One Down, Nine to Go

Chanyeol pressed a small remote in his hand, switching on the projector screen in front of him. A backlight behind the screen flared faintly and started creating colors and forms in a few seconds. Ten unhappy males voiced out their unhappiness, high and low, murmured in disapproval as the image on the screen became clearer for them to see.

It seemed like Chanyeol was using his own laptop; the screen was displaying an edited photo of him and Kyungsoo, in which he was holding Kyungsoo bridal-style, grinning so broad his teeth were having their own showcase. Kyungsoo was wrapping his hands around Chanyeol's neck, laughing. A shaky form of what looked like (a pathetic shape of) a love shape, bold and red, surrounding them both. Judging from the tear-inducing editing's outcome, seemingly the wallpaper was made in MS Paint.

Below the huge love shape there was a written in bold: 'Channie and Kyung Kyung. Happily ever after <3'. It's safe to say that Chanyeol made the editing by himself.

Chanyeol wiggled his eyebrows, grinning (creepily) at Kyungsoo. He enthusiastically pointed to the huge screen, and then he stared at Kyungsoo with the same enthusiasm (and creepiness). 

'Us." His mouth formed the word soundlessly. A unison grunt of ten impatient males made him quickly fish out a small wireless mouse from his pocket. He pointed the small gadget to the screen; the cursor wandered aimlessly -like Yixing at the airport- before he finally found what he was looking for. Chanyeol made a click and a Word page showed up.

2 predebut songs

33 teasers

100 days of waiting

740.000 copies of sales according to Hanteo chart

A short writing of what looked like a poem (?) was shown on the screen.

Chanyeol read out what was displayed dramatically, with lots of sigh and chest clutching gesture. He closed his eyes; his left hand was on his chest (the right side), whilst the other one curled up into a fist, and then Chanyeol lowered it to his side, slowly, to give a dramatic effect he was aiming for.  A few solemn moments later he opened his eyes.

"We have been through so much together, Kyungsoo, and I assure you; many, many more are ahead of us. I'm asking for your hand, for us to hand-in-hand, fulfilling our dream and bright future. Together we will reach even more beautiful number." Chanyeol smiled softly, his eyes sparkling a million stars.

Kyungsoo was in awe; he never thought Chanyeol had such a poetic side in him. Kyungsoo was so touched; he stifled his cry and wiped the corners of his eyes. The boy tried to say something but failed.

Chanyeol smiled inwardly (and creepily). The cute little puppy had taken his bait. Time for a greater impact, and soon enough Kyungsoo would be his. Well, he'd be staying in the hotel room with Kyungsoo, but that was close enough. Staying in the same room would allow them to bind. Chanyeol's creepy grin grew wider and creepier at the last word. Bind. Ke. Ke. Ke.

Murmurs of unhappy and untamed audience urged him to quicken his reading. Chanyeol shot an annoyance glance at the mofos and pressed his remote to continue. What looked like a short story was displayed on the screen.

Kyungsoo knitted his eyebrows in confusion; he shifted his eyes to Chanyeol, staring at the latter with a questioning look.

 "I made a story about you and me, Kyungsoo. Of how I picture us together, the ideal world we could've lived in. I have spent days of sleepless nights, solely for you. I kept thinking of a way to show you my love, of a way to prove that I am the right person for you, yet I can only come up with this beautiful story." Chanyeol sighed, drowned in his feels.

"I think of you when I made this. Only you, my Kyungsoo." Chanyeol slowly walked toward Kyungsoo, holding their gaze together. He crouched down and grabbed the boy's tiny hands in passion, caging them between his giant ones.

"I object, Your Honor!" Someone in the crowd shouted. Luhan stood up abruptly and barged into the court room. A cry in pain and some nasty swear words followed. He may or may not have stomped one of his friends’ feet as he did so. Maybe Sehun's.

"The defendant is trying to impair our judge's decision; Judge Kyungsoo is not his, so by saying 'my Kyungsoo', he has shown us his malevolent intention. And no physical touches are allowed!"

Luhan glared at the defendant. He bolted toward the two males in the court and karate-chopped Chanyeol's hands off of (his) precious Kyungsoo.

Prosecutor Lu thought that it was time for him to meddle and fix the situation. He made a gesture for Jongin and Tao to guide Chanyeol to sit in his defendant's seat. This was Luhan's time and others should obey. Their time would come.

Chanyeol slouched in his seat, staring at the prosecutor with an un-interested look on his face.

"I need time to go through the evidence, Your Honor, Luhan firmly said. Kyungsoo was not aware that he was the one Luhan referred as 'Your Honor'. A soft nudge from their manager had managed to overcome the crisis.

"P-proceed," Kyungsoo squeaked out his permission. This was embarrassing. Why couldn't they play anything normal? Kyungsoo mentally cried.

Luhan squinted his eyes, reading the story Chanyeol just provided them. It was a heart-wrenching story about two boys who ended up being together after going through a bumpy road. Of course it would be about Kyungsoo and Chanyeol (which was a generic name, he must say. Chanyeol's of course, not his angel's.)

Kyungsoo had a deadly disease which was supposed to have no cure, but then Chanyeol, a genius doctor at such his young age, came into the picture and swept him away from the God of Death. Luhan frowned. A really sick kid. Meeting a too-perfect-to-fart, young, and handsome doctor. And bibbidi-bobbidi-boo they ended up together, happily ever after.

Luhan felt as if his heart was being ripped from his chest. The story was so original and heart-warming.

The audience (and Kyungsoo) took their time to read, and a pregnant pause engulfed the room. After quite a while, sniff sounds highly resembling a dying whale filled the room. The sniffs changed into weak cries, which changed into ugly sobs (except for Kyungsoo. His Kyungsoo would always look beautiful, no matter what he was doing.)

Luhan quietly wiped the tears in his eyes. He must stay focus.

As perfectly sad as the story was, Luhan decided to read it all over again. He blinked back his tears.

The story took place in London. How the hell could Chanyeol think that far? Chanyeol. The one who answered every math problem, no matter how simple it was, with 'gwiyomi'. And the details in the story were no joke. He didn't believe that Chanyeol had enough of brain capacity for that. Most of the members didn't. He read more and suddenly everything clicked.

Luhan cleared his throat, demanding for the audience's attention.

"Have you ever been to London? Can you tell us everything you know about London?" He asked Chanyeol in a professional, prosecutor-like tone.

"Well, I've been there with you guys, you don't need to ask that," Chanyeol answered calmly.

"What can you tell us about London?" Luhan pursued further.

Cold sweat trailed down Chanyeol's back. "I-It has the best bacon sandwiches," he stuttered.

"And about the Royal London Hospital, which had been mentioned for numerous times in your story?"

It was such a pleasant to see Chanyeol crumbling into pieces. Luhan sighed happily.

Chanyeol's face was as pale as Suho's. "Uh. Sure, yes. It is a hospital in London," he hesitantly answered.

"'And?'" Luhan urged him to continue.

"Err, and it is a nice one?"

"And?"

Luhan smirked victoriously when Chanyeol opened his mouth and no words came out. Thinking that it might make him look stupid, Chanyeol closed his mouth.

"Who is Liam, and who is Niall, anyway? I happen to read those names scattered somewhere in the story," Luhan commented calmly.

Ah, the joy of seeing Chanyeol in pain. Luhan bent his fingers to look at his nails, waiting, and soon, his patience was rewarded.

"I admit that I got the details -a little bit of them- from another story," Chanyeol cried.

"Which detail and which part?"

"Err..."

Luhan, didn't give Chanyeol any time to finish his trailed off explanation, quickly jumped to another question.

"Did you or did you not steal most of the story and change the characters' name into your name and Kyungie's? If that's correct, I can do the same as you did in just three minutes, while I'm waiting for my Maruchan Ramen Noodles to be ready. Or two and a half minutes, as I prefer to stop cooking my ramen just before it's completely done."

"I got inspired, okay! And that didn't change the fact that I made it for Kyungie!" Chanyeol shouted in distress. He slumped in his seat lifelessly, pressing his hands to his face.

"This is a malicious prosecution, Your Honor," Chanyeol mumbled weakly.

Luhan walked calmly toward a small table which had Chanyeol's laptop on top, connected to the huge screen. He turned off Chanyeol's laptop by pulling the plug. A deep booming of Chanyeol’s cry reverberated around the room, warming up Luhan's heart instantly.

He had his way to his previous seat with long, decisive strides, took his laptop, and went back into the court room fast. He thought he had heard a pitiful cry of pain. Maybe Sehun's.

Luhan efficiently connected his own laptop to the projector screen and turned it on. He mumbled something under his breath, while his fingers skillfully searching for something, and not long after, his eyes lightened up.

"I show you Exhibit one and ask you if you recognize the writing," he announced grandiosely.

What was displayed on the screen was a story seemed like a fan fiction.

Luhan smiled beautifully at the pale-faced giant before him. "Chanyeol ripped off a One Direction’s fan fiction." He snickered.

"Really creative, Chanyeol. And wow, what a heartless mofo you are," he added coldly.

"You mesmerize me, Chanyeol." Someone in the crowd menacingly said.

"You just stoop to a new low when I thought that you couldn't possibly be worse." Baekhyun glared at the defendant, judging him hard.

"Plagiator." Someone else hissed. Suho rose and pointed his index finger to Chanyeol, just for the effect.

"I-it is not a plagiarism. I-I was inspired by it!" Chanyeol squeaked in desperation. His explanation got lost in the grumbling and whispering of the unpleasant crowd. He stole a glance at Kyungsoo's forlorn face, and knew that he had lost his battle.

Luhan gestured EXO managers to get unwilling Chanyeol out of the room. "W-wait, Kyungsoo, let me explain!" Chanyeol shouted. The managers caught Chanyeol -a manager for each of his long arms- and began to drag him out.

"I was inspired by it, and I didn't plagiarize anyone's work! You have to believe me!" Chanyeol cried. "I only write original stories, about us! Kyungsoo!"

"If you don't believe me, go check my account, Chandictator! I have 1209 unique subs for God's sake!"

Chanyeol's desperate pleading vanished into the distance and went unnoticed.

One down. Nine to go.

***

All this hassle was just to decide who get to share a room with Kyungsoo for two days, EXO-M manager thought glumly.

I don't get paid enough for this, EXO-K manager mourned.

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