f i v e

On his computer screen, Yixing could see Sun with her smiling face as she sat in a small, and dimly lit room. Squinting his eyes to try to get a better look at her surroundings, he asked her, "Where are you, jagiya? It looks like you're sitting in a laundry room." He took one guess. The lighting and color of the walls reminded him of the laundry room in the SM Town dorm building, and he assumed that all laundry rooms looked like that.

Sun gave a shake of her head, replying in something of a whisper. "I'm locked up in my hotel room's closet." She explained with a grin.

She didn't want to be too loud because her room mate was sleeping just a few feet away, even if her voice was muffled by the closed door. One can never be too careful, the maknae of Baby Lips thought to herself.

As an idea came to him, he said aloud, making a mental note. "Maybe the storage closet in the laundry room can be a good hide out...I'll have to scope it out later."

Snapping her fingers in front of the screen to get his attention, Sun said to her boyfriend, "Focus, baobei. We don't have much time." 

"Right." He nodded quickly in agreement. A smile formed on his lips. "How was your flight to China? Did you get there safely? Are you comfortable? How is everything?" As he bombarded her with questions, he couldn't help but look proud of his country and the fact that she was getting to see it. Every time he returned he thought about how comfortable the people made him feel and how much he loved his country. He thought about how much he missed the place he knew as home. 

"I'm fine." She assured him with a small nod of her head. And with a sigh, she added, "But I miss you tons, baobei. I wish you were here so we could cuddle and watch movies all night, pigging out on pizza, chips, and ice cream. I need a night like that, Yixing." 

The twenty year old often thought about how her life would be if she were a normal girl. She could do anything she wanted, she could eat anything she wanted, and she could date anyone she wanted. She loved music, and she loved her life as an idol. But some days she felt like leaving it all behind for just one day, running away for just one day, and spending it with Yixing without worrying about what people would say. 

The reality was different, and there she was, skyping her secret boyfriend whilst hiding in a hotel closet in China. 

To have a night like that with Yixing was something she could only dream about. Her room mate Saris was like a watch dog, taking her responsibilities as group leader way too seriously. It was difficult for her to get away for a few hours in the middle of the night, and even more difficult for her to stay out the whole night with him. Then there were his group mates who would also be wondering where he was. There was so much at stake, so much for them to lose if people found out about their relationship.

"One day." He promised, snapping her out of her thoughts.

-

At the SM Town dorm building, Yixing was locked up in the lounge room having a video chat with his girlfriend. It was the perfect time to do so, since his group had a light schedule that day and were given the rest of the afternoon for themselves, which meant most of the others had taken it as their opportunity to go out. They had only talked for a bit over a half hour when there was a knock on the lounge door that startled him. Whoever was on the other side of the door was knocking and tying to twist the doorknob to open at the door at the same time. 

When their attempts didn't work was when Yixing heard their voice.

"Someone accidentally locked the lounge room again." Chanyeol said in frustration to himself. But it had been no accident.

Giving the doorknob a final pull, trying to open it, the door shook in its frame rather violently. Yixing was frozen in his seat on the couch, and his girlfriend who he saw on the computer screen had also heard the noise and was now quiet. The one thing Chanyeol did in the lounge room besides eating with the rest of the boys was play video games--and occasionally watch the kpop gossip shows which kept them updated on the shade Baby Lips threw at them. The only television on their floor was in the lounge room. 

He heard footsteps heading down the hall, but he knew his group mate would be returning. The key on the lounge room door was the same that could be opened with their dorm key. But neither Chanyeol or Baekhyun really took their room keys out of their room.

They were normally with the other boys anyway if they needed to use the communal showers, or enter the building after returning from dance practice. Their room was also always unlocked because they were so forgetful with their room keys that they were known to have locked themselves out of their own dorm on several occasions and had to call security to get the door open.

"I have to go, jagi." Yixing said in a whisper to the girl on his computer screen. "Chanyeol probably wants to play video games here."

She jutted out her bottom lip, showing him a pout. "Tell him to go away."

He chuckled, pretending he would follow her suggestion. "I'll tell him: go away so I can continue skyping with my secret girlfriend who is in the enemy girl group that hates us."

"Yes. Tell him that." Sun nodded her head in agreement. She didn't mind the part about them knowing that she and the rest of their group really disliked them--to put it nicely.

Hearing the pair of footsteps returning down the hall, he said in a rushed tone, "I'll text you, and hopefully we can video chat again soon. Love you, jagi."

"Love you more." Sun made a kissy face and blew a kiss at her camera. Yixing quickly did the same before ending their video call just in time. The door to the lounge room opened seconds later to reveal Chanyeol. He was dressed in his pajamas though it wasn't yet too late in the afternoon. Soon the others would be coming back for dinner--whoever wasn't going to have dinner with their family or their friends. 

When he saw Yixing sat on the couch with his laptop, he asked with mild annoyance, "You were here the whole time? Didn't you hear me knocking, hyung?"

"I was watching a movie with my headphones on." Yixing quickly replied, his voice sounding awkward yet there was an attempt at coming off as apologetic.

"Okay." Chanyeol sighed. "Well I'm going to play video games here. Do you mind?"

Yixing responded with a shake of his head. "No. I was just going to return to my dorm anyway. The movie ended." He said, getting up from his place on the couch and walking towards the door.

-

Sun got into bed after her video chat with Yixing and fell asleep almost immediately. She was still tired after having stayed out for hours to see him, by the Han River. 

The Baby Lips maknae slept all through the rest of the afternoon and even the rest of the night. Her boyfriend Yixing, assuming that she was very tired, left several sweet text messages for her to wake up to. And she would need them because her manager woke the girls up bright and early the next morning. It was only six, where back in Korea they would get up at eight in the morning most of the time. 

The six girls belonging to the subgroup BLM got up and showered before having breakfast together to start off their day. All through their meal--a continental breakfast consisting of mostly fruit, some plain yogurt, and a pastry--their manager was reading off the things they had planned for the day.

"The photo shoot and filming of our commercial for our new fragrance will be with our two visuals, Minnie and Sun." She read off the schedule she had set on her phone. "The rest of you have a fansign today, and in the afternoon the six of you will appear together on Happy Camp."

Sun pouted as she thought about the things she would be missing that day. "I want to go to the fansign. I don't want our fans to think Min and I are being snobby."

Their manager shook her head, "We only advertised for Yoona, Miran, Kia, and Jai to be there. Besides, we made sure to release a statement explaining that you can't be there because of shooting promos, but that you really wanted to be there for the fans. They'll understand."

"Still," Minnie argued, taking a bite off her strawberry pastry. "I think a fansign is much better than having a bunch of people yelling at you to look here!"

"And tilt your head this way!" Sun agreed, mimicking the photographers.

"Shoulders back!" One of the other girls--Kia--joined in amusement.

"Chin up!" Yoona looked right at sun and gestured for her to lift her chin with the silver fork in her hand.

Most of the photographers at their photo shoots were nice, and treated them well, but there was always that one person who treated them like children who needed to be told what to do. And when they told them what to do, it was mostly in a yelling kind of tone.

"If you behave and do as you're told," Her manager began slowly, unsure of whether to make the offer to the two girls who would spend most of the morning at a photo shoot. "Maybe the photo shoot will end in time for you to get to the fansign. But that's ultimately going to be up to you." She was mostly looking at Sun who was the more mischievous of the girls in the group. There was also the fact that she was the most likely to laugh during shooting and put them behind schedule because so many of the pictures would have to be retaken.

Sun's eyes beamed with excitement. "I'll behave, I swear."

-

Sun and Minnie stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by blinding lights and people buzzing around them. There was a pillar in between them, with a bottle of their new perfume rested atop it while there were also heavy duty fans blowing gusts of wind in their faces to have their hair flowing behind them.

Every now and then, the photographer kept stopping to scold the younger of the two girls.

"Sorry." Sun apologized for about the hundreth time. "My neck is very sensitive."

She would try to hold back her instinct which begged her to keep her head straight, but the wind hitting her neck was just so uncomfortable that she would tilt her head down and laugh at the tickling sensation she felt. That was one thing she had in common with Yixing. They were very ticklish, but the most sensitive area was their neck. 

"Straighten out your neck." The photographer told her in annoyance, "You look like a turtle."

"I can't." Sun refused with a shake of her head, her shoulders hunched to protect herself. "The wind from the fans tickles me."

"Come on, Sun." Minnie said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder soothingly. Her voice was more calm and understanding about her situation, rather than the impatient way she was being spoken to by the photographer. "Remember we want to get to the fansign for a little while, so just endure it, please." Her every word was tinged with specks of a Mexican accent from the years--almost half of her life--she had lived in Mexico. Sometimes Sun suspected it wasn't an involuntary accent--something she couldn't control, but rather that she purposefully spoke that way because it helped her feel more connected to the place of her birth. Or maybe it was a habit she had picked up.

Sun sucked in a deep breath of determination and nodded her head, "I'll do it for the fans." She announced triumphantly and the girl beside her clapped her hands together happily.

With the fans on full blast and gusts of wind hitting her neck, she thought to keep herself distracted by not thinking about how much it tickled.

She decided to think of Yixing and being able to see him in person once again, even if it would have to be in secret.

-

here's the newest update for this story. i was going to include some drama at the end, but i had to cut it before i got to it because the update was getting too long. but i will definitely post it in the next chapter. so stay tuned for that.

thank you loads for the reads, comments, and support!

have a wonderful week!

-clary xx