Chapter 6 – People Change

HER

During lunch time, I realized that I’d forgotten my lesson book under the teacher’s desk in 2-1, so I went back to the classroom to get it. Most of the girls were already done eating their lunch, but there were still a few stragglers finishing up their lunchboxes here and there. A few students greeted me when I walked in and I told them not to get up, I was only here to pick up something. Then I noticed (or maybe I should say “heard”) Doremi squealing like piglets at the back of the classroom.

They had pushed their 3 desks together and it looked like they were… scrapbooking? Their working space was covered in supplies and materials, from magazines, to coloring pens to little rolls or colorful tape and glue. Reika was busy drawing a picture, while Do-hee glued something onto the page in front of her with a satisfied look on her face, and Mi-ran was reading to them aloud from a magazine.

“Are you guys working on some art project or something?” I asked, walking over and surveying their mess.

“Oh no! Miss, this is much more important!” piped-up Reika, looking up from her artwork.

“This is our EXO Bible!” exclaimed Do-hee, lifting up an enormous scrapbook and closing it so I could see the cover.

“Oh…” I said, suppressing an eye-roll and listening as Do-Hee sang me the virtues of her glorious book. Actually, I’d seen them carry that book around before and had wondered what it was. Of course it was EXO-related. I should’ve known. The irony of my favourite students spending most of their time lusting after my ex-boyfriend’s band was not lost on me. But what could I do?

I asked them if they’d had a nice time at their fan event, and Mi-ran answered “oh yes!” getting excited. It was pretty funny to me because she was usually such a quiet girl. “I got to talk to Lay and he SMILED at me!!!” squealed.

“XIUMIN was really handsome too…” added Do-hee, pointing at her with a ruler, but the studious girl just shrugged.

“Oh and he talked to me a lot! XIUMIN is really nice you know”, she was saying his name really loudly, which was kinda weird, and then she reached into her school bag and fished out some kind of photobook and showed it to me, “do you want to see where he signed my book?”

“Since when are you such a big Xiumin fan? What happened to Baekhyun?” Reika asked her, perplexed.

But Do-hee ignored her question and went right on, asking me “teacher, did you know that XIUMIN’s name is really Min Seok?”

‘Ha!’ I thought, ‘if you only knew, kid…’ but I just answered her “oh really?”

I caught Mi-ran giving her a really strange look, but then the bell indicating the end of lunch break rang, sending them all scrambling to gather their things, since they had P.E. after lunch. Also, we realized that they were the only ones left in the class, which meant that they would have to lock up and bring the key to their class leader.

“Ah, don’t worry, I’ll lock the classroom for you, you girls go ahead.”

“Thanks miss! You’re the best!”

I made shooing motions with my hand and they ran off. I could understand their hurry though. Mr. Wong, their P.E. teacher, was not a man who liked to be kept waiting.

I didn’t have any classes in 5^th period so I picked up the “EXO Bible” and flipped through it. Reika had obviously done the cover art – it was little baby-cartoon versions of all the members, with a big black and silver EXO in fancy lettering at the center. The book was a vast collection or pictures, drawings and magazine clippings, adorned with various stickers and comments the girls had written themselves. It was pretty creative, I had to admit.

I flipped through a page with a big picture of Min Seok, and bits of an interview glued next to it. Since I’d been back (though it had been impossible to avoid them completely) I had tried not to pay too much attention to EXO’s activities. I knew Min Seok and I belonged in the past, but still, it would be so easy to reopen old wounds… However, for some reason, I decided to sit down and read the interview.


Q : I’m curious which activity you like doing in your spare time?
A : Cleaning my room.

I laughed. That did not sound like the Min Seok I used to know.

Q : What is Xiumin oppa’s favorite food?
A : Bread.

Now that was more like it. He used to buy it every single day from the school shop.

Q : If you weren’t an idol, what would you like to be?
A : I’d like to be a barista and have my own café. I love coffee.

This made me laugh. I remember when he tried coffee for the first time. He made a face as if he’d bitten into a lemon! But still, he always thought it made him look cool and grown up, so maybe he did grow to really like it. After all, I did too.

Q : What is your favorite hair color that you’ve had?
A : I like the orange hair I had for “Wolf”. But I like to change my hair. I like trying new things.

‘Oh, does he now??’ it was really funny to me since he had never even dyed his hair once, for the entire time I’d known him. He’d also sulked for a week once when a hairdresser had cut it way too short. I guess everyone does change once they get older.

I flipped to the next page where there was another interview, which seemed much more serious. In it he talked about the things they’d done in 2014, and how he felt about hoobaes saying they wanted to be like EXO, and he answered dismissively that they were not big enough for that yet. ‘Not big enough?! What’s he waiting for exactly? The Beatles level stardom?’ I thought, shaking my head. Although I understood what he wanted to say. That was one thing that hadn’t changed… My Min Seok had also been the humblest person I knew. He was always putting other people’s needs before his own and… and…….. and it was the reason I broke with him. Because I could see he was about to give up his dream for me. And look at all he would’ve missed if he had…

**flashback to late July 2008**

Min Seok and I sat on my living room couch, watching TV. It was early and my mom was still at the shop, so we were cuddling without being too worried about her randomly walking in on us. I had my head on his chest while he absently my hair as we watched the movie. When the end credits started rolling, I looked up to see his eyes wet with tears, though none had fallen from his eyes.

“You big baby” I said smiling at him and leaning in to give him a peck on the lips.

“Wae! It was sad! Why aren’t you crying, you heartless girl??” he made a face, but I knew he was teasing.

He came down on me and pressed his lips against mine and I felt the heat rise up in my chest. He wasn’t usually this forward and a part of me was still terrified that my mom would choose to walk in at this very moment. Still, I let him kiss me, because nothing else mattered to me more in that instant. After a few minutes, he stopped and looked at me straight in the eyes, before flashing me an adorable eye smile. There was my Min Seokie.

He flipped around on his back and lied down with his head on my lap. This was his favorite thing to do. I scratched his head and he purred like a little cat.

“How is your training going?” I asked him, referring to the reason why I could only see him once a week anymore, if even at all.

“Hmm… fine” he gave a non-committal shrug, “how are the preparations for England going?”

“I’m almost all packed up” I answered, though I really hated we he brought that up. Honestly, we had only about one month left together, couldn’t he just enjoy it?

“You’re still gonna go?” he asked, in a small voice.

“Seokie….” I said with a sad warning tone to my voice.

He looked up at me, his big eyes seeming even wider from this angle.

“I’ll go with you.” he told me. It wasn’t the first time he’d suggested it.

“And what about SM?”

“I’ll quit”

“You’re being crazy, this is your dream!!”

“But you’re my world”, he said, bringing up a hand to my face, and looking at me so tenderly that I could hardly bear to look back. “I can make another dream if it’s with you.”

**end of flashback**

I felt myself choke up a little and closed the book with a smacking sound. Then, taking a deep breath, I grabbed my lesson book and exited the classroom.

HIM

It was the day after the signing and I was still thinking about those Junyan girls. They had definitely said “Miss Cheon”. That was Sora’s last name. Was she their teacher?? Had she said anything about me? How did they know to ask? This could be bad if it got out… although, I thought Sora would be wiser than that… but then again, what did I know? It had been 5 years, and people change… ‘but no, Sora wouldn’t do that… aaah….’

I grabbed my phone and opened the Google Maps app. I typed “Junyan Girls Academy” into the search box, and soon a red dot appeared on the screen, along with an address in Sinchon. ‘Oh wow, that’s actually really near…’

I wondered if Sora was really their teacher… I thought she’d make a good teacher. She was always so patient with everyone, ‘…especially with me’ I chuckled. But she’d always said that she hated the big city and would never move to Seoul… ‘Maybe that changed too.’ Or maybe, this was a completely different person and I was going out of my mind for nothing. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and decided to go for a walk.

I ended up walking to the head office and spending 4 hours in the studio practicing some of our new dances. That felt really good. I didn’t really need to, but I really enjoy dancing, and when I do, my mind just goes blank and I forget all my worries.

Unfortunately, this time, part of my worries returned as soon as I picked up my things to leave. My screen was showing several missed calls from ReAh, and a text message asking me to call her back ASAP. Sighing, I hit her number in my contacts and waited for the phone to dial her up.

“Ya!” she said as soon as she picked up. She sounded angry. That was not good… “You’re ignoring me again!”

“ReAh, I’m not ignoring you, I’m just really busy.” I told her in what I hoped was a soothing voice, “We’ve talked about this before”

“Well I don’t like it!” she spat. I didn’t know what to reply to that so I just kept quiet.

“Don’t you love me??” she asked.

My heart stopped. We actually hadn’t even said those words yet, and her asking it of me – especially at this moment – was kind of below the belt.

“Ha! I knew it… why are you even dating me if you don’t love me huh?” she went on. I caught myself thinking ‘Had her voice always been this annoying?’

“Hunnie, I’m really tired. I don’t know why you’re mad, but you knew when we started dating that it was gonna be this way.” I tried to reason with her, without answering the question.

“Well I’m tired of it!” she snapped.

“Fine, then let’s break up,” I said, tired.

“WHAT?! I didn’t say that!” I had to pull the phone away from my hear cuz she had screamed so loudly.

“But you just…” I started, confused, but she interrupted me.

“I don’t want to break up, you idiot, I want to see you! Meet me now, please?”

I looked at my watch and it was 3:27am. I had to be up at 8am tomorrow. Well, today.

“I can’t now…” I answered lamely.

“Urgh I hate you!!” she exclaimed, before hanging up on me.

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Hi there!

You guys are being pretty quiet... I'd like to know how you are enjoying this so far, so please don't hesitate to comment!! I know Xiumin is not the most popular EXO member on here, but hopefully you'll still like this story!! It's a bit slow to start,  i know, but it's gonna get better!!