Wooyoung checked his Rolex for the seventh time. The person he was supposed to be meeting was officially thirteen minutes late now. He didn't even know why he agreed to this, heaven knows he's never agreed to meeting anyone else. He decided he'd give the man two more minutes before getting up and leaving. 

On the other side of the very large and luxurious restaurant, a man with unruly curls stumbled in, having just ran from the bus stop. He hadn't stopped by his house yet, he'd come straight from work at the auto-repair shop. Of course, he'd changed into cleaner clothes, but that didn't stop the maître d' from eyeing him up and down disdainfully. 

"Can I help you, sir?" he asked. 

Wearing a light blue button up and light brown khakis, the other man grinned. "Hi. I'm Park Chanyeol, I'm here to meet Mr. Jang Wooyoung." 

Behind the desk separating them, the maître d' looked into his book of reservations. He did, in fact, have a Jang Wooyoung listed to be awaiting the arrival of a Park Chanyeol, but surely he couldn't admit this underdressed man inside. "Can I see your I.D., please?" 

Nervous, Chanyeol fished his wallet out of his back pocket. He pulled too hard, though, and it fell to the ground, convenience store receipts and fast food coupons spilling out. Hastily, not wanting to be any later than he already was, the tall man picked up the wallet and it's contents and handed the other man his license. 

"Hmm," the maître d' hummed, almost disappointed. 

"Is there a problem?" Chanyeol asked. 

"Unfortunately not," he admitted. "Fine, I'll have a waiter take you to Jang Wooyoung." 

And suddenly there was a man wearing a black suit, flanked by two similarly dressed men. "There's no need," he said calmly, staring deep into Chanyeol's eyes. "I'm leaving." Without so much as another word, the fashionably dressed man walked out the door. 

Chanyeol his heels and followed him. "Sir, please wait!" he called out. 

Wooyoung let out a sharp breath, visible in the cool night's air. Without facing Chanyeol, he said, "You're sorry you're late, you'd like to talk to me, and you ask of me to reconsider turning away, right? Did I miss anything?" 

Chanyeol was stunned speechless. He couldn't believe anyone could think so highly of themselves, or so poorly of another human being. 

"That's what I thought. Goodnight, Mr. Park." 

"I'm sorry," Chanyeol said, "but not for the reason you think." 

"I don't want to hear it." He took another step towards his car, and one of his men opened the door. 

"I'm sorry you were made to feel so little before that now you want to crush everyone you see, hyung." Chanyeol said, momentarily letting his informal habit slip out. 

It made all of the difference. Jang Wooyoung turned around with fire in his eyes. "No one," he said in a terrifying growl, "calls me hyung." With that, he got into his car and was promptly driven away. 

Weakly, and to himself, Chanyeol whispered, "Please give me another chance, sir." 

*** 

"Come on, it's nothing to beat yourself up about," said Minseok the next day at practice. 

Baekhyun scoffed. "Umm, yeah it is. This idiot just costed us a potential contract with a huge company." 

Kyungsoo, who could be equally as mean sometimes, but knew his limits for most of it, cast Baekhyun a warning glare. The taller of the two silently mouthed, 'what?', to which the other rolled his owl eyes. 

"Guys, I'm not blind. I know what I did, and I'm going to fix it, I promise," Chanyeol said. 

"Oh no," whispered Jongdae, a smile on his face. "Here we go." 

None of the other band members knew how, but Jongdae had quite the ear for emotional wreck; he could hear one from miles away. In this case, the emotional wreck happened to be Kim Jongin, their self-proclaimed "number one fan". 

"What do you mean Chanyeol-hyung ruined your careers?" he cried, bursting through the lockless door. 

Everyone stared at Kyungsoo, who looked at Chanyeol. "That's not what I wrote him," he swore. 

***

"Give me a break," said Ok Taecyeon, Head of Domestic Marketing. "No one cares about idol bands anymore. I mean, look at AOA. Where did their concept go? Their 7+1?" He took a sip of his whiskey. "You know, I'm not sure why Wonder Girls are even trying it. It's not gonna blow up." 

"I don't know," claimed Nickhun Horvejkul, Head of International Marketing. "These guys might have something in our favour. Two of the members, the two bassists, they studied in China, did they not? So they're fluent. Or, you know, close enough." He poured himself a glass of lemon water. "My point is, they're sellable overseas. Even if they don't do well here." 

The door clicked open. "Let's hear what the big boss has to say," Taecyeon said. When Wooyoung walked in, he shouted, "Hey! It's my man Jjang!" 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. "Not so loud, idiot," he whispered, holding his head between his hands. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night and now his headache was killing him. 

"Too much to drink last night, or what?" his friend asked. 

Wooyoung only glared. 

Nickhun cleared his throat. "We were just discussing the band that wanted—" 

"We're not signing them," the boss said in a finalizing tone. 

There was silence until Taecyeon whistled. "I take it last night didn't go so smoothly." 

"He was late." 

The two workers glanced at each other and raised their brows. What a horrible foot to start on. 

"So I guess their marketability doesn't really matter?" Nickhun asked with a chuckle. "Then I'm off. The Japanese band has a CF deal I've gotta overview." With that, he was gone. 

Taecyeon poured his longtime friend a glass of whiskey and slid it to him over the smooth table. Concerningly, the CEO downed it in one gulp. 

"Damn. He really pissed you off, huh?" Unable to resist sweet gossip, he leaned in excitedly. "Tell me everything." 

Hardly moving his head at all, Wooyoung scoffed. "Go to hell, Taecyeon." 

*** 

With a gulp, Chanyeol stared at the building in front of him. Somehow it seemed more intimidating than the last time he was here. Cringing, he took a step forward, and then another, and then another, until finally he was in front of the main doors. 

Slowly, he reached for the handle, very, very slowly. So slowly that the man standing behind him went to the side and opened the other door impatiently, muttering, "Weirdo." 

And yeah, maybe Chanyeol was a weirdo. Not only to whoever that guy was, but also to the man he was here to see. That didn't change the fact that his band members were counting on him to do something. They hadn't named him leader for nothing. 

With a deep breath and on the count of three, he swung the door open, finding it lighter than he was expecting. A little shaken up, but mostly fine, he walked steadily to the front desk. 

"Hi," he greeted, flashing one of his trademark grins at the lady. She smiled back. 

"What can I do for you?" she asked. 

"I'd like to speak to Jang Wooyoung, please," he said. 

The lady giggled. "Wouldn't we all?" 

His smile didn't falter. "Yes, but, I'm not kidding. I have something to give him," Chanyeol said, holding up the large yellow manila envelope. 

The woman made a move to take it from his hands, "I can put that in his mailbox for you," but Chanyeol held it back. 

"I'd rather, uhh, speak to him in person," he said. "Please." 

With a sigh, the lady picked up the phone. "I'll see if he's available," she told him, and the man happily waited for someone to pick up her call. He listened to one side of the conversation. "Yes, um, I was wondering if Jang sajangnim was in?"..."Yes, well, there's someone here who wants to meet him."..."Yes, I'm aware, but he's insistent."..."Mmhmm."..."Alright."..."I understand."..."Thank you."..."Yes, thank you."..."Okay."..."Buh-bye." She placed the receiver down and looked up at Chanyeol. "He's in room 412, take the elevator down the C wing." 

"Thank you," he said and flashed her a thumbs up before making his way through the busy lobby. 

He already knew how to find the C wing, and from the moment the elevator opened it's doors on the fourth floor he knew how to get to room 412. He'd been there before. 

His package gripped tightly between his arm and his torso, he walked into the room with a whole new set of secretarial cubicles. One woman stood up when he appeared. "Are you here to see Mr. Jang?" 

He nodded. She picked up her phone and clicked a button. She waited until she could say, "Jang sajangnim, you have a visitor." 

She hung up shortly after and led him to a room, the door to which she knocked three times before opening. She took a step in, bowed, and let Chanyeol in. What he realized, that he hadn't the last time he stepped foot in this office, was that the room was better furnished than his living room, complete with a flat screen TV on the wall, and a chimney below it, not burning. 

Jang Wooyoung, the man he was here to see, was sitting at his desk, chair turned away from the door. Chanyeol hardly registered the girl excusing herself and closing the door behind her. 

"Umm, sir, I'd like to apologize for last night. Also for dropping by without notice, but I would really like another chance." 

"Another chance, you say?" The chair spun around, and Wooyoung looked comically evil in it, Chanyeol barely succeeded in holding back his giggles. "Fine. You have fifteen minutes to explain to me why you were late last night, why you deserve a second chance in the first place, and then why we should sign you and your band." 

Eyes wide, Chanyeol nodded. "Okay, well... Last night I was late because we got a classic car in the auto shop I work at, and the owner was paying a great deal to repair it, and we needed all hands on deck. I wasn't able to get off as easily as I had planned to. Because of that delay, I ended up missing the bus I should've caught to make it on time. I had to get on the next one, which was obviously an older bus, because it couldn't go as fast as others do. And then I got off the bus and ran as fast as I could to the restaurant and then the stuck up guy at front tried everything he possibly could to keep me out." He took a deep breath and continued. 

"I deserve a second chance, because I truly and unbiasedly believe that my band and our music can go far, and I don't think it's fair that you won't give us a chance just because I was late, sir. And I know I was disrespectful last night, and I stepped over my bounds, and I truly am sorry about that. That is why I believe you owe us another chance. Not just me, but the other members as well, the innocent ones in this whole ordeal. 

"Also, our music has the power to touch lots of people. From the gigs we've played, and the creation process itself, we know that our songs are relatable and catchy, and good. We want to show that to everyone else around the country." 

Wooyoung sighed. "Do you know what tardiness looks like to me, Mr. Park?" 

Chanyeol had an idea, but why add fuel to the fire? 

"It looks like irresponsibility. It looks like arrogance. It looks like the acceptance of imperfection, Mr. Park. Here at my company, I can't have that. We are a highly regarded group, and I can't have that image blemished by someone who can't be bothered to wipe his schedule clean for the possibility of a brighter future. The likes of you." 

Chanyeol nodded. "I understand you, sir. Believe me, I do. I can assure you that if you give us another chance, it will not happen again." 

"Well it'd better not, because I've warned you now." Wooyoung took a deep breath before pointing with his chin at what Chanyeol had brought. "I assume that's for me?" 

Chanyeol nodded for what felt like the billionth time. "Yes, it is." He took a tentative step forward, and five more after that to place the package onto the CEO's desk. 

"Okay. Now go," Wooyoung said calmly. 

"What?" the tall man asked with a confused smile. 

"Go. You've made your point, you've given me what you wanted to give me, you have no more business here, do you? Go." 

The boss turned around and faced the windows behind the desk, watching downtown traffic whir by. He definitely heard the hopeless footsteps get farther from him until the door opened, closed and everything stopped. 

*** 

"Well, I gave it to him," Chanyeol said on the phone. "Now all we have to do is practice, practice, and practice." 

"Whoa," Baekhyun said. "You're getting worse than you were three years ago when we were entering that contest." 

"Yeah, and let me remind you that we won the prize. Round everyone up, we're practicing all night." 

"Chanyeol, we have jobs to go to in the morning. You included. This isn't like three years ago when all we had was college to deal with." 

"Baekhyun, this is bigger than all of us combined. If we don't get this right, you can forget ever getting our music out to the world. This company isn't a joke. If they don't like you, they'll make sure no one does." 

Baekhyun sighed. "Okay, Chanyeol. I'll round up everyone else." 

"Good. I'm already in the practice room. I'll be waiting." 

With that he hung up and tossed his phone onto the coffee table in the centre of the room before sitting in front of his instrument and petting it absentmindedly. 

*** 

Somehow Wooyoung wasn't surprised by the contents of the package. There was a CD named in Sharpie as "EXO - The Dream". He snorted. What kind of a name was that? 

There was also a flyer advertisement, the kind given to people walking down the streets of Hongdae, to an obscure bar called The Hideout, where EXO had a gig. That was potentially useful. 

Lastly, there was a folder. Inside were photocopies of the sheet music. Wooyoung assumed it was the same set of songs on the CD. 

He picked up his desk phone and speed dialled his secretary. "Get me a talent scout." 

Not ten minutes later, there was a knock on his door. Ah, he loved how afraid his employees were of upsetting him. "Come in," he announced. 

"You called, Jang sajangnim?" asked a woman with straight black hair who looked like she still belonged in high school. 

"How old are you?" He couldn't help but ask the question. 

"Twenty, sir," the woman dutifully replied. 

He nodded. "Come in. What's your name?" 

"Bae Suji," she answered. 

"Alright, Miss Bae," he said. He outstretched his arm. "I have a job for you." He handed Suji the advertisement. "You and I will go there tomorrow and you will tell me whether or not you would scout them, complete with reasons why or why not." 

Her brows shot up. "O-okay. Of course." 

He also pushed the CD to her, too. "Here's their music, in case you're interested in a little preview." 

Suji politely shook her hands. "No thank you. I'd much rather be hearing them for the first time." 

He nodded, understanding. "Suit yourself." Slowly, the woman started to get up, and he opened his mouth, making her drop right back into her seat. "I can see you have a question. Ask it, get it over with." 

"Is this... Well, it's just that I've never heard of you in particular getting personally involved in a group's scouting. Is this normal?" she asked. 

"Not at all," he said, offering a rare smile. 

*** 

"One more time," Chanyeol called from his place behind everyone. 

Jongdae groaned, but otherwise no one complained. No one dared bring up the fact that it was well past 2 AM. They were all tired, but no one could bear to mention it, not when Chanyeol was like this. 

Still, Jongdae ticked him off. "If you could get your fingers to stop tripping over themselves, Jongdae, we wouldn't have to restart." 

"You heard that? Even Minseok didn't hear that!" the bassist countered. 

"Minseok's going deaf, apparently." Chanyeol turned to the second bassist and the oldest band member. "Yah! Do I have to come over there and teach you how to play your own instrument?" 

The boy under fire took a deep breath and shifted his jaw side to side. "Sorry," he muttered. 

"One more time," Chanyeol repeated. 

Their number one fan, and feedback bouncer had fallen asleep hours ago, despite all the noise. They were starting to think it sounded like a lullaby to him. 

On the guitar, Kyungsoo focused his anger towards Chanyeol into his music. He was focused so hard on playing the instrument that he totally missed his vocal cue. The band stopped playing at odd bars, and soon the drum was the only thing still going. 

"Why did any of you stop?" Chanyeol asked. "Is that what you'll do on stage tomorrow? If so, then we should just give up now, cancel on the gig, on the contract." He took a deep breath. "Even if we miss something, we play to the end. Alright?" He waited for some sort of agreement from all the members before moving on. "Okay. From the top." 

Everything was going smoothly until at one point, Baekhyun couldn't fight his urge to yawn and in the process played a note too high. This was caught by Chanyeol's all-hearing big ears, he was sure of it, but he played on like he was meant to. 

At the end of the song, without comment, Chanyeol announced a restart. No one asked why. 

By the time they ran through the song perfectly, it was 4 AM. Minseok had blisters on his fingertips, and Kyungsoo couldn't feel his vocal chords anymore. Baekhyun had overplayed and was beginning to forget how to even play a keyboard, and Jongdae was too tired to lift his bass over his shoulder. Jongin groggily got up, back in pain from the position he'd fallen asleep in, and he got into a more comfortable position, mumbling something about "spending the night here". 

The members flowed out of the room, finding the sun to be peeping the first rays. Chanyeol stayed back. He hadn't told his bandmates, but there had been a bar where he let the crash of the ride cymbal go on way too long and it did not sound good at all. He needed more practice, that was it. 

Jongin was hardly bothered by the beating and the clashing Chanyeol was doing. If anything, his snoring helped the drummer keep pace. 

Chanyeol didn't sleep that night. He went to work straight from the practice room, and began his day. 

*** 

The morning was Wooyoung's favourite part of the day, most of the time. Unless he'd had a rough night before. Seeing as how he walked into the building without a scowl on his face, it was a good day. 

"Good morning, Jjang!" Taecyeon greeted, walking into the boss man's office uninvited. 

"Morning." Wooyoung drank his coffee as he read over the reports he'd been left last night. 

"A little birdie tells me you're going on a date tonight." 

It took all of his willpower not to spit out his coffee in shock. "You're getting lied to by birds, that's a whole new level of messed up." 

Taecyeon hopped over the the other side of the desk, a taboo for everyone but a certain Head of Domestic Marketing, and started poking his friend's cheeks. "Oh, you don't have to hide it. She's a very beautiful woman, I'll give you that. A little young, though, but that's not bad at all." 

"Do I get to find out this woman's name in the next twenty seconds, or will you not be able to find a job for the next twenty years?" Wooyoung asked nonchalantly. 

"Bae Suji. Duh. It's on her online calendar." 

The CEO scoffed. "And she wrote that she was going with me on her calendar?" 

"No, but it was on your calendar, too, so I assumed... So are you not going together?" Taecyeon asked. He seemed like a mix of relieved and disappointed. 

"Oh, we are. It's hardly a date, though, we're going to check out that band that's been bugging me." He set the reports down, finished with them. 

"You mean the idol band? What happened to your decision not to sign them?" 

Wooyoung shook his head. "I'm still sure of my decision, but the leader came here and begged for