We keep casual lies, almost as if the truth will never be discovered.

As if nothing is wrong, people and their pokerface, as if they are happy; they go on. 

Black (GDragon ft. Park Bom Japanese Version)

#

Yifan’s first meeting with Sehun is inside the boy’s shared apartment with Jongin. He’s without his partner but the manager he shares with Jongin is presented.

The manager, Kim Joonmyeon, talked a lot about Maxstep: Two Seventeen on their car ride to the idols’ shared apartment. Mostly, his tales are of Kim Jongin. His words for Sehun are rare and Yifan already knows Joonmyeon favors Jongin more.

There, Joonmyeon calls for Sehun and takes his leave, but not before telling him “This is Sehunnie, please take care of him.”

Yifan’s eyes follow Joonmyeon’s back as he leaves the apartment, his eyebrows raised and his thought skeptical. Then he turns around and outstretches his hand. Sehun grabs Yifan’s hand with both of his and shakes it firmly as he bows to show his respect. The idol says “Please to meet you, I’m Oh Sehun.”

“Wu Yifan.” Yifan replies and Sehun lets go of his hand and walks toward the kitchen.

Gesturing to the plush sofa in the middle of the living room, Sehun says “Please take a seat Yifan-sshi. I’ll brew you some tea.”

The manager’s rooted at the spot as Sehun rummages around for a teapot. Then he moves to the surprisingly organized kitchen and stops Sehun from making tea. Yifan tells the idol “Nonsense. Go and nap. I’ll call you when the tea is done.”

Sehun simply looks at Yifan dumbly and the manager sighs. “Go on.” Yifan urges and Sehun goes, reluctantly.

Although there’s a frown on his face, he says with a shy voice “Thank you Yifan-sshi.”

Yifan smiles at the boy and understands that there is something special about him. He can already see himself treating the idol with a sense of familiarity, like the one he shared with Luhan, so he tells the boy “You can call me hyung.”

Sehun smiles for the first time, his mouth shuts and his eyes shrink. There’s pink on his cheeks and he bobs his head in agreement before he takes his leave. Yifan finds himself smiling for the rest of the day.

#

Yifan meets Jongin a few days later, at the studio where Maxstep: Two Seventeen will be having their promotional photo-shoot for their highly anticipated overly hyped by the company Chinese debut. Joonmyeon enthusiastically introduces the idol to Yifan, a completely different treatment from Sehun.

The Canadian smiles tightly and shakes hand with Jongin, who’s gripping his hand far too tight and smiling far too plastically, before asking for the direction of the dressing room so he can go see his responsibility. There, Yifan finds Sehun sitting straight like a board as the make-up artist draws patterns onto his face.

Yiyun mouths greeting words at him, being one of the few Chinese make-up artists and having worked with Luhan before, and Yifan winks in return. She laughs and Sehun cracks his eye open, his eyelashes fluttering like butterfly’s wings and Yifan finds himself mesmerized.

Sehun tries to put on a smile to greet him but Yiyun chides him so he ends up flattening his lips as he looks at Yifan helplessly. The manager laughs and takes a seat next to the make-up artist.

“You have Mandarin class this afternoon at one with Jongin-sshi then a private dance practice afterward.” Yifan says and Sehun makes a disgruntled sound of agreement. The manager asks again “The photo-shoot might take a while so tell me what you want to eat for lunch alright?”

Sehun looks at Yifan in puzzlement. Confused, the Canadian asks “What? Are you on a diet or something?”

Yiyun laughs when Sehun frowns and he lightly shakes his head due to shyness. Yifan narrows his eyes at her and she shrugs at him casually, applying the final onto Sehun’s face.

The idol finally tells Yifan shyly “Beef fried rice is fine. And I’m not on a diet.”

The manager raises a fine brow at the simple request and can’t help compare the young boy’s food choice to Luhan’s demanding ones. Yifan remembers Luhan’s demands of Dimsums and Chinese traditional porridge for breakfast, sushi for lunch and Beijing Roasted duck for dinner so he says “Nonsense. I’ll have to at least buy you kimchi spaghetti. You can eat it right?”

Sehun nods to that dazedly and Yifan continues “Or maybe some sushi. What about dimsums? I know a place and Luhan loves the food there.”

The idol seems to be at lost for words and Yiyun laughs at the boy. Yifan scoffs and Sehun manages “Just kimchi spaghetti is fine.”

The manager looks at Sehun for a few seconds before nodding slowly. He agrees “Alright. Now let’s get to the photo-shoot.”

During the shooting, Sehun is stiff. Not like Jongin who has been in the spotlight since he was a child. His smile is flat ninety percent of the time and he glares at the camera lens rather than seduces them. Yifan has to physically sit down and wonders how the previous photographer managed to take Sehun’s picture for their Korean debut, which was about four months ago. Even tomboy Amber is better at acting feminine than this.

The photographer sighs for the untempt time, clearly annoyed despite being known for her patience and easygoing personality. So Yifan asks for a recess midway. The photographer exhales in relief and Joonmyeon moves forward as if to scold Sehun. The idol casts his eyes down, expecting to receive criticism from his former manager but Yifan gets to him first and leads him to a corner.

The Canadian uncrosses his arms and leans into the wall asking “Are you alright?”

Sehun nods tightly and Yifan sighs. He says “Sehun-ah, I can call you Sehun right?”

Sehun nods again so he continues “Look up.”

The idol follows the instruction obediently and looks at Yifan, his eyes clouded and brows furrowed. Yifan sighs and soothes him “It’s normal to feel anxious during a photo-shoot, so don’t worry about it okay?”

The idol looks down and nods.

“Look up and reply me with your words.” Yifan says sternly.

Sehun obeys, only the lisp in his speech shows his nervousness, and the manager smile. He mutters approvingly “Good. Now take a deep breath.”

The idol inhales and exhales largely while Yifan signals for Yiyun to come and adjust Sehun’s make-up.

The make-up artist smiles to herself lightly as she dusts some powder into place and tugs a stray hair into its flow. She tells Sehun quietly “You are such a handsome young man Sehun-sshi.”

Sehun scowls so Yifan uses his forefinger to smooth the lines of his eyebrows and says “Just be natural. You don’t have to follow every instruction and don’t forget to have fun in front of the camera.”

“Okay.” Sehun mumbles and Yifan pats his head softly, Yiyun chides him for messing up the idol’s hair as she adjusts it again and send Sehun off.

Yifan keeps catching Sehun’s eyes and smiling at him until Sehun smiles naturally in front of the camera.

The production team is practically beaming at each and every single one of Sehun’s photographs and Yifan couldn’t be prouder. (They end up using more of Sehun’s pictures than Jongin’s and Yifan think it’s the first step for gaining self-esteem and confidence.)

#

With Japan’s music industry being heavily infiltrated by YG entertainment, the higher-up knows the most logical choice is to break into Chinese’s music industry. The “amicable” (take notes of the quotation marks) break-up between Luhan and SM leaves the company in a favorable light and with Sehun looking similar to Luhan, the chances of Maxstep: Two Seventeen being well-liked by the Chinese audience is quite high. Plus, with numerous TV channels in the mainland; Maxstep: Two Seventeen ought to scores at least five or six appearances, garnering more than generous income to sustain the company.

And Yifan being assigned to Sehun is greatly biased because

1. He’s fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese. It makes arranging TV appearances a lot easier and they don’t even have to hire a translator if Yifan is willing to translate for both of the idols, which is highly probable considering the fact that Yifan is chronically easy to comply with the company’s requests.
2. Yifan has connections in the mainland; what’s with being Amber’s and Henry’s manager in China and being friends with Luhan and some other big names producers in the entertainment industry.

That second reason is also why he’s on the phone begging Luhan to host Maxstep: Two Seventeen’s debut showcases in China while the idols are studying Chinese and Joonmyeon leaves to do god knows where.

“Ge, please.” Yifan begs after a long hard conversation that didn’t bring any positive results.

“Calling me Ge won’t get you what you want Wu.” Is Luhan’s crisp reply.

“Ge, I’ll charge every expense under SM’s name. Even your snacks.” The manager tries to reason childishly and Luhan sighs.

The ex-singer and now-producer says “You know the reason why they I don’t want to associate myself with that company again Yifan. I don’t even understand why you’re asking when you already know the answer.”

Yifan release a long breathy exhale at that before replying “I thought you’d do it if I ask.”

The person on the other line stays quiet. So Yifan says “I thought you’d do it for me.”

The silence stretches longer before Luhan exhale before he points out with a  voice that’s too stable “You even begged me. And my answer will still be the same; I’m not hosting those showcases.”

“Ge, you know that if the showcases’ tickets don’t sell well; the company’s just going to work their asses off on some new project and they won’t get any rest. Or worst, they’ll probably get shelved like f(x).” Yifan states and Luhan remains completely silent for three full minutes. The manager thought that the producer already hung up on him but his breathing indicates that Luhan is still on the line.

Finally, Luhan says “Fine. I’ll host those stupid showcases and you better pay me well Wu or I’m never speaking to you again. EVER.”

Yifan breathes a sigh of relief and thanks Luhan until he hangs up on him.

#

With Joonmyeon absent, Yifan drives both boys to their apartment. The manager already took the liberty to order two boxes of jajangmyeon for them to eat while he fixes them both a proper dinner.

Sehun invites him to stay for dinner, but Yifan hesitates. However, Jongin looks at him and mumbles shyly “You already cook the food, might as well eat it with us.”

Yifan hums and rolls up his sleeves. Sehun passes him a bowl of rice and says “Thanks for the rice Ge.”

The manager raises a fine brow at him and Sehun avoids his eyes. Jongin laughs and tells Yifan “He wanted to call you Ge since our instructor told us that you’re Chinese, Yifan-sshi. Sehunnie is really impulsive sometimes.”

The younger of the two kicks him in the shin and Jongin laughs louder. Jongin makes adorable faces at Sehun and pinches his cheek, so Sehun puffs his cheeks out and glares at his partner.

Gently, Yifan reaches out to pat the boys softly on their head and reminds them “It’s dinner time boys. Please finish your meal before playing.”

“Dui.” Sehun mumbles and Yifan raises his one of his brows again. Jongin laughs and Sehun’s glares at him in embarrassment.

The table quiet down as Jongin’s laughter slowly dies. Yifan takes the opportunity to say “You know, you can speak Mandarin with me anytime.”

Sehun nods eagerly and Jongin just chuckles.

#

Maxstep: Two Seventeen drops their first teaser video a month before their Chinese’s debut showcase and the view is stuck at 303 even though the amount of like already surpassed four thousand. Yifan would know because he religiously refreshes the page despite the fact that it’s Jongin’s teaser video.

Jongin is nervous, he can tell, because the boy is practicing their dances with vigor and Sehun is starting to complain at the nonstop dancing. Due to Sehun’s words, Jongin unwillingly pause the music and goes to sit down next to Yifan, who hands him a bottle of water. Jongin takes a long drag of water and hands the bottle to Sehun. He mumbles to the manager “Thank you Yifan-sshi.”

Yifan makes a noise in the back of his throat and refreshes the YouTube page again. He says absent mindedly “You can call me hyung too.”

Sehun sits on the other side of him and looks at his phone so he adds “Or ge if you like.”

Sehun pouts and Jongin laughs before saying with a wink to his partner “Nah, I’ll stick with hyung.”

Sehun just rolls his eyes and turn to look at Yifan’s phone. He asks “Why are you watching his teaser again?”

Jongin’s attention perks up and he turns to peak at the video. He blushes a bit and turns his head away. Sehun mumbles “Ugh, don’t act shy. It doesn’t suit you Kim Kai.”

Jongin turns to pout at Sehun and replies good-naturedly “You’re just jealous yours hasn’t come out yet.”

Sehun rolls his eyes again and Yifan’s afraid that they might roll out of their sockets if Sehun keep doing that. The younger says jokingly “Oh please, why should I be jealous of you? You know the ladies love me more than you.”

Sehun wiggles his brows at him suggestively and Jongin face palms to hid his embarrassment. Yifan lets out a chuckle and Sehun frowns at the sound. Jongin laughs at him.

“I’m going to the restroom.” Sehun announces as he abruptly stands up and slams the door to the practice room shut to the sound of Jongin crackling loudly at him.

Yifan just looks at the idol in confusion for a brief second before refreshing the page again. Jongin groans when he sees his teaser so Yifan asks “Why are you groaning Jongin-sshi?”

To that, Jongin groans again. This time even louder “Please don’t call me Jongin-sshi. It sounds so stiff. And I’m like really nervous. My Mandarin is really bad compared to Sehunnie. And I’m pretty much gonna lip-sync 90% of every songs. I’m just really really nervous.”

Yifan nods as he goes through comments and replies to a few of it to express his personal opinions. Jongin peaks at his phone again and sees Yifan typing English into the comment box.

Locking the screen, Yifan puts the phone down and turns to look at the idol. Jongin bobs his head down shyly and the manager tries to muster encouraging words for the boy.

With a gentle voice, he says encouragingly “Jongdae used to tell me the same thing. But look at him now.”

Jongin turns to look at him with wonders in his eyes and Yifan pats Jongin’s arm lightly in a reassuring manner.

“You just need to keep practicing like Sehun because if he can do it, you can too.”

Jongin smiles stiffly and stares intently at the floorboard. When Sehun returns from his bathroom break, they practice till two in the morning and Yifan has haul both of them to their apartment. The manager doesn’t understand Jongin’s need to practice until he’s exhausted. It’s not exactly healthy and he disapproves.

#

After that day, Jongin starts coming to Yifan whenever he has troubles with Mandarin lessons. He frequently asks Sehun about the manager and from the boy’s expression, he doesn’t like it when Jongin asks after Yifan. Yifan’s not sure if it’s because of him or Jongin, but the fact that Sehun seems annoyed whenever Jongin intrudes in their time to practice Mandarin; Yifan assumes it has to do with Jongin.

The manager wants to ask but holds his tongue, he’s not close enough to the person he manages to ask such private question.

#

SM releases the second teaser three weeks before Maxstep: Two Seventeen’s Chinese debut. The view, likes and comments are garnered much quicker than Jongin’s teaser because the make-up artists and cameramen worked their magic to make Sehun look similar to Luhan. Yifan stares at the screen of his phone screen for far too long before he lines Luhan the link to Sehun’s teaser. Even Luhan finds it creepy so Yifan thinks it’s okay that he’s feeling creeped out.

Like with Jongin’s teaser, Yifan refreshes the YouTube page constantly. He pays attention every time the video plays and he doesn’t understand why. He watches the teaser more than a hundred times already and he remembers every detail perfectly. Remembers every lines of the song and every curves of Sehun’s face.

And that’s how Joonmyeon finds him, sitting outside the boys’ class lip-syncing to Sehun’s solo song in his trailer. The other manager sits next to him and raises a fine brow. He comments with a sigh “Ah, I still haven’t watch Jonginnie’s teaser yet.”

Yifan makes a confirming noise but doesn’t look away from his phone. When the video ends, the manager finally lifts his head and asks his companion “Did you want something?”

Joonmyeon shrugs before asking “Who’s going to take care of Luhan-sshi while he’s here? You or me?”

Yifan turns to look at him with a raised eyebrow “Me.”

“Oh.” The other manager replies and slumps into his seat. He says “Guess I’m stuck with chauffeuring the kids around again.”

Yifan nods stiffly but doesn’t say anything.

#

The airport is jam-packed with rabid fangirls, hungry to catch a glimpse of Luhan who is supposedly in Korea without a manager or protection from any agency. Luhan was extremely discreet about his flight to Korea but SM had to be an opportunity seeker and leaked the information to the media anonymously. Yifan spent about three hours apologizing to Luhan who just breathed into the call and said nothing. He simply hanged up and sent him a text that talk s about SM. Yifan’s not surprised.

Yifan dodges into the arrival terminal and sees Luhan surrounded by three guards as the four of them are being crowded by the fans. Sighing, he tries to squeeze his way toward the idol but couldn’t so he decides to yell over the loud chatters “Luhan.”

Yifan’s voice instantly catches Luhan’s attention because the star turns his head around until his eyes land on the manager. Luhan waves in Yifan’s general direction and the commotions seem to quiet down as the fans turn toward Yifan. Whispers erupt as they spot the tall manager and Yifan can already imagine the discussions that are going to happen because Luhan is spotted with his ex-manager who still serves under SM.

Slowly, the fans part way for Yifan to reach Luhan and the manager inserts himself behind the idol. Luhan presses his back intimately against Yifan chest and leans his head into Yifan’s face. The manager puts a reassuring hand on Luhan’s forearm before he reaches for Luhan’s bag and gifts the fan gave him and carries them for the idol. Yifan takes a moment to breathe in the forgotten smell of Luhan’s shampoo before he put his free hand on Luhan’s hip and guid him to the van.

As soon as they leave the airport in the minivan, Luhan slumps into his seat and leans his head against the window. He hums under his breath as he fiddles with his smartphone. Yifan eyes him and sees the lack of seatbelt so he chides the idol “Seatbelt Luhan.”

Luhan looks at him with a raised brow and says “That’s new. You never say anything about seatbelts before.”

Yifan shrugs and mumbles “It’s a good practice. Better safe than sorry right?”

Luhan rolls his eyes and the Canadian sighs before saying matter-of-factly“Sehun always wear his.”

Luhan raises his brow again and Yifan scowls. The idol asks “Oh. About that Sehun kid. I really want to meet him.”

“Why?” Yifan asks too hastily and Luhan stares at him through the rearview mirror. It’s Yifan who breaks the eye contact first and Luhan narrows his eyes.

“Must I list the reasons down before you allow me to meet the idol you manage?”

Yifan frowns “It’s not that.”

Luhan rolls his eyes and looks at the rearview mirror with great intensity while Yifan tries his best to keep is eyes on the road and not return the idol’s stare. Luhan demands “Then what?”

“Nevermind, both of you will meet anyways.” Yifan mumbles, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Yifan emphasizes and Luhan glares out the window.

Both remain silent until Yifan can’t handle it and asks “Do you wanna visit the guys first or go to your hotel first?”

“Why can’t we go to your place?” Luhan asks, this time catching Yifan’s eye in the rearview mirror. Yifan is about to say something, but before he could even open his mouth; Luhan continues “I want to stay at your place.”

“I already book a room for you. It’s in the most expensive hotel in Seoul.” Yifan states and Luhan raises a brow as if to ask ‘So?’

Yifan sighs “Don’t be silly and sleep in the hotel.”

“Won’t it be difficult for you to come get me from the hotel and go get your idol?” Luhan reasons.

“I’m exclusively your manager as long as you’re here.”

Luhan narrows his eyes again and tries for a second time “I don’t feel safe staying in a hotel.”

“Luhan, I personally booked that room for you and arranged everything. It will be okay. No sasaeng will get to you.”

“Remember Exo: The Lost Planet world tour in Singapore?” Luhan asks and Yifan shuts up instantly.

The manager grits “Fine.”

#

Luhan and Sehun meet the next day when Luhan insists on going to SM and getting the script himself rather than let Yifan delivers it to him. Sehun is a bit star struck. Okay, maybe a lot more because he’s even more quiet than usual. And Jongin’s jaw is practically on the ground; Joonmyeon has to physically push his mouth shut.

Luhan laughs and extends his hand to Sehun then Jongin. They both grab the hand with great care and Yifan wants to laugh at how ridiculous it all is. Then Luhan whips out his phone and says “Let’s take a selfie.”

Sehun and Jongin stay rooted in their spot until Yifan and Joonmyeon has to push them to stand behind Luhan. The Chinese turns to smile brightly at the duo and tells them “Smile beautifully my duckies. I’m uploading it into my Weibo and IG. You do not want to look silly.”

“You can do that?” Sehun asks.

Luhan side eyes Yifan but says nothing before taking about twenty photos consecutively, making his juniors do various poses with him. After that he keeps on chatting with them happily and Yifan has to tug him away because Joonmyeon keeps reminding him obsessively that the boys need to get to their Mandarin class.

Luhan protests so Yifan says sternly “Time to go. You promised to go shopping with Yixing before you leave.”

The star just narrows his eyes and Yifan raises a fine brow at him. Luhan puffs his cheeks and stomps his way toward Yifan who’s holding the door for him. The manager rolls his eyes dramatically and turns to tell Sehun “Sehunnie, I might not be able to make it for our private Mandarin lessons.”

Sehun nods and Yifan hears Luhan’s speaking loudly with some SM artists he meets in the hallway. The manager adds before leaving the room “I’ll text you.”

Amber sees him and tells Luhan loudly in crisp Mandarin behind covered mouth “Your nanny’s here Lu-ge.”

Yifan rolls his eyes and Luhan laughs “He’s your nanny too when you’re active in China.”

“He’s not.”

Luhan gives her a pointed and Amber crosses her arm and leans her weight onto her heels. She says with a serious tone, but her evil expression spells trouble and Yifan fears for his life- Amber has far too much dirt on him, “Ge, he doesn’t feed me or put me to sleep. He’s not my nanny.”

“Wu Yifan you did not!” Luhan exclaims loudly, cheeks red with embarrassment.

Yifan runs for his life toward the van in the basement, Amber’s hysterical laughter follows him and Luhan is not far behind. Yifan swears he’s going to get Amber the most horrible acting gig ever the next time she’s active in China.

#

Hopefully, the first chapter doesn’t too much. I worked really hard on that, totally disregarding my assignments because I’m so incredibly uninspired to actually do anything plan related.

Drops a few comments guys, I love talking to you :9

Anyways, I really really need a beta reader. Like extremely in need of a beta reader who would put up with my horrible English and unending procrastination. Help me please TT/|\TT