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The phone rang at 1am, rolling over Chloe grabbed it and immediately recognized Minseok’s number.
“WTF you’ve literally been out 24 hours”, she mumbled to herself as she answered.
“Xiu it’s 1am.”
“I need your help.”
Chloe sat up in bed. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s not me. It’s Baek. We did a thing with Kyuhyun. It may have gone sideways.”
“Is he okay? Xiu...he has a comeback in a month.” Chloe began to panic, the last thing she needed was Baekhyun getting hurt right before Japan.
“Yeah, he just got a little drunk,” Chloe could hear yelling in the background.
“I’M NOT DRUNK YOU ARE...”
“Anyways, he’s going to need a ride home.”
“Yeah I can hear that. Are you at Kyu’s? Give me 10 minutes.” Chloe grabbed her keys and pulled on an oversized hoodie.
Walking up to Kyunhyun’s apartment she could see camera crew in the hallway.
“Damn it, of course it’s on camera.” She walked past them and into the house, immediately almost falling over Baekhyun who was sitting against the wall.
“Minseok is hiding my shoes,” he looked up at her with his big doe eyes slightly glassy from to much drink.
“Sweetie, no one took your shoes,” Chloe reached over and began unlacing his sneakers to slide on his feet. “They’re right here, now give me your foot.”
“Your the bestest manager ever in the history of managers.”
“Yeah yeah I bet you say that to all of them.” She helped the camera crew get his microphone off and went to find Xiumin.
“Do I want to know? This wasn’t on his schedule.”
“It’s mine. They said I could pick a friend. I should have asked Sehun.”
“Nah, he missed you so it was probably worth it to him. I’ll drive him to his place and arrange his car to be picked up unless you can take it?”
“I got it. Thanks Chlo.”
“It’s my job sweetie. I’m just glad your home.” Xiumin pulled her in for a quick hug before she went to find her inebriated friend.
“Hey Hite you ready to get out of here?” She helped him to his feet and supported him against her side. Thanking the staff, she guided him down the hall to the parking garage.
“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, barely audible.
“What? No it’s okay. Don’t worry about it!” She leaned him against the passenger side of the car as she fumbled to get the door open.
“I didn’t mean to drink that much. It just happened. I blame Xiumin.”
“It’s no one’s fault. Let’s just get you home.” She helped him get in before closing the door and running to the other side.
“There is only one rule, don’t puke in my car or your paying to get it cleaned. Comprende?”
“I don’t know what that word means but sure. Besides I don’t feel sick, just very happy...and tired.”
Chloe pulled out of the garage as Baekhyun began cycling through her playlist. He settled on a Bruno Mars song and began to sing alone. One of the perks of working for Byun Baekhyun was the impromptu concerts she would get while driving between schedules.
“This is my favorite,” he talked in between singing. Suddenly he stopped.
“Do you like working for us?” The sudden question took her by surprise.
“Of course. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“Even with things like this and SuperM and my solo stuff?”
“I mean, I definitely didn’t think I’d be doing it this long but I would trade a moment of it for anything.”
Chloe had been a manager for EXO since their promotion for KoKo Bop. It started out as a internship during her senior year at KU and ended up a full time job after graduation. She fit in well with the members and they trusted her. When enlistment began she assumed she would move on but instead Lee Soo Min asked her to manage Kai and Baekhyun on their SuperM schedules. That turned into solo projects and now Minseok was home with Kyunsoo not far behind.
Pulling into Baekhyun’s garage she quickly parked and went to fish him out of the passenger seat. Swinging his feet out she squatted in front of him.
“Let’s zip your jacket real quick,” she leaned forward and began working his zipper. As she did, she felt Baekhyun tuck her hair behind her ear.
“Your hair is really pretty.”
Chloe looked up at him.
“I let Winter mess with it at the office. It was her or NingNing and I don’t trust her with how much she’s around Dream.” That made Baekhyun laugh and diffused some of the tension she could feel.
“You’re so funny. That’s why I love you.”
Chloe stopped and rocked back on her heels. “What?”
“What?”
“What did you just say?”
“That your hair is pretty?”
“No after that.”
“That you are funny?”
“BAEKHYUN. You know what I mean. After the funny part.”
“You heard me.”
“You’re drunk, let’s go before you declare your love to more people.” She grabbed his hands and pulled him to standing.