A month has passed and Chanyeol still doesn’t have a lead as to who made Luhan quit the company. And even after a month, Chanyeol wasn’t able to make friends with TD7 except with Irene. Irene is a smart sweet girl who Chanyeol thought had a secret crush on Junmyeon. And for that, Chanyeol found Irene’s taste weird. Junmyeon isn’t really funny when he makes jokes, he laughs at himself. Even Irene doesn’t but she finds him amusing. Junmyeon isn’t really cool and his clothes are very ordinary. He brings his homemade food that sometimes stink and he insists it’s normal. He’s clumsy. He at company parties. He can’t swim. He can’t even ride a bike on his own. All of these, Chanyeol knew because Irene told him. But everytime Irene told him stories about what Junmyeon’s bad at, she always ends them with, “But he really is a very good leader. I would have quit the team if he’s not the one leading us.” One day, Chanyeol found the courage to ask Irene a question he’s been itching to ask before.

Chanyeol invited Irene over an after-work food trip and they ended up in a very cute pink-themed café, just a walking distance from their company. Irene went with Chanyeol without further whys because they’ve pretty much been close lately.

“You know, I didn’t really like pink before until I saw Junmyeon wear a pink cap during our company summer outing two years ago.” Irene started once they’ve settled on a table for two by the window of the café.

“You’ve liked him for two years?” Chanyeol was pretty amazed at the new information.

“We both entered the company four years ago. We were assigned in TD7 ever since but I only liked him two years after we were hired.”

“Was that when he became your leader?”

“Yeah. He did really well and the past leader of TD7 got promoted and that’s Heechul.”

“Ohhh…”

“It was a good thing he became the leader at that time. Back then, Jongin, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo weren’t part of the team yet. We struggled with the past members but Junmyeon really … really did his best to make us a stable team. Our achievements were his pride and the Management really recognized us…and recognized him so much. But our past team members, in the long run, wanted their own fame. Some quit the team, some even quit the company. Believe it or not, all of those happened in a year, Junmyeon’s first year as a leader.” Irene drinks her Iced Matcha Latte before continuing her story. “Luhan came like a blessing to us. Even with Junmyeon’s leadership, he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle people who didn’t want to be handled by him. Jealous mother ers.”

Chanyeol noticed Irene gritting her teeth like the anger is still fresh. “You said Luhan’s a blessing. Seems like he did spectacular job for the company. Why did he quit?”

“When Luhan came to the company, TD7 only had Junmyeon and me. We had help from other teams sometimes. Since there were only the two of us, no work came in. Ahhh...” Irene sighed. “I can remember Heechul’s worn out face every day dealing with clients. So when Luhan applied for SM, and Heechul knew Luhan has an excellent background in Seoul University, they hired him right away and they put him in TD7. Luhan was very bubbly and he helped us rise again. Junmyeon and Luhan got very close and all they did were fantastic jobs. Midway our fourth year, Jongin, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were hired because he needed more people to handle more clients. It was then when I felt again how teamwork works so much. Junmyeon’s leadership was even better with these people. It’s like we’re all matched and destined to be in one team.”

“Right… So basically this TD7 now has been together for about seven months.”

“Yes, seven magical months. You heard in the news right? We were really awesome.”

“And Luhan left a month before I was hired, that’s two months ago already.”

“Yeah… it almost ended TD7.”

“Why?”

“Luhan handled one of the biggest clients of SM. Even only after a year of working in SM, he got so much trust from them and our team. So when he left, we were rattled to still meet the client’s expectation like we used to with Luhan. I saw how pressured Junmyeon was, even our genius Do Kyungsoo felt dumb, even Jongin’s calmness was forgotten, even Baekhyun’s positivity was tested. In just a month, TD7 kinda… we…” There were tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “We broke down and even if it’s not obvious, I’m sad that we kinda grew apart after Luhan left. All we’re thinking now is to get hold of the clients. We…” Irene’s voice was shaking. “… do not eat out anymore like we used, too. We only talk during meetings. Junmyeon rarely makes jokes now and I miss them even if they’re not funny.” Finally, a tear flowed down her cheek. “Everything happened to me in just four years, Chanyeol. I struggled to climb up for two years but I got contented after being in TD7 … but then it happened. I thought I’m gonna have the best adult years of my life.” Irene felt more words were about to come out of but she drank them away with her drink. She bit her lip and looked at Chanyeol.

“You may be wondering now, if Junmyeon was a good leader, why did Luhan still quit from us.” Irene stared at Chanyeol as if reading his mind. Indeed, that was what Chanyeol’s meaning to ask from the start and his ears perked up when Irene talked.

“We received this prestigious award three months ago.” Irene started and Chanyeol recalled that photo he saw on SM’s website. “We had a party with TD7 after that. We were at a karaoke and we got drunk. You know when someone’s drunk, truth just comes out.” Irene paused as if recalling that night. “We were surprised when Junmyeon was suddenly mocking Luhan’s achievements and efforts for the team. I was sober that night and I think Luhan was sober, too.”
 

“What did Junmyeon say?”

“That why did Luhan have to do all the work when there’s him. That Luhan got too confident and forgot that we have a leader to rely on. That Luhan has so much knowledge in his mind, there was no space for Junmyeon’s advice. Even Heechul once forgot Junmyeon’s the leader and not Luhan. No… Maybe not just once but several times Heechul would go straight to Luhan for team updates. I thought Junmyeon’s fine with it but that night I realized he was just swallowing everything.”

“And Luhan heard all of those and never forgot about them?” Chanyeol asked.

“Yeah. The next day he was awkward with Junmyeon while Junmyeon had no idea why. I can feel at that time that Luhan hesitated to answer Heechul’s questions about the team update because Junmyeon was watching and he remembered his sentiments the night before. Sometimes, Luhan would redirect Heechul to Junmyeon because he said he’s busy and Junmyeon would happily accommodate Heechul.”

“Did the others notice?” Chanyeol asked again.

Irene paused before answering. “I don’t think they noticed.”

“What happened after?”

“I heard gossips that Junmyeon and Luhan had a loud fight in one of the streets in the area. Rumors said Luhan cried and even knelt down before Junmyeon.”

“You said they were close.” Chanyeol’s brows furrowed.

“Yes… Yes they were.” Irene answered but she looked away from Chanyeol. “Too close to be just…f-friends.”

Chanyeol was totally shocked but he choked his surprise and made mental notes of his theories and just directly asked Irene, “Do you think Junmyeon made Luhan quit?”

A tear fell from Irene’s eyes then she said, “Y-yes.