"Thank you!"

"You all have worked hard!"

The 6 boys chanted in the hallway as they greeted the staffs. They were all sweating from the games they played on the variety show recording. EXO-M was in Taiwan a year later with their newest release.

"Yah hyung! I can't believe you did 33 pull-ups on that bar!" Chen playfully punched Xiumin's arm. They were testing out EXO-M members' strength, and Xiumin came in second with 33, one pull-up lesser than Tao.

"Hey Tao did more than I did! Guess I'm losing my title of 'Strongest in EXO' now!" Xiumin joked. Tao looked over with a pout, but burst out in laughter. After they had their belongings and double checked if they left anything behind, EXO-M left the building.

"You guys can rest up in the hotel for an hour before we change and go for the radio recording alright?" Their manager ordered as he drove them back to their hotel. The boys sleepily nodded, and before long they all fell asleep. Xiumin however leaned against the window with his eyes half open.

Haerin had slowly disappeared from his mind after that night, and coming back brought back all the memories and emotions. It felt good, as if it was only right to feel like that. As their manager drove round a corner, Xiumin smiled to himself. They drove past the mall which the fansign event was held in front of. All the memories came flooding back, and Xiumin loved it. From running down the sidewalk and driving to Haerin's apartment to exchanging their first smiles and having a short conversation. Xiumin wondered if their meeting was fate or coincidence. Xiumin was starting to believe that it was fate, since it was very unlikely to meet the same person twice, and both encounters were bloody similar (A/N: Nope not cursing. It’s supposed to be written like that ^^;;). It could be a coincidental encounter, but it was better to think that it was fate.

After finally returning to their respective hotel rooms, Xiumin jumped onto his bed to take a short nap. He was pretty much the only member that is capable of waking up after a short nap without any problems. After 10 minutes, he heard someone knocking on his door. Xiumin hopped out of bed and opened the door. He was surprised to see Chen standing outside, considering that he had not visited his hotel room for a while. For the past month, it was Tao who often knocked on Xiumin’s door. Chen's eyes were half open, and Xiumin let him in.

"Hyung," Chen said in his rather raspy voice. Xiumin figured he just woke up from his nap. "you know, about last year's incident, that girl... what's her name again?"

"Haerin." Xiumin replied almost instantly. He felt embarrassed about it, but Chen did not seem to notice. He passed the younger his water bottle and the latter drank up.

"Yeah, Haerin-sshi. I remember you saying something about her being a radio DJ, like a few months ago. Do you think... we'll be going on her radio show?" Chen asked, lying on his side ily. Xiumin lips formed a slight pout and blinked a few times. That was something he did not consider when they were coming to Taiwan. He froze up for a minute, mind completely blank. It was as if he became the victim of his own power (they had abandoned their powers in their comebacks, but their powers were still used by fans) - frost. It was only after Chen electrocuted shook Xiumin did the older woke up from his stance.

"I... didn't think of that." Xiumin said truthfully. Chen blew air out of his nose and sat up straight. Xiumin gave Chen a reassuring smile, saying, "I don't think we can meet again. It's really unlikely, don't you think? The time I saw her back in Korea was probably because I was supposed to 'repay' her. Now that I've done that, I don't think we'll meet again." It was unintentional, but it sounded like Xiumin was convincing himself of that instead. He would not know how to react if he were to really see Haerin. It was better to let their 2 encounters be just a pleasant memory. Idols' love lives are difficult, and the victim is more often than not the one with lesser fans or non-celebrity. Chen nodded slowly and his lips as if he wanted to say something. Xiumin tilted his head to the right, gesturing Chen to speak.

"Do you happen to... like Haerin-sshi?" Chen asked, a little more straightforward than he had practiced in his head. Xiumin was taken aback by the question, but lied down on the bed. Xiumin nodded.

"Was it that obvious?" Xiumin asked. Chen looked down at the elder, nodding like a young child. Xiumin chuckled, but his smile disappeared as quickly as it came. The bitter feeling in his heart grew bigger with each passing second. "You know the song I wrote half a year ago? The one you accidentally saw?" Chen tutted, explaining that it was really an accident. Xiumin lightly punched Chen's knee, indicating that he was merely joking. His face turned serious in a split second.

"It was... about us. The title was supposed to be 'Forbidden Love', but I changed it to 'Coincidental Fate' instead. I never got around letting the company see the song, because I was afraid of what the consequences might be." Xiumin heaved a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes, visualising himself writing the song with a bitter heart. He knew all too well the consequences. He was still under a Korean entertainment management, and was known to Korean fans despite being in the Chinese group. Every scandal was met with backlash, and Xiumin was unsure if he would be able to protect Haerin should they end up together. She would be in Taiwan, and he would be traveling around.

"That..." Chen was at loss of words to say. He remembered entering Xiumin's room months ago, wanting to borrow some paper to write out his composition (Xiumin always had a stack of them of great quality, no one knows why). It was then he found out about the song, but Xiumin never really explained himself. Time flew by, and Chen slowly forgot about the incident. It was only until EXO-M was scheduled to fly to Taiwan and attend a radio show did he recall.

Before Chen could say anything, Xiumin sat up and said, "Yah Jongdae ah, it's time to get ready. Go back to your room; I'm sure noona is looking for you with your clothes." Chen could only nod and return to his room with a troubled mind. EXO-M members got ready to go to their radio schedule and they all climbed onto their van. They were given the rundown of the whole show on a piece of paper to speed things up. It was a one and a half hour program, pretty long for their first radio show in Taiwan. When they climbed out of their van, fans screamed in support of their arrival. The members showed their million-watt smile, waving and bowing at their beloved fans.

When EXO-M entered the studio, they bowed to the staffs and the PD gave a quick brief of what they would be doing later on the show. They listen attentively and the members tried to explain it to the 2 Korean members. Surprisingly, the members' explanation was always clearer than the translator's. Chen turned around to see Haerin sitting at her seat, starting the show. His face fell and turned to look at Xiumin. The older had already seen her, and he too was frozen to his spot. Haerin gave a slight nod in Xiumin's direction.

"Hyung..." was all Chen could make. Their manager snapped the two out of their stances and they sat on their seats woodenly.

"... and that was the debut song of the group that will be coming onto our show!" Haerin chirped into the microphone. It was as if she was unaffected with Xiumin's presence, but truth was her heart was pounding so hard it was about to break her rib cage. A week prior, Haerin heard that EXO-M was invited to her radio show, since her slot was the only slot available. Any earlier or later was impossible for the group. She was anticipating this day since the news, and now Xiumin was finally in front of her again, well and healthy. Her emotions were beyond words to describe.

Truth was, she also had feelings for Xiumin. The feelings developed long ago, and they lingered till this day. She had tried to cast the feelings aside many times, considering both their statuses, but feelings will never go away so easily. Haerin gave up, and allowed herself to childishly hold onto the feelings she had for Xiumin. Was it love, she doesn’t know, but none of that mattered at the moment.

"I'm sure you all are excited right now, I am just as excited!" Haerin chuckled in Chinese, smiling from ear to ear. "Now without any further ado, let's welcome Kungfu panda Tao-" and Tao proceeds to introduce himself.

"- Chen whose vocals can shatter glass -" Chen pressed down his jittery heart and gave a smiley introduction.

"- Our main dancer, jpg. and unicorn Lay-" everyone in the studio laughed and Lay proceeded with his introduction.

"- Charismatic, charming and absolutely breathtaking leader Kris-" Kris gave a short introduction with his deep voice.

"- The now manly deer Luhan-" Luhan faked his deepest voice for his introduction.

"- And finally our adorable baozi, who was praised for his professionalism in the recent performance, Xiumin!" Haerin tried to control her giggles when reading Xiumin's introduction. Xiumin swallowed and spoke into the mic in fluent Chinese, " Hello everyone! I am your baozi Xiumin! Thank you!"

"Welcome everyone!" Haerin chirped and the members clapped along with her. Chen swallowed uncomfortably whilst putting on a bright smile.

They introduced their new album, chose their favourite songs and talked about the song that Lay wrote and composed. Haerin was very engaging, and her radio hosting skills were excellent. It was unexpected for a girl like her, one that can be quite shy around people and is often a soft-spoken lady. Perhaps it was because of the environment and the surge of enthusiasm she gets whenever she was hosting anything. Or perhaps she was a natural at it. Whatever it was,any fans started to thank her for taking care of EXO so well on the radio show's official website.

When Haerin asked Xiumin questions, he answered with the brightest smile on his face. Pretend, he thought. That you and her are what you guys can never become.

FINALLY~ another chapter. Damn homework is really piling up high, so I barely had time to proof-read this. I edited a little here and there but that's about it.

Not exactly satisfied with the character developments, but I hope it is still acceptable! I estimate about two more chapters before I close Coincidental Fate and focus my efforts on my one-shot collections. I have a ton of drafts and ideas but I will need a LONG while to write them out. 

Please continue to wait patiently for the next chapters! It's ending soon):

Thanks for reading~