Ariel sighed as she checked her phone for the umpteenth time. 

“Stop checking your phone.” Sojin’s voice rang in my head as Ariel held onto her phone. Sojin walked over to Ariel. “He’s busy. They just made a comeback.”

Ariel sighed again as she put her phone back into her bag. “I know. I just miss him.”

Currently, Exo had their comeback with their new song, Call Me Baby. With a comeback it meant no more free time. Chanyeol’s schedule would be filled for months until who knows when?

Ariel’s mind became occupied as she thought back to a few days ago the night when Exo's album was released. Chanyeol called her, seconds after the release, and sang the song First Love to her. Recalling the sweet memory brought a bittersweet smile on Ariel’s face as she missed him so much. 

Sojin patted Ariel’s shoulder as she felt Ariel’s sadness. “Turn that frown upside down.” Sojin pinched the corners of Ariel’s mouth and turned it into a smile. “We’re debuting together! You’ll see him at the broadcasting station next week!”

“You’re right.” Ariel truthfully smiled this time at the thought of seeing her boyfriend at music shows. Ariel hopped out of the salon chair, seeing that duo were getting ready for their showcase. She held her hand out to Sojin, seeing that they were both finished getting ready at their salon. “Let’s do this showcase!”

At the showcase, it was new to the duo. Sojin and Ariel stood in front of hundreds of photographers who wanted pictures of them for their articles. The amount of flash used blinded them that they almost tripped going up the stage to begin their performance. They performed their debut single, Nightmare, which was written and produced by Sojin herself with Luke performing the second rap. 

After the performance, it was time for the Q&A portion which Ariel dreaded because most of the questions for her were mainly about her boyfriend. 

“Ariel! How is your relationship with Park Chanyeol?”

“We’re happily dating.”

“Who confessed first?!”

“He did.” Everyone laughed at Ariel’s blunt answer. 

“I saw the promposal video that Chanyeol did. How did you feel at that moment?”

“I felt surprised but happy at the same time. It was nice to have Chanyeol plan something like that for me.”

Sojin added her own answer as well. “Chanyeol actually asked me for help because I have such a creative mind.” The reporters broke out in laughter. 

“Sojin, are you pining for any members of Exo as well?”

Sojin awkwardly laughed at the question. “No, I’m not romantically interested in any of them.”

“You trained with a few of the members of Exo. Who are you the closest with?”

“I’m not really close to them. I greet them when I do see them.” Sojin lied, the reporter didn’t catch it but Ariel did. 

One week later

“You were lying and I know it.” Ariel declared as their stylist left her and Sojin at the makeup chairs. They were in their dressing room at the Mnet broadcasting station.

Sojin turned her head with furrowed brows. “What are you talking about?”

“The Q&A.”

“What about it?”

“You were lying. I heard it in your voice.”

“Lying about?”

“You’re close to someone in Exo. Who is it?” Ariel leaned in to Sojin with her elbows resting on the arm rest. “Is it Sehun? Suho? Lay? Or Chen?”

“None of the above.”

I guess we’re playing the guessing game.

“Xiumin?”

“No.”

“D.O?”

“Nope.”

“Baekhyun?”

“God no. He’s dating Taeyeon sunbae.”

“Tao?”

“Negative.”

Then that only leaves..

“IT’S KAI!?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Nor are you denying it! It is Kai!” Ariel hopped off of her chair and playfully slapped Sojin’s shoulders. 

Sojin shoved Ariel’s hands away from her sore shoulder. “Why are you hitting me?”

Ariel threw her hands up in an exaggerated gesture. “Because it’s you and Kai!”

“What’s this I hear about Sojin and Kai?” Luke’s voice barged in as he entered the dressing room. Luke has been accompanying them to their music show broadcasts since he is featured. “Are they dating?”

“They could be!”

Sojin slapped a hand over Ariel’s mouth and glared at Luke. “We’re not dating. Just friends.”

“Sojin, Sojin.” Luke shook his head as he approached the girls behind the vanity mirror. “A boy and a girl simply cannot be just friends.”

“Why not?”

Luke chuckled at the words he was about to say, since he remembered saying the exact same thing to Ariel about Chanyeol. “One person always falls for the other.”

“Speaking of Exo,” Luke stood up straighter as he gestured his hand to the tv screen which was hung up on the wall. “they’re about to perform.”

“Oh.” Ariel mumbled as she turned her attention to watch their performance. Mid way of watching their Call Me Baby performance, her phone caught her attention as it rings continuously on the table. Reaching her hand out for her phone, Ariel accepted the call without even checking the caller ID. 

“Hello?”

“Ariel!”

That chirpy voice…

“What Sooyeon? I’m busy.” Ariel spat out, her eyes still glue to the television.

“Guess what Dongwoo did?!”

“Oh gee, enlighten me please.”

“He.. BURPED and didn’t throw up this time!”

Ariel scoffed at her ‘news.’ “Goodbye Sooyeon.”

The performance ended right as Ariel ended the call. 

“Step mom?” Luke asked from the couch. 

Ariel turned her head to him. “Yep, Dongwoo burped without throwing up this time.”

Luke sarcastically clapped his hands. “Good job.”

“She’s so annoying.”

“You’re the one who gave her your number.”

“Yeah, for emergencies only. But it’s quite clear she doesn’t understand the definition of an emergency.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation as a staff member’s head poked into the room. “So-Ah and Luke? We need you for standby.” Then they closed the door and waited outside for the three to come out. 

The stylists begin checking everyone’s last stage outfits, making sure it looked fine and nothing weird. They were up for number one that week, as well as Exo. This should be interesting right? The three walked out into the hallway and followed the staff member to the backstage area to be handed their audio equipment. 

They were handed audio boxes to put around their waist area. As Ariel is placing the audio box into the little pocket on her back, a tap of the shoulder made Ariel spin around. Her eyes widen at the person in front of her. She restrained herself from jumping onto his body since they were a lot of people around them. 

“Chanyeol, I missed you.”

“Missed you as well.” He grinned.

“Come on love birds.” Suho walked over, placing his hands on Chanyeol’s shoulders. “I’ll make sure he watches your stage.” Suho walked away, with Chanyeol reluctantly following him. He winked at her with a smirk plasted on his face. Ariel shook her head as she laughed and went back to fixing her audio box on.

“Okay, guys you’re up.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTeNz30jBFQ

The stage was simple. There was no complicated choreography involved. Sojin wrote the song to display the emotion behind it. Sojin and Ariel stood on two different glow platform stages with microphone stands in front of them. When Luke’s rapping part was coming up, he would enter the stage from the left, walk over to the center, between Sojin and Ariel, then he would exit the stage to the right afterwards. 

After the stage ended, the lights dimmed dark enough for Sojin and Ariel to rush off stage and go to the back. They waited backstage, there was only one more artist left to perform before the final results. When the last stage was done, all of the artists who performed that day are called to stand on stage. Exo stood in the front on the left, while So-Ah and Luke stood in the front as well but on the right side of the MCs, Key and Jungshin. 

It’s the first time their song is nominated for number one. Sojin and Ariel are too doubtful about winning, they believe Exo will win because they’re too popular to not win.

“Whose going to win this week?” Key questioned, his eyes skimming the cue cards.

“Exo or So-Ah?” Jungshin