the problem with fiction - six (part ii)
o n e / t w o / t h r e e / f o u r / interlude /
deleted scenes / f i v e /
six (part one)
chanyeol wakes up with a start.
he is still fully clothed, and only half of his upper body is sprawled on the bed. his bedroom’s lamp is glaring at him as he blinks his tired eyes. he searches blindly for his phone and squints to find out the time. it’s fifteen past one in the morning.
chanyeol yawns, gets up, brushes his teeth, washes his face in a record time, and decides a glass of cold chocolate milk will help him to get a better sleep.
but the sight that greets him in the kitchen is way too familiar.
kris is holding his head on both hands with a cup of untouched coffee, and chanyeol already creates theories as to why the older boy is still up at this wee hour.
it’s either kris is worrying over tomorrow-today’s shooting-or he is stressed out by exo’s long awaited comeback next week, or, this one is completely a product of chanyeol’s very, very wishful thinking-about baekhyun’s phone call earlier.
ah, chanyeol chuckles to himself, jongdae is such a pretty little liar. he sincerely hopes woohyun is treating him right, because while it lasted for almost a year; when chanyeol was wearing his heart out on his sleeves in naivety yet jongdae never ever took his words and actions seriously, he was already sure he could rule the world if jongdae stayed on his side. for woohyun who is actually having the opportunity to do so, he has to be nothing but the absolute best for jongdae.
now, though, using his newly found romance in the form of an insanely popular boyband’s leader, chanyeol is being arrogant that he can make the world peace happen.
chanyeol clenches his fist and does the fighting! pose silently. at least this way, he can maintain the world peace of his own standard for the next four months.
gently, he shakes kris’ slumped shoulders, “kris-hyung, your neck is going to kill you!”
kris frowns, opens his eyes, and rubs his face roughly. chanyeol winces because trust kris wufan to do anything not in a brute way. he also pretends he doesn’t see the frown, because it’s too early for their game.
“why aren’t you in bed, hyung?” he asks, filling half of his favorite sagittarius mug with the chocolate milk. kris is not answering him so he pouts and takes a sit on the kitchen counter, shutting the refrigerator door with his foot.
it’s another five minutes before kris says, “are you alright,” and chanyeol hides his giddy smile behind the mug.
to appear more convincing in case kris suddenly turns his back, chanyeol tilts his head. “nggg...alright about what?” even his feigned puzzled tone is so academy award worthy.
kris does turn his back, and chanyeol hides his genuinely surprised (but still giddy) smile behind the mug again. because instead of frowning, kris is actually showing a more pleasant facial reaction.
kris is looking apologetic, with the usual hint of smile from the right corner of his mouth.
and his, “really?” is the closest of kris wufan to squeak. chanyeol misses another super duper rare opportunity to gain a blackmail material!
“really,” chanyeol nods, making a mental note to always maximize ‘voice recorder’ feature on his phone everytime he’s alone with kris from now on.
“but you said you like him so much.”
eh. is that an accusation?
“awww~” chanyeol finishes his drink and jumps off of the kitchen counter. he bats his eyelashes at kris’ half relaxed half guarded expression and continues playfully, “kris-hyungie is j-j-jelly!” which results in kris snorting and grumbling, bravely drinks his stale coffee.
chanyeol giggles. he waits for the culprit of his rollercoaster seventeen years old’s emotion to finish washing their used dishes before he smiles and confidently confesses,
“he’s a past tense now, hyung.”-at the same time kris reaches to pat his head.
their eyes meet.
maybe it’s the dim lighting that creates a halo illumination on top of kris’ sandy blonde hair.
maybe chanyeol didn’t wash his face properly and he left some of the eye boogers.
maybe it’s none of the excuses mentioned above, but chanyeol swears that kris is frozen for a moment anyway.
and chanyeol is hopeful for a moment, too.
▲ ▼
if wanting kris-an adult, with a totally different mindset from chanyeol’s seventeen years old selfish brain/heart-to calmly ask about his feeling after receiving a supposedly earth shattering news without seemingly to come across suicidal was already an advanced level wishful thinking; then thinking-with his seventeen years old lost brain/heart (or heart/brain?)-that kris might like him back is just...plain crazy.
in the end, chanyeol only gets an approximately five hours of sleep.
“yah, park chanyeol, stop it will you?” he slaps his cheeks twice, glaring to the ceiling. “you have no chance, you’re just a kid, you can’t ask for more than this, you’re not his type, you’re not special in his eyes, you have to stop this now because you have a lot already. park chanyeol, you don’t need to walk ten miles away just to get a bucket of water. stop. it.”
he sighs loudly. for a good measure he slaps his cheeks twice more. this is not going to bother him.
after a quick shower he finds a maroon, brand new giraffe printed sweatshirt lying on his bed with a note that he should pair it with his nicest navy blue jeans. exo’s stylist-noonas are waiting for him on the living room, and soon he’s being dolled up from head to toe.
kris is toweling his wet hair when he shows up and chanyeol squeals because they’re wearing ‘couple’ sweatshirt along with the same colored jeans.
“it’s sponsored,” another stylist-noona in charge kindly informs them, and kris just processes this information without a fuss while chanyeol gets teased nonstop for blushing prettily (it’s the skin tone based bb cream’s fault!) by every single noonas who are present there.
ryeowook-sshi also claps happily because his babies look so handsome together and he secretively passes kris their engagement rings before he disappears to exo’s dorm across the hall.
“here,” kris puts the ring with his embroidered name to chanyeol’s right ring finger. he doesn’t wait for chanyeol to do the same to him, and chanyeol tells himself that it’s not a big deal i am not free falling from a hundred stories building. nope.
“what,” kris snorts though, “you want to put it on me?” chanyeol shrugs, too late to straighten his pout.
“sure you don’t,” kris pokes chanyeol’s nose and takes off his ring. “please,” he says in a mocking tone, and chanyeol does a mehrong as he snatches the ring and pauses to admire his own name on the inside of the white gold material.
(it’s funny that he just starts to wonder now, how a lifetime bond is sealed with a piece of small jewelry. and legal papers plus the individuals’ signatures.)
kris pinches his chin.
oh, right. what a lifetime bond, silly, it’s four months! he he.
chanyeol sings the off tune melody of wedding theme song he often hears from dramas and cartoons as he slides the ring on kris. when he looks up from behind his fringe, kris blinks.
judging from his instant frown and lack of teasing, it is clear that chanyeol caught him staring.
...
eyyy.
of course kris was staring! they are standing facing each other thisclose! he had stared, too, right, when kris-
stop it, you're getting hysterical.
chanyeol forces a giggle and shouts a count as a sign that their little game officially begins for today. kris’ smirk is somehow less confident and then he stretches chanyeol’s cheeks mercilessly. three combo of domestic abuse in less than ten minutes. it must be hard to be kris wufan’s significant other.
“ugh hyung you’re hurting me,” chanyeol stomps off back to the living room and he’s immediately attacked by some idle hands groping his butt.
“lu-lu han-hyung!” chanyeol gasps as he falls to the floor.
lu han-hyung honestly leers at him and makes a cute growl to accompany his cute i’m-going-to-claw-your-eyes-because-i-like-you gesture. he’s almost successful but kris sits himself in between him and chanyeol as a barricade.
lu han-hyung pouts. “your sense of humor is so scary,” he kicks kris’ left foot.
kris remains indifferent. “you are scary,” he retorts with crossed arms and they only stop bickering when the previous DSLR noonas drag a still sleepy minseok-hyung to the scene.
lu han-hyung is missing with chanyeol’s appa most favorite exo member for almost an hour and chanyeol uses the opportunity to read the pink note again, lying upside down on his neatly made bed. he makes a random volume of his one piece manhwa as a decoy in case someone comes without knocking first.
he jumps and shrieks when lu han-hyung bustles in even more energetic than before followed by kris. chanyeol hurriedly folds the pink note and closes the manhwa, grinning widely to cover up his nervousness.
“chan chan are you ready?” lu han-hyung stretches his arms, but he’s stopped in track because kris is grabbing the collar of his t-shirt. “you’re such a cockblock,” lu han-hyung elbows kris’ stomach, who easily dodges it.
chanyeol throws the manhwa carelessly to the bookshelves, and glomps lu han-hyung in a brief hug just because he feels like it. he gives a signal to kris to let go and he’s too flabbergasted to protest when lu han-hyung squeezes his tits.
kris does the infamous OTL pose on the floor while chanyeol whines, “pervert!” and feigns a sob. he takes refugee to ryeowook-sshi who scolds both kris and lu han-hyung. they apologize, kris with his mocking decent bow and lu han-hyung kneeling (but still leering) right in front of him.
take one:
“omo! MTV?” chanyeol exclaims. “MTV?!” he opens the front door to let the cameras in.
“annyeonghaseyo, park chanyeol imnida,” he giggles as the main camera zooms in on his already makeup retouched face. his previously sponsored, giraffe printed sweatshirt is put aside for later segment, and for now he’s changed into a lavender hoodie with black skinny jeans.
“good morning!” he chirps in english as he bounces to fetch kris, who is set to watch the television with his reading glasses perched on his nose. kris smiles slightly to the main camera and greets the viewers, wearing a long sleeved black t-shirt with cargo pants.
take two:
lu han-hyung the PD-not showed on the frame, only his voice can be heard, announces as he sits across kris and chanyeol on the couch, “annyeong, kris and chanyeol. you’re going to film MTV’s ‘a day with...’ show.”
he continues, “you did this once, remember, with exo?”
“ah, yes, hyung. a year ago when exo was a rookie,” kris glances at chanyeol who sits cross legged next to him. he pokes chanyeol’s nose, “this is my fiancee, park chanyeol. he will work hard for this show.”
chanyeol waves enthusiastically with a bright smile, but not before he scrunches his nose to the camera.
take three:
they have a brief interview regarding exo’s most anticipated comeback and what does exo want to accomplish with their first full-length album. chanyeol is asked if he has heard snippet of exo’s songs or seen the dance but he shakes his head with a pout. he declares that as a huge fan of exo he is so excited. and then there are the general questions about their daily activities; and the ultimate curiosity of ‘krisyeol fans’,
“are we going to hear a wedding bell soon?”
chanyeol forgets to control his hormone and so he blushes furiously after hearing that (this question is too much okay), while kris takes his time to bully chanyeol about it before he puts on his handsomest smile to the cameras and answers,
“my chanyeol is so shy. thank you for the support, yeoreobun. we’ll see about that.”
cut.
▲ ▼
they have to postpone the shooting for awhile because lu han-hyung collapses when he sees chanyeol’s complete to the latest volume one piece collection. they’re engaged in a heated pleading-please-i-need-to-borrow-them! versus chanyeol’s resentment-no!-i-can’t-they-are-my-treasure!
but then lu han-hyung uses his deathly pout as the last weapon and chanyeol whines because of the cuteness overload!
kris interrupts them with his trademarked monotonous voice, “chanyeol-ah, make him promise to buy you the most expensive birthday present ever,” and lu han-hyung doesn’t miss a beat to agree.
“anything! lu hannie will give chan chan everything!” he clasps his hands together and he really really really does look like that ginger puss character from shrek.
“but hyung~” chanyeol whines, tugging at kris’ arm, “i don’t want to~”
kris flicks his forehead, “that loony can go on for hours. suit yourself, chan chan.”
chanyeol likes to assume (not thinking wishfully, no, it’s different) that kris being exceptionally meaner than he normally is because he thinks chanyeol is no longer in like with anyone so he blatantly changes his way to treat chanyeol from a priceless stranger to a gullible younger brother.
that’s.
that’s so sweet chanyeol can’t help but to recall his only a couple of hours old wishful thinking.
wait, scratch that.
the upgraded version of it.
like, maybe kris likes likes me too but he’s still oblivious himself?
▲ ▼
chanyeol and lu han-hyung is doing the pinky promise that lu han-hyung will not do the dog-ear tag, or read the manhwas in the bathroom or when he’s eating or drinking or about to sleep.
“i promise i will use a pincher to open the pages, chan chan, i will wear gloves so the pages won’t suffer from my sweating fingers. i will take care of them with all of my might. i will convey this promise to my younger brother if he dares to touch your manhwas, my chan chan.”
chanyeol can’t help but to giggle while kris snorts at the use of ownership, “aw hyung, you have a younger brother?” they disentangle their pinky fingers.
lu han-hyung nods with glossy eyes, “he goes to your school. oh sehun, from class III-C, do you know him? he’s an ulzzang and a teen model.”
chanyeol scratches his cheek. he doesn’t know.
take four:
they do a welcome to my crib mostly in their kitchen where they tell the viewers about their preferences on food, their living room where the cameraman-hyungs are taking shots of the interior, and finally to their shared bedroom where chanyeol reveals that kris is so warm at night and kris discloses that chanyeol often forgets to take his dirty clothes to the hamper or to stack his own stuffs; and chanyeol does a bbuing bbuing aegyo and kris groans,
“this, and it’s even worse when tao joins him. so unfair, right, yeoreobun? how do you expect me not to give in?” and then, smiling, kris tackles chanyeol in an affectionate head lock, as one of the noona-staff whispers loudly to the whole room.
▲ ▼
on take eight, lu han-hyung the PD gives them a mission.
chanyeol reads it, “cook lunch with the money you will obtain from games.”
the games are divided into three sessions. the first session is a trivia game. kris wins it 7:3 and chanyeol receives a punishment to do a famous girl group dance. the shooting has to halt for ten minutes for chanyeol to get over his embarrassment after dancing a very stiff KARA’s legendary butt dance and for kris to get another makeup retouch because he’s sweating despite the cold temperature. ryeowook-sshi’s spontaneous comment, “i never never never see kris laughing like an idiot before!” will be used as a footage.
take nine:
the second game is guessing proverb by reenacting it and chanyeol wins 3:1 because he’s still a high schooler and kris strongly protests that he grew up in canada, therefore he knows nothing about proverb. chanyeol boos him. the punishment is to have his face drawn by chanyeol with colorful markers, and he can only wash his face after they buy their lunch’s ingredients at the supermarket nearby.
take ten:
“pick a random number from the bowl and increase the counter exactly like the written number by dancing,” chanyeol whines and flushes again.
they’re gyrating awkwardly to exo’s hit songs like a couple of giant sticks; and all of the MTV crews are having a good time witnessing it. chanyeol, with his neverending energy, wins after four takes, and kris’ final punishment will be told on the next segment.
take fifteen:
“how much do we have?” kris asks as he maneuvers the sponsored KIA car out of the parking lot of their apartment. there are just the two of them, with plastered cameras all over the dashboard.
chanyeol is concentrating on counting the money, and then he answers, “thirty one thousand won. eyyy! MTV is so mean to us! what should we cook, hyung?”
kris frowns, and chanyeol is hesitated whether to continue playing their little game or not. kris has three frowning points already, but chanyeol’s seventeen years old heart/brain is not too fond of the idea of outsider(s) to take part in it. he doesn’t want exo’s fans and MTV crews to acknowledge their private, oh so krisyeol thing moment. no. for this matter, park chanyeol is selfish.
okay, then. four, and he will tell kris that their little game is still on but because of certain circumstance they’re playing it in secret.
kris says, “you tell me.” and chanyeol looks straight to the camera in front of him, clicking his tongue in a faux disapproval,
“MTV. kris wufan is actually like this. he only goes to the kitchen to eat but he never helps his poor fiance to cook!”
kris pinches his cheek. hard.
“he likes to abuse me too! help!”
kris just smirks to the cameras and continues driving. then he snaps his fingers as they stop in the red light, “how about we cook spaghetti? don’t they have instant whatisit seasoning with meat already on it? we can top it off with cheese and meatballs, hm, chanyeol-ah? and instant cream mushroom soup?”
“uwaaa!” chanyeol beams. “you’re right, hyung! we just need to boil the pasta, fry the sauce and the meatballs, stir the instant soup with water, and i think we still have cheddar cheese left back home, hyung! uwaaaaa!”
“that’s right,” kris pinches his nose this time, “now take back what you said about me earlier, chanyeol-ah.”
chanyeol does a mehrong as he rubs his reddening nose, “ugh you’re so childish!”
“but you love me,” kris shrugs nonchalantly, and chanyeol confirms it also with a nonchalant shrug.
cut.
take sixteen:
“hyung gives me a piggyback a lot,” chanyeol grins as he hops on kris’ awaiting back. “so this is a piece of cake, right, hyung?”
kris hums as he stands up, and chanyeol steers kris’ face to the main camera-the one that will make anyone look more defined-and takes a revenge by stretching kris’ artificially drawn fiery red blush and random tiny hearts plus stars cheeks. the cameraman-hyung’s hands are shaking because he’s laughing at the display. when their episode air next week, chanyeol is so capturing kris’ face with his phone!
“did you gain weight,” kris deadpans, and now it’s chanyeol’s turn to head-lock the older boy.
lu han-hyung the PD cruelly makes up a new rule, “fifteen minutes, if you fail the time limit, you’re not allowed to have lunch at all.”
kris runs.
take seventeen:
they barely made it at the 14:29 mark, and if it’s not because of chanyeol’s prettiness and kris’ ridiculous face painting then they will be still queueing among giggly housewives. this is saturday, remember, time for weekly grocery shopping.
when lu han-hyung the PD announces their timing, chanyeol screams and throws himself to hug kris and jumps excitedly while kris tries to wipe the sweat off of his nose with the sleeve of his black t-shirt.
chanyeol remembers he buys a pack of travel tissue when they were sprinting around the supermarket for a situation like this. he takes two plies and dabs at the sweat, but not exactly wipes off the drawing. the right corner of kris’ mouth is smiling and cue a chorus of coo from a good amount of young fans and ahjummas gathering around.
a world peace, indeed.
take nineteen:
kris cuts his finger when he grates the cheddar cheese, and while the MTV crews laugh at his almost censored cuss, chanyeol rolls his eyes and keeps on stirring the spaghetti sauce, not showing any sympathy whatsoever. kris grumbles to the main camera and poorly puts a dinosaur printed band aid to the wound.
before they enjoy their lunch, they do another take to change into the sponsored, giraffe printed sweatshirts and matching navy blue jeans. lu han-hyung the PD asks questions from fans again at this segment, and after ten more takes they’re on a break.
kris pulls chanyeol to ‘their’ bedroom, shuts and locks the door, and puts his comforting hands on top of chanyeol’s shoulders.
with a frown.
“five,” chanyeol does a mehrong and kris frowns for the second the time before a realization dawns on his, huh, really handsome face.
“la la la back to one~you owe me a thousand won, hyung!” chanyeol grips kris’ wrists and acts as a puppet master by moving them above their heads in a weird arm dance.
kris raises an eyebrow, “fine, you sly little giant baby.” he brings down their arms and squeezes them close.
like, thisclose.
“doing okay? sure you are. even tao had his camera shy fiasco before he’s being exo’s camwhore.” his peppermint gum breath is tickling chanyeol’s eyes and chanyeol butts his head to kris’ neck, pouting,
“you are so mean today!” he throws the bait. kris hugs him, chuckling while patting his back and chanyeol sneakily returns the hug.
“seriously though,” kris’ hands move to rest on chanyeol’s lower back, and chanyeol rests the side of his face on kris’ left shoulder. “are you a narcissist, park chanyeol?”
“ugh,” chanyeol pinches kris’ nape but the older boy just laughs it off and twirls their bodies. chanyeol squeals in delight and says that he’s not baekhyun’s wangja for nothing; do you know how many girls are drooling over me in gangwon?!
kris snorts, but his eyes are brighter than ever when they’re nose to nose and chanyeol is the first one to lean backward and shoves kris’ somehow strong hold off of him with a false grimace.
“your face is too big,” chanyeol pushes the said offending body part before he unlocks the door and leaves. vaguely, he hears kris grumbling says a girly boy and instead of getting irritated by the usual least favorable compliment he fixes his bob cut hair to perfectly cover his reddening ears.
▲ ▼
lu han-hyung the PD announces that they’re going to move the shooting location to visit exo; a special request from ryeowook-sshi to add snippets of what exo fans shall look forward to. and by now chanyeol has learned that lu han-hyung-as a PD or not-will never miss the opportunity to be close with none other than minseok-hyung.
so they go to exo’s practice studio without a word, and again, the shooting has to be postponed for awhile because lu han-hyung is too busy cherishing minseok-hyung who flushes and flails and tries to runaway from him.
chanyeol joins the MTV crews watching the rest of exo members plus kris dance to their newest choreography. but. has exo been this mindblowingly awesome? like, he wasn’t lying when he said he knew exo, but this is the first time he actually pays attention to their music and movements and he mentally apologizes at baekhyun because he always mocks his dear best friend for being a hardcore fanboy of this boyband.
“omo chanyeol-goon!” one of the DSLR noonas gasps, earning a few of the cameraman-hyungs to point their cameras at him.
“eh,” chanyeol sobs. wait. he touches his cheeks and wets his fingers. now everyone is staring at him. he frantically wipes the tears off of his face with a nervous giggle, refusing to look at kris who approaches the scene.
kris doesn’t console him. he doesn’t even say sweet nothings. kris is, from what chanyeol can guess, smiling while putting him in another headlock and easily deceives everyone by stating, again, that his chanyeol is exo’s number one fan.
“other than tao, he’s the only person among us who collects all exo’s members photocards,” he pauses, bends down to check on chanyeol, and as chanyeol’s embarrassed smile is gradually blooming, he softly caresses chanyeol’s left eyelid, “see?”
cut.
▲ ▼
not long after minseok-hyung is back with lu han-hyung grinning like a loony on his tow, the PD says that he’s got another game for chanyeol to play if he wants krisyeol to have dinner.
“go stand outside of this building and holds out a ‘free hug’ sign. if you get ten people, then you will pass,” chanyeol nods determinedly and he’s about to comment that this last mission is quite easy when lu han-hyung the PD leers and wiggles his index finger.
“from those ten people, you have to ask each person, ‘do you know who i am?’ and if they answer yes along with your name then you should ask the second question, ‘do you like exo? who is your favorite member?’ and when they say yes again and mention their favorite member you will give them the member’s signed photo as a gift. your time limit is thirty minutes. any questions, chan chan-ah?”
“you’re an evil in disguise,” chanyeol pouts and lu han-hyung the PD pouts back, probably hurt by chanyeol’s allegation.
kris smirks and asks, “what do i do then, hyung?”
“oh, right,” lu han-hyung the PD reads the instruction again, still pouting, “if one of the ten people is your fan, then chanyeol has to call you and you will converse with him or her.”
take forty seven:
it’s so cold out here, and chanyeol’s lips are already chapped thanks to the wind, but he only gets three hugs for the last ten minutes. and only one of them recognize him as ‘the fiancee of that fucking godlike guy’ and instead of telling a shocked chanyeol (a very pretty girl just cursed, okay) who is her favorite exo member she asks for a selca together with him.
“whoa, she’s so awesome,” he says to the camera, and the cameraman-hyung behind it nods in approval. “but ugggggh it’s too cold! lu han-hyung i hate you!” he does another mehrong and jumps before he squats down and whines some more.
the cameraman-hyung offers his hug, and chanyeol is more than glad to take it. he even volunteers to film the cameraman-hyung’s face and smile when he admits that he adores yixing-hyung’s milky skin. chanyeol giggles when he fishes out yixing-hyung’s signed photo.
seventeen minutes pass, and like a queen moth attracted to a lamp, a petite girl suddenly leading a bunch of girls advancing on chanyeol and chanyeol slaps his cheeks once to wake up and get done with the last mission.
five girls know his name and two of them are asking chanyeol to say hi to baekhyun while the petite girl is a fan of lu han-hyung, and the rest is a fan of kyungsoo and tao. chanyeol needs four more hugs to win; and he’s entering the twenty five minute mark.
he gets a lot of random hugs afterward, noonas and hyungs who pass by in hurry and a foreigner; but none of them are willing to stop and in the end chanyeol fails.
they wrap up today’s shooting by filming how exo members eat their chinese take out dinner while krisyeol are drinking banana milk and cheap bread.
cut.
▲ ▼
lu han-hyung crushes him in a bear hug, bids a teary goodbye at chanyeol and a vow to treat his one piece collection like a newborn baby.
“this is my phone number, hyung is waiting for your call!” and although chanyeol doesn’t understand the sentiment at first, he immediately dials the digit after he’s overcome the happiness of finding tons of chocolates and snacks littered on his bed.
meanwhile kris,
“you’re sold too easily, chanyeol-ah,” he scoffs as chanyeol finishes his thankful rant to lu han-hyung, “that old man has a hobby to fatten up people he likes.”
“well,” chanyeol licks his lips, grabbing an armful of snickers, “you’re just jelly you’re not on lu-hyung’s list! i’m not sharing anything!”
“suit yourself,” kris closes chanyeol’s bedroom door with a bang.
continue to interlude the second ▲ ▼
deleted scenes / f i v e /
six (part one)
chanyeol wakes up with a start.
he is still fully clothed, and only half of his upper body is sprawled on the bed. his bedroom’s lamp is glaring at him as he blinks his tired eyes. he searches blindly for his phone and squints to find out the time. it’s fifteen past one in the morning.
chanyeol yawns, gets up, brushes his teeth, washes his face in a record time, and decides a glass of cold chocolate milk will help him to get a better sleep.
but the sight that greets him in the kitchen is way too familiar.
kris is holding his head on both hands with a cup of untouched coffee, and chanyeol already creates theories as to why the older boy is still up at this wee hour.
it’s either kris is worrying over tomorrow-today’s shooting-or he is stressed out by exo’s long awaited comeback next week, or, this one is completely a product of chanyeol’s very, very wishful thinking-about baekhyun’s phone call earlier.
ah, chanyeol chuckles to himself, jongdae is such a pretty little liar. he sincerely hopes woohyun is treating him right, because while it lasted for almost a year; when chanyeol was wearing his heart out on his sleeves in naivety yet jongdae never ever took his words and actions seriously, he was already sure he could rule the world if jongdae stayed on his side. for woohyun who is actually having the opportunity to do so, he has to be nothing but the absolute best for jongdae.
now, though, using his newly found romance in the form of an insanely popular boyband’s leader, chanyeol is being arrogant that he can make the world peace happen.
chanyeol clenches his fist and does the fighting! pose silently. at least this way, he can maintain the world peace of his own standard for the next four months.
gently, he shakes kris’ slumped shoulders, “kris-hyung, your neck is going to kill you!”
kris frowns, opens his eyes, and rubs his face roughly. chanyeol winces because trust kris wufan to do anything not in a brute way. he also pretends he doesn’t see the frown, because it’s too early for their game.
“why aren’t you in bed, hyung?” he asks, filling half of his favorite sagittarius mug with the chocolate milk. kris is not answering him so he pouts and takes a sit on the kitchen counter, shutting the refrigerator door with his foot.
it’s another five minutes before kris says, “are you alright,” and chanyeol hides his giddy smile behind the mug.
to appear more convincing in case kris suddenly turns his back, chanyeol tilts his head. “nggg...alright about what?” even his feigned puzzled tone is so academy award worthy.
kris does turn his back, and chanyeol hides his genuinely surprised (but still giddy) smile behind the mug again. because instead of frowning, kris is actually showing a more pleasant facial reaction.
kris is looking apologetic, with the usual hint of smile from the right corner of his mouth.
and his, “really?” is the closest of kris wufan to squeak. chanyeol misses another super duper rare opportunity to gain a blackmail material!
“really,” chanyeol nods, making a mental note to always maximize ‘voice recorder’ feature on his phone everytime he’s alone with kris from now on.
“but you said you like him so much.”
eh. is that an accusation?
“awww~” chanyeol finishes his drink and jumps off of the kitchen counter. he bats his eyelashes at kris’ half relaxed half guarded expression and continues playfully, “kris-hyungie is j-j-jelly!” which results in kris snorting and grumbling, bravely drinks his stale coffee.
chanyeol giggles. he waits for the culprit of his rollercoaster seventeen years old’s emotion to finish washing their used dishes before he smiles and confidently confesses,
“he’s a past tense now, hyung.”-at the same time kris reaches to pat his head.
their eyes meet.
maybe it’s the dim lighting that creates a halo illumination on top of kris’ sandy blonde hair.
maybe chanyeol didn’t wash his face properly and he left some of the eye boogers.
maybe it’s none of the excuses mentioned above, but chanyeol swears that kris is frozen for a moment anyway.
and chanyeol is hopeful for a moment, too.
▲ ▼
if wanting kris-an adult, with a totally different mindset from chanyeol’s seventeen years old selfish brain/heart-to calmly ask about his feeling after receiving a supposedly earth shattering news without seemingly to come across suicidal was already an advanced level wishful thinking; then thinking-with his seventeen years old lost brain/heart (or heart/brain?)-that kris might like him back is just...plain crazy.
in the end, chanyeol only gets an approximately five hours of sleep.
“yah, park chanyeol, stop it will you?” he slaps his cheeks twice, glaring to the ceiling. “you have no chance, you’re just a kid, you can’t ask for more than this, you’re not his type, you’re not special in his eyes, you have to stop this now because you have a lot already. park chanyeol, you don’t need to walk ten miles away just to get a bucket of water. stop. it.”
he sighs loudly. for a good measure he slaps his cheeks twice more. this is not going to bother him.
after a quick shower he finds a maroon, brand new giraffe printed sweatshirt lying on his bed with a note that he should pair it with his nicest navy blue jeans. exo’s stylist-noonas are waiting for him on the living room, and soon he’s being dolled up from head to toe.
kris is toweling his wet hair when he shows up and chanyeol squeals because they’re wearing ‘couple’ sweatshirt along with the same colored jeans.
“it’s sponsored,” another stylist-noona in charge kindly informs them, and kris just processes this information without a fuss while chanyeol gets teased nonstop for blushing prettily (it’s the skin tone based bb cream’s fault!) by every single noonas who are present there.
ryeowook-sshi also claps happily because his babies look so handsome together and he secretively passes kris their engagement rings before he disappears to exo’s dorm across the hall.
“here,” kris puts the ring with his embroidered name to chanyeol’s right ring finger. he doesn’t wait for chanyeol to do the same to him, and chanyeol tells himself that it’s not a big deal i am not free falling from a hundred stories building. nope.
“what,” kris snorts though, “you want to put it on me?” chanyeol shrugs, too late to straighten his pout.
“sure you don’t,” kris pokes chanyeol’s nose and takes off his ring. “please,” he says in a mocking tone, and chanyeol does a mehrong as he snatches the ring and pauses to admire his own name on the inside of the white gold material.
(it’s funny that he just starts to wonder now, how a lifetime bond is sealed with a piece of small jewelry. and legal papers plus the individuals’ signatures.)
kris pinches his chin.
oh, right. what a lifetime bond, silly, it’s four months! he he.
chanyeol sings the off tune melody of wedding theme song he often hears from dramas and cartoons as he slides the ring on kris. when he looks up from behind his fringe, kris blinks.
judging from his instant frown and lack of teasing, it is clear that chanyeol caught him staring.
...
eyyy.
of course kris was staring! they are standing facing each other thisclose! he had stared, too, right, when kris-
stop it, you're getting hysterical.
chanyeol forces a giggle and shouts a count as a sign that their little game officially begins for today. kris’ smirk is somehow less confident and then he stretches chanyeol’s cheeks mercilessly. three combo of domestic abuse in less than ten minutes. it must be hard to be kris wufan’s significant other.
“ugh hyung you’re hurting me,” chanyeol stomps off back to the living room and he’s immediately attacked by some idle hands groping his butt.
“lu-lu han-hyung!” chanyeol gasps as he falls to the floor.
lu han-hyung honestly leers at him and makes a cute growl to accompany his cute i’m-going-to-claw-your-eyes-because-i-like-you gesture. he’s almost successful but kris sits himself in between him and chanyeol as a barricade.
lu han-hyung pouts. “your sense of humor is so scary,” he kicks kris’ left foot.
kris remains indifferent. “you are scary,” he retorts with crossed arms and they only stop bickering when the previous DSLR noonas drag a still sleepy minseok-hyung to the scene.
lu han-hyung is missing with chanyeol’s appa most favorite exo member for almost an hour and chanyeol uses the opportunity to read the pink note again, lying upside down on his neatly made bed. he makes a random volume of his one piece manhwa as a decoy in case someone comes without knocking first.
he jumps and shrieks when lu han-hyung bustles in even more energetic than before followed by kris. chanyeol hurriedly folds the pink note and closes the manhwa, grinning widely to cover up his nervousness.
“chan chan are you ready?” lu han-hyung stretches his arms, but he’s stopped in track because kris is grabbing the collar of his t-shirt. “you’re such a cockblock,” lu han-hyung elbows kris’ stomach, who easily dodges it.
chanyeol throws the manhwa carelessly to the bookshelves, and glomps lu han-hyung in a brief hug just because he feels like it. he gives a signal to kris to let go and he’s too flabbergasted to protest when lu han-hyung squeezes his tits.
kris does the infamous OTL pose on the floor while chanyeol whines, “pervert!” and feigns a sob. he takes refugee to ryeowook-sshi who scolds both kris and lu han-hyung. they apologize, kris with his mocking decent bow and lu han-hyung kneeling (but still leering) right in front of him.
take one:
“omo! MTV?” chanyeol exclaims. “MTV?!” he opens the front door to let the cameras in.
“annyeonghaseyo, park chanyeol imnida,” he giggles as the main camera zooms in on his already makeup retouched face. his previously sponsored, giraffe printed sweatshirt is put aside for later segment, and for now he’s changed into a lavender hoodie with black skinny jeans.
“good morning!” he chirps in english as he bounces to fetch kris, who is set to watch the television with his reading glasses perched on his nose. kris smiles slightly to the main camera and greets the viewers, wearing a long sleeved black t-shirt with cargo pants.
take two:
lu han-hyung the PD-not showed on the frame, only his voice can be heard, announces as he sits across kris and chanyeol on the couch, “annyeong, kris and chanyeol. you’re going to film MTV’s ‘a day with...’ show.”
he continues, “you did this once, remember, with exo?”
“ah, yes, hyung. a year ago when exo was a rookie,” kris glances at chanyeol who sits cross legged next to him. he pokes chanyeol’s nose, “this is my fiancee, park chanyeol. he will work hard for this show.”
chanyeol waves enthusiastically with a bright smile, but not before he scrunches his nose to the camera.
take three:
they have a brief interview regarding exo’s most anticipated comeback and what does exo want to accomplish with their first full-length album. chanyeol is asked if he has heard snippet of exo’s songs or seen the dance but he shakes his head with a pout. he declares that as a huge fan of exo he is so excited. and then there are the general questions about their daily activities; and the ultimate curiosity of ‘krisyeol fans’,
“are we going to hear a wedding bell soon?”
chanyeol forgets to control his hormone and so he blushes furiously after hearing that (this question is too much okay), while kris takes his time to bully chanyeol about it before he puts on his handsomest smile to the cameras and answers,
“my chanyeol is so shy. thank you for the support, yeoreobun. we’ll see about that.”
cut.
▲ ▼
they have to postpone the shooting for awhile because lu han-hyung collapses when he sees chanyeol’s complete to the latest volume one piece collection. they’re engaged in a heated pleading-please-i-need-to-borrow-them! versus chanyeol’s resentment-no!-i-can’t-they-are-my-treasure!
but then lu han-hyung uses his deathly pout as the last weapon and chanyeol whines because of the cuteness overload!
kris interrupts them with his trademarked monotonous voice, “chanyeol-ah, make him promise to buy you the most expensive birthday present ever,” and lu han-hyung doesn’t miss a beat to agree.
“anything! lu hannie will give chan chan everything!” he clasps his hands together and he really really really does look like that ginger puss character from shrek.
“but hyung~” chanyeol whines, tugging at kris’ arm, “i don’t want to~”
kris flicks his forehead, “that loony can go on for hours. suit yourself, chan chan.”
chanyeol likes to assume (not thinking wishfully, no, it’s different) that kris being exceptionally meaner than he normally is because he thinks chanyeol is no longer in like with anyone so he blatantly changes his way to treat chanyeol from a priceless stranger to a gullible younger brother.
that’s.
that’s so sweet chanyeol can’t help but to recall his only a couple of hours old wishful thinking.
wait, scratch that.
the upgraded version of it.
like, maybe kris likes likes me too but he’s still oblivious himself?
▲ ▼
chanyeol and lu han-hyung is doing the pinky promise that lu han-hyung will not do the dog-ear tag, or read the manhwas in the bathroom or when he’s eating or drinking or about to sleep.
“i promise i will use a pincher to open the pages, chan chan, i will wear gloves so the pages won’t suffer from my sweating fingers. i will take care of them with all of my might. i will convey this promise to my younger brother if he dares to touch your manhwas, my chan chan.”
chanyeol can’t help but to giggle while kris snorts at the use of ownership, “aw hyung, you have a younger brother?” they disentangle their pinky fingers.
lu han-hyung nods with glossy eyes, “he goes to your school. oh sehun, from class III-C, do you know him? he’s an ulzzang and a teen model.”
chanyeol scratches his cheek. he doesn’t know.
take four:
they do a welcome to my crib mostly in their kitchen where they tell the viewers about their preferences on food, their living room where the cameraman-hyungs are taking shots of the interior, and finally to their shared bedroom where chanyeol reveals that kris is so warm at night and kris discloses that chanyeol often forgets to take his dirty clothes to the hamper or to stack his own stuffs; and chanyeol does a bbuing bbuing aegyo and kris groans,
“this, and it’s even worse when tao joins him. so unfair, right, yeoreobun? how do you expect me not to give in?” and then, smiling, kris tackles chanyeol in an affectionate head lock, as one of the noona-staff whispers loudly to the whole room.
▲ ▼
on take eight, lu han-hyung the PD gives them a mission.
chanyeol reads it, “cook lunch with the money you will obtain from games.”
the games are divided into three sessions. the first session is a trivia game. kris wins it 7:3 and chanyeol receives a punishment to do a famous girl group dance. the shooting has to halt for ten minutes for chanyeol to get over his embarrassment after dancing a very stiff KARA’s legendary butt dance and for kris to get another makeup retouch because he’s sweating despite the cold temperature. ryeowook-sshi’s spontaneous comment, “i never never never see kris laughing like an idiot before!” will be used as a footage.
take nine:
the second game is guessing proverb by reenacting it and chanyeol wins 3:1 because he’s still a high schooler and kris strongly protests that he grew up in canada, therefore he knows nothing about proverb. chanyeol boos him. the punishment is to have his face drawn by chanyeol with colorful markers, and he can only wash his face after they buy their lunch’s ingredients at the supermarket nearby.
take ten:
“pick a random number from the bowl and increase the counter exactly like the written number by dancing,” chanyeol whines and flushes again.
they’re gyrating awkwardly to exo’s hit songs like a couple of giant sticks; and all of the MTV crews are having a good time witnessing it. chanyeol, with his neverending energy, wins after four takes, and kris’ final punishment will be told on the next segment.
take fifteen:
“how much do we have?” kris asks as he maneuvers the sponsored KIA car out of the parking lot of their apartment. there are just the two of them, with plastered cameras all over the dashboard.
chanyeol is concentrating on counting the money, and then he answers, “thirty one thousand won. eyyy! MTV is so mean to us! what should we cook, hyung?”
kris frowns, and chanyeol is hesitated whether to continue playing their little game or not. kris has three frowning points already, but chanyeol’s seventeen years old heart/brain is not too fond of the idea of outsider(s) to take part in it. he doesn’t want exo’s fans and MTV crews to acknowledge their private, oh so krisyeol thing moment. no. for this matter, park chanyeol is selfish.
okay, then. four, and he will tell kris that their little game is still on but because of certain circumstance they’re playing it in secret.
kris says, “you tell me.” and chanyeol looks straight to the camera in front of him, clicking his tongue in a faux disapproval,
“MTV. kris wufan is actually like this. he only goes to the kitchen to eat but he never helps his poor fiance to cook!”
kris pinches his cheek. hard.
“he likes to abuse me too! help!”
kris just smirks to the cameras and continues driving. then he snaps his fingers as they stop in the red light, “how about we cook spaghetti? don’t they have instant whatisit seasoning with meat already on it? we can top it off with cheese and meatballs, hm, chanyeol-ah? and instant cream mushroom soup?”
“uwaaa!” chanyeol beams. “you’re right, hyung! we just need to boil the pasta, fry the sauce and the meatballs, stir the instant soup with water, and i think we still have cheddar cheese left back home, hyung! uwaaaaa!”
“that’s right,” kris pinches his nose this time, “now take back what you said about me earlier, chanyeol-ah.”
chanyeol does a mehrong as he rubs his reddening nose, “ugh you’re so childish!”
“but you love me,” kris shrugs nonchalantly, and chanyeol confirms it also with a nonchalant shrug.
cut.
take sixteen:
“hyung gives me a piggyback a lot,” chanyeol grins as he hops on kris’ awaiting back. “so this is a piece of cake, right, hyung?”
kris hums as he stands up, and chanyeol steers kris’ face to the main camera-the one that will make anyone look more defined-and takes a revenge by stretching kris’ artificially drawn fiery red blush and random tiny hearts plus stars cheeks. the cameraman-hyung’s hands are shaking because he’s laughing at the display. when their episode air next week, chanyeol is so capturing kris’ face with his phone!
“did you gain weight,” kris deadpans, and now it’s chanyeol’s turn to head-lock the older boy.
lu han-hyung the PD cruelly makes up a new rule, “fifteen minutes, if you fail the time limit, you’re not allowed to have lunch at all.”
kris runs.
take seventeen:
they barely made it at the 14:29 mark, and if it’s not because of chanyeol’s prettiness and kris’ ridiculous face painting then they will be still queueing among giggly housewives. this is saturday, remember, time for weekly grocery shopping.
when lu han-hyung the PD announces their timing, chanyeol screams and throws himself to hug kris and jumps excitedly while kris tries to wipe the sweat off of his nose with the sleeve of his black t-shirt.
chanyeol remembers he buys a pack of travel tissue when they were sprinting around the supermarket for a situation like this. he takes two plies and dabs at the sweat, but not exactly wipes off the drawing. the right corner of kris’ mouth is smiling and cue a chorus of coo from a good amount of young fans and ahjummas gathering around.
a world peace, indeed.
take nineteen:
kris cuts his finger when he grates the cheddar cheese, and while the MTV crews laugh at his almost censored cuss, chanyeol rolls his eyes and keeps on stirring the spaghetti sauce, not showing any sympathy whatsoever. kris grumbles to the main camera and poorly puts a dinosaur printed band aid to the wound.
before they enjoy their lunch, they do another take to change into the sponsored, giraffe printed sweatshirts and matching navy blue jeans. lu han-hyung the PD asks questions from fans again at this segment, and after ten more takes they’re on a break.
kris pulls chanyeol to ‘their’ bedroom, shuts and locks the door, and puts his comforting hands on top of chanyeol’s shoulders.
with a frown.
“five,” chanyeol does a mehrong and kris frowns for the second the time before a realization dawns on his, huh, really handsome face.
“la la la back to one~you owe me a thousand won, hyung!” chanyeol grips kris’ wrists and acts as a puppet master by moving them above their heads in a weird arm dance.
kris raises an eyebrow, “fine, you sly little giant baby.” he brings down their arms and squeezes them close.
like, thisclose.
“doing okay? sure you are. even tao had his camera shy fiasco before he’s being exo’s camwhore.” his peppermint gum breath is tickling chanyeol’s eyes and chanyeol butts his head to kris’ neck, pouting,
“you are so mean today!” he throws the bait. kris hugs him, chuckling while patting his back and chanyeol sneakily returns the hug.
“seriously though,” kris’ hands move to rest on chanyeol’s lower back, and chanyeol rests the side of his face on kris’ left shoulder. “are you a narcissist, park chanyeol?”
“ugh,” chanyeol pinches kris’ nape but the older boy just laughs it off and twirls their bodies. chanyeol squeals in delight and says that he’s not baekhyun’s wangja for nothing; do you know how many girls are drooling over me in gangwon?!
kris snorts, but his eyes are brighter than ever when they’re nose to nose and chanyeol is the first one to lean backward and shoves kris’ somehow strong hold off of him with a false grimace.
“your face is too big,” chanyeol pushes the said offending body part before he unlocks the door and leaves. vaguely, he hears kris grumbling says a girly boy and instead of getting irritated by the usual least favorable compliment he fixes his bob cut hair to perfectly cover his reddening ears.
▲ ▼
lu han-hyung the PD announces that they’re going to move the shooting location to visit exo; a special request from ryeowook-sshi to add snippets of what exo fans shall look forward to. and by now chanyeol has learned that lu han-hyung-as a PD or not-will never miss the opportunity to be close with none other than minseok-hyung.
so they go to exo’s practice studio without a word, and again, the shooting has to be postponed for awhile because lu han-hyung is too busy cherishing minseok-hyung who flushes and flails and tries to runaway from him.
chanyeol joins the MTV crews watching the rest of exo members plus kris dance to their newest choreography. but. has exo been this mindblowingly awesome? like, he wasn’t lying when he said he knew exo, but this is the first time he actually pays attention to their music and movements and he mentally apologizes at baekhyun because he always mocks his dear best friend for being a hardcore fanboy of this boyband.
“omo chanyeol-goon!” one of the DSLR noonas gasps, earning a few of the cameraman-hyungs to point their cameras at him.
“eh,” chanyeol sobs. wait. he touches his cheeks and wets his fingers. now everyone is staring at him. he frantically wipes the tears off of his face with a nervous giggle, refusing to look at kris who approaches the scene.
kris doesn’t console him. he doesn’t even say sweet nothings. kris is, from what chanyeol can guess, smiling while putting him in another headlock and easily deceives everyone by stating, again, that his chanyeol is exo’s number one fan.
“other than tao, he’s the only person among us who collects all exo’s members photocards,” he pauses, bends down to check on chanyeol, and as chanyeol’s embarrassed smile is gradually blooming, he softly caresses chanyeol’s left eyelid, “see?”
cut.
▲ ▼
not long after minseok-hyung is back with lu han-hyung grinning like a loony on his tow, the PD says that he’s got another game for chanyeol to play if he wants krisyeol to have dinner.
“go stand outside of this building and holds out a ‘free hug’ sign. if you get ten people, then you will pass,” chanyeol nods determinedly and he’s about to comment that this last mission is quite easy when lu han-hyung the PD leers and wiggles his index finger.
“from those ten people, you have to ask each person, ‘do you know who i am?’ and if they answer yes along with your name then you should ask the second question, ‘do you like exo? who is your favorite member?’ and when they say yes again and mention their favorite member you will give them the member’s signed photo as a gift. your time limit is thirty minutes. any questions, chan chan-ah?”
“you’re an evil in disguise,” chanyeol pouts and lu han-hyung the PD pouts back, probably hurt by chanyeol’s allegation.
kris smirks and asks, “what do i do then, hyung?”
“oh, right,” lu han-hyung the PD reads the instruction again, still pouting, “if one of the ten people is your fan, then chanyeol has to call you and you will converse with him or her.”
take forty seven:
it’s so cold out here, and chanyeol’s lips are already chapped thanks to the wind, but he only gets three hugs for the last ten minutes. and only one of them recognize him as ‘the fiancee of that fucking godlike guy’ and instead of telling a shocked chanyeol (a very pretty girl just cursed, okay) who is her favorite exo member she asks for a selca together with him.
“whoa, she’s so awesome,” he says to the camera, and the cameraman-hyung behind it nods in approval. “but ugggggh it’s too cold! lu han-hyung i hate you!” he does another mehrong and jumps before he squats down and whines some more.
the cameraman-hyung offers his hug, and chanyeol is more than glad to take it. he even volunteers to film the cameraman-hyung’s face and smile when he admits that he adores yixing-hyung’s milky skin. chanyeol giggles when he fishes out yixing-hyung’s signed photo.
seventeen minutes pass, and like a queen moth attracted to a lamp, a petite girl suddenly leading a bunch of girls advancing on chanyeol and chanyeol slaps his cheeks once to wake up and get done with the last mission.
five girls know his name and two of them are asking chanyeol to say hi to baekhyun while the petite girl is a fan of lu han-hyung, and the rest is a fan of kyungsoo and tao. chanyeol needs four more hugs to win; and he’s entering the twenty five minute mark.
he gets a lot of random hugs afterward, noonas and hyungs who pass by in hurry and a foreigner; but none of them are willing to stop and in the end chanyeol fails.
they wrap up today’s shooting by filming how exo members eat their chinese take out dinner while krisyeol are drinking banana milk and cheap bread.
cut.
▲ ▼
lu han-hyung crushes him in a bear hug, bids a teary goodbye at chanyeol and a vow to treat his one piece collection like a newborn baby.
“this is my phone number, hyung is waiting for your call!” and although chanyeol doesn’t understand the sentiment at first, he immediately dials the digit after he’s overcome the happiness of finding tons of chocolates and snacks littered on his bed.
meanwhile kris,
“you’re sold too easily, chanyeol-ah,” he scoffs as chanyeol finishes his thankful rant to lu han-hyung, “that old man has a hobby to fatten up people he likes.”
“well,” chanyeol licks his lips, grabbing an armful of snickers, “you’re just jelly you’re not on lu-hyung’s list! i’m not sharing anything!”
“suit yourself,” kris closes chanyeol’s bedroom door with a bang.
continue to interlude the second ▲ ▼