https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euAozlAwxR0 This song is so beautiful;; Also sorry that this update is super long...trying to make up for not updating in forever! ><

"...Mmm I really liked our High Cut concept too," Adele said, nodding. "Please keep still," murmered the lady fixing the ends of her hair. 

"That was so long ago," I giggled, remembering that my face still had baby fat on it.

"I just really liked my hair color," Adele sighed.

"My favorite is still WKorea with EXO..." I gritted, as my hair was being pulled together in different directions.

"You mean some of EXO," Adele reminded me. "Why did we always have to blocked from certain members just because of rumors? ...Even if some of them were true..."

I burst out laughing. I remember when rumors came out that Luhan and Adele had dated before, but really what had happened was that Luhan had been too caught up going on little bubble-tea "dates" with his fellow roommate to even see anyone else. The selcas he took with her was probably very deceiving, unless you found the 6,581 other selcas he had carefully deleted before debuting; pictures of him he had taken with literally everyone he met. 

Adele was probably just as deceived as her Ludele shippers, I thought to myself, giggling.

Besides, who could actually get all lovey-dovey with the crazy schedules we had? Now that I think of it, even Hye-In, I mean, Hazel, mostly just flirted with the world but never even went out on a single date. Almost her whole entire life she had been stuck in a building, watching people around her debut or leave. She never got to experience a normal life, how it felt to really be in love or have a dedicated boyfriend or even experience a first kiss. It was funny, everyone doubted Hazel's innocence the most, but really she was just a bragging, prideful yet depressed little girl whose parents had deserted her. Aiya, why am I even thinking like this?

"I said SOME of the rumors okaayyyyyyy????" Adele whined. "Oh, are we going to be interviewed after the photoshoot alone or with EXO-M?" Adele asked one of the coordinators.

"With EXO-M," the head coordinator murmured while jotting down some notes. Had she been listening in to our conversation? Had she heard my thoughts?

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I was in a long, dark dress that revealed my shoulders for the first half of the shoot. It was supposed to be "eerily elegant" or something like that. Adele was also wearing a dark top but had on dark shorts that showed off her long legs. 

I the heavy necklace that had been placed around my neck as Adele and I waited at the set-up for EXO-M to appear. "Why do you look so elegant while I look so....modern?" Adele whispered to my ear. I shrugged. I had been too shocked at the concept when I saw the folder to actually pay attention to the exact clothing items. There had been many varieties, all mostly dark themed, that were long and flowy, I remembered. The clothing material though....

Whereas mines was silky and draped across me, Adele's clothing was long and drabby, made out of sheer synthetic fibers. Plus she had on dark, denim shorts. We sat there wondering why, when EXO-M walked in. All of them.

First it took me a moment to get over the fact that I was actually in the same room with all six members of EXO-M, including Tao.

Secondly, all six of them look absolutely flawless.

I finally understood the concept when they all came in. I was stunned actually; you needed to have everyone together for it to make sense. It was genious. I was impressed. Who had come up with this? Our outfits had been carefully crafted and planned to compliment everyone else. It was a mixture of modern and chic fixed with dark elegance. 

Each of us were positioned at our places for the group shot. Kris was told to "casually" hold my waist while I leaned my head against his chest. At the same time Tao was sitting on the couch and holding my hand. Adele was posed on the other side of the couch, her head on Yixing's lap, but her hand placed on Luhan's thigh, who was sitting on the edge of the sofa. How did professional models even handle all this? Being asked to freeze into awkward positions for hours straight? Well at least they didn't have someone squeezing their hand...

"Tao, please do not hold her hand too tightly! You need to make it look...seductive."

I suppressed a laughter and also felt Kris's chest slightly shake from holding in snickering. Tao started tickling my palm.

"Lay, cross your legs for us. Xiumin, place your elbow on Chen instead of Luhan so we can even out the negative space. Mihou control the giggling! No Lay, you do not put your leg on Adele's face. Someone come fix Adele's hair!"

35 minutes later, we changed the set-up. Now, we were set on a fake, black desert. A fan blew wind toward us to make it appear windy. Adele and I sat next to each other and stared straight into the camera. EXO-M was arranged to stand arround us, but told to "wander their eyes" and "gaze softly" at different directions. Then we swapped eye commands. 

"Tao! You're supposed to be looking at the camera now! Over here! Not at Mihou!" The photographer shouted out. I rolled my eyes and smiled within.

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The photographer called out for a break and everyone crowded around to see the computer screens to see the results. 

"AHAHHAHHHHA YIXING it looks like you're going through constipation! Your face!" 

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO STARE INTENSELY-SEDUCTIVELY WHILE GAZING HEARTBROKENLY-SOFTLY AT THE SAME TIME, YOU TELL ME!"

I nudged Tao. "Wei, why are you just staring at me the whole time? You were supposed to move your head at different directions." Tao just stared at me. "Ya, stopstopstop it, the camera is filming us to make a Behind the Scenes thing." I went back to looking at the computer and laughing along with everyone else.

I turned my head again to find him still staring at me, the corners of his lips slowly moving up. 

Back in the changing rooms, I stared at the mirrors. Adele and I had switched into our clothing for the couple photoshoots. Adele looked stunning in her low cut dress. She twirled around, excitedly. "MihouMihouMihouuuu today is the best day of my lifeee," she sang happily. 

"Stooop, just wait until your anti-fan cafe member count doubles," I giggled. 

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"OK, CUT!" Proclaimed the photographer. "Luhan and Adele, good job! Now, I need Tao and Mihou at the desert set!"

As we waited for the photographer to set up, the makeup artists started doing last minute touchups, and tossing our hair around even more to add to the "deserty effect." 

"I thought you were lying when you said you had a six-pack," Tao whispered into my ear. I pinched him. "Hey," Tao whispered again. "This will be our first time revealing our couple abs to the public." 

"Shut uppp," I hissed, trying not to look at him. Why couldn't his shirt be buttoned all the way? Why couldn't we just be like Adele and Luhan? All Adele had to do was lie down on a table and grab Luhan's tie. What is this. Why are we stripped and standing on a desert? Wei? Wae? Why?

"Hao, is everyone ready? Tao, I need you to wrap your arm around her neck and Mihou, please place your hand against his chest- Wait! Both of you have to make a sort of V shape so that you are still facing the camera. Yes! Please stare over here, good, good..."

...For years and years, it had seemed that everyone and everything had been against us. If Tao was performing at China, then I was stuck in Korea. If Tao was being interviewed at Kcon in California, then I was sick in Korea. If Tao was going on a World Tour, then I had a scheduling conflict in Korea. If Tao's group and my group was supposed to meet together at a variety show, then I would be the only person unable to come. Land and Water was always inbetween us. Always. Mr. Kim knew, that time and distance could seperate many couples; as it did for himself and his ex-wife. Maybe he was trying to prove our world wrong or make us experience the reality he went through.

But what was the real reality? Maybe Mr. Kim forgot, that he had placed his job over his family. He took over the position of CEO when Mr. Lee retired, even though he knew full well that by doing so, his children would never, ever know the meaning of having a caring and loving Father. He worshiped his career and placed his power on a pedestal to the point that the love of his life fled from him. But even then, he felt no pain, for by then he had fully developed his new, materialistic love and his old love had become a burden that was now gone.

Tao and I were not Mr. Kim. We had an unbreakable amity and we had allies. Mr. Kim would realize that soon.

Slowly, I moved my hand across Tao's chest and over his beating heart. Our hearts raced on together.

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When we finished, Man Ban ran to us. "Gaize, you have to join the others for your interview! They've already started. But first, I got new news for you two." His eyes twinkled. "Tao, you remember that main movie role that involved your wushu skills?"

Tao nodded. "But I thought I wasn't going to take it?"

Man Ban shook his head. "Mr. Lee just phoned me.  He individually asked that you get the main role...and that Mihou get the main female role."

Tao and I looked at each other in amazement. Together, the corners of our mouths turned upwards. 

A/N: OMG. I am actually back. Is this real life. It's been...over a year??? I had to reread parts of the story because I had forgotton so much LOOOL. My life has been punched with SAT/ACT/APs/varsity track/hosting a talk show/teaching/running/and getting rejected by some kid I've kinda been in love with for probably around six years wow.

So how are you beautiful people? I've missed all of youuu. <3<3<3<3<3 Updating tomorrow! ;)