The first time Baekhyun listened to EXO, it had been love.

Like most people his age, Baekhyun liked to surf through stuff on Naver. Boy and girl groups were starting to gain popularity, but Baekhyun has never had any interest in them... until he came across an article that reeked of negativity and bad publicity.

SM's Worst Mistakes.

Baekhyun was baffled about this article name. It may or may not be some type of clickbait, but he was piqued and he finds the men on the cover photo quite physically appealing.

The article talked about a certain band named EXO from SM Entertainment, a company that he was fairly familiar with since lots of famous personalities and artists came from there. They debuted literally yesterday, and were taking lots of backlash about their debut single which was 'Run This'. There was a video attached to the post, so Baekhyun clicked on it.

Never did he expect he would quickly be hooked.

Baekhyun could see why people didn't like it – it wasn't meant to be pleasant to the public taste. EXO had released something that would forever represent their name, and Baekhyun thinks it's really brave for them to do something like this.

At the first few days, Baekhyun didn't really think much about it, until he sees a forum about EXO holding a showcase and a fanmeet. Baekhyun thought it would be nice to attend since the event wasn't too far, so he bought the tickets. 

The event wasn't going to be until a few weeks later, so Baekhyun took the time to find out more about them. Take note that he did all of this with utmost secrecy and confidentiality, since he was aware of how people perceives fans of certain groups, and more people would judge you if you were a boy. You would probably be shunned from society or something remotely close to that if anyone finds out.

Through his research, Baekhyun finds himself drawn to the giant, baby-faced vocalist, who had the stage name Loey. Baekhyun particularly found his voice very appealing and such a turn on, and his eyes were so pretty. The innocent admiration for the face of the group slowly turned into something different, something more deep – the unconditional love of a fan for his idol.

It was during those times that Baekhyun feels so at conflict with himself about his uality. Wasn't it weird how he feels so much attraction for this person, yet they were both men? Isn't that strange?

But Baekhyun slowly came to the realization that he was probably gay. He wasn't sure if he indeed was, but he was sure of one thing – and that he was gay for Loey. Nothing mattered after that. Well, except for the fact that he would have to hide his homouality by investing in girlfriends but that would have to be a story for another day.

The day for the fanmeet came. Baekhyun was shocked – there was literally only thirty people who had attended. He knows EXO had gotten bad reception from netizens, but he didn't expect this to display in real life. SM is their company, and they're pretty influential as well. They would garner at least a hundred fans if they promoted them right.

That didn't seem to stop EXO though. They greeted Baekhyun – who was clad in a hoodie and nerdy glasses that day – and the other fans with bright smiles and enthusiasm that had Baekhyun falling for them even more. They absolutely didn't deserve just this much fans, but Baekhyun was aware it would take time before they could get the public recognition that they deserve

Baekhyun couldn't forget his interaction with them. The EXO boys were so nice. Kris was so cool in front of cameras but had a lame but endearing personality. He smiled brightly at Baekhyun and expressed his happiness to see that their music had reached a fanboy. Kai was a y beast on cameras but he was such a softie and was very shy, and he mostly spoke from behind his hand and had an obnoxious but cute laugh that he constantly hid. Sehun had a face, but spoke so warmly and asked Baekhyun stuff about how his day had been and if he had eaten. He had a cute lisp too and was very playful. Last was Loey, whose pretty eyes that Baekyun had been obsessing over for the past few days met with his. They sparkled, and it looked like there were stars in them. He was surprised that a fanboy was here, and Baekhyun had to muster up everything he had not to wet his pants for how y his voice was. One thing he would never forget about his first encounter with Loey was when he placed the flower crown that he had been wearing on Baekhyun's head and smiled at him with his incredibly pearly whites then said, "You're really beautiful."

That day, Baekhyun vowed he would support and protect EXO until the end.

" Luhan, I'm so nervous."

"You got this, B. We're veterans."

"My hands are sweaty."

"My toes are clammy, tbh."

Baekhyun stretches his fingers, hissing under his breath as he tries to calm himself down. He was currently in front of his computer, sunlight streaming into his room. It was a school day, and he had lied to his mom that his classes were not until ten that morning but in reality, he was just staying in for the ticketing of the gig. There were no tests anyway, so he can risk it.

"I'm so nervous," Baekhyun says for the umpteenth through his earphones. At the other end of the line was one of his fandom friends, Luhan. As for Kyungsoo, well,  he couldn't buy tickets for this particular gig because he stupidly spent them all on fansite goods. He was a hardcore and kind of hesitant Kai fanboy and just couldn't help himself to the goods. Baekhyun relates - he had spent all his money on fansite goods before the announcement about the gig had been made. Only difference is that Baekhyun had gotten part time jobs while Kyungsoo would have gotten some but his parents didn't allow him.

"Dammit Baek, you're making me feel so nervous too," Luhan chuckles. Crazy how this person was Chinese and was currently at his hometown, yet he could speak Korean perfectly. Baekhyun swears Luhan speaks Korean better than him.

Sweat starts dripping down his face, so Baekhyun reaches out and grabs a random shirt from somewhere to wipe his face with. He then tosses it to the side before reaching for a bottle of water. He was only sitting on a chair while facing his computer screen that displayed the ticketing site, but the anticipation and anxiety was making him feel like he was playing some sort of mental-based game like chess or whatever. Ticketing was just this stressful.

"One minute, B!" Luhan shrieks through his earphones, which makes Baekhyun flinch in surprise. He gasps, clutching his chest to relieve the painful beating of his heart.

"Why would you do this to me?!" the younger whines. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry!" Luhan cries. " B, there's just less than 20 seconds!"

"18!" Baekhyun shouts.

"17!" Luhan screams.

" !" Baekhyun shrieks in a high=pitched voice as he watches the seconds go down.

"10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5!"

"Click!" Luhan yells.

With that, Baekhyun hurriedly brings forth his determination, strength and rage on to the index finger then slams it hard onto the left mouse button. Panting with wide eyes, Baekhyun stares at the screen as the site loads then leads him to another site.

"Yes!" the fanboy screams as he pushes his chair away and throws his fist into the air when he successfully purchases the ticket that he wanted. He jumps on his feet and throws his body on the bed, flailing his feet and arms around in happiness.

Baekhyun was a veteran and of course he would be able to get this ticket after years of doing this, but it still feels so great everytime he successfully manages to buy a ticket. EXO is a very popular group among people in his country, so it's terribly hard to get your hands on their tickets for shows if you are not experienced or fast enough.

Once he has calmed down, Baekhyun stands up and slumps over his chair. He puts his earphones back on and hear Luhan panting. He had probably been celebrating as well.

" , I got the ticket Luhan!" Baekhyun shrieks. "Did you? Did you?"

"Yes! Front row! How about you?"

"Same!" Baekhyun squeals like a teenage girl. "I'm so happy! It's been weeks since I last saw my Loey and I miss him and the other boys too."

"Waaaahhh I'm more excited to see you again, though!"

"Don't betray our boys like this," Baekhyun chides the other jokingly.

"In all honesty though, I do miss you. The last we met we didn't even get to hang-out properly."

"Aww, let's see each other soon!"

A knocking suddenly comes on to Baekhyun's bed room door. The fanboy turns his head to its direction, taking his earphones off.

"Baekhyun?" It was his mom.

"Yes, Mommy?" Baekhyun sweetly calls out. "Did you need something?"

"It's already nine so you might want to stop fangirling over those boys and get ready for school."

Baekhyun wanted to fight his mom for calling his activity as fangirling but debates with himself to just shrug it off. It was no use fighting with her since she doesn't actually care so he replies, "I'm on it, mom!"

As usual, right after classes, Baekhyun goes to the library. He had grown this habit so he could do his homework earlier before he works. But even when he has no job right now, he'll just go along with this habit because if he does his homework earlier, he'll be able to fanboy more throughout the night.

Baekhyun goes to a table at a secluded part of the library, far away from the few people who were there. He laid out his books and placed them before him along with his notebooks so he can start.

For the first few minutes, Baekhyun peacefully goes through his homeworks. He was quick and efficient, since the recent lessons were pretty easy. But his peace was broken when he finally feels someone's presence across him.

An immediate scowl appears on his face when he sees the pastel-blue haired senior, Park Chanyeol, sitting across him like the last time. He had his sketchbook held up, covering half of his face with his other hand holding a pencil, while his eyes were directly staring at him intently from behind his nerdy glasses.

"What are you staring at?" Baekhyun spits in distaste at the older.

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow as he lowers his sketchbook. Baekhyun catches a glimpse of a sketch on the paper before he places the sketchbook down on his lap. "Can't I admire beauty when I see it?"

A blush hesitantly creep up into Baekhyun's features, which he hides by rubbing his face. ", I don't really want to deal with you."

"Is it so bad to talk to you, though?" Chanyeol says with a pout. "I'm just trying to make friends, since you don't seem to be the type to make some."

"I have friends," Baekhyun protests.

"Not real ones though," Chanyeol chuckles. "Do they bother you like this?"

"If real friends do the things you do to me then I'd rather have my friends, thanks."

"Harsh," Chanyeol chuckles as he leans forward, propping his elbows in front of him. "Sooooo.... why were you absent earlier?"

"I went to buy-" Baekhyun stops himself, eyes widening at the almost-slip.

Stop trying to nearly expose yourself, idiot!

"Buy what?" Chanyeol presses.

"Oh why do you even care?!" Baekhyun hisses. "How did you even know I'm absent?!"

"Just curious~" Chanyeol singsongs as he smiles, that smile that has Baekhyun want to kill the the senior simply because it had the ability to melt him into a puddle of goo. "And I'm your stalker."

"Why can't you just simply leave me alone?" the prince sighs. "I have homework."

"Well I can always help you," Chanyeol says as he wiggles his eyebrows.

"No way!" Baekhyun protests. "Just go away."

"I can't do that," Chanyeol grins cheekily again. "Hey, want to grab something to drink after this? My treat."

"No."

Chanyeol displays a hurt expression, clutching his chest as he says, "Ouch." He straightens up then asks, "Are you going to stay here until later? Do you have a job?"

"I'll stay but I quit my jobs," Baekhyun utters in reply as he sifts through his homework.

"May I ask why?"

"I bought what I needed so I didn't have to go on," Baekhyun explains. Why is he even explaining?

"Hmm... Did you want to buy something expensive? Like... a ticket to a concert for instance?"

Baekhyun nearly chokes on his own spit, but he catches himself. Could Chanyeol possibly know? 

He glares at the other male and says, "Why would you think I would buy a ticket for a concert?"

Chanyeol shrugs. "Nothing specific. Tickets are pretty expensive, more expensive than local-brand phones. I don't think you'll work part-time for a phone."

"You know what? You're so nosy," Baekhyun says, now irritated again since he's relieved that Chanyeol doesn't actually know his little secret.

"Do you hate me that much?"

Baekhyun scrunches his nose. "At this point, I hate your nosiness. I'm not sure if I hate you as a person. I might if you work hard enough."

"I'll take that as permission to bother you again," Chanyeol says as he reaches out and ruffles the younger's hair into a wild mess. "I'll work hard!"

Baekhyun scowls as he slaps his hand away.