“He was wonderful, dear.”

“Right?” Chanyeol beams up at his mom who is busy placing food on the small dining table.

“I get why you like him. But, Chanyeol, it was strange having the cameras and so many people in my home filming me. I don’t know how you to do it so well.”

Chanyeol thanks his mom for the food and the two begin eating.

“I’m sort of used to it by now. I guess being an idol helps since there are cameras whenever I’m performing.”

Mrs. Park nods her head and places more meat onto her son’s plate.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Chanyeol sighs.

“Yifan-hyung.”

The woman smiles knowingly at her son who is pushing the rice around in his bowl. She stays quiet so that Chanyeol can organize his thoughts.

“You’ve always told me that there is a time and place for everything.”

Mrs. Park nods her head.

“Do you think it’s a good time for hyung and I?”

“What do you mean?”

Chanyeol sighs for the tenth time since they sat down and takes a sip of his kimchi soup.

“Right now there is nothing more important than doing my best as a member of EXO. There are people who look up to me and expect a lot from me. Even my members would suffer if I did something stupid and, even though I don’t always agree with him, Sooman-shi is the person who made everything possible and I do respect him and his decisions. But sometimes I just want to ignore all of that and just do whatever I want without thinking about the consequences.”

“Is my baby going through his rebellious stage?” She coos at her son who starts pouting at his mom.

“Mom! I’m being serious here.”

“Oh, sweetie. I know and it’s just all too funny because you already know what to do and just don’t want to accept it.”

Now Chanyeol’s face has morphed into one of confusion. Mrs. Park continues with a gentle smile.

“You’re really good at remembering things I always tell you so I don’t understand why you haven’t mentioned another thing I also taught you. Your mind influences decisions but your heart makes the final choice. Listen to it because I trust it and so should you. I also think that your songs written from your heart are the best ones EXO has ever performed.” She winks at Chanyeol who hasn’t looked away from his mother’s face.

“What if you can’t understand what your heart is telling you? What if it’s speaking in a completely different language.” Chanyeol’s face stays unchanged but there is a small whine in his voice.

“Well in that case I can guarantee you the language your heart chose to speak in would,” she places her hand on her son’s larger ones, “be Mandarin. I think that’s enough of a clue to guess what it wants to tell you.”

Chanyeol doesn’t say anything after that. He sits there looking down at his now cold food. The warm hand on his own keeps him company and he likes it but there is something unsettling about it, he kind of wishes it was something bigger and much more warmer than his mother’s.

“You’re like those old wise mentors in movies that speak in cryptic which I don’t understand until the end of the movie…” His pout is back. Mrs. Park only laughs at the face in front of her and stands up to reheat their food. The two spend the remainder of their day with one another, catching up on things happening in their lives. However, Chanyeol’s mind keeps wandering back to a specific individual that had started sending him texts half way through the day.

Chanyeol walks out of the dressing room into the makeup area with neatly fitted white suit accentuating his lean, tall body. He tries to fix the annoying buttons on his sleeves when a woman walks over to him with a gentle smile. She shakes her head at the cute boy and takes over his struggling job. She quickly buttons up his sleeves and waits until Chanyeol is seated on the makeup chair.

“This looks good on you.”

Chanyeol smiles at the woman through the large mirror and she turns back the gesture.

“Well, you did pick it out. So, what are we gonna do with my hair?”

“I was thinking of going with the style and doing a sleek updo? I think that would make you look taller too.”

Chanyeol nods his head and lets the woman do her work. She had replaced their old coordinator and he was worried that she might have a hard time taking care of six men but so far he doesn’t have anything to complain about. Yuna had told him that she was very reliable and easy to work with when she was an assistant coordinator for her group. Chanyeol liked that she always paid close attention to details and made sure everything was prepared for their schedule. Her sense of style was also one of her good points.

She had been working with them for almost a month now and Chanyeol is finally feeling open around her and she seems to be very sensitive about their personal lives. He appreciates that.

He sees his phone screen light up on the counter in front of him. His long arm stretches out and easily grabs onto the device. A small smile blooms on Chanyeol’s face.

Hubby Fan: Is your shoot starting soon?

Chanyeol is quick to reply. Neither of them seem to miss a beat when it comes to texting with each other, no matter how busy they both are.

Yeollie: Getting my hair done now... It’s weird working by myself...ಠ╭╮ಠ

Hubby Fan: I’m sure if your members could be there they would.  When will you end? If you know...

Dabin walks around the male to reach her products. She looks down and glances at the lit screen and at a content expression on Chanyeol’s face.

Yeollie: I wish, they only told me that it would take three hours max. But I have a radio show after this so hopefully everything goes as planned (~˘▾˘)~.

“Is that Yifan-shi?”

Chanyeol’s head raises up to look at the woman who is now flat-ironing his hair.

“Yup.”

“You two must really be going out in real from what I can see.” There is a small teasing glint in her eyes and Chanyeol can’t stop himself from blushing.

“No,” he looks back down at the text he just received, “Yifan-hyung is just really nice.”

Hubby Fan: I thought I was a workaholic but then I met you... ( ⚆ _ ⚆ ) make sure you take sometime to eat. My filming should end early today so if you want I can stop by and drop off some food \ (•◡•) /. Probably around dinner time?

“I don’t know. I’m not him but personally,” she combs his bangs away from his forehead, “the number of times you two text and even call one another, from what I’ve observed since I started working here, takes a lot of effort. I wouldn’t exert myself to that extent if it wasn’t for someone I was genuinely interested in.”

Yeollie: I will! You’re acting like a hyung right now... (• ε •) I don’t want to tire you out too... You don’t have to bring me food, I would rather you rest.

Chanyeol smiles at Dabin, who seems to be done with his hair.

“You think so?”

Dabin snorts and rolls her eyes.

“If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have told you that. Besides, it’s two sided. The reason you also put the effort is because you like him too, don’t you?” The playfulness in her eyes has not changed since the beginning of their conversation.

Chanyeol has been trying to justify his need to talk to the older man by saying that he was reciprocating Yifan’s nice gesture by replying back. However, it was blatantly obvious to him and to those around him that there is much more than just having good manners. He does have feelings for the other man. No matter how much he tries to deny it or look for excuses, deep down he knows that he had fallen and it scared him so much to think that he might be the only one to do so. Who would be okay with not having their feelings reciprocated.

His eyes look back down at his phone and he silently nods his head.

“Trust me on this,” she places her hands on his shoulders, “he’s most likely feeling the same way and maybe he hasn’t realized it but there is a subconscious response.” Dabin laughs and Chanyeol smiles. “Man, I at being profound and everything but I hope you get what I’m trying to say.”

Chanyeol’s eyes read over his new text and a giant smile breaks over his face, shining directly at the screen before looking at the woman.

Hubby Fan: I’m your husband... I need to act like one sometime, don’t you think so? Delivering food for Chanyeol vs. resting... I see no difference ◕‿↼

“Noona,” Dabin turns around from her makeup station to look at the younger male, “I don’t know if you know this but I’m the type of person who can’t stay still until I get a conclusive response. And this thing with hyung is killing me,” he sighs, “I think I need to man up and just talk to him.”

The woman nods her head.

“So what’s the plan?”

Chanyeol, caught off guard by the question, looks back at her with a stoic face before his pout is back with full force. Dabin laughs at the miserable boy but takes a pity.

“Aren’t we done after the radio show today? That shouldn’t take a long time since it’s a pre-recorded session. You can finish it quickly if you want. Can he maybe meet up with you after that? I don’t know how busy he would be.”

“Well, he did say he would be free around dinner time.”

Dabin claps her hands with a bright smile.

“That’s perfect. You two can have dinner together and talk things out.”

The round eyes looking up at her enlarges even more when he realizes something.

“That should work! Maybe we can meet at our apartment? He likes my cooking. Oh! Maybe I can go to his place since I’ve never been there.”                   

              “No, no, no!”

              Chanyeol stops his mouth and looks like a kicked puppy. He hopes he hadn’t said something that offended the woman. Dabin seems to realize what she had done and puts up her hands up in surrender.

              “Sorry,” she shily smiles, “I think it would be best if you met with him somewhere you won’t be interrupted. There are cameras around your apartment, right?” Chanyeol nods. “And your members could come back while you two are talking in your dorm.” Chanyeol nods his head again. “And do you really think that you will be comfortable talking to him when you’re in his lair?” She makes a quotations marks around lair to emphasize her point. Chanyeol thinks about it but ends up nodding.

              “So where should we meet? At a restaurant? Isn’t that too public?”

              Dabin nods her head while thinking.

              “I would go for a hotel.”

              Chanyeol’s eyes widen again and he looks too surprised to even make a coherent sentence.

“I can’t ask him to meet me at a hotel! What if he gets the wrong idea?”

The woman’s smile grows as Chanyeol’s cheeks turn pink. She leans closer and whispers.

“Is that so bad? Do you really not want to do anything with him?”

If she thought Chanyeol’s face wouldn’t turn any redder, she was proven wrong right away. His whole face flushes into a deep shade of red, one could mistake him for being sick with how he looked at the moment. He pulls away from their conversation with an abrupt motion.

“Noona!”

The older woman laughs to her heart’s content and walks out of the room. Chanyeol clears his throat and sighs when he sees his flushed face looking back at him through the mirror. He knew that his reactions were boisterous and many sought amusement through them but some would give him hard time just to see him react, mainly s and now, apparently, his stylist.

Chanyeol remembers that he hadn’t replied to Yifan and bring up his phone to see that the older man had texted him again.

Hubby Fan: Was that too up front of me? But, no, I wouldn’t mind being a delivery boy. I think you went to work so I’ll get going too. Good luck with work and I know you will do awesome! (>人<)

Chanyeol had to take a risk. Plus, he wouldn’t miss out on a chance for them to be alone together.

               Yifan is intently looking at his phone, the screen is brightly lit, illuminating his entire face in the dimly lit sound room he was taking a break in. He had sent a text to Chanyeol when his break started and they had been talking until the younger man went MIA. Usually, they let one another know when they had to leave so now Yifan was worried if he had sent him something that pushed the other man away. He had read over his last two text over and over for the past five minutes.

“Yifan-shi, we are almost done and I’ll come grab you then.” A small girl with a bob pokes her head into the room to look for Yifan. He nods his head in acknowledgement but goes back to glaring at his innocent phone.

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