Title: The Dongsaengs’ Gift

Setting: Seoul, Korea

Characters:

Suho (EXO-K)

EXO-K

~*~

                “Members!” D.O. called as he scooped the last of the vegetables from the pan.  “Time for dinner!”

                At the sound of his voice, a thunder of footsteps echoed through the dorm, and five young men took their seats at the dinner table.  Each one was dressed in his pajamas, wearing a combination of t-shirts and sweatpants or shorts. 

                “Thank you, Kyungsoo.” Suho politely bowed. “Our umma is always the best, right?”

                “Yes~” the rest of the EXO-K members followed.

                “You guys are so cheesy.” D.O. rolled his eyes, sitting in his own seat.

                “We’ll eat well!” everyone said.

                All the members crammed the food into their mouths, all except Suho.  No matter how hungry these kids were, they wouldn't eat so fast to the point where the maknae, Sehun, started choking.

                “Sehun-ah, are you okay?” Suho asked, his lips slightly arching downward.

                “I’m fine, hyung,” Sehun coughed.

                “Don’t worry, hyung,” Chanyeol grinned. “Our maknae is very strong, he’ll be okay.”

                Chanyeol gave Sehun a big whack on the back, causing the poor kid to cough some more. 

                “Yah, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun shouted. “Don’t hit him like that.”

                “Sorry, Sehun,” Chanyeol apologized.

                In a matter of a few minutes, only the leader was left at the dinner table.  Everyone had scrambled upstairs, along with the sound of a door being banged.  Suho shook his head and continued to enjoy his meal.

                “I guess I’ll be doing the dishes again,” Suho thought, chewing on a piece of carrot.

~*~

                “Hey, do you think hyung is suspicious?” Baekhyun asked with rounded eyes.

                “I don’t think so,” Kai spoke as he fixed his hair. “He didn’t give us any weird looks.”

                “S-thtop speaking s-tho loud!” Sehun hissed.

                “Your lis- ” Chanyeol cracked up.

                “That’s not funny, okay?” The maknae glared at him.

                “Shush it you guys,” D.O. said, crossing his arms. “We need to be united so we can get this done perfectly. We have only four days left.”

                The five boys started discussing any ideas that they came up with.  Baekhyun suggested that they ask the manager to take them out for dinner, but D.O. and Chanyeol thought it would be too plain.  They started bickering over this and that, until something clicked in Kai’s mind.

                “How about we do a surprise party?” Kai’s eyes sparkled.

                “Isn’t that very common?” Sehun spoke.

                “We never gave hyung a surprise, though,” Baekhyun reasoned.

                D.O., Chanyeol, Kai, and Sehun all nodded in agreement.  Suho had been a very generous hyung to them, treating them to food and helping them when they were in trouble.  Their leader had also called family meetings on Saturdays, which allowed the members to reflect upon themselves and have better performances.

                No doubt, Suho had become an important part in their lives.  This year’s father’s day, the EXO-K dongsaengs wanted to make it special for their leader.  Also, it would be the first father’s day they would celebrate with him.

                “Let’s go buy cake!” Chanyeol excitedly suggested.

                “Will manager-hyung allow us to go buy it?” Baekhyun worried. “I mean, there are a lot of fans out there.”

                “Who said we were gonna get it ourselves?” Chanyeol retorted. “We could send manager-hyung!”

                “He doesn’t have so much time in his hands,” Baekhyun fought back. “Besides, D.O. can bake.”

                “Sheesh, stop the BaekYeol moments,” Kai said as he pushed the two aside.

                “What, you jealous?” Chanyeol teased, poking Kai’s side.

                “I miss Lu-” The maknae was interrupted.

                “No BaekYeol or HunHan for now, please,” D.O. calmly spoke up. “We’re here to talk about how to surprise Suho hyung, not couple pairings.”

                “Thank you, umma,” Kai fake cried as he hugged D.O.

                “Get off me, Kkamjong.” D.O. brushed Kai away.

                The other three members giggled at the group’s umma’s actions. Kai ran a finger over his cheek as an imaginary tear and gave D.O. a sad face.  After everyone was settled down, D.O. continued to discuss any preparations they would need for the surprise party.

~*~

                Suho hummed to EXO’s ballad “Angel” as he washed the dishes.  The sound of the running water from the faucet created a peaceful atmosphere, and bubbles from the soap floated up once in a while.

                He finished washing the dishes and found some fruits in the refrigerator, thinking about cutting them up to make fruit salad for the members.

                “This will be tasty!” Suho proudly smiled. “I hope they’ll like it.”

                After setting the bowl of cut fruits on the table, Suho went upstairs, and hearing sounds coming from D.O.’s room, he lifted his hand to knock on the door.  Midway, he stopped and listened to small clips of a conversation.

                “I think Suho-hyung will like this!”

                “Yeah, we should start buying the decorations.”

                “I heard footsteps. Do you think hyung’s here?”

                “What if he hears this?”

                “Just open the door, okay?!”

                Suho immediately dashed behind the nearest door, peeking from the little crack and saw Kai’s head pop out from D.O.’s room.  Kai scanned the area, and then he retreated back to the room.  Suho stayed in his hiding place for a little longer before coming out. 

                “What are the dongsaengs doing?” Suho wondered. “Something about me?”

                The leader kept the thought in mind and decided to knock on the door.

                “Kids! I cut up some fruit, so come downstairs to eat it!” Suho called.

                A chorus of “okay’s” answered him, and he walked downstairs to eat the fruit.  Not long after, the members came one by one to join him.  EXO-K enjoyed the cool sweetness while chatting and watching TV.

~*~

                “Alright, good job!” the coordinator noona called. “Thank you for your hard work, EXO-K.”

                “We are ONE, thank you!” The members bowed.

                They had just finished filming for an episode of a variety show scheduled to air two weeks from that day.  Many secrets and habits were revealed, delighting the MCs and, of course, fans who were at the filming location.

                After the filming, the EXO-K members separated into their own little groups and forgot about the leader.  A pang of loneliness and envy hit Suho as he watched his dongsaengs become so close to each other.

                “Hey kids,” Suho called. “Let’s go get some patbingsoo!”

                “Eh, okay,” Chanyeol groaned as he got up from his lying position.

                “Who’ll be treating?” Kai asked with a big smile.

                “You,” D.O. said bluntly.

                The smile on Kai’s face immediately turned upside-down.

                “I’ll treat, since I came up with the suggestion,” Suho volunteered.

                “Yippee!” Baekhyun jumped up. “Let’s go, Yeol!”

                “Come on, maknae,” Kai called while Sehun reached for D.O.’s sleeve.

                Again, Suho sensed a feeling of isolation when the breakfast couple BaekYeol walked ahead and D.O. umma supervised the hyper maknaes.  He walked alone behind the others, hoping that even just one of s would look out for him.

                Just then, Baekhyun turned back, and Suho looked up.  To his dismay, the “master” of light motioned for Kai to come closer.

                “Why do they seem like they’re avoiding me?” Suho thought sadly.

~*~

                “Hey,” Baekhyun whispered. “Do you think Suho-hyung is falling for it?”

                “Seems like it,” Kai grinned. “He’s sulking right now.”

                “Wow!” Chanyeol exclaimed. “Hyung’s sulking!”

                “What?” Suho asked with wide eyes.

                “Oh, nothing,” Baekhyun answered. “Chanyeol was just being stupid.”

                Baekhyun and Kai gave Chaneyeol glares, and he showed his signature “happy virus” smile.  Sehun whacked Chanyeol’s head, and they both started chasing each other on the streets, occasionally bumping into other pedestrians. D.O. face-palmed himself at the childish scene.

                EXO-K arrived at a dessert shop and ordered to-go patbingsoo.  The members looked at Suho as if reminding him that he was the one to pay for their food.  Suho handed the cashier the money and was about to grab the bags of patbingsoo, but his dongsaengs quickly took them and dashed away.

                “Those kids…” Suho shook his head.

                At their dorms, the members shared the cold dessert while watching the programs on TV.  Once again, everyone, except the leader, finished in a short while and went upstairs, leaving Suho to clean up. Suho picked up all the spoons and napkins from the table and recycled the containers.

                He decided to lie on the couch and was deep in his thoughts.

                “D.O. is usually the one who cleans up, why doesn’t he anymore?” Suho asked himself. “Retiring from the umma job? The D.O. umma is retiring? Ridiculous. And ignoring me? But on the long run, the members don’t even listen to me when we’re at the dorms.”

                Suho sighed and unknowingly dozed off.  As he traveled to dreamland, something glistened on his face. It rolled along his cheek; a tear.

~*~

                “Guys, don’t you think we’re playing too hard on Suho-hyung?” Kai asked.

                “The harsher the better,” Chanyeol laughed. “Didn’t you see hyung’s expression? It’s darker than the end of the universe!”

                “You’re so mean, Yeol,” Baekhyun frowned. “I’m sure Suho-hyung has been trying very hard to keep up with us.”

                “Hey, Kai was the one who came up with this surprise party idea,” Chanyeol retorted.

                “But you were the one who said to act cold to him for more effects.” Kai folded his arms.

                “Right.”

                “Anyhow, should we go comfort hyung?” Baekhyun suggested.

                “I think that’d give our plan away,” D.O. replied. “But at the same time, I don’t think we should’ve started giving hyung the silent treatment.”

                All of them nodded their heads in agreement.

                “Someone be the good guy and be on Suho-hyung’s side?” Sehun asked.

                “You wanna be the good boy, maknae?” Kai smiled.

                “If I’m the maknae, you are, too,” Sehun pouted.

                “No, no, no, I am your hyung.” Kai stuck out his tongue at the maknae.

                “I think Baekhyun should be the good guy,” Chanyeol voted.

                “Yep, he should,” Sehun added.

                “Alright, Baek it is,” D.O. declared.

                “What?!” Baekhyun gaped. “Okay.”

                “Good boy,” Kai grinned, patting Baekhyun’s head.

                For another hour, the dongsaengs discussed plans and preparations for the party.  Father’s day was just two days away, and D.O. assigned each member a task.  Kai was to order catering food, Sehun was to buy decorations, Baekhyun was to watch Suho, Chanyeol was to buy cake ingredients, and D.O. was to make the cake.

                Baekhyun went to check up on Suho and found the leader on the couch. He walked over, soon realizing Suho was asleep.  A trail of tears was spotted on Suho’s milky skin.

                “Hyung must’ve felt terribly neglected,” Baekhyun thought guiltily.

~*~

                June 17, 2012.  Today was father’s day, and many children went home early to give their fathers gifts.  EXO-K practiced in the dance room for the whole day but was released early to celebrate the special occasion. 

                One by one, the members left the “cloud” room and entered the van that drove them to the dorms. They were extremely tired, recharging themselves with beauty sleep.  It was 7pm when they arrived at their dorm.  Quiet and peaceful.

                “Suho-hyung, I forgot something in the practice room,” Baekhyun started. “Could you come with me to get it?”

                “Okay.”

                And the leader was taken away from the dorm.  The sleepy expressions that were once on the members’ faces disappeared as each one of them scurried about.  Chanyeol and D.O. were frantically working on the cake while Kai and Sehun struggled to decorate the dorm.

                “No, Kkamjong!” Sehun exclaimed. “That’s not where it’s supposed to be!”

                “Stop, Chanyeol!” D.O. hollered. “You don’t add salt to the batter! This is the container with sugar!”

                “Maknae!” Kai was having a hard time putting up the streamers. “Help me!!”

                “Right there, just let me get this balloon done first,” Sehun called.

                “No, I’m about to fall!”

                “Chanyeol, go help Jongin before you destroy the cake,” D.O. ordered.

                “Kkamjong, are you okay?!” Chanyeol held the streamers in place as Kai regained his balance.

                “Thank goodness, Yeol,” Kai sighed. “Your height is actually useful now.”

                “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

                “I got the balloons ready!” Sehun announced.

                Sehun tripped on the carpet, pulling down one of the entrées with him as his body made contact with the floor.

                “Sehun!” Chanyeol and Kai shouted. “Are you alright?!”

                “I’m fine!” Sehun reassured. “Snap. The food.”

                “Just clean it up, and we’ll only have less food to eat!” D.O. called.

                “Okay!” The three boys picked up the food that scattered over the floor.

                “Sorry, umma,” Sehun said as he walked past D.O.

                “It’s fine, you’ll pay for it later.” D.O. set the oven without looking up.

                “What?!”

                “Hurry up, Hun!” Chanyeol urged. “We don’t know how much longer Baek can hold off  Suho-hyung!”

                Kai took a quick second to send Baekhyun a text message.

~*~

                 While war was breaking loose at the dorm, Suho and Baekhyun arrived at the practice room to grab the forgotten iPod.  They searched for the electronic in three levels of the building, finding it in the men’s bathroom.

                “Ah, there’s my iPod!” Baekhyun declared. “How did it get here?”

                “Goodness, Baekhyun,” Suho laughed. “Why would you leave your iPod in the bathroom?”

                “I have no clue.”

                “You better wipe that thing first,” Suho said. “The bathroom’s dirty. And we should also wash our hands, too.”

                “Aw, seriously?”

                “Seriously.”

                Soon after, the leader and lead vocalist exited the building and waited for a bus until Baekhyun received a message from Kai.

                “Explosion at the dorm. Please wait on hyung longer?”

                He took no time to reply.

                “Suho, Suho, Suho, Suho-hyung!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “I needa go buy a gift!”

                “For whom?” Suho asked.

                “For appa,” Baekhyun replied. “Today’s father’s day.”

                “Oh yeah, but how will you give it to him?”

                “It’s okay. I’ll give it to him soon.”

                Deep within, Baekhyun was chuckling at how oblivious the leader was.  That gift… was to be for Suho, and he was glad the leader didn’t know.

~*~

                “Umma!” Chanyeol called. “Is the cake done yet?!”

                “Almost!” D.O. shouted back. “Just need arrange the fruits, then I’ll put it in the fridge!”

                “Chanyeol, a little help here!” Sehun groaned as he reached for the corner to attach a streamer.

                “Shorty,” Chanyeol chuckled.

                “Giant.”

                “Shorty.”

                “Giant.”

                “Short-”

                “Shut up you two!” Kai hissed. “Baekhyun’s gonna keep Suho-hyung away for only a bit longer. We can’t be fooling around.”

                “Sorry,” both Chanyeol and Sehun muttered.

                “Guys, don’t just stand there!” D.O. exclaimed. “Move!”

                The members didn’t need to be told the second time, and within fifteen minutes, the dorm was beautifully decorated.  Not a single trace of the mess from the ripped streamers, popped balloons, and scattered food was present. 

                “Good job, guys!” D.O. praised as he patted the backs of the other three. “I think Suho-hyung will love this.”

~*~

                “Suho-hyung,” Baekhyun beckoned. “Do you think appa will like this?”

                “I don’t know, Baek,” Suho said. “You know your appa better than I do.”

                “Come on, hyung,” Baekhyun urged. “I just wanted an opinion.”

                “Well, I would get this instead for appa.”

                “How about you? What do you want?”

                “Me?”

                “Yeah, what would you want?”

                “Aren’t you picking a gift for your appa?” Suho questioned.

                “I think he’s similar to you, so whatever you like is what he likes.”

                “Hmm, then I would pick this.” Suho pointed to a watch in the case.

                “Really? Is that what you want the most?”

                “What I want the most?”

                “Yep, what you want the most will be what appa want the most.”

                “Then I’ll tell you, I wanted this for a long time.”

                “Gotcha. I’m getting it then.”

                “You’re so suspicious,” Suho thought to himself.

                Suho and Baekhyun roamed around the shop a little longer, picking up some snacks as they went by the aisles.  While they were walking, Suho was calculating whether they had enough money to buy the gift and the snacks.

                “Hey, Baekhyun-ah,” Suho called. “Don’t grab too much. I don’t know if we have enough money.”

                “It’s fine, hyung!” Baekhyun grinned. “I brought some of my own, just in case. I’ll buy the gift, and you can buy the snacks.”

                “Really, Baek? Were you planning this beforehand?”

                “Maybe, maybe not.”

                Baekhyun skipped away happily, and Suho couldn’t hold a smile. A few people had eyed them suspiciously, so Suho urged Baekhyun to hurry up.  Baekhyun took out his phone and messaged Kai, hoping that the others would be done preparing.

~*~

                “Kkamjong! We’re coming back. You guys finished yet?”

                “We’re done,  Baek. Come soon!” Kai texted back.

                Kai told the maknae, Chanyeol, and D.O. that the other two members were coming back.  Right before turning the lights off, D.O. took the cake out and started lighting the candles, hiding behind the sofa. Chanyeol, Kai, and Sehun were standing around the door, ready to pull the party poppers.

                “Kkamjong, how long will it be before they come back?” Chanyeol whispered.

                “I don’t know, any time soon,” Kai replied.

                “Do you know where they are?” Sehun asked.

                “I said I don’t know!” Kai said, this time raising his voice.

                “Kkamjong!” D.O. harshly whispered. “Shh. They’ll be back soo-”

                D.O. was cut off by the sound footsteps that stopped at their dorm.  The four members tensed up at the sound, expecting the door to be opened any moment.  All of them had a huge smile plastered on their faces, despite being in the darkness where no one would see.

                “Whoops, wrong dorm,” a voice said outside. “Pizza for dorm twenty-…”

                EXO-K, excluding the leader and Baekhyun, all groaned in disappointment.

                “Gosh, I was just about to pull the string,” Sehun sighed.

                “I know, I was going to, too!” Kai exclaimed in a whisper.

                “That pizza guy just totally ruined the mood,” Chanyeol said, adding an “ugh” at the end.

                “I almost dropped the cake when the delivery guy revealed himself,” D.O. confessed.

                “DON’T!” the three members shouted.

                “I didn’t!” D.O. called. “Keep the noise level down. They’ll be here anytime soon!”

                “Hey, umma,” Sehun called. “Are the candles melting?”

                “I blew them out,” D.O. replied.

                “I hear footsteps!” Chanyeol excitedly sang.

                “Go light the candles, umma!” Kai said.

                “Please hope it’s not another fraud,” Chanyeol thought.

                This time, the door was unlocking, and the boys immediately recognized Suho’s voice.

                “Goodness, why are all the lights turned off?” Suho gasped.

                “I did something,” Baekhyun joked.

                Suho the lights, and the party poppers went off, scaring Suho out of his calm aura.

                “HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!” the members shouted.

                As the confetti showered Suho like rain, D.O. came out from his hiding place, holding a cake with the words “We love you JOONMYUN” and some candles strategically arranged around the icing.

                “You guys…” Suho’s voice was wavering.

                “Happy father’s day to our beloved leader, Kim Joonmyun!” the members exclaimed, huge smiles that hid their eyes.

                “Guys, I’m…” Tears started b in the leader’s eyes.

               D.O. placed the cake on the table while Baekhyun grabbed a tissue for Suho, and the members hugged their leader. 

                “We love you, Suho-hyung!” the dongsaengs echoed. “Thank you for being such a wonderful leader!”

                “I love you guys, too!” Suho cried, his voice thick.

                EXO-K broke the hug, and Baekhyun shyly brought out the little box that contained the gift for his “appa” while Suho was wiping his tears.

                “Though I was the only one who came with you, we all pitched in the money to buy this gift,” Baekhyun said, handing the box to Suho.

                “So,” Suho cleared his voice, “this gift was for the so-called appa, me?”

                “Yes.”

                “Oh goodness, thank you so much, guys!” Suho exclaimed, the tears starting to come again.

                “Hyung! Don’t cry!” Kai exclaimed. “You’ll make me want to cry, too!”

                “I’m just so touched,” Suho smiled.

                “We know you would be,” Baekhyun teased. “Very emotional.”

                “Yah, Byun Baekhyun!” Suho made a face.

                “I love you,” Baekhyun grinned.

                The dongsaengs gathered around as Suho cut the homemade cake and distributed it evenly among the six members.  While they were eating, Chanyeol made his confession.

               “Sorry, hyung, for ignoring you the past few days,” Chanyeol said. “We had originally planned for a surprise party, but I added in the idea that we should ignore you so the party will be more effective.”

                “Yeah. Sorry, hyung.” Apologies followed each other one by one.

                “No, no, it’s fine!” Suho laughed. “How could I not forgive you guys? And I kind of overheard the little meeting you guys had, but the ignoring was unexpected.”

                “You did?!” Chanyeol asked, shocked.

                “Sorry.”

                “That’s fine.” Kai gave Suho a smile. “We did surprise you.”

                “I really, really feel blessed to have you all as my members,” Suho said. “Thank you so much for doing this for me. I haven’t done much for you gu-”

                “Hyung!” Baekhyun cut him off. “You’ve done so many things for us already!”

                “You just don’t realize it!” D.O. added.

                “You too, umma?” Suho asked, surprised.

                “All of us are thankful for you, Suho-hyung!” Sehun reassured.

                “You are always volunteering to help us!” Kai exclaimed.

                “We’re not complete without you!” Chanyeol grinned.

                “You guys are amazing, thanks.” Suho spoke as he reached out for all of them again.

                “Suho-hyung,” Chanyeol called. “You’re really happy right now, right?”

                “Of course I am!”

                “Can I ask a favor of you?” Chanyeol approached steadily.

                “Sure!”

                “Will you please do ‘bbuing bbuing’ for us?” Chanyeol flashed his smile.

                “What?! Not again?!?”

                Reluctantly, Suho placed a fist on his check and did ‘bbuing bbuing” for the dongsaengs.  They squealed in delight but mostly from the shivers it gave them from the rare aegyo of the leader.  Suho hid his face in his hands after while the rest of the members laughed.

~*~

                That night, when everyone went to retire for the night, Suho lay on his bed and smiled like an idiot.  The members had done something so nice for him, and he couldn’t help but feel so warm when he thought about it.   

                “I feel like the luckiest leader in the world,” Suho thought as he drifted off to his own world.

~*~

Sorry for the extremely long delay. I was in L.A. for about a week’s worth of vacation. :) 

Thank you for reading [The Dongsaengs’ Gift (A EXO-K Story)]!

And to be shameless, comments and subscribers are loved! :P

Little Words of Wisdom: “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 NIV)

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honeypeachies

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