Mei/Myung Soo’s POV

Back at the dorm that night, I tell everyone what happened at the teaser filming, with Soo Man finding out I was a girl and forcing me to join SM’s new girl group.

“WHAT?!!?” Min Young shouts. “How did he know?!!? One of you blew Mei’s cover, didn’t you?” Min Young looks around the room, pointing her finger at different members. “Aish, I knew telling you guys was a bad idea.” Min Young covers her face with her hands.

“Min Young, chill” Kai says. “None of us told anyone. Soo Man just saw through the Myung Soo disguise.”

“Yeah, nothing ever gets past him” Se Hun walks over and starts patting Min Young’s back.

“Wasn’t it terrifying?” D.O. suddenly asks with his eyes popping out.

I nod. “I almost fainted. I was afraid he would punish me somehow.”

“Well, forcing you to join a girl group can be considered a punishment” Lay says.

“What girl group is it anyways?” Baekhyun asks.

“Dunno. Probably doesn’t have a name yet.” Chanyeol answers.

“Doesn’t that mean Mei will have to live in their dorm and not with us?” Chen asks, looking a little sad.

“Yes, she’ll have to bond with the other members of the group” Su Ho answers.

I feel sad when I realize what Su Ho said was probably right. That means I won’t be seeing Lu Han as much, or maybe even at all.

“Hey, let’s not think about that and focus on our debut” Kris says, trying to cheer everyone up. “We still have a while to be together. We are…”

“ONE!!!” Everyone shouts together.

…

3 months later

…

So Exo ended up having a total of 8 teasers. SM decided to not piss off fans with their constant teasing, so they limited the number of teasers this time. All of the teasers had a combination of a few members, displaying either singing or dancing talent (and of course, a martial arts segment for Tao). The 8^thteaser was the only teaser with all of the 13 members together. The teasers were all very fun to film, but my favorite was the very last teaser will all of the members. These past 3 months filming teasers has gotten me even closer to the Exo members. They’re all like brothers and best friends to me now. Helping me in times of need. Making me smile when I feel sad.

There was a time I forgot my, let’s just say, female item (because it was that time of the month). That day it was just Chen, D.O, Baekhyun and I, and we were all in a hurry to the filming site. It was raining that day, but Baekhyun offered to run to the store and buy me one. I insisted to do it myself, but obviously couldn’t. Chen and D.O. stood at the door of the bathroom so no one could enter and see me while we waited to Baekhyun to return. Baekhyun was soaking wet, but he smiled and told me running through the rain was fun.

Then there was the time Lay, Tao, Xiu Min, and I had to film together. For some weird reason I was really hungry that day, but filming took forever and we weren’t allowed any breaks until we got it right. When we were finally given food, I stuffed my portion down as fast as I could. I was still hungry, and even though I tried to hide it, Xiu Min, Lay, and Tao knew, so they shared their food with me despite their own hunger.

Chanyeol, Kris, and I also had a teaser together. It was supposed to display Exo’s talented rapping skills, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t rap. The manager was pretty annoyed and chewed me out for not trying harder even though I was really doing the best I could. After the long, downgrading speech the manager finally let me leave his office. When I walked out, I found Kris and Chanyeol standing outside the office waiting for me with smiles on their faces. They came over, patted me on the back, and told me not to worry about what the manager said. They told me “he’s just stressed” and the 3 of us laughed. Then Kris treated us to delicious icecream.

Su Ho and I also had a teaser. It was mostly to show our stunning looks, SM’s trademark: the visual aspect. We just stared into the camera and let out our charisma. I was a little scared that I would look a bit too girly, but Su Ho encouraged me and said I looked great as a girl or guy. In between the film cuts, Su Ho would constantly pat my leg or rub my shoulders to calm me down and get rid of my nerves.

The last teaser was incredibly entertaining to film. All of the members joked around and made funny faces. We were like one big family, and not a single member was left out. It was when I realized that Exo is truly at their best when they are together as one.

…

Finally, the big moment came. The debut stage. We were performing alongside our sunbaes from SM. Backstage, it was a crowded mess. Everyone was focused on performing their best. My emotions were a mix of nerves, excitement, and disbelief. I looked around and saw SNSD, Suju, f(x), and Shinee. I took several deep breaths to prevent myself from fainting. It was a good thing Lu Han held my hand the whole time and let me lean on him if I felt lightheaded. He constantly whispered calming words into my ear.

Shinee sunbaes came over to wish us luck. Onew and Jonghyun joked around to relax the other Exo members who looked like their hands were shaking a bit from the nerves. I noticed Taemin had both of his hands on Kai’s shoulder and they were facing each other. Taemin was probably giving Kai some stage tips. Key started rapping just for fun, and Minho was just stretching in the corner.

When it was Exo’s turn to step on stage I took a deep breath. Lu Han’s grip on my hand tightened. He gave me a quick squeeze and let go. My heart was beating like crazy when I was standing in my position on stage. It was almost as wild as the screaming fans with their posters and glow sticks. Then the music started and the blinding stage lights . I couldn’t see the fans anymore; all I could see now was my fellow Exo members and our beautiful, powerful dance moves. Baekhyun and D.O.’s voice filled my ears, and before I knew it, it was me and Lu Han’s turn to sing together…