Hell and Back (EXO x Reader)

Epilogue

Word count: 928

Chapter warnings: None

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"Ugh, this is so boring." Kris whined from his seat on the couch, pulling one headphone out of his ear.

"No, it's not!" Suho said, shoving him lightly on the arm. "You're doing really well, I know we'll have a hit soon. You're the best musician I've ever met."

"Says you." The man laughed in return.

"Let's not forget, I'm sitting right here." Lay joked from his seat on the carpet. Everyone was gathered in the studio for one of their usual practice sessions. Honestly, they hardly ever did much practicing. They mostly wrote their own music, or messed around singing stupid songs on the equipment. They sat and talked, fantasizing about the day they would make it big.

"Do you guys ever feel like something's missing?" Kai asked, looking up at the crappy popcorn ceiling showing through the cracks of the foam they'd put up.

"Yeah, your brain cells." Chen snickered.

"Shut up! I mean with the group. I don't know..."

"You're overthinking it." Sehun sighed. "You don't have to be so philosophical all the time."

"Maybe you're hungry." Luhan suggested.

"That's always you." Kyungsoo reminded him.

"No way, it's you!"

"Should we actually play something today?" Chanyeol asked, looking them over. "I've heard that we might get to play at a few of those open air restaurants we applied to a few months ago once summer hits, it could be good to refresh our set, you know?"

"Ah, my arm hurts." Xiumin complained. "I don't want to."

"We're never gonna get any better with that attitude!" Suho chastised him, before noticing a buzzing from underneath him. "Oh, hold on," Pulling it out, he saw that it was indeed his phone ringing.

"Who's it from?" Tao asked, head tilting.

"Secret girlfriend?" Baekhyun suggested, wiggling his eyebrows and earning laughs from several of the other boys.

"Shh!" Suho said as he went to hit the button. "I don't know, so behave!" Taking a few steps into an empty portion of the room, he held the phone to his ear, covering the other with his hand. "Hello?.... Yes, this is him." They all waited in anticipation. After a few hums of understanding, they heard him say, "Oh, you already have my email? Just send it there then. Yes? Yes. Of course, thank you." He pulled the device away from his face, clicking to make sure it was off and sliding it back into his pocket. He turned around, faced with 11 staring men.

"So?" Chen asked. "Who was it?"

"You're not gonna believe me." Suho laughed, looking over them.

"Stop messing around!" Lay complained. "Who was it!"

"It could have been my mother for all you-"

"Suho!" Baekhyun shouted. "It sounded important!"

"It was an agent from SM Entertainment." He said, smiling softly.

"Woah, like... the SM Entertainment? Who does all the groups and stuff?" Sehun asked with wide eyes.

"No, the other one." Xiumin rolled his eyes, hitting him lightly on the back of the head.

"And what did they say?" Kyungsoo pressed, looking for any signs of the call in the man's face.

"They... want us to come talk to them. All of us. About signing a contract. As a boy group." Suho finished. There was a moment of silence, before the room broke out into cheers.

"We're gonna be a real band!" Baekhyun shouted, trying (and failing) to pick up Kris in joy.

"It's like a wish come true!" Kai agreed, smiling much wider than he normally did, none of them concerned with looking cool.

Y/N watched from the side of the room. She knew they couldn't see her. It wasn't her first time seeing one of them in passing. She'd seen Kai's wife, although she didn't really approve. She saw Kris move on to create music on his own, something she'd always known he'd be good at. She saw Sehun fall in his own bedroom once, that was funny. She even saw them as kids, experiencing moments that she had been there for... Except she wasn't there anymore. It was clear that they didn't remember her. She'd even seen this moment a few times before. She knew that the man from before had placed them in her path on purpose, although she wasn't sure how. His identity still remained a mystery to her.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been stuck flitting about, and she knew it wasn't going to end anytime soon. When one is immortal, though, the years seem shorter and shorter in passing. Until time collapsed in on itself, somehow, she'd be there. And even then, she wasn't sure if she'd persist. Although, maybe she'd get to meet the man again. She was beginning to realize how he'd felt... bored. She tried to find entertainment in passing, in watching others, but it all went by so fast, it wasn't worth getting invested. Things were born, and then they died. She was abnormal in that regard. To come from nothing and then also not return to nothing felt unnatural. Maybe she would be nothing one day. But for now, she was content to see the smiles on their faces.

She wanted to reach out and touch them, to let them know that she was there, that she still loved them, but in the blink of an eye, they were gone, and she was in a fourteenth century style French palace, a purple robed man in place of her friends. Sighing, she leaned back. It wasn't unusual. Still, she'd see them again. She just hoped they weren't having too much fun without her.