Minseok thought he was prepared.

Prepared for feeling lost in a country he had never been to, to have anti's before debut because of his apparent accent. Prepared to feel the prejudice of being a foreigner in China, and understanding the bare minimal of the language. He had Jongdae by his side, struggling with the same fears and worries, so at least he didn't feel as alone.

But standing up on that stage, surrounded by senior artists he'd never even heard of, with a MC talking a mile a minute, he realized no.

Minseok was not prepared for this.

He kept the carefully composed smile on his face as he looked around, watching the other members' faces for any indication of what was going on. He looked to his left and noticed Jongdae doing the same, his smile looking scarily nervous and fake. Minseok nudged him softly, a small indication of don't force it too much and turned to his other side.

Luhan's smile seemed tight around the edges, and Yixing's eyes looked steely. Wufan said something (did she ask us a question?) and the MC gave a surprised “Oh!” in response. Wufan had a small smirk on his face, but Minseok had known the younger long enough to know he was annoyed (his eyebrows always bunched up and he would blink constantly). Minseok turned back to look at Zitao, and noticed the youngest glancing between him and Jongdae, an uneasy smile on his face, before turning back to the camera.

Minseok met Jongdae's eyes again, the younger asking what are they saying hyung I can't understand with his eyes, but Minseok could only offer a tiny shrug that couldn't be picked up on camera.

As the night wore on, Minseok noticed Luhan's smile got more forced, Yixing's smile got more non-existent, Zitao's glancing became more constant, and Wufan appeared to be killing the woman with his eyes. All Minseok could do was keep the smile on his face, pretend he understood, and wait. Wait, as Luhan sang something he'd never heard before by someone he'd probably never heard of either. Wait, as Zitao's ears turned red, and Luhan's smile dropped for one eternally long second. Wait, as Yixing sighed and looked down, before looking back up with a forcibly manufactured smile, and Wufan blinked almost nonstop for a minute straight. Wait, as Jongdae was literally shaking next to him, his eyes announcing to the world that he had no effing clue what was going on, and he was scared about that. Wait, because he wasn't sure he wanted to know what he missed in the language barrier.

Suddenly, it seemed, Wufan was leading them in a 90-degree bow and nodding them offstage, and Minseok perked up at knowing something for once, and followed the pale-as-a-ghost Jongdae backstage. He felt Luhan slip his hand into his and squeeze briefly, and Minseok realized he didn't want to know why he needed that reassurance. The second he was no longer in front of a camera, Zitao let out a frustrated growl and nearly punched the wall to their dressing room when they got in there. Yixing stopped him, but he looked equally as upset, and Wufan nearly yelled at them, the veins in his neck popping out. Luhan just stayed off to the side, running a hand through his hair and sighing in defeat.

Jongdae tugged at the Minseok's sleeve in trepidation. The older sighed softly and walked over to Luhan, Jongdae following closely behind.

“What happened?” he asked quietly, but the others still overheard and turned towards them. Luhan bit his lip and glanced between him and Jongdae, a guilty look on his face.

“I...I-” Luhan turned to look at the other members for help, all who had the same look of regret on their faces. “I don't think I can say,” he murmured, looking down. Minseok's heart sank; it couldn't be that bad, could it?

Yixing must've taken pity on them, as he walked over and put a hand on Minseok's shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he launched into a recount of every comment made and every subtle insult thrown their way. Jongdae gasped in all the right spots- it almost seemed cliché.

They thought we couldn't understand Chinese, and told the fans to stop cheering so loudly for us.

They said the audience should support “home-grown” groups, which we aren't, are we?

They made a sarcastic comment after Wufan ge's speech, he wasn't too happy about that.

They told another group that they could surpass the Korean music market, with us still there.

They...

They...

They...

Th-

“Oh,” Minseok remarked, lips quivering a little. Jongdae beside him was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood and looking down, as if the ground was the most fascinating thing at the moment. Yixing looked sorry, eyes flickering between the two, his lips twisted into a small frown. Zitao looked like he wanted to hug them, but didn't move (he'll never change, Minseok thought remorsefully), and Wufan was still calming down in the other corner, taking long, deep breaths. Luhan actually did hug them, squeezing them as if to apologize.

But apologize for what? Some rude senior artists from his country making comments that had the potential to ruin their debut day? Their mistakes weren't his fault.

Wufan came over after a minute, dragging Zitao with him.

“I wish I could say this is as worse as it's going to get,” he started in his broken Korean, “but we all know it isn't. Especially for you two. I regret that I'm not able to-” he paused, searching for the right word, “to protect you like I wish I could. It's unfair and shouldn't happen, but racism still exists and probably will for a whole lot longer. Just know that we're a team, and we'll always be there with you, ok?” Wufan finished, a small smile appearing for a brief second.

“Thanks,” Minseok replied with a smile, because what more can you say? It will always exist, and the rest of the group standing by them just means they'll be put under fire as well.

Jongdae was shaking again, clinging onto Luhan like a small child would to their mother. Wufan had an arm slung around Minseok's shoulder, the other around Zitao's waist, holding him close so he wouldn't run off again. Yixing patted Jongdae's back softly, always bad at comforting people, but at least putting forth the effort.

And Minseok realized for the first time that maybe everything would be ok in the end, even with all the bumps along the way.

Maybe he wasn't prepared, but he was getting there.

Yeah...these oneshots were all written beforehand, so updates will now be sporadic :) Just a warning ^^;;