"How's practice going with Kris?"

Seohyun glanced at Kyuhyun through the mirror beside her, and watched him get his measurements taken. Her stylist had just finished with her's and had fled the room. She took the seat that was closest to him and nodded. "It's going well"

She had to admit, at first, she was quite worried about the whole thing. Kris hadn't shown much interest in their duet, let alone had they both really succeeded in working together. But during the past few days, Kris had been proposing many ideas and suggestions they could possibly make to 'change' their performance. In fact, he himself had changed the lyrics, a couple of notes as well as the beat to the song.

"To make it interesting", she recalled him say. "Since it's the year end performance."

Kris' initiation somehow relieved her. And perhaps, maybe it was because of him that she faced less problems in adapting to her new duet partner.

"We're almost done~!" Seohyun removed her headphones and stretched out her arms and legs. Kris on the other hand, quickly reached out for their music sheets. His eyes dashed immediately across the paper, his pencil in hand making the same swift movements as his eyes. Seohyun glanced at him from behind, and unintentionally voiced her thoughts out loud. "I think it's thanks to you we were able to progress this quickly. It usually takes alot of time to reproduce a song, but i'm glad you made it work."

Although it was rare for him to receive a compliment from Seohyun, he took it well. "We both did. It's our duet, we decide together"

She stared at him for a bit, before she went to help him. Kris was really full of surprises.

She overlooked the papers he held from over his shoulder, and pointed at the second line. "I think that should be sung lower." She was happy to see him nod at her suggestion, immediately making the change to transfer to his laptop. Finally hearing him acknowledge her himself made her somewhat accepted. Not as a senior, but really, as a fellow artist. 

And to that, she felt thankful.

"Seohyun-ah?"

Kyuhyun waved a hand in front of her, and watched her blink confusingly at him. "Are you okay? We have to go now."

Seohyun turned a slight shade of red before apologising, and stood before he could say anything more. She grabbed her script and her bottle of water before heading out, but was stopped by a strong hand.

Kyuhyun's eyes scanned her face, his eyes soft with worry but his lips pursed into a thin line. "You didn't answer me."

The latter was a bit surprised at his seriousness, but immediately felt a slight pinch of guilt. "I'm fine oppa. I'm sorry for worrying you." She made his way behind him, and pushed him forward. "Everyone's waiting. We should go oppa."

He smiled sheepishly as he let her push him forward. He wondered at that moment, whether she really was okay. Were her schedules too overwhelming for her? She had alot on her plate with university included. 

He paused before they got on stage, allowing Seohyun to bump uneasily against his back. "Seohyun-ah, if there's anything you need help with, don't hesitate to tell me."

She rubbed her nose a little before looking up at him in slight confusion. "Help? Why-

"Promise me", he looked at her again, under the dim light backstage, with nothing but curtains around them. For a brief moment, she was able to see his kind eyes grow a sense of urgency. But like the flickering light above them, it immediately vanished. "Okay, I promise"

"Seohyun-sshi? Kyuhyun-sshi?" They heard a crew member call. "We will begin in 2 minutes"

"Let's go", Kyuhyun's eyes turned kind once more, his voice tender and gentle. He led her out by the shoulders, and out across the stage. 

He had to leave his thoughts behind him. He must. Afterall.. 

"A promise is a promise"

-----

"So... that's why he was singing in his sleep?"

All the EXO members gathered in Kris' room, and listened intently at the boombox of his laptop. Chanyeol snickered proudly as he swayed to the beat and looked across the room in arrogance. "Hear that? Hear that? I taught him how to do this!" Although the others continued to ignore him, Chanyeol didn't hesitate to continue. "He was begging me like this", he sought persistently for everyone's attention, which of course, never worked the way he always wanted. "It's true!"

"Kris hyung did this in four days?" Lay unintentionally cut through his short drama spectacle, relieving the others almost instantly. He seemed almost ignorant to the annoyed stare of the younger, but continued. "This is really great."

"This is the first time for Kris hyung right?" Kai voiced.

"I heard KangTa sunbae-nim arranged it", Sehun replied.

"Manager hyung said it took him great effort to squeeze them in." Suho sat beside Xiumin on his bed, which really, was the cleanest thing in their room. He paused a bit before continuing, allowing time for his words to sink in.  "I heard.. he gave up his performance for them to replace him."

Everyone stared back at him, whereas D.O and Chanyeol stared back at each other. Had Kris known about this? But they immediately shook their heads. Highly unlikely.

"But.. why?" Tao voiced.

But he seemed to speak for all them.

Neither of them knew. 

"But Kris hyung is working surprisingly hard on this", Baekhyun tried to ease the atmosphere as he joined Lay at the computer. "A bit too hard. Maybe he likes Seohyun noona"

The others stared at him but Baekhyun only shrugged. "It's a possibility"

"Yah!", Suho smacked the younger on his back, making Baekhyun whimper at his unexpected strength. "They're just singing together. Besides, Seohyun-ah has never dated."

While this could have been the end of the conversation, Chanyeol was fast to disagree.  "But there's something between them! I know it." He sat in a manner that annoyed them all. He sat like an old man, posing his bed as his arm chair, and with the look on his face that seemed to know more than they did. "A couple of days ago, we saw-

D.O immediately silenced him by slamming his hand on his foot, as he got off the floor to sit next to him. While the giraffe tried not to wince in pain, the latter glared him down as if saying "Kris hyung told us not to mention that".

"What are you doing here?"

All eyes turned to stare at the sole figure at the doorway, with his towel slung messily over his wet blonde hair. He seemed about ready since they needed to head to the dress rehearsal in a couple of minutes. "Get out", he ordered.

But the others only remained where they were, and Luhan gestured over to his laptop. "It's good, your song. I heard you chose it."

Kris immediately squinted his eyes on Chanyeol, who rose up defensively. "KangTa sunbae told us! It wasn't me!"

Kris sighed and walked amidst the crowded youngers to grab his laptop away from their prying eyes. He set his laptop on the table, and took out his bag to pack everything he needed before they had to leave. He had no idea why the others just continued to stare at him, but he let them be. He really had no energy to shove them out the door. 

"Hyung, do you like Seohyun noona?"

D.O's eyes widened and felt the need to hide. 

Everyone else must have felt the same way as they casted threatening glares at Baekhyun who tried to silently defend himself. Not even Chanyeol could muster the courage to ask the older man directly. But they all had to admit, they felt curious to this new issue of gossip.

Kris could almost picture Chanyeol blabbering on about his self-proclaimed theories regarding the new love-line, which made him click his tongue. Before he could answer, like a fanfiction his life portrayed, their manager thundered to the door. "You're not changed yet!? Didn't I tell you we have to leave soon!? You only have 5 minutes to get ready!"

They all hopped to their feet, and like the little sheep they were, rampaged out the door. Xiumin, Luhan and Kris were finally left alone in their room, but were left amidst a hot mess. "These kids, really", Xiumin couldn't stand looking at his bed alone, and immediately began tidying it up. And while Luhan had followed to help him, both exchanged glances and then at Kris, who they noticed just returned to packing his things. They smiled at each other giddily, and headed to their closet to get changed.

Kris heard a vibrating sound echo the room, and immediately searched down his pockets. He clicked his tongue as he searched for his phone, but was unable to amidst the chaos in their room.

"Here"

Luhan threw his phone towards him, which Kris received successfully. "It was in the bathroom"

He waited for Luhan to leave when he realized who the caller was. "Hello Mr Wong?" He whispered quietly as he sat on the farthest end of his bed. For his family doctor to call him when he hardly did at all gave him a bad feeling. "Did something happen?"

"Your mom can't make it to Korea", the older man's voice cracked through the phone, and continued. "She collapsed early today. She's too weak, she can't and shouldn't leave."

Kris took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Never mind that. How is her condition?"

"It's more stable now", his doctor admitted. "She's been overworking herself recently so it took a toll on her health."

For the first time in a long while, his composure broke. His fingers fretted underneath his phone, and his grip became weak. "Mom- i-is she awake? Is she asleep? I'd like to talk to her-

"Sorry Kevin, but she's asleep. She hasn't woken up since she fainted." The elder man overlooked the woman sleeping calmly in her bed and continued, "i'll call you when she's awake."

Kris exhaled and nodded calmly. He steadied his quivering hand with his other, and inquired if he needed to send any money through for her medications. After the brief exchange, he was about to hang up when his doctor had frantically called for him again. "Kevin! Kevin wait! Before you go, I forgot to inform you about something."

Kris pulled his phone closer to his ear, and listened intently for what he had to say. "What is it?"

"Your father. I heard he just landed in Korea."

Kris felt a vibrating sensation wriggle against the palm of his hand, where an unknown number soon greeted his screen. If he wasn't distraught over his mother's collapse, he might have spared a couple of chills from the strange coincidence.

"Mr. Wong, i'll call you back. I have to pick up another call."

This is a long one, but I hope you guys enjoy it. And for those that may be wondering, Kevin is Kris' English name. :) So it definitely isn't a typo (as i've confirmed atleast). I hope you guys like this one and thank you so much once more, for constantly keeping up with my story!

Love you guys a bunch!