Chapter 32

Goodbye Autumn

Chapter 32: Author’s POV

 

2.5 years later~

 

During the last 2 years, Chen had trained to be under SM entertainment to debut in a Korean and Chinese idol group known to be EXO. He was one the last recruited guys in the group, making him work harder to prove to s that he’s willing do to his best and that he wouldn’t weigh them down. Because he was already close with Xiu Min, he and Xiu Min often practiced dancing since Chen had to learn all the dance moves as soon as possible. He was always thankful to have been friends with him and how patient Xiumin was with him. Let alone, he often met up with Lu Han and Lay and they’d go practice singing and if possible, they’d dance as well.

Chen had met more people through him debuting as a singer. He had met Su Ho, who was their beloved leader who kindly treated Chen as a good friend even though they didn’t know each other that long. Chen really praised Su Ho since he had been training the longest out of all of their members. He also met Baek Hyun, who he had auditioned with. He was more than happy to see that both he and Baek Hyun had made it through the auditions and was even happier to find out that the two would be in the same group; Baek Hyun became someone who had become close to.

Throughout these short years, his mind was focused on becoming the best singer out there possible. It didn’t seem like it took long, but looking back at the training that he’s done with and without SM, he realized that he still had a long way to go and that just because he had finally got to debut, this wasn’t going to change the fact that he’d still have to practice like he did back in the days. Whenever he thought back to his days where he was nervous about coming to SM, he would think about Ji Min, who often encouraged him and told him that he’d be right by his side even if he couldn’t physically be there. He was thankful for him and was hoping to see Ji Min on the same stage as soon as possible.

Ji Min had also debuted, but he had debuted a year after Chen had did. Ji Min debuted under the group of BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys. Chen remembered the day where he watched Ji Min’s first performance. He really wished he could have been there to support him, but their schedules didn’t seem to work out together. Ji Min couldn’t wait to see Chen either. The wait was killing the two of them.

Today was the day of the Dream Concert and both EXO and BTS were invited to it. Chen and Ji Min were more than excited to attend the concert; they were more excited to see each other, but it’s not like anyone knew of their relationship, so they thought that they wouldn’t make it too big, afraid that their fandoms would question such a random friendship.

Chen had been sitting down on a chair while getting his makeup down by one of the artists. He was going through his phone while he patiently waited to be finished. He felt like all of the adrenaline was eating him up and the excitement mixed in wasn’t making it better. He was going to be on stage in a few minutes and that meant he’d have a chance to go see Ji Min right after, if he was able to sneak out without letting his managers know. He already had a plan with Lu Han, Lay, Xiu Min, Chan Yeol and Baek Hyun, who all wanted to get out for awhile as well.

“Can you believe that it’s only been a couple of years since we’ve debuted?” Lu Han asked as he stretched his arms up towards the ceiling. “I feel like we’re going to have our debut stage again.”

Xiu Min chuckled. “Don’t even remind me of our debut stage. It was so embarrassing.”

“I thought we were pretty cute.” Lay commented as he laughed with Xiu Min. “We’ve all grown a little, don’t you think?”

“I’ve become more manly, don’t you think?” Lu Han raised his eyebrows while he flexed his arm. “Look at these guns.”

“Put them away before Xiu Min makes it look bad…” Chen chuckled as he put Lu Han’s arms down. “Come on. Let’s go warm up.”

The twelve boys all filed out in a line and made their way towards the stage where other idols were preparing to go on. Many people had greeted EXO happily while they had returned the greetings. Chen was nervous. He felt his hands sweating and his heart was beating right out of his chest. He took a deep breath as he cleared his throat to make sure it was ready to sing. They were going to perform ‘Wolf’ and ‘Growl’, two of their most popular hits.

“Okay. Come on guys!” Su Ho said as he put his hand in the middle between all of them. “On three.”

As always, the twelve boys had their hands together while their bodies were pressed closed to each other. When the count had hit three, they said their signature, “EXO, Let’s Love!” and headed up onto the stage, where they bowed to the other group that had performed before them. They got into their positions while the chants of fans got louder and louder. Chen took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. He smiled unknowingly, but looked back down to his feet, where he was focused again.

The ‘Wolf’ performance had only warmed up the fans. The fans were chanting, screaming out the members name, and were even singing along happily. What made the crowd get going was when they switched their performance to ‘Growl’, one of the most popular songs out. Each member was charismatic whether they were singing, dancing, or even just smiling at their fans. The fans chant became louder and louder as they sung along and danced to the music that was blasted throughout the place.

When Chen was hitting his high note after the bridge, his eye roamed around the fans that were all cheering for them. He couldn’t help but notice someone familiar in the front of the crowd, but when he had to keep up with s, losing sight of the person who had seen earlier. He ignored what had happened and kept dancing while he sung. As soon as the music ended and they all posed, Chen’s head lifted up to see if he could find that one person who he found familiar in the crowd, but he got nothing.

“Maybe I was just seeing things…” He stood up and ran off the stage with s after they bowed towards the crowd.

 

 

Chen, Lu Han, Xiu Min, Lay, Chan Yeol, and Baek Hyun all snuck out of their dressing room as soon as their managers went out to go get more water for them. The six of them quickly ran off and ran towards BTS’s room, which was located a floor below them. Chan Yeol and Baek Hyun had decided to go meet up with other people while the rest went up to BTS’s room. Chen quickly knocked on the door, hoping that they’d open it faster just in case their manager would catch them.

As soon as the doors opened, Chen looked for Ji Min right away, but he didn’t even get the chance because Ji Min had already tackled him onto the floor from hugging him too roughly. The two laughed as they laid on the ground and hugged each other. Lu Han, Lay, and Xiu Min all hugged Ji Min while piling on top of both him and Chen. Ji Min’s members were shocked to see that Ji Min was even close to the EXO members since he’s never spoke of it. They stood by and watched the scene unfold.

“I’ve missed you so much, Chen!” Ji Min finally stood up to his feet and helped Chen up. “You were amazing out there on stage!”

“You were pretty amazing too, Ji Min.” Lu Han said patting his back.

“I haven’t seen you three in so long either!” Ji Min went to go hug Lu Han, Xiu Min, and Lay. “Lay, the way you dance makes my heart flutter.”

“Stop it, Ji Min.” Lay laughed. “Your dancing makes my heart flutter.”

“Yah. Yah. Yah.” Lu Han rolled his eyes at them.

“Your dancing makes our hearts flutter too.” Xiu Min chuckled. “Come on. Let’s get a picture altogether!”

The rest of BTS looked at Xiu Min confused.

“You guys too! Come on! Ji Min’s friends are our friends!” Lu Han said pulling them over.

After the photo, everyone introduced their selves happily. Everyone talked about their own interests and how some members of BTS were really happy to have met some of the EXO members. Ji Min and Chen had gone out towards the stage and watched other idol groups perform. A lot of people were surprised to see the two together, but they decided not to think anything of it.

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Chen asked breaking their loud silence.

“It has.” Ji Min nodded his head. “I’m so happy to see us on stage together.”

“I am too.” Chen wrapped his arm around Ji Min’s neck. “It felt like I saw her today, Ji Min…”

Ji Min looked over at Chen. “So I wasn’t the only one?”

Chen pulled away and looked at him. “What? Y-you m-mean… No way!”

“No way to you!” Ji Min’s eyes widened.

Chen looked down at his feet. “It’s not possible…”

“Even to this day, we don’t know…” Ji Min let out a forced laugh. “How was it even possible for us to even get past this?”

“We didn’t…” Chen replied. “Because we’re still thinking about her.”

“She would be proud of you.”

“Of us…”

“But mostly you.”

Chen shook his head with a forced smile.

“What would you do if she were to be here?”

“I would do everything for her…” Chen replied.

“Everything?”

“Everything…”

“I see why she liked you so much.” Ji Min reached over and put his arm around Chen’s neck this time. “I like you for the same reason.”

“Yah.” Chen chuckled.

“I mean, come on, Chen. You’re handsome and you sing so well.”

“I know. I know.”

“Your ego is too high nowadays.”

“Oh? And you pulling your shirt off to show off your body to the fans isn’t having a high ego?”

“Hey, I’d like to show my fans that I’ve been taking care of myself.” Ji Min defended himself with a laugh.

“Alright. Alright.” Chen pretended to be in defeat.

“Jae Kyung would probably hit the back of my head for doing that…” Ji Min smiled.

“Have you kept in touch with her?” Chen asked.

Ji Min shook his head. “She was right. I’d be too busy for her.”

“I guess it’s a good thing she broke it off first, huh?”

“No!” He rolled his eyes. “I’d still try to make time for her.”

“Right.” Chen nodded his head slowly. “You didn’t even make time for me.”

“Don’t get me started with you, Chen.” Ji Min sighed. “I barely even get to see you since you’re always out and about.”

Chen chuckled. “I have missed you.”

“Of course. Of course.” Ji Min patted his chest. “You should miss me.”

“I wish you luck in the future.” Chen pressed his lips together as he looked over at Ji Min. “And that your dreams become bigger.”

“Thanks. I hope the same goes for you.” Ji Min hugged Chen. “I guess it’s time for us to go, huh?”

“Yeah…” Chen didn’t want to say goodbye to Ji Min, but he knew he had to since his manager was probably looking for him. “I’ll see you around.”

“Of course, Sunbaenim!” Ji Min saluted.

“Oh stop that. It makes me feel uncomfortable.” Chen shook his head.

“Makes it more worthy of saying!” Ji Min waved as Chen started to walk off. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Byeee!” Chen said as he turned his back and went back to the dressing room.

Just seeing Ji Min made him a little happier inside even if it wasn’t for too long. It was the fact that their moment together was worthwhile since they never had time for each other. He was hoping that in the future, they’d get more times like this.

 

 

EXO had a fanmeeting and signing near the Myeongdong district the very next day. All of the members were really excited to meet and greet their fans since it’s been awhile since they’ve physically interacted with them. While they got to their seats, they could hear all of their fans screaming and shouting at them. Chen waved at his fans as they cheered back happily. He was happy seeing that so many fans had come out to see them.

When the fanmeeting and signing began, the members happily shook each of the fan’s hands. A few cried, screamed, smiled, etc when they felt their skinship. They were more than happy to finally get to interact with their favorite idols, vise versa. Chen had met so many fans who had him many funny questions and just like how he was, he would reply wickedly, which caused many of his fans to laugh at his quick statements. As the next person came, it felt like hours and hours had passed, but the line of fans were only getting bigger and bigger.

“Hi, Chen!” A fan said happily.

“Hello.” Chen said as he grabbed her photobook to sign his signature. “Am I your favorite EXO member?”

“Of course!” The fan replied.

“Don’t lie to me. I heard you say it that to the other members down there.” He chuckled.

“No, you’re my favorite.” She replied. “I like you more than anyone else in the world.”

“Is that so?” Chen asked he doodled on her photobook. “No one can beat me then, right?”

“Nope.”

Chen looked up at the fan. “Why are you wearing sunglasses?”

“It’s because you’re so bright.” She chuckled.

“Ah, stop flattering me.” He thought this fan was adorable. He went back to write more on her photobook.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” Chen replied.

“Can I take a picture of you?”

These words all sounded too familiar to him, but it was a question he often got.

“Tell me your name first.” Chen said.

“My name?”

“Mmm.” He replied.

“Ga Eul. Choi Ga Eul.”

Chen was about to write down her name, but he stopped as soon as he heard what her name was. He felt his heart drop down to his stomach, and the chanting of the crowd seemed to have faded and all he could hear was his heart beating inside of his chest. He couldn’t believe it. No, everyone had the same name so there wasn’t a way that she’d be here. And he hasn’t heard from her for over two years. He shook his head as he took a deep breath and looked up at her.

“G-Ga Eul?” He picked up the photo and looked at it.

“I think I’m going crazy.” The fan said right as a light flashed at him and a picture fell onto the table in front of him.

Chen picked up the picture that was in front of him and right when he was about to look up, the fan put more photos down in front of him and he saw how familiar each one was.

“I think I’m going crazy too…” Chen whispered as he looked up at the fan.

“Hello, Chen.” She smiled.

And just like that, the corners of his lips curled up into a smile, a smile that he hasn’t felt in a long time.

 “Hello, Choi Ga Eul.”

 

 


 

*A/N: So what do you guys think about the ending? Is it really her or is it a fan? I mean, how many people in this world is called Choi Ga Eul? Keke! Think whatever you like~ This was always going to be the ending of my story. It has been planned since the beginning. This is officially the last chapter of my story! I want to thank you all for reading and taking your time to comment every once in awhile. I'm so happy to see that this story had gotten more love than what I thought it would get. I wasn't honestly displeased with it, as I wrote over 2209582 chapters and have deleted them. You could even ask my friend, carriedaway, who forced me to finish this when I wanted to do a five shot (LOL), because I seriously was struggling to finish this and have it turn out well. Ugh. I still am not satisfied, but I can't do much about it now that it has gotten this far. Thank you once again to those who gave my story a try, even if it wasn't as good as what you all have hoped for, and thank you for those who supported me in every way! I love you guys a billion! Please read and comment. I'd love to hear about your opinions, so please don't be a silent readerThank you and read with lots of love! Keke~! Muah

 

Go read my next story which features EXO's Kai <3 
You're Beautiful

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1/1: Thank you all so much for getting me featured on the first day of the year. I love you all! I don't know how to express it well at all, so thank you!!!

Comments

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Michiko37 #1
Chapter 32: I just finished your story <3
And now I'm crying TT_TT
noonimm
#2
Chapter 32: Thank you to make it a happy ending ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
noonimm
#3
Chapter 23: oh my god oh my god oh my godddddddddd
I need a pillow, i need to scream
noonimm
#4
Chapter 17: I don't know how to explain my feeling in english .. but I could die from reading this and was biting my lip so hard to stop myself from smiling.
noonimm
#5
Chapter 15: I understand you Ga Eul T-T;;
noonimm
#6
Chapter 12: I was stupidly smiling when chen's teasing personality came out .. god that was so cute
imnotintokorean
#7
Chapter 32: Omg hi! It is by far is the most cute ans sweet story of Chen. Thank you for making this story! You made my day?
ettoiscy
#8
Chapter 32: OMG NOOO AAAAA I love imagine chen with his whining voice at the last chapter hahah well done.
I love this fic, super duper.
Thankyou authornim for the fic. Great.
Hashtagkpop #9
Chapter 32: I don’t understand why they haven’t kept in contact for 2.5 years
teaeri
#10
This was the first ff which made me cry :”)