|2 weeks later|

Lee Soo Man stares out of his massive glass window as he swivels on a black leather chair, deep in thought. His index finger taps a slow and simple rhythm as his thoughts demand his full attention.

That girl... he recalls the chubby face, definitely some raw but precious talent...Her voice while singing 'Baby Don't Cry' was absolutely hypnotizing! He taps his chin in consideration, ...Maybe, I could develop her into a solo artist like Boa...

A plotting smile slowly spreads across his face, as the thought entertains him. Picking up his office receiver, the impatient CEO barks a set of instructions to his secretary on the other end. "Get me as much information as you can on a female around the same age as our trainee Byun Baekhyun...I'm pretty sure her name is Yun. Next, find out her relationship with both our EXO trainees Jongin and Baekhyun, and report all findings to me before sunset tomorrow."

"Sir, I'll be needing more information than her approximate age and first name..."

"Then you can say goodbye to your job."

"...I understand sir, I'll get right to it."

"That's more like it," he smirks, "if you get this job done to a satisfactory standard, I'll reward you handsomely, with Láncome's newest cosmetics line as an incentive.

"Thank you sir," and the line cut itself.

"Yun, good morning!" Baekhyun jogs towards the overweight girl, inducing females nearby to gush excitedly as his hair bounces energetically in the wind.

"Hello, sunshine," Yun laughs as Baekhyun throws his arms around the girl, "what brings you here?" Yun acts shocked and devastated in order to tease Baekhyun, "it can't be...did you get kicked out of EXO for the scandal from last time?!"

Baekhyun laughs, and Yun watches as his mouth opens to reply. But the school tower clock strikes 1pm, just as a big mob of students hurry into the building to gather their books, say goodbye to their friends, and dash off towards their respective classrooms for lectures.

Yun loses sight of Baekhyun in the chaos, and instead shrugs on a coat from her locker, before setting off towards her music classroom on the opposite side of the building. He can't have been kicked out just like that, right? Oh well, I'll call him when I get home today just to make sure...

"Where do you think you're going?!" a hand suddenly shoots out in front of her face, blocking her path as a husky voice demands her full attention. "I didn't even answer your question yet!"

"I'm going to be late for class..." Yun mumbles, unenthusiastic about continuing the conversation regarding his scandal. She was almost sure he didn't lose his chance to debut; the boys from EXO would have told her immediately if that had indeed happened, and it's already been two weeks since the incident. 

"Who do you think I am? Some stranger who knows nothing about you?!" he demands angrily, "I know what you're thinking, Yun, and I'm not prepared to let you get to class until I've got this sorted out." He cups Yun's face in both hands, coaxing her eyes up to meet his, "When I told the boys about my past...did you really not feel anything?" 

"No. Should I have felt something?" Yun answers shortly, because his ambiguous question felt dangerously close to the lead up of a confession. But Yun dares not hope for too much. Baekhyun has done similiar things in the past; making her nervous and full of expectation, only to laugh it off the next minute.

Baekhyun moves to wrap his arms around Yun, burying his face into Yun's hair almost weakly, "I'm sorry Yun, I can't protect you...and all I've ever done in the past few years is make you suffer more because of my fan girls. No...the blame is not on them...I'm the one always causing you pain."

Looking at his apologetic expression, Yun softens, "Baekhyun, just months ago I still weighed 96kg, I didn't know that weight could decrease until Jongin started training me. There hasn't been a single guy interested in me romantically, ever, and you're the only guy who has even so much as talked to me throughout all these years." Yun brushes a strand of brown hair away from his face, "So don't say something like that, because it makes no sense whatsoever. You were born to be a star, Baekhyun, and fans are an inevitable part of that shining halo. You're human too, so I can understand when the light gets too strong and you end up with a dizzying headache at all the faces looking up at you from the audience."

But to Yun's surprise, he catches her wrist as it gently fixes his fringe, and presses his lips against her fingertips. "You have no idea how many guys I've had to give the evil eye to in the past few years - just because you're overweight, doesn't mean there hasn't ever been anyone interested in what's on the inside."

Yun's eyes widen in genuine surprise, "Are you telling me that you prevented me from dating anyone for the past few years? Seriously?! Byun Baekhyun I hate you!"

"I couldn't help it," he whimpers helplessly, "they were all good boys and were smarter, nicer and taller than me...I couldn't risk you falling in love with anyone else that isn't me!"

Yun's heart stammers at his words, but then settles back down with an aftertaste of bitterness. "Get away from me!" she laughs, running away from his outstretched arms, "I will never forgive you for this! Feel sorry towards me forever!"

"Don't exaggerate, you'll love me again tomorrow," Baekhyun delivers a flying kiss to Yun from across the hallway.

"Ugh, this isn't fair!" Yun chuckles, just as her cellphone vibrates in her coat pocket, "wait let me get this call..."

Baekhyun runs to Yun and presses his ear up against the back of the cell phone in an attempt to eavesdrop, as Yun speaks into the receiver end: "Hello? Yun speaking."

"Lee Yun," an unfamiliar voice greets the girl, "this is Lee Soo Man - founder and CEO of SM entertainment. I believe your good friend Byun Baekhyun and Kim Jongin are our trainee talents."

"Ah, yes! Good afternoon," Yun hurriedly responds, "do you need to speak to Baekhyun?"

"No no, today I am specifically ringing to talk to you; I hope you don't mind that I asked my secretary to find your number for me..."

"Oh no, not at all!" the girl smiles at Baekhyun's curious face, as he mouths 'what?'

"That's a relief," he sighs, "now, let's talk about you. I was lucky enough to have heard your beautiful voice singing EXO's Baby Don't Cry a while ago, and I've been thinking about you ever since."

Yun's eyes widen in wonder, before a blush settles on her cheeks, "A-ah, is that so?" her heart stammers a little as she wonders what he could possibly mean. I hope he wasn't thinking about me in some weird way...but it's not like I have an inmeasurable amount of appeal or something...so what could he possibly want from me? Understanding suddenly strikes her, as she remembers his precise words: 'your beautiful voice singing...'

"Yun I know this is quite sudden...but will you consider signing yourself under SM entertainment as a solo singer?"

"...A solo s-singer?!" she stutters, "you want me as a trainee under SM entertainment?!"

Baekhyun's eyes widen in shock, mimicking Yun's open jaw with his own. 'WHAT?!' he mouths again, this time more aggresively as Yun's brows furrow in concentration while trying to focus on the voice travelling through her phone.

"Yes, a solo singer - the concept at the moment is similar to BoA, although we want to keep you vocally dominant, rather than becoming a dancer as well...Your, uh, weight makes that concept a little difficult..."

My weight... Yun sighs regretfully to herself, it's impossible to become a professional dancer like BOA with a body like mine.

"What is he saying?!" Baekhyun demands impatiently, shifting from one foot to the other in agitation.

"I...I see," Yun's own voice sounds foreign to her ears, "I'll...I'll think about it - can I get back to you tomorrow?"

Not impressed by her answer, Soo Man hums in confusion: "Why would anyone turn down such a valuable opportunity from the best idol company in all of Korea?" he tuts at the girl through the receiver, "However, I understand you are still young and may have other plans for the future; so please think carefully about my offer and do not disappoint me with your answer tomorrow."

"Thank you," she bows at the phone in her hand, before hanging up and turning to an excited Baekhyun.

"What...just happened?" Yun breathes out, eyeing Baekhyun's ecstatic grin.

"Yun, Lee Soo Man just offered you a chance literally every teenage girl would kill for!" Baekhyun laughs, "have you seen how many talents come to audition for SM every weekend? You've seriously hit the jackpot!"

"Really?..." Yun frowns, "but if I become a celebrity, doesn't that make it harder for us to see each other? And if we're seen in public together scandals will arise...then there're the crazy fan girls all over the place who will try to dig up past photos of me and try to convince everyone I'm just an ugly pig..." the girl looks into Baekhyun's eyes worriedly, "I don't want to ruin EXO's chance of international fame with a fake rumour or scandal like the fangirl from last time..."

"You think way too much, Yun!" Baekhyun laughs at his friend, "sometimes, you have to look forward and focus on the good and not the bad! Nothing will ever be achieved in life if you just keep thinking about the negative effects of all your actions!"

"But the concerns I have are perfectly valid!" Yun objects to his optimistic reasoning, "I'm still over 80kg, and yearbook photos are available everywhere if someone takes the time to search for it!"

"I'll protect you," he puffs out his chest cutely in an attempt to look masculine, "the industry is actually really good at handling scandals, as long as it's not fan girls who are distributing the information themselves for the sake of attention."

Yun looks at him questioningly, silently reminding him of his recent scandal with the SHINee fan girl.

"You're thinking about my earlier scandal with the umbrella girl, right? The company dealt with that by getting Minho and Taemin to convince the fangirl that it wasn't my fault - and holding a mass media meeting for the fangirl to apologise for her actions. The crowd turned sympathetic towards me immediately! And I heard our fanbase has increased by 100 people overnight!"

"Really?" my eyes widen, impressed by the background work gone into suppressing one scandal.

"They really understand the fans. The company knows exactly what they want, and when they want it. The girl was a Minho and Taemin fan, so he sent them personally to explain the misunderstanding, and the girl agreed almost immediately."

"I don't know...I'm still not sure whether this is what I want to do," Yun wrings her hands together uncertainly, "I hope you can understand - you used to guess whatever is on my mind as soon as I thought the idea, so I trust you to relate to how I'm feeling right now."

"I do understand!" he replies confidently, "I just don't think you should get hung up on unnecessary pessimism, when there is a great opportunity awaiting you!"

"But I have many worries other than the potential scandals...a lot of problems may arise due to my weight..."

"Lee Yun don't make up excuses," Baekhyun rolls his eyes in agitation, "you're just a coward and you know it!"

"Baekhyun, I don't want to fight with you," Yun's voice sounds lifeless even to herself as she walks away from a pouting Baekhyun, "let me think about it some more - I told him I'll contact him tomorrow."

"You're so stubborn," Baekhyun grumbles quietly, before walking off in the opposite direction.

A/N: Double update! Thanks to anyone who has stuck around reading!