"Thank you!"

EXO bowed and got off the stage, smiling and waving to the fans sitting in the audience. The MC began to announce TWICE with their new song, and EXO made their way to their dressing room. 

It was then that Junmyeon caught sight of Kyuhyun coming up to them, clapping his hands slowly for the nine junior members.

"And EXO makes another grand comeback!" he announced.

"Thanks, hyung!"

"We wouldn't have done it without your guidance, sunbae!"

"Thanks for always being there for us!"

"Your comeback was really cool too!"

The senior idol smiled. He always did enjoy interacting with the rookie groups (yes, he knew EXO had debuted for four years, but they'd always be a rookie group to him.) "Don't forget that 24th is the SMTOWN Christmas Live," he reminded.

Junmyeon nodded. "We won't forget," he assured. "We've been waiting for that live for two months."

The rest of the members began to file into the dressing room, sharing thanks and congratulations with Kyuhyun. Junmyeon was the last to leave, and then a thought struck him.

"Hyung," he said, turning back to Kyuhyun.

"Hm?"

"Do you by any chance have some time?" 

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow. "I may, but it depends on the reason why."

"I just need to ask you a question."

"About what?"

"About Chanyeol's scandal."

Kyuhyun paused at that. He folded his arms across his chest and held his chin, looking down. "Chanyeol's scandal...huh? It's been so long I've already forgotten about it."

Junmyeon hummed. "There's something that's been on my mind that I wanted to talk to someone about. Can you spare a short while?"

Kyuhyun thought about it for a moment. "Tomorrow, I'll meet you for a bite. How does that sound?"

Junmyeon nodded. "Sounds good."

***

The older idol places a tray with a couple of sandwiches and two drinks in front of him. 

"Alright," he said, pulling out the chair and sitting opposite Junmyeon, "what did you want to ask?"

"Did someone try to ignite a scandal with any one of you a few years ago?" Junmyeon asked.

Kyuhyun lifted his eyes from his sandwich. "You'll have to be a bit more specific," he said. "Quite a lot of idols try to ignite scandals with us."

"I meant a fan," Junmyeon clarified. "Do you remember anything like that?"

Kyuhyun rubbed his forehead with his finger. "Fans...now that's a different story," he said, almost to himself.

"Did something happen?" Junmyeon asked, leaning over the table a little, interested.

Kyuhyun lowered his voice a bit. "It was a while ago, so I don't remember all the exact details..." he said. "And since saseangs keep trying to get in our way, the details may get a little murky, but I do remember an incident."

"Tell me."

"Years ago, before you even debuted, so I guess around five or six," Kyuhyun said. "It was at a concert, an encore concert after our world tour. We were going back to the dressing rooms to change and rest, when we came across this girl. I guess she couldn't be more than thirteen or fourteen, but we found that she was wearing a fake ID to get in. How she got her hands and tricked the security I'll still never know."

Junmyeon nodded, urging him to go on.

"We were going to call the security to remove her when she begged and begged to see Siwon-hyung," Kyuhyun explained.

"Siwon-sunbae?" Junmyeon asked. This did not go the direction he had been expecting it to go.

Kyuhyun nodded. "None of us liked it, but Siwon-hyung convinced us to go on ahead as he'd spend a few moments with a desperate fan in hopes that she would stop her unhealthy behavior. Then I'm not sure what happened, but more saseangs infiltrated the place so we needed to leave, and i think they went after hyung as well." 

"Then what happened?" Junmyeon asked, sure that the story hadn't reached its end yet.

"The next day, I saw our managers in a rush, as if they had to get somewhere. They took Siwon-hyung and then I didn't see him for the rest of the day."

"Did something happen there?"

"I wasn't there, so the details might be murky, but when hyung came back he was furious."

"Sunbae? Furious?" 

Kyuhyun nodded at Junmyeon's dumbfounded face. "Yeah, I remember it because I never saw him that mad before." 

"Continue..."

Kyuhyun took a breath before resuming his story. "We interrogated him later when he had cooled down somewhat. What he basically said was that some saseang that he met the day before sent something to the media that she was his girlfriend, and used a photo of them as proof. However, since quite a few of them had the same idea, the thing was spiraling out of control, and the media wanted to release this information. Luckily, they contacted the company who put a stop on the whole operation." 

He leaned back in his chair. "After that, I'm not sure what happened to them. I often do wonder what happens to saseangs. What kind of lives do they lead? Do they still love idols so much even when they have school and college and work? Or do we become their entire life?" Kyuhyun continued his thoughts as Junmyeon stayed silent, processing the whole thing. 

"Idols..." he muttered.

"Huh?" Kyuhyun asked, brought out of his train of thought and looking at his junior.

"Hyung, did they promise to wipe the records after that incident?" Junmyeon asked.

Kyuhyun scrunched his nose. "I don't really remember, but I think hyung told me that the records were swiped clean in exchange for being good citizens once more."

Junmyeon let out a small laugh. "That makes sense," he said.

"What does?" Kyuhyun asked. 

"Never mind, hyung."

"Hey, you called me out for a meal. Least you could do is tell me."

Junmyeon gave a deep sigh, a small smile on his face that set with realization. "That saseang you met? She went to CUBE Entertainment and became an idol." 

Kyuhyun's eyes widened. "Then...was she...?"

"The one involved in Chanyeol's scandal? Yes," Junmyeon said. 

Kyuhyun sat up. "How did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"Well, during one of our earlier dates, Eunji told me that the idol caught in Chanyeol's scandal actually initiated it for a purpose, because he was famous. She did get caught and kicked out, and I'm not sure what's happened to her now, not that I care. But Eunji also told me she heard that that idol tried to start a scandal with someone from Super Junior."

"And that's why you came to talk to me, huh?" Kyuhyun asked, finally connecting the dots.

Junmyeon nodded. "I actually forgot about it for a while, but when I saw you yesterday I suddenly remembered it again," he admitted. "I'm glad you were able to talk."

Kyuhyun smiled. "Hey, no problem. Anything for my junior." He leaned over and ruffled the younger's hair. "But still...this...is...wow."

"I know," Junmyeon said. 

"Are you going to press charges?"

Junmyeon shook his head. "She got what she deserved, and Chanyeol gets to stay in EXO. Everything's fine."

Kyuhyun sipped his drink. "Think we might run into her again?" Junmyeon asked.

Kyuhyun shook his head. "I don't think we'll see her again after that," he said. "Just because she was an incredibly minor idol doesn't mean this won't follow her around for the rest of her life. She'll probably be too busy trying to find a place that'll take her with such a mark on her."

"I kind of feel sorry for her," Junmyeon admitted.

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?" he asked. "I do get you, but you could honestly do better feeling sorry for better saseangs."

Junmyeon nodded. "Thanks for coming out, hyung."

Kyuhyun smiled at him. "It was fun for me too," he said. "I've kind of been wanting to contact Minho for a while. The three of us should have a drink sometime."

Junmyeon chuckled. "I look forward to it."

***

A/N: Heh, look at me, bringing back memories of Chapter 9, even though all of you have probably forgotten about the entire scandal. 

But at least it'll make you go back and read the chapter again, huh? 

I'm a terrible person.

In other news, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wherever you are! Whether you're seeing this on 31st or on 1st, hope this year is filled with joy.

Or just filled with normal stuff because life is great as is!

Look at my random dose of positivity.

So how did you spend your New Year's night? I spent it writing this chapter.

Anyways, this is the last chapter of the year! Enjoy!