----- Chapter Fourteen -----

                “Feeling any better now?” Minzy asked as she gently patted Dara who was busy with her ramyun that Bom just cooked for her. The girls just arrived in their dorm after completing their schedules. And when they arrived, Bom immediately went straight to the kitchen to cook Dara’s favorite comfort food – ramyun.

                “I guesh showw,” Dara couldn’t speak clearly since she was endlessly stuffing her small mouth with her food. CL and Minzy chuckled at their unnie’s silliness.

                “You know, you shouldn’t worry much. Your fans are not letting you down,” Bom preached as she neared the three and showed something on her phone to Dara.

                Dara temporarily stopped eating and took a look at the screen.

                @haroobomkum unnie I hope @krungy21 unnie is okay. Please comfort her TT.TT #StayStrongDara

                We blackjacks are always here for you! @krungy21 @haroobomkum @mingkki21 CL unnie <3

                WE LOVE YOU DARA #StayStrongDara

                Santokki fighting! #StayStrongDara

                Dara eyes welled up again after seeing these sweet messages from her fans on twitter. She was even surprised that ‘#StayStrongDara’ was even trending worldwide. The girls smiled at the support and encouragement the fans were giving to Dara.

                “See? We have the best fans in the world!” Bom proudly announced as she hugged the teary bunny. Minzy joined the two.

                “That’s kind’a cheesy but,” CL playfully hesitated. “…oh well.” She soon joined her girls and they had the warmest group hug they ever had.

                “You should check your twitter and IG too. I bet they’re flooding you messages,” Bom suggested, still clinging to the other three.

                Dara giggled and nodded cheerfully. Yes, she was deeply affected with all the hate messages, but her one mistake was that she forgot she still had these wonderful fans and friends that would always be there to cheer her up.

----------------------------

                “So, what brings you here?” Kris smiled as he brought his arm around the younger’s shoulder.

                For some odd reasons, Chanyeol flinched at the gesture, surprising the clueless Kris. The duizhang was taken aback with Chanyeol’s reaction that the Chinese immediately withdrew his arm from him. Chanyeol mentally cursed himself for being doing such a rude thing for unknown reasons.

                Chanyeol was confused and embarrassed with what he did to Kris, so he just paced towards the latter’s bed and sat down, pretending as if nothing happened. Kris felt the atmosphere suddenly got a little bit tensed, and that he started to get a little bit nervous as well. He did not know how things just got awkward between them that time. But it was best to just shrug it off – and that’s what he did.

                Kris sat beside Chanyeol, maybe a little bit farther because he did not want to make things more uncomfortable for them. The weird atmosphere was suffocating him, but he kept a straight face.

                “So – uh – something wrong?” Kris stuttered, breaking the awkward silence. He gazed at Chanyeol.

                The K rapper suddenly laughed nervously. “Haha, n-nothing. I mean, there is. I mean – you know – I’m just upset,” he breathed, eyes glued to his feet.

                Kris gave off a comforting smile before he brought his hand, wanting to pat the younger boy’s shoulder, but then he stopped midway and withdrew his hand. “I know,” he said.

                “Isn’t it upsetting, hyung? I mean, what manager-hyung had said.”

                Kris hummed. “Yeah.” He too was very much upset with it.

                Chanyeol sighed heavily before he slouched and leaned his back against the wall of the room. His eyes wandered around the ceiling. “What should we do, hyung?”

                Kris thought deeply, trying to find the right words to say, but Chanyeol cut him off.

                “Dara-noona’s receiving all the hate. It’s unfair for her part.” He turned to Kris. “What should we do, hyung?”

                Kris diverted his gaze to somewhere else. It took a short while before he finally spoke up. “I honestly don’t know, Chanyeol.” He sighed before continuing. “I guess we should…let things cool down first.”

                Snap.

                Chanyeol stiffened before he straightened up and looked at Kris fixedly. “Are you saying that we should just keep silent here?”

                Kris immediately turned to Chanyeol with a worried face. “No. I was saying –“

                “You’re saying that we should just let things be the way they are now?!” Chanyeol’s voice was now slightly raised.

                “No, Chanyeol. Listen to me.” Kris tried to explain himself but Chanyeol did not seem to listen as he shook his head violently.

                “You’re just like manager-hyung!”

                “Chanye—“

                Chanyeol stood up and faced Kris, glaring at him, hard.

                “You know what? It’s all your fault!”

                Kris’s eyes squinted, confused with what the younger just told him. “What?”

                “Yes! It’s all your fault!”

                Kris started to lose his temper and stood up, facing Chanyeol straight in the eyes.

                “My fault? How could you say that it’s my fault when I did not do anything?!”

                “Oh yeah? Stop acting so innocent!”

                “What are you saying, Chanyeol? You’re not making any sense. I don’t get you.”

                Chanyeol clicked his tongue. “Woah. Okay, let me spell it out for you then. It’s because of you, Dara-noona’s being bashed right now. Your fans are just crazy! They’re talking about her!”

                Kris was taken aback with what he just learned. Was it really his fans bashing on Dara? He did not know that. And he never ever wanted his fans to do that. But what he did not get the most was why Chanyeol was being so close-minded, blaming everything on him when they all knew they had no control over their fans.

                “Why are you blaming this on me? It’s not like I wanted them to do that!”

                “That’s not the reason why I am angry!” Chanyeol growled. Kris became more confused of what Chanyeol’s point was.

                “I’m angry because I don’t understand how you could act so calm when in fact it’s because of you that Dara-noona’s suffering right now?!”

                Kris suddenly became speechless. He froze at the statement. No, Chanyeol was wrong. He was definitely wrong. Kris was beyond angry when he learned the negative treatment Dara had been receiving since the release of the CF. He was enraged. But he just kept it in. He just held everything in. Chanyeol did not know that. He did not know how hard it was to keep a straight face on. He had no idea how Kris was feeling. He didn’t know anything.

                “Cut it out already, Chanyeol. You don’t know an---“

                Chanyeol just growled, indicating he did not want to listen to Kris’s excuses anymore. He did not even let the latter finish what he wanted to say.

                “Stop making excuses.”

                “I am not---”

                “You know what,” Chanyeol’s glare got harder. “I don’t understand why she chose you of all people!” He breathed furiously.

                Kris’s eyes grew wider in confusion. He wrinkled his forehead. “What did you say?”

                Chanyeol gasped softly upon realizing what his traitorous tongue just blurted out. He went tongue-tied for a second before he looked away.

                “Nothing.” He turned back, facing the door. “You’re just like manager-hyung,” he said one last time before he stomped his way out.

                Chanyeol walked out of the door – only to be surprised to see Luhan at the doorstep. Luhan threw a worried face but Chanyeol uneasily looked away before he brushed past the elder. Luhan just stared at him as he walked away.

-------------------------------

                @krungy21 unnie fighting! Don’t let those haters get into you!

                Haters are just jealous of goddess @krungy21

                Here goes the immature EXO stans. Puh-lease, Dara’s too fab for you! @krungy21 QUEEN.

                @krungy21 we daralings and blackjacks are here to protect you! #StayStrongDara

                I love you @krungy21 ^.^

                Dara couldn’t help but smile at the heartwarming messages she received from her fans on twitter. They never disappoint her. They never leave her hanging. They’re always there for her, especially during these times. So in return, she needs to stay strong, not for herself, but for them. She loves her fans so much, that’s why she too must not disappoint them. They never fail to cheer her up, so she must do her part as well.

                “Thank you so much, blackjacks,” she thought as she smiled from ear to ear.

------------------------------

                Kris sank down on his bed, still feeling bad about Chanyeol’s sudden outburst. He too wanted to protect Dara, but he couldn’t. Chanyeol must have had misunderstood him. Kris did not intend to let Dara suffer all this alone. He did not want to keep mum about this. It’s just that, he did not know what to do. He was afraid that if EXO made a move, it might result to something worse – and he never wished for that to happen.

                Kris was in his deep thoughts when he heard a creaking of the door.

                “Yo,” a doe-eyed male greeted him as he went inside the room.

                Kris, knowing the owner of the voice, greeted back without facing him. Luhan sighed at the sight of his distressed co-member.

                “You okay?” He asked as he sat on the taller’s bed. He looked at him.

                Kris kept mum for a while before answering back. “You heard it?”

                “Sort of.”

                Kris sighed heavily. He was in deep thoughts once again. Luhan felt sorry for him. He patted the younger’s shoulder in attempt of comforting him.

-----------------------------

                “Yah, Park Yoda. Something wrong?” Baekhyun asked as he noticed Chanyeol’s somewhat irritated face. Chanyeol said nothing as he closed the door and threw himself on his bed.

                Baekhyun knew that he just asked an obvious question. There was definitely something wrong with him – probably regarding Dara-noona again.

                “Any update?” Chanyeol suddenly asked the shorter male. His eyes were closed, perhaps his way to relieve some stress.

                Baekhyun sighed as he scanned the internet through his phone. “Okay. Let’s start with which: Good news or the bad one?”

                “Good?”

                “So a lot – as in a lot – of fans are comforting Dara-noona right now, and are kind’a bashing us in return though.” Baekhyun cringed at the thought.

                “That’s good then.”

                Baekhyun nodded in agreement. “Anyways, the bad news is – there’s kind of an argument going on with blackjacks and EXO fans right now.”

                “I don’t care.” Chanyeol turned around on his bed, now facing the wall. He then became silent.

                Baekhyun just smirked at his friend and decided to sleep. It had been a long day for them anyway, and it was already way past midnight.

                Chanyeol’s mind was too occupied, so sleep wasn’t his thing as of that time. He wasn’t drowsy. He couldn’t even just rest peacefully. He wanted to do something to resolve all the issues happening. He couldn’t afford to just sleep while things were getting worse with every second passing by.

                Wanting to settle himself and check things out on his own, he grabbed his phone and directly went to Instagram. He wanted to check on Dara. He wanted to know if she was doing fine, or if she happened to update her account like the usual, before this ruckus. So, without second thoughts, he typed in Dara’s username (he did not follow her yet on IG since he was too shy to do so) and scanned on her profile.

                Snap.

                He knew he shouldn’t be surprised anymore to see crappy and hateful comments from netizens all over Dara’s account and pictures. But he still can’t refrain himself from getting furious. He furrowed his eyebrows, glaring holes on his phone while reading the messages.

                [ Netizen #1 ]     @daraxxi male idols like a boss

                [ Netizen #2 ]     Stop bashing on Dara! @daraxxi fighting!

                [ Netizen #3 ]     Get a life!

                [ Netizen #4 ]     @daraxxi b**** stay away from Kris oppa

                [ Netizen #5 ]     @[ Netizen #4 ] YOU stay away with our Dara!

                [ Netizen #6 ]     I HATE YOU @daraxxi

                If glares can burn things, Chanyeol’s phone could have been turned into ashes in an instant.

                [ Netizen #27 ]   GO TO HELL! @daraxxi

                [ Netizen #28 ]   @[ Netizen #27 ] SHUT UP U WANNA DIE?!

                [ Netizen #29 ]   The one who should be going to hell is you @[ Netizen #27 ]

                [ Netizen #30 ]   . . .

                [ Netizen #31 ]   Pathetic fans protecting their pathetic idol. LOL.

                [ Netizen #1 ]     @daraxxi You such a .

                . . Go to hell. B****.

                Double Snap.

                Chanyeol was definitely boiling inside. His hands became shaky, which probably the result of gripping his phone too tightly. Though a lot of fans were defending Dara, the anti-fans were still getting on his nerves. He was beyond angry. He did not understand how people could curse someone so hard, when that someone did not even do anything wrong. How could they say such nasty words to Dara? How could they judge her like this, when in fact they don’t even know her personally? She’s an angel. He knew that. His co-members knew that. But those people were too blinded to see that.

                [ Netizen #56 ]   @daraxxi ugly b*tch you’re as plastic as your beauty! Why don’t you just jump off the cliff or something?

                Snap. Snap. Snap. SNAP.

                That was it. Chanyeol couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t tolerate them anymore. He couldn’t stand them anymore. He should do something. He MUST do something. He would not allow the night to pass without doing anything – aside from probably hunting them off or something.

                He quickly went back to his own profile. He knew he must put an end to this. This was just too much. And this was the only way he thought of.

----------------------------

                “Yah! Park Chanyeol, wake up!” Baekhyun shook the sleeping giant violently, trying to wake him up from his slumber. The latter groaned, refusing to shut his eyes open. He turned himself to the other side, his back facing Baekhyun.

                Baekhyun’s eyebrow twitched. Chanyeol can be bratty sometimes. The diva heaved a loud sigh before he grabbed the giant’s arm and dragged him out of the bed by force. Chanyeol ended up falling off the bed, hitting the cold floor hardly.

                “Yah! What’s your problem?!” Chanyeol, now on the floor, yelped as he rubbed his aching head from the impact.

                Baekhyun shook his head. “That’s what you get for being such a lazy ,” he said as he helped the taller get up.

                “You should’ve tried to be a little gentler,” Chanyeol whined as he sleepily got on his feet. He was still rubbing his sore head.

                “Sorry,” Baekhyun’s face then suddenly turned serious. “Manager-hyung’s downstairs. He needed to talk to you and it seems…urgent.”

                Chanyeol kept a stoic face. He probably knew what this would be all about.

                “Is there something wrong?” Baekhyun hesitated, but he still managed to ask.

                Chanyeol just kept mum before he walked his way to the waiting manager.

-----------------------------

                “Chanyeol, are you aware of what’s currently going on?” The manager asked sternly, but his voice was calm. He eyed the K rapper who was standing across him, looking uninterested and bored. The others were gathered around the two – oblivious on what they were talking about.

                “I don’t know. I just woke up remember?” Chanyeol nonchalantly said. It sounded cold; perhaps he was still upset with the older.

                “Chanyeol,” Suho called almost inaudibly. He shot the younger with a dismayed look.

                The manager just sighed. “Look, I know you’re mad at me. I know you are all upset because of what I said yesterday.” He paused for a while as he shifted a bit to make himself more comfortable, sitting down the chair. “And I am sorry. I did not intend to offend you guys. I too did not want Dara-ssi to get treated so badly. Our management had a talk with hers about the matter. And they agreed to let things cool down on their own.”

               With that, he averted his gaze to Chanyeol. “It was best to keep everything as is temporarily – that’s what they said. They had plans on their minds, Chanyeol. But then, I did not expect you’d do something ahead of them.”

                Now the members became more confused. What were they talking about? They all turned to the K rapper – except for Kris, who did not want to make any contact with the latter as of the moment, since the incident yesterday. He just looked at nowhere in particular, but his ears were paying full attention on the two. What did Chanyeol do this time? It was no doubt their minds were clouded with questions.

                Chanyeol looked troubled. “I just…I just felt the need to do it.” He breathed out sadly, before looking at the manager in the eyes. “I just can’t stand it anymore, hyung.”

                Just what the heck was Chanyeol talking about? The others couldn’t help but get nosy.

                The manager’s expression softened before he gave the K rapper a small but gentle smile. Chanyeol felt somewhat relieved at his reaction. “I understand you, perfectly. Believe me.” He said as he neared the younger and placed his palm on the rapper’s shoulder.

                “It was brave of you to actually go against the management – in a good way though.” He chuckled before he continued. “The management was amused with it. However, as expected, it caused quite a fuss with the public.” Chanyeol kind of expected that to happen.

                “So I need to take it down? Yeah, I knew it.” He perfectly knew what the manager would say.

                The manager cringed a little before saying, “I’m afraid so. You know, it was actually fine with me but the public says otherwise.” He tapped the younger. “I’m sorry.”

                Chanyeol just sighed in defeat. He never intended to cause a stir and rebel against the management anyway.

                After the agreement they had, the manager took his leave and proceeded to his other appointments. The moment he walked out of the door, the members – taken over by curiosity – flocked around Chanyeol, in hopes of some explanations. Kris on the other hand, just left them and walked his way to his room.

                “Yah! What was that about?” Baekhyun’s big mouth started to do its job.

                “Hyung! What were you talking about?” Sehun asked with interest.

                “You’re doing something behind our backs! Sneaky,” Minseok whined.

                “Come on, spill it out, spill it out!” The maknae line chanted.

                Chanyeol just sighed at s’ nosiness. But he just kept mum, trying to shove them away to no avail. He tried to escape from them, because he had something important to do.

-----------------------------

                It has been barely a day since EXO-M’s latest CF with Dara-noona spiked up some controversies and unwanted feedbacks. It’s breaking our hearts to see people bashing on someone who did not even do anything wrong. I don’t understand why these people hate on Dara-noona, when in fact there is no reason to hate her. We may have only worked with her for a short while, but it was more than enough for me to say that she is indeed a very gentle and kind person. I believe that she never deserves to be treated as badly as this, and no doubt my members would agree with me.

                It hurts my heart to see Dara-noona getting all the hate because of us. We never wanted fans who step on other idols just to “protect” us when there’s no need to. It is not fair. It will never be fair. People have been calling her names, and it disgusts me. They have been constantly leaving her nasty messages, and it makes me way beyond angry. It is not right. It is not her fault. It is nobody’s fault. A kind person deserves to be treated right. Dara-noona deserves to be treated right. She deserves respect. Stop the hate. Respect her.

                So, that was what it was all about. Chanyeol’s boldness wasn’t surprising. Kris had always admired him for that. But what surprised him was Chanyeol’s bold move. The latter just posted this message on his Instagram account, a few hours ago. And it made headlines in no time. It was all over the news.

                Kris let out a sigh as he laid down on his bed, with his phone in his hand. He was intrigued with what Chanyeol and their manager talked about earlier, but he did not question it anymore because he believed he was still not in good terms with his fellow rapper. So he decided to find things out on his own.

                And there it was. He found out Chanyeol’s controversial IG post. He read his words thoroughly, only to realize that Chanyeol just said exactly what Kris also felt. The latter felt relieved and thankful, but at the same time, envious. He could’ve done it too. He could have protected Dara like what Chanyeol did too. He could have – but he didn’t. And that’s what pissed him the most. That’s why he envied the other giant.

----------------------------

                Dara was on her way to an event. This time, her girls weren’t with her. They had solo schedules for the day. She sat quietly on the van as she was being driven to the venue. She still felt scared to go public after the CF controversy. She was afraid that there might be anti-fans who will be there at the venue. Who knows what they could do to her. But she knew she had to calm herself, and overcome this fear.

                A few more minutes and they would arrive at the venue. Dara grew more tensed. She couldn’t seem to calm herself down on her own. She wanted some comforting from her girls or from others. Then she remembered her fans. She remembered their sweet and supportive messages for her. It relieves her reading those kinds of fan messages, and she needed them now.

                She took her phone from her bag and went to her twitter account. She sure had a lot of notifications, but she never gets tired reading those. So she clicked her notifications – only to be flabbergasted with the eerie messages she received.

                @krungy21 OMO I’M SORRY I SWEAR I WON’T DO IT AGAIN!

                I felt bad with what I just did to you @krungy21 I’m really sorry.

                @krungy21 OMG UNNIE HAVE YOU SEEN THE MESSAGE?! OMG

                I just realized something after reading Channie’s message. Sorry @krungy21

                KYAAAAH I’M SO JEALOUS @krungy21

                @krungy21 fighting!

                So lucky to have such a loyal fanboy by your side.@krungy21

                Dara grew confused with the direct messages. The people suddenly acted kind of weird to her today. She was about to read more messages when the van stopped. They already arrived at the venue. She frowned when she realized she had to go, and probably face some fans and what not. She heaved a heavy sigh before she placed her phone back in her bag and went out. The eerie messages still remained a mystery for her, and it never left her mind throughout the event.

----- End of Chapter -----

< Author's Note > It did not turn out how I wanted it to be T^T I promise a KrisDara interaction will be coming soon... Sorry for the lack of KrisDara in the past few chapters. :(