L
Plectrum of HopeWhen Chanyeol and Soo Yun arrive at S.M building, everyone had already gathered at the meeting room. It's actually manager hyung's office but since it's sort of big and spacious to be a one man workplace, they sometimes throw meet-ups there when something really important needs to be discussed and talked through. By the looks of everyone when they enter, Chanyeol senses that something big and horrible, had happened; that requires him to be there urgently. The air suddenly feels heavier when Sunghwan hyung hands him a white tablet with an expression that he's never seen before. Chanyeol furrows his brows; obviously not understanding what's going on.
"Read the headlines." Sunghwan instructs to the both of them. The other EXO members stay silent when Chanyeol squints to read the words. His heart stops beating and his whole world feels like it just collapse on himself.
EXO-K'S ARROGANT ENCOUNTER WITH FANS
THE RISING KPOP GROUP EXO DITCHED AND IGNORED CRYING FANS
EXO'S CHANYEOL NEW GIRLFRIEND???
"....and it seems that our happy virus has found a girl in his life. They were spotted holding hands together near Chungdam-dong and acting mushy with each other........Chanyeol ignored the fans that waited hours for them to come out......."
"......sources have reported that EXO-K Chanyeol ditched fans to go on a date with his new girlfriend at a fun fair in Seoul. Our reliable sources have also witnessed that their playful date was accompanied by the other members---......"
BREAKING NEWS: HAVE POPULARITY TURNED EXO INTO SNOBBISH IDOLS?
Dumbstruck, Chanyeol forces himself to click a link that has his name bolded in red. Pictures of him and Soo Yun holding hands, running side by side, having a snack together and even when they rode the bicycle pops up in front of his eyes in a matter of seconds. Chanyeol suddenly feels a flash of anger inside of him. Whoever took this photos was evidently disrupting his privacy and it makes him feel upset and furious at the same time. Almost like the feeling of wanting to get mad but then realizes he doesn't have the right to do that. Being famous is one thing, but he always consider the fans to respect his private life. He does belong to the them, but his private life does not; he agreed on that more than anything else. But now it's not exactly working out.
Soo Yun spots the long line of comments that are posted below the blog post; and her heart feels a sharp pang like it had been stabbed a million times.
"EWWW WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS??!! GOING OUT WITH CHANYEOL??? UGLY HOE"
"Why would Chanyeol pick her? She looks like a stuck-up "
"OH LOOK she's acting scared when the fans came so that oppa would hold her hand and protect her. How sweet. What. A. ."
"Chanyeol oppa deserves better"
"WHO THE IS SHE??!1"
The remarks range from simple derision to direct threats to kill her. Hundreds of them. The insults and slanderous comments makes her eyes sting but she forces and forces herself to blink the tears away. She can't cry now. Not in front of them. Not in front of him.
Chanyeol is speechless when he scrolls down and reads the comments posted. He never contemplates that his good intentions of taking a relaxation trip to the fun fair backfired on him. And they easily made Soo Yun the target when it's clearly not her fault. She doesn't say a word but Chanyeol can see her body trembling to stop herself from shedding a tear. Chanyeol has to restrain himself to not reach out and hold her hand. It was his fault. She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to go through all of this at all.
"I don't get why they would lash out at her like that," Kyungsoo, the usually most quiet member in the group, suddenly speaks up, causing them to nod in apprehension. Soo Yun smiles gratefully at him with tears on the rims of her waterline that she wipes instantly with the back of her sleeve.
"None of it is true! We didn't ignore them. We decided to run in case things would get more dangerous." Jongin shakes his head in utter disappointment.
"And the fans were girls that we passed by at a store. I'm pretty sure they weren't fans who claim they waited for us for hours." Baekhyun retorts. He runs his fingers through his hair causing him to look disheveled than his normal appearance.
"It doesn't matter if they lied. What matters is the news is spreading like wildfire around the internet and we can't do anything to stop them from spreading more fibs because it's far too late for that. This could seriously ruin our image and reputation and impact everything. Not just EXO, but S.M's rep too since you are under this company." Sunghwan looks at each one of them sternly.
"I'll take full responsibilty." Chanyeol says, and every pair of eyes avert to him. "It was my idea."
"No Chanyeol-ah, we would all take the blame." Suho's eyes are swollen from lack of sleep. "We are one, remember? I'm not letting you deal with this by yourself." He then swings his arm around Chanyeol's shoulder and both of them looks up at Sunghwan expectantly.
"Alright then. I'll hold a press conference tomorrow and you will all apologize to the fans, truthfully." Sunghwan emphasizes the last word. "And Chanyeol will reveal that Soo Yun isn't his girlfriend but merely a temporary supervisor assigned with you guys. I'll take care of the rest. Am I clear?"
"Crystal clear." the members reply. Chanyeol stays silent but nods in agreement. Soo Yun flinches.
Manager hyung clears his throat just as they all head to the door. "Soo Yun-ssi, I need to see you for a minute. There's paperwork you need to finish up."
Soo Yun freezes by the door before she takes a deep breath and turns around. Chanyeol looks back and is about to call her. He's desperate to ask her if she's okay. But Suho shakes his head and leads Chanyeol away.
When the other members have gone, Sunghwan looks up at her with rageful eyes that are obscured with a solemn expression. "I need you to stay away from the boys. Especially Chanyeol."
The statement catches her off guard. She feels go dry and sweat starts to trickle down her neck but she finds the courage to ask anyway. "Why?" Her hands curl into fists at both sides of her body.
He laughs humourlessly that causes her to step back. "You still don't comprehend the situation do you? Look, let me just get this straight. You're only a part of the team incharge of EXO. Not more than that. You are obliged to help and supervise them, not going on happy dates or hold hands just because your teenage hormones want to. You're a bad mole that'll impact their image. Your presence as someone more than a supervisor is making things worst for them so I suggest you keep your distance to a minimun rate--or better---stop acting like you're friends with them because you're clearly just a worker here. If S.M didn't take you in for the job, you wouldn't even have the chance to breathe in the same room as they do." He offers her an innocent yet a sly smile as he crosses his legs and leans back on his chair. "So stay away from them for now on. Or there will be consequences that I'm sure you would rather not have. Do you understand?" he asks sternly, his eyes watching her every move.
Soo Yun stays silent. Her face is hot with embarassment.
"Do I make myself clear, Miss Choi?" He asks again; and this time with a slight warning tone.
"Yes." She manages to croak out but her body is shaking with humiliation and anger.
"Good. You can leave now. I hope you won't have any intentions of telling the boys about this because I'll surely find out."
She exits the room immediately, her body feels heavier than usual. Her heart aches from the hurtful remarks thrown at her. Her head throbs with too much thoughts flowing in her brain. She knew what would happen if she ignores the threat; she's going to lose her job for sure. Hell, she can't afford that in a million years. She needs money to support her brother and herself. But if it means breaking her friendship with the boys, and Chanyeol, would she really have the heart to do it? Should she be selfish, or selfless?
Chanyeol turns on the lights to his room. For a moment he's dazzled when the brightness greets his eyes. His room's condition is just as same as he left it this morning. The covers are tuck tightly, the duvet rests by the side of the bed and the blue curtains sway in a light motion. He walks over to his bed; inadvertantly stepping on some of his laundries that scatter on the floor like fallen soldiers. His eyes catch white envelopes placed neatly on top of each other at his bedside table. Kwan must've put it there.
He goes through each one of them with a dreadful feeling in his chest. There were ten envelopes; each one identical to one another. He didn't care to open them for the past week so that's why there are more than ever. The recent one; the plectrum with the smallest number among all, rests on his palm. It's made from a material he doesn't recognize but the number is there; carved proportionally: L.
50. 50 more of what? Days? If it's days then what's going to happen in 50 more days?
He traces his name with his thumb that's written on the envelope. A peculiar feeling strikes him instantly. The handwritting look odd. It's the same handwritting, but this time the cursive letters are scrawly and crooked, like written by shaking hands.
It's 3.17 am in the morning and Chanyeol can't sleep. He toss and turns after waking up in his pool of sweat. The nightmares start to haunt him again. After a while, the dream eventually floats back to the surface of his thoughts. He was surrounded my faceless people that tried to strangle and drown him in his own blood. Then one of the creatures emerged into a face that belongs to Sang-chul and Chanyeol screamed his throat off that made him to wake up.
His drowsy eyes move lazily across the room and catches the guitar picks that he had pasted methodically on the wall. Some of them reflects the light beaming from his bedside table lamp. He's not quite sure why, but he's suddenly determine to find out who the sender is; and the motive hidden behind the plectrums.
At 7.00 a.m, Chanyeol is already standing beside the entrance to the building while waiting for the person who usually brings all the parcels to come. He's certain that the sender of the plectrums will send his or her letters on their own because they always end up being on top of the sack. At exactly 7.05, an old man with a moustache drops two sacks of bag near the door and leaves without a word. Chanyeol waits.
10, 15, 20 minutes pass.
25 minutes.
26, 27, 28, 29, 3-
Chanyeol sees a little girl sneaking through the gates and skips towards the sacks of parcels. He frowns in utter confusion when she pulls out a white envelope from her trenchcoat and puts it carefully on one of the parcels. No way, he thinks. Then she turns around and walks from the building. Chanyeol stumbles in his steps when he runs after the little girl but manages to tug her hand.
"Ya, wait!" Chanyeol catches up with her and she turns around; puzzled. "What's your name, chingu-ya?"
"Han-gyul-nim, oppa!" she smiles brightly.
"Han-gyul-ah, the letter that you just put there. Are you the one who wrote it?" Chanyeol's heart beats faster by the second.
"Aniyo. Unnie told me to put it there. She gave me a lollipop." She takes out a red lollipop from her pocket and shows it to him.
"Unnie? Your sister?" Chanyeol lowers himself so that he's the same level as Han-gyul.
"Ani oppa! I don't know who she is." Han-gyul admits sadly.
"Did you...see her face? What's she like? Did she say what her name was?" Chanyeol prompts her. He needs to get at least a little bit of information.
"I couldn't even see her face. Half of it was covered with her hair...like this!" Han-gyul pulls a handful of her hair so that it would fall and cover half of her face.
Chanyeol drops his shoulder in disappointment but offers the little girl a smile anyway and taps her head. "Gomawo, Han-gyul-ah. You've helped oppa a lot. You're a bright girl."
She beams in delight and nods. Then she turns around and starts to leave. But when she reaches the gate of the compound, she turns around again to face Chanyeol who stands and waves at her. "OPPA!" She calls out.
"Oh?" He shouts back.
"Is oppa's name Chan-yeol?"
He grins. "Yes, my name's CHAN-YEOL. How did you know?"
"When unnie gave me the letter, she told me that the letter is for you. She said you have to keep it safe. It's important." she says. She waves a final goodbye and leaves Chanyeol alone in the open.
{ A/N }
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