You ever have those days where just nothing was going right? Like you wake up late because your alarm didn't go off? Then you find out your phone's charger got knocked out of the wall somehow, and didn't charge through the night--leaving you with a near-dead battery? And you find out the things you had prepared for were being changed last second? That your day was going to be lengthened by a significant amount? Then to top it all off, the friends that are like siblings are all being little demon siblings?
That's how things were going for Chanyeol, today.
Who knew that those little annoyances would be the highlights of his day.
Instead of his alarm waking him up on time, he wound up only awake when a certain group member whose name starts with 'B' and ends in 'aekhyun' stuck his head in the door, and yelled, "Yah! What are you doing? We have to be out the door in like, twenty minutes!"
Shooting up and spastically getting dressed, Chanyeol gave a quick glance to the small clock, seeing that it, in fact, was still set to go off. And getting a second, he checked to see that it was set for the right time. It was. He switched it back to the alarm being set for a second, and sure enough, it started going off.
'...That's really helpful right now,' he thought to the plastic device, before turning it off, and setting it down, finishing getting ready to go. All the while, he told himself, 'Just deal with it, it's fine, smile through it.'
...Which is when he found out that his phone wasn't charging overnight. It was only at 27% battery life. A whole day with less than 30% power on his phone. There was no way. But he was going to try to ignore it, and shoved it in his pocket. 'Again. Deal with it. just smile and deal with it.'
He barely made it out of the dorm on time, but as the last into the car, the manager gave a disapproving look to the usually punctual boy. Chanyeol mumbled an apology to him, and he tried to brush off the whole ordeal. He couldn't let it ruin his happy virus reputation.
Although, this was getting harder and harder to do. Every day, it got harder to keep his smile in place. But he wasn't going to let it fall, not if he could help it.
Once they were off, the manager started to tell them about their schedule. "So... The thing about your schedules. There's a bunch of issues with a few places, and the whole day has been reworked. There's very tight windows between when your appointments, now. And we had to take an appointment that was supposed to be two days from now, and take on the engagement after everything we were doing today."
Meaning, 'Everything we told you you'd have to do today? You're doing it with less time to de-stress between them. And you're going to be doing even more than previously thought. And we're just telling you now, on the way to the schedule.'
Although clearly irritated, Chanyeol takes a deep breath. 'I can deal with this,' he told himself. 'You're fine.'
And for the time being, he was. Because after the deep breath, he forced himself to smile. Because a busier and tighter schedule meant more time making the fans happy. He could live with that. ...Right?
...
For a while, the day was going great, even though the schedule was harder on him than he'd been ready for. But of course, there had to be problems.
"There was a lot of grumbling from the staff, did something go wrong back there?" a host asked.
"Ah, ne. We were a couple of minutes late, from traffic. We barely got out of the dorm on time, 'cause SOMEONE," Baekhyun's eyes rolled dramatically, looking at Chanyeol didn't set his alarm and I had to wake him up."
"Hey, I did set it!" Chanyeol defended. "It didn't go off!"
"Sure, sure, whatever you wanna believe," Baekhyun chuckled.
"I mean, really though. We've all been there, right?" Chen added.
"Thank you!" Chanyeol called out.
"...Just that most of us do it with school or jobs we don't really want to get up for. I don't think anyone but him has done it since debut," Chen finished, his trolling in full swing even that early in the morning.
The resident happy virus just closed his eyes. He should've known better than to trust Chen to have his back. He just took a second to breathe and calm down. This was going to be a long day. Would he be able to keep up the facade?
...
Sure enough, the whole day was filled with torment for the young idol, and he's tried to maintain his calm. It was easier said than done, because of all the things that have been going on lately. But he'd managed to smile again every time. As fake as it all may have been.
It was late when they'd gotten back to the dorm, and everyone was exhausted, so all had done their post-schedule rituals, before heading off to their rooms.
...Except Chanyeol.
As Suho was heading off, he caught sight of the younger boy. "...Chanyeol-ah? Aren't you heading to bed?"
Looking up at the leader, Chanyeol answered, "Ah... Not yet, hyung. I just need some more time to unwind. Today was a tough day."
"Yeah, the guys were a bit rougher than usual, weren't they. Well, don't stay up too long, okay? We still have a full schedule tomorrow," Suho told him, still playing the caring leader.
"I won't, I promise," Chanyeol called back.
Once the leader had left, the younger looked around. He saw all the lights in the dorm were out, aside the small lamp on the table nearby. Now that he was sure he was alone, he let his head hang.
And just like that, he was no longer the Happy Virus that everyone knew and loved.
He knew he'd been different than usual, as of late. But he didn't know the reason. Maybe he was just sick of trying to be the happy-go-lucky, when everyone around him took his happiness for granted. Maybe that had always been a front. For all he knew, he'd been putting on a happy face ever since he was a kid, and the others looked at him like he was an outcast.
What he knew for sure was that it was a lot worse, lately. And he knew he wouldn't be able to hang on much longer. He'd been alright when he first started with EXO, or at least he didn't bite back the depression when he was tormented by the other members. He didn't hold back a sigh when someone told him to shut up. He didn't let his smile fall when his ways got him looked at like he was insane.
But now, he was nearly incapable of pretending. He was starting to actually hate pretending this way. He was beginning to loathe his nickname as the 'Happy Virus.' He just knew that nothing he said would be taken seriously. Especially not if it was sad thoughts.
Leaning back, Chanyeol let out a sigh that he'd been holding back nearly all day. His eyes slid closed, as he let his thoughts quietly slip past his lips.
"What's the point of this anymore...? Why did I even want to be an idol anymore...? Every day is just getting harder to deal with..." He opened his eyes to look at some of the awards on the shelf. "I want to go home... I don't know if it's even worth being an idol anymore... Maybe I should just... Get a job back home... Live with my parents for a while..." He closed his eyes again, shaking his head. "No, that'd never work. I'm too well known, now... I'd never escape EXO's reach... Maybe I should give up..."
Little did Chanyeol know, there was someone looking over the situation from the kitchen. And running out, Baekhyun tackled Chanyeol into the couch. "NO!! You CAN'T kill yourself!"
Now, THAT got the rest of EXO-K coming into the room.
Staring at the boy on his chest, Chanyeol blinked. "Have you been watching too many dramas again?" After a second of thought, he had to ask, "...And who said anything about killing myself?"
"You! You just said you were going to give up! Don't do it, please! I know we haven't been paying attention to the fact that you're upset! Please don't leave us, please!" Baekhyun cried out.
Facepalming, Chanyeol tried not to groan or sigh. "That was not what I--"
Worriedly, the others crowded closer. "Is it true that you've been upset?" Suho asked.
"You just seemed so happy, we didn't think twice..." Kai mentioned.
"We're sorry, hyung..." Sehun chimed in.
"You aren't really going to... Y'know... Are you...?" D.O asked.
Groaning loudly, Chanyeol told them, "No, I'm not going to do that. I never intended to, either."
"Then... What did you mean by 'give up'? You said you were gonna give up, I know you did," Baekhyun questioned.
"I meant giving up on being a 'Happy Virus.' Sooner or later, the fans would find out it's fake. And they would know I've been lying to them. They wouldn't be happy with me when they found that out. That's what I meant by 'give up.' Give up on pretending I'm happy, when I'm not."
"Maybe you don't have to... Give it up," Suho told his dongsaeng.
"I don't? How so?" Chanyeol asked.
"Well... What if we tried to help you? What if you talked some of it out with us, and you weren't so... Upset by it all? Do you think you'd still be able to be happy for the fans? Or do you not even want to be a 'Happy Virus' anymore at all?" Suho questioned.
"No, I still want to. And... Yeah... Maybe I could be happier, I just didn't think you'd take me seriously when I told you I was having trouble. I mean, you just said my nickname, is there anyone that would take a problem seriously coming from someone with that name?" he asked them. "But... In all honesty, if you guys really will take me seriously when I tell you that I have a problem... Then, yeah... I really think I could be okay. With your help, that is."
There were smiles from everyone around the room. "Then let's start talking," Sehun said.
All eyes were on Chanyeol, but he chuckled and smirked. "Maybe in the morning, okay guys? It's pretty late. And SOMEONE," Chanyeol said, imitating Baekhyun, rolling his eyes, making everyone laugh, "woke everyone that was asleep or nearly back up."
Everyone with him smiled even more, agreeing.
"Sounds good," Suho told them. "Let's get some sleep, and we'll talk things out when we're all better rested. C'mon guys."
With no opposition, the young members of EXO-K headed to their respective rooms, and Chanyeol realized, about half-way there, he was already smiling.
Because he knew they were already starting to help him. Just by showing him, 'We're here for you. We promise.'
Maybe, just maybe, he could be their Happy Virus once again.
And he was happy to hear that.
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