Chapter 56: Hunches

                                    

                                          
Third person Point of View
                          
Sehun was woken up by the sweet smell of pancakes.
                          
Following the scent trail, he ended up in front of the kitchen counter and was met with manager noona by the stoves. She turned to face him with a smile and waved at him with the spatula.
                          
"Good morning, Sehun," she greeted.
                          
"'Morning. Those smell great," Sehun complimented.
                          
"Thank you. Sit down. These shouldn't take long," she said.
                          
Sehun sat by the counter and took his phone out, and began scrolling through his Instagram feed (more like looking at fan accounts to see what news have risen about their band). After finding nothing so far, he went to AllThemKpop's Instagram account, which he thought he should have done first. Sehun scrolled once again and found an article that stood out: A Glance Into EXO D.O's Past.
                          
"What is wrong with these people?" he muttered to himself, eyebrows furrowed.
                          
"Did you say something, Sehun?" manager noona asked him.
                          
"Uh, no, nothing."
                          
He clicked on the link in the description box and it took him to the article. There were photos of young D.O at home and at school, all which him and the members have seen before, but as he scrolled further down Sehun found information that was new to him. There was a recommended article called Past Classmate Reveals EXO D.O's School Life.
                          
"Seriously, what is up with all these D.O articles? That's so weird," Sehun once again muttered.
                          
Nevertheless, he clicked on it.
                          
The on-going scandal surrounding D.O of EXO seems to be increasing the interest of netizens more and more. It is still unclear whether he is dating recently-discovered Jung Eunmi, but that does not mean exclusive stories about the idol stops here. A middle school classmate from EXO D.O's past have stepped to the light to allow us for an interview to see what the now-famous idol was like before his debut.
                          
Q: Were you close with D.O-ssi?
                          
A: I would think so, but we weren't best friends. We were like the outcasts of our grade, so I guess that's what made us close.
                          
Q: D.O was an outcast?
                          
A: Yes, it's true [laughs]. It's hard to believe, I know.
                          
Q: In what way was he an outcast? Why wasn't he treated the same?

                          
A: They mocked him for wanting to become a singer. People would use to bully us, so Kyungsoo would rescue me from time to time. I even believed he liked me at one point.
                          
Q: You refer to him as Kyungsoo and not D.O?
                          
A: Of course, as I said, we're close.
                          
Q: Tell us more about that. What things have you done together?
                          
A: [pause] A lot, I guess. I used to take him to the nurse every time before P.E and we would convince her to keep us there while the class went on. We just didn't want to be hit by dodgeballs or basketballs on purpose. 
                          
Q: After some time together, did your hunch get confirmed? Did he like you back then?
                          
A: Yes, he did. He told me himself, but since he had to become an idol we had to stop. I mean, I didn't want to prevent him from fulfilling his dream.
                          
Q: You're very nice for doing that. Have you been in contact with D.O-ssi lately? Have you talked to him?
                          
A: As a matter of fact, yes. I've been with the boys as well and helped them for a few months. We all grew pretty close, too, because we had Kyungsoo as a mutual friend.