----- Chapter Three -----

                Come back home ~

                Can you come back home, eh

                Modeun apeumeun dwiro hae

                Yeojeonhi neol gidaryeo ireoke

                Now you gotta do what you gotta do!

                “Okay, let’s take a 10-minute break.”

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                “Yaaah, tired tired tired ~”, Minzy whined as she took a sip from her water bottle in the dressing room. She heaved a sigh of refreshment after drinking and she threw herself at the nearest couch.

                Upon hearing their maknae whine, CL just rolled her eyes and hit the youngest’ head. Minzy cried. “Yah yah, stop complaining we still have a long way to go, geez,” the baddest female lectured. The girls were on a couch; some were fanning themselves and wiped their sweat. They tried to rest well to somehow regain their energy while on a short break.

                2ne1 has been practicing for 3 hours straight in preparation to their next concert event of their AON World Tour. The girls have been really working hard in order to give blackjacks a great show. They want to give back to their fans who were always there to support them. And of course, they pledged to give their very best.

                Having nothing to do temporarily, Dara took her phone from her bag and decided to just surf the internet. She was bored with all the game apps on her phone anyway. She looked through news and some updates about celebrities, uninterestedly. Bom, on the other hand, was busy with her corn she prepared earlier. She looked like a child with that over-the-top smile she was giving off while eating her favorite. CL just took a nap to make most of the break time. Minzy was just resting while listening to music.

                Dara just kept scrolling on an entertainment news website. She was very outdated with all the news anyway. But there was nothing interesting. She just sighed and continued to find something worth reading and finally, she stumbled upon an update she was very much interested with.

                “Omo!” she squealed mentally as she tried to keep herself intact. She grinned very widely like a child with a candy. She clicked the news and began to admire a certain image.

EXO's Chanyeol and Kris release their individual teaser images

(c) allkpop

                “Kris,” she stared at the picture so absorbedly that it could almost melt the screen of her phone. For a second, she found herself out of breath. She was deeply captivated by the picture. “I know, I know this is just a picture,” she mumbled. “But to think that just a mere picture of him have this much effect on me…” No one could ever have that effect on her. It was only Kris. Only he could do this to her. Only him whom she can never be with. She slowly frowned. Her heart sank at the thought.

                “Dara are you okay?” Bom asked with worries on her face.

                Dara faked a smile and answered her energetically, “Of course!” She raised her fist firmly, signaling she was totally okay. Bom smiled in return and continued to eat her corn.

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                EXO was on their way to SMEnt for rehearsals. They were divided into three groups, for they have three vans for their transportation.  Luhan, Sehun, Lay and Xiumin were in the first van; Kai, Chen, Kyungsoo and Suho were in the second van; while Baekhyun, Kris, Chanyeol and Tao were in the third. While on their way, most of them took some sleep, while some were doing other things.

                “Uwaaaaah!” Chanyeol, who was staring intently into his phone, with his eyes wide open, suddenly made a loud shriek which startled Baekhyun and woke him up from his slumber.

                “PARK CHANYEOL!!” Baekhyun was fuming. He was enjoying his sleep but it was improperly interrupted by the giant rapper. His eyebrows furrowed and he sent Chanyeol his how-dare-you-disturb-my-sleep glare. However, Chanyeol was too overwhelmed with what he was doing that he did not actually notice the fuming Baekhyun. He was too engrossed with his phone that he did not feel the tension.

                “Yah! Park Chanyeol!” annoyed, Baekhyun snatched Chanyeol’s phone away. “Yah! Byun Baekhyun, return that!” Chanyeol yelled. He tried to get his phone back, but Baekhyun just countered Chanyeol’s attempts.

                “What’s the problem with you?!”

                “Yah! I was having a really nice dream yet you screamed like a girl and woke me up!” Baekhyun answered angrily, still holding the phone away from Chanyeol. He still had that same glare.

                “Okay, I’m sorry. Not gonna do it again so just give me back my phone,” Chanyeol plead, as he tried to reach for his phone, but Baekhyun still refused to return it.

                “Hey! I already apologized right? Now, give it to me!” Chanyeol attempted to get his phone again, but Baekhyun still wouldn’t budge.

                Baekhyun smirked and teased Chanyeol even more. “Beg for it!” he chuckled.

                “BYUN BAEKHYUN I NEED MY PHONE RIGHT NOW COME ON!” Chanyeol howled.

                Baekhyun just stuck his tongue out and they continued to argue. They made so much noise, mini pillows and small things were flying in different directions. Tao woke up because of their noise. He tried to scold his hyungs but his efforts were wasted. The ChanBaek couple kept throwing small things at each other, and Tao ended up joining their childish game. One certain thing flew right into Kris’ face which automatically woke him up from his deep sleep. Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Tao froze. They trembled upon seeing the M leader slowly getting up and looked at them with his annoyed face. The three gulped loudly.

                “What’s going on here?” he finally spoke, unfazed. There was a temporary moment of silence, but Chanyeol decided to break it.

                “Baekhyun hyung wouldn’t give my phone back!” he said, pointing at the accused member.

                “He wouldn’t say ‘Please’ so I didn’t give it to him!” Baekhyun reasoned out.

                “I – uh – they started it so I decided to join them!” Tao added.

                The three just continued to reason out and Kris just sighed at s’ childishness. He just leaned against his seat and shrugged them off.

                Baekhyun finally gave up and returned Chanyeol’s phone. Chanyeol was overjoyed like a child, having his phone back. He smiled like a fool. It was weird – very weird.

                “You’re smiling way too widely,” Kris commented as he observed his fellow member. Chanyeol just giggled and moved to sit beside him.

                “Kris hyung, Kris hyung look!” he chuckled as he showed Kris his phone. Kris’ eyes widened a bit, seeing what his fellow rapper showed him.

daraxxi: I've been told that men take women out for rides during spring. I’m one of those women who cannot be helped~ Another spring then -0-

                “He he he,” Chanyeol giggled. “Dara noona’s recent instagram update,” He uttered. His smile wouldn’t fade away. “She’s lonely. She’s waiting for someone to take her out this spring!” he looked at Kris very keenly. Kris just raised his eyebrow at the weird member. He could not get Chanyeol’s point. “Dara’s waiting for me!” He pointed himself. He chuckled. Baekhyun and Tao ‘face-palmed’ themselves at their member’s oozing fantasies. He was definitely at his ‘fan boy’ state again.

                “Dream on,” Kris smirked at his friend’s remark.

                “Whatever. I know she’s waiting for her prince charming and that’s ME,” he proudly said.

                “What confidence, huh. Then why don’t you approach her and tell her that you’re her prince charming?” Kris playfully teased the K rapper. Chanyeol couldn’t say anything. He turned beet red and looked down. The others laughed at his blushing.

                “You couldn’t even do it! And you’re saying that you’re her prince charming,” Baekhyun snickered. Chanyeol stayed silent and his face was still very much red. It took a while for the laughter to subside. Tao snatched Chanyeol’s phone and scanned it. “Say, Chanyeol hyung, do you have an IG account?” he asked.

                “No,” Chanyeol answered. “But I’m planning to make one so that I would be updated with Dara noona.”

                “There he goes again,” Baekhyun mumbled, and then chuckled. Tao also laughed at the comment and Chanyeol once again argued with Baekhyun.

                Kris thought of what Chanyeol just said, and an idea suddenly entered his mind.

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                “Okay, 15-minute break!” the director announced. The girls were very exhausted with the rehearsal, but it would not stop them from doing their best. They rushed to their dressing room to freshen up and replenish their exhausted bodies. They all tried to make the most out of their 15-minute break.

                Dara sat down and rested on a couch. She wiped her sweat off with her pretty pink towel. She took a few sips of water and fanned herself with her towel. The other girls chatted with each other while Dara took her phone again from her bag, having nothing to do. She scanned her phone for unread messages, but there was none. She decided to surf the net again. But she was not in the mood for another batch of entertainment news.

                “What to do?” she thought. She sighed but suddenly, she thought of something to do. She typed in the website chatpal and logged in. She was hoping to kill time talking with some random people. It would also help her improve her socializing skills, since she’s quite shy and easily feels awkward with other people. When the website directed her to her profile, she saw that she had an unread message. She smiled as soon as she read the sender of the message.

                COOLduizhang:                 Okay then. I’m looking forward to chat with you next time :)

                She chuckled at his message. Soon, the girls were summoned to resume their rehearsals again. Dara just placed her phone back in her bag. She went directly to the stage, with a smile plastered on her face.

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                It was already dark when the boys arrived in their dorm. As usual, they were tired – too tired that they directly went to their respective rooms without even saying a word.

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                Luhan automatically fell asleep once his body hit his bed. On the other hand, Kris still forced himself awake to carry out his plan. He sat on his bed, with his back leaning against the wall. He got his phone and immediately directed it to instagram.

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                “All done,” Kris whispered as soon as he finished what he planned to do.

(c) To the owner

                It took him less than an hour to get over 40,000 followers. He was still not that familiar to the social networking site he just signed up. But he was trying to cope up. He immediately followed Dara and then scanned her account posts and updates. For a second, Kris thought that Chanyeol was really a genius, for being able to think of this kind of idea.

                After examining Dara’s IG account, he became bored because he did not know what to do next. He was still new to the website anyway. He suddenly yawned, indicating he was tired from all the day’s work. But before he went to sleep, he decided to check on his chatpal account. He might not be that interested to the site, but there’s a part of him telling that he should do it. Without hesitations, he clicked the log in button.

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                The girls groggily crawled up to their bed. They were very tired. It was already late when they went home from the dreadful rehearsals. They could hardly even walk gracefully. It was surprising that Bom did not have her late night snack since she went straight to their room. Minzy didn’t even bother to listen to songs – which was her habit. CL surprisingly slept right away. Though Dara was very tired, she did not feel drowsy at all, maybe because of the cappuccino she drank on the way to their dorm, and she definitely regretted it. She couldn’t sleep a wink.

                Since she was hopeless on getting a good night’s sleep, she decided to check on her chatpal account again. Still lying on her bed, she took her phone and directly typed the website.

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                Kris was scrolling on the ‘Online Users List’ trying to find someone to talk to, or probably trying to find that certain girl he chatted with yesterday. He did not find her there, and he was kind of disappointed. But he just shrugged it off. He yawned again and he finally realized it was his time to sleep. But suddenly, a familiar username appeared on the list.

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                Dara tried to update her profile when a chat box popped out. Upon seeing the familiar username, she immediately clicked it open with a second thought.

                COOLduizhang:                 Yo :)

                A small beautiful curve started to form on Dara’s lips. It was him again.

                Ssantokki00:                       Hello ^-^

                Kris smirked. “Can’t she think of a longer answer?” he thought, unknown to him that he also did the same on their first chat. Kris thought of what to respond to her next. He scratched his head.

                COOLduizhang:                 Still up? :/

                Ssantokki00:                       Yeah. I just got home. :>

                COOLduizhang:                 Really? Same here. I usually go home late.

                Dara made an ‘o’ face upon reading his reply. She got more curious about him.

                Ssantokki00:                       Me to xD Is it because of work <:o

                Kris smirked and typed ‘Yeah’. He yawned again for the third time. “If you only knew,” he thought.

                COOLduizhang:                 Yeah.

                Ssantokki00:                       Oh :-l

                COOLduizhang:                 Why’d you usually go home late too? Studies?

                Dara chuckled at his question. “If you only knew how old I am,” she thought.

                Ssantokki00:                       No no xD It’s also because of my work. ^-^

                Kris was amused. They realized they were quite the same in some things.

                Ssantokki00:                       Your work must be tiring :( You go home late :/

                COOLduizhang:                 Yeah. It’s tiring…

                Dara frowned and felt sorry for him.

                COOLduizhang:                 But I still love my work so much :)

                Dara’s eyes were enlightened with his answer. She felt energized with his statement. She was impressed with him. He loves his work despite of it being exhausting. She realized she feels the same. She loved her work very much. It was her dream to become a singer and it did come true. Though it consumes a lot of effort and energy, she still loves her work very much.

                Ssantokki00:                       That’s nice COOLduizhang-nim :) I love your strong passion for your work ^-^

                Kris unknowingly smiled. She didn’t know him personally yet she praised him for his passion for music. They were complete strangers, but he suddenly felt comfortable talking to this certain Ssantokki00.

                COOLduizhang:                 Drop the formality. You can call me duizhang :)

                Dara smiled and immediately replied to him.

                Ssantokki00:                       Okay ^-^ Call me Ssantokki then! Keke :)

                Kris smirked at her innocence. He had that inkling that his chat mate was young, basing on her words and her excessive use of emoticons. He chuckled at this thought. He’s slowly becoming more interested on this girl.

                There was a moment of silence on Kris’ chat box. He noticed that Ssantokki wasn’t chatting anymore. And he was kind of worried because for some reasons, he did not want the conversation to end. He had to think of a topic fast before she would log out. But before he could think any further, Ssantokki already sent him a message that he least expected to get.

                Ssantokki00:                       duizhang, do you believe in love at first sight?

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

< Author's Note > This chapter is quite boring but I'm gonna do better next time. Anyways, GUYS HAVE YOU HEARD THE SONG "SAY YES" BY JESSICA, KRYSTAL AND KRIS?? OMG OMG I DIED WHEN I HEARD KRIS' Y VOICE IN THAT SONG!! I CAN'T HOLD MY FEELS DOWN ANYMORE!! YOU GUYS SHOULD LISTEN TO IT TOO! IT'S AN OST FOR BoA'S MOVIE :) Keke. I'm Chanyeol-biased but Kris is starting to wreck my bias list again. Tsk. But anyways, thank you for reading :) Suggestions and what not are always welcome ^=^