Sehun POV

Backstage, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and fanned myself to cool down. Our spirits were low. We knew we could have done much better than that. We disappointed ourselves, and also our fans.

Suddenly, a cell phone started ringing. Joonmyun jumped and scrambled for his phone.

“...It’s from Yunho sunbae,” he stated blankly.

“WHAT?” Kyungsoo’s eyes popped out and he rushed over to see the caller ID.

“Pick it up, hyung!” Chanyeol urged.

I wonder if he saw our performance... Crap.

But he was really warm and kind. He carefully went over each of our moves and expressions, telling us ways to improve. He also advised that we practice singing while running every morning, and I saw Kyungsoo nod vigorously. Poor guy. He was just nervous, but he knows he can do even better.

Soon, it was time to go. We changed out of the sweaty costumes and were packing up to leave when Leeteuk sunbae knocked on the door and came in. He gave us some advice too. Since he was watching our performance from the audience, he saw that we were out of sync in some places, which the cameras had been trying to hide. He stressed teamwork, telling us that if we talked to each other a lot, the choreography would fall together naturally without much extra effort. Jongin was nodding at his words, and he really seemed to take it to heart. Then Leeteuk bid us farewell, and we left too.

Aw, thank you so much, sunbaes. You’re so kind to us rookies.

As soon as we boarded onto our van, I shot Luhan a text.

“Did you see our performance? :P”

I knew he would call me. I began counting.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...10.”

RING, RING, RING~

I smiled and picked up the call.

“Hey, hyung.”

“Sehun-ah! How are you feeling? The performance seemed very tiring! Are you alright?” His worried voice made me chuckle.

“I’m fine now, don’t worry,” I assured him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“So...how do you think we did?” I asked anxiously.

There was a pause. Then he responded hesitantly, “Well...I’ve seen you guys do better...”

I groaned. We must’ve really .

“But I’m sure it was just because you were crazy nervous!!” he continued hastily. “And it was your first time singing live like that! Besides, there’s always room for improvement!” he encouraged.

“Thanks, hyung. I appreciate the effort to cheer me up.” I looked down at my feet. I’m sure the dissatisfaction was apparent in my voice.

“Really, Sehun, don’t be so down on yourself. We’re all still rookies. You can’t expect to have a perfect performance the first time you sing live. And you guys were still as amazing as ever in the choreography,” he soothed.

I sighed. “I guess you’re right. I just wish...we could have done better. We’ve worked so hard for this! And the fans will be disappointed.” My heart tightened at the thought of letting down fans.

“I’m sure they won’t hate you just from one performance,” Luhan pointed out gently. “And there will be plenty more to come. Just train harder and practice singing live! You guys will be able to get the hang of it soon!”

“Hopefully. Yunho sunbae and Leeteuk sunbae gave us some pointers, and we’re going to try them right away,” I told him eagerly.

“That’s good!” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Tell me how it works out! Actually, we’ll be able to see the results in your performances,” he teased.

“And we’ll keep watching your interviews,” I teased back. He groaned playfully.

“Now you’re going to make me self-conscious,” he complained.

“Psh, just be yourself. Everyone loves you already.”

“Well, if you love me, don’t watch the interviews,” he said bluntly.

“Because I love you, I will keep watching the interviews,” I replied, grinning. He groaned again.

“What am I going to do with you?” he asked rhetorically. But I decided to answer with another question.

“What would you do without me?”

There was a pause. Then he burst out into laughter. I smiled. Glad I could make you laugh, hyung.

⁓⁓⁓

A few days passed by. We slowly improved our skills of singing while dancing. Yunho’s advice to sing while running really helped, and we could see great improvement. Before I knew it, the date was already April 19th.

Tomorrow is Luhan’s birthday.

I haven’t even gotten him a birthday gift yet. He promised me he had one for me, which he said he’d give me the next time we meet, which I hoped was soon.

Manager-nim called my name. He said that today I should leave a message for the fans today. I pulled up the website in the internet browser and thought about what to say. Chanyeol and Jongin saw me and walked over. They leaned over my shoulder and read what I was writing.

I was basically done the message when Chanyeol suddenly burst out, “You should do aegyo!”

I blinked at him. “...What?”

“For your picture! Do aegyo!” he ordered animatedly. “Your message is so cute, so it goes together perfectly. And the fans will love it,” he added.

“I second that,” Jongin said, raising his hand.

“But...I can’t do aegyo...” I whined.

“Yes you can,” they said at the same time. I looked back and forth at them.

“Just put your fists up to your cheeks or something,” Chanyeol suggested.

“Yeah, you don’t need to do buing buing,” Jongin agreed.

I sighed. “Fine. But you have to take the picture.”

“I would be delighted,” Chanyeol said, stretching his hand out for the camera. I sighed again, placing it in his palm. What am I getting myself into...

The fans better like it. I’m doing this for you~

---

Wah, sorry I've basically been updating every other day... Is that schedule alright? .__.

Wheee, I fastforwarded a lotttt. And this chapter is actually kinda short... >< Next chapter will be

Luhan's birthday! :DD I want to get to the good stuff quickly which would be when they're reunited<3

And gahhhh, Sehun's aegyo. And you said you couldn't do aegyo...you little liar.

P.S. Yay for adding Chanyeol so much! I think my bias is showing

QUOTES: 

“DBSK’s U-Know Yunho senior saw the first broadcast and called us from Japan. We put on the speaker phone and listened nervously as he carefully gave us advices on each of our moves and expressions. I think that he’s our warmest senior.” (D.O) - Interview on 120430

“After our first broadcast ended, U-Know Yunho senior checked it personally in Japan and called us. He told us to sing while running every morning. So we did that and our live skills totally improved. We felt his power to fill the Tokyo Dome. Leeteuk senior emphasized on the teamwork. He told us to talk a lot to each other and that the choreography will match naturally. These were really touching advices, it gave us strength” (Kai) - Dispatch Interview on 120505

"Helloooooo~~I am EXO-K’s maknae Sehun! Everybody misses me right?… HAHA I miss everyone very very much too!!! @@ It doesn’t work if I’m the only one doing the missing! ㅜㅜ
It was really great to meet everyone through our stages! I’ve thought about it, we can enjoy and communicate at the same time! And to those that always come to our pre-recordings, really, thank you so much!

And even though i’ve already written this on the back of the MAMA photocard, let’s walk! together! till! the! end! Really, promise, promise, chop, sign, coding! Now you’ve made the promise! Haha
Now, please do always give EXO-K a lot of love! ㅎㅎ
Lastly, let’s meet during the fansign! Everyone, Buuing Buuing!"
(translated by: exo-plosion.tumblr.com)