Friday, April 13 2012; China xoxo Wu Yifan “Kris”

Call him anxious, but usually getting called into SM's main office meant had hit the fan, and damn did it ever make Kris feel like running in the other direction.

Kris wasn't a superstitious person by nature so unlike Sehun, who made it his personal mission to stay in bed (and well away from Tao and his fondness of black cats) until midnight struck, he wasn't bothered that it was friday the thirteenth. It was just a day and a week, nothing supernatural about it. But nothing told him that there was a problem more than SM, who were tighter than a 's arsehole when it came to organising and attending events, randomly cancelling weeks worth of performances and public appearances.

And hell, they sure picked a good day to summon him.

Technically he had resorted to being a whiny nag and they had relented after a long and mildly frustrating attempt to brush him off like a spider had been bungee jumping on their shoulder. Now, they might have excused it as being a hiatus, but having their phones, television and laptops “upgraded” (in other words their privileges revoked, it shouldn't take more than a day to replace equipment let alone six) sounded more like they had been grounded.

What the for was a whole different ball game.

Kris couldn't think of anything that EXO-M had done to warrant it but he'd be damned if he let it slide without getting some answers. He wasn't even the first to have pegged that something was up. Chen had cornered him when Xiumin and Lay had distracted their glorified babysitters by staging a fight in the kitchen involving food, Luhan and what had sounded like a turkey being strangled.

Kris wasn't sure about Luhan though; he'd not been in the room at the time it kicked off.

When the black car coasted to the front of the building, Kris peered out of the window at a huge gathering of photographers, wailing fans and seizure-inducing flashing cameras, who pretty much tried to flip the ing car over they hit the door that hard. In a split second he went from glancing through black-tinted glass to an assault of faces like ballsacks and bodies cramming against the chassis.

.

They were like wild horses; all screaming, and spitting and gnashing teeth at the car, eyes rolling back, frothing at the mouth with unanswered questions and nasally naaagh. And he swore for a second he heard that sound vocalised from somewhere, but he couldn't figure out who or where and frankly he wasn't sure he wanted to.

Kris leaned away from the door and locked it before they could yank it open, inwardly blessing them with an ohmygodjesuschristwhatthewasthat expression. It was the very same one reserved for when he woke up in the middle of the night to Tao tripping over something in the hallway, where his paranoid sleep-addled brain tried to convince him there was an intruder in the dorm and he would have to chase them out by beating them over the head with a floppy slipper.

Really, it that was the kind of thought he had when he'd just woken up, or when he was just bored.

They had to go around to the rear entrance where Kris was technically dragged inside and up the elevator where his manager had barricaded himself in like his life depended on it. With that borderline psychotic mob outside, it probably did. SM's main building was buzzing with activity and the secretary picked up the phone as soon as they walked in, announcing his arrival. Not once did they let go of his arm, which either meant the guard was secretly an Exotic (that was what they were calling themselves these days, right?) or something very, very bad had happened and it was their fault. Something so ty that they were apparently unaware of that permitted the mafia to invade their house (and it was obviously heinous because the media were swarming outside like a hoard of undead zombies, but Kris really couldn't think of anything they'd personally done to ignite a scandal). On the ride up Kris couldn't figure out if he'd rather be stuck in with a rabid fanboy with combat training or facing whatever else was inbound.

And it had looked like this outside the dorm as well, except about ten ing times worse.

Entering the manager's office, he sat down in the chair facing his desk and immediately noted how wan he looked. Any demand Kris had fizzled out before he could say it. Head in his hands, he had a few lines that made him look ten or twenty years older, and his eyes were bloodshot.

There was a duffel bag like a miserable sausage beside his desk (draped over his own desk, so did the manager) and Kris wondered briefly if he had moved into the office and relabelled it a fort.

The manager looked up. “Kris,” he greeted. “Thank you for coming.”

Kris remained silent, but inclined his head in a confused you're welcome...?

“I take it by now you've noticed that there's a … little problem.”

Uhh, no. Little problem was huge understatement. Crazed fans outside the dorm, security increase. -hit-fan-hit-idol.

Not buying it.

“We've been trying to keep it quiet but somehow the news got out anyway. We've been trying to get you to Seoul to be with EXO-K but they're swarming the airports so we're trying to hire a private jet instead. I take it you've heard what happened by now?”

“I haven't,” Kris answered cautiously. “What's so important in Seoul?”

And hell, if that didn't make their Manager bricks.

As he left the office, one hundred percent he would have preferred the rabid fanboy.

Just over an hour after leaving, he returned to the dorm, and everything felt peaceful and ignorant, like the calm before the storm. Like the calm before the storm that nobody else noticed but him, except nobody would believe him when he pointed at the massive thunderhead about to steamroll over their faces because apparently they were blind as well as thick. He closed the door behind him with a soft click.

Tao was half lying, half reclining on the sofa with a cushion pulled against his stomach, his eyes half-mast and nodding his head to an Ipod, which was the only piece of technology they had allowed him to retain. From the hushed mumbles, Tao silently mouthing the lyrics and the staccato beat Kris recognised it as Wolf. Tao didn't notice him immediately but looked up when his shadow flitted across the peripheral of his vision.

The dancer's eyes widened the slightest fraction and the music abruptly cut off. Tao made a move to sit up, swinging one leg over the edge of the couch.

“It's Chanye', isn't it?” he whispered, padding up close, and Kris could see the worry in his dark eyes.

Kris cast him a questioning look and the martial artist admitted with no remorse whatsoever, “I eavesdropped on one of the guards on the phone when he thought I was asleep. I caught Chanyeol's name and Chen managed to sneak a peek out the window and saw...” An exasperated wave of his hand, a huff and a blink finished his sentence for him.

Kris took a breath shakier than he would have liked. “Gather the others.”

“Already done,” Tao reported. He led Kris to Lay and Luhan's room, where, as he had said, everyone was waiting. Apparently with them all herded together like chattering little mice the guards were content enough to leave them to whatever they totally-were-or-were-not-scheming.

A pack of cards had neatly exploded on the ground and a few magazines that were just sitting on propped up legs. Lay was sitting cross-legged on his bed, and Luhan pouted on the floor as though he'd been booted off. Chen lay beside Xiumin on the floor, his legs stretched towards the ceiling and kicking back and forth, and Xiumin just looked serenely unimpressed. It was a little bit like having a cat.

All eyes turned to him.

Kris didn't give them time to ask questions. “We're going to Seoul tonight.”

“What? Why?” Luhan glanced at Xiumin, who had sat with his hands on his knees, but rose at the news. “For how long?”

“For as long as we're needed.” Kris's gaze swept over his team and he pushed back any and all traces of fear. He looked as peaceful as an ice road; his surface expressions shifting minutely while an unseen torrent of water thrashed and surged underneath, grinding at the underside.

“We're going to meet up with EXO-K. Go prepare now, I'll explain later. SM will bring our stuff as usual.”

That was enough to spur them into action. The others rushed out of the room, heading for the bathroom to shower with Casper, or to their rooms to get whatever possessions remained that they wanted to take with them.

Kris turned to Tao once they entered the corridor. “Go, and don't mention anything to them yet.”

“Kris, what happened?”

“Go, Tao, please. Get ready. I'll explain it when we're on the plane. Don't worry, everything will be okay.”

Kris knew even though Tao obeyed his instruction that neither of them believed that was true.

Update: 16.11.2013
Mood; Calm
Inspiration; Shattered by Trading Yesterday
Drinking; Earl Grey Tea

Author comments;

Good afternoon! Well, this is the first chapter up, and to be honest I haven't anything save a finishing point. I tend to write whatever comes to mind while I'm writing, so there is very little plot planned, so don't expect many spoilers.

I don't tend to introduce many OCs, and you can be assured that none of them will be romantically involved with the boys. That's simply not my style. Strictly platonic. A few other groups might drop in here and there, like SHINee or Super Junior, but probably not extensive.

If there are any plot holes, be sure to let me know. Oh, and if I haven't explained something well enough and you're confused, be sure to drop a review or a message, I'll be glad to explain anything you need. Lastly, you can see this is a little journal-type entry with a few tidbits above. You can click the "Inspiration;" to listen to the song or watch the video I was listening (or watching) to while writing, though you don't have to.

For this chapter it was the song that inspired the story; Shattered by Trading Yesterday.

Thank you for reading.
 

Reviewer Responses;

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“People who see life as anything more than pure entertainment are missing the point.” - George Carlin