December 14, 2013

Quiet reigned throughout the beginning half of the long journey home. Two cars travelled stealthily like a panther through the storm, the sound of snow and the odd stone ricocheting off the chassis the only thing they could hear.

Junmyeon had Kyungsoo sat beside him but the singer rocked and swayed with each turn and dune the car trod over, his eyes scrunched shut. The leader's arm was wrapped around his back, steadying him as he slept, and the rest of the six people in the car maintained a respectful, silent vigil for their sick housemate.

He'd been ill since the night prior, probably with the same affliction the rest of them had. The only difference was that Kyungsoo had a headache, and considering they had just come from a public appearance where effectively a hundred or so people had been screaming at the tops of their lungs at spontaneous intervals, they had a great deal of sympathy for the brother-hen.

So they let him sleep while they waited to get back to the hotel. They couldn't wait, to be honest. After that hectic day they were all drained. In Junmyeon's car, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were leaning towards each other and Sehun had his head tipped back onto the headrest, his eyes staring at the ceiling of the car. Xiumin just looked bored and motion sick. He was on a sweet to try and distract himself from the feeling that his stomach was going to come flying out.

“You can open the window if you think you're going to throw up,” he reassured him.

“Try stopping me,” Xiumin answered.

Suddenly the car slowed; the engine made a horrible, ominous sound, and then jerked.

Xiumin promptly groaned. Kyungsoo winced and stirred. Sehun's head almost slammed against the front passenger seat, but his seatbelt kept him strapped down.

“Oh god.” Xiumin inhaled shakily, pressing knuckles between his eyes. Baekhyun rubbed his back gently and Chanyeol whipped air into a small bag.

“Sorry.” The driver twisted the key and the engine ererer'ed repeatedly.

They sat for half a minute listening to the engine go wherherherher and generally act like an engine shouldn't, and Xiumin's heavy breathing.

“The engine overheated,” the driver reported. Or guessed, whichever was applicable.

“In a snowstorm?” Chanyeol asked. “The engine overheated in a snowstorm?”

“Yes. I'll try calling for a back-up car.”

In other words, they were stranded.

“It's not going to blow up, is it?”

“No,” Junmyeon said, “but it's going to get pretty cold in here soon. Take off your seatbelts, huddle up and keep your coats warm.”

“Hey, if Minseok throws up I'm not going anywhere near him and I don't care if I freeze.”

“I'll throw up on you if it makes you feel better.”

“I'll give you all this headache if it makes me feel better,” Kyungsoo ground out. “Please shut up.”

A set of bright headlights came a few seconds later and they were almost rammed up the backside. But not by the back-up car. It was the second car, and over the crackling radio static they could hear Tao and Chen fighting and supposedly kicking for space while Kris tried vainly to shut them up.

“When we get to the hotel, I'm going to kill you both.”

“We love you too, Krissy.”

“Krissy, Kristina, Kristin, Kr-”

“Don't call me-!”

The radio was engulfed in static once more. Junmyeon couldn't imagine the phone working if the radio was struggling this much. He eased Kyungsoo down onto the floor of the car and climbed between the front seats.

“I'll have to get out and figure out what we're going to do,” the driver answered. “Your manager's in the other car with them.”

“God help him.”

“Kaitlin, Kaila, Kailula-”

“-Kaitrina.”

“Oh my god, will you two shut up?”

“Lucielle, Lucia, Louise-”

Smack!

“-Chentelle-”

“Taori, Victaoria.”

The driver got out of the car and ran backwards towards the other car. Junmyeon picked up the radio and said loudly, “Can you shut up for a moment? We have a problem.”

It quietened after a moment when the driver reached the car. Junmyeon sighed and settled back with the rest of the singers, who by now were starting to feel the temperature drop substantially. He huddled up beside Chanyeol and pulled his coat closer to his body and waited.

“Why did they want us to go on a show in this weather?” Xiumin asked quietly.

Because they were strict, probably. Dancers had to be. Working in the entertainment sector as a professional dancer wasn't a walk in the park, it was a competitive career with no room for error. Just another day, he supposed. EXO's reputation would go up, probably, so it was a decent trade-off.

Well, not breaking down in the middle of it, but that was a problem they'd deal with in due course.