Chapter Six: Behind the Scenes

I finish mopping the floor right before I end my shift and I see a creepy looking guy leaning on his car by the window. He had a black cap and sunglasses that covers his eyes and what I found even creepier is when he waves to my direction. 

"What the--"

"Hope!" I turn away from the man and see Jenny taking the mop from me. 

"I'll  grab this from you and take it from here, you can go. Thanks!" She says. Jenny is my shift manager and I'm glad that she's not like those scary managers that are portrayed on TV. In fact, she's the nicest manager ever. 

"See you tomorrow then" I say to her and went to the change room to switch out of my uniform. It has been quite a busy day at the restaurant today. People complained about how their orders were taking too long, a family was taking their sweet time hogging the table during the busy hour just chit chatting among each other, and well... I just couldn't care any less anymore because I feel excited now that my shift is done and I get to see EXO! 

I mean my brother.

I grab my backpack and left the restaurant. I pull my phone out and just then, someone grab me by the wrist. 

"Let go of me!" I look up and it was the man from earlier. 

Oh.

My.

God.

Is this the end of my life?! Am I getting kidnap?! Is he going to take me to a warehouse and lock me in there and place a bomb and--

"Hope!" I look to see my grandpa inside an unfamiliar car sitting on the front seat. I turn and looked closely at the man and groaned. 

"Manager Joon! You scared the hell out of me!" I say pulling my wrist away from him as he opens the door for me. Manager Joon laughs, "Sorry, Hope. I just don't want my beautiful face to be seen" He says conceitedly. I narrow my eyes at him as I hop inside. 

"I think I know where Suho gets his charms from" I say pulling my seatbelt. 

"He learns from the best!" He says and hops in the driver's seat. Suddenly I remember what Kris told me that one time: "Wherever Joon hyung is, the fans are there". 

I guess Manager Joon disguised himself so the fans wouldn't attack him. I guess he's been around EXO for quite a while that even fans tail behind him. Despite just being the manager, I guess fans see him as a signal that EXO is around when their managers are around. 

Manager Joon took off his disguised then and starts the engine and clicks a button in the car, and what are the odds of which music is playing? None other than EXO's Growl. I notice grandpa starts bobbing his head through the music, "Hey, this is my grandson's song!" he says as he attempts doing the dance steps making the manager and I chuckle. I've been such a huge fan of these guys that I even got my own grandpa to watch their music videos. 

It suddenly hit me that I still have yet to ask grandpa about the secret Lance is talking about. But right now I feel that I don't necessarily want to know yet. I just want to enjoy the moment... to get to know my brother beyond EXO's Xiumin.

It took almost an hour for us to get to the concert hall and I don;t remember taking that long from when I went to their concert with Lance. But wow, fans are already crowding the area. The concert doesn't start for another six hours but the fans are already camping out. 

Manager Joon parked in the back and quickly sent us to the waiting room. I can already hear the muffled sound of EXO's music from here. 

"I will go check on the guys first, you guys stay here. EXO K should be done soon." He says before proceeding to leave the room. Grandpa and I just sat down on the couch and it was unbearably silent. Should I just ask him now or do I wait? Well, what should I be waiting for anyways? I took a deep breath and was about to speak but my grandpa beat me into it.

"Hope, would you want to talk about this now?" He asks. I let out a breath and look at him. He's waiting for my answer but I honestly don't know where I should even begin. I swallow hard and ask the most basic question I could even think of. 

"How am I Xiumin's sister? We don't even hold the same last name. And I don't remember mom being Korean." I say matter of factly. Grandpa laugh at the last sentence but clears his throat. I thought he's going to prolong this but he answered immediately.

"Minseok is your half brother. Your siblings through your father. And no, your mother is not Korean. Haha." He says with a slight chuckle, a chuckle that seems to hide his true feelings... that he's nervous to actually tell me the truth.

"Oh... but... how come I don't remember anything. I don't remember a single thing about him. Not even blurred memory." I say. I even try to recall some childhood memories but I got nothing. All I could remember was when grandpa gave me my necklace on Christmas. 

"You don't remember because you were too young... you were only... seven" The way grandpa said it, it seems that he's trying to hold something back from me. I grew up with him all my life and I can tell all the details whenever he's trying to lie or hide something. Usually he'd break but this time, it's as if he's trying so hard to hide it.

"But... shouldnt I still remember at least a bit of my brother? It was not like I was an infant... Grandpa, stop hiding... you know you can tell me..." I say to him. Grandpa looks at me on the eye and I see his mouth twitch. He sighs.

"Hope... you don't remember him because--"

"HOOOPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I jump and see Chanyeol come in with DO followed by the rest of the K members. I got up from my seat to greet them but Chanyeol had already grabbed a hold of my wrist to pull me into a hug. I can't believe how tall he actuall is. I look like a child in front of him! No wonder they call him a giant. Or am I just too short for my own good?

"Ew, Chanyeol! You smell!" I say pushing him away from me but Chanyeol just pulled me again to embrace me tighter. 

"It's the smell of hardwork, Hope!" 

Man, what does Manager Joon feed these guys? 

"Ewww! Get off!" I try to pull away once more but right then, Suho joins in.

"Not you too! Get off me!" I protest and start to wiggle my body from them but then the rest of them buries me into a suffocating hug. And before I knew it, I'm already covered in their own sweat. As much as I hate to say this but, EXO K is horrible. They like to kill you with their sweaty smelly group hugs.

"You guys are horrible" I say wiping my arms from the sweat that the guys have given me. 

Grandpa laughs and starts handing out water bottles. 

"Thanks for saving your granddaughter, grandpa." I say to him but grandpa just ruffles my hair as he gave the last water bottle to Suho. Suho thanks him and turns to me.

"So, Hope. You're in luck today" Suho says as he gulps down the bottle in one go. 

"Why?"

"You get to see us perform!" He says with his arms spread out wide. The guys groan at their leader's actions.

"He's at it again" DO sighs and starts opening his bottle. 

"Hyung, you're going to scare her off one day" Kai says. Suho looked offended at s' statement and puts both a hand on my shoulder.

"Am I scaring you, Hope?" Suho asks with his eyes staring down into mine like he's about to take my soul. 

"Uhh..." I want to say yes but at the same time I don't want to be rude but--

"YES" The rest of the K members answers. 

*

Grandpa headed out to get some food for the boys so I'm left alone in the waiting room when all the guys went back to rehearse. I start pacing around the room since there's nothing else to do. I've only seen EXO K but they're gone now. Urgh, I did not expect this "Behind the Scenes" to be this boring.

"Should I go watch?" I ask myself. I mean, the venue is packed with security and unlike before, the security actually knows me now. I shrug and went out. It's not like fans are going to bombard their rehearsal right? I'm sure they love EXO that much they won't interrupt their privacy...

right...

Why do I even care so much about the fans? It's not like they know who I am...yet. Well, they won't attack me anyways... I'm EXO Xiumin's sister, I am family. The only way I will get attacked is if I date any of my brother's members. 

Which, by the way, will never happen considering how famous and goodlucking they all are.

Walking through the halls I can hear the music and it gets louder when I see the door that led up to the stage. I saw all of them running around while they sang 3.6.5. All the members may look exhausted but they won't get tired enough to perform on stage. I laugh then when my eyes land on my brother who is doing silly dances with Luhan. It's as if they're trying to make aegyo with an invisible audience. 

It must be true, the OTP, XiuHan? Hahaha!

The song comes to an end and I heard the director say that it was time for Kai's solo. The guys start to leave one by one leaving Kai on the centre stage. As soon as they see me, they gave me a quick greeting or a high five before passing me to head out for water break. My brother was the last to leave and gave me a quick pat on the head.

"Glad you made it! Where's grandpa?"

"He went out to get you food."

"I see." He says. A staff member approached him and handed him a water bottle. My brother thanked him and gulped down the water.

Staring back at the stage, I watch Kai start his performance and it amazes me even more to see him perform this close. Sure, I've seen their concert and seen him in person, but seeing him this close can really make any girl's heart flutter. Fan or not. 

"He works the hardest among all of us" I haven't realized that I was getting immersed in Kai's performance that I forgot Minseok oppa was still beside me, watching intently. The way his gaze looks at Kai, it's the gaze of that of an older brother who looks after his younger sibling. I really wonder, what kind of a brother Minseok oppa actually is to s... to me. 

"He can go for hours and hours, no breaks or sleep, and just dance. Joonmyeon has to force him to take a break." He says with the mention of Suho's real name. Now it makes me wonder how they all address each other at their dorm?

"No wonder he looks perfect on stage" I say without thinking. My eyes widen at my own comment in which Minseok oppa lets out a chuckle.

"No wonder he's your favourite"

"Wha--oppa! It doesn't mean I dislike the rest of you like--"

"Omo! Kai!" I heard the director yell that made me snap my head back to Kai's direction. On stage, Kai is on his knees as he puts both hands on his right waist. For some reason, my feet drags me to him. There are times where I wish I could just think before I actually do or say something.

"Kai! Are you alright?!" I ask worriedly when I reach him on the stage. Kai lays his body on the floor and squirms in pain as he manages to shake his head to answer me. He shuts his eyes and hisses in pain. 

"Aigoo, Kai. We told you to take it easy" Minseok oppa says as he helps him get up from the stage. The crew comes to assist them and right then, the first aid crew comes in and checks on him. I watch Kai continue to squirm in pain when they lay him on the stretcher. 

"Will he be okay, oppa?" I ask.

"Of course he will, he's tough"

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And yeah, I don't know what I wrote... -_-