EDITED: a big thank you to kpopized who helped me editing this time! <3

Act. 5

Oh my shisus...

I can't explain what I feel! So much I don't even know where to begin. And I thought the highlight was Minseok hyung's confession… (You can kick me as much as you want, but I will NEVER forget XD) but I was wrong! Poor Xiao Lu: I nearly feel bad for him. He's in the other room sulking… most likely meditating whether to go and kill the Kris/Tao couple or just drown himself in the shower. He'll probably choose the second option because he's too nice (and maybe because the two giants are too much for even the almighty Luhan ge). Shisus, we nearly lost it there. Minseok hyung's face was... and Xing Xing ge has teasing material for the next eternity (it's strange that he doesn't notice how that interview was dangerous for him too).

Therefore, here’s a big thank you to Taiwan's music programs and their evil MCs! <3

I think we have never had such a busy schedule. We are flying from a country to another: we just left Thailand for Taiwan to join the SM town concert (daebak!); we even had a day to film an interview together with the EXO K members before they left. I just want to point something out: it was the best interview ever. That is a confession of love? C'mon hyung… even I am not that cheesy. But I won’t talk about it any further. And it's not because I'm afraid that one day he will find this diary and read my comments: not at all. But, well. seeing him throwing murdering stares in the direction of Chan-baek-jong-hun (yes I purposely made their names up together) was enough of a warning.

But let me say only this: it was priceless. Hyung, we all have to learn from you!

Anyway, we did that interview and went back to our respective dorms which are in two different countries. How could I describe what I was feeling at that moment? I will only say that I hugged Junmyeon hyung really tight and reminded him to take care of himself till the next time we can fool around together. He laughed and told me to continue to do my best and to not worry too much.

“Say ‘hi’ to Korea for me,” I then said. He looked at me with that stare of his that reads my soul even when I don't want him to. He gave me his warmest smile because he knew how much I wanted to come back home and—however strong my will was to stay in China‑—to live my dream.

He tilted his head and replied, “You say ‘hi’ to China for me!” Then he left.

 I will miss hyung a lot, but I can't complain. Luckily, having this kind of life means I do not have enough time to reflect about what I miss because there's always something to do; some place to go, and other fans to meet. And the fact that we are so united helps a lot, too. We share the same troubles and we all miss someone. That's why we can understand each other so well. I can't shed tears or be sad when the others are there for me. The Chinese members, more than the others, know exactly how I feel. I can still remember Xing ge’s nighttime tears and how he then woke up early in the morning for his daily routine.

We came back to China, our dorm, and our routine. Singing, dancing, photo shoots and, yes, even cooking with Xing ge and arguing about shower turns.

That was until we were dragged into an airplane again. Destination: Taiwan.

We were going to be there for the Taiwan music festival, but it would only be us. It was decided for EXO K to stay in Korea. That’s why we were more nervous than ever. You could say that all that performing and promoting for ourselves made things easier for us. Wrong. We were going to perform in a stage at a concert, with a giant audience in a foreign country (it wasn't even China) without our other half... and furthermore “live.” Sure, you can say that, being a singer, you always perform live, but it's a little different to perform in a little studio and to perform in the conditions I mentioned before.

So there we were in the backstage, Luhan stretching and trying to smile. Minseok was doing strange facial expressions, trying to make laugh an overly nervous Zitao. Yifan ge was silently discussing things with the staff and doing other things that only he as duizhang could think about in a moment like that. Xing ge had his earphones on, repeating the already perfect moves of our choreography, concentration at the maximum level. As for me, I was warming up my voice while fascinatedly looking at Xing's ge precise movements.

“Don’t overdo it,” said a voice beside me, surprising me. It was Minseok hyung who, after leaving Zitao in Yifan ge’s hands, came to check the others like the big hyung he is.

“Don't worry, hyung. I’m just warming up.”

“Yixing, the same goes for you,” said Luhan ge.

Xing ge turned off his iPod and said, “Ah, don't worry. I’m just warming up.”

We all laughed because our answers matched perfectly. Xing ge hadn’t heard my previous reply, and gave us a blank look.

“It’s time to go, guys,” interrupted Yifan ge.

Here we go. I really like this feeling. Yes, you are so nervous it’s a miracle you don't puke; the eyes are all on you and you have the terror of doing something wrong. But then you go there, the music starts, you swallow your saliva and then... bam! It's like an electric current moving on cables. When I sing, I forget everything. I don't think of anything but to sing like I'm building a skyscraper with the mere force of with my voice. Ah well. I don't know how to describe it in another way.

“When I dance I feel like I’m taking my rightful place in the order of the universe,” Xing ge once said. I don’t know how he managed to say something so deep in Korean but maybe it was something he thought for a long time and the words just came out right.

Of course we weren't perfect, but we did our best and we managed to perform quite well. Even manager hyung complemented us. Which was rare, by the way.

“Yaaaaaaaa, we did it,” I said giggling.

“For a moment I thought I was going to mess the steps up,” commented Zitao after leaving the stage where he was, to say the least, charismatic. Even so, he was now pale and exhausted.

“You did it great, Zitao,” Xing ge reassured him.

“Your rap was different, though,” commented Yifan.

“Are you saying I did something wrong?” asked Zitao, alarmed and unable to believe the blow was coming from his favorite gege.

“No. Actually, it was pretty cool” Yifan added, patting his head.

“Yeah, I thought so too. I really like it,” Luhan joined the conversation. He was visibly tired but still smiling.

“Yes, yes… we were all fantastic... but is it possible to sweat this much? I'm drenched,” complained Minseok. He was in a corner wiping his forehead with a towel and fanning himself.

Xing ge went near him and, before someone could stop him, he sniffed.

“But you don't smell. Actually, it's kind of a sweet scent.”

Minseok looked at him like he was some freak. I burst into a laugh.

“Wait, wait… I want to try too,” I said, excited at the idea of freaking my discipliner out. So I sniffed too. And yes, Xing ge was right! He wasn't trolling us!

“Xing ge, you are right!”

“I want to sniff too,” added Zitao with a straight face.

“I'm not a f**king flower! Go away, you are creeping me out!”

Luhan burst in laugh, while Yifan was shaking his head as he tried to stop Zitao from jumping on Minseok.

Then manager hyung came to take us to the hotel. We kind of collapsed in the van and then we dragged our tired bodies inside the hotel. We passed out together in the nearest room because nobody had the strength to move his feet to another room. My head was on Xing ge’s stomach, as Luhan ge used my legs as a pillow (wasn’t it uncomfortable?). Anyway we slept like that pressed together on two joined beds. How cute!

Of course, the next morning every part of our bodies ached.

We didn't really have time to recover the next day as our van was heading to Taipei, the capital. We had to record enough material for 3 or 4 segments that would have been aired in different periods. Luckily, we were getting better in variety shows and our sunbaes told us the Taiwanese MCs were really bubbly and kind and they used to offer food too. That was the main motive of our excitement during the long travel, even though most of the time we took naps on each others’ shoulders.

We arrived at the studio sleepy and disoriented, but we didn't have time to waste so we went straight to the staff rooms for make up (which was heavy because we had dark circles that could compete with Tao’s ones) and to wear our proper clothes.

In the studio there were two handsome but really easy going MCs, they made us feel at ease by trying to joke before the interview. I remembered some conversations with our SHINee sunbaes but, well, I didn’t really force myself to remember. (I should have paid more attention! Sigh).

Anyway, they didn’t interview us immediately, so we went directly to play some games. Again, bits of conversations with manager hyung saying we had to do more variety and that Taiwan was the perfect place came to my mind. Why it was the perfect place was something I discovered …later. Gosh.

The moment the MCs took out cards, Minseok hyung cringed because he, of course, had a bad memory related to them. The last time he had to confess some embarrassing things because of a card, so he was eyeing them suspiciously. Yifan ge was eyeing them eagerly, and Zitao had a mischievous smile on his face. I should have known better. Well, guys, you should have seen the panic that crossed Yifan ge’s eyes the moment they told him he was going to do an Eskimo kiss with a total stranger. But his face couldn’t even be compared to Luhan’s ge expression. It was of evilness and fear all mixed up together: evilness because there was nothing in this world that could entertain Luhan ge more than seeing the almighty duizhang making a fool of himself. (With the great exception of Xing ge who has probably made it his full-time job to live to troll the leader). Xinghan (how Yifan called them in the privacy of our room) is dangerous, Yifan ge often says. I used to laugh at this sentence because Luhan ge is so kind and Xing ge so thoughtful that the thought seems nearly ridiculous. But then I noticed it too. Sharing a room together seemed to have cemented a criminal conspiracy that was probably born in the hallways of SMent entertainment or who knows where. So they were the ones with the widest smiles when they saw the nose of Yifan ge touch the nose of the mc. Minseok hyung watched in horror as Zitao was contentedly smiling in a corner.

Of course there is a thing called Karma. I think this the favourite phrase of Kyungsoo every time Baekhyun tricks him or teases him in public (even though karma for Baek is Kyungsoo trying to strangle him to death). The members laugh was still echoing when the dice rolled again and two numbers where called out. When Xing ge found out what was the punishment he paled and Luhan would have laughed at his expression if it weren’t that he was involved in it too. It was Yifan’s turn to smile while I and the others were excitedly looking forward to this segment. I was curious to know why Xing ge suddenly seemed so alarmed. You know, for me it was so funny and I wasn’t afraid in the least because I had done enough of foolish and embarrassing things with ChanBaek to be really ashamed of doing anything. When you are seated at the same table of two persons that are competing for who drinks faster bubble tea with their nose in a public place, you don’t know what embarrassment is anymore.

Anyway, when it came Luhan ge’s turn it was still ok. He trembled in the end but it all went smoothly. Then came Xing ge’s turn. And that was when Luhan ge smiled in a way that I have seen only Sehun smile. I hold my breath in expectation. Luhan ge blew air. And then in three seconds we saw Xing ge waver and fall to his knees and then crawl on the floor at Luhan’s ge mercy.

“I didn’t know that,” whispered Yifan ge, who was probably thinking of taking revenge for all the times Xing ge trolled him. I’m sorry, Xing Xing ge, but I couldn’t help but laugh. Who would have thought Xing ge had that kind of weakness? When the ten seconds passed, Xing ge collected himself, trying to act like that moment never happened. He glared at Luhan ge, who smiled back. I smiled too, because at that moment I realized something about them. I was finally able to classify them after months to try to understand their friendship’s dynamic. Hey I’m not a voyeur: I’m just a curious person, and Luhan and Xing ge’s friendship has always fascinated me. “They are exactly like Taemin sunbae and Jongin”. That’s it. They are exactly the same (you may not know, but the Taemin and Jongin duo are kind of a legend in SMent. Maybe one day I’ll talk about it!). After that show came my turn but all I had to do was flick the poor MC’s forehead (I was expecting something more trilling!). Then came the final round when the king could inflict whatever punishment he wanted. We all smiled in eagerness, because everyone had something in mind. As for me, embarrassing my discipliner on a worldwide channel in the name of variety sounded heavenly to my ears.

But, well, it didn’t go that way. And someone would have thought that Luhan ge was going to be the lucky one to boss the others around. But… hell no… It had to be Wu Yifan. And the only thing that would have made me feel worse would be having Baekhyun as the king. Because my best friend is too evilly smart (Chanyeol is pretty harmless; he is at the same level with a puppy). He smiled widely, eyeing the other members eagerly to figure out whom to torment. And of course, when it comes to Yifan ge, it’s always a matter of Zitao. The latter shook his head in defeat, knowing Yifan was going to take revenge for all the times Zitao fooled him. Thank God I wasn’t the one predestined for this. Thank God. The lucky guy was Luhan ge.

Shisus. Those were the more disturbing 5 minutes of my whole life, but I have the strong suspicion they won’t held this record for too long. We are in SMent. We are going to have plenty of times to embarrass ourselves for the sake of variety (don’t misunderstand me. I’m happy to bring laughs to our fans <3).

Yifan beat with the hand of god Zitao’ as the latter was riding Luhan ge. For once I was afraid Minseok hyung was going to have a heart attack over there. As for me, I laughed all the time, just as Xing Xing ge was having the time of his life, not believing he was so lucky as to have teasing material for two or three lives.

Just let me tell you something. I love Zitao. Really, the kid is really endearing once you learn to put up with his eccentricity. But when he bit Luhan ge’s ear I really thought I might have lost Minseok hyung. They had to give a reward to me and Xing ge to prevent us from crawling on the floor in our hysterical laughter.

Somehow we all survived (even Luhan ge). And before we knew it the recording finished and we were ready to go back to our next schedule. However, we found out we had to record for other two or three interviews in the same studios but with different MCs. Those were going to be aired at different times and give the impression we always were at something new.

“Oh God,” commented Minseok as a hyperactive Xing ge patted him in the back.

“There’s still a chance for everyone,” Luhan ge commented casually.

“The worst passed,” Yifan mischievously added. He didn’t know he would have to sing and dance to a silly song and pass oranges with his neck. Yeah.

Some days later we were in China again with the sensation that all this travelling had somehow changed us (and destroyed whatever pureness remained in our young hearts XD).

“Ah, we are finally back,” said Zitao as he abandoned the luggage in the middle of the living room and jumped on the sofa to lie like a dead body. And somehow, the way he said it sounded more like “we are home”. The scene matched so well with my feelings that without him even asking I took his luggage to his bedroom. Zitao can be so extravagant in his behavior, but he is still a kid and the maknae of EXO M and I don’t think there’s any harm in pamper him a bit from time to time.

I then went to the room I share with Yifan ge to leave my luggage and put on my slippers and maybe nap before my turn to shower.

“Manager hyung said he is going to buy us some delivery food,” said Xing ge from the doorway. “You can go a take a shower Zhong da.” Yifan just collapsed on the armchair. Luhan probably did the same on his bed and as for Minseok hyung he is already unpacking his things.

I groaned and answered, “I thought you weren’t going to let this chance go, since you like showering so much.” I despite my tiredness.

He laughed as he entered the room and went to sit on Yifan ge’s bed.

“I wanted to take a nap first,” he replied with a smile.

“Hahaha… me too.”

“You did a great job, Zhong da,” he said out of the blue.

Unable to understand why he changed the topic (but Xing ge is always like that) I simply replied, “You too ge.”

“I mean… the live performance at the stadium. I was impressed; your voice never really faltered.”

“I’m a pro, ge,” I replied, trying to hide my embarrassment with a sassy answer. But for me, receiving praise from the most hardworking member meant a lot.

“Yes, you are.”

“What is with all the praise?”

“Can’t I praise my dongsaeng?”

“Did Joonmyeon hyung tell you something?” I countered, because I would totally expect this from hyung.

He looked at me, perplexed, and I understood he was sincere. I blushed.

“Never mind. Thanks,” I smiled adjusting myself better on the mattress so I could face him. “It would be meaningless for me to praise your dancing, wouldn’t it? Besides, you already know how much I think you are great.”

“Yah, I didn’t came here to receive praise!” he said, falling on the mattress (probably to hide his embarrassment.)

“You came here to gossip about Luhan and Yifan ge!”

“You got me, boy!” he said, regaining a seating position.

I laughed hard. “Ok, but I want to be the one to spread the gossip around in the K dorm!” I exclaimed, thinking about all those times Xiao Lu had squeaked to Chanbaek.

“Deal!” he replied enthusiastically. I wanted to ask him about the weak point on his neck… maybe next time, though.

We gossiped around even after we ate dinner, earning murderous looks from Xiao Lu and Yifan ge, but who cares? I was bonding with Xing ge.

Of course, the next day Luhan ge got a video call from a certain duo and a hyperactive evil maknae who laughed in his face.

Ten minutes later, Luhan was negotiating with Kyungsoo for a favor-punishment exchange.

Crap… Did we overdo it?

Xing ge, I’m scared!

Author’s note: please forgive me. First, I had my personal problems (boyfriend and too much work); then my computer broke down! TT anyway now I’m here and I’m thinking about a Christmas special to gain your forgiveness (I feel bad for the readers who are waiting for Is there limit to love… I’M SORRY… the new chapter got deleted. By the way, did you all see EXO show time? I nearly had a heart attack; they really are like the characters of a fiction! I’m so happy I didn’t go out of character! ^_^

PS: a big thanks to my boyfriend who lent me his computer to write this <3 ah, my birthday is on Christmas so please comment! Comments will be an awesome present! <3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdqS7RnhCl0