Kris Wu’s POV

“I don’t want to see anyone at the studio tomorrow arasso?” Youngjun-hyung yawned, standing under the front door frame of the dorm. There were bags under his eyes and his hair looked like it needed a thorough wash.

“Neh Hyung,” I nodded.

“Make sure the guys don’t eat too much crap and that no one does anything too tiring. The last thing we need is the rest of the world catching Baekhyun’s breakout under his fringe,” Jaehyuk-hyung massaged his temples in sharp circular motions. One, two, three. One, two, three. “If pink spots pop up on anyone else’s face I’ll throw you all on a diet.”

I nodded and made a mental note to make sure that didn’t happen. I didn’t want to turn into everyone’s errand boy, sneaking out into the middle of the night to smuggle in bags of chips and boxes of donuts.

“Anything else?” I checked, my hand aching to close the door for the night.

“Just makes sure you and Suho keep a tight leash on them. You all need to behave even when you’re given a day off,” Youngjun-hyung said.

“Of course,” I murmured, imagining the havoc the twelve of us could cause if we didn’t keep a low profile tomorrow. What I had in mind wasn’t a pretty image.

Youngjun-hyung clasped his hands together, “Well then, goodnight Kris.”

“And good luck,” Jaehyuk grunted, with a farewell salute.

I waved goodbye and closed the door once they were gone. We had the day off tomorrow because of a new patch of pimples Baekhyun had sprouted overnight due to a lack of sleep. Our managers treated pimples like leprosy, something you would want to keep out of the public eye and something you would hope no one else would catch. It was ridiculous considering the fact that pimples were as contagious as rust to stainless steal- impossible.

I felt sorry for Baekhyun because of that. He felt like he was causing our comeback to be held back when in reality none of the members felt that way about the situation. In fact we were all grateful towards his skins decision to clot up because it meant we could relax for a moment. But none the less, I knew how he felt. It was a feeling near anything but good.

I ran a hand through my hair and walked into my room to find Luhan slipping into his bed.

“Hey,” He gave me a sleepy eye smile.

I closed the door behind me and sat down at the end of my bed, “Hey.”

“Anything to report?” He asked. Lying down on his back, his gaze on the ceiling while his hands found comfort pressed underneath his head.

“Jaehyuk-hyung is threatening to put us all on a diet if one other member breaks out,” I moved in underneath my blankets.

“Can’t let that happen. Food’s too important,” He chuckled.

I rolled over to flip off my bedside table lamp “I know Lu, I know.”

The silence that followed was comfortable. The dark of the night swallowed us slowly, hiding us within its shadows. It wasn’t long before the soft, steady breathing of my roommate could be heard. Luhan had never had trouble falling asleep and tonight was no exception.

It couldn’t have been just the lack of sleep that caused the breakout on Baek’s face. I was waiting for Lu to make a comment along those lines, but it didn’t come tonight. It would have been a combination of the snacks, lack of sleep and stress. Though none of the managers would ever acknowledge that. The pressure to comeback was a weight that we all had to bear and it was taking its toll on everyone.

Dance, sing, act. All day, every day. When did we stop? We didn’t know. Sometimes until our voices were so worn out that when we spoke we sounded hoarse. When our legs couldn’t support us anymore then we could take a break. Retaking that same scene over and over again until the director was satisfied. It was as if we were trainees again. Clueless.

Just like Lee Yunji.

That girl, that Lee Yunji was interesting. She didn’t let anyone in on my secret visits to her café nor did she ever try to press me for details about EXO. Yet she, like many of our fans, was listening to the leaks of our title track song. She claimed to think of me as her second husband. However she didn’t recognise me the first time we met.

Why was that?

And why did the guys like her bubble tea so much?

I hadn’t told her, because I didn’t know whether it was a good idea or not, but the reason why I had been buying more tea from her store was not only because of Sehun anymore. Chanyeol, Lay and Xiumin were also big fans of her tea too, after stealing sips from Sehun’s cup. I hadn’t tried it myself nor did I intend to, but it was a temptation of mine to take the smallest of sips. Just to see what the big fuss was about. But I wouldn’t do it. I didn’t know why, but I just didn’t want to. Maybe it was because I actually talked to her once in a while, because I knew her.

Okay I didn’t actually know much about her at all, not enough to say that I knew her. But still, it was as close to getting to know a girl outside of the company as I was going to get.

Girls in the company were great, but they weren’t special. Talent wise, they were all fabulous. But there wasn’t much left to them. They had pretty faces, slim bodies and were fun to hang around on occasion. But what more was there to them? They were like dolls, perfect.

Perfect was boring.

“Why am I even thinking about this stuff?” I muttered, thrashing around in my bed. Frustrated. I wanted to sleep, but my mind was restless.

Weird bubble tea girl, why are you keeping me up?

Before I knew it, I had my phone in my hands and was lying on my stomach. My thumbs moving on autopilot, swiped against my screen.

Are you awake?

The unknown impulse that had taken control of me for a few seconds faded and I realized what I was doing.

What the hell?!

I was texting Yunji at two in the morning, like a retard with the most idiotic question in the world to ask a girl who runs her own store by herself.

I’m going to just- I don’t even know. I should put my phone down. Maybe if I put the phone down she won’t reply. Yep let’s do that-

My phone vibrated in my hand, causing me to nearly drop it.

“,” I hissed, gripping the slim device for dear life.

Hesitantly and reluctantly, I opened Yunji’s reply.

New Message received from Lee Yunji

No.

The sarcasm dripping off of that one syllable, single worded text was enough to make me toss one right back at her. Childishly, I was suddenly very much awake.

Haha, very funny.

Her response met me a moment later.

You do know what time it is right?

I scoffed, expecting a nervous, timid text. But there was no hint of a fangirl’s dream come true coming through her text.

I do.

Okay, so maybe it was stupid for me to have been doing this. I mean, yeah, I had the day off tomorrow. But I knew very well that she didn’t and that in turn, I was keeping her up.

I don’t live at the café Kris. If you want more tea you’ll have to go somewhere else.

I frowned.

Well that’s blunt. What makes you think that I want more tea?

I felt kind of insulted. Did she think I was that stupid? To believe that she would still be at her café and to be willing to sort out drinks for me during the wee hours of the morning?

You only ever try to get a hold of me for tea.

I found myself feeling guilty because of that text. It really was like that, wasn’t it? Was that why she didn’t really flip out whenever I visited her? Did it look like I was using her to make my life easier? I mean, I was. But that wasn’t my intention, to make her feel that way. I didn’t think of our arrangement like that in the slightest.

My phone buzzed again.

Sorry, if I sounded blunt.

I officially felt like a douchebag. Though there wasn’t exactly a good reason as to why I should have felt the way I did.

I don’t want tea pabo.

My text wasn’t meant to be. There was no hidden jab to it. It was just the truth. I didn’t know why I began to text her in the first place, but it definitely wasn’t for tea.

No sound greeted me. There was no flash of light from my phone. I remained alone in the dark, staring down at the shiny rectangle in my hand.

Ugh. Well this is just great.

She’s not going to text back.

Time to go to-

Then what do you want?

A grin stretched across my lips as I saw the question appear on my screen. It shouldn’t have made me so happy to know that she hadn’t took my text the wrong way. But it did.

With heavy eyelids that were ready to shut up for the night, I sent my last text.

I’ll tell you tomorrow. 8:30, Black Pearls.

With a smile, I forgot all about my exhaustion with anticipation. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but it didn’t matter.

Perhaps the clueless one wasn’t Lee Yunji. Maybe it was really me.

I’ll see you soon.

Writer's Notes:
 

Hey everyone! This update hasn't been edited or anything, but this is the beginning of the fun that I've been waiting to write! So yeah...
I'm leaving soon O_O
So I don't know when I'll be updating next. I am pre-writing chapters to release while I'm away for 4 weeks but they probably won't come out regularly so please be patient! I've been so busy finishing assignments and studying that I really just can't wait to hop on that plane and fly away~~~
Thanks for reading/commenting/subscribing/upvoting/supporting and being awesome guys! ^^
Please talk to me, tell me what you think about the story or anything in general. I'm all up for a random chat :D

Lots of love,
exoexo,
HEARTACHES <3