----- Chapter Fifteen -----

 

 

                Though Luhan had attempted to comfort Kris, it seemed that it barely affected the duizhang. Kris was still silent, like he was in deep thinking. Luhan just sighed and decided to give the younger some space. He excused himself before he made his way out of the room.

                Kris was still down with all the commotion that happened – both with Chanyeol, and within himself. Sure, what Chanyeol said had hit him hard, and he couldn’t help but somehow blame himself. He never wanted to be in bad terms with his fellow member. He needed to fix the argument. But he thought Chanyeol might want some space. So he just let himself sulk alone.

                He was still laying flat on his back when his eyes landed on his phone. He had nothing to do. He was angry with himself, and he needed to release it, but he had no idea how to. He mindlessly snatched his phone and clicked on some random icons on his phone, jumping from application to application. It took no time for him to finally settle on one application he had been hanging around with – chatpal.

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

                Dara finally had her most awaited break time. The event she just attended was glamorous, but she was not the type of girl who’d enjoy these kinds of events. She prefers fun over glamour. So, it was inevitable for her to get bored at the ‘too formal’ event.

                To ease up her boredom, she took her phone but this time, she wanted to take a break from her known social media account, so she went directly to chatpal. She felt like chatting with her cyber friend anyway. She went to her account and was happy to see her buddy online.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Heyy ^.^

 

                Kris’s mood was slightly lifted up when a familiar chat box popped out of nowhere in a sudden. He was thankful there was someone like his Ssantokki who always had the perfect timing to talk to him. He needed someone to talk to right now.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Yeah?

 

                Dara playfully rolled her eyes at duizhang’s usual one-word replies.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Glad you’re online. What you doing?

 

Ssantokki00:                       Other than chatting with me right now. >;]

 

                Kris smirked at her additional statement. She knew him too well.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Nothing. You?

 

Ssantokki00:                       I’m on break. Got some work to do later. ^.^

 

COOLduizhang:                 So, uh gotta go?

 

                Dara wrinkled her forehead and shook her head ‘no’. She wanted to talk with duizhang more.

 

Ssantokki00:                       No! :(

 

                Kris smirked once again.

 

COOLduizhang:                 But you seem busy :/

 

Ssantokki00:                       But I wanna talk to you. ^.^

 

                Kris didn’t know why but a smile slowly crept on his face upon reading her reply.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Do you really miss me that much? >:]

 

                Dara blushed at his statement and cutely pouted.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Still too full of yourself huh? >:P

 

                Kris mentally chuckled.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Not really. Just stating what I observed.

 

                Dara hissed but then smiled. This duizhang sure is narcissistic.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Still working with him?

 

                Dara’s face turned red with his sudden question. It made her think of Kris once again.

 

Ssantokki00:                       No. Not anymore. :(

 

                Kris raised an eyebrow.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Disappointed? :/

 

                Dara pouted cutely.

 

Ssantokki00:                       It’s okay :)

 

                Dara sighed. This duizhang just opened up a topic involving Kris, which made her remember about the issue that has been weighing her down recently. It made her sad. She bit her lower lip as her eyebrows furrowed in sorrow.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Uh, duizhang?

 

COOLduizhang:                 Hmm?

 

                Dara felt a lump on before she managed to type what she wanted to say to her online pal.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Have you seen it already?

 

                Kris raised an eyebrow in confusion.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Seen what?

 

Ssantokki00:                       EXO’s new CF. With Dara.

 

                Kris couldn’t help but frown. It had been a topic he wanted to take a break from, just for a little while. But fate must have been upset with him that’s why it would always be brought up.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Yeah.

 

                Dara felt nervous upon his answer. She knew she should stop being paranoid, but she couldn’t help but interrogate him regarding her CF with EXO. She wanted to know his opinion. He said he was a fan of hers and EXO’s anyway.

 

Ssantokki00:                       What can you say about it?

 

                Kris felt weird upon seeing her messages. He knew Ssantokki was becoming sort of serious, since she did not place any smiley or emoticon on her replies. It bugged him on why she’s like this whenever she talks about EXO and Dara.

 

COOLduizhang:                 It’s good.

 

                Dara exhaled heavily, as if she was relieved, though she wasn’t really contented with his “It’s good” feedback.

 

Ssantokki00:                       You think so?

 

COOLduizhang:                 Yeah.

 

                Kris didn’t lie when he said it was good.

 

Ssantokki00:                       I’m glad you liked it.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Something wrong? :/

 

                Kris had a feeling she had something else to say. Dara just sighed. Duizhang knew her too well.

 

Ssantokki00:                       I’m just bothered. That’s all.

 

                Kris already knew where this was going.

 

COOLduizhang:                 About the issue?

 

Ssantokki00:                       Yeah.

 

                Slience descended for a moment.

 

Ssantokki00:                       It’s just that, many were enraged and the bashers, you know. :[[

 

                Kris frowned again.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Yeah.

 

COOLduizhang:                 A lot of people are bashing Dara.

 

                Dara felt a sharp pang on her chest.

 

Ssantokki00:                       :[

 

COOLduizhang:                 And it angers me to see that most bashers are EXO’s fans.

 

                Dara looked down sadly.

 

Ssantokki00:                       I understand that they just don’t want EXO with Dara.

 

                Kris’s eyebrows furrowed. He started to become angry once again – over the fact that those fans were being too close-minded and overreacting. It pissed him that they needed to put all the blame on Dara.

 

COOLduizhang:                 You shouldn’t understand them. They’re being unreasonable.

 

                Dara kept mum.

 

COOLduizhang:                 The comments were too much, to the point that they’re disrespecting Dara.

 

                Kris was boiling inside, and it was just right to let it all out. He felt the need to release his hidden feelings.

 

Ssantokki00:                       They’re just upset.

 

                Kris hissed. He did not understand why Ssantokki was tolerating those bashers, when in fact, she shouldn’t.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Emotions are not an excuse to ruin someone.

 

COOLduizhang:                 And I’m angry at Kris right now.

 

               Dara gasped audibly upon his statement. Duizhang’s angry with Kris? Why? There’s no reason to get angry with him.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Huh? Wae? Kris has nothing to do with this. O.o

 

                Kris exhaled heavily. Once again, he started to blame himself.

 

COOLduizhang:                 He’s a coward. All this while he just did nothing.

 

                Dara pouted in confusion.

 

Ssantokki00:                       I don’t understand :[ What’s wrong with him?

 

                “Everything,” Kris mentally answered.

 

COOLduizhang:                 He did not even do anything. A lot of his fans are hating on Dara. And he just let them bash her. He just let them ruin her. He did nothing. He’s a coward. He’s a coward bastard.

 

                Dara was surprised. Duizhang doesn’t usually say this much and would just care less. But this time, it was different. She felt his dislike towards Kris. But of course, she shook her head violently – refusing to agree on his insults. She knew Kris was not like that. She believed Kris had nothing to do with this.

 

Ssantokki00:                       But, I do believe Kris is not like that.

 

COOLduizhang:                 But he is.

 

                Dara still shook her head disapprovingly.

 

Ssantokki00:                       No, he isn’t. I know he has his own reasons. He has nothing to do with this.

 

                Kris couldn’t understand why Ssantokki was being protective over him. He was a coward – that’s what he kept on telling himself. And he believed people should know how terrible he was. But this Ssantokki seemed to be a little too stubborn.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Why do you keep on supporting someone like him?

 

                Dara’s eyes fell on his recent message. Why support Kris? It’s because she knew Kris was not like that. Though they barely knew each other, she believed he’s a good man. People had no right to judge him.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Because I believe in him. ^.^

 

                Kris felt his heart lift on some strange reasons. He knew he had no right, but he felt touched by what she just said. She believed in him, and yet she did not even know him. He felt happy and blessed to find such people. But still, he couldn’t help but blame himself for the issue.

 

COOLduizhang:                 Kris must be very lucky to have you on his back.

 

                Dara’s face flushed upon reading his message. Her heartbeat hastened. Kris must be very lucky to have you on his back. Really? A smile was ghosting on her face. She felt somewhat giddy, but she reminded herself that it was not true. Kris just had a lot of supportive fans, and it just happened that she was one of them too.

 

Ssantokki00:                       He has a lot of supportive fans. :)

 

                A smile slowly crept up on Kris’s face.

 

Ssantokki00:                       Come on duizhang! You’re also his fan right? Let’s just support and believe in him ^.^

 

COOLduizhang:                 Whatever :/

 

                Dara just chuckled cutely.

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

                Luhan went to the kitchen to grab some drink when he found Chanyeol sitting on the table, finishing his bowl of cereal. The doe-eyed member glanced at him, who seemed so absorbed and silent. He then remembered about the argument Chanyeol had with Kris. He knew he had to help them fix their problem, before any other member finds out. He tried to think of something to start up a conversation with the rapper.

                “Yo man,” he attempted to sound energetic. Chanyeol yanked a bit, indicating he wasn’t aware of the older’s presence.

                “H-hey,” he greeted back with a seemingly forced smile.

                Luhan was too smart to not know Chanyeol was just faking it, so he just sighed heavily before he approached the younger. He took the seat next to him.

                Luhan tapped the younger gently. “You okay?”

                Chanyeol chuckled nervously. “O-of course!” Luhan knew he was trying to look cheerful.

                “Aish, such a bad actor,” the Chinese mumbled, audible enough for the other to hear.

                “Yah! FYI I’m a good actor! Have you seen the music video I acted on? It was great!” Chanyeol defended, totally not getting what Luhan actually meant.

                Luhan just chuckled at ’s cluelessness. “Pabo,” he said as he softly knocked on the giant’s head. “That’s not what I meant. I know you’re not okay.”

                “What makes you think of—“

                “I kind of, heard your argument with Kris last night.”

                Chanyeol froze before he buried his head under his arms. He might not admit it, but the argument has been bugging him for a while now. Of course, he never wanted to have some ill relationship with s.

                Luhan softly caressed the moping giant’s back, attempting to comfort him. He knew Chanyeol wanted to patch things up with Kris. He knew he wanted to, but was still hesitating to do so.

                “Why don’t you talk to him?”

                Chanyeol’s head shot up. “Me? No way hyung!”

                Luhan hissed. “You know, you should apologize to him.”

                Chanyeol shook his head violently, refusing to accept his fault. “I did nothing wrong, hyung. He should be the one apologizing.”

                “I don’t think so, man. Why would a person apologize when he’s not at fault?”

                Chanyeol tried to glare at the Chinese, but failed when he realized how scary Luhan looked like when he’s being serious.

                “You’re saying that it’s my fault?”

                “Absolutely.”

                The giant exhaled heavily in disagreement. “I-I just did the right thing. He wasn’t doing anything with the situation.”

                Luhan heaved a sigh in disappointment. “I can’t believe you’re judging Kris. You don’t even know what’s on his mind. It’s so not like you.”

                Chanyeol’s eyes went wide. “I-I’m not being judgmental, hyung. It’s just, you know, it’s just…” He couldn’t think of any more reasons.

                “You didn’t even listen to his side. You refused to. And you’re jumping into conclusions. Dude, we’ve been with him for years already. You should know what kind of person he is by now.”

                Chanyeol looked down, embarrassed. Luhan’s words had hit him hard. It made him feel guilty. It made him realize how terrible he was with Kris. He let his emotions take over him.

                Luhan brought his hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I just want the twelve of us to be in good terms. We’re one, right?” He smiled sincerely at the younger.

                Though Chanyeol was too ashamed to look at the older in the eyes, he still managed to give him a nod. “I’m…sorry, hyung.”

                “You don’t need to apologize to me.” Luhan said before he shifted his gaze towards another person who just came in. “You should apologize to him,” he whispered on the younger’s ear as he gave him a tap on the shoulder one last time before he stood up.

                “Yo, Kris, Chanyeol wanted to talk to you.”

                Chanyeol froze upon the name Luhan just called. He glared at the deer, but he just received a sly wink from him. Luhan chuckled before he made his exit.

                Chanyeol felt his chest tightened as he forcibly closed his eyes. “You can do this, Chanyeol. Calm down. Just calm down,” he chanted mentally. The tension inside him built up as he heard footsteps getting louder and louder.

                “What do you want to talk about?”

                Hearing Kris’s husky voice made Chanyeol’s soul jump out in nervousness.

                “Y-yo, Kris-hyung.” His lips trembled. He did not know where he got the courage to speak that time. He still couldn’t bring himself to look at the duizhang.

                Though Kris looked emotionless, he was just as nervous inside. He was well aware of Chanyeol’s anger towards him, and he thought the younger would still confront him with it. His eyes wandered aimlessly, avoiding any contact with Chanyeol’s. His nervousness piled up as the awkward silence continued to linger in the atmosphere. The two did not speak a word. There was pure silence, and it was making the two uneasy.

                “I’m sorry!”

                The two were surprised when they both apologized at the same time. They stared at each other for a while, before they finally laughed at themselves.

                After a moment of laughter, Chanyeol stood up and looked at Kris straight in the eyes. “Hyung, I’m sorry.” It was a sincere apology.

                “N-no, it’s alright. You don’t need to apologize.” Kris answered as he waved his hand ‘no’.

                “Aish,” Chanyeol scratched his head. “Quit it, hyung. I’m at fault. At least let me apologize.”

                Before Kris could protest, Chanyeol cut him off. “I’m really sorry hyung. I was just upset with the whole situation. And it made me blame things on you, though you didn’t do anything wrong.” He then offered Kris his hand for a handshake. “So, uh, I hope we’re still good?”

                Kris stared at Chanyeol’s hand before he shifted his gaze towards the younger, smiling. “Of course,” he said as he reached for the hand.

                Chanyeol gave off his usual wide-and-creepy smile as Kris took his hand. He then gripped Kris’s hand tighter before he pulled him into a hug.

 

                Luhan smirked at the scene. He was just there the whole time, listening to the two. He was more than thankful that the two managed to reconcile in a short time. When he finally had enough, he skipped his way to his the living room happily.

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

                The boys were all gathered around the computer when Kris and Chanyeol entered the living room. They were engrossed to it, making the two giants wonder on what they were doing.

                “Yah, what are you guys doing?” Chanyeol asked as he approached the others. Kris did the same.

                “Oh, so this is what it’s about huh?” Baekhyun eyed the K rapper teasingly, with his hand still on the laptop. The others giggled as they scanned for some more news. Chanyeol tried to stop and shove them away but failed.

                “Anything for Dara-noona eh, hyung?” Sehun mocked, earning himself a glare from the giant. The boys continued making fun of Chanyeol’s fanboying. Hysterical laughter echoed throughout the whole dorm.

                “Yah, yah, what’s this?” Kyungsoo wondered as he grabbed the laptop and had his eyes glued on the screen, reading a certain thing that caught his eye. The others, overpowered by curiosity, followed Kyungsoo and looked at the monitor screen.

                “Woah, this is stupid!” Kai choked at the same time he laid his eyes on the screen. The others just chuckled in amusement.

                Chanyeol, who stayed behind, couldn’t hold his curiosity anymore, so he neared Kyungsoo. “Yah, what’s wrong?” He said. Kris also followed the trend.

 

      Netizens react on EXO Chanyeol’s Instagram post – “#chandara” trends worldwide

 

                Chanyeol’s eyeballs almost popped out of its sockets upon reading the article. He could not describe how he felt. He was surprised. He was flattered, that he felt his blood rush to his cheeks and ears. The others started to more than usual. He kept getting pokes and was teased a little more physically.

                “Look at him, he’s blushing!” Minseok chuckled as he elbowed Luhan, trying to make the latter look at the giant. Luhan smiled at the fanboy before he glanced at Kris, who was all silent in the corner, looking at the screen.

                “Let’s check it out,” Lay suggested as he took the laptop gently from Kyungsoo and went to twitter, but then frowned right after. “I forgot, I don’t have a twitter account.” The members tsk-ed at the realization.

                “Let’s just make one, using some random name,” Suho suggested. The others nodded their heads, except for the maknaes.

`               “No need, hyung. Don’t want to crush Chanyeol’s dreams,” Tao laughed evilly as he hi-fived Sehun and Kai. Chanyeol scowled at them.

                “Ooh, looks like it’s no joke,” Baekhyun hummed as he kept his eyes on his phone. He was already busy with his IG account while the others were blabbering. He searched for this ‘#chandara’ thing and he was surprised. A lot of people were actually posting some pics – most were obviously edited – of Chanyeol and Dara.

                “You serious? Let us see!” The members shook their heads in disbelief.

                “I bet there are also some ‘darahun’ or ‘sedara’ all over IG,” Sehun barked.

                “Dream on, maknae. You weren’t even in the same CF with Dara-noona,” Baekhyun countered.

                “I bet if I did, people would start shipping us together.” The boys just rolled their eyes on their maknae.

                Chanyeol was eerily silent as he scanned the posts about him and his Dara-noona. He couldn’t lie. He was very much happy. It was such an honor to be paired with the Dara. He was so overwhelmed to get paired with his idol. He was so delighted, that he unconsciously smiled.

                Kris watched the younger giant who still in trance. He didn’t know why but he felt something weird in his chest. He felt envious, but he knew he had no right to, because after all, Dara wasn’t his to keep.

                “All done!” Suho announced as he finished some final touches on his ‘random’ twitter account. He then went to his timeline to check what was going on.

                “You’re too late, leader. It’s all over Instragram as well,” Chen commented as he mockingly tapped the leader’s shoulder as if he was feeling sorry for his effort. He then approached the K rapper to more.

                “Woah, look at these!” Suho suddenly exclaimed, earning everyone’s attention. The others flocked around the laptop in no time.

                “Waah! I got shipped with noona!” Chen excitedly cried as he saw a post with a screenshot of him and Dara from a scene in the CF. It contained the tag ‘#ChenDara’

                “What’s going on here?!” Kai growled as he looked at all the posts about the Dark CF. He was furious that some people were already starting to ship Dara with whoever EXO member she was with in the CF.

                “This is so unfair! I could’ve been paired with noona too!” Sehun was already upset. He could see the tag #DaraEXO trending worldwide. There were a lot of posts of some screenshot from the CF. There were only minimal posts of TaoDara and ChenDara moments but a lot were all over Luhan’s and Lay’s scenes with Dara.

                “Is this some kind of effect from Chanyeol’s post? Some are already supporting Dara-noona, and even shipping her with us,” Baekhyun stated.

                “How come a lot are supporting this ‘LayDara’ or whatever thing? And also ‘LuDara’! How about TaoDara?!” The M maknae whined, unsatisfied with what he had seen.

                “Are you sure you should be jealous with us, Tao?” Luhan questioned the panda, eyeing him.

                “What do you mean, ge? Of course!” Tao pouted.

                “You shouldn’t be, Tao,” Luhan said before smirking. “You should be jealous with someone else,” he continued before he shifted his gaze to the M leader. Tao’s eyes followed Luhan’s gaze and then ended up on Kris.

                “Wait, you don’t mean—“

                “Waah, looks like there’s some competition in here,” Baekhyun chuckled, still with his eyes locked on the screen. The members gathered around the laptop once again.

                “What’s this ‘#krisdara’?” Minseok uttered softly.

                “Woah, it made through the trending list as well!”

                Chanyeol’s eyes went wide upon the sight. “KrisDara?” he thought as he scanned the posts with the said tag. A lot were starting to root for Kris and Dara. Chanyeol unconsciously pouted. He should be happy about this. He should be happy because people are starting to consider Kris and Dara. But he wasn’t happy at all. He was sad and jealous. He looked down on the ground. “Yah, Park Chanyeol. You should be happy for them. I bet Dara-noona would be very happy with this…”

                The others started to tease Kris as softly as possible, afraid that their die-hard Dara fanboy might hear them. Kris just kept a straight face. Luhan giggled looking at the M leader before he approached the duizhang. He stopped beside him and tiptoed so that he could reach the rapper’s ear,  “Ne, Kris. Smile. I know you’re happy deep inside,” he whispered very softly.

                Kris almost jumped upon hearing what Luhan had just said. He looked at the older wide-eyed and confused. He did not know why but his heart started to beat wildly. “W-what does he mean?” he gulped a little too audibly. “Did he perhaps, know--?” his train of thoughts were disrupted when Luhan just snickered and winked at the entranced leader before he skipped his way to his room – their shared room.

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                Kris was nervously loitering around the corridor, outside his room, which he happened to share with Luhan unfortunately. He was so nervous that he hesitated to even twist the door knob open for the nth time. He was sweating – which was so unlike him. He didn’t know how he would react if Luhan already know his secret. How would that doe-eyed member know? Kris knew he kept his mouth zipped all this time. He knew he hadn’t shared it with anyone. But how would Luhan know?

                “Argh!” Kris violently messed up his hair in confusion. He did not know what to do or think anymore.

                “The door is open, you know?! Why don’t you just get inside?” Kris froze when he heard Luhan said that from the room.

                “Dammit he knew I’m here!” Kris thought. His face was tinted red out of embarrassment. It’s not like he had any other choice, so he just gathered his guts and entered the room, trying his hardest to keep his well-known poker face.

                All he heard was laughter from the older’s mouth as he showed himself, inside the room. Kris kept his head down, trying to hide his ashamed face.

                “I was wondering when you will ever come in.”

                Kris swore he saw Luhan smiling to suspiciously through the corner of his eyes. The duizhang mentally sighed before he sat on his bed, just a foot away from his roommate’s. An awful silence followed right after.

                “Erm,” Kris faked a cough, trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. He still did not make any eye contact with his fellow Chinese. Luhan did not say anything, and Kris took that as a sign that he should continue to speak up.

                “Ugh—“

                “I know.”

                That was enough for Kris to break his gaze from the ground and look at the older wide-eyed. “You knew?”

                Luhan just nodded in response. His smile did not fade one bit.

                “W-when?”

                Luhan just giggled. “I’ve been observing you.”

                “Why—“

                “I wasn’t sure though, at first. But then you confirmed it.”

                Kris furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I—what? I didn’t!”

                “Yes, you did. You sleep-talked.”

                Kris’s jaw-dropped at his fellow member’s revelation. “I-I don’t sleep talk!”

                Luhan just shook his head. “Guess what? You did!”

                “Quit it. I didn’t.”

                “Well, it’s not much of a sleep talk anyway. I just heard you mumble Dara-noona’s name in your sleep.”

                Kris turned deep red in embarrassment. He had his mouth shut, earning laughter from his evil gege.

                “And I saw you check on her SNS accounts and updates a couple of times - when I was pretending to be asleep. Oops.”

                Kris groaned and then threw himself on his bed. How he wanted the ground to just eat him up alive. Luhan snickered before he got up from his bed and sat beside the ashamed Kris.

                “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

                “I don’t trust you.”

                “I even plan on helping you.”

                Kris’s eyes shot open as he got up and sat properly on his bed. He eyed the older doubtfully. “Shut up.”

                Luhan hissed at the younger’s bratty attitude. “You should be grateful that I’m offering you my help.”

                “I don’t need it.”

                “Trust me, you’ll gonna need it soon.”

                “Well, guess what? It will never happen.”

                The older just shook his head confidently. “It will. A week from now.”

                Kris raised an eyebrow at the older. “What do you mean?”

                “In that event.”

                “What event?”

                Luhan attempted to smile wickedly, but it ended up being a cute one.

                “In the Temptation Perfume Collection Press Conference.”

 

 

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

 

 

< Author's Note > Sorry for the long wait. I'm sorry if this isn't worth the wait. And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BB KWON JIYONG <3