n i n e

*just a warning before this chapter even starts & for future reference in other chapters/stories of mine: just pretend im not atrociously terrible at photoshop. i tried my best ^.^*

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blm_sunshine: with min unnie (@lagosdmoreno) just before we went into hair and make-up for #happycamp today :) #blm #babylips #kisskiss 

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brizuela27_cone commented on your photo: min hermosa @lagosdmoreno :*

Beautiful Min, Isaac commented in Spanish on Sun's instagram picture. 

He and Sun didn't follow each other on instagram for drama reasons. Once when he and Saris had followed each other on social media, the fans had gone into a frenzy, thinking that the leader of Baby Lips wanted to take Isaac from Minnie. From then on, the managers of the group had asked them not to follow Isaac on social media. He had done the same to avoid himself problems as well. But he always liked posts that the other girls posted in which Minnie was tagged.

In interviews, the BLM main vocalist was always asked what her social media usernames stood for. Her username was lagosdmoreno on all platforms.

She always replied that it stood for Lagos De Moreno, Jalisco, where she had been born and the place where she grew up with her childhood friend who was now her boyfriend Isaac. It was an honorary mention for the place that was hers by birth, and the place she missed dearly.

-

The night after Sun's public apology on Happy Camp, Baby Lips had seen trmendous backlash from one end of the spectrum when it came to kpop fans. They were mostly EXO's fans who slammed the Baby Lips mankae for using the variety show as a platform to put more attention on herself. But the people that really mattered to Sun--Baby Lips' fans--had been very understanding and had seen that she was genuinely sorry for causing that accident. 

Back at their hotels, the six girls of the BLM subgroup piled into Sun and Minnie's room to watch movies for the rest of the night. The five other girls had been allowed to go out and see the town--to have fun. All except Sun, who was punished for what she had done that day.

Sun didn't mind. 

After the events of the day, the last thing she wanted was to go out. She was perfectly happy staying in her room with the other girls. They didn't want to go out and have fun without one of their members and decided to stay in as well. They had just finished watching a movie, Disney's Tangled, when Yoona got up from her place on the carpet floor and hit the eject button to play a different movie. 

As she took the movie disk out, the television switched to channel mode and out of movie mode. On the screen they saw the local gossip show Hunan Happenings, which was mostly about the entertainment industry. The girls' attention was caught on a specific segment immediately, as the two people in the picture on the screen behind the presenter were of Sun, and EXO's Lay. 

The woman presenter read off her note cards subtly, beginning to talk about the news story. "In music news, one of EXO's Mandarin speaking members, Zhang Yixing, otherwise known as Lay, fiercely defended Baby Lips' vocalist member Park Mae, known as Sun. This happened earlier today when the popular kpop group put together by industry powerhouse SM Entertainment was invited for an interview on a radio show." The screen cut away to a clip of four EXO boys sitting in a radio cabin as the woman continued explaining. "Lay became angry at one of his team mates who verbally attacked Baby Lips as a group, and then proceeded to attack Park Mae. Here are the images."

The video began to play and Sun watched as Kai from EXO spoke about them with disdain. He said that all Sun and Baby Lips wanted was attention, and that Sun had probably caused that accident on purpose.

His comments made Yoona snort angrily. "This boy thinks he knows about people wanting attention? Maybe he should take a good look in the mirror first."

"They're so arrogant." Kia added as she nodded in agreement with their subgroup's leader.

Moments later, they cut off to the part of the clip where Yixing defended Sun. He said that no one would cause an accident like that on purpose, and that he should be mindful of what he says next time. After Yixing's comments, there was visible tension between both EXO members for the remainder of the interview.

"At least one of them knows when his band mates are going too far." Jai commented, slightly pleased with the way Yixing had dealt with Jongin's accusations towards their rival girl group.

"Maybe someone has a crush on Sun." Minnie nudged her. "Did you see how he was so quick to defend her?"

"Better not get involved with them." Yoona warned.

And Sun knew it. Of course she knew it. It was one of their first teachings when she first joined Pledis as a trainee. They couldn't get involved with the members of EXO, or anyone from SM Entertainment for that matter. It wasn't allowed.

-

The article had been going around for hours now and he was sure most of the managers, the agency, and his group members had seen it. His girlfriend Sun and her group mates had probably seen it as well. But he was just not able to restrain himself when he heard Jongin saying all those things about Sun. That she was an attention seeker. That attention was all she wanted. That she had purposefully caused that scooter accident. He knew Sun better than anyone and he knew that was simply not true.

He didn't want his fans--who already disliked her--to think that she was a terrible person who would be capable of the worst things for attention. 

It was one thing for him to say things about Baby Lips because he didn't mean any of it. He had to pretend so that people wouldn't find out he was secretly dating Sun. But when Jongin did it, he spoke with every intention of making them look bad. His comments had crossed the line.

He was back in the lounge room, trying to keep himself distracted by playing video games with Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Although it was mostly Chanyeol and Baekhyun playing by themselves and yelling at the television. Yixing had his eyes focused on his phone, which was set faced down on the coffee table. He was just itching to get a text message from Sun. How he craved to talk to her, if even for a second. 

He was close to giving up on the game when Jongin strolled into the lounge room casually. Their argument from early in the day was long past them. Yet, he still had been online searching kpop gossip articles about their interview and the apology Sun had issued on Happy Camp. At least--Yixing thought--he and Jongin were on speaking terms again.

The main dancer of EXO walked directly towards the television where the boys were playing video games and sat next to Yixing. Handing him the phone so that he could see the article, Yixing began to read.

It was the same one he had been reading earlier.

EXO's Lay defends arch nemesis and Baby Lips maknae Sun from being slammed by his own group mate.

The article talked about the events that had gone down at the radio show that day, with an analysis included about how perhaps the rivalry between Yixing and Sun was turning into something more. "They've always shared a particularly strong hatred for each other." The article read and Yixing found himself rolling his eyes. "Could it be that from this hatred could stem a beautiful love story?" The article finished with a question.

It had taken the media that long to figure it out, and even then they still weren't entirely sure.

In truth, it really had been that way, Yixing remembered it well. He and Sun genuinely started out hating each other around the time that both groups debuted. There had been a big hype for both groups since their concepts were similar, they had the same amount of members, they were around the same age ranges, and they had debuted just one day apart from each other with EXO debuting first. It had started after Sun had called EXO a mediocre circus act on a variety show the group had been invited to, and Yixing retaliated by saying that there was no rivalry between the groups because they didn't even know who Baby Lips were. 

It wasn't until six months after their debuts that everything changed between them. It was the night of the MAMA Awards. Both EXO and Baby Lips had been nominated for the category of Best New Artist (Group), and both groups had been arduously promoting so that the fans would vote for them. 

EXO took the award that day, with the host informing that Baby Lips had been a close second place. But the girls of Baby Lips had been devastated with the loss because it would give EXO the right to brag that they were better than them--and they had the award to prove it.

After the show, the artists had all gone back stage and headed to their dressing rooms to change into more comfortable clothes for the after party that would be hosted at another venue. Sun went in search of a wash room while her group members went on ahead to their dressing room. Without knowing, she had stepped into an elevator that was nearly empty except for the fact that Zhang Yixing was in it. 

Sun was close to skipping the elevator ride and taking the next one, but she wasn't one to run away from anything. She had stepped into the lift and hit the button for the ground floor. The venue had about four floors and she didn't want to take the stairs in heels, as it was too much of a hassle. 

The moment the elevator started moving, it made a terrible sound and came to a halt, startling Sun and Yixing. 

"What happened?" She asked him, gulping back in fear.

The lights in the elevator car turned off and he tried hitting the open doors button, which didn't work. He then tried to hit the button for emergencies, so that he could call in the fire fighters. But nothing was of use. They were stuck in the elevator with the lights out. 

"I think the power went out." He told her, keeping his calm.

"Great." She groaned. 

Both tried to call for help, but their cellphones didn't get any cellular service in the elevator. Before they knew it, they had been trapped in there for an hour. Sun had already kicked off her heels by that time and sat down on the floor of the elevator. Yixing stood by the doors, still trying to get them to work. He had removed his blazer jacket and was trying to pry the doors open with his hands.

Another hour and Sun's claustrophobia began to kick in, and her breathing was uneasy. Noticing her predicament, Yixing went to sit by her side and started making conversation with her in order to calm her down. 

By the third hour, he had finally coaxed her into remaining calm and she had her head placed on his shoulders, her slender arms wrapped tightly around him for comfort.

It was the day she had decided that maybe the boys of EXO weren't as bad as she thought--at least Yixing wasn't. 

They were finally able to get out of that elevator after three long hours of being trapped in there and Sun was grateful that Yixing had been able to put their differences aside, just to take care of her. They had talked for two of those three hours, and by the end of it they felt like they had known each other and entire lifetime. When Yixing asked Sun for her phone number, she didn't hesitate to give it to him. 

But as soon as they were rescued by the fire fighters, they had to pretend that they still didn't get along. 

Two people who deeply hated each other only needed three hours trapped in that elevator to fall deeply in love.

-

The Pledis managers of Baby Lips had been among those who had heard about Yixing defending their maknae from one of his own group mates. They had also read the articles that connected the two artists and coined them as the Romeo and Juliet of the kpop industry. Two artists from rival agencies who possibly were in the midst of a secret love. At the same time, there was a small group of people--fans of both groups--that already were in agreement with a possible relationship between the two.

That was the last thing Pledis wanted--for one of their idols to be involved with someone of a rival agency, especially with someone from SM Entertainment. They knew that rumors could be just that. Rumors. They could die off within a few days to a few weeks. But they still wanted something that would leave no doubt that there was nothing between the two idols.

In order to debunk the rumors, they thought up a plan, and they thought it up quick. 

When Sun was called up to meet with her managers one morning while they were still in China, she knew what it was all about. She had seen the rumors in the news, had read about them online. People were beginning to suspect that there was something going on between her and Yixing because of the way he had defended her so quickly, against one of his own group mates. It was even more surprising to the fans because they always saw EXO as a very united group, and it was the first time two members had a big disagreement like that, so publicly. 

She arrived in the conference room they had borrowed at the hotel and sat down at the table, waiting for the meeting to begin.

The girls' main manager, Lina unnie began to speak first. She grabbed a remote off the table and played the video of Yixing defending Sun. Every time Sun watched it, she felt a smile tug at her lips, which she struggled to keep at bay.

"Instead of dying out, the rumors are getting bigger." Lina explained. "There are people who even have claimed that they're seen Lay and Sun sneaking around Seoul in the middle of the night." Of course, none of her managers thought those rumors had any truth to them, but Sun knew they were true. 

Another one of the managers then started, "In order to squish the rumors of Park Mae with him, we propose that she speak at a press conference. She will say that the rumors are not true, and that she is seeing someone, but it is definitely not Zhang Yixing."

The other people in the room nodded their heads in agreement, thinking it a good idea.

"It should be Aron from Nu'est." Another suggested.

Sun wanted to say something, she wanted to reject the idea of them creating rumors for her love life that could potentially harm her relationship with Yixing. But she couldn't for two reasons. They didn't know she was dating Lay of EXO. And she was under contract with Pledis in such a way that they could decide everything about her life if they wanted to, and she would just have to sit there and accept it. She owed them her musical success after all, and she knew it. She was essentially their property. 

-

another update for this story because i got 2k reads on replacement and i wanted to celebrate by updating all my kpop stories which have been started already. thank you all so much for reading and supporting this story. it means so much.

and i hope you all have a great week! and for those of you who already started school, i hope you do well ^.^

-clary xx