that day started with some more solo and duo shots in different random sets and Sen was a lot more at ease this time. She was texting Kris as she sat by the side while Els was doing her shots.

 

Sen: [The video is going to be so awesome!]

Kris: [I can’t wait to see it. Do you have a lot more to shoot today?]

Sen: [Just the acting kinda scenes, I don’t really know what it’s gonna be yet]

Kris: [Interesting..]

Sen: [So what are you doing today? Preparing for our dinner night?]

Kris: [Actually I’m working as well, but don’t worry I’ll be off soon enough to wow you with my extraordinary cooking skills!!]

Sen: [Alright then :p whatever you say]

Kris [:o]

Sen: [I love you ^^]

Kris: [I love you too, you silly duck]

 

She was in the changing room once again, getting changed into some distressed yellow jeans and a loose black top. Her hair was stylishly messy and her make-up bold and fierce. When she walked on set the first thing she noticed was the tall guy in the gangster outfit standing in front of it.

 

“What are you doing here?” She exclaimed, jogging up to him but refraining from hugging or kissing him in public.

 

Kris had this really mischievous smile on his face that was both kind of ridiculous and adorable. “Didn’t see it coming huh?” He said. “You guys needed some handsome extras for your video so here we are!”

 

Sen looked around and saw that, aside from Kris, Jongin, Tao and Xiumin were there as well. She had no idea this cameo would happen but she was not complaining. Not that it was a really big cameo. All they had to do was cat call the girls as they walked passed looking fabulous. It was over too soon really, Sen thought as she watched Kris walk off set. Luckily the day was almost over. Another hour and a half and Sen was back in the van on her way home.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She spent a good half hour scrubbing clean in the shower and getting ready for her dinner with Kris. They hadn’t spent any proper time together all week and she was itching to see him.

 

The EXO-M dorm already smelled like food when she came in. Tao greeted her and told her Kris would be out in a minute, before dashing into the kitchen. The dorm was still very much alive. Luhan and Xiumin were watching TV, Jongdae was playing a video game on his laptop and Yixing was reading. She sat down next to Luhan and watched a bit of Korea’s Got Talent.

 

After a few minutes she started getting a little worried, so she got up and walked towards the kitchen. Just as she was about to enter though, Tao appeared in her way with a large cardboard box in his arms.

 

“Um you can’t be in here?” He said, startled and he hurried into his and Kris’ room with the box. “Don’t move!” He shouted from within the room and within a few seconds he was back by her side. He pulled her towards the small dinner table and sat her down. “Just wait here, he’s almost done.” He said and then ran back into the kitchen.

 

“He’s been in there for hours.” Jongdae called from the couch and he chuckled as he got up and went into his room.

 

Sen smiled and wondered what was going on in the kitchen. She played some games on her phone to kill time and distract her tummy from growling. It was another ten minutes before Tao appeared again and this time he just smiled at her and left for his room. The next moment Kris came out at last. He looked really quite exhausted. His hair was all over the place, the sleeves of his button up were scruffily rolled up to his elbows and he had some dark sauce smeared on his chin. All this and he was still the most ridiculously handsome guy Sen had ever seen.

 

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” He said, coming over as he ran a hand through his untidy hair. “I ran into some difficulti- woah, baby, you look amazing!” He gaped at Sen, admiring her new look. “That hair is awesome.”

 

“Thank you” Sen smiled and she felt herself blushing. She still had no idea how to take a compliment so to change the topic she wiped the bit of sauce of his chin with her thumb and after inspecting it, her finger. “Soy sauce huh?” She grinned as if she’d figured out what he’d made her.

 

“You know nothing.” Kris smiled back at her before planting a kiss against her lips. “Let me get the food!”

 

He came back carrying a huge plate with a little cloth covering the things on it. He set it down grinning before removing the cloth.

 

Sen’s mouth dropped open.

 

“Wait, you really made this?” She gasped as she looked onto the plate filled with various kinds of sushi.

 

Kris nodded proudly. “I hope it tastes like sushi as well. I’m not sure I did it right.”

 

“This is epic.” Sen beamed. It was more than she could’ve hoped for.

 

“Well, dig in!” Kris said.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The sushi tasted like sushi, which was a relief. Not the best sushi she’d ever had; far from it, but she loved Kris for trying to make something she loved so much. They had the living room to themselves now, since the rest of the guys had all retreated to their own room. Sen was struggling with her chop sticks when she tried to eat the bigger pieces of food so Kris pulled his chair up next to hers and began trying to teach her how to use them better. When after a few attempts Sen was still dropping sushi Kris just started feeding the both of them.

 

“You want the last one?” He said, picking up the lone maki roll.

 

Sen nodded and opened .

 

Kris picked the roll between his fingers and put it between her lips. “Oh, and I have one more surprise for you.” He smirked.

 

“Surprise? What for?” She asked, trying not to look gross with a mouth full of food.

 

“Just cause.” He retorted simply and he got up to walk towards his bedroom. “Tao?” He said in a hushed voice as he peeked his head inside. “We’re ready.”

 

Sen sat befuddled in her chair as she saw Tao hand Kris the big card board box from before.

 

“Come over here.” He smiled and held out the box towards her.

 

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment as she approached but then she one by one folded open the top of the box. What she saw inside made her jump back in surprise, then check again and then squeal in exhilaration.

 

“Shhhh” Kris said, chuckling a little at his girlfriend’s enthusiasm. “You don’t want to scare the little guy.”

 

Sen peered inside again. “Can I- can I hold him?” She asked and Kris nodded.

 

He set the box down onto the floor and carefully picked up the cat inside. “Here” He said, laying the little thing carefully in Sen’s arms. It immediately started putting its paws up against the fabric of her dress.

 

“He’s not a baby anymore since he’s from a rescue center.” Kris said, coming over to pet the cat’s head. “But since you’ll be really busy soon I figured it’d be better to get one that was a little older. So it could take care of himself when you’re gone, you know.”

 

“He’s adorable!” She sighed out lovingly. “I can’t believe you did this!”

 

“You’d been talking about wanting a pet for a while now.” Kris smiled, still the cat. “He escaped from his box while I was in the kitchen earlier and ate like half of our dinner. That’s why I was running a little late.”

 

“You’re absolutely amazing, did you know that?” Sen smiled up at him. Kris’ self-assured smile taught her more than she needed to know so she quickly added. “Don’t answer that.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

They lay down on the big couch together with the cat, which was now curled up cozily on Sen’s belly, purring.

 

“I’m gonna miss you when you get famous.” Kris said absent-mindedly as he played with a lock of her newly colored hair.

 

Sen giggled. “Then you’ll finally understand how it feels to be me.”

 

“Yeah but you’re going to have guys fawning all over you and I don’t like it.” Kris went on in a whiny voice.

 

Sen really laughed now. “Again, then you’ll know how I feel baby.”

 

“Fine” He chuckled. “Just don’t ever forget that I’m the most important because I love you the most. And I got you a cat after all.” He pulled Sen a little closer to himself and kissed her temple, which startled the cat. The little thing shook its sleepy head, jumped off the couch and onto a chair against the opposite wall.

 

Sen shimmied around to face him. “I could never forget about you.” She said and she kissed him sweetly. Kris ran a hand softly through Sen’s hair as he kissed back. Sen instantly felt how much she’d missed him. He held her so delicately and his lips were soft yet full of passion. She could lay there forever if she could but sadly, her busy life wouldn’t allow it. She reluctantly pulled away from the kiss after a few minutes. “I’ve got to get up early again tomorrow.”

 

Kris frowned. “I thought the shoot was over?”

 

“Yeah, but tomorrow we shoot our teasers.” Sen sighed and she sat up.  

 

Kris straightened up as well and Sen turned to move off the couch he grabbed her hand. “Wait, don’t go.”

 

Sen looked at him and god damn he looked so handsome and just like that she couldn’t bring herself to leave. She knew she needed a good night’s sleep – or whatever came close to that – but she’d missed him and she couldn’t stand leaving so soon. She flashed him an sweet smile before kissing him and allowing him to lay her back down on the couch, continuing their make out session.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I don't know why I got so excited to write more Xkuse all of a sudden but goddamn this story entertains the crap out of me ok XD