The rest of the day flew by in a blur, you weren't sure if you had actually memorised the schedule, all you knew is that you just read and reread the schedule over and over again. You willed yourself not to think about the phone call and just filled your head with dates, times and venues. You hadn't noticed, but somehow the boys and yourself were all back at the dorm, eating dinner. You sat quietly, your mind was blank as your hand moved unconsciously, placing rice in your mouth. You were looking, but not seeing, listening but not hearing, saying but not speaking. As your chopsticks scraped the bottom of your bowl, the sound ringing in your ears, you looked down, somehow you had finished the rice in your bowl and got up slowly.

"I'll be leaving first" you mumbled, almost inaudible for anyone to hear. You walked down the hall and into the study room, softly closing the door behind you.

---

That night, you cried. You cried just as you shut and lock the door behind you, you cried climbing into bed, you cried falling asleep, you cried waking up every hour of the night. You cried and cried.

The clock on the wall read 4am, you were lying in your bed staring at nothing, the tears dried against your face. You had cried so much that you felt dehydrated and empty. You sat up in your position, your body feeling heavy. Your feet had taken you to the bathroom and as you the light you were finally seeing again. The reflection that stared back at you was a complete mess. Her hair was dishevelled and knotted, her clothes were scrunched up and twisted against her body, her face was tear stained, blotchy and pale, the dried tears still casting an outline over her cheeks. You the faucet and you were finally hearing again, you heard the cold water splashing against the bottom of the sink and scooped some cold water in your palms before splashing yourself. You flattened down the stray hairs and combed through your hair with your fingers. You tugged at your clothes, setting them straight once more.

"I'm a mess" you whispered, finally speaking again. As you faced the reflection again, the image was different now, more presentable. You heaved a sigh, pushing out all the negativity that controlled you today. You thought of Exo. I mustn't screw this up for them, I've already been so troublesome already, I mustn't bring my past into my present, you thought, regaining your present self back, pushing the events of today to the very back of your mind.

---

Luhan lay awake in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had observed you ever since leaving SM building and coming back to the dorm and something was off. It was like you weren't in the present. You were physically present, but it was like your mind was galaxies away. He had wanted so bad to run after you as you left the dinner table so abruptly, but it was like all he could do was sit and watch as you walked down the hallway. Luhan sat up from his bed, the sheets falling down his torso as he did so, it was eating him up inside and he had to get out of this stuffy room. He walked down the stairs, his feet taking him towards the study room and soon enough he was facing the closed door, a fist ready to knock. Instead, he took a seat on the floor in front of the door, his back pressing against the door instead. He sighed out in frustration as he ruffled his untidy hair. A few minutes passed by, Luhan sitting by the door, he eventually got up from his position, climbing back up the stairs and into his bed once more, staring at the ceiling.

---

Luhan didn't sleep a wink the night before and as he trudged down the stairs, he groaned at his fatigue. The dining table had already been set nicely, plates of toast and bowls of soup sat steaming upon it.

"Morning Luhan" you smiled, setting down a collection of spreads. "How did you sleep?" you asked, still smiling at him. Luhan looked at you groggily, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Are you okay?" he replied, ignoring your question. You nodded back happily, oblivious to what he could be referring to.

"Yeah, I'm good" you confirmed, just as Hyun Kyun came into the dining room.

"Let's eat, we have the biggest day ahead of us" Hyun Kyun started, patting Luhan on the back. Throughout breakfast you were chatting and joking with the other members but had felt Luhan's lingering gaze toward you but every time you looked at him he seemed to appear looking somewhere else. He quickly wolfed down his breakfast and made his way back up the stairs before anyone had even started on their second piece of toast. As Luhan trotted up the stairs, he was so confused. It was like you had just snapped back into your old self, the happenings of last night seemed more like a dream with respect to how you were acting this morning. He slapped his face with his hands trying to make sense of the situation as he began packing his bag for practice.

---

Somehow, you had actually retained some of the debut schedule you crammed into your brain the day before. Huh, rope learning works okay, you thought to yourself as you sat down in the company van. The boys were scheduled to debut tonight with their first of two debut showcases being held in Seoul. The second, being in Beijing. You had willed yourself to completely disregard the happenings of the previous day and focused solely on the debut showcase tonight. In around an hour, the boys were to travel to the venue and begin sound checks and rehearsals on the main stage for the remainder on the day. Meanwhile, you were already on the way to the venue in order to begin preparing and making sure everything is all set.  Tonight, the boys were all flying over to Beijing where tomorrow, the second showcase will be held. You mind whizzed around at everything that was happening too quickly, it felt like only last week your bag was caught on Luhan and now you had to prepare for exo's debut. You sighed out loud as the van pulled into the stadium, 12 hours before the big showcase begins.

---

"I need two more chairs set up over here and an extra stool for the talk section of the showcase." you ordered, as you fussed around behind the main stage, frantically trying to set things up. The boys were due in around ten more minutes to begin the first run of the entire showcase. You had a clipboard in your right hand and were equipped with a headset where you spoke to the other managers along with the stadium staff.

"I need a final check on the dressing rooms before we can confirm set up is finalised" Hyun Kyun reported over the headset as you checked it against your clipboard.

"I'll go over now" you reported back as you powerwalked towards the dressing rooms. The back area was also filled with staff as they all rushed around, trying to get everything completed.

"Music line-up has been finalised" Seunghwan confirmed over the headset and you quickly ticked the checklist on your clipboard whilst walking into the dressing rooms. You did a quick scan of the two rooms, chairs, water, light snacks, wardrobe, makeup, everything seemed in place and you confirmed the dressing rooms were finalised over the headset, ticking it off on your clipboard.

"Okay guys, last two things, stage markings of centre, right centre, left centre and final count of microphones, there should be a total of 50 on standby." Youngjun commented, as you rushed back towards the front stage.

"Mic count finalised" Hyun Kyun affirmed over the line.

"Stage markings confirmed" Seunghwan confirmed not long after.

"Jaehyuk (exo-k manager) will be arriving with the boys very soon, Hyun Kyun, coul please make your way to the back entrance, whilst Seunghwan, Eunmi please be by the main stage ready for exo to begin their rehearsals. Good job everyone" Youngjun announced through the headsets as you took your stand beside Seunghwan. You breathed out as it was your first time resting since you arrived at the venue. Seunghwan offered a bottle of water and you took it graciously, taking a good gulp of water, checking your watch as you did so. There were another ten hours until the showcase would begin. The overstayed winter was finally dying down in Korea and it was a nice spring day in March.

"How you feeling?" Seunghwan asked, as he emptied half his bottle in one go.

"Rushed" you replied honestly, as Seunghwan chuckled at your response. "But excited, I can't wait to see this bunch of dorks finally become a real boy band" you pictured exo standing on this main stage, performing passionately.

"They've come a long way" Seunghwan shared your sentiment as he seemed to be also picturing exo standing up on the main stage.

"Standby positions, exo have arrived, let's get this started" Youngjun announced as Seunghwan and yourself placed your waterbottles away and sprang into action.

---

The boys had run through the entire rehearsal three times already and were now on a 15-minute break. All twelve were upon the stage, gulping down the water as they patted down their sweat. Kai and Sehun were practicising their duo dance stage in the back. Lay had quickly run to the bathroom and ran back, joining Chanyeol and Kris as they were practicing their Two Moons stage. You checked your watch, there were about another six hours until the showcase. Luhan and Chen were off towards the middle of the stage, consolidating on their positions for their singing stage. It seemed that although everyone was now on break, the boys were still diligently preparing and confirming all their positions and moves for the showcase.

"Eun Mi, could you pop back to the dressing room, a final run down of performances against their wardrobe will be confirmed with the wardrobe staff" Youngjun spoke through the headset, as you began walking before he had even finished.

"Copy that" you replied, hurrying off to the dressing rooms. You entered, a team of 15 staff awaited, each with their own clipboards in hand. You quickly greeted everyone and got straight down to business, confirming with the staff which performances and stages were in what order and when the boys would be coming off the stage to quickly change. By the end, all the wardrobe staff knew which performances followed which and were diligently going over the schedule and matching them against the relevant outfits.

"Wardrobe has been finalised" you reported back through the headset, power walking back towards the main stage.

"An order of tissues have been delivered at the back door, please bring them back to the dressing rooms" the headset spoke as you immediately turned back the way you were coming from.

"Copy that, on my way" you confirmed rushing towards the back door. You mounted the tissue boxes in your arms and quickly made you way back into the dressing room, where the team of stylists had quickly come over, taking the load off you.

"Thank you so much" they thanked as they began ripping the boxes open and putting them around the room, some leaving to put tissues in the second room.

"Tissues have been delivered" you informed back into the headset.

"Oh Eun Mi, could you take these to the boys, they're on the main stage" Seunghwan asked, offloading a box of bottled water into your arms. You quickly strode back onto the main stage, simultaneously collecting the empty bottles and handing out new ones. You disposed of the empty bottles in the recycling bin once the box was filled with empty bottles. As you were about to make your way back into the stadium you saw the lines of crowds that were already filling the metal gates that s out from the entrance. You quickly checked your watch to see that there were still just under six hours until the showcase began, but fans were already beginning to line up. Your anxiety jumped a little and you quickly jogged backed into the stadium just as another message coursed through the headset.

---

Exo had now run through their final rehearsal before the actual showcase and were being ushered quickly into the showers, with Youngjun sternly telling each of them to not take a long time. The staff were now beginning to set the stage for their opening performance, History, whilst the tech group were going through their screenings and videos again. The audience was scheduled to begin coming into the venue two hours before the showcase began, meaning the team had around another three hours to finish up their final checks and tests. Exo were now getting dressed and done up for the showcase. As you entered the first dressing room, Suho had greeted you, smiling. He had on his first outfit, but his hair and makeup were still not done.

"I hope you're not too tired Eun Mi" he mentioned, tearing open a small packet of crackers and offering you some. You declined politely.

"Not at all, how about yourself? Feeling excited?" you questioned back, taking a peek at the light snacks table, seeing that almost all the snacks were gone.

"Nervous, but happy" Suho responded, as he covered his mouth whilst chewing on his crackers.

"Suho, time for hair" a stylist called, as Sehun had risen from the chair she was attending. As Suho made his way over, you quickly announced through the headset.

"Light snacks need to be replenished, also when is dinner going to arrive?" you continued, walking back out of the dressing room.

"Just on time, the pizzas are delivered now, Eun Mi, take a total of ten, five each for each dressing room please, they're at the back entrance" Seunghwan replied to you instantly. You made your way through the corridors and found stacks of pizza upon the table. Seunghwan was already dividing up the boxes and delegating each box to different people. He quickly caught your eye and handed you the ten boxes. As you walked back into the first dressing room, the boys all hollered and bounded towards you, taking the pizza off you.

"Eat up boys, showcase begins in two hours, I repeat two hours" you called behind, as you quickly saw that the light snacks were already replenished in the time frame you had left. You entered into the second dressing room and was met with the same response, the boys all rushing to get the pizza. You warned them again of the time left as they began devouring the pizzas.

---

The day had whizzed by so quickly and now you were standing on the sidelines of the main stage. The fans were all filed in and their light sticks were illuminating the otherwise dark stadium. You read Lay's watch for about the millionth time that day and saw that there were about 20 minutes left. You quickly jogged back towards the dressing rooms as exo were all filling out. They huddled outside both rooms in a group circle, their hands all piled in the middle.

"We're finally here, now let's go out there and become exo, on three 1, 2, 3--"

"EXO" the boys cheered, throwing their arms up as they did so. As they all waited by the side of the main stage the introduction clip played on the big screen.

When the skies and the ground were one the legends…. 

You know what they say, the show must go on.