It’s an accessory that’s apparently popular with the fans.

-0-

Every single time.

It’s just another regular fan sign. Sehun smiles at the fan, giving her a wave and a barely-there nod as she thanks him, pink-cheeked. His arm drapes itself across the back of Ji Hye’s chair – a show of affection that has a few fans shrieking. The ultimate maknae turns to him, a smile playing at the edges of her lips.

Sehun’s eyes are directed elsewhere.

“What’s that?” he asks, baffled even though he shouldn’t be. Weaved within Ji Hye’s raven locks are flowers. It hadn’t been there when they had first stepped on stage.

“What’s what?” she replies, tilting her head slightly.

Sehun prods the wreath of flowers in her hair, causing it to go askew. “That. You weren’t wearing that just now.”

She touches the flower crown almost self-consciously. “Oh,” she says. “A fan gave them to me.” Her smile widens into a grin; he’s sure he’s not imagining the mischief in that expression. “Jealous?”

He huffs. “No, I am not.”

She always seems to get flower crowns. Frankly, Sehun doesn’t see the appeal. Maybe they think it’ll make Ji Hye look more angelic or something. Well, can’t hold up a halo with devil horns, he thinks.

She lets out a laugh, throwing her head back. Sehun hopes her stupid flower crown falls. “Yes, you are,” she teases, pinching his cheek. Neither of them are oblivious to the cameras clicking in their face. “Maknae want a flower crown?”

“Shut up.”

“It’ll look so pretty in your rainbow hair.”

“I said shut up.”

“Might be hard to find the right colour, though.”

“For the love of god, Ji Hye, shut up.”

Oh my god, she didn’t.

“You did,” Luhan shrieks gleefully, engulfing Ji Hye in a hug. Sehun wonders how he can call that blonde monstrosity his friend. “You’re my favourite!”

“Hey,” Sehun protests, pouting. “I thought I was your favourite.”

Luhan waves a hand dismissively. “Not anymore. You don’t get me cool gifts.”

A flower crown is hardly a cool gift, but it’s not like he expects Luhan to know what cool is. Humph. Unacceptable.

Ji Hye grins wickedly as she manages to untangle herself from Luhan. She’s holding something behind her back and Sehun can see where this is going. He refuses to be part of her hare-brained schemes. Before he can even work up a protest, her hand is in his collar, dragging him down to her height. He flails, but not before she positively smashes something onto the top of his head.

She lets out a laugh, even as Sehun’s hands clip her shoulder. “Don’t you just look adorable,” she coos, reaching out to pinch his cheeks. He snaps at her fingers before she can.

Sehun looks in the mirror and feels like crying. There’s a ing flower crown sitting on top of his rainbow hair, crooked from the force and his movements. He doesn’t know if he wants to throttle Ji Hye or the rest of s for actually going along with Ji Hye’s whims.

Everyone has a flower crown. From Yifan (he doesn’t know – nor does he want to know – how Ji Hye had managed that) to Jongin, everyone had been turned into a flower boy. Yifan and Kyungsoo seem to have been roped into this grudgingly, whereas others like Luhan and Jongdae are positively excited. Personally, Sehun would like to boil himself in a vat of oil.

It explains why the coordi noonas had been so goddamned excited when they had entered the dressing room. Sehun never knew he had such a huge capacity to hate before.

The flower crowns are new. Ji Hye has an entire drawer full of the fake things; she’s gotten at least one flower crown per fan sign and she treasures them, even if she’s about as girly as Chanyeol on a good day. Then again, Ji Hye has never ever given away fan gifts; it explains why she had gone out and gotten thirteen (yes, thirteen, because of course she got herself one too) new flower crowns.

“I hate you,” the male maknae grumbles, poking at the wreath in his hair. His eyes scrutinise the fake black flowers adorning the metal wire of the crown. “Why the is mine all black?”

He’s not jealous or anything, but Jongin's flower crown is a mix of pastel blues and pink, which contrast nicely with his hair. Sehun’s does too, but it also looks kind of evil.

Ji Hye’s smile is saccharine as she replies, “It’s to match your soul.”

That’s it. EXO is going to be down one maknae and he’s finally going to get his own ing room.