Baekhyun was trying hard to stay awake.

It was the last hour of the SMTOWN Tokyo Concert for that year, and the stress and fatigue were already crashing over his body; his voice rasped at each syllable, his limbs refused to listen to him, his head was filled with sharp notes of pain.

But the worst affliction was himself.

He had made himself as a bright, humorous character in front of the cameras and his fans, and nothing less was expected from him. When he was having the worst of days, he would have to smile, laugh and crack a few jokes to maintain that engineered disposition. And most days he could; attending fanmeets and performing at concerts without breaking that spell.

But today he couldn't.

After his few performances, he collapsed on the couch of EXO's waiting room and unlike his usual self that would accept 's concern and joke his way through the pain, he was showing streaks of frustration, keeping unnervingly quiet with frowns lacing his visage.

He was conflicted by his own body; wanting to talk to his EXO members, banter with his Super Junior and SHINee hyungs, meet fans, attend the encore song, and take a whiff of the night air of Tokyo, but not being able to move a muscle and struggling to keep his mind calm, with sleep tugging the corners of his eyes.

With this inner battle rampant,  he attempted to hypnotise himself to stay awake just for a few more hours. But his body seemed to win for the first time, celebrating its victory, as his eyes slowly shut and his mind went blank...

....

.......

.....

.....

In her own waiting room, Taeyeon was looking for her phone. She wanted to go out to the city, but her manager was reluctant to let her step out without her phone.

"Are you looking for something?", Hyoyeon asked.

"Yeah, my phone."

"Your phone... Oh yeah it's in EXO's waiting room..."

Taeyeon was puzzled, "Why is my phone there?"

Hyoyeon pouted, "I accidentally left it on the table there before. I was playing games on it with Suho."

"On the table right? Okay, I'll get it."

"Sowwy", Hyoyeon chided with a playful grin. She waved at Taeyeon before leaving the room, her eyes a mischevious gleam. Taeyeon could hear Hyoyeon's loud voice as she struck up a conversation with Chanyeol outside the waiting room.

To Taeyeon, people like Hyoyeon were strange. They were able to get along with everyone, their sunbaes and hoobaes; and not just some of them, all. Hyoyeon was now close to their EXO juniors, spending time with the members and making them feel less like rookies and more like family.

Taeyeon had none of those skills. At most, she could speak a few sentences before swallowing her words on seeing the nervousness on their faces. Whenever she spoke to her skittish hoobaes, she would clam up, their emotions a parasite on hers.

It was also why it was hard for her to make friends with anyone outside of SNSD. Everyone else saw her as Girls' Generation Taeyeon and would treat her so; as if she were greater than themselves. Only those that had the same experience treated her as equals; like how Tiffany and Heechul were her best friends.

Taeyeon made her way to EXO's seemingly empty waiting room, and yelled a loud "I'm coming in" before kicking open the door.

......

Baekhyun was jolted awake by a loud thump and when his eyes adjust to the poorly lit room, he immediately tensed.

It was Taeyeon sunbaenim.

Baekhyun had spoken to Taeyeon before, but only in bits and pieces; a greeting or a thank you; nothing substantial, and though there was some familiarity, she was mainly someone he saw only in magazines and music videos and whose voice he only heard in songs.

Confusion wracked his body. Should he greet her or...

Taeyeon snorted a laugh. "It's okay, don't worry. You don't have to get up. I know you