Chanyeol's always considered Sooyoung to be someone close to his heart, despite how un-close they actually are. It's nohing special, really, she's just this cute little girl he's watched grow up and grown up with in the past, what, ten years? Then, he realizes that, okay wait, she really has grown up, and holy , she's suddenly not Sooyoung, the kid he bows his head to at shows and makes corny jokes around at company dinners anymore. Suddenly, she's Joy, and she's this fiery woman he can't take his eyes off of.

It starts with an SMTOWN concert.

Which is, you know, pretty fitting. SM is notoriously bad at keeping their artists in check when it comes to dating, and by the miracle of good PR teams and actually smart idols, most of it is kept under wraps so the press doesn't even get a chance to sniff out rumors from "eyewitnesses" and do some real digging.

Chanyeol supposes checking Joy out innocently during the finale isn't so bad, considering everything else going on in that godforsaken agency.

So he smiles and waves at the fans, and thinks he's so sly when they all come together to form their finale line and he casually steps closer to her, and he wonders if he has the guts to grab her hand when they all bow. (Because it's totally an open secret within the company that you stand next to someone you're into during the finale. Duh.)

Onew and Yesung end up squeezing in between them, and he's not as bold as Minseok (who's literally pulling everyone standing between hm and Yoona aside, props to him) so he simply shrugs and holds Yesung's hand as they all lift their arms for the final bow.

They all disperse from the line and he watches her, not in a creepy way, but he does keep her just within his sight, even as he and Baekhyun mess around and take selfies on stage.

He notices Heechul teasing her, like he always does to the pretty girls, and he can see the older Super Junior member hold up six fingers, and Chanyeol thinks, 'right, she's with that Yook guy on We Got Married,' which is pretty cool, he guesses, and it's nice that she's being such a good sport about the teasing.

"That's your favorite number, right?" Joy's cheeks flush as Heechul continues to poke fun at her virtual marriage. "Six? Yook Sungjae?" He holds up his hands again.

She giggles like a schoolgirl and bats his hands away, and for a moment she thinks he's going to let it go, but he just gives her a knowing look and a smirk, and she knows he's up to something.

Suho passes by and looks at them fondly, laughter slipping from his lips, and Heechul moves closer to whisper in his ear, which only eggs Joy on even more. She knows better than to go up against those two, so instead of whining, she simply turns away and resumes clapping along to the music, until Heechul gently grabs her wrist and tells her that Suho has something to say.

She turns to the leader of Exo almost expectantly, and the look in his eyes is almost apologetic when he lifts six fingers and bursts out laughing. She wrinkles her nose like the kid she still is, and excessively pouts at Heechul as he resumes teasing her with the number. 

At this point, Chanyeol's right next to them and he can't even rememer walking over, but now his eyes are fixed on her and he doesn't know how to look away.

When Heechul's had his fun and slinked away, possibly to terrorize someone else, Suho lets Chanyeol in on the joke - as if he hadn't been eavesdropping the whole time. He laughs and nods as he leader pats him on the shoulder and explains the number pun and how it's the same word as Sungjae's last name, and when his gaze meets hers, he offers her a smile.

She returns it and doesn't look away, until Yesung grabs her attention, asking her silently if she's okay, with raised eyebrows and a thumbs up. She gives him the same dazzling smile she'd given Chanyeol and nods. She's known Heechul for three years, and by now, she's learned to enjoy the teasing.

When she gets whisked away by her other members, Heechul turns his head and spots Chanyeol, whose gaze is still fixed on her.

Heechul shakes his head dramatically, and Chanyeol's eyes dart towards him, widening like a child's caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The older man smirks at him, and as he walks past him, he says, "Be more subtle, kid."

He tears his eyes away from her in embarrassment, a strange tingling heat rising up the back of his neck. He tries to focus on goofing around with the other members, but keeps a comfortable distance from her, allowing himself two-second glances every once in a while.

Backstage, when they're all changing and making plans to go have drinks after going home and having a good shower, he runs into her in the bustling corridor and, just for kicks, holds up six fingers.

She rolls her eyes and ignores him, but he can see her ears turning pink as she walks away, and he smiles.

A/N: just a short little thing, because chanjoy needs to rise on aff! anyway, the whole story is proooobably about halfway done and i hope to be able to share it soon! possible kaistal/surene/xiuyoon could be in the works soon too! so exovelvet/exoyoong fans come out of ur graves and let's make some quality content!! jk hahahah either way, enjoy! xo