Chapter VI.

Do Kyungsoo shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he aimlessly strolled through the empty corridors of their dormitory. Sometimes, he liked to take time off and relax while making his way randomly towards any room or area in the house the nine of them lived in; it helped him to stay calm and collect his thoughts. Out of all the members of EXO, he seemed to be the most composed in handling any situations that life threw at them. Despite all the pressure they had to face from the number of performances they had to give, the songs they had to record and the dance routines they had to perfect, he never failed to lose his composure.

Only Kyungsoo himself knew, though, how difficult that was. To pretend as if everything was hunky dory, when all around you, the world was collapsing, and there was nothing you could do about it. He also knew, however, that he had no other choice than to stay the way he was: calm and serene. He couldn't even begin to imagine the trouble he would cause the other eight if he suddenly lost his cool one day. He was known as one of the quietest members of their idol group, and he intended to stay that way, if it ensured that the others wouldn't worry themselves over him.

The vocalist firmly believed that even if man was a social animal, no one really understood him more than himself. Even if he loved all of his eight brothers dearly -- he could never have asked for better friends -- he mostly preferred to keep to himself, staying alone in a room for hours on end as he thought about everything that happened. At times, he would even debate over things with himself, which gave him an opportunity to think about matters from someone else's point of view.

Not everyone agreed with his belief, though, and not one day went by without all of them not speaking to each other. Which is why he found it strange -- and possibly a cause for concern -- when he walked upon a certain Chinese dancer standing alone on the balcony connected to one of the rooms on the top floor.

Zhang Yixing was leaning against the railing with his back to it, his eyes closed and his head tipped back. The faint moonlight that was beginning to illuminate the night sky fell on his face, lighting it up and throwing shadows over his sharp features. He had most probably not heard Kyungsoo approach him as he continued to take deep breaths, muttering something incoherent to himself.

His eyes snapped open and he flinched slightly as the younger Korean cleared his throat awkwardly, sauntering over to come to a stop next to Yixing.

"Sorry if I scared you, hyung," Kyungsoo said, throwing the other a sheepish smile as he rested his elbows on the railing, mimicking the older guy's pose. In response, the Chinese let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head with a weak smile.

"Nah, that's okay, Kyungsoo. I was just a bit startled because I hadn't heard you come."

The shorter male noticed that something about Yixing's voice seemed a bit off, and upon closer inspection of his face -- or whatever Kyungsoo could see in the dim light -- there was a strained expression plastered on it. Even an aloof guy like Kyungsoo could see that there was something on the dancer's mind that was troubling him. It was at times like these that Kyungsoo wished he was good with conversations, though.

"Penny for your thoughts, hyung?" He attempted, mentally wincing at how lame that sounded. Although, it did help Yixing loosen up a bit as he laughed, the sound of it a bit more natural.

"I don't know what's wrong with me either, Kyungsoo," he admitted, shaking his head with a little sigh. "It's just, I couldn't be happier to have all of you by my side, supporting every decision of mine, but I can't help but feel a gaping hole in my heart and my life."

The younger knew exactly what Yixing was talking about, but chose not to interrupt and just be a good listener and stay silent, prompting the other to go on.

"I just miss them, you know? It's like I can't stop thinking about them sometimes. Even the smallest of things is enough to remind me of them. I look at the sky, and think of Kris-hyung, our Galaxy duizhang," he said, pointing up at the smattering of stars that were dotting the heavens as they grew darker. He his heels, leaning over the balcony as he held a hand out. "I recall Luhan-hyung's extreme fear of high places when I come upon this view from a height." Letting his arm fall loosely to his side, Yixing turned back to gaze at Kyungsoo, a sad smile now gracing his profile as he shrugged. "And now, if we ever go out together for shopping, nothing can stop me from thinking about our beloved little Tao."

Shaking his head to himself, the older man took a deep breath, letting it all out slowly as he tried to relax. He had always been an emotional person, so to have a sudden bout of overwhelming feelings did not surprise him as much as it should have. Vaguely, as he tried to snap out of his thoughts, he could feel a hand being placed gently on his forearm, and gave Kyungsoo a sidelong glance.

"Yixing-hyung, please don't think that there's something wrong with you. It is pretty natural to miss those close to you. I miss them too, sometimes," Kyungsoo confessed, lowering his gaze slightly. "I remember all the fun times we had, all twelve of us enjoying together, like a big family. I know we say that we are happy for the other three because they're happy doing whatever they wanted to do, but trust me when I say that I would do anything for them to be back with us."

Yixing was surprised, to say the least, as he realised that Kyungsoo was actually opening up to him completely. The younger was known to be the one most likely to bottle up his emotions, which made Yixing become aware of just how much his fellow bandmate trusted him to be able to voice his innermost feelings, something that came from the depths of his heart.

"I would just say one thing, hyung. It's totally fine to miss them, and there's nothing wrong with that," Kyungsoo said, his lips finally giving way to a genuine, reassuring smile as he looked back at Yixing.

Yixing could only smile as he thanked the other guy in the form of a nod, with only one question currently in his head: how did the younger ones get so good at making others feel better?

Author's Note:

Gah, I'm sorry I scared you all with my last update. That was my biggest mood swing ever, but I am back again. I can't promise anything though, haha. Some of my readers helped me get over that phase (you guys know who you are!)

On to speaking about the actual chapter, I'm sorry this one's so short. I kind of ran out of ideas, and it was difficult to come up with the prompt for Kyungsoo. I hope you didn't find it boring, though.

I have also decided to combine Jongin and Sehun's chapters into a single one, because there's not much to write in their individual ones. So the next one might be a little longer, and the last one might turn out to be short as well, since it's going to be pretty much like an ending note.