Chanhee slowly trodded toward SME's dormitory where Luhan and the others were. With each step, he felt dread arise from him.

 

Oh, I don't want to do this. I feel like running.

 

The trainee-soon-to-debut-as-an-idol made sure to take his time with every step. His hands were clammy as he wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead.

 

Questions raced through his head as worry filled him.

 

What would they think when they see me? How will they react?

 

Chanhee really didn't want to face his friends but he couldn't avoid the inevitable. He probably wouldn't be able to evade them anyway if he was going to debut with them.

 

Chanhee paused in front of his room that he shared with Luhan and Lay. Smiling a bit, he was still not very used to address his friends with their stage names. The management had required all of Exo to address each other with their stage names so that they’ll get used to them.

 

Speaking of the members, Exo-M is currently at the other side of the room. He could hear Chen playing computer games, Luhan blasting his ballad songs through the speakers and Tao whining to Lay. Xiumin was probably on his phone.

 

And Chanhee was still in front of his door room, contemplating and hesitating. He could already imagine their actions when they see him.

 

Ah, it! Let me get this over with.

 

He was about to open the door when the knob was yanked away from him. Surprised, he looked up to see Tao's astonished face.

 

"Chanhee!" Tao screeched.

 

Oh no, why does Tao have to see me first? Chanhee despaired.

 

Upon Tao's elegant announcement of his arrival, Chanhee could hear his other members tumbling as they immediately got up from what they were doing and headed towards the door. All the while this was happening, Tao couldn't stop babbling. At times like this, Chanhee dismayed the Zombie’s improving Korean.

 

"Chanhee, where have you been?! You know how much you worried us when you disappeared without telling us anything?! What have you been up to, huh? Are you hiding from anyone? Are you on the run from the police?! Have you finally embraced your inner darkness? I knew all of those dagger glares and snarky words were something innate-"

 

Tao suddenly paused and squinted at him. "Wait, there's something different..."

 

By this time, all of Exo-M had gathered by the door and gawked at him. Chanhee tried to mentally prepare himself for what was about to come. Luhan was the first to speak up.

 

"Weren't those supposed to be bigger?" Luhan asked bluntly with an expressionless face.

 

Chanhee flushed. Xiumin stared. Lay chuckled. Tao and Chen laughed like maniacs.

 

"S-So that's why, haha, that, bwahaha, he didn't want to meet us!" Tao said in between laughs as he pointed at Chanhee’s nose. Chen laughed even harder that his face turned red. Chanhee would have been concerned if only they weren't laughing at his expense.

 

"Well, the management suggested," Chanhee muttered, still a bit red in the face. "I couldn't refuse."

 

Lay nodded in understanding. "Anyhow, it turned out really well. Congratulations!"

 

"You're even better-looking now," Xiumin agreed.

 

"You look even prettier now!" Tao exclaimed then received a punch from Luhan.

 

"Thanks," Chanhee said, ignoring Tao and feeling a bit consoled.

 

Luhan's phone sounded.

 

"Guys, it's Manager-hyung," Luhan, the appointed leader of Exo-M, said as he looked up from his phone. "We need to meet the other group and go to the studio now."

 

The dhuizang grinned with his pearly white teeth. "It seems our debut song is ready now."

 

Cheers erupted from the six occupants of the room. Chanhee couldn't help but laugh with them.

 

Once they were ready, they quickly headed out of their dorm and went towards the direction of the SME Main Building where their studio was.

 

On their way, they joked and laughed with each other. All six of them were grinning ear to ear. All of them were very exhilarated. They were getting closer and closer to their dream.

 

"Chanhee!"

 

Automatically, Chanhee turned to face Tao. Instead of a face, he was met with a phone and a click.

 

"Sweet!" Tao exclaimed happily. "The photo turned out pretty well. I'm going to send this to Yi Fan-ge. He'll crack when he sees this!"

 

Before Chanhee could chase Tao and give him his rightful punishment, he was interrupted when their leader called out to him.

 

"By the way, Chanhee, have you gotten your stage name already?"

 

"Nope," Chanhee shook his head. "But I already decided on mine."

 

s turned to him curiously while Luhan raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow.

 

"What is it?" Xiumin asked.

 

"Chunji," Chanhee stated simply. A weird feeling came unto him but he ignored it.

 

"What does it mean?" Yixing wondered.

 

"Does it mean like 'A Voice that raises the Heaven and the Earth' or something?" Chen inquired. As a Korean, he knows the meaning well.

 

"Exactly" Chanhee exclaimed and smirked when they saw their impressed expressions. "Cool, isn't it?"

 

"Impressive," Luhan acknowledged and the others agreed. "It's a good name. You'll propose it to the management?"

 

"Already did," Chanhee answered. "A little convincing on my part and they will cave in soon."

 

"Ugh, I wish I could get a new one," Tao grumbled. "Just Tao doesn't really fit me. I mean, this is me we're talking about."

 

"Shut up, Peach," Chen gave Tao a playful shove. "Mine's worst. It means 'Breaking Dawn'. Like sparkling vampires anyone?"

 

The group bursted into laughter. The next thing they knew they were finally in front of SME Main Building.

 

"Let's go inside, everyone," Exo-M's dhuizang grinned at them. "Our bright future awaits."

 

 

"Caramel Macchiato or White Chocolate Mocha?"

 

Chunji contemplated as he hummed a random song. He was currently in a coffee shop, trying to get a drink before heading back to the dorm to where the other members were.

 

Hearing the bell ding, Chunji saw two guys wearing hoodies entering the shop. They took seats from the farthest table and appeared to be deep in conversation.

 

He glanced back at the menu again before deciding on Caramel Macchiato. He remembered he had White Chocolate Mocha the other day. At the last minute, he also decided to buy 2 orders of Espresso for Luhan and Xiumin, known coffee maniacs of Exo. Xiumin especially loves to drink espresso when exhausted. Chunji was sure that the older guy was considering to buy coffee as they just came from a whole day of practice for their debut song.

 

While waiting for his orders, Chunji glanced around the coffee shop, enjoying the atmosphere. He loved coffee shops. There is a certain calmness to them that makes him very relaxed. He now understood why the two oldest of Exo-M loved to hang around such places.

 

His eyes finally landed on the two other customers of the shop.

 

"I don't think this is a good idea. How 'bout we leave and forget about this?"

 

"No way," his companion shook his head harshfully. "We have to do it!"

 

Chunji looked weirdly at the two strangers as he heard their conversation. They must have noticed he was eavesdropping as they significantly lowered their voices.

 

When Chunji finally received his orders, he got out of the coffee shop. The bell sounded his leave.

 

When he was just a few meters away from the shop, he heard the bell sound again. He turned just in time to see the two strangers leave the shop. He frowned. They didn't even buy anything.

 

Chunji decided to take his time and enjoy the night's gentle breeze. However, when he heard whispering voices and saw the strangers behind him, he started to get suspicious.

 

Were they following me?

 

Chunji started to pick up his pace, hoping the strangers wouldn't notice. But his hopes were quickly crushed when he noticed they started to walk faster too.

 

With his heart slighlty pounding, Chunji concentrated on walking faster while trying not to spill the coffees. He started to regret buying them. Chunji mightily hoped they wouldn't try anything weird. He was just a few minutes away from the dorm.

 

When the dorm building came into view, Chanhee could feel relief washing through him. Now if he could just get to the door...

 

"Wait!"

 

Chunji was about to run when he felt a hand clamp on his shoulder. He instinctively turned and almost hit the stranger with the coffees. Thankfully, the coffees didn't spill.

 

"Whoa!" The stranger wearing the hood yelped. Somehow, his voice seemed eerily familiar. "Watch out! Those are hot!!"

 

"What do you want?" Chunji hissed, backing away to put some safe distance between them. "I'll throw these at you if you try to do anything stupid!"

 

The two strangers exchanged glances and nodded. The one wearing the cap started speaking in a surprisingly low voice.

 

"We know this is sudden but we want to speak with you if it’s alright..."

 

Chunji watched them warily. What could possibly do they want to talk about?

 

"No, it's not alright with me," Chunji said firmly. "I don't want anything to do with you. Please leave."

 

As he turned to leave, the one wearing the hood spoke up.

 

"Chunji-hyung..."

 

Chunji froze.

 

Did he hear him right...?

 

Chunji slowly turned to the hooded stranger and narrowed his eyes at him. How did he know his name?

 

"Chunji-hyung, you remember us... right?"

 

"What?"

 

The stranger pulled his hood down and exposed the face of an effeminate thick-lipped boy. His face was not that of the usual Korean.

 

"Chunji-hyung," the boy's voice held a pleading tone. "You totally remember us, right? You've got to."

 

"W-What?" Chunji started to freak out when the boy advanced toward him insistently. "No, I-I don't! Stay back, will you?"

 

"Niel, stop, you're freaking him out," the one wearing the cap muttered as he tried to restrain his companion. "Maybe he doesn't remember anything."

 

"Then he has to remember!" The one called 'Niel' exclaimed, while trying to shake the other off. "He is our Chunji-hyung after all! He has to remember who we are! He has to remember-"

 

Chunji's mind was starting to ache from all the yelling that the boy was doing. He wished somebody would make him stop.

 

"Chunji?"

 

The three of them turned toward the one who spoke and Chunji had never been so glad to see Chen's face. In his hands were some grocery bags.

 

"Chen-hyung!"

 

"What's going on...?"

 

Chen's presence seemed to have alarmed the two strangers. The thick-lipped boy quickly pulled his hood up and looked down.

 

"Sorry to disturb you," the one who wore the cap spoke hastily. "I think its best that we get going."

 

He gave a deep bow and nudged his companion to do likewise. He then pulled the other and they quickly left.

 

"Okaaay... what was that?"

 

"I don't know...," Chunji muttered. He suddenly felt tired.

 

The two of them trooped up to their dorm room while Chen interrogated him the whole way. Even though he didn't feel like it, Chunji gave him the answers just to shut him up. It seems his headache from before haven't disappeared yet.

 

"Guys, Chunji already got fans!" Chen announced as soon as they arrived. This got the whole of Exo-M's attention. "He was mobbed downstairs!"

 

"Don't exaggerate," Chunji said, exasperated. "There were only two of them."

 

"Wow," Xiumin's eyes were huge. "And his teaser was just released yesterday!"

 

"I hope they weren't sasaengs," Lay worried.

 

"Were they pretty?" Of course, Tao was the one who had to ask that.

 

"No," Chen grinned toothily. "They were men! I didn't get to see their faces though!"

 

"It's because Chunji is sooo pretty!" Tao crowed, laughing. "I've got to tell Yi Fan-ge!"

 

He was about to reach for his phone when he was smacked by Luhan.

 

"Don't worry, Luhan-ge! Your teaser will be released tomorrow. You'll have your own fanboys too!"

 

The Zombie got a harder smack this time.

 

"Owww..."

 

Chunji winced, rubbing his temples. Luhan noticed his action.

 

"Are you alright?"

 

Chunji turned to his dhuizang and gave him a smile. "Yeah, I just need a bit of rest. Here's some coffee for you and Xiumin-hyung. Lay-hyung, you can have my chips hidden in the cabinet."

 

"What about me?" Chen and Tao asked in unison.

 

Chunji contemplated before giving Chen his Caramel Macchiato. The guy saved him earlier after all. Tao's mouth dropped open in shock while Chen gave him a victorious smirk.

 

"What about me?!" Tao whined.

 

"You get nothing, Zombie," Chunji said as he went to his room, teasing him. "That's what you get for calling me pretty."

 

He ignored Tao's whinings as he shut the door behind him and plopped on his bed. He did not sleep though. Instead, he pondered on what happened earlier. He figured he shouldn't be too worried about it but he couldn't help it.

 

Who are they? What was it that I have to remember?

 

 

---

 

 

Author's Note:

I actually managed to post Chapter 3!! Hahahaha.

And ideky I'm so happy of that fact. Probably because I'm very prone to procrastinating??

Oh well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you think of the fic please!!

And umm... I will make no promises regarding Chapter 4... :P