Chanyeol takes a deep breath before exhaling to empty his lungs of the impurities that are constricting his chest. He closes his eyes as he leans back in his chair, taking a moment to finally entertain the thoughts he’d been suppressing during the Germany photoshoot. As the heavy lids are lifted to reveal the dark room where the only source of light comes from the brightly-lit computer screen, Chanyeol slouches forward and stretches his right hand muscles to reach for the mouse, only to flex them in an abrupt retreat. Suppressed and almost mute, the sounds of static are barely audible, and so the only thing that Chanyeol really hears at the moment is his own heartbeat, pounding heavily in his ears.

          He knows that the pictures are already out. He’s also seen the netizens’ debates about the identity of the mystery guy featured in f(x)’s comeback during the past few days. But Chanyeol really needs not speculate with them to begin with, even if he hasn’t actually seen a single picture yet. After all, he is not oblivious to his bandmates’ activities. Especially not to this one.

          ‘Go ahead, might as well take a look,’ he urges himself, because he knows he would not be able to sleep until he does.

          ‘Stop fidgeting, Chanyeol. Just do it.’

          ‘Later. When no one’s looking,’ another internal voice replies. If his roommates catch him in the act, they would know why Chanyeol is checking out the pictures. They probably would not say anything about it, but Chanyeol fears they would draw conclusions and judge him, anyway. However, if Chanyeol tries to give an unsolicited explanation to his action, he’ll come across as defensive. Which he isn’t.

          ‘What the hell have you got to hide? It’s only natural to support your labelmates,’ argues the stronger first voice. ‘And it’s not like you’ll come off as suspicious. They know that you normally do it whenever you have the chance.’

           A heated conversation occurs in his head like this and he masks the internal turmoil by pseudo-attentively monitoring their band’s fan comments and randomly surfing the internet. As he does this, he blocks out his surrounding distractions.

          He hears, but ignores Baekhyun’s rants of:

          “Shut the damn lights off, I’m not making a pun! It’s not funny anymore!”

          “Go the to sleep Park Chanyeol!”

          “If you mess with my game stats, I swear you’re gonna get it!”

          Up until they all die down to soft snores, Chanyeol remains uncharacteristically quiet and unresponsive. He, however, is still fully awake – all signs of the accumulated drowsiness due to the irregular sleeping patterns from the flight back from Kazan are halted as he subdues them with a strip of Saekomdalkom that he had smuggled out of Kyungsoo’s snack stash.

          Chanyeol does not pay much attention to his Minseok hyung either when the older reminds him: “Chanyeol, I’m cool with you eating in the bedroom if you really can’t help it, but just be sure to throw the food containers out in the kitchen trash can immediately, okay?”

          Not even turning to look at the eldest member, Chanyeol simply utters a brief “ne,” but then lets the candy wrappers pile on the computer desk anyway. Chanyeol may have a remarkable reputation of being polite towards his elders, but truthfully, he does not particularly enjoy being told what or what not to do or when to or when not to do things. Especially not at the moment.

          “’Night, roomies,” says Tao in his thickly accented yet warm Korean, too tired and too full to say anything more as he cuddles one of his newest stuffed animals. Even this short wishing of goodnight by the Chinese maknae is ignored by Chanyeol.

          He's a professional – else, all the effort of learning the intricacies of idol life during his pre-debut years had all been a waste. He'd been fed with his share of criticism, scolding, instruction of what to and what not to do, and he took them all like bitter pills, so god knows he's learned. He's even matured a little bit (and he's proud of that). As an idol, (and even for a rookie) he knows what to hide, and what to conceal. He is aware of what people like to see and hear. He’s definitely attentive and responsive (to the point of overdoing it sometimes). Chanyeol's philosophy is that utmost dedication is the pinnacle of one's admirable work ethic. It's better to give your absolute all than be called out for inadequacy and laziness. And this is precisely why he is surfing the net at midnight instead of sleeping: he wants to monitor his public image, and most definitely not because he wants to look at f(x)’s comeback teaser photos.

          ‘Well, in case Jinri, Amber or Sunyoung asks for my opinion, at least I’ll have something insightful to say.’ With that mindset, and with everyone already asleep, Chanyeol becomes fully determined to view the latest contents of  fx.smtown.com.

          ‘Red hair,’ Chanyeol mentally enunciates after seeing the homepage.

          Next thing he knows, his right arm is finally moving to load the video teaser on Youtube. The silence is almost suffocating as he waits with his eyes closed, until the voice (well, her voice) pierces through the lifeless mood during this midnight i