Happy halloween!! <3

10: INFAMOUS SATURDAY AUDITION

Baekhyun puts her under intense training for the whole two days. He let her choose the piece she will sing to the panel. She chooses the title track of their upcoming Winter album, but Baekhyun opposes to it.

            “Are you crazy?” he chides at her. “Do you want SM to suspect you of being a spy? The teaser isn’t even released yet by that time,” he explains, so she chooses the original rendition of “Like Rain, Like Music” instead.

            Though a bit worried that the judges may compare her version with his version, he gives her some tips how to make the song like her own, like what he did when he sang a cover version of it.

            She plans to rap freestyle for her other talent—which is where she’s most confident at.

            On the second day of the recording, Baekhyun brings her with him again and coaches her as he waits for his turn. Even on their car ride to and fro, Baekhyun doesn’t let her rest. Because as he says, the agency doesn’t rest looking for new scouts everyday.

            Her training with Baekhyun only ends when Jongin is home. Jongin, who’s being a very patient teacher to her, is teaching her the basics of dancing in his room—under supervision of, of course, Baekhyun. He doesn’t let her slip from his sight and just stays in Jongin’s room until they are done with the lesson at midnight.

            EXO will be recording the Korean version of their Winter album until Thursday, while on Friday, they will have a photoshoot for the album. On Saturday, some of the members will start recording the Chinese version, while Junmyeon, Chanyeol, and Jongin has to shoot for the music video.

            The flow of their schedules is actually in favor of Soohyun. She can sneak out of the house on Saturday without a problem. The plan is: she will borrow her card from Junmyeon on Saturday morning and say that she’ll drop by the mall to buy some of her necessities. They can’t use the recording as an excuse, because the other members will notice her absence once Baekhyun arrives at the place. She will leave with Baekhyun. He will drop her off at the Posco Tower in Gangnam district where the audition is located, while he goes to the recording studio; and when she’s done, he will pick her up.

            They should be at home before Junmyeon gets there first.

            On the day of their photoshoot, she has decided to stay at home and practice by herself. After so many reminders from her brother, they finally leave the house to her alone. She assures Baekhyun and Jongin that she can practice by herself.

            “We’ll have a final dry run when we get home,” Baekhyun notifies her before he leaves to the van.

            She practices at her room all day while the members are away. Jongin and Baekhyun has been texting her for updates. Jongin even sent her a selfie with their photoshoot location at the background, with a caption that says: “Noona is the best!”

            None of the members notice what they have been doing the past few days. She actually thought that Kyungsoo will notice sooner or later, but he seems still clueless of their mission.

            On the day of the audition, Soohyun wakes up extra early to borrow her card from Junmyeon. Without hesitation, he gives it back to her. He had her accounts unfroze the day she talked to him, as he promised.

            The audition will start at 2 PM, so she has to leave with Baekhyun at ten in the morning before the line grows.

            At the car on their way to Posco Tower, Baekhyun keeps on giving her tips for the audition. “Don’t act fake, just be yourself. The judges will see through you if you try to act unnatural. Also, it’s okay if you dance funny, make them focus on your rapping and singing skills instead. What else…” the singer thinks as he fidgets nervously in his seat. Soohyun stifles a laugh as she eyes him. “Ah, if they ask you to sing more, that’s a good sign, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a good sign if they don’t. Put on a full charm for the camera; if you debut, they will upload that video online.”

            She wants to remind him that it’s not her first time to audition, so she pretty knows what to expect; but she doesn’t want to burst his bubbles. Seeing Baekhyun agitated for her right now is actually entertaining.

            “Give me your credit card,” he says as he spreads out his hand to her.

            “Why?”

            “Didn’t you tell your brother you’re out to buy some stuff at the mall? I’ll drop by the mall later to buy you your things.” His face reddens when he sees the grin on her face. He wiggles his hands impatiently as he avoids her eyes. She giggles as she takes the cards out from her wallet and gives it to him.

            The van stops at the entrance of Posco Tower. That’s when only she feels nervous. She turns to Baekhyun only to see him staring at her intently. “You passed once, you can do it again this time,” he gently cheers her up.

            “Thank you for doing all of these for me, Baekhyun,” she softly murmurs with a sincere smile. She unbuckles her seatbelt, then she leans towards Baekhyun and plants a kiss on his cheek. “See you later,” with that, she rapidly gets out of the car, leaving Baekhyun stupefied on his seat.

            Soohyun stares at the tall building in front of her. Draping her backpack over one shoulder, she enters the building with confidence. She takes the elevator to the third floor where the audition will happen. She leans on the elevator’s wall when she gets in. Her backpack—Baekhyun’s backpack—is making her steps heavy.

            “You’ll be in line for an hour or so, stay hydrated,” Baekhyun reminds her as he puts a huge water bottle inside her bag.

            The only stuffs inside her bag are: Baekhyun’s huge water bottle, pens, and her make-up kit for retouch. Baekhyun has to be the one carrying her bag as they go out of the dorm so it will not look suspicious.

            The lines are not yet long when she gets to the third floor. A staff member at the front desk greets her and gives her an application form to fill up. She gets a pen in the bag and starts filling up the form.

            “I put pens on every pocket of your bag in case you lost one,” she remembers Baekhyun say as he gets her bag ready.

            After she’s done filling out the application form, she gives it to the staff again. The staff gives her a sticker number—she’s number 034—and is instructed to stick it to her chest. The staff ushers her with some other people to the auditorium where they’ve been asked to wait for their turn.

            She checks her phone for a text from Baekhyun, but she sees none. Jongin did text her, though. “Good luck on your audition, noona! Fighting!” it says. She replies to his text and informs him that she’s already in line.

            She’s about to put her phone back to her bag when it vibrates again with another message. From Baekhyun: “Good luck,” it simply says.

            She knits her brows at how plain his message is when she receives another one from him: “SERIOUSLY WHY DID YOU KISS ME THOU?!” She almost chokes on her own spit upon reading it.

            Then he rapidly replies again:

            “OH I SENT IT”

            “THAT WASN’T MEANT TO BE SENT”

            “HOLY SH”

            She laughs at his text messages, gaining looks from the other people in the room. She apologizes to them, then stares at her phone again.

            She types a reply to him:

            “SERIOUSLY, get back to work, Byun Baekhyun.”

            She puts her phone back inside her bag when she hears the girl in front of her, who just came back from outside, murmurs to herself worriedly about how the person currently singing on the stage now is singing the same piece she’ll sing later.

            “If someone sings the same piece as you, you have to change your song promptly,” Baekhyun explains why she has to have a backup song.

            Sooh