[Ren's POV]

                Honestly, it felt horrible having to sing in Chinese. I loved Chinese music and I have a fair few in my iPod; EXO-M's mostly. But the pronunciation was a pain in the and I was an absolute disgrace!

                "Hey, you're better than Chen when he first started," said Kris.

                "Probably 'cos I'm learning from him," I said.

                "You learnt your Chinese from him?"

                "Well, I'm sorry, but he is your main vocalist. So naturally, he gets most of the parts! And I'm not a rapper."

                "You can't lie to me, I've heard you rap; in English, but it's still rap."

                "Yeah, I have rapped, but I'm not a rapper!"

                Jaekyung and Hyoim usually take care of the raps in our songs. But neither of them dared to do lengthy English raps, so I had to pick up rapping. English, being my mother-tongue, was obviously easier, but I have practiced in Korean. Chinese...I let Kris take care of it.

                "Xīn píbèi bùkān hái yào jìxùzhe míngtiān; Hàipà nǐ xīntòng duì nǐ yǐnmánzhe yīqiè," I sung, in full focus of the lyrics.

                "All right, now," Kris interrupted. "Put the sheet down, and see what you remember."

                My brain was about to explode with memorisation. I had the chorus and a good chunk of the first verse in my head, but the second verse was giving me problems. But as Kris instructed, I held the sheet behind my back and repeated the line.

                "Xīn píbèi bùkān hái yào jì...míngtiān," I blubbered halfway.

                Kris laughed. "Close; jìxùzhe. You sure you don't wanna break?"

                "Oppa, I have to get this down packed by next week or I'm screwed! I already agreed to this! And I don't know why!"

                "Hey, you got through the first verse and chorus! That's already really good for day one," said Kris. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving."

                "Is there a bigger purpose to this?" I asked, walking up to my bag.

                "Whaddya mean?"

                "Is there another reason why Chen asked me to sing with him?" I asked. "I know about Liyin Unnie. She's in China, promoting her album. So why 'Breath' and why me?"

                "You can ask him. I couldn't tell you," said Kris. "Honestly, I wish I knew. All I know is I'm as jealous as Hell that I can't be the one to sing with you. I should've thought of something before that kid swooped in."

                This time, I laughed at him. "But I like your voice! You guys have your Dodol alarms, yeah? Make me a lullaby so I can listen to your voice when I can't sleep."

                I've always had a soft spot for guys with bass-tone voices. Chen's voice is amazing as it is, but I have a weakness for bass. That's one of the best points about having a boyfriend like Kris.

                "OK," he said simply. "Now come on, let's go. Let's go get food!"

                Before we could actually leave, my phone rang.

                "Oh, Ruby-ah," I spoke into the phone.

                "Unnie! The EXO Oppa-deuls wants us to eat with them! Can we go?" asked Ruby.

                "Oh, sure you can, why are you asking me?" I asked.

                "What's going on?" asked Kris.

                "Your members wanna eat dinner with mine," I whispered away from the phone.

                "Can you and Kris Oppa come too?" asked Ruby. "EXO Oppa-deuls may want to drink. And I don't know what to do when people drink!"

                Suddenly, I was thinking it was probably wise that we ate with them. I haven't been around EXO when they drink either, but unlike them, all my members were underage. If any of them were at risk of such exposure, I could get in trouble even if no one was hurt.

                "We can go too," said Kris. "I just need food!"

                "Yeah, OK, we'll be there too," I said to Ruby.

*

[Kris' POV]

                Luckily, the restaurant owners didn't even serve us alcohol because of all the minors that were with us. Although it seemed pretty intensed. Usually, it's pretty packed with just the twelve of us, but now plus another six just blew things out of proportion. I kinda felt bad for the restaurant people and the other customers.

                I made sure Ren was sitting right next to me, and close enough for our legs to touch. I needed to show that we weren't afraid of being caught and that we had nothing to be ashamed of.

                "So, Ren," Chen called. "How's your Chinese coming on?"

                "I'm working on it," I said. "And don't push! Just because you're so perfect with your high and low!"

                "Oh, hey!" exclaimed Suho. "Manager Hyung just sent me our pairings for our teasers!"

                "Pairings?" asked Baekhyun. "So not all of us are with Crescere?"

                "Most of us are sharing one member," said Suho

                We figured for a joint concert, the company would want joint teasers of the two groups. But unfortunately, there's really no way to split six girls among twelve guys evenly (or now, five girls among eleven guys).

                "Lemme guess," said Luhan. "Kris and Ren?"

                "Yep," piped Suho. "They're just photoshoots, so Kris Hyung doesn't hafta throw his back out."

                Most of us laughed at that remark.         

                "Yah, I'm still cooler than you," I whined comically.

                "Yes, yes, you are," Ren said, patting may lap.

                I guess I was happy. For the first time ever, I'd be collaborating with Ren on camera and on stage. Eventually, I really want to actually share a stage with her. But with her voice, how could I match that?

                "And then...Xiumin Hyung with Saerom," said Suho, reading the message on his phone. "Kai, Lay and Jaekyung are the only ones to film a dance video."

                "Oh, cool," said Kai, high-fiving with Jaekyung, who was sitting next to him.

                "And then me, Luhan Hyung, Baekhyun and Hyoim-ie!" Suho piped happily.

                Hyoim looked happy with her grouping. We all knew she had a thing for Suho Oppa. But she never admitted it.

                "Ruby will be with D.O. and Chen," Suho continued. "And then there's Chanyeol with Saerom and Kimi with Tao and Sehun. Just remember your groups; they want us to start filming and shooting tomorrow after rehearsals."

                 I looked over at Tao. He may have warmed up to Ren quite nicely now, but I wasn't too sure about him and Kimi.

                In all honesty, Kimi really did get on all our nerves. I was never impressed with how she introduced herself as 'the cutie' of Crescere. Ren was struggling pretty hard as it was trying to not stand out so much in the group, but Kimi kept making things difficult. She would openly talk about how much she envied Ren on broadcasts, but then sulk about it afterward. Why would she mention it if she's not going to do something about it?

                Sometimes I wondered if Ren was really put into the right group. It's too obvious that she's the eldest, because she was too tall as it was. What made it amusing though was that when Crescere performed, she'd be the only one in flat boots while the other girls were in heels; and it was so obvious. But it could also be embarrassing for her. Ren sacrificed a lot of herself to allow her members to be better known amongst the group. But I don't think Kimi ever appreciated it. Tao seemed pretty confident to think it was true; but I couldn't allow him to be rash with her. Kimi is still in high school and at a very sensitive age. If he said anything wrong, it could be a problem for everyone all over again.

                "Ooooh, Chanyeol gets Saerom all to himself," Baekhyun teased.

                "Oppa!" exclaimed Saerom. "Oppa, don't be like that!"

                "Yeah, stop it, at least I don't have to fight for Hyoim," Chanyeol teased Baekhyun back.

                "Yah, yah, don't talk like that," said Suho. "This isn't matchmaking! We're just making teasers! Let's just have fun!"

                This was a rare time for any of us. Now that the word was out about the two of us, I could comfortably show my feelings for Ren. I was still surprised that the company was so chill about it; but I still prepared myself for the worst. But in the meantime, I wanted to enjoy the night with just our members.

sigh...not much to say at this point
but it'll build...i'll try make it build...
man, i feel so guilty for abandoning this story ><"