-Step 9-

 

Taking a deep breath, Joonmyun sighed once he finished talking with Sunghwan-manager through the phone. He already knew they were going to have to film a variety show but he didn't know what they were going to do. Glancing up at his two members and his sunbae, he spoke.

 

"It was Sunghwan-hyung. The bosses discussed what kind of variety show we need to do. We start tomorrow"

 

"That's great!" Jongdae beamed while he finished writing on some paper "Which one? Hello baby?"  He asked, putting some tape on a paper he was recently writing on and handing it to his model role.

 

"Oppa band?" Yixing asked, already excited.

 

"Intimate note?" Super Junior Kyuhyun helped with the random guessing game, remembering his own experience with the variety show and smirking at the memory. The three Exo members were currently at Super Junior's apartment trying to help their sunbae with his song and greeting the usual come-and-go of the rest of the Super Junior members. Kyuhyun took the paper Chen gave to him, glancing down at it and smiling at what it says.

 

"Idol army?" Chen continued guessing happily until he saw Suho shaking his head "Then, which one is it?"

 

"It's a new one. Basically, they're going to split us in two teams ("How creative" Kyuhyun laughed sarcastically) and make us compete in random games"

 

"Well, that's not that weird, right?" Lay shrugged "Why aren't you happy?" He asked the older. They all know variety shows are one of the most important things for rookies to get recognized. Heck, even Kyuhyun knows he started being liked as part of Super Junior when the ELFs saw him on Exploration of the human body. It was crucial for them to have a variety show and finally they were going to have one. Plus, they are all going to film together as one, right?

 

"It's not that I'm not happy. I am!" Joonmyun ruffled his own hair, smiling a little "It's just... I'm worried about us. We all know we gained fans mostly because of SMent's fame, not because of us; at least not entirely. What if when our fans see the show and realize we're not that great?"

 

Chen and Lay stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.

 

"...Don't be a , shorty" Kyuhyun smirked, hugging Exo-K's leader by the shoulder and ignoring Suho's indignant 'Hey!' "What's with the high self-esteem, uh?" he asked sarcastically "You've been in SMent for how many years?"

 

"...Five" Suho answered while Chen suddenly smiled when he noticed Kyuhyun didn’t just hug Suho to make him feel better…

 

"Exactly. You know the system. You'll know what to do to make your fangirls like you" The older smiled.

At that moment, Super Junior Donghae came out from his room wearing his pajamas and waved lazily at them. “Hi guys!” the fishy smiled.

“Good morning Donghae-hyung” The Exo members greeted the older.  Just when he was passing Suho, Donghae stopped and looked down at his back. Then he suddenly chuckled and hugged Suho out of nowhere.

“You’re a beautiful leader Joonmyun!” Donghae beamed, smiling warmly at Suho and creeping him out.

 

“Eh… thanks?”  Joonmyun asked, confusion written on his face.

 

Donghae just smiled and left the living room, muttering something like ‘I’m hungry! Did Wookie come back from vocal practice?’

 

Acting like nothing happen, Kyuhyun just continued “Yixing, you just need to show your abilities, all right?” He said, making the unicorn smile and nod. “And you Jongdae, you better make me proud on that variety show!"

 

"Yes, sir!" Jongdae smiled widely, acting like Kyuhyun's subordinate, already thinking what to do on the program and faking an evil laugh while rubbing his hands like a villain plotting against the unsuspected members. His action made Yixing smile and Suho worry. He just knows he's going to be one of Chen's targets.

 

Maybe they couldn't have all the love they wanted. Maybe they were going to gain more antis and spread rumors but at least they have each other.

 

"And don't forget!" Kyuhyun added, almost laughing out loud when Yesung came out of his bedroom holding his turtle, glancing at Suho and hugging him too while muttering a darkly ‘You’re a beautiful leader, don’t worry’ making Suho really awkward. "Making the other members fight against each other on national TV is always so beautiful!"

 

...Well, maybe Yixing and Joonmyun will distance themselves from an eager Chen for a while...

 

At that moment, Chen burst laughing for no reason. He just shrugged and signaled for them to continue but he couldn’t hold it any longer. Suho’s face was priceless…

 

"By the way, it's going to be Exo-M against Exo-K?" Lay asked, already thinking ways to team up with his leader, ignoring what was going on with the other three.

 

"Oh...No. The program coordinators are going to choose the teams" Joonmyun answered, glancing warily at Chen and Kyuhyun, knowing they were behind something.

 

"...I think I'm going to be one of your faithful watchers" Kyuhyun smiled widely, thinking how to make his hyungs watch Exo’s program with him.

 

Half an hour later –after seeing Siwon hug Suho while calling him handsome ‘just like him’ and Leeteuk hugging Suho too and telling him he was doing a good job- Joonmyun received a text message from Sunghwan, telling them he was outside the building, waiting for them at the parking lot.

Just when they were heading out of Super Junior’s dorm,  Yixing’s cellphone alerted him of a new call.  Taking advantage of the distraction –because Yixing’s ringtone was of some English band named Dragonforce and Suho was trying to figure out what they were saying- Kyuhyun took Chen’s right hand and made him turn at him.

When Jongdae opened his mouth to ask his sunbae what was wrong, Kyuhyun just signaled for him to stay quiet and gave him a piece of folded paper. Sensing his dongseng’s question, Kyuhyun just whispered him ‘Destroy it after you read it’. Nodding, Chen put it on his pocket and glanced up at s, realizing how Yixing was already out on the hallway and was whispering at his phone, while Suho noticed just now there was some kind of paper stuck on his back.

 

“Okay, who was this time?” Suho asked tiredly to the both of them while holding the sign. It reads ‘I’m a pretty and awesome leader; please hug me like a Teddy Bear’.

 

Kyuhyun and Chen pointed at each other feigning innocent faces.

 

----------------------------------

 

"So, the variety show it's called, Exo War. Any questions?" Hyunkyun-manager asked, sitting at the passenger seat of the van and looking back at all the members under his care. Right now he just had to take care of nine members while Sunghwan went to pick up Suho, Chen and Lay. That’s why they could just use one of the vans.

 

"What about Yixing and Jongdae?" Kris asked, sitting behind his manager and beside Sehun and Kyungsoo.

 

"Sunghwan already went for them. They're going to meet us at the photoshoot along with Joonmyun"

 

Well, that’s what you call efficiency. As soon as Wufan and Chanyeol arrived at the SMent building, their manager gathered them all and said they were headed to a photoshoot. While they all were walking to the SMent parking lot, Hyunkyun told them this was the beginning of their new variety show.

 

It just took one look for Jongin and Luhan to understand each other and before Exo decided the seat arrangements, both of them took the back seats and started murmuring at each other. Seeing how the kids were laughing while reading and writing on some anime notebook they took out from Jongin’s backpack, Xiumin just rolled his eyes at their behavior (especially at Luhan’s behavior, he was a hyung for God’s sake!) and took the remaining back seat, sitting at Jongin’s right and letting the rest of the members seat on the other two rows.

 

Looking at the front, both Luhan and Kai made sure no one was paying them attention and then called at #2 Luhan cell phone’s speed dial.

 

"Remember Yixing!" Luhan whispered after a while, sitting really close to Jongin, with their temples touching so they both could hear Lay through the cellphone. Unknowingly to them, Sehun was watching them from the middle seat, ignoring Chanyeol's nonsense about Baekhyun's puppy snores and wondering why the hell his favorite hyung chose Kai over him AGAIN.

 

"Tip #3" Luhan read Kai's Death Note notebook "If the chance arrives, make sure to stare ily at your dragon. Make sure not to break contact and when you see he's becoming nervous, you smirk at him"

 

"What?" They heard their unicorn through Luhan's phone "Make...you-know-who nervous? That's impossible!" Yixing avoided saying Kris' name for obvious reasons. "And what about stare at him without breaking contact? What creep does that?"

 

"Hey!" Kai complained quietly “It works! The fans love it!”

 

“Just do it Xing. It’s not like you can fail with this-“

 

“Unless you can manage to smirk like the Wonder Girls too” Kai scoffed, making Luhan hit his head.

 

“…I guess it’s not hard”

 

“Good! Well, see you in a couple of minutes!”

 

“Are you sure you know how to do it hyung?” Kai asked before Luhan could finish the call “Because I can teach you”

 

“It’s ok I know what I’m doing. Ok bye!” Yixing hung up, glancing down at his phone and wondering how the hell he’s going to smirk ily. It can’t be that hard, right?

 

When Suho, Lay and Chen arrived at Sunghwan’s car, their manager explained them tomorrow they started filming but today, they were going to start with the promotional photos and fix their departments because the variety show was going to film them starting tomorrow morning and Sunghwan didn't want the fans to see 'the disaster they call their bedrooms'... except maybe Minseok's bedroom.

 

When they arrived to the huge building, the rest of the members were already there letting the staff fix their appearances. And it wasn't easy because they were still looking like pigs after practicing all day.

 

"What were you doing Chanyeol-sshi!?" they heard one of the stylist noonas, touching Chanyeol's hair and making disgusted faces.

 

"Oh, Kibum poured soda at me when I told him he wasn't that pretty" the rapper smiled, remembering the 'funny' moment while his stylist facepalmed and tried to make her best to clean the mess.

 

Smiling at the memory after he came back from putting on his attire for the photoshoot, Wufan glanced at the room to find an available chair and found one beside one of his favorite dongsengs.

 

"I haven't seen you since breakfast" Kris ruffled his dongseng's hair, making Lay's stylist push him away to let her finish her work. Upon seeing his dragon, Yixing tried to hide his idiotic smile. He mentally thanked Luhan and Jongin, feeling happy their plan had worked.

 

-Five minutes earlier-

 

"You can't sit beside Yixing!" Kai screamed, scaring Baekhyun and making him jump against Luhan's chest.

 

"...What the-! Why not!?" he asked, touching his chest and trying to calm his heart.

 

"Because... he's sick! He got the flu and we don't want you to catch the flu either, right Luhan?"

 

"Of course" Luhan nodded seriously, rubbing Baekhyun's arms from behind and pulling him away before the singer had a chance to react.

 

"Good morning Yixing!"

 

"Good morn-"

 

"You can't sit beside Yi-!....eh...Hi Kyungsoo-hyung" Kai stuttered, blushing a little when he realized at whom he had shouted.

 

"Hi" Kyungsoo widened his eyes and waved with his cute little hand "Why can't I sit here?"

 

"Because...eh..."

 

"Because Jongin wants you to sit with him" Yixing smiled innocently, knowing full well how awkward the situation got after he said those words. He may be absentminded but he wasn't stupid; Yixing knew how Jongin tried to get close to his roommate. For some unknown reason, Kai blushed even more, realizing how D.O smiled at him.

 

"Mmm, ok!" Kyungsoo was glad they were progressing at their soon-to-be-friendship and turned back to sit beside the chair that had Jongin's backpack on it.

 

"I hate you" Jongin mumbled at Yixing when they saw D.O started talking with Xiumin at his other side. Yixing just smiled.

 

-Back to the present-

 

"Morons! Pay attention!" Lay heard their 'caring' manager, sighing when he realized he lost his change to talk with Wufan because he got lost with his own thoughts. Again. "She's Park Minhyeo. She's going to be your photographer so please, treat her nicely. And with professionalism!" Exo-K's manager added, looking at Chen, Luhan , Kai and Baekhyun specifically.

 

You can't blame them. The girl was pretty, probably no more than twenty five and well... they are men.

 

"Nice to meet you all" Minhyeo bowed, smiling when she saw the standing members bowing as well "Today's photoshoot's theme is going to be about 'competition'. As you already know, we’re going to split you in two teams randomly. Then, you're going to have your photos taken with one of your rivals so please, make it look like you're fighting, all right?" All the members agreed, smiling politely at their noona "Very well, here are the teams. On team One are" she said, reading from one of the folders she was holding "Wufan, Luhan, Oh Sehun, Kim Minseok, Park Chanyeol and Do Kyungsoo".

 

Instantaneously, both Wufan and Yixing glanced at each other without saying anything. They were going to be separated.

 

That had never happened before...

 

"And obviously on team Two are Zhang Yixing, Kim Jongin, Kim Joonmyun, Huang Zitao, Kim Jongdae and Byun Baekhyun" Minhyeo finished reading the paper and smiled again "Now, please finish getting ready, I'll wait for you at the set."

 

"Yes noona" they all answered.

 

"Team Kim together, yeah!" Chen smiled, hugging both Kai and Suho and smiling widely.

 

"Hey! What about me?" Kim Minseok asked, pouting mockingly at his best friend.

 

"You're no one! Get lost!"

 

While Chen started fighting with Baozi, Kai glanced across the room and found a worried look coming from Luhan.

 

'They're not at the same team!' Luhan's eyes screamed. Wondering what to do, Kai glanced back at Yixing, looking how his smile wasn't there anymore.

 

One would think they were exaggerating but they had their reasons to. One of the purposes of the variety show was to make them 'bond' with other members; therefore, they were going to change apartments. It wasn't a big deal because both Exo-K and Exo-M's apartment were on the same floor but that meant less time together. Plus, the cameras were going to follow them most of the day that meant even less time for him and Luhan to help Lay.

 

Not knowing what to do, Jongin continued changing his clothes, stripping himself from his dance wifebeater and wondering what they could- hang on. What was that? Looking again at the doorframe, Jongin noticed how their photographer had come back -probably to give more instructions-. The interesting thing was, she was just standing there, looking at him.

 

As soon as she noticed Kai had caught her staring at him, Minhyeo's face turned red and left the room quickly.

 

"...Interesting" Kim Jongin smirked. Maybe they couldn't give Yixing all the time he wanted with their leader but he was going to try and give them one today.

 

"What's interesting?" Someone asked him; taking him back to the real world and making him glance down. Seeing Kyungsoo's innocent eyes, Jongin felt something weird... oh yeah, he forgot his waist medicine that day.

 

"Noona's technique of course." Kai smiled and touched Kyungsoo's forehead with care "I can't see the bruise you got yourself with the coke's can this morning, hyung"

 

"...Shut up"

 

"Well, at least we know noona does a good job" Kai smiled at D.O's stylist noona, making her roll her eyes at his cute attempts to flirt with her.

 

"Of course I do a good job. Kyungsoo-shii is a good boy. He kind of looks like my son" The stylist smiled motherly at Kyungsoo before glancing back at Kai and laugh a little "Unlike you mister" The stylist took Kai by the shoulders and pushed him towards the exit "Now you're ready. Go!"

 

"You know you love me noona!" Kai shouted before closing the door.

 

"That kid's something else" the stylist laughed while fixing Kyungsoo's hair.

 

"...Yeah"

 

Twenty minutes later, all the Exo members were ready to do the photoshoot. Following the make-up and their hairstyles, they got instructed to wear some battle outfits to do the 'Exo War' concept. They were all using black outfits but team One had some dark red touches while Team Two had dark blue ones. They really looked like they were from Exo Planet.

 

"I'm a y alien" Chanyeol smiled dorkily while he played with his longer hair. Again he was looking like in their previous L'Officiel-Hommes photoshoot.

 

"Well, you always looked like an alien to me" Baekhyun laughed, making his best friend pout and attack his neck "Just kidding! Just kidding!" Exo-K's vocalist started running away from Chanyeol and protecting his sensitive neck, acting like a couple of kids on the playground. Baekhyun was using guyliner like a boss of course.

 

"...I'm not comfortable with this" Yixing mumbled beside his best friend, making Luhan turn around to look at him.

 

"What are you talking about? You look awesome" Luhan smiled, making the other members look at their unicorn and make poor Zhang Yixing feel self-conscious.

Lay's stylist noona thought it would be a good idea to comb Yixing's hair in a ponytail, showing his forehead and making him look less vulnerable and fiercer. The black and blue from his uniform stand out the most and (Thanks to Jongin and his flirting with the photographer who thought he didn't need a shirt) he was wearing a low cut jacket with nothing underneath, showing his collarbones.

 

"Yeah, you look almost as y as me" Jongin grinned, gaining a glare from Lay (it was still cute) because he knew it was his fault. It wasn't that hard to figure it out since Exo-K's dancing machine was shirtless at the moment and smirking ily. "What do you think guys?" he asked the other members, making Chen whistle at him, and Luhan to take a picture out of nowhere while the others laughed at his slightly blushed face.

 

"What?" Luhan asked when Yixing stared at him "It's not every day we can see you looking like that. Right, Wufan?"

 

"...Yeah" Kris answered, too busy fixing his hair in the mirror to notice anything. He too was using a ponytail and his eyebrows where more visible, making him look angrier than usual.

 

Somehow his leader's short answer made Lay want to finish the photoshoot as soon as possible and go back to his comfortable clothes.

 

"Ok guys! Are you ready?" Minhyeo-noona asked everyone's attention "As I said before, you all are going to take picture with a partner of the opposite team. Remember to look angry and competitive, alright? First ones are-"

 

"Hi noona" Minhyeo heard a y voice whispering behind her ear, sending shivers down her spine and making her jump, almost dropping her very expensive camera. When she turned around, she only saw one y shirtless boy smirking down at her. "How do I look?"

 

"Eh....eh..." Now she understood why this kid had so many fans. If she didn't know he was barely legal, she would feel really erted to see the kid with... not-so-innocent gazes. "A-Are you ready Jongin-sshi?"

 

"I'm not" Kai smiled innocently "I just need to... prepare. Do you know what I mean?" he smirked.

 

"...It's hot in here" she said out of nowhere, fanning herself with one of the folder she was holding and making Luhan snort, who was seeing the whole scene.

 

"But you know what? I think Kris-hyung and Yixing-hyung are ready. And what a coincidence! They're from opposite teams"

 

"Yeah... what a coincidence"

 

Thirty five seconds later Jongin went back to Luhan's side, high-fiving each other discretely while seeing Wufan and Yixing at the set.

 

"Ok, start whenever you're ready" Minhyeo directed, still blushing and avoiding Kai's stare. “Yixing-sshi, please lower your upper body a little bit... that's right, I want to see your collarbones. Yeah, just like that. Now, Wufan-sshi please cross your arms and look angrily at Yixing. Perfect!"

 

"He doesn't need to act, I bet he's just looking at Yixing the same way he always looks at us" Baekhyun whispered at Kyungsoo making him laugh quietly.

 

"Now, Yixing-sshi please stand up and lean on the wall, yeah... and then rest your head on the wall as well and lock gazes with your hyung"

 

"Nice neck Xing!" Luhan shouted out of nowhere, making the rest of the members laugh.

 

When their eyes met, both Wufan and Yixing tried to do what they were told but none could. Yixing was having a hard time trying to stare ‘ily’ like Jongin and Luhan wanted. Who was he kidding? Yixing had the variety of facial expressions of a robot. He could express happiness, and seriousness. …And that’s it.

 

 ‘He’s staring at me. Why does he need to look at me like that? With those… eyes. What if I can’t look angrily at him? What if-‘

 

“Xing?” Kris’ voice wakes him up from his thoughts “What are you doing?” He whispered while maintaining his ‘angered’ normal expression and following Minhyeo’s instructions.

 

“What do you mean?” Lay asked, turning his body at the older –following instructions of course- and narrowing his eyes funnily.

 

“You…aren’t blinking”

 

“…It’s my angry face!”came Yixing’s cute answer, making it hard for the taller to keep his expression. Glancing sideways, Kris was successful in keeping his -face on check, still looking ‘angry’ angrier and following Minhyeo’s instructions, avoiding the smile that was fighting to come out at Yixing’s cute behavior.

“Now, look at each other again and grasp each other’s hand at eye level, alright?” The photographer shouted while taking a lot of photos from different angles and directing the staff to change the lights. Kris nodded and took Yixing’s left hand, squishing it a little. “That’s okay, now I want you to step closely, yeah… yeah! I need a close-up from your faces, please.

Following instructions, Yixing took a step closer still holding Kris’ hand and wondering why the hell he started feeling hot. Like, blushing and .

 

‘Oh please, not right now!’ was the last thing our unicorn thought before the awkwardness took charge of his body, and his mouth.

 

“Nice… nose” Yixing blurted out, still with his ‘angry face’ on display and surprising the taller one. ‘What the hell Idiot?! Who the says that?!’ he thought, trying to fix the situation “I mean… it looks…long and... pokable”

 

“Pokable?” Kris couldn’t help but ask, giving Yixing his full attention and forgetting they were in the middle of a photoshoot. “What does that mean?”

 

“Pokable. You know…” Lay blinked a couple of times and reached his other hand that wasn’t holding Kris’. “Poke, poke”

 

Yeah… Zhang Yixing poked Kris’ nose like it was a game. Pressing it against his face and making him look like a clown. Charming.

 

Both of them wearing y clothes and ‘supposedly’ at a photoshoot of them being rivals.

 

Chanyeol couldn’t handle it and burst out laughing in the middle of the set, clenching his abdomen and hitting his knee a couple of times. His laugh made the trick and some of the members and staff started laughing at Lay’s action and Kris’ bewildered expression.

Glancing at the both of them, Minhyeo started thinking of a new photoshoot in mind…

 

“I think we really need to teach him one thing or two…” Luhan whispered at Kai in disbelief, wondering how they were going to turn ‘that’ guy into a y guy.

 

“Yeah…” Jongin just nodded.

 

“Ok, good job guys!” Minhyeo shouted “The next couple is… Jongin-sshi, Sehun-sshi, please go to the set."

 

Kai smiled automatically; glad to know it was his turn. Apart from dancing, he loved being at photoshoots. It was relaxing, artistic and who was he kidding? He was handsome and the photos always remind him that. And he was going to do it with one of his best friends, how cool is that?

 

“Watch what I’ll do and learn from me, all right?” Kai whispered at Lay as soon as he passed in front of him and exchanged positions on the set. Lay just throw him a normal glance and paid attention. This made Kai smile even more and he almost smirked when he looked to the front and noticed how Minhyeo was blushing again.

 

‘I’m so awesome’

 

But his smirk died as soon as he glanced to his left and saw his partner.

 

Because Sehun was boring holes through his face. His expression was of pure anger and want of blood that Kai suddenly started feeling he wanted his mom to be there protecting him.

 

“Eh…”

 

“Good job Sehun-sshi! That’s what I’m talking about! You really look like you want to kill Jongin-sshi!” Minhyeo exclaimed happily, taking photos at different angles and really glad she had a ‘professional model’ such as Sehun. “Now Jongin-sshi, you look quite pale. Please start glaring at Sehun-sshi. What if you cross your arms and stare at him like you’re competing against him for something?”

 

And Kai just did that. Only he didn’t feel competitive. He feels creeped out. Who would have thought Sehun was a pro at this? ‘He must have learnt some glaring from Wufan-hyung…’

 

“Now Sehun-sshi, imagine Jongin-sshi took something yours and you want it back. How would you express that?” Minhyeo was ecstatic.

 

“No problem” Sehun smirked, suddenly grabbing his ‘best friend’ by his shoulders and pushing him against the wall, lifting him from the ground and making him look like a weakling.

 

“Se-Sehun!?” Kai couldn’t help it. He really was getting scared.

 

“What? I’m doing my job, Jongin” Sehun smiled cutely, creeping out his friend even more when out of nowhere, Sehun went back to glare at him “But I’ll be watching you. I’ll take back what its mine. Understood?”

“W-What?” Kai asked confused, trying to get his manliness back “You’re getting into the role too mu-“

 

“Understood?!” Sehun growled, pushing Jongin against the wall with so much force.

 

“Wow. That’s hot” Yixing whispered out of nowhere, making his best friend look at him. Seeing Luhan’s surprised face, Yixing just shrugged “What? It’s true! Look at Sehun’s movements and voice. You would never think he’s nineteen.”

 

Glancing back between the set and his best friend, Luhan thought of something. Yeah, he was okay with his best friend being gay but other than thinking of him being in love with Wufan, Luhan never thought of the other… repercussions. Yixing was the first person he knows being homoual after all, Luhan didn’t know what more to expect. ‘Maybe we need to discuss this. As soon as we get together, I’ll talk about this with Xing and Jongin’ Glancing back at the set, the older Chinese looked at his two dongsengs. ‘…I guess Xing is right about Sehun’ he caught himself thinking. ‘Well, at least he looks better than Jongin’ Luhan smiled mockingly, enjoying (like everyone) how Kai was unable to look confident and was really looking like he would piss his pants at any moment.

 

After finishing the photoshoot, all the Exo members went back to their dorms. This time they had to take two vans and to Sehun’s irritation, Luhan took Kai’s hand and lead him to sit with him and Yixing at the back seat. Only before Yixing could sit with them, someone took his hand and pulled him back.

 

“Want to sit with me?” Suho asked the unicorn, giving him a bright smile and making Yixing nod. “Great! Let’s go!” Luhan just watched him leave; shrugging a little and thinking the three of them could talk when they arrive at the dorms.

 

Following Suho’s lead, Yixing went to the other van, sitting at the middle row with Joonmyun and Minseok. But before he could put on his seatbelt, Lay felt a long finger poking at his face. Curious, Yixing’s eyes followed that finger and turned his head to the back seat, seeing how Kris was smirking at him.

 

“Revenge” Wufan said, having the time of his life poking at Yixing’s dimple. Who wouldn’t? It was very tempting and it wasn’t the first time the Exo-M leader had succumbed to the temptation.

 

Lay just looked at his duizhang, not taking his eyes off of him and feeling weird again. Wufan on the other hand, remembered how Lay looked earlier when they were doing the photoshoot and finally realized how Yixing had looked so…

 

“That looks like fun! I want to try it too!” Chanyeol broke their little moment and Kris’ divine revelation, smiling widely and stretching one of his arms to poke at Yixing’s dimple. Only this time, the dragon’s quick reflexes caught Chanyeol by the elbow and prevented him from touching the unicorn. “Krease?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“We’re already moving, please put your seatbelt and sit properly” was Wufan’s only answer, confusing Chanyeol because his hyung and friend almost never used his ‘Leader-Tone’ with him. Nodding, Chanyeol sat properly at Kris’ right and used Baekhyun’s head as his pillow.

 

“What do you think I am?! Your personal teddy bear? Get off!” Kris heard Baekhyun’s voice complaining about Chanyeol’s cuddly personality but he remained looking at the front –at Yixing’s nape in front of him to be precise- and wondering why he felt so… possessive all of a sudden. ‘I guess it’s because I’m the only one who had annoyed Xing with his dimple. Well, it’s not like he ever gets annoyed at anything’ Kris smiled at his thoughts.

 

“Hey! Did you guys see one of the staff guys who were in charge of our outfits from the photoshoot?” Xiumin asked them all, stopping Baekyeol’s little quarrel and gaining everyone’s attention “The guy with the yellow pants”

 

“Oh yeah!” Chanyeol smiled “Those pants were too striking not to notice them. Kibum would have liked them” He laugh, remembering his Shinee friend and his love for flashy clothes.

 

“Kibum-hyung likes everything that attracts attention”

 

“I know!” Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun’s comment, making his best friend smile and roll his eyes at his innocent friend.

 

“Well, what about that guy Min?” Suho asked his older brother at the other side of Lay.

 

“You see, I was finishing changing my clothes after the photoshoot and decided to wait for Jongdae. I was playing with my phone when I noticed Jongin harassing our photographer while he was only in his boxers” Xiumin smiled mockingly, clearly enjoying the memory of Kai’s weird antics “It was really fun seeing Minhyeo-noona all blushing but then I noticed this yellow-pants guy staring at… Jongin’s ” The older finished gaining everyone’s attention and making Yixing stop breathing.

 

When he realized everyone was waiting for him to finish his story –even Sunghwan was paying attention from the passenger seat- Xiumin continued. “I know that doesn’t mean anything so I just thought at the moment that the guy wasn’t used to people like Jongin –all shameless- and was surprised, but the guy just couldn’t stop looking at our dongseng! I got wary so I decided to go to Jongin and scold him and making him put his clothes back” At this moment, both Suho and Kris nodded, remembering how their usual cute Baozi had acted so out-of-character and made Kai stop harassing their photographer. “When he agreed and put on his clothes, I looked at the yellow-pants guy again but he wasn’t there anymore. Probably he had gone to the dressing room. I decided to forget that moment and think about it as nothing but then I realized who was left. Jongdae wasn’t out yet.”

 

“What?!” Joonmyun asked out of nowhere, making Yixing jump a little in his seat because it looked like Suho was trying to pass over him to hear Xiumin more clearly. “And then? What happened?” At this point, everyone in the van was paying attention; Chanyeol had put his feet on the seat and was hugging his knees like he was seeing an horror movie, Baekhyun was clearly worried about one of his best friends even though this story had already happened and Chen was clearly okay at the other van. Kris wasn’t saying anything and was furrowing his eyebrows deeply.

 

“Of course I got worried so I went to the dressing room to check up on him and of course, the weird dude was there” Xiumin scoffed. “Jongdae was already dressed and ready to go but the guy was praising him. He was saying how he admired Jongdae’s voice and how he had looked gorgeous at the photoshoot. Jongdae was smiling at him politely but we all know how he looks when he’s uncomfortable. And he was uncomfortable because the yellow-pants guy was holding his arm.”

 

“Did you do something about it?” Yixing heard Kris’ worried voice behind him, making him even more restless about the topic of conversation. Lay wasn’t worried about Chen because at the end of the photoshoot –and after they had left the set- Chen was all smiles and teasing and all the things he normally does. Clearly it hadn’t happened anything.

 

“Of course I did something! That babo was clearly doing nothing to leave that erted homoual so I just pulled his arm and told the guy to stay away from my brothers. And I just left with Jongdae”.

 

erted homoual

 

erted homoual

 

erted homoual

 

 

Yixing’s worst fear was eating him alive. What he feared the most was happening right now. He felt how his jaw closed instantly and he lowered his head to hide from the others his slightly wet eyes. Clenching his fist tightly, he wished to have Luhan or Jongin by his side. But he was alone right now. And he was in the middle of the van, hearing how his own brothers thought about a guy like him.

 

Suho could have noticed Yixing’s change on behavior but he was in his own world, sighing in relief because nothing had happened to one of s. To his Chen.

 

“You did good Min” Kris smiled at his older brother patting Xiumin’s shouder, just at the same time Suho’s thoughts screamed ‘Wait, what?’ at his last thought about the annoying Jongdae and making Yixing wish he was in another place but there.

 

“Yeah! Who knows what could have happened at Jongdae if you weren’t there!” Chanyeol said worriedly, already thinking of ways to make his friend feel better today. (Even though Chen was perfectly fine, annoying Kyungsoo at the other van).

 

“If our fans are usually quite… passionate about us, I can’t imagine what that guy would have done to Jongdae if you weren’t there, hyung” Baekhyun said “How can they let that guy work there? I just hope he’s not there when we start the variety show tomorrow”

 

“It’s true” Suho realized, worry all over his face “Starting tomorrow, we're going to have all the staff at our house filming us. They’re going to have free access at our stuff. That guy could be one of the staff as well!”

 

“Don’t worry Suho” Sunghwan spoke for the first time since they started heading to their dorms. He was deadly serious but was clearly trying to ease Suho and the others “I’ll make a few calls. That guy’s not going to get a chance to get near any of you”.

 

“Is he going to get fired?” Xiumin asked, making Yixing raise his head quickly just to see his manager.

 

“Let’s see” Sunghwan answered, already on the phone and clearly talking with their superiors.

 

“What?!” Yixing couldn’t help it “Is he going to get fired just because he’s different?! The guy did nothing!”

 

“But hyung!” Chanyeol said, showing his innocent eyes “He touched Jongdae.”

 

“So? He just touched his arm; he probably was a fan! Our fans touch us all the time!”

 

“But they are girls Yixing” Baekhyun answered, furrowing his eyebrows a little “It’s different”

 

“Just because he’s homoual?”

 

“Well, yeah” Answered Minseok as if it was the most logical reason while Baekhyun and Chanyeol nodded.

 

Yixing felt cold. Really cold. He stopped hearing what the others were saying and just wished he could be back at Changsha with his parents and his grandma. Would they accept him? Would they accept his son and grandson can’t give them offspring anymore?
 

Kris on the other hand, was surprised about s. He knows Koreans have a hard time accepting homouals but he never imagined they could wish for someone to lose their job because they have different preferences.
 

Of course he felt slightly better knowing the yellow-pants guy wouldn’t be near his dongsengs anymore but because the guy was clearly a hardcore fan and a erted one. Not because of his preferences. He tried to tell them they could just ask the company to not bring the guy at their apartments but to keep his job but it was already too late.

 

“It’s all settled” Sunghwan said, finishing his call “That guy’s not working at the company anymore. You can feel better now” Their manager said, making the other sigh in relief and making Yixing felt worse. ‘It’s going to be that easy to fire me when they discover about me? Are the others going to miss me? Or are they going to sigh in relief when they get rid of me?’ Yixing’s thoughts made him feel sick at himself, made him want he could just dance until his limbs broke and the pain could distract him enough. But they were heading at the dorms so he couldn’t dance this time. He could just hide.

 

And that’s what he did. As soon as the van stopped and Suho got out, Yixing fled from the parking lot –ignoring the few fangirls that were waiting for them at the entrance of their building- and used the stairs, running until he reached their floor, entered Exo-M’s apartment and locked himself in his room.

 

“Yixing?” Luhan asked a couple of seconds later when the other van arrived, seeing how his best friend ran away to the building and refuse to listen to anyone. Clearly confused, Luhan went to his friend to ask what happened. “Baozi!” He smiled cutely, aware their fans were watching and hearing them “Ehm… Xing needed to go to the bathroom?” At this point, Jongin saw everything and was standing beside his hyung while accepting praises from their fans and smiling at them.

 

“Thanks girls! Go home already, it’s getting cold outside, we don’t want you to get sick” Xiumin smiled at their fans and then turned to his friend “Beats me. I suppose?”

 

“I think he’s just worried” Kris answered behind Luhan, making him turn to look how the taller one was looking at the building entrance “Sunghwan-ge fired a guy just a couple of minutes ago. Knowing how he is, Xing probably felt bad for the guy”

 

“What guy?” Jongin asked, no longer paying attention at their fans but keeping an eye on his cute roommate, making sure the fans couldn’t pull him around.

 

“A tried to stop Jongdae at the dressing room” Xiumin answered, lowering his voice so their fans couldn’t hear while Hyunkyun-manager unlocked the front door at their department building so they could get in.

 

Hearing this, both Luhan and Jongin paled.

 

Jongdae had told them what had happened, saying he was so handsome not even the guys could resist his charms and that some dude was his fanboy. Clearly Chen took everything as a funny experience, making the members of the van laugh at his story. They just didn’t think Yixing could hear the same story at the same time.

 

“I mean” Xiumin continued talking, at a normal volume once all of them entered the building and their managers made sure the fangirls stayed outside “A gay working with us? It’s dangerous!”

 

“Oh ing crap” Jongin exclaimed loudly, earning a scolding from Suho and D.O, making all of them think he was surprised at how some guy had done that to Chen. Only Luhan understood him well.

 

“You’re just exaggerating dude!” Chen laughed, hugging Xiumin by the shoulders and smiling “That guy was just mesmerized by my awesomeness. Plus, If he had tried something weird, I can defend myself!” He praised himself, raising his arm and showing them his muscles.

 

All of them laughed at his antics while they waited for the elevator, except Luhan and Kai.

 

Frustrated by the slowness of the elevator, Kai suddenly spoke. “Luhan-hyung! I race you to the dorms!” He smiled and without waiting a response, Jongin started running towards the stairs.

 

Knowing full well why his dongseng did that, Luhan smiled and shouted “Cheater!” before running at the stairs and ignoring the other’s laugh.

 

As soon as they heard the door from the stairs closed, Luhan ran with all his might trying to reach his dongseng and really worried about his best friend. Yixing was a good person. He always hide his feelings in order not to worry them and always tried to not bother anyone. He loved s deeply. And If he just heard all the way to the dorms how his beloved brothers think about some gay dude they barely knew, Luhan couldn’t begin to imagine how his unicorn must be feeling right now.

 

“Hurry up, hyung!” Kai shouted at him a couple of stairs ahead “We’re almost there!”

 

“Coming!”

 

When they reached Exo-M’s dorm, both of them ran to Luhan and Yixing’s room, already expecting it to be locked. Gaining their breaths, Luhan took out his own key and opened the door quietly, looking how his room was dark and empty.

 

“Xing-hyung?” Kai asked once the both of them entered the room and closed the door behind them. It was dark so Jongin the lamp at the bedside table, making the room glow just a little bit. Yixing wasn’t there. “Where’s-“ The dancer tried to ask, feeling confused at the lack of their friend but he stopped himself when he noticed what Luhan was doing.

 

Luhan went to the closet section, opening the right door –Yixing’s closet- and kneeling at the entrance. “Xing?” Jongin got curious at the strange hiding place so he approached Luhan, surprised at what he saw.

 

Yixing was at the far corner of the closet, his knees touching his chest, with his purple headphones covering his ears and hugging a stuffed red dragon plushie.

 

Yixing wasn’t crying. He was just there, with dry tears under his swollen eyes, staring into space and ignoring Luhan.

This made Jongin want to cry.

 

“Xing?” Luhan tried again entering the closet and sitting beside his best friend. Feeling useless, Jongin kneeled too and sat inside the closet, caressing one of Yixing’s knees and hoping to give support at his hyung. “We’re here. Jongin and I. Do you- do you need us to do something?”

 

Yixing just shook his head.

 

“Do you want us to leave you for a moment?”

 

Yixing shook his head again and hugged the plushie tighter.

 

“Very well then” Luhan tried to smile even though he just wanted to take away his best friend’s pain. Making himself comfortable, Luhan sat closer to his unicorn and hugged him tightly, resting his head at Yixing’s shoulder and hoping he could show him with the hug he was not going to leave him alone ever.

 

Feeling he was in the middle of a ‘Best Friends Moment’, Kai tried to get up and leave but a soft hand stopped him. Glancing back, he saw how Yixing had reached him with one of his hands and was seeing him with the saddest expression he had ever seen.

 

“Stay. Please” Lay whispered for the first time since they found him, feeling like a kid needing his parents by his side.

 

How could he say no to that face? Kai nodded, trying to smile at his hyung and sat in front of Lay, closing the closet door a little bit to have more privacy but to let the light come through the narrow place and he just hugged Yixing’s legs, resting his head at his hyung’s knees and feeling how Yixing’s soft hand that wasn’t still holding the plushie, had slowly started playing with his hair.

 

A silence engulfed the three of them but none wanted to move. It wasn’t just a moment to give company to their friend; it was so much more. They know they had a lot of things to go through not just Yixing, but they felt they had formed an alliance to stay by the other's side no matter what.

 

 

 

Two hours later, Jongin closed Yixing and Luhan’s door behind him, knowing he needed to clean his room and making his way to the Exo-K apartment. When he came across Kris, he told him Luhan and Yixing had already cleaned their room and were already sleeping so they could leave them alone. Lay just wasn’t ready to see anyone else yet.

 

Once he reached his own dorm and closed the door, he saw how s were busy cleaning the living room and wondering where to hide their stash of . Kai smiled slightly at Suho’s surprised face once he realized how much his kids have.

 

“Where were you Jong?” Sehun asked him, making him look at him at the hallway. Sehun wasn’t smiling but Kai was still too distracted to notice it.

 

“At Luhan’s room”

 

“Jongin! Come help me move our wardrobe!” Kyungsoo called from his room, stopping Sehun from asking why Jongin was at Luhan’s room when they all clearly had things to do.

 

Sehun glared at the floor, confused at his own behavior and not knowing why he felt so angry everytime Luhan paid attention to Jongin and not him. It wasn’t new; Luhan loved everyone of their brothers and loved everytime he could spend with each one of them. What was bothering him so much? Why Jongin was so different from the others?

 

Feeling confused and not knowing what to do, Sehun didn’t think twice and he reached the hallway, hiding behind some boxes they were keeping there and trying to hear inside of Jongin’s room. Kyungsoo had just got out of his room and entered the living room, saying their room was nearly finished and just Kai’s stuff were out of place. Kyungsoo headed to the kitchen, saying how Kai was on the phone with Luhan but that he was cleaning his room as well.

 

“How’s everything?” Sehun heard Kai’s voice behind the door, the volume of his voice increasing and decreasing, showing how Jongin was pacing around, probably putting his stuff in place.

 

“I know. It’s just… Yixing’s asleep already? I don’t want him to hear our conversation”

 

What? Why couldn’t Lay-hyung hear them?

 

“Alright. Yeah, Xing-hyung must be feeling really tired. I don’t blame him. I don’t know what I would do hearing what he heard”

 

Sehun was so into the conversation that he didn’t hear a new voice entering their apartment, asking for boxes to take back to the Exo-M’s dorm.

 

“Yeah, you know my plan. But what if we get caught? You said Tao is really perceptive and he’s going to be in the same team as me and- Yeah, I know. I must not worry. Thanks hyung. I love you too”

 

Sehun didn’t have time to process that words because he heard a "What are you doing?" right beside his ear, startling him and making him slip on the floor and almost scream like a girl. Turning around, he noticed a pair of cat-like eyes. Knowing full well he didn't want to be caught, Exo-K's magnae signaled his new companion to shut up and pay attention. Nodding, Sehun's hyung kept quiet and leaned on Sehun's shoulder to pay attention.

 

"Ok. I’ll write everything at the notebook and we’ll try to stay together no matter what. Yeah, starting tomorrow, I’m tired right now” Kai laughed a little.

 

'Stay together no matter what?!' Their variety show starts tomorrow! And Luhan and Kai aren’t even on the same team. Luhan was in SEHUN’s team.

 

“Stop playing with your rubic’s cube!” Kai smiled at his phone, making Sehun smile as well while he pictured his hyung playing mindlessly while he cleaned his own room. “Are you sure? What if… you know this isn’t going to be kept a secret forever. Someone’s bound to know sooner or later.”

 

“Secret?” Zitao asked beside Sehun, wondering what Kai was talking about.

 

The Exo-M’s magnae had already forgot why he was there in the first place and was paying attention like it was one of his beloved Korean dramas he was hearing. It wasn’t that different after all, he was trying to understand all the Korean they were saying and Kai was talking quietly and really fast so it was difficult for him.

Sehun just shrugged, confused as well but something inside of his mind was telling him this was important. This was the reason why Kai and Luhan had spent so much time together lately.

 

“Well, I’m sure you think the same so I’ll just say it. I’ll do everything I can to make sure no one notice our secret. Three people knowing it is already too much.”

 

'Three people? So, there is another person knowing about this? Maybe it's Yixing-hyung? But then, why Jongin didn’t want him to hear their conversation earlier? Why he asked if Yixing-hyung was asleep already?'

 

“Yeah, I’m worried about that too. Let’s just hope they don’t do anything harsh to us if they realize about this. I mean, yeah they can react badly, but none of them want to destroy Exo, right?" Jongin asked, surprising Sehun greatly and confusing Zitao.

 

"Destroy?" Zitao asked Sehun, looking at his dongseng and asking him with his eyes if he heard the same. Sehun just shrugged, confused as well and wondering what was so big of a deal.

 

"Yeah, perhaps. But what about Hyunkyun-hyung and Sunghwan-hyung? They would make sure to do everything in their hands to stop this. For our own good" Kai scoffed, hearing what Luhan was saying him and ignoring there were two other people eavesdropping at his conversation.

 

“Stop what?” Zitao asked again, hugging Sehun by his shoulders and clearly frustrated with himself for not understanding Korean better.

 

"Hey! Smile hyung" Jongin sat on his bed and folding a couple of his shirts "That may be the future but we can prevent it from happening, right? We can protect our secret, right?”

 

'Well, maybe I can discover what they were talking about later...'

 

“All right hyung. Good night to you too. Don’t worry, we’ll figure out how to make the others accept colorful-gay-unicorns!. Yeah, so smile! Our secret is safe” Kai finished his call, starting storing his clothes in his closet and not knowing what he had just done.

 

Oh Sehun couldn't utter a word for quite some time, with his eyes widened and suddenly, everything made sense to him.

 

Why Jongin and Luhan were always together. Why Jongin and Luhan shared more skinship than before. Why Luhan was ignoring Sehun. Why they laughed nervously when Chen told them about his homoual fanboy.

 

'Kai and Luhan are in a relat- MOTHER OF GOD!’ Sehun thought, not knowing what to think and ignoring Tao’s confused gaze.

 

“Sehun, what’s colored- guy…uniforms?”

 

Clearly, Sehun didn’t process the word ‘Unicorn’ in the conversation.

 

When he finished cleaning his room, Luhan put on his pajamas and decided to sleep curled up with his best friend. This was their last night as roommates and they both were going to miss each other deeply. Thank God Jongin would be in Yixing’s team because Luhan couldn’t imagine what he would do if he had to let his unicorn without their protection.

 

“Good night Xing” Luhan whispered, turning off the lights and snuggling with his best friend.

 

“Good night Han” Yixing whispered in the darkness of their room. “Thanks. For everyting. Eh… you can hug Rupert” came Xing’s awkward answer, letting Luhan take his red dragon plushie and feeling ashamed of himself. He felt like a kid trying to feel safe in his mother’s arms. Yixing laughed a little thinking at his best friend being his mom.

 

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Luhan smiled brightly, chuckling lightly at Yixing’s cuteness and trying to change the topic seeing as his friend was still uncomfortable. “So this is the famous Rupert, eh? Kris told me about it.”

 

“…What did he say?”

 

“He said you stole it from him”

 

“I didn’t!” Yixing whispered, defending himself and making his friend laugh, glad his best friend was feeling better “I won Rupert!”

 

“How?”

 

“…”

 

“Xing?”

 

“I played rock, paper, scissors against Fan. I won” Hearing Lay’s answer, Luhan stifled his laughter with his pillow, already knowing why Kris said Lay had stole his dragon plushie.

 

“Wufan at games! That wasn’t fair and you know it Xing”

 

“Oh well, it was fluffy. I wanted it. End of story”

 

“Babo!”

 

Both of them felt asleep peacefully in each other’s arms, forgetting that was the first time they had slept together on the same bed since they discovered Lay’s ual orientation. And that tomorrow they’re going to be filmed since the moment they awake.

 

It’s going to be an interesting morning.

 

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

I love you all, please don't hurt me! >.<
I've been really busy with my exams at College and I couldn't think of updating this until I finished with my exams  =( I tried to write just a little bit everyday so that's why this is the longest chapter I had ever wrote xD I hope you like it :) I guess up until chapter eight I was just writing the beginning of my story, trying to set the mood and what was happening with every character -including the managers and the SMfamily-. Now, it starts the "How to catch your Dragon" now that Kai and Luhan realized Yixing can't get over his awkwardness by himself and now that the three of them shared their emotive(?) moment at the closet (pun intended).

If you didn't get it, yeah now Sehun thinks KaiHan are in a relationship ;)

The guys are going to be doing a variety show but don't worry, that's not the only thing I'm going to write about them doing. If you haven't noticed before, I turn little moments such as sharing drinks or playing with hands into huge fluffy moments xD I hope you like them as well.

 

Another thing. I want to make this fic as realistic as possible. That's why I'm writing about all the people Exo interacts -including staff, managers, the ocassional fans and their fellow idols-. That's why I write them having magazines xD (They are guys, of course they have them!) and more importantly, that's why I wrote them with their closed-minded opinions about uality.

I'm not trying to write about them in a negative way at all, but I think being in a closed-minded society affects them as well. I know they can think about homouality as every teenager does; as if it isn't their problem. But keep in mind they have parents that tells them gays don't exist; they have the media telling them gays don't exist and as such, they (I'm assuming of course) had never meet homouals before. I have a couple of homoual friends so I'm just assuming what could be someone else's reaction hearing someone near you is homoual for the very first time. I asume one could speak without thinking because you don't know about the subject. One could say things you don't mean because you see the "problem" as something alien to you. I think If they could realize how much they were hurting Lay, they would have stop. Not because they have changed their opinion about homouality but because Yixing is their brother and they don't want to hurt him. That's how I think this could have happened if my story was reality.

Mmm... what else? Oh! Can you guess what Kyuhyun wrote for Chen in that note? ;) I'll write about it in the next chapter but I want to read your opinions as well. In this chapter I wrote about KyuHo, Kaisoo, Kray of course, Baekyeol, Hunhan, KaiLayHan, KaiHun (sort of xD) XiuChen, SuChen, and yellow-pants guy/Chen xD Hope you like it!

Last thing! (I promise! xD) I tried to write according to real events regarding Exo's schedule. (I even have a Halloween chapter xD) but they keep doing a lot of things! o_o And my brain was going to explode trying to fit everything that I just decided, it! I'll do it my way. That's why I'm writing about what I want the most from them. A Variety Show! :D (I'm going to have so much fun writing that xD) so sometimes I'm going to write real events and sometimes I'm going to mix them with my own ideas, allright?

Yeah, I'll stop writing now xD
Love you guys!!!

P.D: Thanks to all of you who voted for my story! *O* I'm glad you like it n_n I don't even know why I have an arrow and a "6" beside my story's title but I'll just assume it's a good thing xD *runs away*

P.D2: Sorry!!! I almost forgot xD Rupert the red dragon plushie does exist. I don't know if he has a name but I thought Rupert was cute and random just like Lay xD. And not just him, Kris received a DragonxUnicorn couple plushies before and recently some fan I guess? gave him a cute Alpaca xD Maybe I'll write about them in the future!
(Yixing had set his eyes in his new fluffy target!)