SM Entertainment loved What If so much that they immediately sent the demo to EXO. The band then, in turn, became so enamored with it, after only hearing the song guide one time, and asked if they could meet Chanyeol and Mackenyu in person.

A month later, a meeting had been set up and recording for What If began. Summer was burning bright and it looked like Chanyeol’s future as a music producer was too.

By August, EXO, Chanyeol and Mackenyu hit it off so well that they often would hang out and even play basketball during breaks. The members asked Chanyeol if he had another song he could write for them, along the lines of What If. He said that he did, except that it wasn’t ready yet.

Thoroughly inspired, Chanyeol worked on the song every night, after fulfilling his Seomse duties, as EXO wanted to see if they could still include it on the line-up of the new album, or at least on the repackaged version. Mackenyu had gone on vacation with his girlfriend, before summer ended, so Chanyeol had the studio to himself for one whole week. He definitely appreciated the peace and quiet.

He had slept over in the studio that Friday evening and now it was Saturday, well into afternoon. He hadn’t even consumed any food yet, but it was okay. When he was feeling this motivated, a different kind of hunger ran through his veins. The completion of this passion project was the only thing that would satiate him.

He decided to record a draft of the song, with him doing the raw vocals, while playing the keyboards at the same time:

I’ll be more careful and protect you

So your heart will never get hurt

I’ve never felt like this before

Like my breath would stop

My head is filled with thoughts of you

Your face, the sound of your laughter

The answer is you (that is you)

My answer is you (only you)

I showed you all of me

You are my everything, I am sure

Chanyeol suddenly screamed into the microphone when someone tapped on his shoulder.

He removed his headphones immediately and turned around, blinking at the culprit, as it took longer than a moment for recognition to befall him. “Omma? What are you doing here?”

Mrs. Park burst out laughing at the sight of her son’s face.  Why didn’t she think of scaring him (in jest, of course) earlier?  “You gave me a key to your studio, remember? For when it needed to be cleaned up on the weekends.” She looked around and found that Chanyeol’s workspace wasn’t all that disorganized. She ruffled her son’s already messy bed hair instead. “You didn’t come home last night.”

Chanyeol was grateful that his mother had brought some sustenance. Mrs. Park laid the food out neatly on a table and watched her big baby devour the braised spicy chicken that Bok Hee prepared, with sides of rice, kimchi and bean sprouts.

“That was a really nice song, what you were singing just now,” Mrs. Park commented, handing Chanyeol a bottle of water before he started to choke on his food, which he was inhaling nonstop. Thankfully, the nanny had packed portions for at least 3 people.

“Oh, that…” Chanyeol gulped down the water, his cheeks starting to flush.  His mother had not heard him sing since ChanSoo’s perfomance in Honor Ground hospital.  He wondered if he sounded as good, without Kyungsoo.  “It’s not yet finished. I should be completing it this weekend, I hope.”

Mrs. Park only nodded. While she encouraged Chanyeol’s musical inclinations, she hoped that it was not at the expense of his health. “Araseo. Just make sure that you are getting enough rest. Remember you have to fly to Germany next month for a conference, so I don’t want you falling sick now.”

Chanyeol grinned. Of course he remembered. Being Seomse’s CEO, and a full functioning one too, was also an important part of his life. His mother only came to the office as consultant twice a week, so she could now focus on her charitable activities, as she had done prior to his accident in Tokyo.

That was why he was attempting to complete the song and submit it to EXO for review before the business trip. He understood that his presence in that entrepreneurial conference would be significant in the Asian market, and how he could meet potential investors and engage in substantial networking too.

However, he also didn’t want his mother to worry that he had been wasting his spare time—sparse as it already was—and pouring endless hours into something fruitless. He hadn’t been able to tell his mother everything, as some aspects of his collaboration with EXO were still under wraps, but perhaps, he could let his omma hear a snippet. “I know, I know.” He set down his spicy braised chicken bowl for a moment and opened up a sound file.

He trimmed a copy of it to 30 seconds, which should not be illegal in any case.

“Here, Omma, listen to this.”

And suddenly the opening to What If resonated all around Chanyeol’s studio. The proud smile on Mrs. Park’s face was everything that Chanyeol lived for.

“It’s different from the one you were singing earlier, right?” Mrs. Park observed, only her lovely smile kept growing bigger and bigger as the dreamy first verse came on.

“Wait… isn’t that Kyungsoo?” Mrs. Park’s eyes grew wide as she looked at her son, confused. “I thought he’s still in the army? Was this from when you were in the hospital?”

“A-Aniyo.” Chanyeol laughed breathlessly, becoming flustered for some reason. “W-Who you hear is D.O…” Come to think of it, anyone would attest to how quite similarly Kyungsoo and D.O. sounded, vocal range, intricate runs, R&B flavor and all.  “… from EXO?”

Mrs. Park only blinked at him silently.

“You’ve heard of them, Omma,” Chanyeol assured, as the snipped version now played on a loop. “You know their massive hit back in 2013… ‘Euleuleong’?” (Growl)

Enlightenment now dawned on Mrs. Park’s face, now nodding in agreement. “Ah… Nation’s Pick EXO! Of course I know them.” She giggled. “I want to adopt that D.O.! I watched his movie premiere, Hyung, and had to battle the urge to s