#exou

Another ExoU / Aeon / BaekU fic! After attending ExoLuxion in LA, I’ve been itching to write another fic based on the duo.

Inspiration:I was working last night, stocking up some things and this idea randomly popped in my mind. I started quickly writing during break and didn’t get to upload this until today (took me about an hour to write lol, I was THAT excited). Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy another cheesy fic!

Pairing: IU & Baekhyun of EXO

Words: 2.5k ~

fluffy?? pretty cheesy

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It had been about 2 years since Jieun was last in a relationship, and it was fine with her. During her time filming for the anticipated drama, her relationship with Giha was slowly fading.

"Hey, we need to talk." "I know." "I still love you." "Me too." "But we-" "There really isn't anything anymore, huh." "Yeah." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, too."

Because Jieun was busy with writing music and focusing on the drama during the previous years, getting over Giha happened sooner than expected. Of course she cried; but the only time she cried was when she was actually "acting." She thought it was best to release her inner emotions during the set. She loved Giha, and he loved Jieun. But it was time to depart. She was quite grateful that he had been her first love, as stated when the two old lovers had been interviewed. Giha had said that they were just normal people in a normal relationship just like everyone else; they both had hoped that this situation wouldn't affect their fans negatively. People were really disappointed but surprisingly had accepted the fact that the two artists had broken up. It was really nice for them to see that their fans had respected their decisions (they've seen many artists have similar situations like these and have been bashed. They were quite relieved when it didn't get too out of hand). Two years later, Jieun was doing fine as usual. She was still passionate about her music, but had taken further interest in acting. After the successful drama, "Moon Lovers," she found her role really fun and wanted to continue acting. She had gotten closer to the cast members and it was most definitely an experience she'd never forget; they still talked to each other even after filming had finished. Jieun got along with Seohyun of SNSD just fine, but it was quite obvious she gotten quite closer to Baekhyun. Baekhyun considered "Moon Lovers" as his first official drama and he, as stated in one interview, had too much fun. Apparently it was excessively tiring because he didn't like to see his friends (the cast members had too many dinner dates and thus became close friends) become stressed out. The role of Jieun's best friend in the drama resulted in actually becoming close friends outside of filming. At first Baekhyun and Jieun were quite hesitant in talking (although Jieun was shy at first, she liked making new friends) but they eventually became close as the drama progressed. The two became friendly on the set and even outside, but were quite careful about it; Baekhyun knew that it might cause an uproar of Jieun talking to guys after breaking up with Giha (because they all know how crazy anti's can be) and Jieun knew how chaoitic Baekhyun's fans can be whenever he came in contact with females, even if it was for a small duration. When Baekhyun has found out that Jieun and Giha had broken up, he was the first to comfort her.

"Jieun, you must be exhausted. I'll treat you out to some desserts. "You owe me, anyways." "Haha, you're right!"

At that time, Baekhyun had a one-sided love for Jieun. His role as a "friend-zoned" best friend in the drama actually applied in reality. During the time Jieun was still with Giha, Baekhyun decided to support her from the shadows. After they had broken up, he had the urge to be with her during the tough times. Baekhyun and Jieun had now been casted in a new drama together, both as leads along with another male lead. During an interview, a reporter had asked the two, "Jieun and Baekhyun. You both had previously been in the same drama together. How do you guys feel now that you'll be acting again, side by side?" The two looked at each other and smiled. They knew that if Jieun had said "that," Baekhyun's fans would be appalled, but Baekhyun gave the okay to say so. Jieun leaned towards the mic and answered ecstatically, "Baekhyun and I became close friends after filming Moon Lovers; along with the cast members, of course. He's really fun to be with and I'm really excited to be with him once more!! Acting with him was wonderful. I look forward acting with him again." Baekhyun smiled at Jieun and leaned towards his mic, "Likewise. Jieun is just as beautiful and funny as others say. Being with her in Moon Lovers was such a great experience. I was really nervous to be in such a wide-scaled drama with famous actors like her and the others, but she made me feel like I belonged there. She often gave me words of encouragement too so I'm quite grateful. Other than that, I really do look forward to acting with Jieun again." Jieun giggled and breathed in the mic with a slight push on Baekhyun's shoulders as he laughed (the reporters couldn't hear but tried their best to do so), "Oh my gosh, Baekhyun!! You're embarrassing me!" During the filming for the second drama, the two became even closer. Jieun updated her instagram by uploading a video of her and Baekhyun singing as she played the guitar (the comments were surprisingly encouraging and positive). When Baekhyun, too, updated his instagram of recording himself acting as Jieun's role in the drama, it could be seen that Jieun was laughing in the background (this, too, had positive comments too and it made the two relieved over the fact that them being good friends made anyone feel bitter). Many people had wondered if the two had some sort of romantic relationship but Baekhyun and Jieun kept quiet.

Besides acting, the two continued to focus on their musical career. Baekhyun remained loyal to EXO and continued to appear on music shows while Jieun appeared in several talk shows, bringing up the topic of releasing new songs and even a new album. 

During one talk show, Jieun had revealed that Baekhyun and herself were close friends, just like the Jonghyun of SHINee and Seulong of 2AM. 

"You're close with many male artists. How about the men of EXO? Have you talked to others in the group?" "Ah yes," Jieun fidgeted and spoke calmly. "The first that talked to me in the group was their leader, Suho. He was really kind-- oh, Chen too! I've talked to Xiumin a couple of times and he's friendly just like everyone else. Ah, Kai, too, since we hosted together on Inkigayo. But because I've filmed together with Baekhyun for awhile, I've become closer to him compared to others." "Ahh," the host nodded and grinned. "Jieun, we'll be going into a touchy topic if that's okay with you?" "Mn," Jieun bit her lip and nodded slowly. "You broke up with Giha two years ago and you still looked refreshed. It seemed like you weren't affected at all. Why was that?" "Well," Jieun played with hands as she looked down at her lap then made eye contact with the host. "I was definitely sad. To be honest, I stayed up all night with so many thoughts stuck in my mind. But with so many cameras around you have to smile and pretend nothing negative is affecting you. The same applied to my friends and co-workers; I know they're worried about me so I wanted to show them that I'm the strong and happy Jieun they know. There's no time to make people worry." "Oh, I see. So how did you get over him?" "It was a bit tough considering he was my first boyfriend. But with a busy schedule filling up everyday, that usually kept my mind occupied therefore I was able to keep my thoughts away from him." "Wow, Miss Jieun!! You really are a strong woman! Before we leave, I know everyone is dying to hear this: with every end of a relationship, a woman blossoms into a better person-- and sometimes, you meet another partner. Have you become a better person? Have you found a certain special someone?" Jieun smiled shyly and pushed back her hair. She giggled to herself and spoke, "I learned a lot during my last relationship. I believe those experiences shaped me into a better person and I'm sure anyone can relate to this. As for that special person.." The host was now sitting at the edge of his seat, looking eager to hear Jieun's answer. She now had a wide smile on her and covered it with her hands because it seemed like she was embarrassed. "Well, I never knew I'd come to like him. It kinda just.. happened. We were originally friends but now we're closer than before." "Oh!!" The host looked utterly excited and replied, "May we have a hint before you leave? I'm dying to know, as you can see." Jieun giggled again and smiled. "He's handsome, of course. And his voice is amazing. He makes me laugh because he’s really silly. He is someone I want to see and be with everyday." "I know that man will be really lucky to have you as a girlfriend; a multi-talented woman who can act, sing, play instruments, write songs-- yes, I'm sure he'll be happy to have you."

Several days later, the cast members on the set noticed something different about Jieun. She was happy and radiating as usual, but there was something else. The same thing could be said towards Baekhyun, and everyone else could not understand why. So when Baekhyun noticed this about Jieun, he asked, "Jieun, there's something wrong about you."

"Wrong? What?" "Well I mean, you've been acting slightly different recently-- in a good way. Did something happen?" "I could ask you the same thing, Baekhyun. What happened to you?" "I--" Baekhyun flushed and stuttered, "I-- I'll tell you later. Let's get some desserts again after filming." -- During the evening, the two walked down the busy streets with a well-hidden disguise. They decided that an ice cream bar from a nearby convenience store would be sufficient and walked to find a secluded park to talk afterwards. "So," Jieun unwrapped her ice cream and nibbled on it. "You're very energetic lately. It's nice to see, ya know? But what happened?" "Mhm," Baekhyun nodded and unwrapped his ice cream after sitting down besides Jieun on the bench. The lampposts softly dimmed on the two in the quiet park. The swings nearby often creaked with the sounds of cars honking from afar. It was a bit dark, but Baekhyun could still see the woman glow. "I guess I'm a bit different. But anyways... you know.." Jieun continued to eat her ice cream and slowly turned her head on the side in confusion. "Uh huh...." "You know how they say that when someone is glowing, they're in love. And you're exactly like that." Baekhyun chomped off the top part of his ice cream after taking small bites. "So, Jieun, does that apply to you? Are you somehow in love with someone?" "I--" Jieun stopped eating her ice cream and instantly became red. "Oh, gosh. This is embarrassing." She turned her around and patted her cheeks several times and turned around to continue eating. "E-eh, I guess you can say that." Baekhyun watched Jieun, who continued to eat her ice cream while becoming flustered. He smiled softly and continued to eat, also. He had hoped she had fallen in love with him, but chances were very slim. "I saw your interview at that talk show recently. Is it a guy I know?”

"Maybe," Jieun responded quickly. She was now half way done with her dessert that Baekhyun had bought. They stayed silent for awhile as they sat besides each other and watched the empty scene in front of them. "Baekhyun, what about you? You seemed to be happier lately. Do you like someone, too?" "Of course." Baekhyun chuckled after swallowing a small piece of ice cream and smiled at Jieun. "I don't think she'll notice me. We're close, but maybe she probably doesn’t see me in that way.”

“I’m sure anyone would notice a funny guy like you! So negative,” Jieun rolled her eyes and continued to eat. "Anyways, I guess it's true that people really do glow when they're in love. I met up with Jiyeon yesterday and she said I seemed too dazzling that it blinded her." The two laughed and Baekhyun spoke, "Well you are a whole lot happier lately. It's as if you're emitting this super bright light. Whoever this guy is, he'll be the luckiest guy. in the world. He'll get to see this clumsy girl smile everyday." "Oh, Baekhyun! You keep embarrassing me!!" There was an awkward silence between the two and the man decided to break it once more, "Won't you tell me? Who this guy is, exactly." Baekhyun's hands were now empty; he had finished his ice cream. As for Jieun, she was close to finished. Jieun took a deep breath and it could be seen that her hands were shaking. In any moment, the ice cream could fall out. She took a deep breath, made eye contact with Baekhyun for two seconds and said with a faltering voice, "You."   She turned her whole body away from him and ate her ice cream as quickly as possible. As for Baekhyun, he stood silent, for he couldn't process the fact that the woman he liked, liked him back. Jieun then turned her body again, now facing Baekhyun. "I mean, sorry for this sudden confession. It's cool if you don't like me back, I'm sorry if I put you on the spot like that, ugh I-- I'm sorry if I made this awkward, I--" As Jieun continued to spout excuses, Baekhyun noticed something pink on the corners of her lips: ice cream. He reached closer to Jieun's face and gently wiped off the leftover dessert on her lips. That made Jieun stay silent; Baekhyun’s soft finger brushing against her small, thin lips was too shocking for her to handle. And when he had finished clearing the tiny mess on her lips, their faces were now only a breath away from each other. Jieun widened her eyes to see the man she had liked so close to her-- she felt like she could faint any moment.