Sometimes, Baekhyun thinks it’s easy to hate Jongdae.

Jongdae was someone that Baekhyun constantly felt himself being compared against and failing.

Baekhyun came into SM through a grueling audition process, but he wasn’t the only one. No, Jongdae was right there beside him showing the people just how great his voice was.

Baekhyun had always been proud of his voice and how powerful he sounded – that was until he heard Jongdae belt out high notes without contorting his face like he was undergoing some sort of torture or having the perfection of the note disappear within seconds.

Plus, the boy could harmonize with anyone – heck, anything – and still have it coming out sounding amazing.

And of course, not only could Jongdae go higher than Baekhyun could dream about reaching if he didn’t want to destroy his vocal chords, but Jongdae could get lower as well. Jongdae had a great sense of pitch and even though he was constantly singing higher than everyone else during Exo’s songs, Baekhyun couldn’t help but hate the fact Jongdae had been able to go the lowest of all the vocal line while filming for Exo’s Showtime.

In that one episode, Jongdae was able to show off his high notes, his low notes, his strength to hold a note for long and still look peaceful – unlike Luhan who looked like a red balloon ready to pop – and, to top it all off, Jongdae was a great rapper. The only reason Baekhyun had won that silly competition was because of the silly dance he did while rapping.

Not only was Jongdae great at singing, but the boy was also good at giving advice to help people improve their own singing. Even Minseok had admitted that he was in a slump, but then Jongdae came along like the sun on a rainy day.

Even worse, Jongdae had the metabolism of a young child. The vocalist could spend his days eating snacks, but every morning he looked the same. Unlike Baekhyun who could tell when he ate one too many crackers when his face bloated like a balloon and then he spent the whole day feeling fat. Well, that and glaring at the box of snacks Jongdae was gulping down.

He could also make anyone happy. Jongdae had this magical power to just send a smile to get one back. Baekhyun was slightly sure that was due to the little curl at the corner of the slightly younger boy’s lips that made him look like a cute kitten.

He was also a prankster, throwing confetti in people’s faces and pouring water on them. And if they were playing a game with a punishment, Jongdae was always first to jump aboard and deal as much punishment as he could.

Yeah, it was really easy to hate Kim Jongdae, especially in a job like theirs where much of their livelihood relied on what the general public thought about them. So Baekhyun felt like he was constantly being compared to the other.

However, despite how easy it was to hate Jongdae, it was also impossible to hate Jongdae.

When the two of them were battling hundreds of other hopefuls during the auditions, Baekhyun did feel like Jongdae was his biggest competition, and it seemed that Jongdae felt the same about Baekhyun. But instead of getting angry at a rival, Jongdae sent Baekhyun a smile and cheered him on. Because even if they only chose one of them, Jongdae was happy he tried his best, and wasn’t the type of person who’d wish ill upon anyone who didn’t truly deserve it.

And while Jongdae was a powerhouse of high notes, low notes and everything in between, when it came time to harmonize, he was never greedy. Only when it was specifically written in their music did he let his voice overshadow anyone else’s, and it was always only for a moment. Jongdae was the type of person who loved to help other people shine when it was their turn while patiently waiting for his own.

Not only was Jongdae not greedy while harmonizing, he was willing to help anyone who came to him with questions related to music. Jongdae was the first to give advice to anyone who asked, and the first to admit when he didn’t know the right answer. But not knowing the right answer never stopped him from helping, that just meant Jongdae would run all around from sunbae to sunbae until he got an answer to report back with. And you could tell when you asked him for help that he was excited to help, it was never a burden on him or something he had to do just because you were in the same company.

Despite being the pride of the vocal line, Jongdae spent hours in the dance studio, sometimes with the others, sometimes by himself, and sometimes during breaks when everyone else was lying on the floor dreaming of taking a shower. Jongdae always wanted to improve Exo, and knew that the best way he could do that was by improving himself.

No matter what they were doing in front of a camera, Jongdae did his best to stand back until it was his turn to be in the spotlight. He was never one to force himself in front of the camera, instead he was fine with pulling someone else to the camera’s view with him or giggling on the side like a school girl. Of course there were many times where Jongdae was front and center, but it was because he belonged there.

Jongdae was also very observant of people he called his friends, so when Baekhyun would pout because his face felt bloated, Jongdae would constantly tell him it was all in his head because Baekhyun was the most attractive member of Exo. He’d then offer Baekhyun a healthy snack because going a day without eating was a bad habit that he wasn’t going to allow Baekhyun to fall into.

Not only was he observant, he was as kind as an angel. Sure he liked to throw confetti in people’s facts, but if he noticed a single peace get into his victim’s eye, Jongdae would turn into the most cuddly teddy bear and squeeze the person until they felt better. Even during Exo’s Showtime when Kai lost a round of 007, Jongdae delivered some well-placed slaps before turning into Kai’s personal cuddle-buddy and tried his best to make the other boy smile. Something he achieved remarkably quickly.

He had no problem attempting to cook dinner while the other members fell asleep because of exhaustion. Sure it may have not been the best dinner, but Jongdae really did try his best and did it all with a smile on his own tired face.

The boy was such an angel he’d even hand out warm packs to haunted house employees because they were nice enough to open their house during the snow, not their usual opening hours during the summer. While the other boys made sure to thank them for their hard work, none of them had the guts to wander through the haunted house just to deliver warm packs.

For some reason, no matter how many hushed whispers he heard comparing himself to Kim Jongdae, Baekhyun couldn’t be upset or jealous. He felt amazing being compared to the boy who had grown to become one of his best friends. Heck, Jongdae wasn’t just a best friend, he was pretty much a brother.

Jongdae was just so selfless that no matter how easy it seemed to hate him on the outside, there was no way Baekhyun could hate him without lying to himself. It was impossible to ignore the sweet smiles Jongdae would send the other members when telling them to cheer up or the way he was always striving to improve himself because, for some crazy reason, Jongdae couldn’t see in himself what everyone could see shining brighter than the sun.

There were so many reasons to hate Kim Jongdae, more reasons than Baekhyun could think of during a single day. However, while there were many reasons, there was no actual way to hate the boy with a kitten smile and a heart made of gold. And, despite his initial feelings of resentment and jealousy, Baekhyun knew he made the right decision back during that audition. Once Jongdae smiled and told him to do his best, Baekhyun felt at ease and found himself saying the same words right back to the other.

So while he was sure on some level he should hate Kim Jongdae, at the end of the day, Baekhyun was much more content with throwing an arm around the other and cuddling close. After all, there were about a billion reasons that made it easy to love Kim Jongdae.

I apologize for any mistakes, it's like 3 am right now and i just wanted to post this and have a nice, long sleep.

Hope you enjoyed it!