The members are rushing here and there, getting their make-up fixed and practicing their comeback song. They were obviously nervous even though they’ve done this a lot of times already. Another comeback concert, another era to start. It was the Phantom Era this time, an era where the woman they ‘love’ appeared and disappeared without a trace. Well, that was how Milan described it to them.

Milan was talking to the cameramen and telling them what the manager told her to say. She looked like Areum when she manages EXO, but Areum was busy with LUNA, a girl group released by SM which was supposed to be EXO’s counterpart. “Ah, yes,” Milan nodded after the cameramen repeated what she said.

“Milan-ssi! About the lightings,” one of the stage crew approached her. “Not too bright, the usual, corresponding to the beat of the song,” Milan told him. She has her hands full but she didn’t feel tired. She was more of happy to do this. This meant she’ll be able to go back to the Philippines soon.

The MC announced the start of the concert and EXO opened up with their first chart topping song, “Growl”. It was Milan’s favourite song and the concept of that era seriously made her like EXO. Hot dudes wearing school uniforms, what the heck is better than that? Plus they’re singing and dancing and telling other dudes to keep away from you.

But that’s only an illusion of a fangirl.

“Milan!” A familiar voice called her and she was shocked to see BamBam along with the other members at the backstage. “What are you dudes doing here?” Milan asked. “We wanted to watch, duh,” Jackson said as he rolled his eyes. “Manners, Jackson,” Jr sternly said, making Milan laugh. “EXO is daebak~” Youngjae chimed. “Yeah, they are,” Milan nodded a bit as she glanced at the dancing boys on the stage.

“Aside from watching, this little scoundrel wanted to see you,” Mark said, earning a glare from BamBam. “Chincha? I’m flattered but you could’ve messaged me first,” Milan said. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” BamBam said. “Anyways, take your seats then,” Milan gestured to the seats in front. They were reserved for SNSD but sadly, they didn’t make it due to a surprise concert in Tokyo.

“Sit with us,” JB whined. “Yes, sit with us, Milan-noona!” Jackson whined like a little kid. Yugyeom and Jr pulled Milan’s arms and dragged her to the seat where it was said to be for Taeyeon. “You should rest sometimes you know,” BamBam muttered. “I know but the job’s too fun,” Milan said as she smiled at him.

Then the talk about the album began. “The title track of the album, it’s Phantom right? How do you interpret the song?” the MC asked. Milan narrowed her eyes on them as if telling them to say the correct answer or they’ll be dead since she was the co-composer and the lyricist. “For me, Phantom poetically talks about a girl who suddenly entered your life but then she disappeared without a single word,” Suho answered, as the leader.

“Chanyeol-ssi, the rap has been talked about over the net due to the leaking, what do you think was the story behind it? Like, what did you feel when you first encountered it?” the MC asked, pointing at Chanyeol. “Uwa, ah, I felt like the speaker in the song. Like the girl he loves isn’t contented by him only and keeps on running around with a string of lovers but he doesn’t care since he loves her very much,” Chanyeol said. “What part of the rap do you like? Including Sehun’s and Kai’s part,” the MC asked.

My brain is telling me to stop, stop, stop
But my heart tells me to love, love, love
I can’t get over her, she’s like a drug
Though to her, I’m just an annoying bug

“Ahh… Kai’s part,” Kris said. “Wae?” Kai asked with a smile on his face. “It shows the conflict between the mind and heart. And the last two lines show how much the speaker treasures and is addicted to the woman but the woman doesn’t really care that much since I am sure, that woman may love someone else,” Chanyeol answered.

“Isn’t this song kind of high too? DO-ssi, did you have trouble matching with it?” the MC asked. KyungSoo shook his head. “Our composer lowered it a bit for me but I tried my best to match the original. Chen-hyung did it good though,” KyungSoo said. Chen only laughed a bit. “Can you give us a sample?” the MC asked Chen.

Chen cleared his throat then sang:

People tell me to stop this madness, this craziness in my heart
How I can I tell them this is only the start~

“Wow,” the boys clapped their hands. “And about the next song, Pull Me In,” the MC said as he looked at the cue card he was holding. “Oh, it’s a song full of the group’s charisma,” Lay said. “I heard Luhan-ssi was really happy with the song. Wae?” The MC looked at Luhan who had his eyes widened. “Bwo? Where did you get that?” Luhan laughed a bit. “Well, ne, Jeongmalyo (Really like). I sound so manly here,” he added.

“A very y song for a y person, right?” The MC said and the fans roared with agreement. “Luhan-oppa is y!” They kept on screaming and the members laughed. “I don’t believe hyung is y,” Sehun said. Luhan shot him a joking glare. “I am y, Oh Sehun,” Luhan said sternly. Sehun kept a poker face and shook his head.

“Moving on, most of the lines, they belong to Suho-ssi and Xiumin-ssi right?” the MC said. They all nodded. “Xiumin-ssi, are you glad your lines are increasing?” “Of course, who wouldn’t be happy?” Xiumin said. “Would you give us a sample?” The MC asked. Xiumin nodded and all eyes were on him.

Why don’t you pull me in closer, baby
It’s just one night, so don’t worry
I see lust in your eyes, my lady
Aren’t you getting a little bit greedy

The fans were all screaming for more but Xiumin was really embarrassed. “That was very y, right?” The MC gestured at the fans. “NE, OPPA! TTAGAYO! (More)” They screamed. Baekhyun hugged Xiumin’s head and said over the microphone,” Hyung is embarrassed.” “Hey, Baekhyun, how about you? What part of the song do you like?” The MC asked.

“Oh, I have to say my parts,” Baekhyun said with a smirk. “Can you give us a sneak peek?” The MC asked. “My pleasure,” Baekhyun took a deep breath.

Imagine it’s only you and me in this world
I can’t imagine myself with another girl
Cause, baby, you really are all I need
Your existence already pulled me in

Baekhyun winked at the end. “BAEKHYUN-OPPA!” They screamed. Milan covered her ears as she flinched at the sudden screams. “Why doesn’t EXO get deaf already?” she muttered. BamBam chuckled as he heard that, sneaking an arm behind Milan.

“Hm?” Milan raised an eyebrow at him. “Nothing, I just want to pull you in closer,” BamBam said before chuckling. “Are you making a pun or something about the song, Mr Bhuwakul?” Milan raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I am, Ms de Vega,” he teasingly said.

“The next song is Around We Go, what is it about?” The MC asked. “Oh, it’s for the fans all over the world. The song means even though we have different languages and cultures, we are one, like EXO here,” Suho said. “Chinese and Korean joint together,” Chen said. “Oh, chincha? I heard your composer is from another country too,” the MC said.

“Ah yes, our composer’s from a South East Asian country and she’s really friendly,” Chanyeol said, coming from personal experience. “Is she here?” the MC asked. “She doesn’t like the spotlight. Mianhe but she is as our acting manager,” Kai said. “She must be a genius to be working with EXO,” Milan blushed as she heard the compliment.

“What part of the song describes EXO and your fans the most?” The MC asked.

We are like a rainbow after the heavy rain
We are like never breaking chain
We are one, we breathe the same air
We look at the same moon, receiving our stares

Most of the members sang that and Chen came off a little too high for Milan’s taste. As Milan went online in Twitter that same time, she saw the list of the album songs already.

Phantom Studio Album
1 Phantom
2 Pull Me In
3 Around We Go
4 White As Snow
5 Clueless
6 Be With Me
7 Lollipop
8 Crystal Clear
9 Shocker

“My first album,” Milan whispered to herself proudly. “Haengbokhae (Happy)…” She muttered, almost bringing herself to tears. BamBam patted Milan’s back. “EXO is too, I am sure of it and they are proud of you, Milan,” he told her.

“Uwa, I am such a crybaby.”