Reunion
Chanyeol-With-BenefitsONE NEW MESSAGE!
Congratulations! You have been selected to attend EXO's second album, Exodus, fansign event.
Venue: SMTown Coex Artium
Date: 12 April 2015
Time: 1730
Thank you for your participation. We hope to see you soon.
-SMTown official
(12/04/2015 0830)
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Black hoodie, checked. Black mask, checked. Sunglasses, checked. There is no way any one of them will recognise me in this disguise. Hyesung smirked proudly as she admired her work on the full-length mirror in her bedroom.
It had been nearly 5 years since she last saw all of them. The last time when she saw the boys, they were still adolescents going through the awkward puberty stages. That was way before their debut. Now, they were all grown up and ready to take on the world with their charms and charisma. Or at least, make the 3 millions of fangirls fall heads over heels for them. Hyesung smiled as she scrolled through several old photos of them, taken before she left Korea to pursue her studies.
One of which was young Hyesung, smiling brightly next to Kim Junmyeon, Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun and the current SM Performance Director, Shim Jaewon inside one of the SM recording studio.
Hyesung was once an SM trainee as well. Her father was a renowned producer in the Entertainment industry and also a close friend of Lee Sooman. When little 13-years-old Hyesung said that she wanted to be a star, her father had asked Sooman to take her into his company, which he did so happily.
With that, Hyesung trained together with some of the current EXO members for almost five years. However, the uncertainties, along with the mental and physical sufferings, were the main reasons that drove her out of this path. Although she could have an easier way out given her advantageous family background, Hyesung had wanted to make a name of her own without relying on her father. She knew that this industry was not the right place. Eventually, after much dilemmas and persuasions, she finally convinced her family and herself to drop out of programme in 2010.
That was after she encouraged her cousin, Kyungsoo, to become a trainee in the same company. He was furious when he found out that she had planned to drop out even before he began his journey. He had thought they would be able to go through it together.
But the anger did not last longer than a day. He understood that she had other priorities and she can have other dreams that she wanted to pursue. Kyungsoo understood all of that.
Both Kyungsoo and Hyesung had grew up together and had spent literally their entire childhood with each other. Born only a day apart from each other, they were closer than any real siblings. They were both raised by their grandparents in a small town outside of Seoul, in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. They were cousins, siblings, best friends and basically inseparable. Well, at least until Hyesung shifted to Seoul to live with her parents. Still, Kyungsoo and his family often visited them in Seoul over the weekends and during the holidays.
However, when Hyesung went overseas to pursue her studies and Kyungsoo debuted with EXO, both of them had lost touch with one another given to their conflicting schedules. Hyesung sighed as she looked a old childhood photo of her and Kyungsoo. She missed him, a lot.
How could someone feel so familiar and foreign at the same time? She thought sadly as she shoved her phone back into her newly bought neon pink Kate Spade clutch and grabbed her grey trenchcoat from her chair.
Kyungsoo did not know that she was back in Korea for her exchange studies programme. The only other EXO member whom she had been keeping in contact now was Chanyeol. He contacted her when he found out through her Instagram that she was back in Korea. They met up several times over the last three months since she arrived.
It was a 20 minute drive from her apartment in Sinchon to the Coex mall in Gangnam, which was right across the Han River. She was about one traffic light away from the mall when the Baskin Robbins outlet next to her car caught her attention.
Maybe I should get a cake. To celebrate their third year anniversary as well as the maknae Sehun's birthday. Hyesung parked her car by the roadside and entered the shop. She was immediately bombarded by all the sweet goodies and pink decorations.
"Hello! What can I get for you?" The staff greeted her enthusiatically.
"Hello. I would like to get a cake for my dongsaeng's birthday. Anything that doesn't melt immediately. Do you have any recommendation?"
"Our chocolate forest cake is the best choice. You can keep it unrefrigerated for more than 5 hours." The staff suggested.
"That would be great. Please get me one of that and also two '2' candles."
"Okay, that would be 48,000 won. Thank you." The staff said as she handled her cake to Hyesung.
When Hyesung finally arrived at the fansign venue in the Coex Artium, she was immediately swarmed by a large group of fangirls who were waiting by the entrance. The fansign event was about 2 hours away and yet there were already a thousand of fangirls waiting outside. However, only the selected 200 fans would be able to see the members up close at the event.
Hyesung stood patiently in the queue as she waited. She was about to regret her decision, since she could easily meet them if she had wanted to, when the security guards began ushering small group of people into the auditorium. Hyesung found a seat near the end of the third row and covered herself up with the disguises that she had brought with her.
The crowd went wild and were cheering madly when eight of the EXO members appeared on the stage. They were separated into Group A and B for the event and each group would sign for 100 fans. Hyesung was assigned to Group A which consisted of Jongdae, Kyungsoo, Sehun and Chanyeol.
Her heart pounded nervously as she stood in the queue, thinking about how she should react when she went up on stage. Will they recognise me immediately? How should I reveal myself-
"Please write your name on the post-it and give it back to me with your album." One of SMTown staffs said as he shoved a piece of paper into her hand, interrupting her train of thoughts.
Hyesung gave her English name, Tris, instead to prevent arousing any suspicions. When it was her turn to go up on the stage, Jongdae was the first person at the table. He saw her name and immediately spoke to her in English.
"Hello! Where are you from?" He smiled happily as he signed his name on her album and poster. Hyesung had never met Jongdae before since he joined SM after she left Korea.
"Uh, America." Hyesung replied nervously, hoping that Kyungsoo, who was beside him, would not recognise her voice.
"You have a very nice name, Tris." Jongdae continued. "Why are you covering your pretty face?" He asked as he gestured at her disguises.
"Because I am shy? And I love your vocals"
Jongdae laughed heartily as he passed down her album to Kyungsoo. "Thank you for supporting us! Saranghaja!"
"Tris." Kyungsoo said stiffly as he read out her name without looking up. "I know someone who has the same English name as you."
"Really? Who?" Kyungsoo did not seem to reconise her voice.
"Someone..." He replied as he signed his name.
"Kyung-ah." She whispered. It was a nickname that she had for him since young.
Kyungsoo head snapped up and took a double take at her. His huge eyes widened as he finally recognised who she was.
"Hyesung-ah!" Kyungsoo screamed as he stood up to hug her. The fans who were still waiting below the stage screamed as he did that. They were probably curious about her identity. The commotions had brought a halt at the fansign event as the rest of the members looked in their direction. Chanyeol, Sehun, Junmyeon, Minseok and Jongin stood up as well when they saw her.
"Uh surprised!" She choked beneath his strangling reunion hug. She attempted to wave at the rest of the members but Kyungsoo's death grip tied her down. She was unable to move, or breathe.
"Ya ya, Kyungsoo-ah, you are choking her." Jongdae said as he slapped his arms.
Kyungsoo laughed and let go of her. He was so elated to see his closest cousin again, he could not stop laughing.
"I have a little something for you guys." Hyesung said as she took out the cake that she had bought earlier. She quickly set it up and lighted the candles. "Happy third year anniversary and happy birthday Sehun-ah!"
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