Day Four | Behind Closed Doors

[exorarepairings]

Author:
Prompt #: 117 - Everyone is fighting for Junmyeon's affection and no-one thinks that Chanyeol has a single chance, which is annoying since they're dating
Title: Behind Closed Doors
Pairing(s): Junmyeon/Chanyeol, Junmyeon/EXO, Luhan/Minseok
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 28,157
Warning(s): genderbend, co-ed exo, girl!Junmyeon (and others)
Summary: Everyone is fighting for Junmyeon's affection and no-one thinks that Chanyeol has a single chance, which is annoying since they're dating






Before their debut, the 12 of them had been given a set of rules by the company. At the very top of that list of rules was that dating within the group was forbidden. Or rather, if you did date within the group then it needed to be done with discretion. Sometimes Chanyeol thought that Junmyeon took those words too much to heart.

Yet here they were, already having dated for over 9 months, hiding their relationship from their band members. Band members who he simultaneously loved and hated. Band members who were always unconsciously cock blocking him. But maybe he could take the members unconsciously cockblocking his relationship over the members that deliberately made flirtatious moves on his girlfriend. Except they didn’t know she was his girlfriend and he couldn’t tell them to back off. He couldn’t tell them that they were dating because Junmyeon didn’t want that and Chanyeol wasn’t going to risk upsetting her.

Chanyeol had even started to consider some of the members as his rivals. Almost all the members, rather distressingly, wanted to get into his girlfriend's pants but he needed to worry about some of them more than others. Currently there were four big rivals: Yifan, Jongdae , Yixing and Jongin. Each of them posing a threat to Chanyeol’s relationship.

Just last night, once the two of them had managed to find a quiet moment for themselves, he’d told her exactly that. Junmyeon had laughed at him, not bothering to humour him even slightly. She dismissed his concerns, saying that he was becoming too anxious as a result of having to hide everything. His nerves were making him paranoid.

But he wasn’t being paranoid. Junmyeon was just too oblivious to see it.

Out of his four big rivals, Yixing was the only girl on the list and Chanyeol considered her to be the least dangerous. Yixing’s crush on Junmyeon had remained as just that; a crush. It hadn’t progressed further unlike the other three's feelings had. Chanyeol hadn’t thought that Yixing with her sweet smile and gentle personality was someone he needed to worry about. But she was. Heck, Junmyeon herself had admitted to Chanyeol that when she first saw Yixing she had a small crush on the Chinese girl.

The insecure part of Chanyeol always managed to bring up the fact when he saw the pair of them together. The rational part of him tried to remind him that Junmyeon loved him and was dating him, but he threw away his ability think rationally whenever he walked in on Yixing serenading his girlfriend. And it was becoming an unfortunately regular event.

Today as well, Chanyeol had walked into a random practice room only to be confronted by the unpleasant sight. Yixing was sitting across from Junmyeon, strumming her guitar and singing a self-composed song. Chanyeol had no chance of understanding the Chinese lyrics the girl was softly singing but Junmyeon, because her Chinese was superior to his, seemed to understand the gist of them. Yixing strummed the last chord, looking straight into Junmyeon’s eyes as she sang the final lyric. The song came to an end and Junmyeon gently clapped her hands, a soft smile on her face.

“That was beautiful, Yixing.”

And there it was; one of the reasons he considered Yixing to be such a big threat. Yixing was the only other ’91 liner in the group. It meant that Junmyeon didn’t see the need to keep some boundaries between them. She didn’t need to treat her cautiously like she did with the three oldest members, and she didn’t need to baby her like she did with all the younger members. That level of familiarity between the two of them meant that she felt relaxed around Yixing and yet was more oblivious to her advances.

As if Chanyeol’s thoughts had predicted it, he watched as Junmyeon reached out to put her hand on top of Yixing’s, giving it a squeeze. Even from where he was standing, Chanyeol could see the smile on Yixing’s face and the dimple that came with it.

That was cheating, he thought with a pout. Chanyeol knew first hand that Junmyeon had a weakness when it came to dimples.

“You’re so incredibly talented,” she gushed, and Chanyeol tried not to narrow his eyes at her. What was she playing at?

“It’s nothing,” Yixing said bashfully, but Chanyeol saw right through the façade. She was watching his girlfriend from under her eyelashes, a small smile on her face. If she thought this was going to progress like she wanted it to –

“Seeing you play the guitar so effortlessly makes me want to learn how to play,” Junmyeon admitted, the words shocking both Yixing and Chanyeol. Why hadn’t she told him that she wanted to learn to play the guitar?

Yixing straightened up in her seat at the comment, and Chanyeol just knew that it was the opening she had been waiting for. “Then am I the best guitarist you’ve ever seen, Jun?”

“One of the best,” Junmyeon nodded with a smile.

Ha, Chanyeol thought with selfish satisfaction. Of course she didn’t think Yixing was the best, just a few days ago she’d told him that he was the best guitarist she’d seen. And maybe she had only said that to play to his ego, but he was completely certain that the comment she made afterwards had been the truth. Even now, thinking back to her confession that she found him most sexy when he was playing the guitar made him grin.

“Do you want to learn how to play?” Yixing’s question snapped Chanyeol out of his thoughts in time for him to see Junmyeon nod her head.

Yixing moved her chair so that that she was sitting beside Junmyeon instead of across from her. Chanyeol eyed the ever shrinking distance between the pair as Yixing handed her guitar to Junmyeon, who took the instrument gingerly.

“Let me teach you,” the Chinese girl offered before she started to guide Junmyeon through what the chords were.

Junmyeon did her best to follow along with Yixing’s words, looking down at the guitar she was cautiously holding and constantly checking on the positioning of her fingers. Her hair fell across her face and Chanyeol had the sudden urge to walk into the room and push the silky strands away from her face for her. However, Yixing beat him to it.

Yixing rose to her feet as Junmyeon reached for the hair tie around her wrist. Standing behind her, Yixing gathered her hair into a loose ponytail and gestured for the hair tie. Junmyeon turned to eye her closely.

Good, Chanyeol thought, be suspicious of her.

“I can do it,” Junmyeon protested quietly, her words dying at the sight of Yixing’s warm and encouraging smile. With a sigh, she handed the other girl the hair tie and Yixing quickly tied her hair away from her face.

“There,” Yixing said, putting her hands on Junmyeon’s shoulders and squeezing them. Junmyeon looked up at her with wide eyes, feeling both flustered and embarrassed. “That’s better. Now show me the movement I was talking to you about before.”

Turning her attention away from the woman behind her and back onto the guitar, Junmyeon rearranged her hold on the instrument only to freeze moments later. Yixing leaned in closer to her, her front pressed against Junmyeon’s back as she brought her hands around her to fix Junmyeon’s finger placement on the guitar.

Chanyeol frowned heavily and decided that the scene had gone on for long enough. He needed to intervene.

“Noona!” Chanyeol called out obnoxiously to Yixing, purposefully shattering the atmosphere she had tried her best to create. Striding into the room, he watched Yixing pull herself away from Junmyeon with clear disappointment.

Keep dreaming, Chanyeol thought with vindictive pleasure, giving the woman a slight glare.

“Chanyeol-ah.” Junmyeon rose to her feet, handing the guitar off to Yixing. She gave him a smile, one that he was pleased to see was much bigger than the one she’d given Yixing minutes ago. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just going to get some practice done when I thought I heard Yixing noona singing.” Walking towards the pair of them, he made sure to stand between the two of them. Acting as a barrier between the two, shielding Junmyeon from Yixing’s impure intentions. “So I just followed the sound and well, here I am.”

“Here you are,” Yixing muttered kindly, still clearly annoyed by Chanyeol’s interruption, but doing her best not to show it. Junmyeon smiled obliviously at the two of them and Yixing looked up at Chanyeol and said, “Didn’t you say you wanted to practice? Don’t let us keep you.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Junmyeon said, reaching out slightly to tug at the bottom of Chanyeol’s hoodie. “Yixing and I will probably head back to the dorm now, I guess I’ll see you when you get home?”

“Let me come with you,” Chanyeol said because there was no way he was leaving his girlfriend alone to fend off Yixing. “I can’t be bothered to practice now.”

“Chanyeol-ah,” Junmyeon said, in mild exasperation.

“Junmyeon-ah,” he mocked, whining playfully as he threw an arm around her shoulder. He was glad that EXO was such a touchy feely group. This way he would be able to touch her in this manner at least.

“He’s probably tired Jun,” Yixing piped up, and Chanyeol nodded.

“See.” He pulled Junmyeon to his side. “Even Yixing noona agrees, let’s all go home. Together.”

He watched Junmyeon roll her eyes but she conceded to him, like he knew she always would. Leading the two girls out of the training room and into the main reception, his eyes landed on a solitary male figure.

“Is that Luhan oppa?” Junmyeon asked Yixing who nodded.

“Hyung!” Chanyeol called out loudly, catching the older man’s attention.

Luhan turned to look at the three of them and jogged over towards them. He removed the bag from his shoulder and put it by his feet. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We were just about to head home.” Chanyeol said, gesturing to the two girls.

“Well, actually,” Junmyeon cut in, giving Chanyeol a look. “Chanyeol’s trying to skip practice and we, Yixing and I, were just heading home.”

“If you don’t want to practice Chanyeol-ah,” Minseok called out, approaching the small group of them from the building entrance, “Then feel free to join me – I’m just heading to the gym.”

“I couldn’t do that, besides I don’t want to interrupt your regime. I know how much you like to stick to it.”

“Oh please,” Minseok said with a roll of her eyes, and nudging Luhan with her shoulder, “This annoying boy here is interrupting my exercise anyway, what’s one more boy?”

“Hey,” Luhan piped up, slipping an arm around Minseok’s shoulder which she shook off. “I’m only here because I don’t want you to overdo it again. I just care about you Minseok-ah.”

Minseok tightened her hold on her gym bag, eyeing the boy closely as she asked coolly, “Did I ever ask you to care about me?”

“Noona!” Chanyeol called out, feeling like he’d missed something. Feeling a tug on his sleeve, he looked down to see Junmyeon staring up at him. She shook her head and silenced him.

Slipping past the Chanyeol, Minseok headed down to the gym and Luhan watched her go with a carefully guarded expression. Chanyeol turned back to his hyung, watching him sigh and lean down to pick up his gym bag. Slinging the bag over his shoulder he went to chase after her.

“Ge,” Yixing said gently, calling out to him and making him stop in his chase of the girl.

“I’m alright Xing,” Luhan said softly, “Someone needs to keep an eye on her before she overworks herself again.”

**********

Junmyeon wasn’t as oblivious as she let her members think she was. She caught onto things that the members thought flew under the radar and what they liked to hide from each other. She saw the way their maknae was starting to look at her and she’d done her best to turn his growing affection into pure, brotherly love.

She liked to think her plan was working. But Chanyeol, not knowing what she was doing, continued to complain about Sehun and his wandering hands. Chanyeol had vowed to keep an eye on their youngest member and he’d done just that. Wherever Sehun went, if Junmyeon was in the vicinity, her boyfriend was bound to be there, hovering over the pair of them.

Chanyeol’s solemn vow was the reason why he was currently standing in the open doorway to the room she shared with Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. He leaned against the door, glaring at the younger boy who was stretched across her bed. Junmyeon had only been trying to get an early night’s sleep after a hectic day with a fully packed schedule. She hadn’t asked for a Sehun to wriggle into her bed whilst she was in the shower. And she certainly hadn’t asked for her boyfriend to walk in on another man waiting in her bed.

From the moment Chanyeol had laid eyes on Sehun, he had frozen over, glaring daggers at the younger boy. Honestly - there went her plans for an early night.

“Boys,” she called out, breaking the staring contest the two had been having. She sat down on the side of her bed. The move had clearly been a mistake. Sehun sat up and pulled her into his arms. Junmyeon could do nothing but sigh, “This is beginning to get out a bit of hand, don’t you think?”

“It’s not my fault noona,” Sehun insisted. He tightened his hold on her, arms snaking around her waist as he burrowed his head into her hair. Junmyeon squirmed slightly as she felt his every breath brush against the column of her neck. Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed at the movement. “Noona, tell hyung to go away and mind his own business.”

“Sehun,” Chanyeol interrupted, voice firm. Sehun sat up, making a face at Chanyeol. “You’re not a child anymore. You can’t keep behaving like this.”

“Noona doesn’t mind, so why should you?” Sehun shot back. He paused for a moment, looking back at Junmyeon as she helplessly watched the pair of them. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Junmyeon risked a glance at her boyfriend, only to find him becoming increasingly annoyed. Chanyeol’s temper had started to become surprisingly short in these situations. He was watching her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her to say something. She looked back at the clingy maknae who was watching her expectantly. God, why her?

“I just want to go to sleep,” Junmyeon admitted, her voice weak but truthful. From the look Chanyeol gave her, she hadn’t given the answer he wanted to hear. She gave him an apologetic look.

Sehun, unlike Chanyeol, beamed at her. He turned back to Chanyeol and all but stuck his tongue out at the older man. Junmyeon could swear that Chanyeol’s eye was starting to twitch.

“See hyung,” Sehun made a face at Chanyeol, “Noona doesn’t mind. Now go away, I’m going to sleep with noona tonight.”

The two boys probably believed that the double meaning of Sehun’s words was lost on her and Junmyeon would have liked for that to be true. She’d have liked to have been able to believe that her maknae was still as innocent as she hoped he was. But she knew that Sehun had meant for his words to have a double meaning, and he’d meant for that double meaning to light her boyfriend’s already short fuse.

It had worked.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” Chanyeol demanded, stalking into the room and heading straight for the boy on her bed. Junmyeon sighed. This was going to be a long night.

“Boys,” she tried to interrupt, but it was no use.

“Oh Sehun, you get out of that bed, right now.” Chanyeol went to pull Sehun out of the bed but the younger boy dodged his arm. “Get out or I’m going to pull you out of the bed myself. You’re not a kid anymore.”

“Noona,” Sehun whined pitifully and burrowed himself against her. He tightened his arms around her, pulling her even more firmly against him. “Hyung’s being mean to me again. Tell him to leave me alone.”

“He has a point Sehun-ah.” Junmyeon admitted, managing to remove an arm from Sehun’s tight embrace. She ran a hand through Sehun’s hair, making the younger boy look down at her. “Although I’ll always see you as the little 14-year-old you were when you first joined the company, you’re not that little kid anymore. You can’t come sneaking into my bed.”

Sehun’s facial expression changed. He released his hold on her completely, and Junmyeon shuffled away from him a little. He propped himself against her headboard, searching out her eyes. He didn’t look hurt by her words, rather it looked almost as if he’d heard exactly what he wanted to. That didn’t look good –

“Then invite me into your bed from now on.”

Junmyeon’s mouth dropped open in shock. Sehun was serious and she didn’t even want to see what the expression on Chanyeol’s face looked like. Sehun’s eyes bored holes into hers and she glanced away uncomfortably.

“Sehun-ah.”

“If I’m not a kid anymore, then I’m a man.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So invite me into your bed from now on.”

“Ya!” A voice screeched from the still open doorway.

Junmyeon looked up in time to see Baekhyun stalk into the room, her ponytail swinging ferociously behind her. Kyungsoo followed after her, wearily eyeing the two boys who were becoming a more and more frequent presence in their shared room. Shutting the door to the room behind her, Kyungsoo glared at Chanyeol as she walked passed him.

“Why are the two of you in our room again?” Kyungsoo asked, dropping down onto her own bed. She reached back to untie her hair, shooting Sehun an annoyed look as she did so. Junmyeon gave Kyungsoo a look, silently asking the other girl to save her, only to receive a sympathetic smile in response. “Don’t you have your own room to be loitering in?”

“Is that what’s important right now?” Baekhyun demanded, standing beside Junmyeon’s bed with her hands on her hips. Turning her eyes to Sehun, Baekhyun glared down at him.

“What’s it got to do with you?” Sehun asked, annoyed at her sudden appearance.

“Ya, Oh Sehun! When did you become so perverted?” she demanded making Sehun flinch slightly at her volume, “How can you talk to our innocent, virginal leader like that? I don’t want you trying to taint her.”

Junmyeon couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Baekhyun’s continued insistence that she was a virgin. She wasn’t. And if Baekhyun had paid a little more attention to the red creeping up Chanyeol’s neck, then Baekhyun might have suspected something. Really, why did so many of them think she was an inexperienced nun?

Ok, so she had been inexperienced when she’d joined the company, but she wasn’t anymore.

“Mind your own business noona.” Sehun waved Baekhyun away dismissively making the older girl’s eyes narrow.

Baekhyun, glaring at the younger boy, somehow managed to wrestle him around and threw him off the bed. Sehun stumbled back, straight into Chanyeol who, through his eyes alone, was silently asking if he could end the entire matter by declaring their relationship. Junmyeon gave him a pleading look; she needed him to keep it hidden for a little longer – just until she was sure none of the members would get hurt from the announcement.

Chanyeol looked down at Sehun and the two boys watched as Baekhyun took Sehun's previous place, pulling Junmyeon into her arms. Junmyeon, looking away from Chanyeol, swatted at Baekhyun's arms; she wasn't a ragdoll for them to pull wherever they willed. Why did people keep trying to pull her into their arms?

“I'll protect you unnie,” Baekhyun vowed, suffocating Junmyeon slightly as she hugged her to her chest. “I won't let them come at you with their demon dicks.”

Junmyeon spluttered uncomfortably and Kyungsoo gave a heavy sigh. Rising from her bed, Kyungsoo approached the two older girls and managed to free Junmyeon from Baekhyun’s hold. Junmyeon smiled thankfully at the younger girl and slid away from Baekhyun, just in case.

“The most dangerous one here is you, Baekhyun. Don’t try and pretend you have her best interest at heart, you want unnie for yourself,” Kyungsoo deadpanned, her words making Junmyeon look at Baekhyun differently. She hadn’t realised that Baekhyun’s words had ever been sincere. “She'll be fine as long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

“Well, I still think she's missing out by batting for the other team.” Baekhyun announced, making Junmyeon roll her eyes affectionately at the other girl. She never changed. “I’m serious unnie, just think of all the things I could teach you!”

Getting up from Junmyeon’s bed, Baekhyun headed to her own, walking around the two boys. From the look on Chanyeol’ face it was obvious that he hadn’t considered the girl as a serious ‘rival’, and Junmyeon knew that the moment they were alone he’d tell her to be cautious of Baekhyun.

“Now,” Kyungsoo turned to the two boys who were watching the three girl’s interaction with interest. “Get out of our room before I break the dicks you love to point in unnie’s direction.”

Sehun and Chanyeol had never moved so fast.

**********

Chanyeol made sure to keep an eye on Jongin too.

Jongin with his handsome face, dancer’s body and smile that melted Junmyeon’s heart whenever she was on the receiving end. The younger boy’s infatuation with his girlfriend had always gotten on Chanyeol’s nerves, even when they were just trainees and Junmyeon had been nothing more to him than a really pretty senior trainee.

Junmyeon had been told to show Chanyeol around and to help him fit in, which she had been doing until Jongin came along and stole her away. Jongin had dragged Junmyeon into the training room to watch him dance because he insisted that she’d be able to fix his mistakes. All three of them knew it was a lie, but Junmyeon didn’t bother to point it out.

Instead, she sat down and made Chanyeol sit beside her. The pair of them watched Jongin as he danced effortlessly, and Junmyeon smiled, clapping encouragingly. Chanyeol’s younger self had been too naive to realise that the annoyance he felt was actually jealousy. Jealousy caused partly because he knew he’d never be able to dance like Jongin could and mostly caused by the way Junmyeon was watching Jongin.

Later, once Jongin had finished his practice and Junmyeon had left for her vocal practice, Chanyeol tried to casually ask Jongin what his relationship with Junmyeon was.

“Is she your sister?” he had asked, quite hopefully, though he tried not to let it come across that way.

The younger boy grinned and shook his head, announcing rather proudly, “She’s my first love.”

“Your first love.” Chanyeol remembered he’d repeated the words in shock, looking down at the younger boy who laughed at his incredulous expression.

“That’s right, hyung.” Jongin patted Chanyeol’s arm in a friendly manner. “So don’t get any ideas; it’s not rare for a new trainee to fall for my noona. I don’t want to add you to that list.”

From that day on Chanyeol had tried to stick to Junmyeon’s side, because it was his job to protect the unknowing girl from the younger boy’s advances. He’d thought he had done a good job of being discrete about it, but he clearly hadn’t. One day as he sat across from Junmyeon for lunch and the older girl had looked up at him contemplatively. Her eyes assessed him closely, and Chanyeol had shuffled uncomfortably under the weight of her stare.

“What?” he grumbled, pretending to be tired from practice as he picked up his spoon.

“Chanyeol-ah,” she started, lowering her voice a little. “Are you interested in me?”

Chanyeol spluttered, food flying out of his mouth. The trainees around him muttered in disgust and he hurried to apologise, taking the napkin Junmyeon offered him.

“I was only joking Chanyeol.” She reassured him with a smile, “don’t take it so seriously.”

Ever since then, Chanyeol stopped following Junmyeon around during their trainee days. He’d lied and told the others that she was too boring when in reality it was because her words hadn’t been wrong. To this day, Chanyeol’s biggest regret was that his words had somehow gotten back to Junmyeon and had driven a wedge between them. That distance between the two of them remained until they were put in the same debut team and Chanyeol had gathered enough courage to apologise to her.

He still remembered how happy he’d been to be placed in the same team as her. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that they’d end up debuting together. But he also remembered the way the happiness dimmed slightly the moment Jongin, now older, taller and more handsome than he’d been when they first met, walked through the door and embraced the tiny girl, who had been appointed as their leader, lifting her off of her feet.

Jongin’s ‘first love’ for Junmyeon hadn’t fizzled out during the rest of their trainee years. It had only continued to burn and grow. Even now the boy was in love with their leader. Not many of the members had noticed it but Jongin kept trying to get some time alone with her, a feat made difficult by 10 other members who were always craving her attention.

But somehow Jongin had managed to do it every single day, even when they were preparing for their latest comeback.

Jongin had waited until the members began to file out of the practice room once their dance practice came to an end. The members, except for Jongin, had changed out of their training clothes and said goodbye to everyone as they left. Some of the members had separate schedules to head off to, some were heading to the recording studio to record their parts for the album, and well, Chanyeol had planned on whisking Junmyeon away for an impromptu (but still secret) date. One of the good things about dating another member was that if the two of them were out in public, as long as they kept their physical contact friendly, the press saw it as nothing more than 2 members bonding.

Spending time with Junmyeon had initially been Chanyeol’s plan but it was foiled unknowingly by Jongin. The younger boy had called his girlfriend over and Chanyeol hung back, silently watching the interaction.

“Noona,” Jongin called out, walking towards the older girl just as she was about to walk out of the room. He took her hand, interlinking their fingers and making Chanyeol’s inner rival sensor turn on. Jongin pulled Junmyeon further into the room and away from the door.

“Jongin?” Junmyeon asked, glancing apologetically at Chanyeol who was hovering by the door. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m supposed to be practicing with Yixing noona for the special Troublemaker cover stage, but she’s gone off to record her parts.” Jongin released her hand and smiled down at Junmyeon. Chanyeol made a face at the sight; Jongin knew he was handsome and knew what would make Junmyeon more susceptible to carrying out his request. “Practice with me?”

“You want me to practice with you?” Junmyeon repeated in utter shock.

Chanyeol’s mind went into overdrive. Practicing the troublemaker dance meant that they’d be close to each other, pressed against one another and Jongin’s hands would be roaming –

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Junmyeon protested before Chanyeol could intercede, “besides, I’ve already promised to spend the rest of the day with Chanyeol.”

“Hyung won’t mind,” Jongin said without even sparing Chanyeol a look.

Chanyeol would mind, he’d mind a lot, and just as Chanyeol went to tell him exactly that, Junmyeon looked at him. It was like she always knew what he was thinking. She smiled reassuringly at him in a gentle manner, calming him instantly

“You’ve seen me dance Jongin-ah.” She turned her eyes onto the younger boy. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea, and I don’t even know the steps.”

“She’s got a point Jongin.” Chanyeol said, speaking up for the first time and walking towards the pair of them. “Why don’t you message Yixing noona to see when she’ll be finished?”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Junmyeon looked up at Chanyeol with a grateful smile before turning back to Jongin. “Why don’t you call Yixing, Jongin-ah?”

“I’ll do that noona,” Jongin said softly and Junmyeon smiled, patting the younger boy on the arm as she turned to leave the room.

Chanyeol let his eyes scan over his girlfriend’s figure and frowned. He called out to her, making Junmyeon look at him from over her shoulder in clear confusion. Gesturing for her to come back, he dug around in his duffel back and found a clean hoodie.

“Honestly,” he muttered in exasperation, and draping the hoodie over her shoulders when she arrived to stand beside him. “You always complain about feeling cold, but you never dress properly.”

“I always forget,” she said with a grin. She slid her arms into the sleeves, the hoodie too large for her. Chanyeol couldn’t help but grin when the sleeves covered her hands, only paying minimal attention to the way Jongin looked between the pair of them.

“You never forget anything that affects the rest of us.” Chanyeol reached out to put the hood over her hair. Junmyeon had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes. Chanyeol actually laughed aloud; she was too cute. Leaning down a little, Chanyeol zipped the hoodie up for her. “You’re too lax about taking care of yourself, Jun.”

Jongin coughed, shattering the moment and Junmyeon sprung away from him. Chanyeol let out an annoyed breath, seeing the horror set into Junmyeon’s face. It was obvious that she’d forgotten that Jongin was present. Her eyes flickered over to Jongin and Chanyeol did the same, her mouth parted slightly. Chanyeol had no doubt that she was rapidly thinking of something to say.

Jongin’s eyes watched Chanyeol suspiciously and Chanyeol straightened up under the look of the younger man. Shifting his eyes onto Junmyeon, Jongin smiled softly at her.

“What’s the matter noona?” he asked teasingly, “There’s no need to look so horrified; we all know you’re forgetful at times.”

Junmyeon took the excuse Jongin had given her and quickly excused herself. Telling Chanyeol that she’d wait in the car on her way out, she turned and fled, leaving the two men alone. When Chanyeol looked back at Jongin he wasn’t surprised to find the younger boy looking at him with blatant wariness. The interaction he’d just witnessed had changed his perception of Chanyeol.

“Hyung,” Jongin called out after a moment of silence. The younger boy turned his body towards Chanyeol’s and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s my first love. Don’t play around with her like that if you’re not serious. You’ll only hurt her.”

Chanyeol eyed the younger boy coolly; why was it that no one ever believed the truth about Chanyeol’s feelings for Junmyeon? When he’d first realised that he had a crush on Junmyeon he’d tried to talk to some of the other trainees about it, only for them to play off his feelings as a joke, as if he thought of her as a joke.

“Jongin-ah.” Chanyeol stepped forward to set a hand on his shoulder. “Why would I not be serious about her? She’s my first love, too.”

Leaving the stunned boy behind, Chanyeol left the practice room and made his way to the van waiting outside of the building. Waving at some of the fans as he passed them, Chanyeol opened the door and slid into the seat beside Junmyeon. Once he’d shut the door behind him, their manager drove away from the building and Chanyeol sought out Junmyeon’s hand with his own. Their interlinked hands were hidden in the sleeve of the hoodie Junmyeon wore.

Squeezing her hand reassuringly Chanyeol smiled at the older girl when she looked at him, the concern blatant in her eyes.

“What did Jongin –?”

“He’s fine,” Chanyeol abruptly reassured, voice gentle, “he doesn’t know and he’s probably busy practicing as we speak.”

“I don’t want to hurt him,” she admitted quietly. She wouldn’t meet Chanyeol’s eyes, instead she stared down at the seat below her.

Eyeing his girlfriend with newfound understanding, Chanyeol let out a slight sigh. “You’ve known how he feels all along.”

“It would have been impossible not to have known.”

They settled into a silence and Chanyeol glanced at their manager to see if he was looking their way. He wasn’t. Closing the distance between the two of them, Chanyeol pressed a kiss to her temple. He muttered promises that things would get better against her skin.

**********

If Chanyeol had ever asked Junmyeon when she felt the guiltiest about hiding their relationship, then she’d have given him an answer that he’d have never guessed. She didn’t feel the most guilty when she saw how hurt he was when she had to distance herself from him or when one of the members tried to make a pass at her. She felt the most guilty when she saw the conflict in Minseok’s eyes.

The older girl never voiced her conflict to anyone, but Junmyeon knew that something was troubling the older girl; after all, that was the job of the leader. She also knew what, or rather who that something was. And if only that someone looked just a little closer at her reaction then they’d realise what was wrong with her.

It was the girl’s turn to cook dinner tonight and so all six girls were in the kitchen, working under the expertise of Kyungsoo. Or rather, they were all supposed to be, but somehow Tao had managed to slip away when Kyungsoo had disappeared to get something and Kyungsoo had yet to notice. Usually, the boys would be doing anything to stay out of Kyungsoo’s way lest she drag them into the kitchen to help. But uncharacteristically Luhan, who was known to burn water if given the chance, was hovering in the kitchen today.

It was a disaster waiting to happen.

Junmyeon was busy peeling and slicing the carrots into matchsticks. Considering the number of members they had, she’d need to cut a lot more. By her side was Minseok. The older girl had been put in charge of peeling and cutting the onions – she was the only one that didn’t cry while cutting onions. The girls had been working in relative silence when Luhan had sauntered into the kitchen.

Propping himself up against the cupboard, he stood by Junmyeon’s side, watching the younger girl.

“What do you want, oppa?” she asked, once she’d finally finished peeling all of the carrots. Now she just had to cut all of them.

“I can’t come and see my favourite dongsaeng?” he asked with a pout.

Junmyeon rolled her eyes, looking up at the older man briefly. “Sehun’s not here.”

“Don’t be so cold to me Junmyeon-ah, Luhan whined a little, pressing closer to her side. From the corner of her eye, Junmyeon saw Minseok stiffen at the action. “You know I like you the best out of everyone.”

Liar, Junmyeon thought. If Luhan needed to make Minseok jealous, why was he doing it by dragging her into the middle of it?

“Would you leave her alone?” Minseok asked, peering around Junmyeon’s body to meet eyes with the only boy in the room.

Luhan’s answer was a mysterious smile; Minseok had taken the bait. Junmyeon pretended to turn her focus back onto her carrots but continued to listen to their conversation – the others girls were all doing the same thing anyway.

“Why?” Luhan asked, his voice stripped of its previous teasing lilt. He was serious and for god’s sake, he was going to get Minseok to see that. “Are you jealous?”

The kitchen went silent. None of the girls were even pretending to cook anymore, they’d all turned to watch. Minseok took a breath and picked up her knife again, turning back to the onions. She turned her back to Luhan.

“No I’m not,” she said softly, not seeing the way all of the bravado drained out of Luhan’s form.

His shoulders hunched over as he stared at Minseok’s back. Minseok couldn’t see the way Luhan fought to compose himself, straightening up a little. Luhan let out a sigh and when he spoke the next time, his voice was gentle and barely above a whisper.

“It would have been nice to have gotten a truthful answer out of you eventually Minseok-ah.” Luhan turned to leave the kitchen. Minseok stopped moving the knife, listening to his words. “But I’ve lost the courage to risk getting turned down again. I’m sorry for bothering you for so long – I understand how you feel and I won’t do it again.”

He walked out of the kitchen without looking back once, and Junmyeon looked at the older girl.

“Unnie,” she called out gently. Minseok looked at Junmyeon and gave her a brave smile.

“What are you girls standing around and doing nothing for?” Minseok turned back to her own chopping board, ignoring the looks she was getting from all of the girls. “You know what we’re all like when we don’t get fed on time. Let’s get back to work.”

The girls continued to work in a tense silence and Junmyeon couldn’t stop herself from looking at Minseok and wondering why she didn’t accept Luhan’s feelings. The entire matter would be different if Minseok didn’t share Luhan’s feelings, but she did. Minseok was just as in love with Luhan as he was in love with her.

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol called as he made his way into the kitchen. Sensing the strange atmosphere, he looked around the kitchen and met Junmyeon’s eyes. She shook her head; she’d explain it to him later.

“What do you want Chanyeol?” Baekhyun called out from the sink where she was washing the rice.

“Last time I checked, your name wasn’t Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol shot back, “Anyway Kyungsoo, I just thought you’d like to know that Tao’s hiding out in our room.”

“That annoying girl,” Kyungsoo muttered, washing her hands and storming out of the kitchen.

“Kyungsoo, be nice!” Junmyeon called out after her as her boyfriend walked towards her.

“Huang Zitao,” she heard Kyungsoo shout once she’d reached Chanyeol’s room. “If you don’t help with the cooking, then you don’t eat!”

Once the girls had finished each of their tasks they slowly left the kitchen one by one until Junmyeon and Chanyeol were the only people left in the room. Junmyeon walked around the kitchen, tidying as she went, and Chanyeol trailed after her.

“Were you after something?” she asked as she looked back at him.

Chanyeol nodded and looked around the room. When he’d decided the coast was clear he pointed to his lips. Junmyeon couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her lips. Closing the distance between the two of them, she rose onto her toes. Chanyeol had to lean down to meet her more than halfway as he sealed his lips over hers. Normally whenever any of the members were around - and they were always around - they had to settle for quick stolen pecks, but Chanyeol had already made sure that no one was around. Junmyeon threw her arms around Chanyeol’s neck, prolonging the kiss a little longer than usual. When she pulled away, she giggled a little when Chanyeol put his forehead to hers, pressing repeated pecks against her lips.

Junmyeon’s eyes drifted passed Chanyeol’s shoulder only to find someone standing there, in the open doorway. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she scrambled away from Chanyeol.

“Unnie,” she spluttered making Chanyeol freeze as well. He turned to face Minseok, and the pair of them eyed the older girl warily. “I can explain –”

“It’s alright Junmyeon-ah.” Minseok shut the kitchen door behind her. “I’ve known for a while now.”

“You have?” Chanyeol asked in evident shock.

“Of course I have,” Minseok said with a roll of her eyes, “Junmyeon’s been ever so careful about keeping it a secret but you were bound to be caught at some point. Besides, Chanyeol, you haven’t exactly been subtle about the way you feel about her, have you?”

“Noona,” he said, shifting uncomfortably under the stare of the older woman.

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said gently, setting a hand onto her boyfriend’s arm. He looked down at her and she nodded towards the door. “I need to talk to unnie for a minute, can you give us some space?”

Chanyeol gladly took the cue and left the two girls on their own. Junmyeon eyed the older girl curiously.

“How long have you known?”

“About a month or so,” Minseok admitted, heading over to the stove and turning it on. “If we don’t get this done, then dinner won’t be finished on time and I don’t want to deal with a hungry EXO. Kyungsoo’s in the middle of wrestling with Zitao to try and get her to help and well, Baekhyun’s ran off to avoid cooking and she’s taken Yixing with her.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Junmyeon went to the older girl’s side, helping her as she continued to cook.

“It’s not my business to tell anyone Junmyeon-ah.” Taking the ingredients from Junmyeon, Minseok began to pour them into a large pan. “Besides, it was going to happen eventually, you were going to end up dating someone eventually. Although my money was on Jongdae. But as long as you two make each other happy, then who am I to say anything?”

The two settled into a timid silence; Minseok looking down into the pot and Junmyeon staring at the older girl. Feeling the weight of the stare on her, Minseok looked at the younger girl.

“What is it Junmyeon?”

“I’m scared of everyone finding out,” Junmyeon admitted. She had to keep all the worries to herself for the last 9 months and now that she had someone to share her thoughts with, she was going to take the chance.

“Everyone being the company, the members or our fans?”

“All of them,” Junmyeon sighed, playing with her fingers nervously. “But mainly the company, I’m worried about what they’ll do, how it’ll affect the group when it eventually leaks to the press.”

“But you’d still date Chanyeol?”

“Of course I would, I love him.” Straightening up, Junmyeon placed a hand on Minseok’s arm. “That’s why I think you should let go of whatever’s stopping you from accepting Luhan oppa - you love him and everyone, our fans included, knows he loves you. I don’t know what you’re worried about, but it shouldn’t be more important than your feelings.”

“Junmyeon, I’ve had enough hate from the fans about my weight to last me a lifetime, I don’t want to add the hate from a dating scandal to that as well.” Minseok turned to look at the younger girl, “I want to give you some advice Junmyeon-ah. This thing you’re doing where you hide everything from Chanyeol and make him leave situations isn’t healthy for your relationship. You could end up hurting him.”

“Unnie –”

“Look, you’re our leader and you need to support everyone and so you’re not used to telling us how you feel and what’s worrying you but I know that Chanyeol’s waiting for you to open up to him about that stuff.”

Minseok kept her eyes on the younger girl as Junmyeon made her way towards the sink and started to wash up the dirty pots and pans.

“Do you think so?” Junmyeon asked, squirting some liquid washing soap onto the sponge and keeping her back to the older girl. “Sometimes I worry so much about telling him stuff like that because I can’t help but wonder what he really sees in me and whether me opening up to him will make him like me less. What if the real me, the flawed one, isn’t someone he’ll like as much?”

“This is Chanyeol we’re talking about,” Minseok said as she walked over to the other girl and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “He’s not like that.”

“Who’s not like what?” Kyungsoo asked, suddenly reappearing and walking into the kitchen. She headed over to the stove instantly, stirring the pot and nodding approvingly. “I’m sorry about leaving the two of you alone to handle this.”

“Don’t worry about it Kyungsoo-ya.” Junmyeon smiled slightly, turning to look over her shoulder at the younger girl briefly.

“So who were you talking about anyway?”

“Kyuhyun oppa,” Minseok lied effortlessly, “Junmyeon says he’s been acting weirdly towards her lately.”

Junmyeon eyed the older girl closely all of a sudden. Kyuhyun had been acting weirdly towards her for the past month or so but she hadn’t talked to anyone about it and brushed it off as nothing. This unnie was a lot more perceptive than she let on.

“Oh, he’s probably fallen for you as well,” Kyungsoo said dismissively as she added something, more chilli from the looks of it, to the pot after giving it a quick taste. “You know, I think if you were going to go for someone, then it should be someone older than you, preferably someone not in the group.”

“You do?” Junmyeon uttered, startled by Kyungsoo’s sudden confession. Minseok looked over at Junmyeon, silently telling her not to be swayed by Kyungsoo’s words.

“I do.” Kyungsoo looked back at Junmyeon with a smile, “I mean it’s much less complicated that way.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Minseok whispered inaudibly so Kyungsoo couldn’t hear her but clear enough for Junmyeon to listen. “You love Chanyeol, complicated or not, and that’s what matters. Now go talk to him whilst you still have the nerve to.”

Junmyeon nodded her head, taking Minseok’s advice and left the kitchen as the older girl shooed her away. She just needed to find Chanyeol and talk to him –

That had been the plan until Kyungsoo had looked over her shoulder and asked for Junmyeon to call everyone for dinner. Once the rest of the members had arrived and settled themselves down at the table Junmyeon found herself sitting across from Minseok who was sending her pointed looks whilst avoiding the looks she was getting from Luhan herself. Junmyeon let out a deep breath and raised her glass to her lips.

Having 12 members made it difficult to get any privacy.

“Jun,” a deep voice muttered in her ear and she jumped a little, looking up into Chanyeol’s face. He frowned when he looked down at her still full bowl. “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head, the action had become her natural response for whenever her members asked her that question.But she paused half way through the motion, looking up at her boyfriend who was still watching her with evident concern.

“Actually, there is.” Her eyes flickered around the table to find that no one was paying attention to their conversation. “I need to talk to you after dinner.”

Chanyeol nodded but didn’t probe any further for the time being. Once they had all finished eating, he’d tried to slip away to talk to her. But he was caught when Yifan held onto the back of his shirt. Yifan stared down at the younger boy and Junmyeon eyed the Chinese man with mild annoyance – why was he so adamant on ‘disciplining’ their ‘kids’?

“Where do you think you’re going?” Yifan demanded, “You know the deal; we need to clean up – all six of us.”

“Yeah,” Jongdae piped up as he made his way into the kitchen carrying a pile of dishes in his arms. “It’s only fair you do your share.”

Chanyeol shot her a look before he headed into the kitchen. It seemed like the conversation would have to wait a little longer. Yifan spotted her as she stood off to the side and approached her.

“Don’t worry about anything Junmyeon-ah,” he said, making an assumption about the situation without her saying anything. “We don’t need your help.”

“But –”

“But nothing.” He patted the top of her head and leaned down towards her, bringing his face level with hers. Junmyeon, flustered by his sudden proximity, leaned back slightly. Yifan laughed quietly as he straightened up to his full height. “I’ll make sure our kids are behaving.”

With that, he turned and walked into the kitchen. Junmyeon eyed the kitchen door before turning on her heels and following the sounds of the girl’s voices. Minseok and Yixing were sat on the sofa, watching as Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Tao argued over which movie they were going to watch. The argument escalated quickly, voices rising and Junmyeon thought back to the noise complaint the managers had reported back to her last week.
“What’s going on here?” She demanded quietly, the three girls springing away from each other at the sound of her voice.

“Minseok unnie suggested that we should watch a movie once the boys are finished cleaning up,” Kyungsoo explained and held up some of the DVD cases for Junmyeon to see. “We can’t decide what movie to watch.”

“Baekhyun unnie wants to watch a horror movie,” Tao said quickly, scrambling towards the older girl and using her as a barrier between her and Baekhyun. “You know that I can’t watch them unnie.”

“That’s true Baekhyun-ah.” Junmyeon added, giving Baekhyun a look when she stuck her tongue out at Tao who, Junmyeon had no doubt, did the same in return.

“Who cares unnie? We both know she’ll use Sehun as a human shield and won’t watch any of it anyway!”

“Baekhyun,” Minseok admonished reproachfully from her seat. “After watching horror movies Zitao has nightmares all night long – you’re not the one that deals with her crying in the night.”

“Why don’t we let the boys choose?” Yixing suggested as Junmyeon turned around to deal with the maknae cowering behind her.

Junmyeon wrapped her arms around Tao, soothing the younger girl who cuddled into her arms. It was a little uncomfortable for Junmyeon who rose onto her toes to support Tao’s taller frame when the younger girl tightened her arms around her leader. But she didn’t complain; this was what she was here for after all.

“We can’t let them pick because their taste in movies sucks,” Kyungsoo cut in.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” Junmyeon declared from behind Tao’s hair. The younger girl wouldn’t let go of her. “You girls can pick three movies and then once the boys have finished, we’ll have a vote. How does that sound?”

The girls nodded and Tao extracted herself from Junmyeon’s arms to join Baekhyun and Kyungsoo in deciding which three movies to select. Yixing joined the younger girls on the floor to give her input and Junmyeon made her way over to Minseok.

“So movie night was your idea then?”

“I spent some time thinking of ways to get you and Chanyeol some time alone.” Minseok shrugged her shoulders. “How else were you going to get some alone time when there’s 10 other people in the dorm?”

“I guess that makes sense.” Junmyeon admitted, looking to the door at the sound of slowly approaching footsteps. The boys had finished cleaning up and were making their way into the room.

“Of course it makes sense, you just need to make sure that you don’t chicken out.”

“I won’t, I won’t,” she assured the older girl and watched as Jongdae and Sehun joined the four girls on the floor. Chanyeol peered over Kyungsoo’s shoulder curiously, scanning each of the movie titles.

“What’s the plan then?” Jongdae asked, sitting crossed legged beside Chanyeol and looking up at Junmyeon.

“Minseok unnie thought it was time we relaxed and watched a movie together. We’ve worked hard for this comeback and it’s important to relax every now and then.” Junmyeon gestured to the DVDs scattered across the floor. “We just need to pick the movie.”

“And because that’s going to take a long time, why don’t we get started on making the snacks?” Jongin asked, settling down beside Junmyeon and resting his arm along the back of the sofa.

Minseok nudged Junmyeon pointedly making the younger girl rise to her feet.

“What do you guys want then?” She asked, looking around the room and making eye contact with Chanyeol. “Chanyeol and I will go and prepare it.”

The members spoke over each other, shouting out what they were craving and Junmyeon made a mental list of them. She knew one of the members would end up pouting if she forgot what they’d wanted. Making her way to the kitchen she saw Chanyeol rise to his feet and follow after her. She reached onto her toes and pulled out the bags of microwaveable popcorn as he shut the kitchen door behind him.

“What did you want to talk about?” He asked quietly, tentatively as she put the first bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Junmyeon kept her back to him, let out a deep breath and knocked down the first of the walls she used to keep herself from him. She could just picture his expression; equal parts concerned and slightly scared – she wasn’t normally the type of person to act this way.

“Jun?”

She jumped slightly when a warm hand took a hold of her shoulder. Chanyeol squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, moving to turn her to face him but she shook her head. She couldn’t look at him and admit everything she was going to say. She wasn’t ready for him to see that she wasn’t perfect like everyone thought she was.

“Chanyeol-ah,” she started so quietly that she briefly wondered whether he could hear her voice at all. “I’m scared.”

“Of what?” He asked gently, hands leaving her shoulder.

God this was it, he was going to leave her. From the moment she’d entered the company she’d worked her hardest to maintain the façade that she was perfect, the golden girl. She played her role flawlessly, so much so that the other trainees respected her, were envious of her and even fell for her. But she’d always known that it would take her showing one crack in her armour for them all to scatter and disappear.

“What are you scared of Junmyeon?”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and Junmyeon felt herself straighten up instantly. Chanyeol wasn’t running. Instead he was standing behind her as her source of comfort, willing to lend her a listening ear.

“I’m scared of the fans finding out about us, that’s one of the reasons I’m so cautious around you.” She admitted, leaning against him and putting her hands on the arms wrapped around her. “It’s not rare for idols to date but for members to date? That’s unheard of. I couldn’t bare it if our relationship leaked to the fans and they turned their backs on EXO, I can’t let our relationship hurt our members and ruin their dreams.”

“I understand that,” he murmured, dropping his chin to rest on her shoulder. “And that’s why I’m not pushing for anything Junmyeon. But I know you, and I know that’s not all there is to it.”

“I’m not as oblivious as I let you think Chanyeol,” she admitted and felt him straighten up. She glanced at him from over her shoulder and found him watching her in confusion. “I can see how some of the members look at me and I can’t hurt them like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Revealing our relationship won’t hurt the members that have simple crushes, like Sehun or Baekhyun, but it could really hurt the ones who feel something more for me –”

“Members like Jongdae and Jongin?”

She nodded her head, turning in Chanyeol’s arms to face him. “I was always hoping that their feelings would wear off and then we could say something to everyone but they don’t seem to be wearing off.”

“It’s your fault for being so irresistible,” He said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Junmyeon cracked a small smile. “But there’s something else isn’t there?”

Junmyeon dropped her gaze, staring down at their sock clad feet. “I’m absolutely terrified that you’ll change your mind about me. That because I’m not ‘perfect’ you’ll decide that you don’t love me and that I’m not worth it. So right now I’m really scared.”

He was uncharacteristically silent.

Junmyeon felt the lump grow in her throat; all of her worst fears had been proven correct. If she wasn’t perfect then no one would want her. She wasn’t the best dancer or the best singer within the group and so she couldn’t add much to the group. But as long as she was a perfect leader and the perfect ‘mother’ to her members then her sincerity would carry across. But she wasn’t the perfect anything and she’d shown that to Chanyeol who’d decided that he didn’t want anything to do with her.

The microwave beeped behind her and Junmyeon went to pull herself out of Chanyeol’s embrace. His arms tightened around her and she looked up at him in confusion. His eyes were solemn, staring down at her with such an intensity that she couldn’t look away. Removing a hand from her waist, he took a hold of her chin and tilted her head up slightly.

“For someone so smart Junmyeon, you can be so stupid sometimes,” he mumbled, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. “Whether you believe you’re perfect or not, I know you’re perfect for me.”

“Chanyeol –”

“I’m not going to let you slate my girlfriend anymore.” He pulled back with a smile. “Now, let’s get the snacks to the members – you of all people know that a hungry EXO is a dangerous EXO.”

**********

For Chanyeol, the interviews surrounding each comeback were his chance to shine when he wasn’t on stage. His fans had the opportunity to see his bright personality and he always had the chance to see Junmyeon laugh at the jokes he pulled – another plus side to the interviews. But one of the things he absolutely abhorred about the interview process was the inevitable question that hinted towards a deeper meaning for Junmyeon and Yifan’s relationship.

God, in one interview Junmyeon had introduced herself as EXO’s mum and Yifan had followed suit and introduced himself as EXO’s dad. Every interview following that one had been trying to link the pair of them together. What made matters worse was that Yifan went around addressing the members as his kids and Chanyeol had seen the way Yifan looked at Junmyeon. He wouldn’t mind if he really did have kids with Junmyeon.

There was a reason that he was one of the ‘big four’.

Here they were, taking part in an interview, when the interviewer broached the subject. The girls were all sitting on chairs with the boys standing behind them and Chanyeol had to wrestle in between Jongin and Jongdae to stand behind Junmyeon. He put his hands on her shoulders, unintentionally squeezing them when he’d heard the question.

“So EXO’s mum and dad don’t share a room in the hotel then?” Cue the awkward laughter from the members and Chanyeol didn’t need to look at Junmyeon’s face to know that she was blushing madly. Chanyeol stopped himself from glaring at the interviewer because he was on camera. “You must have had a couple’s fight.”

“Tao likes to share a room with me when we need to stay in a hotel.” Junmyeon explained quietly, tucking some hair behind her ear. “She gets scared if she stays in an unfamiliar place on her own.”

“So it’s your fault then?” The interviewer looked at the younger girl who linked her arm through Junmyeon’s and cuddled into her.

“I’m just a child who uses her mum for comfort,” Tao insisted in broken Korean, flustered by the interviewer’s attention.

“And does the dad mind?”

“I get kicked out of the room before I can say anything.” Yifan answered making the rest of the members laugh.

Chanyeol watched as Junmyeon shot Yifan a look, silently asking him to get the interview back on track. Yifan smiled reassuringly at her and turned back to the interviewer. Chanyeol wondered just how many of their fans would pick up on the exchange between the two leaders and would use it to feed their fantasies about the members. He’d seen the work the fans wrote and drew about EXO’s ‘leader’ ship.

“But all of that stuff is boring,” Yifan insisted, looking back to the interviewer. “You don’t want to hear about that.”

“Oh, we do,” the interviewer tried to insist, “Your fans are curious.”

“They’re probably even more curious about our newest song.”

The interviewer took the hint and continued the interview, keeping to more professional topics for the rest of it. Once the cameras had stopped rolling, they all started to leave, bowing to the interviewer and the staff as they made their way to the exits. They were standing outside the building as the managers brought around the two vans to take them to the next schedule; a fansign for their new album.

The members startled squabbling instantly about how the members should split into each car, whether they would split into EXO K and EXO M, or as girls and boys or any other combination the members could think of. Chanyeol added his input, adamant on not splitting it as girls and boys. If they split into sub groups then he could sit next to Junmyeon and whilst the rest of the members dozed for the hour and a half journey to the fan sign, they could have some privacy.

“Guys,” Junmyeon tried to interrupt. None of the members heard her and Chanyeol frowned slightly. He went to say something when Yifan cut him off, voice loud and firm.

“Hey.” The members quietened down at the sound of his voice, turning to look at their tallest member. “Junmyeon’s trying to say something.”

“Since we split into girls and boys on the way here why don’t we just split into EXO K and M on the way to the fan sign?” She proposed, half of the members agreeing with her. The other half made grumbling agreements when they saw the glower Yifan was giving them.

The members clambered onto their respective vans, Chanyeol hanging back to get a seat near Junmyeon. Junmyeon stayed back for a moment to talk to Yifan and Chanyeol looked away from the pair to give them some privacy, his attention diverted towards Luhan and Minseok.

Luhan had been uncharacteristically silent when he was washing the dishes last night and the news of Luhan and Minseok’s ‘confrontation’ had spread through the dorm. Chanyeol sympathised with Luhan, having experienced a one sided crush for a long time just like the older man was currently experiencing. But he knew Luhan and how determined he was. Luhan would be able to change Minseok’s mind. Luhan might have told Minseok that he was done with her but that was a lie and his every action proved that – whether Minseok noticed or not.

It didn’t seem like she did notice. She didn’t spare him a look as he held back Tao and Yixing to let Minseok get into the van first so she could get the seat she wanted. Only when she was sat down did he let go of the two girls who clambered onto the car, Jongdae following after them and leaving the seat next to Minseok free for Luhan. Luhan eyed the seat before deciding to sit at the front, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

“Oppa.” A soft voice called

The single word snapped Chanyeol’s attention away from the Luhan’s plight and onto his girlfriend, the same girlfriend who was smiling up at Yifan. Chanyeol cleared his throat pointedly, making Yifan look over at him.

“I should get going,” Yifan said, turning back to Junmyeon, “Someone’s got to make sure the kids don’t misbehave.”

“Luhan oppa and Minseok unnie probably don’t appreciate you calling them kids,” Junmyeon pointed out, making Yifan shrug.

“Well they are our kids so there’s not much they can do about it.”

He headed into the van, waving back at Junmyeon and taking the empty seat beside Minseok. Chanyeol made his way towards his girlfriend, gesturing for her to get onto the van. She clambered into the back of the van and Chanyeol took the seat beside her. Baekhyun was already asleep on Junmyeon’s other side and judging from the way the two maknae’s eyes were drooping, they would soon follow. Kyungsoo on the other hand looked wide awake but was sat at the front, playing with her phone. She probably couldn’t see them.

But in case she did, Chanyeol shrugged off his jacket and draped it across Junmyeon’s bare knees. He never did understand what their stylists were thinking – the girls were all wearing skirts in the middle of November and they were no doubt freezing. Junmyeon smiled gratefully up at him and he reached out to take her hand, hiding their joined hands beneath his jacket.

“Are you tired?” He asked quietly when she leaned her head on his shoulder. It seemed that since they’d had that talk, Junmyeon was willing to relax a bit more when they were around the members.

She nodded, yawning slightly. “I’m just a little tired – I’ll get over it.”

“Are you sure?” His thumb stroked against the back of her hand, hidden beneath his jacket.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night.” She sighed slightly, “I can’t believe we ended up watching a horror movie last night. Minseok unnie said that Tao was having such bad nightmares that she wouldn't calm her down. She eventually left the room to come and find me.”

“You spent the night comforting her,” he guessed, briefly meeting the Kyungsoo’s eyes in the rear view mirror. Her eyes flickered to Junmyeon, and Chanyeol worried momentarily about whether she was going to say something but the younger girl just turned her attention back to her phone.

“She fell asleep at about 5 and then I had to wake her up at 7 so we could get ready for the interview.” Junmyeon shuffled in her seat slightly, pressing closer to him. “She’s probably sleeping right now.”

“You should do the same,” he suggested, leaning towards her slightly and letting her use him as a pillow.

“I want to spend some time with you though,” she muttered, looking up at him with a pout. If the members weren't around then he would have kissed her.

“I’ll still be here,” he insisted and Junmyeon accepted his words, succumbing to the need to sleep only moment later. He followed soon after.

He was shaken away after what felt like minutes. Blinking sleepily, his eyes focused on the face of the member that was trying to wake him up. His eyes focused onto Baekhyun’s face and saw the frown on her face.

“What?” He muttered, voice deep with sleep.

“We’re here,” she said, rolling her eyes slightly, “So wake up already and get your filthy hands off of unnie.”

Chanyeol looked to his side and saw that, sure enough, Junmyeon was wrapped in his arms, still sound asleep. He untangled his arms and sat up, stretching.

“Why are my hands filthy?” He asked curiously as Baekhyun made her way off the van.

The girl peered back at him for a moment. “Don’t take it personally; all boys have filthy hands.” With that she hopped out of the car.

Chanyeol looked around to see that everyone had already left, their managers included. Turning to the girl at his side, he gently shook her awake and laughed a little when she refused to be woken, turning her body away from him.

“Junmyeon,” he said, reaching out to shake her again. “You need to wake up – we’re here.”

“We are?” she asked, suddenly feeling more awake. She sat up in her seat, pinching her cheeks slightly to wake herself up more as she looked around the almost empty van. “Are we late?”

Chanyeol shook his head, gesturing for her to get off first. “I think we just arrived.”

Once the two of them had clambered out of the car they joined the rest of the group who were on standby, waiting for the tables to finish being set up for the fan sign event. They were ushered to their seats by the staff and Chanyeol found himself with six other people sitting between him and Junmyeon. Junmyeon was too busy talking to a member of the staff who was checking her mic to see the way Jongdae’s face lit up when he realised that he was assigned to sit next to her.

The fans filtered into the hall slowly, screaming at the mere sight of them and Chanyeol beamed; he’d never get sick of it. Once all the fans were seated in the hall, the members rose to their feet and greeted them, bowing low to their fans. Junmyeon kicked off the fansign by giving her routine leader-esque greeting and the fansign officially started.

The fan sitting in front of him must have been the hundredth one he’d greeted today but the question she asked on her post-it note was different from the others whilst being almost exactly the same as questions asked by the fans before her.

Chanyeol-ie oppa, who’s the closest to your ideal type:

Kyungsoo
Baekhyun

He answered without needing to think about it. Scribbling over Kyungsoo and Baekhyun’s names he wrote Junmyeon’s name down, her real name not her stage name, in big letters and underlined it twice. Passing the note back to the fan, he watched her look down at the note and frown slightly.

“That wasn’t the answer you were looking for was it?” He asked, reading her facial expression.

“It’s not that,” the fan insisted, smiling again, “It’s just that my friends don’t believe me when I tell them you like Suho-unnie.”

“The fans can tell stuff like that?”

“Of course!” She nodded solemnly, “So don’t give up - fighting!”

“You don’t care about a dating scandal?”

The fan laughed at his shocked expression, “I can’t say the same for all of your fans oppa, but I’d be happy as long as it meant you were happy.”

Before the fan moved onto the next member, Chanyeol signed his name on her album and drew his biggest heart of the day. If only Junmyeon had heard the conversation.

**********

The fansign finished successfully, all the fans left happily and promised to continue loving and supporting EXO forever as they went. The members boarded the vans, ready to head home after a relatively light schedule. The maknae trio had teamed up and approached her this morning to get her to ask the managers to cancel today’s dance practice. And well, she always had a weak spot for her maknaes.

With dance practice cancelled, their member’s schedule cleared up and they were free to return home. Once they had reached the dorms Tao and Baekhyun ran into their respective rooms before they returned, arms laden with skin care products. Dumping the products onto the sofa - they cleared their throats, demanding the attention of all of the other members. When it was clear that they weren’t going to be given everyone’s attention, Tao looked at Junmyeon with a pout.

“Guys,” Junmyeon called out, no louder than the other girls had spoken but this time the members all listened. Whether that was because of her speaking or because Yifan was watching them was debatable. “Let’s hear them out at least.”

“All of the boys need to evacuate the living room,” Tao said, Baekhyun nodding beside her and ignoring the outcry from each of the six males.

“She’s right, take your smelly male bodies away and go hang out in your rooms or something.” Baekhyun said dismissively, looking through the selection of face packs the two girls had brought with them.

“And why can’t you do this, whatever this is, in your rooms?” Jongdae asked, already rising to his feet because even he knew that arguing with Baekhyun was pointless.

“Come along now Jongdae,” Baekhyun barely looked up at him as she handed one of the face packs to Kyungsoo who had been looking at the packages with interest. “Our leader’s tired and do you of all people want to make her even more tired?”

Junmyeon looked up, startled when Baekhyun mentioned her. Her eyes met Jongdae’s as he stood near where she was sitting, looking down at her. Giving her a warm smile he walked over to Baekhyun’s side and crouched down beside her. Snagging one of the facepacks from Baekhyun’s hold, he made his way back towards Junmyeon and held out the packet for the girl to take.

“Here.” He gestured for her to take the packet. “We can’t have you being tired, now can we?”

Jongdae left the room, ignoring the jeering that followed him and Junmyeon sunk further into her seat, cheeks red from embarrassment. Chanyeol bristled besides her and she patted his knee reassuringly as each of the boys left the room one by one and followed Jongdae. Chanyeol was the last one to eventually leave the room and when he did, Tao walked over to Junmyeon, plucking the facepack Jongdae had given Junmyeon from her lap.

“Let me do this for you unnie,” the younger girl said quietly and Junmyeon leaned her head against the back of the sofa, letting Tao do whatever she wanted. “You’ve got good skin unnie but you should do more to take care of it.”

Junmyeon nodded, closing her eyes and letting the younger girl do what she wanted. When Junmyeon had first met Zitao, she had been shy - stumbling over her Korean and had a difficult time fitting in with the non-Chinese members but Junmyeon had been patient in getting the girl to open up. When they had still been trainees Tao would throw these ‘pamper parties’ as an excuse to pour her heart and her inner thoughts out to Junmyeon and Junmyeon knew that was the reason Tao had decided to do this today. All Junmyeon needed to do was be patient and Tao would start talking about herself and what was bothering her.

Sure enough Tao started to speak minutes later as she carefully applied the face mask to Junmyeon’s face.

“Unnie,” she started quietly, cautiously and Junmyeon hummed patiently. “When a boy younger than you doesn’t call you noona then what does that mean?”

Junmyeon furrowed her eyebrows slightly and Tao tsked, making her straighten her face out instantly. Opening her eyes Junmyeon looked up into the younger girl’s face as she did her best to avoid Junmyeon’s eyes.

“A boy younger than you?” Junmyeon repeated cautiously wondering whether the younger girl knew about Chanyeol.

“I mean when Jongdae oppa doesn’t call you noona I know it’s because he doesn’t want to see you as an older sister and he doesn’t want to be seen like a younger brother,” she added hurriedly. “But what about other boys or other members?”

“Are you asking for me or for yourself?” Junmyeon asked once Tao had applied the entire face mask to Junmyeon’s face and started to wipe her hands clean.

“For both,” she trailed off uncertainly and Junmyeon sat up straight, looking closely at the younger girl who was busy applying a face mask to her own face. She turned her back to Junmyeon, sitting on the floor in front of her.

“Tao-ya,” Junmyeon called out gently, brushing the girl's hair out of the way affectionately. She started to braid her hair as she asked casually, “So the boy who didn’t call you noona - are you friends with him or something else?”

Tao whipped round, looking up at Junmyeon with her mouth parted in shock. “How did you - ?”

“Intuition.” She smiled gently, “So? Are you friends?”

Tao nodded and turned away from the older girl with a slight sigh as Junmyeon reached the end of the braid. “That’s why I’m a bit thrown off - we’re close friends and we don’t speak formally to each other but he’s always addressed me as noona.”

Junmyeon hummed contemplatively, tying off the braid. “And do you want to be more than a noona to him?”

“No,” the younger girl said firmly, but not enough to convince Junmyeon. “I don’t.”

“It’s alright to admit you like someone Tao-ya.”

Junmyeon left Tao to her contemplation and rose to her feet, surveying the room. Each of the six girls were wearing a face mask and Minseok beckoned Tao over to join the conversation the other four girls were having. Whilst the five girls talked between themselves, Junmyeon picked up the face masks that had been discarded and placed to the side. Clutching the packets in one hand she made her way to the room the boys had all entered - they were idols too, they needed to look after their skin.

She knocked on the door, not wanting to interrupt their conversation by walking in unannounced, and waited for the door to open. The door was opened moments later and she looked up into Jongdae’s face as he stood on the other side of the open door. His eyes scanned over her face and he smiled good naturedly.

“Joonmyun,” he greeted, ignoring Yifan’s demand that he addressed her as noona.

“I brought some of the face packs with me in case you guys wanted to put some on,” she explained, “You know that the makeup artists tell us off if we let our skin get bad.”

Chanyeol rose from the bed he had been sitting on and made his way to the door. “Thanks.”

He gave her a wide smile, the same one that sent butterflies to her stomach, and took the face packs from her hands, letting his fingertips graze against her hand as he took them. Junmyeon went to take her leave when she felt someone take a hold of her hand. The hand was too small, the fingertips not hardened from hours of guitar practice, to belong to Chanyeol.

Junmyeon turned in time to see Jongdae step out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He released his hold on her hand and rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” he apologised with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” she murmured, bringing her arm back to her side. “Did - did you need something?”

“Can I borrow some of your time tomorrow?” He tucked his hands into his front pockets, clearly nervous. “Maybe after our last music show recording? I need to talk to you in private before we all go home for the holiday.”

“Sure,” Junmyeon smiled up at him despite the uneasy feeling blooming in her chest.

“So I’ll meet you in your room then?”

At Junmyeon’s nod he grinned and headed back into the room. God, what did he want to talk about? Judging from the way he’d acted and the way he had been watching her, Junmyeon already knew what he wanted to talk about.

Pushing the thought to the back of her mind Junmyeon went to join the other girls, sitting crossed legged in between Minseok and Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, at seeing Junmyeon, rolled her eyes and nodded towards Baekhyun.

“What are we talking about?” she asked making Baekhyun stop half way.

“Well,” Baekhyun took in a deep breath, “You know how we said we’d exchange Christmas gifts in a few days before we go home for the two weeks SM has given us off? Well I was just telling everyone what I bought for you girls.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be a surprise?” Yixing asked.

“Who cares.” Baekhyun said dismissively.

“What did you get us then?” Junmyeon asked, although judging from the look Minseok gave her it was a mistake to ask.

“Matching lingerie.”

Minseok had been right.

**********

This round of promotions came to an end and with it came the start of EXO’s two week holiday. The dorm was a hive of activity as the members packed their things, getting ready to go home, clearly excited for the chance to just rest without having a schedule for the day. Chanyeol closed his suitcase just as there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Sehun called over his shoulder, too busy packing to look up.

Chanyeol heard the door open and looked up in time to see Kyungsoo and Baekhyun walk into the room, gifts in their hands. The members were making their way round the dorm, distributing their gifts before they left. The two girls handed their presents to each of the boys.

“Where’s Jongin?” Baekhyun asked when she realised that the other boy wasn’t in the room.

“He’s busy giving his presents out too.” Chanyeol replied with a shrug, already starting to unwrap one of his presents. He sat down on the edge of his bed and read the card attached to one of the presents.

“Here,” Kyungsoo said, handing each of the boys an extra wrapped present. “These are from Junmyeon unnie.”

“Why couldn’t she deliver them herself?” Sehun asked with a small pout. Chanyeol looked up from his gift, curious about the answer too.

“She’s busy with Jongdae,” Baekhyun answered casually, throwing herself down on Jongin’s bed. “We’ve left our room to give them space so we’re going to take over your room for a while.”

“Why do they need space?” Chanyeol asked unable to help himself as he rose to his feet.

“Because he’s going to confess his feelings.” Baekhyun said as though it was obvious.

Chanyeol’s feet were carrying him towards the door before he’d heard the end of the sentence. Walking out of his room he made his way across the dorm, intending to storm into Junmyeon’s room when a small figure cut in front of him to block his path. He looked down at Kyungsoo who had her arms flung out to the sides to block his way.

“What are you doing Kyungsoo?” He asked the girl curiously.

“What are you doing?” She shot back, raising an eyebrow at him. “You can’t just go storming in there for no reason.”

“For no reason?” He crossed his arms over his chest - this entire situation was getting ridiculous. “Why are you pushing for Junmyeon to date Jongdae so much anyway?”

The girl shuffled uncomfortably on her feet, looking away from him. “Because he loves her and I want her to be happy with someone who loves her. We all know how lonely the life of an idol is.”

“So you're only pushing for him because he loves her?” She nodded. “Well I love her too so what now? Why can’t you push for me?”

“Because he’s the best choice,” she said bluntly, not phased by his sudden confession.

“I think you’re lying.” Chanyeol looked past Kyungsoo at the bedroom door that was just a few feet away from him. “I think you’re pushing Junmyeon to go to Jongdae because you know that Junmyeon dating will force Jongin to get over his feelings.”

“That’s not true,” she protested, voice trembling slightly.

“It is Kyungsoo,” he said gently, setting a warm hand on her shoulder. “Maybe instead of focusing on sending Junmyeon off to someone you should focus on what, or who she wants? Or maybe focus on what you want instead?”

He brushed past the younger girl silently hoping she would take his words to heart and not only consider what was best for Junmyeon but also what was best for her. Chanyeol went to open the door to Junmyeon's room when he heard her voice through the door.

“Jongdae-ya,” she was saying, quietly, apologetically.

“I’m not asking for an answer now,” Jongdae replied, laughing slightly. It didn’t sound like his genuine laugh. “I just wanted to finally tell you how I felt and I feel better for doing it.”

“Jongdae,” Junmyeon tried to interrupt again.

He talked over her, not letting Junmyeon say what she needed to say, fearful of what she might say. But his voice was quiet, cautious and made Junmyeon’s words dry up in her throat. She never wanted to hurt him. Chanyeol, on the other side of the door, let go of the door handle. Maybe it would be better to let her handle this on her own.

“Just think over it for the next two weeks,” Jongdae suggested, “And then when we come back you can tell me how you feel. Is that alright Junmyeon?”

“Ok,” she said softly.

Chanyeol went to leave when door opened, Jongdae standing on the other side. He looked up at Chanyeol in shock, mouth parting slightly.

“How long have you been standing there?” Jongdae asked uncomfortably.

“Not long,” he assured him, “I just came to give Junmyeon her present.”

The lie flowed effortlessly from his tongue and Jongdae bought it, slipping past Chanyeol and heading for his own room. Chanyeol walked in through the open door, shutting it behind him when he saw Junmyeon sat on the edge of her bed. She looked up at him and gave him a brave smile.

“I thought he’d just try to get over it on his own and I don’t know how to tell him without breaking his heart,” she admitted with a reluctant sigh, letting herself be wrapped in his embrace when Chanyeol sat down beside her. “I never expected him to tell me.”

Chanyeol sighed, setting his chin on top of her head when she turned into him. “I did.”

Chanyeol remembered the day he’d first met Jongdae - it was the first day he had been added to EXO’s debut team and even then he knew that Jongdae had already fallen for Junmyeon; hook, line and sinker. Before meeting the rest of the team Jongdae and Baekhyun, the late additions, had first met with Junmyeon a few times and that was all it took for Jongdae to fall in love with her.

The members had all gone to a Korean BBQ restaurant to celebrate their upcoming debut when it first clicked for Chanyeol. They were all sitting crowded round a table as Yifan manned one of the grills, Chanyeol manning the other. Jongdae and Baekhyun had managed to integrate themselves quickly with the other 10 members and the entire table was discussing their first impressions.

“What about Junmyeon then?” Minseok noona had asked, leaning over the grill to steal a piece of the meat. “What did you think about Junmyeon, Jongdae?”

“That she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen,” he admitted becoming embarrassed when the members erupted into laughter. Junmyeon giggled in embarrassment, taking some of the meat from one of the grills and keeping the maknae’s plates full. She didn’t see the way that her action made Jongdae smile. “But she’s extremely talented too and exceptionally kind.”

“Stop it,” the girl in question protested quietly, taking another piece of meat and raising it to Jongdae’s lips to shut him up. His eyes widened in surprise, clearly not used to Junmyeon's affectionate nature yet, before eating the meat from her chopsticks. “That's enough embarrassing your noona.”

“That’s a shame hyung - you’ve been little brother zoned,” Sehun teased Jongdae, ribbing him gently.

Jongdae looked at the younger boy curiously, turning his attention away from the older girl to look at Sehun as Junmyeon began to make a lettuce wrap.

“Junmyeon noona doesn’t see boys that call her noona as anything other than little brothers,” Sehun explained, completely missing the way Junmyeon rolled her eyes as she leaned across the table.

“Chanyeol-ah,” She called out holding the wrap out for him. He leaned forward to eat it, and he might have shot a slightly smug look in Jongdae’s direction as he did so - not that he’d admit it. “Don’t just grill the meat - eat as well.”

“Yes ma’am.” He mock saluted her, laughing when she gave him a look.

“And Sehun,” she turned back to the maknae, putting a hand on Jongdae’s shoulder as she leaned around him to give their maknae a look. She completely missing the way he stiffened at the simple contact. “Stop telling people that.”

“Well it’s true isn’t it?” He asked, helping himself to more food.

Junmyeon didn’t attempt to deny it and Chanyeol was certain that he hadn’t been the only one to realise that Jongdae had never called her noona since that day. Jongdae’s ‘pursuit’ of Junmyeon was painful for Chanyeol to watch, even if he was a rival. Jongdae went out of his way to consult Junmyeon about his vocal technique, always mentioned her as the member he missed whenever he was asked whilst they were promoting as EXO K and EXO M, and he was always the first to offer his help when she needed something.

Chanyeol wondered when Junmyeon had realised how he felt. Was it when Jongdae stayed up late to wish her a happy birthday at exactly midnight or when he started to pay for her whenever the two of them went out alone? Or was it the way that he looked at her when he thought no one was looking and catered to her every need whenever they were filming a music video?

Jongdae loved Junmyeon almost as much as Chanyeol did.

“Chanyeol?” Junmyeon asked, pulling away from him and bringing him back to the present. “Are you alright?”

He nodded and searched her eyes. Junmyeon, even now, was worrying about how to turn Jongdae down.

“I was thinking of only staying with my family for a week,” he said instead of bringing up the topic and making her worry even more. Instead he told her of the plans he’d made in secret.

“And what about the second week?”

“I think I’ll come back here and spend the week at the dorm. It’ll be quiet and I’ll get some privacy.” He waited for her to understand and she only furrowed her eyebrows. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“If you’re sure that you won’t regret not spending two weeks with your family, then I don’t see why not.” She shrugged her shoulders and Chanyeol visibly deflated. “As long as you don’t get lonely when you’re on your own and keep the place clean - you know what Minseok unnie’s like, then do what you want.”

Chanyeol shook his head slightly, watching his girlfriend. “Junmyeon -”

“What?” She asked in confusion.

“Nothing,” he said with a smile, pulling her towards him. Junmyeon melted into his embrace, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before hugging him close.

“I’m going to miss you for the two weeks,” she mumbled sweetly and Chanyeol hugged her tighter.

None of the other members were here and who knew when they’d get a private moment to themselves again. Especially when Junmyeon wasn’t picking up on his hints. She could be so oblivious sometimes.

**********

Junmyeon had only been home for three days when she got the text from Minseok.

Minseok: I’m coming over

Junmyeon: To my house?

Minseok: I need to talk to you - I’ll be there in an hour

Junmyeon: Ok, see you soon

Junmyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before rising to her feet and padding into the kitchen where her mum was fixing herself a cup of coffee. Hearing the sound of Junmyeon’s soft footsteps she turned to look at her daughter and gestured to the still boiling kettle.

“Do you want some coffee?” She asked and Junmyeon shook her head, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“I won’t be able to sleep all night if I have a mug now.”

“Fair enough.”

“Minseok unnie just texted me,” She started and her mum nodded, paying attention to her words. “She said she’s coming over and wants to talk to me.”

“And that means that you want me to keep your brother away from her,” she guessed without needing any further information.

Junmyeon nodded and smiled thankfully at her mum. “It’d be great if you could - I think it’s a serious conversation.”

“When did Minseok say she’d be coming over then?”

Turning her back to her daughter, she poured the boiling water into her mug and headed towards the refrigerator to get the milk carton.

“I’m not sure to be honest,” Junmyeon admitted watching her mum as she moved around the kitchen. “She texted me to say that she was an hour away but it obviously depends on the traffic.”

“Well when she gets here, tell her that she’s welcome to spend the night here if she wants to.”

“I don’t know about that.” Junmyeon made a face, “You know how oppa acts around her. We’re supposed to be resting and I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable because of him.”

“Ya!” Her older brother called out as he walked into the kitchen, clearly having heard the previous conversation. He rounded on his younger sister who stared up at him, not intimidated. She lived with 11 other people, 6 of whom were boys and she was used to getting them to listen to her - living with them provided her with the skills to remain uncowed by her brother’s scare tactics that he used so often.

“What?” She replied, raising an eyebrow, “It’s true. Why are you even home? Didn’t you move out last year?”

“Are you the only one that’s allowed to come back home for a holiday?” He gave her a look and Junmyeon made a face at him. “And what’s wrong with me being a fan of Minseok?”

“The problem is that you want to be more than just a fan,” she pointed out as their mother left the pair of them to their routine bickering. “And she doesn’t want that.”

“You’re always talking about how lonely idol life is, right?” Junmyeon shook her head in disbelief, the first time her brother had come to the company and met Minseok his one sided crush had developed, making Luhan stick to Minseok’s side even more. “She just needs companionship.”

“But not your companionship. Besides,” Junmyeon muttered quietly, “If you ask me, she’s getting the companionship she needs.”

“From another idol?” Her brother asked clearly shocked at the news. “Is she dating someone?”

“Well, no,” Junmyeon admitted, watching in mild annoyance as the relief swept through her brother.

“That’s good then, a dating scandal would be bad for her,” he said as though he was the one working in the entertainment industry and knew all the ins and outs of the industry. “Besides male idols are wolves, she should stay away from them. Minseok deserves better.”

“God,” Junmyeon muttered in with complete incredulity, “Fans like you are the reason idols are scared to date. Oppa you need to get a girlfriend - one that isn’t a member of my group.”

Junmyeon walked out of the kitchen and briefly wondered why her brother couldn’t set his interest onto a member of Girl’s Generation. At least that way she could always pretend that she didn’t know the person well enough to introduce him to her. Junmyeon pinned all of her hope on the chance that her brother would be called back into work for an emergency before Minseok arrived..

Unfortunately, he wasn’t.

Her brother remained hovering in the living room just waiting for the doorbell to ring so he could be the first person to open the door. He was pacing through the living room and Junmyeon watched him as she sat on the sofa. The doorbell rang and Junmyeon tried to get to the door before him but it was no use. He shouldered her out of the way, using his larger frame to block her from getting in front of him and took a moment to compose himself before opening the door.

“Minseok,” he greeted warmly, gesturing her into her home.

“Oh, oppa,” she said in the return, clearly not expecting to see the older man. Her eyes scanned the room before landing on Junmyeon who had been previously hidden by her brother’s body. She went to her side immediately. “I hope I’m not being a disturbance.”

“Of course you’re not,” he insisted and Junmyeon linked her arm through Minseok’s, willing to pull the older girl away if she had to.

“Ignore him, this isn’t even his home,” Junmyeon said dismissively, “Mum said you can stay the night if you want unnie.”

“That’s very kind but - ”

“You should stay,” her brother interrupted, startling Minseok. Junmyeon eyed him wearily; he was a fully grown man and he still didn’t know how to handle women. “It’ll be tiring for you to drive all the way home again.”

“I don’t want to be a bother,” Minseok protested.

“Have you eaten dinner?” Minseok exchanged a looked with Junmyeon. “If not then I can make you something-”

“You’ll end up poisoning her,” Junmyeon tried to intercede.

“I had dinner before I left home.” Minseok’s words cut off the two siblings squabbling.

“Unnie,” she called out to the older girl. “Didn’t you want to discuss something?”

Minseok took the prompt and allowed the younger girl to pull her into her room. Once they were in the room Junmyeon shut the door behind her as the older girl threw herself face down on the bed, releasing a deep sigh. Junmyeon frowned as she made her way towards her bed, sitting beside the older girl. Reaching out to comfort Minseok, Junmyeon rubbed her back soothingly, knowing that Minseok would tell her what was wrong in her own time.

Even when they were on holiday she was still EXO’s leader.

Minutes ticked by, both girls sitting in silence until Minseok sat up suddenly and Junmyeon’s hand fell away from her. Sitting cross legged on the bed, Minseok stared down at her legs, clearly ready to tell Junmyeon what was wrong. Minseok took a deep breath to steady herself.

“I’m in love with Luhan.” Junmyeon wasn’t surprised at the sudden confession and instead of remarking on it she waited for the rest of the confession. “At first when you told me that you were scared about your relationship I didn’t understand. But I think I get it now.”

“Unnie - ”

“I’m terrified Junmyeon-ah.” Minseok raised her eyes to Junmyeon’s, her eyes telling Junmyeon what her lips refused to say. Junmyeon took one of Minseok’s hands between both of hers, encouraging the older girl to go on - she knew from personal experience that just admitting everything could make you feel so much better. “I’m absolutely terrified that I’ve pushed him away from me one too many times and that, even if he still does like me, he won’t want anything to do with me.”

“You know that’s not true,” she said gently, smiling encouragingly at the older girl who sighed and leaned her head against Junmyeon’s shoulder. It wasn’t often that Minseok came to Junmyeon for advice or comfort and Junmyeon knew that it was because the older girl felt sorry that despite being the eldest member she couldn’t help Junmyeon shoulder the burden of being the leader.

“What happens if we end up going out and the fans hate me for it? I just know that there’ll be some netizens that drag up my pre-debut photos and will mock me for my weight and - ”

“There’ll always be people like that.” Minseok sighed deeply but didn’t deny Junmyeon’s statement. “Even though we’re on leave now, there’s probably a netizen somewhere who’s digging into our background for no reason. Unnie we can’t let people like that get in the way of our happiness.”

“You don’t sound like yourself.” Minseok raised her head to look at Junmyeon in surprise. “Where’s the girl who was so scared just a few weeks ago?”

“Talking to you and Chanyeol helped me a lot,” she admitted, “Of course I’m still worried about the fans and about the members but I understand that I shouldn’t sacrifice my happiness just because I’m scared to fight for what I want.”

“And you think I should fight for what I want?” Minseok asked, uncertain. “What if I don’t know what I want yet?”

“Then tell him that.” Junmyeon gently tried to persuade the older girl. “He should at least know how you feel, right?”

“Right.” The word was mumbled as though Minseok was trying to convince herself.

“What made you decide to admit that you had feelings for him anyway?” Junmyeon asked curiously, trying to distract Minseok before she overthought the situation and somehow managed to change her mind.

“He’s a really caring person,” Minseok started quietly growing uncomfortable under the scrutiny of Junmyeon’s eyes and rising to her feet. She paced around the room, her voice soft as she continued to talk. “I’ve always known that he was caring - he’s spent years caring for me even when I tried to push him away.”

Junmyeon tracked her movements. “But?”

“I had to admit the truth to myself when I realised that he cared for not just me, but my family.” Minseok crossed her arms defensively. “During this round of promotions I forgot to buy a present for my Mum’s birthday and send it to her like I do every year and when I realised I called her to try and apologise. But when I did, I found out that he’s been sending presents to my parents for their birthdays - he’s even sent presents for my little sister who’s become his biggest advocate.”

“He clearly cares about you a lot.”

“Apparently.”

Junmyeon rose to her feet and made her way over to the older girl. “So what are you going to do then? Are you going to tell him?”

“I’m not sure if I should.” Minseok shrugged. “To tell you the truth Junmyeon-ah I came here to talk this through with you and to hide away from my feelings for a bit.”

“I did the same thing when Chanyeol confessed to me for the first time,” Junmyeon admitted, “I used to avoid being alone with him until I managed to straighten out my feelings for him.”

“I’m glad to know I’m not the only one.”

“Why don’t we put this whole boy situation as far out of our minds as possible for now,” Junmyeon suggested, “We’re supposed to be resting aren’t we? Why don’t you stay the night and we can watch a movie or something?”

“And it wouldn’t be a bother?”

“Of course not,” Junmyeon said with a roll of her eyes and heading to her cupboard to find some clothes for Minseok to change into. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you pick out the movie and I’ll go make some popcorn?”

Minseok nodded, taking the clothes that Junmyeon held out to her and reached for the laptop on the bedside table. Junmyeon, already in her pyjamas, headed towards the door to start making the snacks.

“The password’s still the same, isn’t it?” Minseok called out before she left the room.

“Yes,” Junmyeon called out as she left her bedroom and made her way to the kitchen.

She made her way around the kitchen, relying on her memory to guide her around the room. It had been awhile since she’d been able to come home properly that she wasn’t even sure if she remembered where everything was. Slowly the dorm had started to feel more like home instead.

“Oppa,” she called out, eventually giving up when she couldn’t find the popcorn.

Her brother, hearing her voice, padded into the kitchen. “What do you want?”

“Did mum change where we normally keep the popcorn?” She asked as she continued to look through the cupboards.

“It’s in the same place as it always was.” He walked to the other side of the kitchen, opened the cupboard and pulled a bag out from the top shelf. He threw the bag at Junmyeon who caught it and put it straight into the microwave. “Is Minseok still here?”

“She’s going to spend the night here.” Junmyeon said absentmindedly as she rummaged through the shelves, looking for some drinks. “And before you ask,” She paused, sending her brother a deathly glare, “You are not allowed to join us during our movie time.”

Her brother sighed and nudged her out of the way with her hip. She moved out of his way and he closed the cupboard, opening the one next to it and pulling out two drink cartons. “How could you have forgotten your way around so soon? You really need to come home more often.”

“I don’t have the freedom to do that,” she announced, taking the popcorn out of the microwave once it was finished and ripping the packet open to pour the popcorn into a bowl.

“Junmyeon-ah,” her brother called out after her as she went to return to her room, the snacks clutched in her arms. She looked back at him. “You might not be able to come home often but remember to rest up when you’ve got time between your schedules.”

Junmyeon nodded, trying not to seem flustered by the uncharacteristically blatant concern shown by her brother. Instead of replying she made her way back to her room as quickly as she could.

“Did you pick the movie?” she asked as soon as she’d entered the room, not looking at Minseok as she dumped the snacks on her bedside table.

“Junmyeon.” The voice didn't belong to Minseok.

“Chanyeol?” Junmyeon turned to look at Minseok who was sitting in front of her open laptop. She turned the laptop to face Junmyeon, showing her Chanyeol’s beaming face.

“He skyped you whilst you were in the kitchen.” Minseok explained as Junmyeon glanced at her clock - how could she have forgotten that he normally called around this time? Sitting down beside Minseok, Junmyeon waved at Chanyeol and smiled without meaning to at just the sight of his face.

“Minseok noona’s at your house?” He asked.

“She came over to visit,” she said in explanation and reached over to grab the bowl of popcorn, offering it to Minseok.

“That’s not fair noona,” he whined, looking at Minseok. “Why don’t you come and visit me?”

“Well why don’t you skype anyone apart from Junmyeon?” Minseok shot back and Chanyeol had the decency to look ashamed for a second before peeking at Junmyeon, a smile blooming on his face.

“Well that’s because it’s Junmyeon,” he said in explanation.

“So that’s who you’ve been calling every day,” a voice called out from out of the shot. The two girls watched as Chanyeol’s sister, Yura, came onto the screen and greeted the two girls. “I thought he’d gotten a girlfriend or something but he was just talking to you, Junmyeon.”

Yura smiled in a friendly manner as the three members shared a look. Junmyeon cleared her throat and smiled at the older woman.

“How have you been unnie?”

“Busy - but I’m not complaining.” Yura put a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder, “Now what’s this I hear about the company calling Chanyeol back at the end of the week?”

Junmyeon played along with the lie he must have told his family. “I think it’s to work on one of the songs he submitted to be considered for our next album.”

Yura nodded understandingly and excused herself as her mother called her name. Chanyeol watched his sister and looked back to the screen when she had left the room.

“Are you coming back to the dorm a week early?” Minseok asked curiously.

Chanyeol looked back at Junmyeon, “Yeah, I thought it would be a good chance to get some privacy without the members around or any family around.”

Minseok nodded, eyes growing wide with understanding and she side eyed Junmyeon. “So he’ll be all alone at the dorm then?”

“I don’t think any of the other members are coming back early.” Junmyeon tried to remember if any of the other members had said anything of the kind. “No I don’t think any one is coming back early.”

Minseok sighed and Chanyeol’s face fell slightly. His sister called his name from off screen and he let out a sigh.

“It looks like I’m going to have to go,” he said apologetically before lowering his voice and moving closer to the webcam. “Junmyeon-ah, I love you.”

Junmyeon flushed red, both from his confession and the way Minseok squealed at his words. Chanyeol was watching her steadily, waiting for her to return the words. She’d told him that she loved him before but not in front of anyone else.

She leaned in closer to the webcam and lowered her voice to that of a whisper, “I love you too.”

The smile he gave her in response was worth the embarrassment she felt. He ended the call and Junmyeon fanned herself with her hands, trying to get her flush to die down when she realised that Minseok was watching her with an unimpressed expression.

“Unnie?”

“How can you be so senseless?” Minseok demanded.

“Senseless about what?” Junmyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“The reason Chanyeol kept bringing up returning early was to get privacy - he wanted you to return early as well, you fool.”

“Do you think so?” she asked uncertainly.

“I know so,” Minseok stated confidently, “I think you should go home a week early as well Junmyeon and while you’re there you should do something about the serious case of blue balls he’s got going on.”

Junmyeon shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, flushing red all the way to her roots. She was all too aware of Minseok’s blatant amusement at her reaction. She chewed absentmindedly on her bottom lip; should she go back early too?

**********

Chanyeol was bored.

He’d arrived back at the dorm last night and he was already bored. He was the sort of person that thrived when in the presence of other people but alone he found it difficult to keep himself occupied. He’d rooted himself in front of the television and contemplated picking up his guitar to start penning a new song. It would have been different if even one other member was here and he had some company.

It would have been different if Junmyeon was here.

But damn she was oblivious. Maybe he should have been more direct and told her that he wanted to take the chance to spend some time alone with her.

The drama episode he’d been watching came to an end and he rose to his feet, padding into the kitchen to get a snack. He returned with some of the chicken he’d ordered last night and a glass of beer and settled down on the sofa again. Changing the channel, he looked in the direction of the door when he heard it open. Who would be arriving at the dorm this late?

He furrowed his eyebrows as he rose to his feet. Was someone else coming back early? Or had a saesang managed to break into the dorm?

Making his way cautiously to the door, he peered around the corner and felt the tension ebb out of him at the sight of the girl that was pulling her luggage into the dorm behind her. She hadn’t seen him yet and leaned down to take her shoes off. Chanyeol stepped forward to take her suitcase for her, making her look up at him with a smile.

“What are you doing here Junmyeon?” He asked in shock as the girl straightened up and stepped out of the hallway, letting him take her suitcase.

“Didn’t you want me to come home early?” She called out from behind her as Chanyeol trailed after her.

“Of course I did,” He said following her around the room. “But I thought you weren’t going to come back early?”

“I wasn’t,” she admitted and Chanyeol eyed his girlfriend in confusion. “It took some interpretation from Minseok unnie to tell me what you wanted and well, here I am.”

“Here you are,” he said with clear affection.

Heading into Junmyeon’s room he put her suitcase on top of her bed and walked back into the front room where Junmyeon sat on the sofa. She looked up at the sound of his approaching footsteps and crossed her arms, glancing pointedly at the empty glass. Chanyeol was too pleased to have her with him that he didn’t mind.

Instead of saying anything he went to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Junmyeon looked up at him, trying to maintain her annoyed facial expression and failing. She hit his chest half heartedly, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her nose.

“We’re only not supposed to drink when we’re promoting,” he said when he pulled away from her. “And well, our promotions ended last week so I’m free to drink.”

“That’s not why I’m annoyed about the alcohol Chanyeol,” she said shrugging off his arm to pick up the empty glass and plate.

Chanyeol watched her back in confusion; would he ever be able to understand her completely? Probably not but he was willing to spend the time trying to. Junmyeon headed into the kitchen and Chanyeol trailed after her almost like a wounded puppy. This wasn’t how he imagined spending the week with her.

Junmyeon washed up the dirty dishes, Chanyeol leaned against the wall to watch her. She didn’t seem as if she was really annoyed. But then again, he did tend to get these things wrong.

“Why are you annoyed then?” He asked tentatively, watching her walk towards the fridge.

“I’m annoyed because alcohol messes with your libido,” she said casually, looking into the fridge and not seeing the way Chanyeol’s mouth dropped. His body became taut as he watched his girlfriend closely - Minseok had done a very good job of interpreting his words. “Chanyeol, I think we need to go shopping at some point. - there’s nothing in the fridge.”

“That-that sounds good,” he stuttered. Junmyeon closed the fridge, looking at him in amusement. “I mean, yeah, we should probably go shopping soon.”

Junmyeon didn’t attempt to hide her laugh and Chanyeol cleared his throat, stepping into the kitchen and walking towards his girlfriend. She moved out of his reach, laughing even more when he pouted.

“Chanyeol-ah,” she said tying her hair as she walked towards the aprons that were hanging on the wall. “Have you had dinner yet or are you full from the chicken?”

“I could eat.”

He came up behind her to tie her apron for her. When he was done she turned to face him and rose on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek and headed to the fridge, leaving him where he was. Damn it was good to be alone with her.

He grinned stupidly as he put his own apron on, following after her. Chanyeol couldn’t get over how domestic it felt or how much he liked that it was. He was too young to be thinking along those lines, he knew it, and he also knew that Junmyeon would freak out if she realised what he was thinking about but he couldn’t help it. Even doing something as mundane as cooking dinner together felt different without any of the other members around.

They worked in a comfortable silence, Junmyeon cutting up the ingredients and Chanyeol washing the rice. Once the rice was in the rice cooker Chanyeol made his way over to Junmyeon, wrapping his arms around her. She melted into his arms, looking back at him with a smile.

“Stop it,” she said without any force. “I’m busy.”

“I missed you a lot during the week we were separated,” he admitted, dropping his chin onto her shoulder. Junmyeon listened attentively to his words, continuing to chop the vegetables. “Even though I made sure to skype you every single day I couldn’t wait to be able to hold you like this again.”

“I wonder how long you’ll continue to feel that way,” she said aloud, slipping out his arms to put a pan on the stove. Chanyeol frowned at her and Junmyeon, catching sight of his expression, made her way back towards him to press a kiss to his lips. “I don’t mean anything by it Chanyeol-ah, you know that.”

One day he was going to get her to see herself the way he saw her, he vowed to himself as he helped her cook the rest of the meal. Once they were done with the cooking, they ate in front of the television, seeing no need to bother with the table. They ate quickly, Chanyeol being more hungry than he realised, and left the dishes in the sink - they could always wash them in the morning. Besides, it wasn’t as if Minseok was home to tell them off for not washing the dishes up right away.

Now that they were sitting comfortably, they watched a rerun of a variety show that they appeared in few weeks ago. Chanyeol sat on the sofa, Junmyeon between his legs with her back pressed against his chest. She snuggled up against his chest, monitoring their appearance on the television, laughing along at a joke Chanyeol had made on the show.

Feeling the weight of Chanyeol’s stare, she looked up into his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s nothing,” he insisted, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “You’re just too beautiful.”

Junmyeon made a face but said nothing as she snuggled back against his chest. Chanyeol hid a smile in her hair; she was just too cute. She kept her silence for a short while longer before asking in a quiet voice, “Do you wish we’d told the members when we started dating 10 months ago?”

“What’s brought this on?” he asked as she pulled away from him so she could face him.

“I’m inexperienced with dating - I spent years training to debut and frankly I didn't have the time to deal with boys.” Junmyeon admitted, playing with her fingers nervously, “As a result of that it’s sometimes difficult for me to realise that I’m doing something towards you that I shouldn’t do. I never asked you if you wanted to keep our relationship hidden.”

“I was alright with it,” he insisted, pulling her back into his arms. “Personally I wish I had told the members to back off since the moves they were putting on you were kind of out of line. I couldn’t help but become jealous. Besides I understand why you didn’t want to say anything.”

“You do?”

“I do.”

They settled back into a silence and at some point Junmyeon had fallen asleep against his chest. Chanyeol leaned over to pick up the remote, being careful not to wake her, and turned the television off. Maneuvering her into his arms, he rose to his feet to carry her into her room. She mumbled randomly in her sleep as she was jostled about by his walking, burrowing her face against her chest.

Entering her room he laid her down on her bed and contemplated changing her into her pyjamas. Deciding against it he went to cover her with the duvet and leave when she took a hold of his wrist. Opening her sleep filled eyes, she peered up at him.

“What’s the matter?” he asked quietly, brushing some of her hair out of her face.
“I’m cold.”

“You’re always feeling cold Junmyeon-ah,” he said tenderly, crouching down by the side of her bed. “Do you want me to turn the heating on?”

She shook her head, tugging on his arm. “Stay with me.”

He pulled his arm gently away from her before getting into the bed with her, pulling the blanket around the two of them. Junmyeon burrowed in against him again, wrapping her arms around his middle and closing her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and closing his eyes too only to open them a moment later.

He must have looked like a freak, watching her as she slept but honestly they’d had so little time together over the last 10 months that he had no problem with doing it. Brushing a strand of hair away from her face he traced her features with his fingers, engraving them into his mind. When the members returned, they’d go back to spending less time together and he’d need to use the mental image he’d created of her to get by.

She caught his hand suddenly making him look down into her face. Her eyes were still closed as she pressed her hand against his, making him cup her cheek. Turning into his hand Junmyeon pressed a kiss to his palm.

He could get used to this.

**********

Junmyeon wasn’t the sort of woman to become self-conscious because Chanyeol wasn’t trying to get her into bed with him but she was self conscious, damn it. Minseok had told Junmyeon that Chanyeol was physically attracted to her and Junmyeon knew he was - the first time they’d slept together (and all subsequent times) proved that. But that had been a long time ago.

For the last four or so months they’d been surrounded by nosy members and hadn’t ever had the privacy to even hold hands so she’d naturally assumed that he’d want to take advantage of the privacy. But he hadn’t made a move on her even once. She tried to rationalise it but somehow the small voice in her head would keep telling her that he wasn’t attracted to her anymore.

In one of the few moments where she was away from him, Junmyeon took the chance to call Minseok and discuss her worries with the older girl. She hadn’t expected Minseok to call her an idiot.

“Junmyeon,” Minseok had sighed over the phone, “He’s mad for you. Has it ever occurred to you that he’s waiting for you to make a move? Try it out and see what happens.”

That hadn’t sat well with Junmyeon who suddenly felt too nervous to do anything of the sort. She didn’t even know how to do something like that and she’d told Minseok just as much. The older girl had told her to surprise Chanyeol while wearing her Christmas present from Baekhyun. Junmyeon remembered blushing so much she resembled a tomato before quickly changing the subject to Minseok’s feelings for Luhan. It was the older girls turn to feel uncomfortable, Minseok quickly bid goodbye to Junmyeon before saying anything.

So here she was, standing in front of the mirror wearing the lingerie Baekhyun had bought for her; the red striking against her pale skin. Letting out a deep breath Junmyeon put one of the shirts she’d borrowed from Chanyeol to sleep in, on top. The red could just be seen through the shirt. The shirt fell to her mid thigh and Junmyeon fidgeted with the bottom of the shirt before taking a deep breath to settled her nerves.

It was now or never. The members were supposed to return tomorrow -

Her phone sounded with a notification and Junmyeon picked it up to see that someone had posted a message in the group chat.

Luhan: I’m back in Seoul!

Junmyeon’s mouth fell open in shock and she scrambled to type back a reply. What kind of obstacle was this?

Junmyeon: Weren’t you supposed to return tomorrow?

Luhan: I ended up catching an earlier flight back

Minseok: Are you going back to the dorm then?

Luhan: Yeah, I’m kind of tired ~

Minseok: Don’t

Minseok: You can spend the night at my house, my parents want to see you

Luhan: And what about you Minseok-ah? Don’t you want to see me?

Minseok: I need to talk to you too

Junmyeon sent Minseok a private message wishing the older girl luck with confessing to Luhan before letting out a relieved breath. Crisis averted.

“Junmyeon,” Chanyeol called out from behind the door, “I thought you wanted to learn how to play the guitar?”

“I’m coming,” Junmyeon called back, taking a moment to steady herself one last time before stepping out of her room.

Chanyeol was waiting for her outside her room and he smiled at the sight of her. His eyes dropped to the shirt she was wearing and he froze slightly, body taut with tension. So he was still attracted to her then. Junmyeon walked up to him and set a hand on his arm, the small contact making him regain his composure.

“Are you alright?”

He nodded his head and cleared his throat, “I’m fine.”

“Come on then.” Junmyeon took his hand, leading him to his room where he kept his guitar.

Once they were in his room Chanyeol let go of Junmyeon’s hand to pick up his guitar to tune it. He sat down on the bed, back against the headboard as he tuned it. When he was finished he gestured for Junmyeon to come over to the bed. Taking the guitar from him, Junmyeon sat down on his lap, squirming slightly to get comfortable. He made a choked moan that he hid behind a cough and Junmyeon smiled behind her hair, pretending she didn’t hear it as she adjusted her hold on the guitar.

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit beside me?” he asked making Junmyeon turn back to look at him.

“I’m comfortable like this.” She smiled at him, “Unless you want me to-”

Junmyeon went to get off his lap when he took a hold of her waist, sitting her back down again. She settled against him, wiggling around slightly to get comfortable and becoming aware of the tent forming in his trousers. Chanyeol cleared his throat.

“It’s alright Jun, stay there.”

He brought his arms around her to hold the guitar, teaching her sincerely and Junmyeon tried to listen to his words. Eventually he removed his hands, bringing them back to his side and letting Junmyeon take a hold of the guitar. Taking the guitar in her hands Junmyeon placed it beside the bed, catching Chanyeol by surprise.

“Junmyeon?”

“I don’t want to learn how to play right now,” she explained, turning on his lap to straddle him. His mouth parted slightly as she pressed closer to him, brushing against the bulge in his trousers.

“You don’t?” he repeated quietly, putting his hands back on her waist. She could feel the heat of his hands through the shirt, the feeling heightened by the way he was watching her.

Shaking her head Junmyeon wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with the hair at the back of his head. “Chanyeol-ah, I love you.”

Chanyeol smiled, enraptured by her eyes as she brought her face closer to his. “I love you too.”

Junmyeon silenced him before he could say anything else, taking his lips into a kiss. He responded instantly, head tipping back to lessen the strain on his neck. He pulled her closer, hands slipping under his shirt to rest against her hips. Junmyeon pressed closer to him, swiping her tongue across his bottom lip to gain access to his mouth. Chanyeol moaned aloud, the sound causing a bolt of liquid warmth to settle in Junmyeon’s core. She shifted restlessly against him, echoing the sound when he sat up, taking control of the kiss.

Pulling his mouth away from hers, he raised his eyes to meet hers. They watched each other closely for a moment and Junmyeon wanted nothing more than for him to get a move on already. Instead he remained still, his thumbs rubbing back and forth against her hips, the small movements making the ache inside of her intensify. His lips pulled up into a lopsided smile; he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

“Chanyeol,” she whined when he wouldn’t do anything else, “Please.”

His hands moved up her sides, stopping when his fingertips brushed against the underwire of her bra. He stopped moving again, watching her facial expression once again. Junmyeon had half a mind to leave him right there to finish himself off but the thought fled her mind, his thumb rubbing against her nipple through the thin lace of the bra. She had no chance of stopping the moan that left her throat.

Having had enough of his teasing, Junmyeon took a hold of the bottom of the shirt and pulled it over her head. She dropped the shirt by the side of the bed, not removing her eyes from his. The temptation got too much of him and he looked over the girl straddling his lap wearing nothing more than the scantiest lingerie he’d ever seen.

“Fuck,” he cursed, leaning forward to press his lips against her jaw.

He traced the length of her neck with his lips, scraping his teeth against her pulse, smiling against her skin when Junmyeon gasped. Chanyeol repeated the action and Junmyeon clutched at his shoulders. He laughed against her skin making Junmyeon hit him only for her to let out a long moan when he sucked at her nipple through the lace making it pucker instantly. Junmyeon let go of his shoulder to clutch his head to her chest, arching her back. He pinched the other between his thumb and finger, pulling away from her when he was satisfied.

“You’re wearing too much clothes,” she grumbled, helping him out of his shirt.

The moment the shirt hit the floor, Junmyeon traced the lines of his chest with her fingertips and Chanyeol laid back, letting her explore him. She followed the path with her mouth before following the trail of hair down his abdomen and sucked an angry bruise against his hip. Chanyeol moaned, bucking his hips upward, seeking further stimulation.

Junmyeon pulled away from him, reaching behind her to undo her bra clasp when Chanyeol took a hold of her waist. Flipping their positions around he hovered above her, reaching behind her to undo the clasp for her and threw the bra without looking to see where it landed. He looked down at her as she shifted underneath him, equal measures self-conscious and restless.

“What?” she complained.

“Nothing,” he said with a smile, “You’re just so beautiful.”

She rolled her eyes for him to see, looping her arms around his neck and pulling him towards her. Taking his lips into a deep kiss, Junmyeon moaned against his mouth when his hand slipped under the waistband, probing her entrance with inquisitive fingers. He pulled his mouth away from hers, watching the way she stretched her neck as he slipped his first finger inside of her, closely followed by the second. Her lips parted in a silent moan as he moved his fingers inside her, thumb circling against her clit. Slipping the third finger into her, he let out a shuddering breath when she pressed her lips against his neck. He couldn’t wait much longer.

Junmyeon’s core ached in anticipation as he removed his fingers completely, leaning across the bed to pull a condom out from the bedside table. Rising onto her elbow Junmyeon watched him fumble around in the drawer, looking for a condom before he pulled one out, looking victorious. He got off the bed and removed his jeans and boxers in one go before returning to the bed as Junmyeon took off her pants. Junmyeon couldn’t help but laugh as she sat up to take the condom from him.

Chanyeol watched her with hooded eyes as she took him in her hand with a confident upwards stroke. He moaned low in his throat, watching as she swiped her thumb against the drop of precum beading at his slit and raised her thumb to her mouth. She leaned down to run her tongue along the slit making him buck his hips upwards. Lacing his fingers through her hair, he pulled her mouth away from his cock.

“I’m not going to last long if you do that,” he muttered, taking the condom from her and ripping the packet open with his teeth.

Junmyeon watched Chanyeol roll it on as she laid back down on the bed, spreading her legs in anticipation. He was hovering over her once again, taking her lips in a kiss as he entered her in one long stroke. They both let out a deep moan at the sensation.

Junmyeon wrapped her legs around his waist at the familiar stretch and sensation of being filled so completely as Chanyeol started thrusting into her slowly. Their hips rolled together, Chanyeol stroking that place deep within her with every inwards stroke. She gasped feeling the pleasure starting to build within her and wrapped her legs tighter around him, moving her hips along with his as she gradually felt the pleasure building towards an orgasm. Placing a hand between them Chanyeol pressed his thumb against her clit and it was the final push she needed.

She climaxed with a long drawn moan of his name, heels digging into the back of his thighs. He started to thrust faster, prolonging her orgasm and chasing after own as he buried his head against her neck. His thrusts lost their rhythm, becoming more sporadic and jerky as he came, thrusting slowly a few more times before pulling out of her completely.

Leaving the bed to deal with the condom he returned to the bed and took Junmyeon in his arms, not caring if they were both sweaty. Junmyeon smiled at him from where she was curled up against his chest, satisfied and sated. She sat up to press a lingering kiss to his lips before returning to her place against his chest. She felt Chanyeol press a kiss to the top of her head as he drew the blanket up around them.

**********

Chanyeol woke up earlier than Junmyeon, just like he always did. He looked down at the woman cuddled against his chest and didn’t think he’d ever woken feeling this content since their debut. She had an arm wrapped around his bare chest, resting her head on his dead arm. He went to pull his arm out from under Junmyeon but she protested in her sleep and moved unconsciously closer to him. Well, he could live with having a dead arm for a little longer.

Using his free arm, he pulled the blanket up to her chin; she always caught a cold so easily. He settled down again, ready to fall back asleep for a little while longer, eyes drooping with sleep only to become wide awake seconds later. He could have sworn he’d heard -

“Where’s Chanyeol?” He heard Yifan ask from the living room. What the hell was he doing back so early? Judging from the general chatter in the living room, the members were all home. They’d all said they wouldn’t be back until the evening. “Isn’t he supposed to be here already?”

Chanyeol looked down at the Junmyeon in panic, what was he supposed to do now? Even if he tried to wake Junmyeon, it was very unlikely that she would wake up and even if she did, where was she going to hide?

“He’s probably in his room,” Chanyeol heard Kyungsoo answer. He sat up quickly, jostling Junmyeon who continued to sleep soundly. “Let me go and wake him up.”

“Wait!” Minseok interrupted quickly, making Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief, once again it was Minseok to the rescue. But the matter still remained - what the hell was he supposed to do now?

“Let’s just wake him,” Jongdae said dismissively and Chanyeol swore he could hear every footstep Jongdae took towards the door, each step getting progressively louder.

It was as if the seconds slowed down, Jongdae turned the doorknob so slowly that Chanyeol took the time to gather his wit. He lied down on the bed once again, pulling Junmyeon back into his chest, her back facing the door that was bound to open any second now and her face pressed against his chest. If Junmyeon was awake she would have known what to do.

The door opened finally, Jongdae’s eyes landing on Chanyeol and the bare back of the girl in his arms. His mouth parted in shock as Chanyeol hurried to wrap the blanket tight around Junmyeon - she wouldn’t want them peeking at her. Chanyeol looked briefly down at the girl that was sleeping soundly; how was she not waking up?

Jongdae hurried to close the door before any of the other members could peek in but it was too late, Baekhyun had been behind him and had seen the pair of them as well. She pushed against Jongdae as he tried his best to keep her out of the room but it was no use. Pushing past him Baekhyun stepped into the room, mouth dropping open.

“Boys really are disgusting - what poor girl had the misfortune of falling into your bed?” She asked loudly and Chanyeol knew that the rest of the members had heard.

“You brought a girl back to the dorm!” Sehun exclaimed loudly, his voice making Junmyeon squirm slightly. If she woke up now then who knows what would happen. Thankfully she returned back to her sleep and Chanyeol shot the younger boy a glare, Sehun had the sense to look sheepish.

He looked to the doorway, crowded with each of the members who were peering in. His eyes met Minseok’s who was thinking quickly, wondering how to handle the situation. Junmyeon would have known what to do.

Baekhyun, her curiosity getting the better of her, made her way towards the bed, trying to get a look at Junmyeon’s face. Chanyeol kept her shielded from Baekhyun’s eyes.

“Baekhyun,” he called our warningly, rooting the girl to her spot. “Don’t.”

“He’s right Baekhyun,” Luhan called our, gesturing for the younger girl to leave the room. “He’s an adult so he can do whatever he wants. Come out of the room and let him handle the situation on his own.”

It seemed like everything was going to work out fine, the members were slowly leaving the doorway. The stubborn members who wanted to hang around, Sehun and Baekhyun, were eventually ushered out by Minseok who looked back at him, eyes screaming at him to do something.

It had all been going well until Tao had stopped in her step, voice curious. “But wasn’t Junmyeon unnie supposed to be at the dorm as well? Where is she?”

Junmyeon stirred and the mention of her name and Chanyeol tried to relay the urgency of the situation to Minseok through his eyes. Tao’s question carried across to Yixing who stopped beside the younger girl and looked at her curiously.

“You’re right,” Yixing agreed, “If she was here then Junmyeon would have come and greeted us when she heard our voices.”

The two girls shrugged and left the room, the tension ebbing out of Chanyeol’s body. It was over, Junmyeon was awake. Her eyes opened slowly as she blinked the sleep away from her eyes. Wrapping her arms around him, she looked up at him with a shy smile.

“Good morning,” she said quietly and Chanyeol froze instantly. Things had been going so well -

He looked to the doorway cautiously and found Jongin standing frozen whilst closing the door. He had obviously stopped at the sound of her voice. Chanyeol watched the younger boy’s shoulder tense as he turned back to face Chanyeol, hands slipping away from the door. He couldn’t bring himself to raise his eyes to meet those of the younger boys, he was scared of what he’d find.

“Noona.” The one word was so anguished that Chanyeol knew in that very second that Junmyeon had always been right that the revelation of their relationship would break Jongin’s heart.

Junmyeon froze at the sound of his voice, sucking in a deep breath when she heard the pounding of footsteps. Each of their members stood in the doorway once again.

“What do you mean noona?” Kyungsoo demanded, coming to a stop next to Jongin. “You can’t possibly mean that Junmyeon unnie and-”

Junmyeon moved to turn in his arms and face the members but he tightened his arms around her, stopping the movement. He looked down at her and saw that she was just as scared as he was. Giving him a brave smile she let out a deep breath.

“It’s too late to hide it anymore,” she said quietly, sitting up and resting her back against the headboard, blanket tucked tightly around her.

She hadn’t even looked at the members yet but they instantly knew it was her. The silence that blanketed the room was terrifying. Chanyeol reached out to hold her hand in a small attempt to comfort her.

“I can’t believe you,” Jongin spat finally, “Taking advantage of her when you were alone-”

“Stop it,” Junmyeon said firmly, finally turning to look at their members. “Jongin, he didn’t take advantage of me - I’m a grown woman. Besides, we’re dating and we have been for over 10 months now. I know we shouldn’t have kept it from you but I wasn’t sure how you’d all react.”

The truth was finally out there and it had shocked the members into silence. Junmyeon avoided their eyes, tucking the blanket around herself more firmly. Chanyeol watched his members closely, watched as Jongdae made his way through the crowd, silently slipping away. He saw the way Jongin clenched his fist at his side, experiencing his first real heartbreak and losing the first love in one fell swoop. Letting out a deep breath, Jongin made his way out of the crowd, Kyungsoo watching him leave.

“It feels good not having to pretend that I don’t know anymore,” Luhan said from the doorway trying to lighten the atmosphere.

“You knew?” Junmyeon asked in shock, looking at the older man.

“Of course I did.” With that Luhan took Minseok’s hand and pulled the girl away.

Slowly the members all left the doorway, Tao shutting the door behind her and the couple were left alone. Junmyeon released a deep breath she didn’t realise she was holding. Chanyeol wrapped his arm around her, waiting to see how she’d react. He didn’t expect for her to smile bravely up at him.

“Junmyeon?”

“That went a lot better than I thought it would,” she admitted, “Jongin’s still young, you know that he has trouble with controlling his temper. I thought he might have kicked off.”

“I didn’t think we’d end up being exposed like this, Junmyeon.” He glanced down at her as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“There’s nothing we can do about it.” She reached out to hold his hand. “This might have been a good thing, you never know.”

“Maybe,” he agreed quietly. “But honestly Junmyeon, how do you feel?”

She thought carefully for a moment. “Relieved.”

“Relieved?” He repeated.

Junmyeon nodded, “Relieved.”

The couple settled into a silence, neither of them telling the other that they were scared of stepping out of the room and facing the other members. There was a tentative knock on the door and they both looked at the door cautiously.

“Unnie?” Kyungsoo called out from the other side of the door. “Chanyeol? Are you going to join us for breakfast?”

Junmyeon cleared her throat, “We’ll be there soon.”

Junmyeon slid out of the bed, slipping back into Chanyeol’s shirt. Chanyeol watched her make her way round the room, picking up her lingerie from where he’d thrown them last night. When she was by the door she looked back at him with a smile.

“I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll meet you for breakfast?”

He nodded with a smile and watched her leave the room, closing the door softly behind her. Getting up from the bed Chanyeol headed into the bathroom designated for the boys and took a quick shower. Gathering some of his ever wavering courage, Chanyeol walked towards the table where the members were sat down for breakfast. He eyed the empty chair beside Junmyeon and moved to sit there when Jongin cut in front of him, sitting down in the seat. Chanyeol looked down at the younger boy who was pointedly ignoring him, and took the seat across from Junmyeon instead. Junmyeon, dressed in her pyjamas and a bathrobe, looked cautiously around the table.

“Here unnie,” Baekhyun said, passing Junmyeon a plate of toast. “You need to regain some strength.”

Chanyeol turned his eyes onto the girl, trying to figure out if she was teasing Junmyeon or not. Junmyeon took the plate from Baekhyun, watching Jongin cautiously like he was going to explode. Baekhyun, realising that Chanyeol’s eyes were on her, rolled her eyes.

“Would you relax Chanyeol?” Baekhyun shoved him. “I’m happy for you.”

“You are?” Junmyeon asked as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Of course she is,” Yifan said from further down the table, “We all are.”

Chanyeol wondered just how much of that was true. From where he was sitting two of their members didn’t look very happy. Jongin was sulking next to Junmyeon and Jongdae, well, he hadn’t even looked in their direction since he’d found out.

“Speak for yourself hyung,” Jongin muttered pushing his chair back from the table roughly.

He walked away from the table and headed for his room, slamming the door shut. Junmyeon’s eyes followed him as he walked through the dorm and upon hearing the slam of the door, she went to rise to her feet.

“Don’t,” Chanyeol said rising to his feet. “I need to talk to him.”

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon called out after him making him stop in his step and look back at her.

“It’s alright Jun - I’m not going to be mean.”

Excusing himself from the table he walked into the room he shared with Jongin and Sehun and shut the door behind him. Jongin, hearing the door open, looked up and upon seeing Chanyeol made a face and looked back down at his phone.

“You didn't finish your breakfast,” Chanyeol said making his way over towards the younger boy. Sitting on Jongin’s bed he waited for the boy to respond.

“I lost my appetite,” he said shortly, not looking up from his phone.

“You’re making Junmyeon worry Jongin-ah.” Chanyeol sighed, “And I don’t like to see her worried.”

“Hyung,” Jongin finally looked up from the phone, “I’m not angry at you or at noona - it might seem like I am but I’m only acting this way because I don’t know how else to act. You knew how I felt about her and I knew how you felt about her so I can’t say anything. Just leave me alone.”

Chanyeol watched Jongin closely, saw the way he was avoiding looking in Chanyeol’s vague direction. He was experiencing his first broken heart. “How are you feeling Jongin-ah?”

“Honestly?” Jongin looked in Chanyeol’s eyes. “Like I’ve been betrayed which is so completely ridiculous because I wasn’t betrayed in any way. I feel like my heart’s been broken into a million pieces, hyung, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fix it.”

“Jongin.”Chanyeol called the younger boys name gently when Jongin’s voice cracked slightly.

Jongin shook his head, giving Chanyeol a brave smile. “I’ve been in love with her for six years now, hyung, you can't expect that to just disappear. Just give me some time to get used to it.”

Jongin, growing awkward under Chanyeol’s stare, looked away from the older boy and felt the tears brimming. He cleared his throat, trying to keep them at bay. This was such a stupid thing to cry about. He’d choose to feel numb over having to experience the pain associated with heartbreak - it was like a gaping wound in his chest, one that continued to ache the more time he spent around Chanyeol and Junmyeon.

Maybe it would heal eventually, maybe it wouldn’t. But all Jongin knew was that he’d rather die than feel it for a second longer.

Chanyeol took the younger boy, who had started to cry, into his arms and patted his back soothingly. He couldn’t do much else for the boy except offer him comfort. Chanyeol could give him words of encouragement and try to help him but he knew it wouldn’t work until Jongin had moved on. He must have held him in his arms for just over ten minutes when the younger boy pushed him away, acting cool as he wiped his tears away.

“Hyung,” he said, suddenly becoming serious, “Don’t expect me to call her my sister-in-law, she'll always be my noona.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Chanyeol promised.

“Good.” Jongin cleared his throat. “I’ll try and change the way I feel about her, I promise, but just give me the time to do that. It’s going to take a while.”

**********

The members, well most of them, had thankfully been accepting of their relationship. Even Jongin was trying his best to accept their relationship and Junmyeon couldn’t help but feel guilty when she saw the way he’d watch her when he thought no one was looking. Jongin was suffering from a broken heart and as much as Junmyeon would have liked to help him, she knew that her presence would only make it worse.

Jongdae was another matter altogether. He was much better at shielding his emotions than Jongin was and on the surface he seemed fine. But the way he had begun to act around Junmyeon told her that she had unintentionally hurt him. The two of them used to spend hours talking about anything and everything but now Jongdae tried to avoid being left alone with her. He conversed with her for a few minutes before making an excuse and leaving the room. Jongdae continued to act pleasent towards her but Junmyeon worried that the distance between the two of them would continue to grow.

She needed to talk to him and that was the reason why she was waiting in the living room. He was currently on the way back home from a radio show and she wanted to catch him by surprise. There was less of a chance of him making an excuse that way.

“What are you worrying so much about?” Minseok asked, coming to sit beside Junmyeon, pulling her from her thoughts.

Junmyeon gave the older girl a small smile, shaking her head, “Who says I’m worried about anything?”

“No one needs to say anything Junmyeon.” Minseok rolled her eyes, “Your face tells me everything.”

Junmyeon looked away from the older girl, playing nervously with her fingers, “It’s nothing, really.”

“I won’t push you to tell me then.”

The two girls settled into silence and Junmyeon studied the older girl. Minseok avoided looking at Junmyeon, playing with the sleeves of a hoodie that Junmyeon recognised as Luhan’s. Did Minseok need to talk to her about something? Junmyeon knew that the older girl found it awkward to approach her for advice sometimes and she decided to make it easier for her.

“Unnie,” she called out, startling the older girl and making her look up at Junmyeon. “Is there something you need to talk about?”

Minseok nodded slowly, looking down into her lap again. She started to play with the sleeves again and Junmyeon waited. She sat patiently, not looking at the older girl so she didn’t make her uncomfortable.

Minseok cleared her throat quietly, “Do you remember when Luhan spent the night at my house?”

“When he came back to Seoul early?” Junmyeon started cautiously making Minseok nod. “What about it?”

Truthfully Junmyeon had noticed a change in the way Luhan and Minseok acted around one another. Something had happened that night that changed their relationship but Junmyeon hadn’t pried. When she wasn’t trying to talk to Jongdae or stop Chanyeol from pouting, she was watching the more forward advances Luhan made towards Minseok. And Minseok, for her part, neither accepted nor rejected him.

“I told him how I felt,” Minseok muttered quietly, cheeks flushing red. “He kind of freaked out a little and didn’t believe me at first.”

“But he does now?” Minseok nodded again, “So are you dating then?”

“No.” Junmyeon's confusion carried across to the older girl who explained, “I don’t know if I’m at that point where I’m willing to risk bringing hate onto myself and onto him yet. I don’t think I can do what you and Chanyeol are.”

Junmyeon looked at her thoughtfully, wondering whether she should tell her that she worried about the same thing and that she’d rejected Chanyeol the first time he’d asked her out, for the very same reason. But they’d ended up dating less than a month later.

“And what does oppa think about that?” Junmyeon asked as the front door opened and the members returning from their schedule flooded into the dorm. Judging from the way Minseok carefully guarded her facial expression once again, their conversation was over.

Luhan, one of the members returning to the dorm, walked over to the girls once he’d spotted Minseok. Settling down next to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder which she, for once, didn’t shrug off. She shifted towards him slightly, leaning against him. Junmyeon had a feeling that Minseok wouldn’t last the month like she had done.

“What are you girls talking about?” he asked, looking between the two girls.

“Girl stuff,” Minseok waved her hand dismissively, “You wouldn’t be interested.”

“Oh yeah,” he raised an eyebrow, leaning down towards Minseok with a playful smile, “Try me.”

“We were talking about periods.” She smiled innocently up at Luhan who reared back as if he’d been struck. Junmyeon laughed quietly, “Or rather we were talking about how Junmyeon’s is late.”

Junmyeon raised her eyebrows in confusion, what was Minseok doing? Her period wasn’t late so why was she -

“It is?” A voice echoed from behind Junmyeon, clearly scared.

Looking over her shoulder Junmyeon's eyes landed on Chanyeol who was doing a very poor job of hiding his fear. Turning back to Minseok, Junmyeon threw her an annoyed look; did she have to get back at Chanyeol for a prank he pulled by throwing her under the bus? She looked back at Chanyeol to see him making his way towards the three of them, eyes staring at Junmyeon’s stomach.

“Relax Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said when he sat down beside her, “Minseok unnie’s pulling your leg.”

“Really?” He raised his eyes to Junmyeon’s, the panic slowly fleeing from his eyes. Junmyeon nodded and he let out a relieved breath, wrapping an arm around Junmyeon. “Good because I am not ready to share you with another person yet.”

Rolling her eyes for him to see, Junmyeon cast her eyes back to the other pair who were busy talking quietly between themselves, heads bowed together. They paid no attention to anything else around them until Baekhyun, followed closely by Sehun threw themselves between each couple, splitting them up.

“God,” Sehun complained, “Is the entire dorm going to become infested with couples? Seeing your constant PDA is gross so keep it to a minimum, there’s still innocent kids around here.”

“I hope you’re not referring to yourself,” Chanyeol said pointedly to the boy that had wedged himself between Chanyeol and Junmyeon.

Junmyeon laughed at the face Sehun made at Chanyeol, reaching out to pinch Sehun’s cheeks. “He’ll always be an innocent baby in my eyes.”

Sehun threw Chanyeol a victorious smirk and looked back at their tiny leader. “Noona who do you prefer more? Me or Chanyeol hyung?”

Junmyeon pretended to think about it for a moment. “You of course Sehun-ah.”

Chanyeol, never having felt so betrayed, made a face at Junmyeon, who reached behind Sehun in order to pat Chanyeol’s back soothingly.

“Jongdae-ya!” Baekhyun called out suddenly making Junmyeon drop her hand and look at the boy that had just returned from his schedule. “How was it?”

“It was fun,” Jongdae said, stepping into the room with a smile. He looked over the people in the room and Junmyeon pretended not to see the way his eyes skimmed right past her. “But I’m kind of tired, I might go and rest in my room for a bit.”

Junmyeon looked back at Chanyeol, wondering if it would be a good time for her to go and talk to Jongdae. He seemed tired from the schedule but this couldn’t continue for long. Chanyeol nodded his head towards Jongdae’s door, silently telling her to go and Junmyeon rose to her feet. Walking away from the group in the living room she approached the room Jongdae shared with Luhan and Yifan, hovering by the door. Taking a breath to steady her nerves, she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Jongdae called out after a short pause.

Junmyeon opened the door and stepped into the room meeting Jongdae’s eyes tentatively. He straightened up at the sight of her, closing his laptop and putting it to the side. Junmyeon hovered awkwardly by the door, wondering how she was supposed to start the conversation.

“Can we talk?” she eventually asked, closing the door behind her.

“Of course,” Jongdae cleared his throat and leaned against the headboard.

Making her way towards Jongdae’s bed, Junmyeon stood awkwardly by the bed. Jongdae, unable to help himself, smiled slightly at the gesture before masking his facial expression once again and patting the bed beside him for her to sit. Perching on the edge of the bed, Junmyeon looked down at her legs, thinking through what she should say to him.

“Didn’t you want to talk?” He asked slowly. Junmyeon nodded, raising her eyes to meet his. “What did you want to talk about then?”

“I think you know Jongdae-ah,” she said gently, making Jongdae sigh.

“There’s no need for you to seek me out for this conversation.” He crossed his arms, looking to end the conversation quickly.

“I never meant to hurt you Jongdae.” Junmyeon reached out to pat his leg, hurt covering her face when he flinched at the gesture. Jongdae instantly looked apologetic. “I’m sorry - I was trying my very best to make sure that I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“It’s not like you did anything wrong,” he pointed out. “You didn’t pretend to like me back, you didn’t string me along and you didn’t do anything wrong so don’t apologise to me.”

“I want things to go back to the way they were Jongdae.” Junmyeon sighed and looked away from the younger boy. “I don’t like that our relationship has become so strained and I know it’s going to take time to for things to get better but I don’t want this to have pushed you away.”
Jongdae looked at Junmyeon contemplatively, even now he couldn’t bring himself get over her. But he wouldn’t lose her by avoiding her.

“Noona,” he called out tentatively.

Junmyeon’s eyes snapped over to Jongdae, not quite believing her ears. “Huh?”

“Noona,” he repeated, “Does Chanyeol make you happy?” At her nod, Jongdae smiled brightly, doing his best not to seem too hurt. “Then I’m happy for you noona, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Jongdae-ah,” Junmyeon called out uncertainly, she wasn’t sure if he completely meant the words he was saying.

“Don’t think so much of yourself,” Jongdae reprimanded teasingly, “Do you think you’re the first girl I’ve ever fallen for? I’ve been heartbroken before, it’s not a big deal. Give me a few weeks and I’ll be over you, you’ll see.”

Junmyeon stared into his eyes, picking up on the hurt behind the words and sighed, reaching over to pull him into a hug. He tried to resist it at first but eventually wound his arms around her, burrowing his head into her neck.

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon said quietly, caressing his hair tentatively. “I really am Jongdae.”

“I know,” he tightened his arms around her. He vowed to himself that once he let go of her, he’d bury his feelings as deep inside of himself as he could. “And you don’t need to be.”

Jongdae pulled away from Junmyeon eventually, giving the older girl another smile. Junmyeon reached out to brush away the hair that had fallen into his face but stopped herself when she saw the conflict in his eyes. Jongdae laughed it off, brushing the hair away himself as she lowered her hand back to her side.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, moving to conversation onto a safer topic. “You didn’t eat when you left for your schedule and you missed lunch.”

“Starving,” he replied, picking up his laptop again and opening it. “Why? Are you going to cook for me noona?”

Junmyeon rolled her eyes, “Just hurry up and tell me what you want already Jongdae.”

“Ramyun,” he answered without even thinking, looking back to the computer screen.

Junmyeon left his room, shutting the door behind her with a smile; things were looking up. It might take a while for things to return to the way they had originally been. But things were definitely looking better than they had done before. 10 months ago she would never have believed that they would ever reach this point. Heading into the kitchen Junmyeon set up four pots of boiling water - there was no way her members would let her make ramyun for Jongdae alone.

**********

2 months later

Not much had changed in the 2 months after they had announced their relationship to the members. The members still liked to make Junmyeon flustered by teasing her, but the girl was already used to that. But one thing that had changed was that the members made a more conscious effort to give Junmyeon and Chanyeol some time alone. They didn’t want to walk in on a scene similar to the one that exposed their relationship in the first place.

Once they had told the members the truth, Junmyeon and Chanyeol had gotten the courage to tell their parents and soon after they had told the company. On one hand they’d received so much more freedom and there was no more sneaking around but on the other hand, they were under constant surveillance from the staff. Their managers closely regulated their interactions when they had a schedule but they couldn’t control the amount of time they spent together at home.

Chanyeol took advantage of that. He stuck himself to Junmyeon’s side, acting so clingy that it put Sehun and Tao to shame. The maknaes had told him as much, which just made him pout until Junmyeon had kissed the pout off of his lips.

Junmyeon was in the kitchen, making breakfast with the rest of the girls. Well, all of the girls except Minseok who had uncharacteristically slept in. The girls had left her alone because she needed to rest every once in awhile.

“Noona,” Jongin called as he walked into the kitchen, looking around the room until he laid his eyes onto Junmyeon. Walking towards her, he asked curiously, “Did the girls all stay in your room?”

“We all squished into the room and spent the night gossiping and watching dramas. Well almost all of us did,” she answered cracking the some eggs into a bowl to make more pancake batter. “Minseok unnie said she had a headache, I think she might be catching a cold.” Junmyeon looked up at him curiously, “Why?”

“It’s nothing.” He waved his hand dismissively, “I just thought I heard something from Minseok noona’s room but it’s probably nothing.”

“Maybe you were imagining things,” Yixing added as she made her way around the kitchen, pulling out enough plates from the cupboard for the members. “Or you were just tired and were hearing things.”

“Maybe,” Jongin agreed quietly and headed towards the door.

“Ya!” Baekhyun exclaimed all of a sudden, making everyone turn to look at her. Baekhyun, oblivious to the eyes on her, watched Kyungsoo in annoyance, “Who cares if there’s still some egg shells left in the batter? You’ve seen what the members are like, they’ll eat anything.”

“She’s right,” Tao chimed in from the sink, where she was on washing duty. Junmyeon met Yixing’s eyes and they reflected the utter disbelief Junmyeon felt at the statement.

“See,” Baekhyun gave Kyungsoo a look. Kyungsoo rolled her eyes in response, ignoring Baekhyun as she flipped a pancake skilfully. “Don’t be such a perfectionist Soo, it’s a bad thing.”

“I don’t think it is,” Jongin chimed in. Junmyeon watched the boy curiously, noticing the flush that crept up his neck as he hurried to leave the room.

With a secretive smile Junmyeon glanced over at a confused Kyungsoo before focusing back onto her bowl. The girls quickly finished making breakfast and setting the table. The members arrived at the table one by one, helping themselves to food as they sat down.

“Good morning noona,” Jongdae greeted as he sat down on one side of her.

“Good morning Jongdae-ah,” Junmyeon greeted back affectionately, passing him a plate full of pancakes that he accepted gratefully.

Someone tapped Junmyeon’s shoulder and she turned to her left, only to be taken by surprise with a kiss. She blinked in surprise, looking up at a grinning Chanyeol who sat down on her left. Junmyeon couldn’t help but smile, giving Chanyeol another kiss and ignoring the gagging sound Sehun made from across the table.

“Can you not do that?” their maknae asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the two of them, “It’s as bad as watching my parents kiss.”

“Don’t be such a child Sehun-ah,” Yifan chided, patting Sehun on the head before helping himself to a cup of coffee.

Junmyeon smiled, looking around the table only for her smile to dim as she stared at two empty seats. Chanyeol, seeing the expression on her face, stopped piling Junmyeon’s plate with food and leaned towards her.

“Jun,” he called out quietly. “What’s the matter?”

“Normally the smell of coffee alone is enough to wake Luhan oppa up but he’s nowhere to be seen,” she said quietly, looking up at her boyfriend. “And I think Minseok unnie has fallen ill. I’m going to check on unnie and wake oppa up.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked as Junmyeon got up to leave the table. She shook her head, excusing herself and made her way towards Minseok’s room.

Opening the door to the older girl’s room, Junmyeon’s mouth dropped open at the sight of a very naked Luhan hovering over an equally naked Minseok, her hands coming up to cover her eyes. She heard some rustling and turned to face the door just in case. Her cheeks grew red and she cleared her throat.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologised, “I should have knocked.”

She hurried to leave the room, stopping her step when she heard Minseok call her name. Turning cautiously, Junmyeon avoided Minseok’s eyes as she stood in the doorway, wearing only Luhan’s shirt. The door to the room was still open and Junmyeon accidentally caught sight of Luhan chucking his boxers back on.

God, she’d need to bleach her eyes.

“Junmyeon,” Minseok started, blushing as she ran a hand through her hair. “I-”

“I came to call you for breakfast,” she cut in, unable to look at Minseok, especially when a still shirtless Luhan walked towards the door to stand behind her. “I’ll just tell the others that you’ll be coming along soon.”

“Thanks,” Luhan said when it became obvious that Minseok didn’t know what to say in the situation. Luhan himself looked like he was blushing, unable to look Junmyeon in the eyes.

Taking the chance to leave the couple alone, Junmyeon went to head back to the table only to stop after a few steps. She looked back over at the couple who were watching her cautiously. At the sight of her smile some of the tension left their bodies.

“I’m happy for you,” she said warmly. “And I’ll keep your secret.”

Junmyeon continued on her way to the table, suppressing shudders. How was she supposed to get that image out of her mind? She managed to compose herself when the table came into view. The members were all talking and laughing between themselves as Junmyeon sat back down in her seat.

“What did they say?” Kyungsoo asked when she caught sight of Junmyeon. “Are they coming to breakfast?”

“They’ll be here in a bit,” Junmyeon answered as casually as she could. “They were still sleeping.”

“But Luhan hyung wasn’t there when I woke up,” Jongdae said with blatant confusion.

“Well he was there when I went to wake him,” Junmyeon answered with a shrug. Jongdae, believing her words, turned back to his meal and Junmyeon reached out to tug on Chanyeol’s sleeve.

“What’s the matter?” he asked quietly.

“Park Chanyeol, you owe me money.”