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CHAPTER 1

There were a plethora of adjectives to describe Byun Baekhyun, but Junmyeon believed that ‘underserving’ was probably the most accurate.

How dare this loud, obnoxious, and sub-par boy become a member of EXO after only four months of training! The only contributions Baekhyun ever seemed to make, in Junmyeon’s opinion, were noise and seemingly never-ending scoldings from managers - two very unpleasant things that Junmyeon would rather not have to deal with. 

Chanyeol alone was already a handful to deal with on a daily basis, and Jongdae - who had joined the same time as Baekhyun - made his own fair share of noise, but Junmyeon had known Chanyeol for years now and had become accustomed to his antics. Jongdae, on the other hand, was only really a nuisance when he was with his fellow beagle squad: The Terrible Trio.

Junmyeon’s luck had clearly run its course when it had been announced that Baekhyun was to be part of EXO-K, and after almost three years of being on the receiving end of Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol’s pranks and jokes, he was pretty sure he had lost at least thirty percent of his hearing capacity and ninety percent of his patience. Baekhyun, vocalist or not, was more of a liability than an asset to EXO, and Junmyeon stood by that.

Junmyeon thought back to early 2011, when the company had finally disclosed the final plans for their debut group. He’d known that there were still two more vacant positions, and he remembered wondering which of the trainees he’d grown up with would be joining them. It had been later announced that the two new additions to the team were two trainees who had only been in training for four months, and Junmyeon like many of the others had been shocked and even a little threatened. After all, all of them had been training for years! That was when it had started. Junmyeon’s contempt and resentment for the two new, unnamed members had begun to grow despite the other half of himself not wanting to have such negative and petty judgments of people he hadn’t even met yet. 

On the day that they were all finally scheduled to meet, Junmyeon’s bitterness had lessened, and he found himself anticipating the arrival of the two new additions. He had managed to convince himself that these two people must have been impressive and therefore would be great assets to the team, but he still couldn’t help feeling threatened. The two would both become main vocalists - one for EXO-K and the other for EXO-M - and Junmyeon couldn’t help but wonder why since he and Kyungsoo were good enough for a sub-unit of six. Regardless of his concerns and feelings however, as the leader of EXO, Junmyeon decided to take his responsibilities seriously. He had seen other senior groups disband, and, behind the scenes, had witnessed fights between members of groups whose fans were adamant that their relationships were more than just that of colleagues. Junmyeon refused to have a group dynamic similar to those and had wanted to avoid creating a toxic work environment, and so decided to set a good example by being as kind and welcoming as he had been to the others. They would all be working together for a long time after all.

Junmyeon's first impressions of Byun Baekhyun and Kim Jongdae had been messy. Judging by the level of noise and constant laughter that the two had been making, it had been quite clear that they had already formed a strong friendship during their short training period. Resultantly, instead of being intimidated by the ten members who had been waiting for their arrival, they had been the ones to intimidate everyone else. Both Baekhyun's and Jongdae's demeanours screamed 'not from Seoul', and although half of the group were not inhabitants of Seoul either or even South Korea, Junmyeon had not felt particularly confident about being the first to engage with them. Nonetheless, he prided himself as a responsible leader and had stepped forward anyway.

By the end of the first day, Junmyeon come to his final conclusion: Baekhyun was the last person he wanted to to work with. He had decided that Kim Jongdae could be tolerated, and it would be easy to warm up to him eventually, whereas Byun Baekhyun, who initially seemed like the more likeable of the two, had proven himself to be the exact opposite. Baekhyun's noisiness, playfulness, and inability to be serious were infuriating and would undoubtedly disrupt rehearsals and meetings. He was extremely chatty and didn't try to hide his opinion if he thought something was wrong, so much so that even their manager had been caught off guard. Besides his personality, Baekhyun had overstepped the boundaries of personal space. Everyone in the company knew not to meddle or touch Junmyeon's belongings, but for some reason, Baekhyun seemed to not realise that unspoken rule and had proceeded to touch whatever he wanted and whenever he wanted to.

The seat upon which Junmyeon’s bag always resided during practice sessions was at one point stolen by the one and only Byun Baekhyun, who had decided to leave said bag on the floor in a corner of the room. Junmyeon had not been impressed. Indeed, his response had been almost erratic: he had angrily picked up his poor bag, dusted it clean, proceeded to shout at a shocked Baekhyun, demanded that he return the chair, and then sent the younger the most threatening glare he could muster. 

Baekhyun had of course apologised, but then had pressed Junmyeon by why it had been a problem since “there wasn’t enough space on the sofa”. Junmyeon had had to bite his tongue before he retorted with a petty remark like, “well, this bag has been coming to the practice room longer than you have!” and instead spat out, “well, you could’ve at least asked me first”. He had wanted to punch Chanyeol in the face when the taller had piped in with, “Don’t mind Junmyeon-hyung, he just hates it when people touch his bag”. He had noticed that Baekhyun looked puzzled for a moment before declaring “I can help you get over that! You shouldn’t let little things stress you out!” with quite the mischievous grin plastered on his face. Ever since that day, Baekhyun had made it his unofficial duty to get into Junmyeon’s space, attempting to cureJunmyeon of things he didn’t see as a problem.

The bag fiasco was one thing, but the taxing nature of the music industry had started to take its toll on Junmyeon since their debut in 2012. He had anticipated its brutality and had found it laughable that his pre-debut self had truly believed that he was ready for any situation. While his friends and seniors had done well to advise him and the other members, hearing about such happenings from a hypothetical perspective was nothing like experiencing it first-hand.

Securing appearances on tv shows and succeeding in bagging long-term roles had been difficult. EXO was a package of twelve, and while they were trying to compete with other groups and other celebrities, they were also having to compete with each other. As a group of twelve it was often difficult for one person to shine out amongst the rest, and since SM had been strategical in selecting only the most handsome of the trainees, they couldn’t necessarily rely on their looks alone. The company itself had also made things all the more difficult by limiting EXO’s public appearances reasoning that their concept was designed to be mysterious a mistake on SM's part, Junmyeon had thought regularly. Regretably, questioning the Board was, quite frankly, not an option and would inevitably lead to repercussions that Junmyeon did not have the strength or the desire to be burdened with.

To make matters all the more stressful, it had become painfully aware early on that some people were just a natural fit for showbiz, a knack that unfortunately didn’t come naturally to Junmyeon, but did unsurprisingly for Baekhyun, who seemed to fly through the industry with little to no struggle at all. Annoyingly, despite all odds, Baekhyun and seemed to become a showbiz favourite, bagging opportunities here and there while also picking up new fans by doing the absolute minimum. 

What he had learnt ever since Baekhyun had walked into the practice room on his first day was this: the undeserving always get everything. Baekhyun was a virus that had taken over Junmyeon’s mind, a thief who took everything and every opportunity. Kim Junmyeon liked everything to be perfect. Kim Junmyeon liked routine and control. Baekhyun had appeared like a storm; the antithesis of Junmyeon's perfect world. 

“Break’s over!” 

Junmyeon was snapped out of his thoughts and sat up from his seat, as he struggled to maintain balance. These days even standing up was a struggle and he often suffered from lightheadedness.  Grudgingly, he set down his precious bag and looked over, half-expecting a certain member to attempt to dethrone it and abandon it in the floor again. The other members clambered up from where they had been resting with the same sluggishness, and the same obvious signs of overwork and fatigue, Junmyeon felt. When his bag failed to garner the attention of the other K-vocalist, Junmyeon scanned the room once more and rolled his eyes in disbelief when he noticed the figure he had come to dislike still sitting tucked away in a corner. 

Evidently, Baekhyun had not heard the instruction since he was still happily absorbed by whatever he was doing on his phone - if his inhumane typing speed and excited smile were anything to go by - and, as expected, had also failed to notice the Junmyeon’s glare. Junmyeon cleared his throat loudly, causing the other members to cease their warm-ups, but once again failed to get the attention of the one person he was attempting to catch. The audacity! Junmyeon thought to himself, although judging by Kyungsoo’s expression he probably wasn’t the only one feeling irritation towards the noisy singer. It felt like years until the singer finally realised that all eyes were on him, and he stared back blankly.

“Back to practice, Baekhyun.” Junmyeon said authoritatively, clearly irritated. From the corner of his eye he could see Kyungsoo give Baekhyun a look-over, distaste apparent in his expression, and Junmyeon added to the mood by tapping his foot impatiently. The singer stood up quickly but did not put his phone away.

“Just a sec,” Baekhyun insisted, “I just -”

“Get over here, we’ve got a concert -” Junmyeon was not in the mood to argue, and some of the others grimaced at his sharp tone.

“Yes, I just have to-”

“Get the over here now, Byun!” Junmyeon’s voice had risen and his demand had sounded almost menacing.

“Hyung-” Chanyeol tried to intervene, but was cut off abruptly by Junmyeon’s enraged scowling.

“Stay out of this, Chanyeol!” He demanded and he saw the other shut his mouth instantly.

Baekhyun bit the side of his lip as his smile faltered and he sent Junmyeon an apologetic look before doing the same to everyone else. He quickly tapped a few more things into his phone before shoving it into his bag, and then rushed back to get into formation. He grinned nervously trying to defuse some of the tension, but Junmyeon refused to look his way.

“Sorry, Hyung,” the younger tried as reached out for the older, “It was something important-” Kyungsoo scoffed loudly, and although this wasn’t the first time Baekhyun had been on the receiving end of Kyungsoo’s disdain, he stopped talking anyway. Some of the younger members started shuffling on the spot to shake off the heaviness that lingered, and it wasn’t until their dance instructor finally played the track that the awkwardness lifted. Practice went by for the next few hours with Baekhyun saying nothing at all.

Waiting for the other members to get ready to head home had never felt so long. That had been an awkward session, but those sort of things tended not to phase Baekhyun very much. Stress tended to plague everyone involved with their upcoming concert, and the fact that the performers themselves barely had time to sleep or eat - and even when there was time they were often given barely enough to sustain them for a few hours if anything at all - certainly didn’t help. Baekhyun had managed to press Junmyeon’s buttons unknowingly and the older had lashed out, but while Baekhyun disliked people who took out their anger on others, he knew that Junmyeon’s stress levels had been getting worse and he wasn’t usually one to behave in such a manner. Baekhyun could handle being on the receiving end without being greatly affected, and that was why he believed he’d be able to help Junmyeon overcome many of the stressors that he’d allo