What You See

Paparazzi Next Door

What You See 

Huang zitao a.k.a Tao:

"What the hell was that for, hyung? Why would you tell your fan to go away and leave you alone? I mean do you not have a heart?" Kai asks as he panted looking very exhausted. Suho, who was sitting on the living room couch, stood up.  

"What's going on here?" he asked as he approaches the two of them. Baekhyun just stares at the ground, his face stone cold. I look at the expressions on their faces. I start to get very nervous as the overwhelming atmosphere of an argument filled the living room. I'm getting really anxious so I tap Sehun's shoulder while he stared at the people at the living room.

"What?" Sehun asks me. 

"Let's get out of here..." I say. He looks at me and returns his gaze to Baekhyun and Kai.

"Shhh... let's watch what happens first." he says. I roll my eyes at his nosiness. I've never really been the type who liked getting into other people's business but this is better than being alone in my room. 

"He told a fan that was giving him a gift to go away because he didn't have time for her. She told her that she should just leave him alone. Who does that!? When did you become so ungrateful?" Kai asks while shooting Baekhyun judgmental glares. I gulp as I realize what Baekhyun has done and stare at Kai who seemed really angry. The other members are out today so no one except Suho was there. I wanted to approach them but I just felt frozen in fear.

"Why did you say that?" Suho looks at Baekhyun whose expression hasn't changed. "Why the hell did you say that?" Suho started to get impatient. Baekhyun said something terrible that can actually ruin his image to the fans, what's worse is that he told her leave her alone. I can't imagine how hurt that fan was when she heard Baekhyun's words. What if Baekhyun was her ultimate bias? What if Baekhyun is the last hope she has? What if that fan is-- I stop myself  from overthinking things and avert my gaze back to Baekhyun.

"Because I wanted to. Did you see the messages that they sent to me? They shower me with awful words and sometimes even profanity! How is me saying that I wanted to be alone being ungrateful?" Baekhyun gritted his teeth. He was also really angry and his face looks almost crimson red.

"They're not all the same, hyung! Some people support you and maybe that fan was one of them and you shouldn't have done that. It was very rude and also very mean." Kai answers.

"How would you know!? You're not the one getting bashed by his own fans!" Baekhyun said raising his voice. Here we go again... Baekhyun has always been too careful of his image and the dating scandal just won him a fair amount of haters. Even if he looks okay on music shows or concerts, he still hasn't got over the trauma and stress that it caused him. I don't blame him though, what can be more stressful than watching your own fans turn against you? The ones who told you that they'll love and support you forever abandons you just like that after one simple... mistake

"Well, I'm not the one who chose some girl over her career!" Kai yells back at him causing Suho's eyes to widen. I pull  back and tug Sehun's shoulder, he was still listening to the confrontation. Ughhh! I don't like this. I don't like seeing the members fight over simple things like this.

"Kai! He's still your hyung." Suho scolds him.

"But he's acting like a child! We all know that the thing with him and Taeyeon noona was all something SM conjured up to feed to the media but it's true that he chose to date her even if it meant risking his career, risking our career!" Kai says pointing at accusing finger at Baekhyun.

I want to speak and defend Baekhyun but I can't. I just feel like if I defend him, I'll be saying that Kai is wrong. For some reason, what Kai said makes sense to me. Baekhyun did risk our career. I always tried to understand that he was simply a human being who's in love and that he has the right to do what he wants with his personal life, because I myself want that. Right now though, when I think about it - Baekhyun did somehow risk us and it was a little bit selfish. I shake the thoughts off of my head. 

What the hell am I thinking? Wanting love is not being selfish!  It's being human...

"Kai, don't go there." Suho says, his expression as cold as ice. Kai crossed the line and Baekhyun just looked at him with a death glare. 

"I agreed to this so I could save the company's repuation from this scandal." Baekhyun says coldly. "I agreed to throw my personal life away for all of you!" he yells aggressively wiping away the tears that were beginning to fall. I stood there eyes widened and mouth agape. It's scary and weird seeing Baekhyun like this... so uncomposed... so broken.  

"Exactly," Kai mutters, almost a whisper. "So you're gonna have to it in." he says and walks away to his room.

Sehun follows after him but I stay and approach Baekhyun who's being comforted by Suho. He was rubbing circles in his back while Baekhyun sobbed and kept crying. They sat down on the couch and I sat on the seat opposite to them. Suho's usually the comforting type. The only times that he isn't is when he's extremely tired or stressed out. It's a good thing that he's had his rest now. 

"There, there... I'm sure Kai was just tired."  he says in Kai's defense.

"Yeah, hyung... maybe Kai was just tired." I say while staring at him. He still sniffled but finally stopped crying. Baekhyun's not the one to cry easily but eversince the scandal he just became very emotional.

"We're all tired." Baekhyun says staring at the distance, deep in thought. I sigh heavily. We are all tired. This is all just too much for all of us. The sleepless nights, the crazy fans, the endless dance practices, the confusing schedule, the stupid rumors - this is the definition of tiring. I have always been the type of person that expresses how I feel because I find faking emotions very bothersome and tiring. I don't know how many smiles that Baekhyun faked since everything and I of all people should know how difficult that is.

"Some more than others," Suho mutters under his breathe. He's right. Some are more tired than others. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you were crying in the van. I just thought that you shouldn't have cried over one message and I was really--"

"Exhausted, I know that hyung. I shoudn't have taken that fan's message too seriously. I knew you needed sleep and I shouldn't have overreacted." Baekhyun says. I know about that message... I actually read it myself and I had to admit, it was really depressing. It felt so cold yet warm at the same time. As if telling someone you loved that you were leaving while saying that it's not their fault eventhough that person knows deep inside that it is. It's really nerve-wrecking.

"You didn't overreact, Baek. It's okay." Suho says. I don't really know what to say in this types of situations. Should I talk? Should I just keep quiet? Should I go see if Kai's okay? Aish...

There was this awkward moment of silence as Baekhyun finally calmed down and smiled. I look at him, hesitating if I should change the topic. Would I seem rude? I gather my courage--

"We have a new neighbor." I say and they look at me. It seems like they're very interested. 

"Really? What's their name?" Baekhyun asks forcing a smile. 

"She's about our age... I think her name is Eunhye." I say and Suho's eyebrows furrowed. Is there something wrong?

"Eunhye..." he whispers and I stare at him. 

"What is it?" I asks and he shakes his head.

"Nothing... it's just that..."

"What?" Baekhyun butts in and Suho just smiles.

"Eunhye was the name of the girl that I met in the coffee shop. But it couldn't be her, right? I mean there's a lot Eunhyes here in Seoul." he says. Baekhyun and I nod in understanding. The girl that was photographed with Suho that caused rumors to spread was named Eunhye. I smirk at the thought that she may be the girl living the next door but that's a long shot. 

"So... is she pretty?" Baekhyun asks and I smile. 

She seemed like a complete weirdo to me. The way she stared at me like it was her first time seeing a human being. I even asked her if she was a psychopath and she answered so normally, as if she gets asked that everyday. Whether or not she was pretty though, she was really cute... and somewhat creepy at the same time. 

"You can say that." I say and they seemed to be more interested in what I was saying. I chuckle at the fact that people think that we don't have the time to meet knew people because we're too busy. What they don't know is that when you live with the same eleven - I mean ten boys and a manager every single day then you'll be begging for some new company. "She's really interesting though."

"Why?" Suho asks and I smirk.  

"You'll find out when you meet her." 


 

Kim Naerim:

"Miss Kim, he's waiting for you." the guard says and I nod. I walk inside the visiting room as I wait for him to be escorted in. I usually visit him here - in federal prison. I look through the white room behind the glass window as I waited. 

A guard finally opened the door, he was holding both of his hands. He has the exact same expression now that he had when I last visited - stone cold. He looks at me in the eyes as the guard took his handcuffs off and sat him down in the seat behind the glass window. I sit on the seat opposite to him, still not breaking eye contact. We were seperated by only a glass window. That sick feeling came again, the feeling of guilt fof being responsible for putting him there. He just looks at me with a straight face, is he even happy to see me? I pick up the telephone and he follows.

"Naerim..." he mutters and I swallow hard. I hope that he's the same Kim Jae-kyung that was sent here four years ago. 

"Oppa..." I say. I try to keep my composure and prevent myself from showing the smallest bit of emotion. I can't show him that I pity him. He can't see that his little sister pities him. 

"What happened? Is Lee Soo Man on his knees yet?" he says and I do my best to smirk. I need to show him that I have everything under control otherwise he might not trust me. 

"Patience, oppa. Just give me a little bit more time and I can make it happen. I can destroy them." I say but his expression didn't change. He has changed a lot... he didn't used to be like this. He was once a kind and loving person but then again - so was I. No matter how much he has changed, I need to help him. He's my older brother. 

"What about EXO?" he asks and my fist clenches. I still manage to regain my composure and nod.

"I'll ruin them; I promise you that." I smirk and he just shakes his head. He still has the same expression on and I can't deny the fact that I'm a little bit afraid of him. There's only a few people in my life that intimidates me, partly because that I'm usually the intimidating one. Jae-kyung is one of them. I know he'll never hurt me but you never know what prison does to you.

"Don't make promises about them, Naerim. I know how much they meant to you - I know how much he meant to you." referring to that one specific person that I once loved. I didn't feel the same way that I used to. Everytime I heard his name then, my eyes begins to water and my heart aches. Right now, all I feel is anger. He is dead to me now. He is not the same person anymore. The person that I loved is gone, he's been replaced by the one I want to destroy. 

"He means nothing to me now. He and his group were the ones who put you here, you and appa." I answer him. Appa... I have to visit his grave later. He was also imprisoned here along with Jae-kyung but he died after two months. He had a heart attack and they weren't able to send him to a hospital right away. He could have lived! If only he wasn't sent to this hell hole in the first place then he could still be healthy and alive right now. If only... I never trusted him.

"Naerim..."

"I should've never trusted him." All he wanted was extra credit so he could debut earlier and he was willing to do whatever it took to get it. He even betrayed me. The memories of us are the ones that motivate me to ruin them the most. I could still remember all the promises he didn't keep. I could still remember the look on his face when my father and brother was being dragged into prison. I could still remember the way that he said that I deserved it. He was the person that I loved - the person that I told our secret to - the person that betrayed me, he and his group. "This is all their fault." 

"It's not a question of whether or not it's their fault, Naerim. The real question is - what do you want to do to them?" he asks me and I stare into his ice cold glare. I despise them. While they were living their dreams for two years, I was suffering with nothing but a scholarship in journalism. I've been doing everything to make it to the industry and thankfully, I was successful.  My brother's right... there's only one thing left. "What does the Red Lady want to do with the beautiful group, EXO and their crappy company?" he asks as finally a smirk forms in his lips.  It was the first crack of emotion that he has shown since I came here and a sense of excitement just washes through me.

 

"I want to drag them to hell where they belong."


A/N: 

Hi! More Naerim for this chapter. Little intense huh? Right? Yeah? No? Okay...

So when I read reviews or comments about my story, I can't help but notice that most of them LOVE Kim Naerim and wonder why the hell she does what she does. Don't worry I'll have a whole chapter dedicated to her backstory and this is just a little sneak peek. Can you guess which member of EXO she's reffering to though? Feel free to comment who you think he is.

I've been having a weird crave for anything Infinite right now and it's soooooooooooooo weird. I mean my UB is Tao and L is my BW but he's catching up like crazy. Aish! Why does he have to be so freaking cute? Tao-baby hold on~~!

 

Comment what you think of the story so far. Thanks! :*

 

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Chapter 8 is up!

Comments

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dreamshade
#1
Chapter 8: can't wait for another update!
fighting author-nim ^^
it's been quite a long time since your last update
GiangDam
#2
Chapter 8: Yay! You came back!!! I hope you will keep updating, this is a great story!
Karenkwan01
#3
u finally updateeeeeeee!!!~~~ yayayaayayyayaa
moonyuki
#4
Chapter 7: yeah~ it does look awkward to me too...thanks for the update and looking forward for the next update - Yuki
Karenkwan01
#5
update soon~
lkimgirl #6
Chapter 7: Looking forward for this story... Interesting n
KaihleeLo
#7
Just the description is catchy enough. It's really good xD
iMerawr
#8
Chapter 7: Kay im going to do your review now