What is Love » xiumin/exo

Chapter 25- Dinner Talk

Xiumin turned his head towards me and buried it into the neck of my hoodie. "That sounds like a goodbye speech."

"I said that too," Baekhyun said, both him and Chanyeol turning around in their seats to look at me questioningly.

"I'm not going anywhere! I promise. After all we've been through now there is no way I could just leave all of you guys. You should know that."

"You can never be too sure," Xiumin mumbled, head still buried into my hoodie.

The manager cleared his throat from where he was sitting, in the drivers seat. "Ji Kyung, you put on a good stage tonight. I personally don't have any decision in whether you stay with us or not, or if you debut with a group or go solo. But I believe in you- you seem a lot stronger than the other trainees working under SM Entertainment. You have my trust."

"WOAH!" Chen yelled. "You even gained our manager's trust, Kitkay!"

"Chen, I'm only one of your managers. You know how strict Jungri is. He tends to abuse his power as your other manager. He doesn't take what you want into consideration, and SM is too blind to see it."

Baekhyun sighed. "I know. When he came to visit Lay in the hospital, he got mad at Lay for getting sick. Manager Jungri kept going on about how it would affect his schedule and how Lay would have to make a fast recovery even if he wasn't getting any better."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier, Baekhyun?" Manager Wongyu asked, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.

"Because Lay made me promise not to."

Manager Wongyu seemed like a nice guy, compared to the second manager that Baekhyun was mentioning. Maybe that had something to do with Lay's recent behavior changes, but by the weird vibes I was picking up from Xiumin when Lay was around I'm starting to think I'm a root cause as well.

Sensing a shift in my demeanor, Xiumin looked up and gave me a quick peck on the check. "We'll always be here. I feel like you are constantly worried about us but we all get through things together."

"Okay guys, this looks like the BBQ chicken place that Kai was talking about," Manager Wongyu said as he carefully parked the van, Chanyeol nodding in approval that this was indeed the right place.

Hopping out of the van and quickly running into the restaurant to avoid the rain, the other group of EXO members were already there. Managers and members separating into two different tables, and we all sat down at our own round table.

"Jeez Chanyeol," Suho uttered. "This is quite fancy for a BBQ Chicken restaurant."

"It isn't often that we all get to sit down around one table and share a meal together. So many of us have different schedules but Kai and I thought that now would be a perfect time to eat together. Since it was our idea anyway, Kai and I will be splitting everyone's bill." Wide eyes were passed around, Xiumin and Suho sharing the most disbelief.

Kyungsoo was the first one to break the silence. "Are you guys sure? There's ten of us plus managers and staff. Wouldn't the bill be a bit to much?"

"The staff are paying for themselves," Kai explained. "Plus with Chanyeol and I splitting the bill it isn't actually as bad as it sounds."

"Alright then," Suho gave in. Waiters came around with menus, giving them to each of us as he walked around the table. We were still sitting in similar spots from our groups in the vans- Xiumin and Baekhyun on either side of me with Chanyeol and Chen beside them. Suho, Lay, Kai, Kyungsoo, and Sehun sat on the part of the round table opposite me.

"Should we order individually or as a party serving? I'm starving," Sehun piped up.

"Let's go with the 40 piece wings and drumsticks set, and then get the large pasta and salad side dishes to go with it," Kai stated. "And soju too. Let's go all out."