Eunmi’s Point of View

It was literally hard to breathe, especially with the thought in mind that D.O and I almost kissed. Tracing my fingers over my lips, I could not help but smile as well and without noticing, a giggle had escaped my mouth. Uncle looked at me with a weird expression and I had to supress the giggly feeling I had.

“Why are you suddenly in a good mood?” he asked me.

“No reason,” I smiled.

He only shook his head as a response, probably thinking why teenage girls are so complicated.

When we arrived to my house, I said thank you and bid him goodbye until the next time. As I was walking towards the front door, I could hear clinging inside the house and I began to feel anxious. Could there have been a burglar rummaging through the cupboards?

Mustering up my courage, I took a deep breath and quietly unlocked the door, and then tiptoeing my way around the house. The source of the noise came from the kitchen and the culprit had its back facing me, wearing a beanie on its head. I looked around and spotted the rolling pin, and so I picked it up without making any sound.

Slowly, I made my way towards the person and just as I was about to lift the pin up, the person turned around only to startle me when I found out who it really was.

“Eomma?!” I shouted.

“W-Why are you holding that rolling pin up?” she asked, an expression of shock painted on her face.

I quickly hid it behind my back and laughed nervously, as I shook my head and smiled innocently. I walked to her and engulfed her in an embrace, while at the same time placing down the pin behind her on the counter. When we pulled apart, she held my shoulders and examined my face.

“How have you been?” she asked me.

“I’m as same as ever. When did you get back?” I asked.

She smiled at me and stepped back to resume to what she was previously doing.

“I got back about two hours ago. Did you go anywhere?”

“Oh, um, yeah. Uncle just took me around, you know,” I replied, trying to avoid an EXO subject.

“D.O’s not in his room. Did he leave already?” she asked me.

Should I have lied or told her the truth? But, before I could even give her an answer she had returned to face me and was looking at me with anticipating eyes. I was beginning to feel nervous and I was not exactly sure why, perhaps it was the itching thought that D.O’s father knew her. Confusion was engulfing me and I could do nothing but gulp down the lump in my throat.

“Eunmi?” my mother asked, bringing me back to my senses.

“Yeah, he left,” was all I could say.

Unexpectedly, my mother hugged me once again while caressing my hair. I had missed her and being comforted about the situation she knew not about was calming me a little bit. My eyes started to get teary and it was only soon till I had lost it; I cried and hugged her back.

“I miss him already,” I sobbed, and then followed with a whisper. “I didn’t even tell him.”

“Shh,” my mother hushed. “You could live even before he came, right? Honey, sometimes life doesn’t give you what you want and all you can do is to live with it. Everyone has been through the same situation whether it is about love or materialistic things.”

What she said slowly sunk in mind and I tried to calm myself by inhaling and exhaling slowly. I released myself from the hug and smiled at her.

“I guess life does that, huh? Thank you, eomma. I’ll just head to my bedroom now.”

-

Third person Point of View

When the following day arrived, EXO got ready for their radio interview. The dorm was a chaos and everyone was running everywhere but, it was a good atmosphere that was filling the place. EXO-M was more than excited to participate in a Korean interview again and EXO-K, well, let us just conclude by saying they were anything but excited.

After an hour of getting ready, they hopped in the vans and headed towards the studio. About a hundred fans were already waiting for them there but, it was mostly fan sites that needed to provide photographs for everyone else behind the computer screens.

EXO had to struggle in order to get inside but, they made it in the end. They found the studio, with Ryeowook already waiting there, and went inside to sit on their seats.

“We have a special guest today, who will be making a comeback very soon. Everyone, can you guess who it is? That’s right, it is EXO!”

The members clapped and overlapped each other’s voices with their hellos and Suho began by starting their greeting, “We are one!” and everyone else followed by saying, “We are EXO!”

“Waah~ The atmosphere really is great now that EXO is finally here. Please introduce yourselves to the listeners and viewers, since we haven’t seen you in a while,” Ryeowook instructed.

“Annyeonghaseyo, galaxy Kris-imnida.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, this is the guy who made ‘kkaebsong’ famous, Baekhyun-imnida.”

“Yo yo, Luhan deer-imnida.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, this is the awesome maknae, Sehun-imnida.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, Xiumin-imnida.”

“Annyeonhaseyo, y and tan dancing machine, Kai-imnida.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, I am EXO’s voice, Chanyeol-imnida.”

“Annyeonhaseyo, Chen-imnida. I hope you missed us, everyone, because we missed you, too.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, unicorn Lay-imnida.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, leader Suho-imnida.”

“Annyeonghaseyo, romantic AB style panda Tao-imnida.”

“This is D.O.”

Everyone in the room turned their heads to D.O because of how he introduced himself. It was so monotonous and lifeless, like he did not want to be there. Ryeowook laughed nervously, hoping that the listeners was not suspecting anything, and cleared his throat while looking at D.O.

D.O sighed heavily and pursed his lips, before leaning by the microphone again.

“Annyeonghaseyo, D.O eomma-imnida.”

“Yes, now that you have all heard EXO’s greetings again, let us begin our interview.”

Half way through the broadcast, everything was going fine and smoothly. They had questionnaires and played games with fans but, on the next segment of the interview, things seemed odd and the fun aura that they had built throughout the broadcast came crashing down.

“A few fans have sent us a question for EXO or individual members, which they will now be answering. The first one is: What is it like in the dorm, where there is no camera? Jinx2103.”

“I think we’re pretty much the same when there is no camera following us,” Chanyeol began. “The image we show on camera is who we really are and as you can see, we are crazy on camera so that is also us in our dorm where no camera follows us.”

“I have seen these kids off camera and I can agree with that statement, haha. Second question is, this one looks a bit serious, but we will ask it, anyway. What should you do when the person you like is liking someone else, and you’re betraying both of them because you have no other choice? PSHisconfused.”

EXO looked at one another and no one seemed to get the question at first. They thought it was weird that their fans would ask them such a question and it puzzled them. Silence filled the room for a while and everyone thought of an answer, or at least an appropriate and proper one. D.O then clicked his tongue and grabbed the microphone, and placing it near his mouth.

“PSHisconfused, if you really like this person, then why would you even think of betraying them? If you think that you have no other choice, then you’re wrong because there is always a choice. You should also think about what that person is going to feel and not just think about yourself. That’s something I learned for myself.”

The EXO members thought about D.O’s answer and nodded in agreement. They still, however, thought the question was weird and out of the blue. It sounded too personal and the fact that some of EXO-K felt that they could understand just made things even more out of the ordinary.

“This last question is from Anonymous00. Hello, EXO oppas. I love everyone a lot, but I have to say that D.O-oppa tops my list. I’ve loved D.O ever since before I got to really know him and the more I knew him, the more I fell. It saddens me because he doesn’t really know me, you know? I am just a fan, after all. My question is, anyone can answer, by the way, what would you do if you’re confused whether you really love a person or not?”

“These questions are really making us think,” Chen laughed.

“We should just start an advice column,” Luhan chuckled.

Sehun and Kai turned to look at D.O, and they saw how his hands were balled up into fists. Baekhyun was also looking at his friend and he felt sorry for him, though not knowing the exact reasons why. Suddenly, D.O slammed the table and quickly grabbed the microphone so close to his mouth. He was angry, yet at the same time he was feeling touched.

“Yah! If you love someone, then you should know it!” he shouted. “I’m sure the person you love is loving you back, but he’s also confused, okay?! He’s confused because he’s never felt like this before and it must , because he can’t even admit to her how he feels! He—”

“D.O, that’s enough,” Baekhyun told him as he tried to get his friend away from the microphone.

“What’s happening here?” Xiumin asked feeling confused.

“I can’t deal with this,” D.O whispered, his voice cracking.

Kai took a deep sigh and he leaned near the microphone. He looked at the other members, before he began to speak.

“Look Anonymous00, love can be confusing and sometimes you don’t know whether you really love a person or not. But, all I know is that no matter what that person does, no matter if it hurts you or makes you happy, you can’t get mad at them. No matter how much of a jerk that person is, you still want to stay with them. I think that if you’re feeling that way towards that person, you really love them even after knowing who they really are.”

Kai was looking at D.O throughout the whole time he was saying this. D.O’s teeth were clenched and his hands were once again in fists, and he wanted to punch his fellow member but, he could not. Something in him wanted to thank Kai and hug him in appreciation but, he was not that type of person.

Deep down, though, he knew in himself that he was no longer the D.O he used to be.

-

“That was a really weird interview,” Kris commented.

“Tell me about it,” Tao added.

“You guys seem to know something that we don’t,” Lay told the EXO-K members.

“No, we don’t,” Sehun said.

“Are you sure? Then explain to us what happened back there,” said Lay.

“We can’t really explain,” Suho told them.

“Why not?” asked Xiumin.

“Because only I know the whole story,” D.O sighed.

EXO sat in the living room while D.O told everyone the whole story. They were both shocked and felt sympathy towards him but, they were mostly happy to find that D.O was starting to change. When D.O finished with telling the story, everyone was just quiet and no one spoke a word.

EXO-M tried hard to absorb all the newfound and interesting information that was fed to them. They found it intriguing that the situation was even possible for someone like them and inside, they were a little envious that EXO-K’s lives were a lot more interesting than theirs when they were in China.

“That was Eunmi then… Anonymous00 was her,” Luhan spoke first.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun replied.

It was quiet once again but, it did not last long. The doorbell to their dorm was rung and Suho got up to answer whoever it was that was seeking them. He was surprised to find that it was Mr. Do awaiting them, along with his assistant, Jokwon.

“Don’t just stand there, Junmyeon. Are you going to let me in?” he asked.

Suho shook his head and stepped aside so that the guests could enter. D.O was the most shocked to see his father in their dorm because he rarely visited him.

“Why are you here?” D.O asked him.

“Should I need a reason just to see my only son?” his father answered.

“For a father like you, then yes. Now, why exactly are you here?”

“Fine,” Mr. Do said. “I came to say that I am the reason why you are holding your comeback.”

“What?!” D.O and Baekhyun shouted in unison.

“You?! Why the hell would you do that?!” D.O yelled.

“Hear me out, alright? Jokwon, show him the photographs.”

Jokwon handed to D.O a brown envelope and when he opened it, he saw photos of Sanghyun following him and Eunmi around. D.O crunched up the photos he held in his hands and began to breathe heavily and unstably. He looked at his father with furious eyes, demanding for an explanation.

“I found out that this boy was spying on you and Eunmi and afraid that he might scatter false news about the both of you, I asked President Lee to hold your comeback to separate you both from each other. By separating you from her, this boy will no longer have a purpose to follow you around because nothing is going on between you and Eunmi. I hope you understand what I did, son. I did this to protect you,” then turning to everyone around the room, “all of you.”

The fury inside D.O was like a dragon wanting to release its fire in anger. He did not like Sanghyun but, knowing what he knew now just made his hate in Sanghyun grow even more. Mr. Do looked at his son’s face and he celebrated his triumph within him, knowing that he had succeeded in his plan.

When Mr. Do and Jokwon left the dorm building and they were alone in the car, Jokwon could not help but ask his boss why he did what he just did to Sanghyun.

“When you no longer need something, Jokwon, you have to let them go. That is what I just did to Sanghyun,” he replied.

Something in Jokwon made him terrified of Mr. Do. He thought that someday there was a possibility that he might be let go as well when Mr. Do no longer needed him. At that moment he felt a pang of guilt inside him and everything he has done for his boss all seemed wrong.

-

Sanghyun’s Point of View

Sandy and I walked towards the mansion’s front door and rang the doorbell. It was only a couple of seconds before eomma answered it and welcomed us with a hug. She looked so ragged but, she looked even more ragged when she picked up the dust pan and brush.

“Eomma, you need to rest,” Sandy told her.

“I’m fine, dear. After meeting your friends, I feel energised again.”

My teeth clenched and the grip I had on the bag’s strap tightened as I looked at my tired and worn-out mother. After looking at her I thought that maybe what I did to Eunmi, and D.O, was not so bad because I did it for my mother and my sister. My mother no longer had to work at the mansion because the money I received was sufficient for us to move away and she can be employed again.

I just had to figure out how to explain to them on how I got the money but, that was not important right now. I held my mother’s wrist and took the brush and dust pan from her hands, before taking her in an embrace. We were a poor family but, we were rich when we were together.

“Sanghyun, is there something wrong?” my mother asked.

“No, eomma, everything’s fine,” I told her, although deep inside I knew that things were not at all alright. “We’ll help you clean up, and then we can rest together, okay?”

My mother nodded and smiled, making the wrinkles beneath her eyes more prominent. We went inside and began to help her.

You wish you didn't think bad of Sanghyun, now did you? HAHA. But, I hope you kind of get his story, about their 'mansion' and everything.

/sighs/ To be honest, I feel like this story's getting boring, like, I'm not feeling it; nothing great is happening and it's really dragging. SORRY for that >///<

But, despite it being boring, do COMMENT on what you liked and VOTE if you enjoyed it~

Follow @.exoimagine on Instagram if you want to see the other things that I write :) Thank you for reading this chapter <3 Come again.