onemorechansoo | 2015: OCC: Operation Cue Cards (1/2) (for prompt 39)

Author: ANONYMOUS until July 15, 2015

Title: OCC: Operation Cue Cards
Rating: R
Other pairings involved:

Sehun/Kai/Baekhyun, Suho/Chen

Length: 42,518 words
Summary: Park Chanyeol has a passion for broadcasting, and a very successful news anchor named Do Kyungsoo. Prompter problem ensues.
Warnings:

mild hair fetish?

Notes: First of all, thank you to the mods of onemorechansoo for all their love and support! I'm so sorry for all the problems I may have caused orz Thank you for the wonderful memory! Second, I would like to thank my beta for keeping me in line and making sure this fic is coherent enough to be read. Thank you for not giving up on me! Third, thank you to the one who placed that prompt because TV broadcasting (and News in general) is my passion so combining it with Chansoo is an experience I won't ever forget. Fourth and last, to the readers! I am so sorry it got so long. I hope you all enjoy it to the very end!

"WE'RE AIRING IN 5 MINUTES! DOES EVERYONE HAVE THEIR SCRIPTS ALREADY?" Kim Junmyeon, the Floor Director, had yelled and Chanyeol took it as a cue to check if the control men has the script. They do.

"I already passed the scripts, sir!" Chanyeol confirmed. He was confident that he had distributed it to everyone who needed it the most.

"Call for Anchor Do and Anchor Jung!" Someone shouted and this was also the cue for Chanyeol to go running to the dressing room just a few doors down the hallway.

Luckily, he has long legs so he was fast enough to reach the room just in time. Both anchors were reading their scripts even though they would have the prompter later during the live broadcast. That’s what professionals do, Chanyeol guessed.

"Anchor Do, Anchor Jung, Director Kim is looking for you now." Chanyeol announced, panting a bit.

The 9PM News is handled by none other than the country's youngest male and female news anchors, Do Kyungsoo and Jung Soojung. Do Kyungsoo has been in SBS ever since he graduated university 5 years ago and was hired as an intern. However, due to his voice and camera appeal, he was moved to field reporter in a year and soon climbed up his way into a studio anchor.

Chanyeol absolutely loves that story. After all, Do Kyungsoo is his role model.

Being a broadcaster has always been Chanyeol's dream. It was the reason why he joined their Broadcasting Club in High School (wherein he DJ-ed during school events) and in University (where he also DJ-ed in their school official radio station). It (He, Do Kyungsoo) was also the reason why he applied to intern at the SBS News department.

"Why the News department, Yeol?" Baekhyun, his closest best friend, had asked him for the nth time. He had applied to intern in SBS too, but in their Drama Department. "Your voice is made for radio, you know?"

Chanyeol hummed in acknowledgement. "I love broadcasting, though. It's what I really want to do, Baek." He does, he really, really does. He would never regret interning in the News department even if he finds out he’s not made for it.

With Chanyeol's impressive history, it was no surprise that he received a letter of acceptance just a week after applying. His interview was two weeks after that and he aced that one, too.

Soon enough, Chanyeol was wearing his INTERN ID and walking down the hallways of SBS News Department towards his temporary desk. He loves it.

"PARK CHANYEOL! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Their program director was a 36 year old man named Kim Minseok. He's usually quiet and timid, but the moment that the lights go on, he becomes a beast. It just so happens that he’s Chanyeol supervisor in this internship.

"Here, sir!" He had just gotten back from the dressing room, not waiting for Anchor Do and Anchor Jung to follow him. They always do. He slides into his seat in front of the computer connected to the prompter in the studio.

There's only 2 minutes left before the opening of their program and he could see from the glass window that Anchor Do and Anchor Jung were already sitting in the studio.

"Prepare the Headlines." Minseok told him as he turned to the sound engineer.

Chanyeol has a lot of jobs as an intern. He handles looking up through the internet about news from other stations that they haven't covered. He's the personal assistant of Director/Executive Producer Kim Minseok and whatever program the man is holding, Chanyeol is there. He sometimes deals with guests, but his role during live programs is always the prompter.

"Airing in 3! 2! 1! Camera 1!" Minseok's voice boomed inside the soundproof control studio. "Headlines after introduction."

"Yes, sir!" Chanyeol confirmed, the words he had typed earlier already on the screen.

For the next hour, Chanyeol listened attentively to the broadcast to make sure that he flashes what the anchors need to read. He double checks that there are no mistakes because this is live and Kim Minseok would have his head if he messed up.

"Ready to go home, idiot?" Baekhyun cheerfully greeted him. Handing over a piece of bread that he was saving for his friend.

Chanyeol glanced up, bag already in hand as he stared wistfully at the food. "Thanks, Baek! You're the best!" he immediately tore the packaging and took one huge bite.

Baekhyun laughed at him, but paused when he saw someone watching the two of them. He bowed deeply and elbowed his friend who followed.

"Going home for the night, Intern Park?" Do Kyungsoo has another midnight show to host later and thus, he stays for another 4 hours in the station.

"Yes, Anchor Do!" Chanyeol cringed at his loud voice so he added in a quieter tone, "Thank you for the broadcast. I learn so much every day!"

Do Kyungsoo nodded at him and didn't even spare a glance at Baekhyun before leaving.

Chanyeol sighed, eyes starry as he watched the anchor walk away. Baekhyun saw this and rolled his eyes at his friend. It wasn’t a huge task to figure out that Park Chanyeol has a crush on Do Kyungsoo and not it's just idolizing.

“Dude, your drool is dripping.” Baekhyun snapped, laughing when Chanyeol promptly shut his mouth to glare at him. “Sorry. But it’s just so funny? Your crush on him? He’s 5 years older than you, Park Chanyeol!”

“So?” Chanyeol sniffed, shouldering his bag and walking first since he knows Baekhyun would follow anyway. “I can’t help it. He’s just so nice to me and so perfect.”

Baekhyun nodded and didn’t say anything else.

Kim Minseok’s first program recording during the week was a documentary on people’s success. It’s a new show so everyone is expected to be at their best behaviour.

They will have one guest per episode that will talk about their past and how they have succeeded now. They film first in their guest’s place, showing them in their element. However, there was a part of the show where they interview them inside the studio to be used as a question and answer portion.

Chanyeol’s role is usually the Production Assistant when they’re outside shooting, but during studio filmings he’s in charge of prompting again. He sits inside the control booth with Kim Jongin, the show’s writer, and Oh Sehun, the sound engineer. He also gazes at Do Kyungsoo’s face as he interviews the guest regarding their tips to the audience who are hoping to succeed just like them.

Chanyeol had the questions typed earlier so he’s just scrolling them down slowly, carefully listening to his headphones connected to the interview being held below in the studio. He has to pay a 100% complete attention even though this isn't a live show. He didn’t want to disappoint Kyungsoo sunbae, after all.

“Will you give us your last words to our viewers? Encourage them or discourage them, it’s all up to you!” Kyungsoo said his last message to the guest with a smile as he listened attentively to the answer.

Chanyeol stretched his arms from where he was sitting for the past 2 hours. The guest kept on laughing (she’s a small girl, age 25 and obviously attracted to the host) in the middle of her sentences that they end up having to redo the question. Chanyeol can see his boss chewing on his lip as he calls for re-take over and over again.

“Director Kim was about to explode, I swear. It’s a good thing Kyungsoo hyung managed to finally fix the guest’s shit and finish this taping.” Sehun announced, turning off his audio console to finish up.

“Maybe she was just nervous?” Chanyeol offered, shrugging. He’s only an intern and he knew he had no right to talk shit about their guests and other staff.

“Nervous.” Jongin snorted, all the scripts messy in his hand.

Sehun, Jongin and Chanyeol walked out of the control room of Studio B towards the main studio. Minseok and Kyungsoo were having their photos taken as a memento for the first episode finally done. Chanyeol hoped this show would be a hit, it would be extremely exciting to work more with Anchor Do Kyungsoo!

(Okay, so maybe he had ulterior motives.)

Minseok saw Sehun and Jongin enter and immediately call for them. “Come here, you two! We should get a photo of the whole team!” he says brightly, a complete 180 degree transformation on how he looked like earlier.

Chanyeol watched sadly as Sehun and Jongin came up to stand on either side of Minseok and Kyungsoo, posing for the camera. Their smiles are bright even though they look tired. Chanyeol felt like he didn’t belong even though he also had to suffer the past 2 hours. But hey, he’s just an intern, he’s never really going to be part of the team.

Standing awkwardly at the side, he watched the team take various photos for records purposes. He knew they will never get posted anywhere else, but there’s a part of him--a small part, really--that wanted to be part of those photos just so he knows it’s real.

“Intern Park should be with us.” Do Kyungsoo’s voice snapped Chanyeol out of his thoughts and he almost got whiplash with how fast he looked up. The small man was looking at him with a polite smile. “You worked for this too, Chanyeol-ssi. Come join us.”

“M-Me? B-but…” Chanyeol looked at his Boss for confirmation and was actually excited when Minseok nodded at him. Immediately, he ran to where his Boss was standing and posed excitedly behind him.

Another set of photos after photos were taken before everyone finally bowed their heads and thanked everyone for their hard work. Minseok has a meeting in an hour so Chanyeol needs to hurry and prepare his boss’ files.

Before Chanyeol could run off to his tiny desk, he felt a hand on his arm.

“Do you want to join us for lunch, Intern Park? It’s just in the cafeteria, but it would be nice to have all of us who had to suffer that two hours eat together.” Kyungsoo said, his voice asking, but his eyes looked like they were telling him that the decision was final.

Chanyeol turned to his boss again who just rolled his eyes at him. “Ya, Park Chanyeol, you don’t have to check with me about every little thing. It’s just lunch, you won’t get fired for getting lunch with us.” Minseok told him before he went back to his conversation with Jongin about the format of the next episode.

Surprised at his boss’ answer, Chanyeol didn’t realize that Anchor Do was patting his arm. He looked down and almost drowned at how he could appreciate all of the man’s features from his huge eyes to his heart-shaped lips.

“Let’s go get lunch then, Intern Park?” Kyungsoo lead the way as if Chanyeol didn’t know how to eat at their cafeteria.

Chanyeol usually ate lunch alone because Baekhyun is always out filming during this time. The other staff of his department either ate out or don't eat at all. Since Chanyeol is a firm believer of proper meals because his Mom owns a restaurant, he never skips them. So this usually translates to him eating alone.

Except today, it seemed.

Today Chanyeol was sharing his lunch with his boss Director Kim Minseok, their script writer Kim Jongin, the all-around sound and video engineer Oh Sehun and his crush, Anchor Do Kyungsoo. They all only have the usual cafeteria food kimchi jjigae, bulgogi and a side of egg rolls, but with the conversation flowing it feels like they’re at a party.

“The guest really likes you, hyung!” Jongin laughed, mouth full of chicken that he brought from home. He was the only one not eating their canteen food and his packed lunch box looked a lot like the one Chanyeol bought as Baekhyun’s gift this year. Huh.

Chanyeol tried to pretend he wasn’t interested in the conversation, but his heart was thumping hard in his chest. He has no idea how he would react if Anchor Do was interested in their lady guest. He’d probably wail at Baekhyun the whole night.

Minseok and Sehun both turned to Kyungsoo’s side, watching him intently. Gossips, the whole lot of them. Chanyeol was still trying to discretely pretend that he wasn’t interested.

Anchor Do smiled softly, his lips almost turning into a heart shape but not quite. “Is that why she was asking for my phone number? I gave her our office’s number, though.”

Everyone laughed, but Chanyeol was still confused. What did Kyungsoo mean, though?

Baekhyun was on his laptop when Chanyeol plopped down beside him. His best friend was on Skype, but the window was closed down fast so he has no idea who he was talking to. Who cares.

“Baek!” Chanyeol pouted even though he knew Baekhyun wouldn’t really fall for it. His pouts have long lost it’s power the moment he turned 10. “Listen to me, Baek~”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and swatted his hands away. “Go talk to Jongdae or something. I’m busy.”

“Jongdae’s not even home yet, idiot.” Chanyeol pointed out.

Sighing, Baekhyun shut down his laptop and faced his best friend. It’s almost 12 midnight and they have to wake up in a few hours. Better get it over with, really.

“Do Kyungsoo is confusing me, Baek! I don’t even know anymore!” Chanyeol whined, “He’s so nice to me and he makes me feel like I’m part of the team??? He invited me in the photos earlier and to lunch! He did! Not even my own supervisor remembered to invite me! Why???”

Baekhyun shrugged, “Maybe he’s just one of those people who likes being fair to everyone?” Which is most likely, really.

“You think so?” Chanyeol asked. “Because yeah, I see him as someone really nice too? But he’s also someone really serious. Why would he bother with an intern like me?”

“Please don’t ask me to analyze how a really young and really attractive Anchor thinks, Park Chanyeol.” Baekhyun poked his best friend’s huge ears, “What’s bothering you? Like, really.”

It took a while before Chanyeol said, “Writer Kim was teasing him today at lunch about our guest that was so obviously flirting with him? She’s an owner of some sort of company.”

Baekhyun responded by humming.

“And his answer was so vague?” Chanyeol sighed, “Does he like girls?”

“Now there it is! So you want to know if Do Kyungsoo is gay or straight or bi?”

“Obviously.”

He elbowed his tallest friend. “Why? What are you gonna do with the information, Yeol? Woo him?”

“No!” Chanyeol immediately answered, voice even louder than his usual. This caused his best friend to laugh beside him. “Stop making fun of me, Baek. I’m in a crisis here.”

“Well,” Baekhyun paused just to watch Chanyeol look pained. “I could ask my sources?”

“You are the be--”

Baekhyun interrupted him. “But! You owe me breakfast for the next two weeks.”

“Deal.”

Director Kim dropped a huge box with files on top of Chanyeol’s already tiny Intern Desk. He was about to open a fan page for Anchor Do and was grateful his boss didn’t see it.

“Yes, sir?” Chanyeol didn’t stand up because he knew that his Boss hated looking up just to give him orders.

“I need you to sort these papers by year, month and date. They’re receipts for production. Arrange them and file them in that shiny new cabinet under the television.” Minseok looked at his watch. “You have about 3 hours before Jongin finishes tonight’s script so you have until then.”

“Okay, sir!”

Chanyeol looked at the box and knew he would be sneezing by the end of the task. How old are these papers, even? Pre-historic?

“I’ll be out with a potential sponsor. I’ll be back before the 9PM News, okay?” Minseok patted his back. “Make sure no one enters my office besides you.”

Not being very organized himself, Chanyeol felt like he was talking longer than he should with his task. There were receipts for airplane flights from 5 years ago. This felt more like a trash can rather than important documents.

“You look like you’re dying there, man.” One of the many Production Assistant remarked before leaving the room.

Chanyeol’s problem is that he has to arrange these by dates as well and he has to go back to every paper if he found one that is dated earlier. It’s a mess and he’s a mess. He needs to take his allergy medication later.

“Fucking papers.” he muttered under his breath as he tried to find a document dated March 24, 2012 in the pile of papers.

Surprisingly, there was a small stack of paper from 4 years ago that were already sorted. He was awed at how organized the papers looked that he didn’t dare touch anything and just went to the next year.

“Sorting this mess again, huh?” A very familiar voice said behind him. He almost dropped the papers he was holding because he was 99.9% sure it is who he thinks it is.

Chanyeol turned around and yep. It’s definitely him.

“I did this when I was an intern too. But I only finished 1 year before I was ordered to do something “more important” and therefore had to leave it unfinished.” Kyungsoo looked at the pile of papers around him. “There are more now than before huh?”

Chanyeol laughed nervously, “Yeah. There’s four more years, I guess.”

Kyungsoo smiled at him, that bright heart-shaped smile that makes him look less like a serious news anchor and more of a… crush. “The tactic, Mr. Intern Park is to just arrange them by year first. Don’t mind the month or date or whatever. Year first and pile them up. Then you go by the year and arrange it by month and then by date.”

“R-Really?” Chanyeol looked at the mess in front of him. “Thank you for the tip, Anchor Do!”

Anchor Do blushed a little. “Please call me Kyungsoo hyung or even Kyungsoo sunbae. Just... Anchor Do feels a little too serious, doesn’t it?”

“Oh.” Chanyeol cleared his throat a little because it’s starting to feel like he couldn't breathe. “Then Kyungsoo sunbae, please just call me Chanyeol.”

“Chanyeol…” Kyungsoo tested out and Chanyeol’s heart jumped.

“Yup. Intern Park Chanyeol at your service!” Chanyeol smiled, hoping to come off as casual or friendly and not too nervous.

“Well,” Kyungsoo was still smiling that smile that makes Chanyeol want to hug him. “Please continue your task. Believe me, Minseok hyung hates it when tasks aren’t finished.”

“Oh, believe me sunbae, I know.” Chanyeol laughed, remembering that time when their internet connection in the department broke and he was sent to deliver the news regarding changes of that night’s 9PM News. He had to knock on every office and have people sign the memo, but he couldn’t find 3 of the staff and Minseok chewed him a lot for it.

Kyungsoo reached and patted his back lightly, as if unsure of what he was doing himself. “Good luck, Chanyeol. I’ll see you later, alright?”

Watching Kyungsoo walk away from him and out the door of the office was probably counted as creepy, but Chanyeol was still dazed. He couldn’t believe the person he looked up to had asked unimportant Intern Park to call him Kyungsoo sunbae. As if he was any important to even say the anchor’s name!

“Park Chanyeol! Are the papers finished?!” Director Kim suddenly entered the room with a cup of coffee in his hands, an hour too early than the time he should come back.

“Almost done, sir!” Chanyeol answered back, immediately going into sorting just the way Kyungsoo sunbae had taught him too.

“Here’s the script for today. Print it the same number as usual. And fix the script to be used for the prompter later.” Kim Jongin, their Head Writer, handed him the flash drive. Chanyeol’s computer is not connected to the office’s network so he has to receive files by external devices.

“The usual, Writer Kim?” Chanyeol asked, looking up at the tall writer. He was immersed in reading a few documents that Minseok handed him for their shooting the next day.

“Yup, the usual. Make sure Kyungsoo hyung’s prompter is on a bigger font today than Soojung’s. Hyung says he had a hard time reading the last time.” Jongin told him then he left his desk and went out of the office.

Chanyeol frowned, but otherwise connected the flash drive that Jongin uses. He found the script on the usual folder and copied it to his computer.

After he made sure that no text would end up unprinted due to Jongin using some really weird margins that resulted with his first print missing a huge chunk of news, he printed the scripts and stapled them at the bottom left corner. It took him 30 minutes to prepare all the scripts before he could work on the file for the prompter.

Chanyeol’s secret at being trusted with the prompter without too much supervision is that he hasn’t disappointed them yet. He prepares the visuals, carefully checking for an spelling error or spacing problems. He doesn’t cut off the sentence at someplace awkward and he double checks everything.

Minseok is actually very proud of him for this.

“WE’RE AIRING IN 5 MINUTES!” Floor Director Kim Junmyeon shouts, crumpling the script that Chanyeol had just handed him.

Taking that as his cue to run to the dressing room again, he finds Anchor Do and Anchor Jung reading the script like they usually do. His heart ached to be as professional as them, giving a hundred percent to their job.

“Anchor Do and Anchor Jung, we’re starting in less than 5.” Chanyeol panted. Usually he would immediately turn around and run to the sound booth, but this time he made the mistake to look at Anchor Do who was smiling at him.

“We’ll be there.” Kyungsoo answered, already standing up.

Speechless, Chanyeol just nodded and ran. He’s extremely lucky that live programs equates to a fast-paced work environment where people run all the time because he would’ve looked like he was just scared.

The control booth was a welcome distraction, his tasks and responsibilities reminding him of his place.

Being tall, good-looking, talented in musical instruments and a good enough voice for singing or rapping, Chanyeol was often told to audition for entertainment companies when he was still in his first year of High School. Scouts had also talked to him in the street, handing him and his Mom calling cards.

But Chanyeol had one day opened their television on a documentary from University students, like a contest of some sort where viewers could vote for the documentary they think is the best. It was from his sister’s University so he stayed on the channel and watched.

That was when Chanyeol first saw Do Kyungsoo, a tiny University student hosting the documentary about Korean’s view on foreigners working in the country. He wasn’t really paying attention on what the interviewee was saying, but he was enraptured by the host’s face.

“Why do you think…” Do Kyungsoo, as said at the title below his face, asked the passing ahjumma. His face was serious, but if you look hard enough you could see his genuine interest in what the other person was saying.

Chanyeol continued watching and saw more and more of how Do Kyungsoo was shining in his element. It made Chanyeol feel both amazed and sad at the same time. Here he was, a High Schooler learning all kinds of instrument because he can’t choose one. He doesn’t really understand when people tell him to find your passion.

At least, not until he saw how dedicated Do Kyungsoo was into trying to interview Koreans who curses at him or foreigners who tells him how horrible racism is.

Sometimes, as Chanyeol watched Anchor Do deliver news professionally from the screens in front of him, he wondered what happened to the Do Kyungsoo that braved the streets of Seoul for a student documentary.

“You look like your pet died. Again.” were Baekhyun’s first words when he arrived at their lunch table. It’s probably the first time he was going to be eating lunch with his best friend ever since they started their internship, it’s quite sad Jongdae is in another station.

“Just tired, that's all.” Chanyeol muttered.

This morning, Director Kim had him come at 6am sharp to prepare for the shoot with him. Chanyeol had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 4am just to make sure he was decently awake and prepared for any instructions.

After carrying a lot cameras, informing Production Assistants, and huge boxes of tripods, Minseok and his team headed out in a huge van to wherever they were shooting. Chanyeol was instructed to stay in the office and accept the package that Minseok is waiting for then he has the rest of the day free until the 9PM News.

“Did your boss make wittle Chanyeol carry heavy things?” Baekhyun cooed at him before yelping at his friend pinching his arm. “What the hell is your problem, idiot?”

“I don’t even know anymore, honestly.” Chanyeol answered, unwrapping the huge burger his best friend had packed for him. A recently opened burger store was just around the street from their apartment and sometimes Baekhyun is heaven sent. Sometimes.

Baekhyun nodded, yelping again when his phone buzzed on his lap. “Fuck, I should really remember to put this on silent mode. I keep on getting surprised.” He opened his phone and read the content, eyebrows raising. “Hey, Yeol, open your phone.”

Grunting around the mouthful of huge beef patty, he opened the message in his own phone, eyebrow raising as well. “What did they do now?”

“I told you letting them handle the Broadcast Booth for the Entrance Exam will be a bust. Everyone would be so angry at us that no one will join our club next year,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Good thing we’re graduating in a few months.”

“How was I supposed to know they could fuck up a simple instruction as that?” Chanyeol answered, fingers busy typing instructions that the juniors will hopefully follow this time around.

“Seriously, when will these people learn responsibilities?” Baekhyun asked him.

Chanyeol shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe when they’re adults and signed a contract for a company? They’d probably even fuck that up, too.”

Just as Chanyeol was about to send his message, another one arrived from his boss. He sent the instructions to his secretary in the Broadcasting Club and hoped there is still a chance that they haven’t lost any future members. He’ll have to swing by there tomorrow morning before going to the station. Then he went and checked the message from his boss that made him want to bang his head on the table even more.

“What is it? Bad news?” Baekhyun asked, clearly not even sympathetic at all, judging from his smile.

“Head Writer Kim got injured with some sort of motor running over him. They need me to compile news articles for this 9PM News and have one of the old head writer check it over. Ugh.” Chanyeol groaned, almost throwing his phone away.

But Baekhyun didn’t answer, his eyes wide and he looked pale.

“Hey Baek, are you alright?” Chanyeol asked, waving his hand in front of his friend’s face. “Do you want me to--”

“I’ll text you later. I have something that suddenly came up.” Baekhyun grabbed his belongings and then dashed towards the exit, not even giving Chanyeol any time to wonder what had suddenly happened.

Chanyeol’s head ached from all the news writing he had done for the past four hours. He had to scavenge news from all over the department and even from their field reporters. He had no idea which is better and all so he just wrote one for all of them, compiling the ones he wrote and the one that the other writers wrote.

“Yes, sir. I compiled them all and the soft copy is sent to your email. You can check them now.” Chanyeol was talking to Minseok for the past 15 minutes, explaining the leads he had created.

After the long ass call wherein Minseok will call him again after he chooses the news to be included and Chanyeol is to stand-by in case there are any breaking news, he stared at the screen in front of him. He had no idea it was this tiring to do the job, Jongin must be exhausted from all the writing he was doing.

Speaking… Chanyeol sent a message to Oh Sehun, their sound engineer and Jongin’s boyfriend. Hey boss, how’s Head Writer Kim? Are you at the hospital? Chanyeol isn’t too close to Sehun, but he got along well with him enough to know a text message would be appreciated.

Instead of replying, Sehun’s name appeared on his screen for a call.

“Hello boss?” Chanyeol greeted.

“Minseok hyung would have my ass if he finds out you’re calling someone else other than him as boss.” Sehun answered, voice lower than usual. He must still be in the hospital.

“How’s Head Writer Kim?” Chanyeol asked since this was the reason he called, after all.

“Jonginnie is doing well. Not too much bruises, but he fell pretty badly. I’m going to have that driver’s head on my plate even if it kills me.” Sehun told him, pretty confident. Knowing him, he probably has a case already being prepared against the said driver.

“That’s good. I hope he recovers well.” Chanyeol said sincerely. Jongin is a far too bright of a person, he would hate to be cooped up inside a hospital room for days. “Are you in his room? Is he there? Can I talk to him?”

Sehun snorted. “No, I’m on a coffee run in the canteen here. Our boyfriend is with him.”

“Well then hurry up and bring--” Chanyeol paused, his brain finally catching up on what Sehun said. “Wait, I thought you were his boyfriend? Did you break up?”

“Our boyfriend, I said. He’s Jongin’s boyfriend and he’s my boyfriend. We’re all boyfriends, Chanyeol-ah.” Sehun was sighing, as if he was explaining it to a kid and Chanyeol was almost offended.

“Like, the three of you?” Chanyeol asked, already confused by now. Two people can put up with Sehun? Jongin can, he’s nice like that, but another one?

“Yes.” Sehun answered.

Chanyeol was about to maybe question him a bit more, but Minseok arrived in the office and went directly to his desk to get the script. The man was already scribbling notes and he knew he would have to make those adjustments later.

“I have to go, Sehun hyung. Boss Kim is here.” Chanyeol ended the call and stood up.

Minseok looked up. “Get Kyungsoo here. I don’t have all the time to check these and I don’t trust anyone else.” Then he went back to scribbling on the paper.

Chanyeol bowed and went out.

“I think it’s…”

“Maybe if you were…”

“I agree he looks…”

“Then let’s…”

Chanyeol was sitting at his desk outside of Minseok’s office and inside were his boss and Anchor Do. They’re going over the news he wrote and it’s making him really nervous. He can hear snippets of their conversation, but he has no idea what they mean.

An hour later, after Chanyeol was done scavenging for more news online and from their field reporters, Minseok finally stepped out of his office.

“Chanyeol!” Minseok’s voice boomed in the tiny room.

“Yes, sir?” Chanyeol hurriedly went inside, hands shaking.

“Starting tomorrow, once you finish your guest research, you will report to Anchor Do and learn how to get better at news writing.” Minseok told him, handing over the printed news. “What you wrote right now is fine and will do with these adjustments I made, but I don’t have time to do them everyday until Jongin comes back.”

“He’d be confined to the hospital for a week or more, even. He’s always handled the news writing so there’s no one else who could fill this task.” Kyungsoo added, “But you seem like you have a talent for it. It just needs some tweaking.”

Minseok nodded. “So tomorrow, training with Anchor Do until Jongin comes back, okay? For now, edit those and print them then prepare the copy for the prompter. Dismissed.”

Chanyeol bowed to both Minseok and Kyungsoo before going out.

Chanyeol felt so dead beat by the time he got home. Baekhyun texted him earlier that he won’t be there because he had to visit someone and would be sleeping there.

“Traitor.” Chanyeol thought as he slept without any food.

Jongdae was there with a plate of omelette and toast. He had just gotten home from his Internship at KBS Radio and works the night shift. It’s quite sad he wanted to work at a different station than Baekhyun and Chanyeol, but they’re all trying to chase their own dream.

“Good morning, Dae.” Chanyeol mumbled, sitting down and almost plopping himself on the table.

“You’re up early, what’s up?” Jongdae asked, placing the food in front of his friend. “I heard Baek’s at his boyfriend’s.”

Chanyeol was about to shovel a few pieces of toast inside his mouth when he heard what Jongdae said and almost choked. “Wait. What? Boyfriend? Baek has a boyfriend? When did this happen??”

“You didn’t know?” Jongdae laughed. “What kind of friend are you?”

At the pout Chanyeol was sporting, Jongdae gave in.

“Fine, fine. Anyway, he’s at his boyfriend. I don’t know how long he’ll be gone but he took at least a week’s worth of clothes with him. You’d probably still see him at work or something.”

“I’ll hit him when I see him.” Chanyeol assured him and that earned another laugh. “Anyway, I have to drop by the University this morning. Our lovely juniors managed to fuck up a simple booth so I have to salvage some of our image.”

Snorting, Jongdae started eating as well. “I told you it was a bad idea to leave it to them. I shudder even thinking about what will happen to the Broadcasting Club next year.”

“Our seniors left it to us when we were juniors too, so how was I supposed to know they were totally incompetent?” Chanyeol defended his decision.

Being president of the Broadcasting Club was something he was both proud of and worried of at the same time. The moment he auditioned during freshman year, the current President had already started grooming him to become the President when he becomes a senior and all the next Presidents did the same. There was a lot of expectations and people aren’t usually disappointed so he hated it when they are, even when it’s out of his hand.

“Just. Don’t stress yourself, okay?” Jongdae patted his shoulder.

Breakfast was nice with the two of them comparing their current tasks and then laughing at something weird that happened at work. Chanyeol wouldn’t say it out loud, but he missed those times when he, Baekhyun and Jongdae would sit on this table and eat ramen while talking about their dreams.

“Good luck, alright?” Jongdae told him, standing up with the plates on his hand. “I can tell that this is a huge thing, even if it came into your lap because your writer got into an accident. You’ve wanted to do this for a long time now so do it.”

Chanyeol smiled at his friend. “Picking up nice advices from work, I see.”

“Not my fault I got assigned to co-host a nightly love problem radio show.” Jongdae said, but the smile on his face tells a whole lot more. He loved the job. He’s always been a romantic at heart and Jongdae loves the radio, what else could he ask for?

“Anyway, I have to go take a shower and you should go sleep.”

Armed with a cup of coffee and the knowledge that he managed to untangle the mess that his juniors in the club made, Chanyeol went to work in a slightly better mood.

“Finish the research I sent to your email, pass it to me for review then go to Kyungsoo’s office for the training. I need you to be writing proper news report to me by Monday. It’s lucky today’s a Friday.” Minseok told him and Chanyeol was about to leave the room, but his boss added, “We’re visiting Jongin at the hospital later, after the news. Are you coming?”

“Yes, boss!” Chanyeol agreed immediately.

“Good. Meet us here after, all right?” Minseok went back to his work so Chanyeol bowed his head and went out.

Researching about possible guests for their new program isn’t that hard, there is a long list of successful people who got popular because of their hard work. The hard part is coming in contact with them and making them agree. Chanyeol already felt a headache coming.

Minseok wasn’t exactly satisfied with getting a just businesswoman for their first episode, he said he wanted someone who is in the entertainment industry and successful in their own business as well. He said Head Writer Kim Jongin demanded they have to get Shinhwa’s Lee Minwoo as their second guest or die trying.

“Die trying…” Chanyeol scoffed. But he opened his web browser and searched for Lee Minwoo’s contacts. He thought he should at least do this for Jongin since their writer is out injured.

Lee Minwoo designs caps and is quite popular and not to mention he produced music for a lot of people. There would be a variety of things to talk about other than the fact that he is a member of the longest running boyband in Korea. No wonder Minseok was adamant about getting him as a guest and Jongin’s urging didn’t help.

Chanyeol found a website for Lee Minwoo and for Shinhwa so he opened both and went directly to the Contacts page. He found an email address, a facebook page and twitter page so he opened all of them.

Since he was an Intern, Chanyeol didn’t have a company issued email address so Minseok gave him his email and password while making him swear that he won’t use it for anything else. It felt so good to be trusted by his boss.

Dear Mr. Lee Minwoo,

Good day!

As the director for SBS’s newest Documentary formatted program entitled “Who Are You?”, we would like to invite you to be the second guest. The contents would range from shoots of you performing your activities and a question-and-answer portion inside our studio. The minimum shooting schedule would take two days, one for outside and one inside the studio.

Our Head Writer Kim Jongin is a huge fan of your group Shinhwa and would be very excited to work with you. As are we, the whole team of “Who Are You?”.

We would be honored to find out more about the man behind the successful line of caps and songs produced as well as the singer. We hope you would give our new program a chance.

Thank you.

Kind Regards,
Kim Minseok
Program Director at SBS
(See SBS Staff Page for List of Programs)

Chanyeol re-checked the email for any grammar or spelling problems before he copied it and sent it via email and facebook message. In Twitte,he used Minseok’s account to inform him of who he is and then he sent an email to him.

Lastly, after Chanyeol finished messaging him, he looked up the phone number and called them. He was rehearsing what he was about to say while the ringing continued, but he still almost panicked when someone picked up.

“Hello! This is Park Chanyeol from SBS, Assistant to Director Kim Minseok. May I speak to Mr. Lee Minwoo?” Chanyeol read from his cheat sheet, teeth almost gnashing as he tried to remain calm.

“This is ShinCom Entertainment reception, I’m Ms. Ahn. Mr. Lee Minwoo is currently on a shoot with the rest of the members, but I’ll give him the message. Did you send us an email?”

“Yes, Ms. Ahn. That is from us. I also left there the phone number that you may call for any more information for Mr. Lee Minwoo.” Chanyeol replied.

“I’ll forwards your email to Mr. Lee’s personal email and I’ll give him the phone number. Please answer the phone in case he calls.”

“We will!” Chanyeol answered, almost glad at the warm reception.

“Thank you and good day, Mr. Park.”

The phone beeped and he placed it down, heart still beating so hard he was almost running out of breath. He really hoped that Lee Minwoo would accept for Jongin.

The next few hours went by fast enough as Chanyeol did errands for Minseok as well as research for Lee Minwoo’s profile in case the man does answer. He received the call just as he was about to go down and take the training for news writing with Anchor Do.

“Director Kim Minseok’s office, how may I help you?” Chanyeol answered, the phone number was unknown.

“This is Shinhwa’s Lee Minwoo. May I speak to a Park Chanyeol, please?” the voice on the other line is definitely Lee Minwoo, he’s heard him speak a thousand of times (it pays to have a sister sometimes).

“Park Chanyeol speaking, sir!” he almost yelled, but he managed to calm down a little.

“I’m accepting the guesting for your program. I’ll be free next week on Wednesday and Thursday in the morning, is that fine?” the man spoke with confidence that Chanyeol can only dream to have.

Chanyeol checked the shooting schedule board in front of him and saw the two days free. He’d have to request for a cameraman and the studio schedule, but he could probably pull it off.

“Yes, sir! We’re free. I’ll pen it in the schedule right now. Thank you very much!” Chanyeol was ecstatic and he knew Jongin would be, too.

“See you soon, Mr. Park Chanyeol.” And Lee Minwoo hung up.

For a second after he wrote in the board, Chanyeol felt his blood pumping so hard. Then he grinned so wide that he knocked on his boss’ office and peaked his head in to see Minseok look up from the scripts he was reading.

“Lee Minwoo called to accept the offer to guest for the 2nd episode, sir. I penned him in for Wednesday and Thursday next week.” Chanyeol said so fast he didn’t breathe.

The smile that spread on Minseok’s face tells him he did well. “Jongin would be proud of you. Now go train for news writing.” then he went back to the script.

As soon as Chanyeol entered Kyungsoo’s office, he grinned.

“Hey Kyungsoo sunbae, you’ll be interviewing Shinhwa’s Lee Minwoo for the second episode.” he told him the news and sure enough, a smile graced his sunbae’s face. He sat on the chair in front Anchor Do’s desk and leaned over.

“Did you get the interview? Was it all you?” Kyungsoo asked him.

“Yup! Emailed and called him. He just replied right now.” Chanyeol confirmed then blushed when Kyungsoo reached over and patted his hair twice.

“Good job, Chanyeol-ah.” Kyungsoo was still smiling, his eyes almost shining with pride and Chanyeol could feel his heart constrict. Why is his sunbae like this?

“Thank you, sunbae.” Chanyeol could only reply, the touch on his hair still tingling.

“Now,” Kyungsoo grinned some more. “We move on to news writing.”

Do Kyungsoo was even better at news writing than he was at delivering them, Chanyeol thought he was amazing as he explained the steps one by one. He looked like was glowing as he showed Chanyeol the do’s and don’ts at what should be aired.

This made Chanyeol just wonder what happened to that eager University student Do Kyungsoo doing documentaries on the street. Chanyeol knows that because Kyungsoo is a well-known news caster now, he only stays in the studio and on interviews outside, but nothing that means he could work on the field.

Does he miss it? Did he forget about it already?

Minseok, Kyungsoo and a few other staff of the News Department were inside the office when Chanyeol was finished cleaning up. He had to compile the scripts from the 9PM News and keep them inside the storage so he was the last one to get there.

“I’m so sorry for being late,” he bowed but no one answered him as they all walked towards the door. He honestly felt bad even though he knew he wasn’t really at fault, but he knew he had to be in good terms with them.

Head bowed low, he saw everyone’s feet walk past him. All except one. When he looked up, Do Kyungsoo was standing there with a smile.

“Hey, it’s okay.” he said then raised his right hand with… keys? “You’re with me. The station vans are all loaned out. So.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol could hardly breathe, maybe it was better to ride an ambulance. How could he stay in a small confined space with his idol?

“Come on.” Kyungsoo didn’t reach out, but Chanyeol followed him towards the already empty elevator. All the others must have gone down earlier because they were left alone.

There was only silence except for the music playing inside the elevator. Chanyeol’s hands were clammy and there’s a pounding in his head. They can’t just stay quiet all throughout the ride towards the hospital, that would be quite impolite and honestly not nice. What if Kyungsoo sunbae never offer to drive him ever again?

Silence lasted until they got in the car with Kyungsoo, although shorter than Chanyeol, opened the passenger seat for him and made him feel like. Like. Chanyeol doesn’t know how he’s supposed to feel like, really.

As soon as Kyungsoo backed up and is driving towards the exit, Chanyeol decided he had to start a small conversation. Or something. Just something to break this awkward silence.

“Uhm. Sunbae,” Chanyeol had clear his throat. “Thank you for driving me.”

“It’s no problem at all. I can drive you home later, too.” Kyungsoo told him, “Minseok told me that we live near each other and we went to the same University too. I guess I really am your sunbae.”

Chanyeol didn’t tell him that he only went to that University because Kyungsoo went to it. “Yeah, sunbae. I… I’m also in the Broadcasting Club. I heard you were, too?” he asked because he wanted to hear it from Kyungsoo himself. He was the pride of their club and the reason they get so many donations.

“Really? What position? I was the President before I graduated.” Kyungsoo answered him, obviously excited.

“I’m currently the President too, sunbae.” Chanyeol said, a bit proud of himself as well.

The rest of the ride to the hospital was all about Kyungsoo asking Chanyeol of the hoobaes he left and how they were and Chanyeol told him about how they took care of him and guided him well. It wasn’t a lot, but this small similarity between them spoke a lot for Chanyeol.

“We’re here.” Kyungsoo announced as he parked. “Minseok hyung told me Jonginnie is in room 624. We should go, they're all making a mess up there already.”

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were quiet when they rode the elevator up to the 6th floor, but it was a good kind of quiet. Surprisingly, when they got outside the door of 624, it was quiet as well.

“Do you think the place is too soundproofed, subae?” Chanyeol asked just as Kyungsoo knocked on the door and opened it.

The room wasn’t too quiet, but the people they went with weren’t there. There was only Jongin on the bed, Sehun on the couch and Baekhyun on the chair beside Jongin.

Wait.

Baekhyun?

Chanyeol was standing there by the door, eyes wide, jaw dropped and head confused as he stared at his best friend sitting by a chair beside Jongin and feeding him. He turned to look at the newcomers and he smiled bright as he saw him.

“Oh hey Yeol! You came!” Baekhyun greeted, but he didn’t stand up as he continued to feed Jongin small spoonfuls of what looked like soup.

“I--uh.” Chanyeol looked around at a still innocently smiling Kyungsoo beside him and a smirking Sehun by the couch. He feels like he just missed something huge and his mind is supplying it, but it just won’t process. “What?”

Baekhyun laughed. “Hi Kyungsoo hyung! How was the drive with this idiot?”

“He was fine, Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo answered him, walking towards Jongin’s bed. “Hey Nini, how are you?”

Jongin just pouted at him, not answering as Baekhyun fed him another spoonful.

“He’s totally fine, don’t be swayed by his pout, hyung. He just needs a week of bed rest and some more X-rays, psychologist meeting and food.” Baekhyun talked to Kyungsoo as if they were old friends, so casual and close.

Chanyeol was confused.

“Yeah, hyung, Nini was actually asking if he could go home already. He’ll be fine.” Sehun assured him from where he sat.

“You should get better soon, Jonginnie. Chanyeol here got your idol Lee Minwoo to guest on our new show so you should go to the shooting.” Kyungsoo told him and Chanyeol was snapped out of his thoughts at the mention of his name.

“Huh?” Chanyeol blinked and saw the look on Jongin’s face.

“WHAT?” Jongin almost screamed but he started coughing again so Baekhyun had to give him water. After he had managed to calm himself down, Chanyeol found himself staring eye to eye with their Head Writer. “YOU DID? WHEN?!”

After not answering for a whole minute, Kyungsoo elbowed him and that managed to snap Chanyeol out of it. He cleared his throat and his mind of all the questions to answer Jongin.

“Ah, yes. Mr. Lee Minwoo agree to come to our show as the 2nd guest and we’ll be shooting on Wednesday in his studio and then in the SBS studio on Thursday.” Chanyeol answered, he had emailed the details just before the 6PM News and managed to get an immediate reply.

Jongin, instead of answering him, looked at Baekhyun. “When am I going to get discharged?” his eyes looked determined.

Baekhyun looked at Sehun, “Was it on Thursday, Hunnie? I think Thursday or Friday. Doctor’s orders is that we have you stay here for 1 week.” Sehun nodded by the couch in agreement.

“No. I’m leaving on Tuesday.” Jongin suddenly pressed the red button that calls for a nurse. Baekhyun screeched and hit his hand. “No! I’m going!”

Baekhyun and now Sehun had joined him on the bed, explaining that he should get some rest before he returns to work and that he should follow the doctor’s orders. Jongin was pouting when the nurse knocked on the door.

“I’m so sorry, we don’t really need anything. Sorry for the trouble, ma’am.” Baekhyun told her, bowing before turning sternly at Jongin.

“No. You’re not getting discharged before then.” Baekhyun told him.

“You’re going to get rested so that Baekhyun and I aren’t worried sick about you.” Sehun agreed, arms wrapping around Baekhyun’s shoulders. “That’s final, Nini. We’re not going to let you out of our sight.”

“BUT--” Jongin paused when he saw the look on both Sehun and Baekhyun’s face. “I. But I want to see Lee Minwoo. You know I’ve been a fan for so long, Hunnie.”

Sehun’s stern face melted into a small smile, “I know. We used to go to concerts, remember?”

Chanyeol noticed how Baekhyun froze and slowly pushed Sehun away as Jongin and Sehun talked about the Shinhwa concerts and Shinhwa fansigns they went to when they were still in High School. It was only when Baekhyun was already stepping back that they paused to look at him.

“I. I’ll go get juices with Chanyeol here, okay? You can go have whatever broadcasting talk you have with Kyungsoo hyung.” Baekhyun told them a small smile on his lips. That’s a smile that Chanyeol knew very well and a smile he hated because that smile means that Baekhyun is sad and felt left out.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll just go for a moment. Anyone want anything in particular?” Chanyeol asked because it was polite, but at the moment, he sorta hated Sehun and Jongin who were only looking sadly at Baekhyun’s downcasted face.

“Chocolate for me and milk for Nini. Kyungsoo hyung should get some coffee, right?” Sehun asked their news anchor who nodded. “You should get whatever you want, too, Chanyeol.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol took his best friend’s hand and tugged him out of the room.

The silence in the hallway was a welcome silence for Chanyeol, but Baekhyun looked even sadder as they walked silently towards the vending machine by the corner. When they got there, Chanyeol took the coins from Baekhyun’s palm and bought the drinks himself.

“Spill, Baek. You know I hate it when you’re slowly killing yourself like this.” Chanyeol picked up all the juices and placed them on the bench. “Sit, Baek.”

Baekhyun sat and looked at him. “Where do you want me to start, Yeol? From when I started dating them, both of them, or on what happened earlier that got me in this state?”

Opening his can of choco milk, Chanyeol shrugged. “I don’t care which, Baek. I just want you to tell me what’s bothering you right now.”

Baekhyun bit his lip, probably wondering himself what was the problem. “I’m dating Sehun and Jongin at the same time, for a few months now maybe a year. I don’t know. I’m not counting.” he shrugged and took his can of orange juice from Chanyeol. “The thing is, they’ve been together way long before I got in the picture. And I’m younger. And I’m still in Uni while they’re both well-known in their field.”

“So?” Chanyeol tilted his head to the side. “Tell me the real issue, Baek.”

Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun lightly punched his best friend on the shoulder. “Shut up, Idiot.” he took a sip before he finally continued, “I feel left out when they talk about their past or about their job. And sometimes, like earlier, I feel like I’m interfering between them, like I’m in between them and their relationship.”

Honestly, Chanyeol didn’t know what to say because he’s never been in that position, but Chanyeol also doesn’t like seeing his best friend so sad. Baekhyun is never meant to be sad, he only deserves to be happy and smiling when he falls in love. So Chanyeol did what he does best and wrapped his arms around his best friend and tucked the other’s head in his neck.

“I don’t know what to say or if I should say anything, but Baek, I want you to know that I trust you to know what to do and what you want. I’m not going to stop you from anything, but I want to know that you will do what you think is best.” Chanyeol murmured and patted the other’s shoulders. “Okay?”

“Cheesy.” Baekhyun giggled, his words muffled in Chanyeol’s shoulders.

When Chanyeol pulled away and looked at Baekhyun, there were a few tears in his eyes. But otherwise, he was smiling. He feels accomplished.

“Come on, we should get back and bring them their drinks.” Chanyeol stood up and held out his hand. He was really glad when Baekhyun took it.

The other staff of the News Department were there when they got back so it was louder and definitely stuffy. Chanyeol brought out the drinks while Baekhyun quietly slid to the chair beside Jongin who was entertaining his guests. Chanyeol saw Sehun looking sadly at Baekhyun even when he was engaged in a conversation with one of the camera men.

Kyungsoo drove him home, as well, after finding out that they lived in the same direction. Chanyeol tried to protest, but the smile on his sunbae’s face had him in a puddle of goo.

“You didn’t know Baekhyun was dating Sehun and Jongin?” Kyungsoo had asked the moment he slid in the driver’s seat. He buckled his seatbelt and waited for Chanyeol to do the same thing.

“Did you, sunbae?” Chanyeol returned the question.

Kyungsoo nodded as they entered the road. “Sehun and Jongin introduced him to me on their second date. I knew it was serious if the two of them would introduce them to us.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows raised. “Us as in…?”

Kyungsoo laughed a little. “Us as in the whole News Department and a few from others. Sehun and Jongin were very excited. They also managed to convince Baekhyun to apply for an internship here instead of in KBS where he wanted to. Did you know that?”

Chanyeol hummed. “No wonder. I was the only one who was supposed to apply here in SBS, but at the last minute Baek suddenly passed one, too. Jongdae, our other friend, was suddenly alone in KBS. I should’ve known, though.”

“Why did you want to apply in SBS when both your friends wanted to go for KBS?” Kyungsoo asked him suddenly.

“Uhm.” Because you work in SBS? “I. Uh.”

“Is it a secret?” Kyungsoo turned to look at him slightly before returning his eyes to the road. “I promise I won’t tell your boss or anything.”

Chanyeol coughed and Kyungsoo smiled.

Should I tell him? Will I look like a stalker if I do? Will he get mad? Am I being too presumptuous? Will this ruin our relationship? Professional relationship, of course?

But Kyungsoo was waiting for his answer, obviously waiting for Chanyeol to answer his question. He was probably expecting along the lines of childhood dream or something, but it wasn’t. Not really.

“I was in High School when I didn’t know what to do? I can rap and play instruments, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go in the music industry. There’s nothing I’m really passionate enough to want to actually do.” Chanyeol gulped not entirely sure why he’s saying this. “One day I opened our television and documentaries were playing.”

Should I mention his name?

“It was a student documentary for a contest the channel was hosting and the current documentary was from my sister’s University, my current University. I watched how the host concluded interviews on the streets, about how passionate he was.” Chanyeol tried to sneak a glance at Kyungsoo but the other’s face was just the same. No sign of anything. “It didn’t matter if he was cursed at or cried on, he listened to everything they had to say about the topic and I thought that was amazing.”

Finally, Kyungsoo spoke. “Really? He was that passionate?”

“He was really passionate.” Chanyeol replied, tugging on his messy red hair.

“But if he was into documentaries, why did you go for news casting?” Kyungsoo asked, turning a left.

“Because he went into news casting.”

For a whole minute neither of them said anything and the only sound in the car was their shared breathing. Chanyeol was afraid he had overstepped some boundaries, ruined their relationship and scared Kyungsoo sunbae off.

But Kyungsoo only laughed lightly, “Did he go into SBS to be an Intern, got a field reporter job then a studio reporter until he got promoted into a news anchor?” he asked with that light fondness in his voice (at least, that’s what Chanyeol hopes it sounded).

“Yeah.” Chanyeol didn’t know what else to say, really. “I really looked up to him so I joined our Broadcasting Club in High School, applied to the same University and joined the same Broadcasting Club there and then applied to the same SBS Internship. Do you think I look like a stalker, sunbae?”

“I think you’re not and I’m pretty sure he thinks that you’re really amazing. You have talent, Chanyeol. You can definitely write news, you have a great voice you could use and you have a way with words,” Kyungsoo was full fledged smiling now and the heart-shaped lips has Chanyeol’s own heart thundering. “You’d probably end up even better than him.”

Chanyeol smiled lightly. “I doubt it, sunbae. I think he’s pretty amazing, a lot.”

The next few moments were silent, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable so Chanyeol decided not to mess it up. He wanted to maybe joke around or something, but he wasn’t sure Kyungsoo sunbae would appreciate it.

When Kyungsoo pulled up in front of Chanyeol’s apartment, Kyungsoo gave him a blinding smile.

“Thank you, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo said, barely a whisper.

“For what?” he tilted his head to side, a bit confused.

“For everything. For telling me.” Kyungsoo patted his messy red hair, “For liking the person I was when I didn’t.”

Chanyeol would’ve replied, what he wasn’t exactly sure of yet, but he wasn’t given a chance because Kyungsoo closed the door and drove off. Soon he was all alone in front of the main lobby.

“Uh, why is there a lot of hair dyes on the kitchen table, Dae?” Chanyeol woke up to the sound of banging on his door and screaming from his friend. He would’ve wanted to sleep some more, but he wasn’t exactly sure he would be given peace. In the end he opened the door and went out only to see Jongdae inside the bathroom.

“Because we’re going to dye your hair.” Jongdae announced confidently, already preparing towels and a seat.

Chanyeol went and expected the dye. “Gray?!”

“You’d look great with it.” Jongdae assured him. “Now come and sit here.”

“I don’t wanna. I don’t want gray hair and I haven’t even had breakfast.” Chanyeol crossed his arms and looked down at his friend.

“I’ll feed you after and you will look hot with gray hair. I promise.”

Chanyeol, after living with Jongdae for 4 years now, should’ve known that Jongdae does and doesn’t abide by his promises. True he does look hot in gray hair, but he wasn’t fed.

After almost 4 hours of staying in the bathroom with Jongdae creating magic, Chanyeol had come out actually looking sort-of hot? He wasn’t sure, but he does look better than he had expected.

“Now my work here is done.” Jongdae announced as he pushed Chanyeol out of the bathroom. “Now shoo, I have a date in 2 hours.”

Chanyeol looked confusedly at the closed door he was thrown out of. “What?! I thought you said you’ll feed me! Kim Jongdae!”

“Sorry, Yeol. I have a date. Date triumphs promises to cook. You can feed yourself.” Jongdae assured him, voice a bit muffled by the door.

“YOU LIAR!” Chanyeol groaned loudly and hit the door with his foot. He stalked towards the kitchen and took out their leftover kimchi to make himself fried rice. Then he heated water to cook ramen.

Chanyeol was done eating when Jongdae finally came out of his room looking like some kind of rocker. He had his hair permed the other week and it looks great along with his ripped skinny jeans, black tank top and leather jacket. All this for a date?

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? Am I that hot?” Jongdae asked, finger fixing the curls on top. When he heard Chanyeol’s snickers, he glared at his friend. “You’ll understand my sense of fashion when Anchor Do Kyungsoo falls all over your feet at your new hairdo come Monday.”

Chanyeol felt his face heat up, but he snorted at his friend’s words. “An about to graduate kid like me is not attractive enough for someone like him, gray hair or not.”

“Know his taste in men now, do you?” Jongdae raised his eyebrow at him from the mirror.

“Shut up.” Chanyeol glared at him and decided that changing the topic is the best idea right now. “Who are you going on a date with? Someone I know?”

Jongdae grabbed his wallet and phone and then winked at Chanyeol. “Maybe?” Then he was gone, door opening and closing in a span of a few seconds.

Weekend was spent having a movie marathon by himself since Jongdae didn’t come back until Sunday night still wearing the same clothes and a slight limp. Baekhyun didn’t even come home at all.

Monday was a flurry of passing Minseok the rough drafts that Jongin wrote for Lee Minwoo’s guesting, editing them and then having them approved. He had sent the final draft to Jongin’s email so that their writer could check it even while in the hospital.

After settling the script and sending it to all concerned, Chanyeol went to book cameras, microphones and van for their shooting in Lee Minwoo’s work space and he booked Studio B for the shooting on Thursday. Even though SBS was mostly a technological center of sorts, he had to run all over the place to get signatures for the form and it’s a pain in the ass.

Not to mention, after lunch he had to prepare the script for the 9PM News.

I just want to lie down and maybe sleep. Chanyeol had spent the weekend getting 12 hours of sleep, but he was still sleepy.

“Hey, are you okay?” a very familiar voice asked and Chanyeol immediately looked up from where he was slumped on his desk. It was Kyungsoo in his pressed suit, a script on hand.

“Yeah, just a little bit tired. I probably just need to get coffee, sunbae.” Chanyeol answered, fixing his messy hair. The action had Kyungsoo’s eyes focusing on his hair and for a full 10 seconds, Kyungsoo just stared at it. “Uh, sunbae? Are you alright?”

Kyungsoo shook his head for a bit and looked at him. “Yeah. I, yeah. Do you want to come get coffee with me? I was going to go alone, but since you need one too…” he asked then looked at Chanyeol’s hair again.

Confused, Chanyeol ran his fingers in his hair to see if it’s messed up. It wasn’t. Kyungsoo sunbae seemed to stare harder.

“I… need to tell sir Minseok first? In case he looks for me.” Chanyeol said, bowing a little to turn around and stalk to his boss’ office.

Luckily, Minseok seemed to be swamped with work too and agreed to let him go only if Chanyeol promises to get him the biggest cup of espresso he could get and to finish the compilation of news for later.

“He said yes, Kyungsoo sunbae.” Chanyeol waved the few bills that Minseok slapped in his hand before shooing him away from his office.

Kyungsoo smiled, took a glance at the top of his head and then walked beside him.

Chanyeol was significantly taller than Kyungsoo and not just tall, he was taller. He was more than few centimeters taller and Kyungsoo’s head barely reaches Chanyeol’s neck. His sunbae’s hair is jet black and messily falls in his eyes so that the make-up artists could put it up later.

The coffee shop just in front of SBS Building isn’t full at this time of the day. There were only 2 people in front of the line so they stood at the very back to decide their order.

“What are you going to order, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo asked, taking out his wallet. “I’ll buy it for you.”

“No, it’s okay, sunbae! I have money!” Chanyeol immediately took out his own wallet, but winced because he knows it’s impolite to say no.

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m buying you coffee. So order whatever you want. Get some waffles to go too, or something.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but pout a little. “But sunbae, I already owe you a lot for the ride last time and now you’re buying me coffee too.”

Waving his hand, Kyungsoo stepped in front of the cashier since it was their turn. “Whatever you want, Chanyeol.”

“Good afternoon, Anchor Do! What may I get you today?” the cashier smiled brightly and obviously know the man.

“My usual cup of Americano, please. And yours, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo turned to him expectantly and he knew there was no escape.

“Grande Iced Caramel Macchiato, please. And the biggest cup of espresso you have.” Chanyeol told the cashier. Kyungsoo elbowed him and looked at the pastries displayed. “Also a waffle to go, please. Caramel.”

Kyungsoo sunbae looked up at him as he paid the total, accepting the money only for Minseok’s cup. “Enjoy being bought coffee right now because not everyone in our department would. News staff are all… stiff? Snobs?”

“And you’re not, sunbae?” Chanyeol asked as they waited at the pick-up counter for their drinks.

“A little, that’s probably why I fit in so well with them.” Kyungsoo answered him. “How about you? Are you fitting in? I know it’s hard to be on good terms with people that are busy 24/7.”

“Boss Minseok is nice enough. He lets me do actual work and not just buy him coffee, which I do, sometimes. Head Writer Jongin and Sound Engineer Sehun are nice enough, too. Sometimes they talk to me not just about work.” Chanyeol smiled at him. “Then there’s a really nice news anchor I know who buys me coffee and drove me home one time, sunbae. He’s really nice.”

Kyungsoo laughed just as their order got called. “It’s nice to know there’s one really nice person in your department.”

“It is. Especially since I’m not used to this television broadcasting thing at all.” Chanyeol said and sort of froze for a second when he realized what he said. He hoped his sunbae didn’t notice as they picked up their drinks and the waffle.

He’s not in luck. When they were walking back to the building, Kyungsoo finally brought it up.

“What did you mean earlier? About television broadcasting? I thought you were in the Broadcasting Club?” Kyungsoo asked him and when had Chanyeol ever denied his idol anything at all?

“I’m just. I used to only do radio broadcasting at Uni. Baekhyun usually handles the television broadcasting as my VP. I’m not… confident enough when it comes to cameras, I guess?” he shrugged, hoping he didn’t sound like a kid whining.

“But you want to enter News?” Kyungsoo prodded.

Because you’re in News. “I think so, yeah.” Chanyeol sighed, “I do. I want to learn it. But I’m not so sure I’ll ever be confident enough to face the camera because I feel like there’s a hundred and one mistakes I could make.”

Sadly (or luckily, depends on who you ask), someone called Kyungsoo to tell him there’s a breaking news regarding one of the high profile cases and they need him to do the live broadcast for it in 10 minutes.

“We’re not done yet with this topic, Chanyeol. We’re going to continue this later, okay?” Kyungsoo bid him goodbye as he hurriedly ran towards Studio A.

Chanyeol breathed a sigh of relief. For now.

Flopping on his bed, Chanyeol felt strangely alone. Baekhyun is still in the hospital, stuck in babysitting Jongin during the nights that Sehun has to work. He felt lonely waking up to a quiet place because Jongdae is asleep and he felt lonely going home alone because Baekhyun goes directly to the hospital.

Is this how it felt like to have no one? Because if it is, then it sucks.

Tuesday afternoon, a day before Lee Minwoo’s shoot, Chanyeol is busy re-checking the permits and cameras the staff would need. Because the News Department managed to fill in the Head Writer while Jongin is on temporary leave, Chanyeol was back to being Director Kim Minseok’s slave.

“I double-checked everything, sir. I already called to remind Mr. Lee about tomorrow’s schedule and also called the cameraman, lights and your PAs regarding the meeting later. Here’s the final draft of the script that is already approved.” Chanyeol slides the thick bundle of paper to his boss. “Is there anything else you need, sir?”

Minseok looked at him. “You’re coming with us tomorrow. We leave at 8AM so you have to be here at 7 to help with the preparation. Okay?” he smiled at Chanyeol’s gobsmacked face. “What? Why do you look so surprised?”

“Y-you… You’re really letting me come, sir?” Chanyeol could feel the giddiness in his skin and the urge to jump up and down. He wasn’t expecting to be allowed to come in a shooting outside of a studio.

“You’ve earned it, really. You’re basically the person who arranged this whole episode so I think you deserve to know what’s going to happen.” Minseok raised an eyebrow at him. “What? You don’t want to go?”

Chanyeol shook his head, gray hair messing up as he does so. “Yes, I want to go, sir!”

Minseok finally smiled. “Good. Now shoo. I’ll call you when I need you to have the script printed. In the meanwhile, wait for the 9PM News script. You’re gonna have to type it up for the prompter, they say they lost the original. Bullshit, I say.”

Chanyeol bowed deep before turning around to exit the office. He was smiling broadly, hand immediately going up to mess his hair (a habit he acquired after Jongdae dyed his hair gray and somehow made it soft). Too happy, he didn’t notice that he almost bumped to someone.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Chanyeol bent down in a bow, closing his eyes. People in the News Department are prickly and hate to be disturbed.

“Hey, it’s okay. It was my fault too.” Chanyeol looked up and saw the smiling face of one Floor Director Kim Junmyeon. Unlike everyone else who likes to wear comfortable clothing, the small man wears a white long sleeve with a black jacket, no tie, slacks and white sneakers. His hair is currently dyed blonde. No one would even think the man is the one behind the loud yells during off-air of the 9PM News, but he is.

Chanyeol bowed once again, “I’m really sorry.”

Junmyeon just waved his hand and shook his head. “It’s really okay, Intern Park. It was my fault, too. Is your boss in there? I need to talk to him.”

“Yes, sir. He’s here.” Chanyeol bowed once again as Junmyeon walked past him with a smile.

Just when Chanyeol was about to sit on his chair, Sehun appeared in front of him with a glint in his eyes. He tried to step back and let the other man pass, but Sehun just stood there as if he was waiting for him.

“Did you need anything…?” Chanyeol asked.

“I see you’ve met Kim Junmyeon.” Sehun said nonchalantly, but the gleam in his eyes says otherwise.

“I’ve met him before, though?” Chanyeol pointed out. “He’s the floor director of the 9PM News, remember?”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “I know. I work there with you, remember? But, like, you haven’t really seen him outside of the studio, have you?” the gleam in his eyes was back.

“Uh. No?” Was this a trick question?

“Anyway, I’ve heard from someone that you have a little crush on our beloved Anchor--” Chanyeol didn't mean to, really, but his hand immediately went to cover Sehun’s mouth.

“Please don’t say it out loud.” Chanyeol mentally cursed Baekhyun, thinking of ways to kill his best friend the moment he enters their shared apartment. “Please please please please?”

Sehun grunted, Chanyeol’s hand still on his mouth. As soon as he let go, Sehun wiped his mouth with his hand. “Ugh. I hate you.”

Chanyeol pouted, “Can we just… are we going to continue this conversation? Because if we are then can we please talk somewhere else, hyung?”

Sehun nodded to the direction of the exit staircase, already walking and Chanyeol followed. The moment the door closed and after checking that there weren’t anyone else in there, Sehun faced him.

“Oh hey, your hair looks nice.” Sehun said, a bit awed. “It suits you. You should keep it that way. And the gray hoodie and black skinny jeans. Nice. You look good, actually. Did Kyungsoo hyung stare at your hair already?”

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrow and remembered the way that Kyungsoo sunbae had sort of looked at it. “Uh, I don’t know. Does that matter? What did Baekhyun even tell you anyway?” He seriously considers murder is a fair action right now.

Sehun ignored his question. “Aren’t you a little bit curious whether Kyungsoo hyung is straight, gay or bi?”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with me!” Chanyeol was sort-of proud he didn’t stutter, but he was embarrassed at how obvious he sounded. If Sehun wasn’t sure about his crush before, he sure is now.

“I will save you the agony of snooping around to tell you that yes, Kyungsoo hyung is gay. So gay he agreed to have a threesome with Jongin and I back when we were all just newbies here.” Sehun’s eyes was glinting, “Good times, good times. I sort of miss it.”

“Don’t think about Kyungsoo sunbae that way anymore! And!” Chanyeol gritted his teeth, mixed emotions swirling in his stomach. His voice came out harsher than he wanted and it made him feel vulnerable. “Don’t think about other men when you’re dating Baekhyun! Just think about Baekhyun and Jongin hyung!”

Sehun raised his eyebrow. “Are you hurt because of me thinking about Kyungsoo hyung or because I was thinking about Kyungsoo hyung when I’m dating your best friend?”

“Both.” Chanyeol answered immediately. He wasn’t really the type to pretend. “So I don’t want you to hurt Baek. At all.”

At the warning, Sehun smiled a smile that made him look younger. “Because I’m dating your best friend, I will help you with your little crush. Now, take note, okay?”

Chanyeol was lying down on his bed feeling like the world has crashed all over him. He wasn’t going to give up, though, no matter how off-putting the information from Sehun he got.

After consoling himself and reminding himself to never give up, Chanyeol finally fell asleep with future plans in mind.

Wednesday morning with only 3 hours of sleep, Chanyeol had already eaten breakfast, showered, dressed in his most formal clothes (minus the tie and dress shoes, he was going for the Junmyeon Style) and hair styled up.

“WHY DID YOU FUCKING GEL YOUR HAIR, PARK CHANYEOL?!” Jongdae had shrieked the moment he came inside the room, just coming home from work. He looked like death had loomed over him, but he was still awake enough to scream. Figures.

“I… styled it?” Chanyeol looked at the mirror. He didn’t look too horrible.

“YOUR HAIR WAS SOFT NATURALLY, WHY WOULD YOU RUIN IT?!” Jongdae had come barrelling towards him that he instinctively backed off and was pushed inside the bathroom. “STAY THERE UNTIL YOU’VE WASHED YOUR HAIR OFF THAT DEMON STUFF!”

Chanyeol heard the click of a lock and a chair being dragged towards the door. There were more shuffling and a lot of thumping. He was obviously locked in and if there was one thing that Jongdae is, he would do whatever he said he will do so Chanyeol is locked inside until he does what he’s told.

Sighing, he peeled off his clothes and proceeded to wash off the carefully styled hair he had spent 30 minutes working on.

Jongdae hadn’t let him out until Chanyeol’s hair was back to the straight that falls over his eyes. The gray is slightly washed off so Jongdae promised he would come home earlier tomorrow so they could dye it again.

By the time Chanyeol was out of the house, his hair is still slightly damp. He was wearing his black hoodie and then ripped jeans, a fashion statement that he was trying to avoid. But, Jongdae wouldn’t let him out of the house looking like “an old man”.

“Number 1! Kyungsoo hyung’s type is... “ Sehun eyed him, “Floor Director Kim. Jun. Myeon.”

Chanyeol’s jaw almost dropped. “W-What?”

“It’s not a thing to talk about this because Kyungsoo hyung is a news anchor now, but his ex-boyfriend 4 years ago is our beloved Floor Director Kim Junmyeon.”

“B-But…” Chanyeol tried to remember the times that Kyungsoo would greet Junmyeon with a bow before he sits at his place during the 9PM News. Junmyeon would be busy barking orders at everyone, but he would always smile back.

“Kyungsoo hyung’s ideal type dresses smart. Follow Junmyeon hyung’s style and he’s yours.”

Chanyeol takes one last look at his outfit and groaned. He should’ve been implementing the things he learned today, but of course nothing would go right with his life.

Minseok had ordered him to check with everyone coming and to double-check if they have everything they need like cameras and microphones. He also distributed the script to everyone except their host.

“Where is Anchor Do, sir? I couldn’t find him in his office or in the studios.” Chanyeol showed Minseok the last undistributed script in his hand. They will be leaving in 30 minutes so he has to make sure everything is in place.

“Kyungsoo…?” Minseok looked thoughtful then turned to him, “He’s in the cafeteria having breakfast. Go remind him he still has to bring his clothes. And that we have to get in the van soon, alright?”

Chanyeol bowed and exited the office. The cafeteria is located in the first floor so he had to ride the elevator, squished in between a lot of other staff who would be getting breakfast.

It was quite a bit hard to find Anchor Do in the crowd already gathered because the cafeteria is serving it’s once in a lifetime very popular Choco Chip Pancakes. After walking through all the tables in the left and the center, he finally got to the right side and saw Kyungsoo eating breakfast… with Kim Junmyeon.

Figures. Chanyeol grunted to himself as he took a look at his very University type of outfit. What was he thinking? He couldn’t compete with Kim Junmyeon looking slick in a suit at 7:30AM.

Honestly, if Chanyeol had a choice, he would go running back home. As it stands, he’s an Intern that has to get a good grade in this internship so he wouldn’t lose his honors. So he braves his shoulders and walks towards the two who were laughing while eating their pancakes and drinking their cup of coffee.

“Uhm. Excuse me?” Chanyeol almost croaked out. “Excuse me, Anchor Do?”

It was Junmyeon who first noticed him, looking up with a blinding smile. The blonde hair and suit makes him look like an angel and Chanyeol hates it. Hates how he feels insecure in his hoodie, jeans and 3 year old sneakers.

“Kyungsoo-ah, I think someone’s looking for you.” Junmyeon said, smiling.

Kyungsoo turned around and looked directly at him and Chanyeol felt his knees shake. Out of his newly claimed habit, he reached up to mess his hair before talking.

“Boss asked you to prepare your clothes because we’re leaving at exactly 8AM. And here’s your script, sir.” Chanyeol handed Kyungsoo the script and finally looked at the man.

Kyungsoo was looking at him weirdly and he didn’t speak for at least a few seconds. “Thanks. I’ll come up in a few minutes. Tell Minseok hyung not to worry.”

Chanyeol bowed at him then at Junmyeon before turning around, almost breathing a sigh of relief but then he suddenly heard his name get called again.

“Yes, sir?” Chanyeol turned.

“I thought I told you to not be too polite, Chanyeol-ah?” Kyungsoo patted his arm with a small smile. “Why are you being polite, Chanyeol?”

He almost cringed, but knew Kyungsoo would pick that up too. So he tried to school his face into a smile, forced and all. “Nothing, sir. I just need to hurry because Boss needs me. I’ll inform him you’ll be up in a few minutes.” Then he bowed and turned away again, almost running.

“Second!” Sehun turns his head, “Your personality.”

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrow. “What about my personality?”

“Please, have you seen Junmyeon hyung? He’s a freaking angel.” When Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, Sehun added, “Outside of the studio, of course. Inside he would eat you up, but outside he’s an angel.”

“You sound like you have a crush on him.” Chanyeol pointed out, mostly because he knew Sehun was right. For the few time he’s seen Kim Junmyeon outside of the studio, the man was soft-spoken and actually nice. Hell, he apologized earlier even when Chanyeol was the one who bumped into him!

“Had, Chanyeol. Had. Everyone who’s gay here has had a crush on him one way or another,” Sehun looked at him, “Except maybe you, Intern. You seem to have your eyes set on Anchor Do Kyungsoo.”

Chanyeol shrugged, not really knowing how to reply to that.

“Anyway! You should sort of change your personality? Man, I enjoy your jokes and clumsiness, they’re amusing. But that’s the complete opposite of Junmyeon hyung.” Sehun looked him up and down. “Personality, okay?”

Checking on everyone is probably one of the things he hates the most about this Internship. Missing scripts he can find. Missing props he could also still find. Missing contacts, yeah, maybe. But people? They walk around too much.

Just 5 minutes before they were supposed to leave and one of their cameraman was missing. Everyone else is boarded in the van, even Kyungsoo and Minseok. He wanted to scream in frustration because he was just there earlier!

“I’ll go search for Mr. Lee in the--” Chanyeol felt someone bump into him as the man he was looking for slide inside the van, not even apologizing for anything.

Minseok glared at the man. “If you’re late one more time Lee, I will personally file the complaint. Believe me, no one will take you after you’ve been fired from SBS because of me.”

The man, all pride and sneers just a second ago, turned white. “I’m so sorry, Director! I didn’t. I was.” He turned to see Chanyeol still standing outside of the van. “The Intern didn’t inform me of the time!”

Minseok was supposed to answer, mouth already pressed in a thin line, but Kyungsoo beat him to it.

“This Intern has been running around for the past 10 minutes looking for you, Mr. Lee. Not to mention, you were sent a memo of what time to come here yesterday and you signed it.” Kyungsoo has never looked this way before, stiff and angry. “Don’t blame Interns for your incompetence.”

The man gulped, bowed down and turned to look at the side. Everyone else stayed quiet, not commenting. Chanyeol was still standing outside, not knowing what to do.

“Get in, Chanyeol.” Minseok finally spoke, face expressionless. “You did well.”

“Yes, sir.” Chanyeol bowed his head and got inside the van, sitting at the very back with all the supplies. He honestly had no idea what to do, just sitting there by himself and making sure that none of the cameras get damaged throughout the ride.

Ten minutes in and he could feel someone’s eyes on him, he looked up and saw Kyungsoo sunbae looking at him. He bowed slightly and Kyungsoo just frowned, tilting his head to the side ~~cutely~~. Then the man turned his head and looked straight front again.

Honestly, Chanyeol should’ve known that Jongin would be able to pull this off.

When the whole team got there, Jongin was already waiting outside the gates on a wheelchair with Sehun behind him. He looked thinner and paler than usual, but the usual bright smile on his face tells him that Jongin would be fine.

“Hello, guys! I hope you didn’t think I won’t show up, huh?” Jongin greeted, accepting a hug from Minseok, Kyungsoo and a few other close staff members. He was wheeled in by Sehun who didn’t look too pleased.

Lee Minwoo’s manager greeted them by the gates, telling them to please wait for a few minutes because there was a sudden call from ShinCom’s co-CEO. Jongin looked thoroughly pleased and curious about this.

While Lee Minwoo was still in a phone call, everyone took out the cameras to test the lighting in the studio. It was a recording studio so the lighting was a little bit dim, something they could fix with the lighting they brought.

Chanyeol was standing there, not knowing what to do until Minseok stood beside him.

“Kid, watch the shooting carefully, alright? I want you to learn how these shootings work. Don’t do anything else, just take notes.” Minseok gave him a pat on the back. “You’ve done enough for an Intern, Park Chanyeol. It’s time to learn.” Then he walked back to the cluster of people.

Chanyeol smiled, pride filling up his chest. He hasn’t done anything special, just followed his supervisor’s orders, but it definitely felt nice to be acknowledged even if it’s just a pat on the back. In this industry, a pat on the back speaks volumes for Interns like him.

Due to the sudden conference call with all members of Shinhwa (by this time, Jongin was already squealing and looking like he was buzzing with joy), Minseok was given free time to take establishing and filler shots of the whole recording studio. The manager came with them, giving them a tour from the gates, the hallways and the studio itself. Minseok ordered various angles from the three cameras and Chanyeol loved the way the recording studio looked in the screen.

Chanyeol loved how Minseok could make this pretty simple looking place look beautiful in screen. He’s always been jealous by this ability because all he could do is speak in a microphone.

When they were done with the fillers and the tour of the place, Minseok had the men set-up the studio with lightings, camera placing and the microphones. Kyungsoo was already reading through the script, practicing his lines with a whisper of his lips.

At last, just at the right moment that they were all done, Lee Minwoo walked inside the studio and bowed deeply for all of them. They scrambled to bow as well, surprised that a veteran in this industry would bow in front of them.

“I’m so sorry for being late. There was a sudden meeting with the rest of Shinhwa members regarding our comeback.” Lee Minwoo shook hands with Minseok first, Kyungsoo and then everyone else. When he turned to Jongin, he turned his head. “Are you alright?”

“Yes!” Jongin almost shrieked then blushed. “I’m Kim Jongin, Head Writer. I’ve been a fan of Shinhwa since I could remember and you’re my favorite member!”

Chanyeol could see Sehun almost face-palming behind him.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Kim Jongin.” Minwoo shook his hand. “I’m so excited to tell the members I have a male fan in SBS!” He looked extremely and honestly pleased that Chanyeol has no doubt he would do just that.

Jongin had blushed again. “It’s an extreme honor to meet you and feature you in our newest show, sunbae! I’m so glad our Intern here, Park Chanyeol,” he waved for him to come beside him so Chanyeol did. “He knew how much I wanted to feature you so he did his best.”

Minwoo turned to look at him. He was short, really shorter than Chanyeol is, but his presence is so big Chanyeol felt like he was the short one. “Thank you for inviting me, Park Chanyeol. We could use some really hardworking Interns like you in our company.”

“I could apply!” Jongin immediately raised his hand.

It was Minseok who face-palmed this time. “Hey, don’t recruit our staffs, Lee Minwoo-ssii.”

Minwoo laughed. “You should probably stay in SBS, we don’t have enough work to need a lot of staff. Plus, your PD here would be mad at me.” he turned to Minseok, “Please call me Minwoo hyung, Director Kim Minseok.”

Chanyeol loved how warm Lee Minwoo is off camera and how they all immediately got along. Even Kyungsoo sunbae was smiling by the time that they had to start shooting.

Following along them, Chanyeol tried to take note about the details that Minseok does and Minseok says. He sneaked a glance at how Kyungsoo opened every question and sentence with interest that captures people’s attention.

Chanyeol can only dream of having that kind of effect on his audience.

Everyone was tired but happy by the time that the shooting was done. Lee Minwoo had given them a sample of how he works inside the studio. Then he brought them outside to meet some of his staff and even some of his neighbours. It was actually amazing, how he added things to the script that they could only dream to think of. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but the information he provided were heartwarming.

“I think Lee Minwoo’s episode should be the first episode.” Minseok said the moment they climbed inside the van. Chanyeol could hear his PAs humming in agreement. They were all charmed, male and female alike.

“He was really great. He knew what to do, what to say and what to show. He was showing us a part of his life while also encouraging the viewers.” One of the male staff remarked, pen on his notebook.

“I think we should let the guests do this, too. Give them the freedom to show us what they want to show and if they can’t or have no idea, that’s only when we’ll butt in,” Jongin added. They were going to drop Jongin and Sehun in the hospital on their way back to the studio.

“Let’s stick to the script tomorrow, but let Lee Minwoo handle how he wants to say anything. Then let’s re-haul the format when Jongin is back on Monday.” Minseok informed everyone then turned to look Chanyeol in the eye, “Make a list of possible new guests, but don’t call anyone yet. We’re going to shoot the OBB and CBB next week anyway.”

“Yes, sir.” Everyone, along with Chanyeol, answered.

Stuck typing the script for the prompter, Chanyeol didn’t notice when a hand reached out and placed a cup of coffee on his desk. He almost jumped up and knocked it down if not for the warm palm on the back of his neck.

“Hey, it’s just me.” Kyungsoo was smiling down at him. “You looked tense so I bought you coffee. Same as last time. Are you busy?”

Chanyeol turned to look at the pile of script to be checked and re-typed for tonight’s 9PM News. Not to mention, there are new reports being sent every hour so he had to arrange them again. “A little bit? We have a lot of police reports tonight, so.”

“Oh. Okay.” Kyungsoo looked deflated for some reason and Chanyeol hated it.

“Thank you for the coffee, sunbae. I’ll buy you coffee tomorrow?” Chanyeol asked in an impulse and it was too late to back out because Kyungsoo was already smiling. “Same as last time?”

“Yup. I’ll come with you tomorrow.” Kyungsoo patted his head, lingering a bit and it had Chanyeol’s heart beating hard. “You did well today, Intern Park Chanyeol. You deserve the coffee. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Chanyeol nodded and watched Kyungsoo walk out of the office and probably to his own across the News Department where the reporters are located. He turned his head and stared at the cup of coffee on his desk and sighed.

Why is sunbae doing this to me? Why? If not for the fact that he was inside the office, Chanyeol would’ve hit his head on the desk to wake himself up.

Running around for the past few weeks weren’t as amazing as the Internship that Chanyeol thought it would be, but it was every bit as learning and tiring as he thought it would be. It probably isn’t as extravagant as going for Variety Department or even Drama Department, but it was still great. Chanyeol has no regrets.

Okay, so maybe he does. Sorta.

Honestly, he didn’t think it would be painful to be in the same workplace as his idol. Chanyeol had idolized Kyungsoo for years, even when the man was still in University and had a small following in their UniTV (he hacks his sister’s laptop to watch them). He had always watched Kyungsoo from afar, not missing a single program he was on even when he was slaving over his thesis.

Chanyeol had always admired Anchor Do Kyungsoo and wished he could be like him. He wished he had the same talent as the older guy had and the confidence to talk in front of the camera. He wished he had that same face that could talk to people without having them go running into the hills. Chanyeol the kind of face that either you’d love or you’d get annoyed at, there’s no middle ground.

So maybe he used to call his idolization on Do Kyungsoo as jealousy because Do Kyungsoo was everything Park Chanyeol wanted to be.

But somehow, the moment he started his Internship in SBS News Department, Chanyeol’s feelings for Do Kyungsoo changed.

Chanyeol was welcomed with a smile and a shake of hand.

Chanyeol was pushed to be included in conversations and meals.

Chanyeol was included in discussions and decisions as if his thoughts actually mattered.

Chanyeol was invited for coffee and a walk like he was a friend.

Chanyeol was treated like a human being that matters by someone he’s looked up to for years. It feels overwhelming that he couldn’t help but fall a little every time Do Kyungsoo even looks at him.

Chanyeol didn’t know when, why or how it happened, but the usual nervous because my idol is looking at me heart pounding became nervous because my crush is looking at me type of heart pounding.

He sort of wished that he just decided to apply for the Internship in KBS Radio with Jongdae, but of course he had to be hard headed and not listen to his professors.

Of course Kim Jongin would pull it off again. Nobody's even surprised anymore to find their still in wheelchair Head Writer in the studio when they got there. They all didn’t even bat an eyelash as they bowed and went to set up the back drop.

Chanyeol had distributed the script and he was in front of the monitor connected to the prompter, checking the script. Anchor Do had raised a thumbs up earlier to let him know the prompter was working. Minseok is already seated in front of the monitors with Sehun beside him.

“Is Lee Minwoo ready? Did someone already put in the microphone for him?” Minseok asked using the microphone. Everyone in the studio turned their heads to the camera while one of them raised a thumb up. “Good. Call him in. We’re going to start recording in 5 minutes and the lighting needs to be checked.”

One of the PAs raised a thumbs up and ran to the exit and presumably the dressing room. Everyone else went back to preparing the set while one of them checked-up on Kyungsoo’s microphone.

Chanyeol’s amazement hasn’t ceased even after being in the studio numerous of times. He still feels like he needs to take in how everything is going on at once and it’s too much, but too little at the same time.

“Good morning, everyone!” Lee Minwoo stepped inside the studio and bowed before stepping inside the set so they could check the angles and the lighting for him.

Minseok hummed and barked orders from the control room while Chanyeol watched beside him. They were done with the lighting and sound check and everyone had to go back to their places while Chanyeol is tasked to prepare the script for the monitor.

“Camera 2!” Minseok ordered. His voice is loud, especially in a closed space like they have. Chanyeol wouldn’t want to be in the receiving end of the headphones the other staff wears.

Chanyeol’s headphone is only connected to the recording taking place, he can hear the conversation between the host and the guest which is his task, after all. He needed to make sure that the script isn’t too fast or too slow so he wouldn’t inconvenience Kyungsoo.

“CUT! Camera 5’s zoom is out of focus! What the fuck is wrong with you, LEE?!” Minseok screamed, already standing up. “I’m so sorry Minwoo hyung, but we have to retake that question because the camera is off focus. We’re sorry.”

Chanyeol winced, but tried not to show it. Minseok can be scary sometimes, but only when it matters.

“AGAIN! Start on camera 3 before changing to camera 5 on zoom!” Minseok barked order, “Better do it right this time, 5 or I’ll make sure you won’t have a job tomorrow.”

Chanyeol didn’t hear the answer, but he knew the man had apologized because Minseok was smirking. The shooting resumed with less mistakes and this put Minseok in a better mood.

Soon, the shooting is coming to an end so Minseok had to call for a 5 minute break before they shoot the closing to check on the videos. Minwoo had asked to go to the washroom while Kyungsoo came in the studio to watch the videos taken.

“How is sitting in front of the prompter, Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo said a way of greeting before going to Minseok’s side. Chanyeol didn’t think he needed to answer so he kept his mouth shut and fiddled with the computer.

When they were done, a little past 10 minutes after (they had the video forwarded), Minseok called for the shooting to re-start. He wanted to shoot an introduction cut after the closing.

“Hey Minseok hyung,” Kyungsoo called and the director turned his head to look at him. “I’m going to borrow your Intern after lunch for a heart-to-heart, is that alright?”

Minseok glanced at Chanyeol’s surprised face. “Sure, if you give the counseling for his future plans, too. And if you return him before we start getting busy preparing for the 9PM News. Okay?”

“Sure thing, hyung. You never did like making those sort of speeches. You made Junmyeon and I make that speech with each other and we were both interns!” Kyungsoo laughed and turned to Chanyeol, “Is that okay with you, Chanyeol?”

Minseok snorted. “He has no choice. I’m kicking him out of the office for a few hours. He’s always working there.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Heart to heart talk later, work right now. Go back down, Kyungsoo.” Minseok ordered.

Filming resumed, but Chanyeol’s head never stopped buzzing from the thought of what was to happen later.

Lee Minwoo was magnificent, as usual. He even agreed to dance for a few minutes and sing a few lines, perfectly ensuring there were a lot of footages to choose from. Minseok was happily going through the videos while Jongin was ecstatically making notes on the script for the editing.

Due to the tight schedule, Lee Minwoo wasn’t able to get lunch with the team but he promised to drop by another time during the comeback of Shinhwa (three guesses to who squealed loudly). Instead, he ordered 10 boxes of pizza and 10 different flavors of fried chicken. The whole team was in heaven.

“Where can we get more guests like him?” one of the PA asked with a mouthful of pizza.

“Minwoo sunbae is one of a kind!” Jongin replied, both hands full of chicken, his favorite. Minwoo had promised to bring him a whole box of chicken when he comes to their concert.

Chanyeol was seated far away from everyone because he felt a little bit out of place. Minseok had brought him a slice of pizza and 2 pieces of chicken with an instruction to come back more if he wants. Chanyeol does want, but he doesn’t feel comfortable enough. Especially since he’s supposed to be “quiet” as per Sehun’s suggestion.

“Hey,” It was Sehun who slid on the seat beside Chanyeol while holding a plate with 3 slices of pizza and just bones of the chicken. “You okay? Want more food?”

Chanyeol looked at his half-eaten slice of pizza and shook his head. “Nah, too nervous, sunbae.”

Sehun had raised an eyebrow at him for this. “What’s up? Why are being so polite to me right now?” he took a huge bite of the pizza before going back to look at Chanyeol. “Are you not feeling well? Should we call for the nurse?”

“Are you saying I’m acting weird, sunbae?” Chanyeol asked.

“Maybe…”

“You’re the who told me to keep quiet, though.” he reminded him. “You told me that if I want him to like me…” He honestly didn’t want to continue his sentence.

“Yeah. but. Why are you doing it so seriously, Chanyeol? You look better in that casual jeans and sweater. And the hair, don’t get me started on the hair. You look nice and I like your happy personality, too.” Sehun nudged his shoulders to Chanyeol’s. “Do you like him that much?”

Chanyeol wasn’t going to answer anyway, but he almost wished he could.

It seemed like Sehun saw his struggles because the man finally stood up. “I’m going to go get more chicken. You want anything, Chanyeol?” When he shook his head, Sehun turned around to fight with the other staff for more honey dipped chicken.

Sighing, Chanyeol tried to finish his pizza before Sehun could come back to shove more food in his plate. Sadly, fate is not (or is) in his side and someone else slid on the seat beside him.

“Do you wanna go for coffee now or are you going to finish that pizza?” Kyungsoo’s face greeted him, a smile on his idol’s face.

If Chanyeol hadn’t just finishing swallowing his food, he would’ve choked on it. Instead he just stared and maybe blinked a couple of times before finally bowing his head. “Sure, sir. I just need to finish eating this slice.”

Kyungsoo hummed in agreement, but otherwise let him be. He just sat there beside Chanyeol, waving good bye to the staff that had to leave and patiently waiting for him. Why?

Why was Kyungsoo so nice to him? Why was Kyungsoo so interested in getting to know him? Is it because Chanyeol is a good Intern? Is it because Chanyeol is a hoobae of the same University and the same Club and the same position? What is it?

But all Chanyeol did was finish his pizza, throw away the paper plate and then face his sunbae. Trying to put on a smile, he tilts his head.

“Let’s go, sir?” Chanyeol asked.

Kyungsoo smiled and stood up, “Let’s go?”

Both of them bought the same coffee as last time, but Kyungsoo orderer oatmeal raisin cookie for each of them. Instead of going back to the office, Kyungsoo had led Chanyeol to one of the chairs at the very back where it’s terribly cold.

“Too cold?” Kyungsoo had asked, but was already sitting down anyway.

“It’s okay.” Luckily, Chanyeol was wearing one of his really thick sweaters (the sort-of worn gray one that he likes) and a shirt inside so he’s not too cold yet. Hopefully the cup of coffee will warm him up.

After the both of them are seated, Kyungsoo looked up at him. Even when they’re sitting, Kyungsoo was shorter and Chanyeol wanted to reach out and coo, but he didn’t have the right so he kept his hand on his lap.

“So,” Kyungsoo folded his arms in front of him. He looked adorable. “Why did you join News when you got invitations for an internship in radio?”

Fucking Byun Baekhyun. Chanyeol cursed his best friend more times than he could think. “Did Baekhyun tell you that? Of course, he did. I mean, who else, right? But I just wanted to confirm because I need an excuse for when I murder him tonight.” he said in a rush, hands almost flailing around him.

Chuckling, Kyungsoo answered, “No. Not Baekhyun. Someone else, I promise.”

“Uh. But who else?” Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrow and tried to remember if he ever told Minseok or Jongin or even Sehun about it. He was pretty sure he didn’t because he didn’t want to be questioned about his choice.

“I have sources.” Kyungsoo answered in that anchor voice of his that will make you believe whatever they were saying. “Don’t change the topic. Answer my question, Chanyeol.”

“Why should I?” he shot back because honestly. Why? Why does Kyungsoo want to know?

“Because…” Kyungsoo looked thoughtful for a second as if he was wondering about that himself. “Because I care, Chanyeol. I’ll tell you why I chose News instead of going for documentaries if you tell me why you chose News instead of radio, is that alright?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, who told you I wanted to know about that?!”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Deal?”

Still looking unsure, Kyungsoo reached out and patted Chanyeol’s hand. It almost had Chanyeol flinching from surprise, but instead he just froze and he wasn’t sure if that was as any better.

Without any introduction, Kyungsoo told Chanyeol the story of how Documentary Host Do Kyungsoo got into newscasting.

Kyungsoo told Chanyeol the story of how a tiny University student was forced to join the Broadcasting Club because he was causing too much trouble in school. A student that tend to raise his hand in class and demand explanation from the professors for unfair treatment between male and female students. As a punishment, he was told to join a club--any club--and Broadcasting was probably the safest of all.

At first the student refused to go to meetings because why would he? No one would still listen to him anyway and that’s just how unfair the world is. Until, on the day of a carnival at school, he saw the students avidly watching the huge television set-up on the field.

It was the Broadcasting Club’s Debate show for the carnival that the student had seen them prepare for. He wasn’t expecting people to listen to it, let alone watch it. He wasn’t expecting people to participate, some even getting into a debate themselves in the audience.

He didn’t realize that Broadcasting is more than a platform for the entertainment industry to gossip about each other. It was the day he realized that if he wanted to be heard, he should go for broadcasting.

Ever since that day the student went into meetings and then added a minor communication course to his Business Management. He wanted to know everything he could about this industry and maybe someday become a part of it to be heard.

It wasn’t long before he became an important part of the club, having friends and finally joining events. He became happier and instead of just being heard, he wanted to be understood. He was soon introduced to documentaries, the President of the club liked them and thought the student would, too, because he liked tackling social issues.

Instead of just liking documentaries, the student loved them. He watched documentaries after documentaries from extinct animals to anorexia in English or in Korean or in whatever language it was on. He was, to put it simply, in love.

When the President graduated, the student was chosen to replace him. He thought people would disagree, but everyone thought he was perfect for the job. With a newfound determination, he tried to lead the group to the best of his capabilities and with his leadership, the club became popular within the University and it’s neighbouring schools.

On the student’s last year in the University, the club joined a documentary contest with hopes on winning. The student loved their topic, even if the other members were a bit worried. Racism in Korea has always been a sensitive issue for the public and they were afraid that they were going to fail.

Fail they did. The documentary was a success for them, it gave the viewers a side of the foreigners and the side of the Korean. They were able to show different views from different age gaps and even views from professionals and business owners. But no one from the viewers liked it, thinking that the documentary was shaming Korea and it’s culture.

The student was devastated and once again, felt like no one is listening to him and everything was unfair. When he applied for internship, he dropped the applications for documentaries and went for News. Solid, reliable and unquestionable News.

Do Kyungsoo had sold his dreams just for someone to listen to him because in News, people always listen.

“When I got in SBS News, I never left.” Kyungsoo finished, looking at Chanyeol. “I’m a mess, huh?”

Chanyeol immediately shook his head, eyes brimming with unshed tears. He had wanted to cry because he had looked up at Kyungsoo’s determination and all this time, the man was hurting because of the very choice he made.

“My story isn’t as touching as yours, sunbae.” Chanyeol mumbled and was surprised when he saw Kyungsoo smiling brightly. “Sunbae?”

“You’re calling me sunbae again. I’m pleased,” Kyungsoo answered then smiled softly (warmly), “No story is not important, Chanyeol. Every story is deserving to be heard. So let me hear.”

So Chanyeol told him of his story from how he tried to excell in everything but ended up with nothing. He told him of how he saw Kyungsoo in the documentary and idolized him ever since.

He told him everything from his choice of school until his choice of Internship. He told him of his professor’s suggestions to intern in a radio station and his love for radio broadcasting. He didn’t leave any untold story behind because who else would he tell this story to?

When he was done, Kyungsoo was sipping his coffee with a sad look in his face. Chanyeol was suddenly guilty because it felt like he’s the reason the news anchor is currently feeling down.

“I like where I am right now, sunbae. News casting might not be my calling, but I still like learning about it. I don’t regret anything at all.” Chanyeol assured his sunbae because he really doesn’t. He loves this experience and the people he’s met. He wouldn’t exchange this for anything, not even for an internship in KBS Radio.

Kyungsoo smiled slightly. “I’m glad, but I do hope you’d reconsider.”

“Reconsider?”

“Reconsider if it’s right to go into TV News just because of someone else. Think about what you really want, okay? Whether it be radio broadcasting or even auditioning for an idol group.” Kyungsoo reached forward and patted Chanyeol’s head.

“Is this the heart-to-heart talk or is this the career talk?” Chanyeol asked.

“Both.”

“I hate the world!” Baekhyun declared, eyes droopy as he drank the shot of soju that Chanyeol had poured for him. “I hate the world so much!”

It was the first day that Baekhyun had gone home for good from being in the hospital. He had come looking like the dead, eyes red and shoulders slumped. A case of beer and 5 bottles of soju were placed on the table as Baekhyun kicked Jongdae to wake up and demanded Chanyeol to bring out the glass.

An impromptu drinking session at 11AM on a Saturday became the start of their weekend.

“Tell us what happened first, Baek. How will we know?” Jongdae demanded, drinking from his glass of beer. He had absolute good control of his drinking so he was always the most level-headed during sessions like this.

Baekhyun looked up at them with a pout and it broke their hearts so both Jongdae and Chanyeol reached out and wrapped him in a huge hug. The three of them on the couch, their heads on top of Baekhyun’s and their arms entangled with each other.

“Why did I even date two guys at once? And not even the cheating kind, I had to be the 3rd wheel!” Baekhyun sobbed, shoulders shaking. “I wish I never met them! I wish I didn’t let myself get stupid enough to think I’ll belong!”

A drunk Baekhyun is an honest Baekhyun so he never drinks with anyone he doesn’t trust. Chanyeol’s heart broke when he realized that was why his best friend went home with bottles of alcohol, just to be able to say what he feels.

(He’s going to murder Sehun and Jongin, sunbae or not.)

“Tell us what really happened, Baek?” Jongdae asked, running his fingers in Baekhyun’s newly dyed black strands.

“Tell us, Baek.”

Baekhyun had been taking care of Jongin when Sehun was busy during the nights. In the morning he goes to work for the Internship while he stays up nightly for Jongin as Sehun has the 9PM News. He’s been really tired lately.

On the night of Tuesday, Baekhyun had dozed off and Jongin was able to sneak out and beg the Doctor to let him come to the shooting. His begging had worked and the Doctor OK-ed it as long as his legal partner Oh Sehun comes. Jongin said Sehun would and Sehun was angry at Baekhyun the moment he came back and heard about it.

Sehun still talks to him but is cold and dismissive. Jongin felt sorry, but couldn’t do anything because he really does want to go. Baekhyun is, sadly, caught in the middle.

“Why is Sehun hyung blaming you?!” Chanyeol demanded, pulling away from the hug to look incredulously at him. “It’s not your fault!”

Baekhyun looked even sadder that Jongdae ended up swatting at him.

Jongdae told Baekhyun, “Continue, Baek. Let it out of your chest.”

Because Jongin and Sehun spent the two days together, they were already sort-of okay with each other and Sehun started to dote on him again. Sadly, Sehun is still cold-shouldered towards Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was feeling left out already and was surprised to find out that last Thursday night when he spent the whole night waiting for Sehun to bring Jongin back, it turned out that the two went out to eat dinner before coming. No one even bothered to message him (and he could’ve used that time to sleep!) and wasn’t even slightly apologetic.

Then came Friday where Jongin was going to be discharged, Sehun had filed for a leave and so did Baekhyun. They were fixing Jongin’s things quietly with Baekhyun flinching at the awkwardness on air.

And then came the worst.

“I’m driving Jongin back to our apartment later. You can take the taxi to yours, right? Good.” Sehun told him, face blank. “Or do you need money?”

Baekhyun felt like he was slapped on the face and punched in the stomach. Was he that unimportant? It seems so.

“Why was I even there? Why did I even ask for a leave if they were just going to let me help pack and then send me on my way?!” Baekhyun demanded, tears in his eyes. “I was so embarrassed and ashamed and hurt and all I could do is drink in a bar downtown by myself all night. None of them even asked if I got home safely!”

“Oh Baek! They’re assholes!” Chanyeol declared, hugging him tightly.

“Did you try to talk to them, Baek?” Jongdae asked.

Baekhyun shook his head. “I can’t. Not right now. I feel so weak. I don’t think I can take it if they tell me I’m not needed anymore, you know?” he tried to smile. “Enough about me, what’s up with you guys?”

Jongdae sighed. “Same old, same old. My boyfriend doesn’t want to be seen outside with me.”

“Still?!” Baekhyun gasped the same time Chanyeol demanded, “WHO?!”

“I’m not even sure if he really likes me or if he just wants to continue fucking me.” Jongdae was crude, but he actually really did look hurt that Chanyeol couldn’t comment on it. “He’s really an angel in appearance, you know? Really sweet and all that. But… I don’t know.”

This time it was Baekhyun and Chanyeol who wrapped their arms around Jongdae, making the other squeak in pain. They almost toppled off the couch from laughing and being over-all clumsy while drunk.

“I hate both of you.” Jongdae declared, but he had a huge smile on his lips.

“I hate both of you, too.” Baekhyun echoed.

“And me three!” Chanyeol added, giggling a little.

They were quiet for a second before Baekhyun turned his head to look at Chanyeol. “Hey, what happened to you and our Anchor Do Kyungsoo?”

Chanyeol pouted. “I don’t know. I’m so confused? Like, does he like me or does he think of me as a hoobae? He bought me coffee and taught me the ways of news broadcasting. He gave me a heart-to-heart talk and then told me his secrets. But I’m also not his type. I don’t know.”

“I don’t understand. How can you say you’re not his type?” Jongdae asked. “If he bought you coffee, you’re definitely his type. Why waste money?”

“I’m not his type.” Chanyeol repeated, “Sehun said so.”

Baekhyun had frozen up at the name, but just grabbed a half-full bottle of beer to drink from it. “What did he say?” he asked.

“He said Kyungsoo sunbae’s type is his ex-boyfriend, our Floor Director Mr. Perfect Kim Junmyeon,” Chanyeol had pouted and looked on the floor so he didn’t notice the look that Baekhyun sent to Jongdae’s way. “I’m nothing like Junmyeon, though.”

“Chanyeol…” Baekhyun placed down the beer he was downing to hug his best friend. “Is this why Jongdae’s been telling me you were trying to change your style and being too quiet?”

Chanyeol nodded while Jongdae reached out past Baekhyun to pat his head. The youngest of them leaned over and let himself be hugged and his head patted.

“Don’t change yourself just because of someone, okay? You’re annoying…” Jongdae smiled, “But! You’re good as you are. I wouldn’t exchange you for anyone. Even if you eat all the choco bits from our cereal every morning.”

“Thanks, guys…” Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Baekhyun again, reaching over to where Jongdae is.

“This is so gay.” Baekhyun commented after a few moments of being squashed.

“Good thing we’re all gay, then.” Jongdae told him, tightening his hold.

“Gay Power Forever.” Chanyeol mumbled in agreement.

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