The dried rose petal still held its sweet, musky scent, even after all these years. Sehun remembered walking into the hotel room to find only a single rose. And with it, a book, and a card that contained the words that had shattered his heart.

            Luhan had been in China for three months. The first month was the easiest, because Luhan video-chatted him every day, and his phone was constantly buzzing with texts. The second month, it had been a little harder, because Luhan was busier, but Sehun understood. Or at least thought he did. The third month passed with almost no contact from Luhan. And the texts that did come were vague and obviously hurried.

            Sehun was worried that Luhan was sick or hurt, so he repeatedly called the phones of EXO-M, but there was never an answer.

            Another two months passed.

            There was still no word from Luhan.

            When he was missing Luhan the most, Sehun would open the files on his laptop that contained all the texts Luhan had sent him since he left for China.

            Sehun-ah, hyung just landed in Beijing, I miss you so much already! ♥

            We have our  first interview today! AHHH so nervous! Wish me luck, Sehun-ah! ♥

                I miss you so much Sehun-ah, do you miss hyung too? ♥

            HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SEHUNNIE!!! You’re finally an adult now; do you feel any different? I still miss you so much and I wish we could celebrate your birthday together. Sehun-ah, if there’s anything you need help with, or anything that’s wrong, make sure to tell hyung, okay? Hyung will help you with it. I can’t wait to see you again, Sehun-ah. I miss you so much and I LOVE YOU!! ♥♥♥♥♥

            I wish we could be on interviews together, Sehun-ah. It would be so much more fun J

            Sehun-ah, hyung misses you so much. I wish we could see each other every day. ♥

            I love you Sehun-ah, never forget that, okay? ♥

The list went on. Sehun had read each of these and made sure to respond to all of them. But now, there were no texts to reply to, and he couldn’t even reach Luhan.

            All of the other EXO-K members happened to turn deaf at any mention of EXO-M or, more specifically, Luhan in front of Sehun, and Sehun couldn’t figure out why. He was sure that the other members were talking to EXO-M, but no one would tell Sehun anything that was going on.

            Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on? Did I do something wrong? Is something wrong with Luhan hyung? Did something happen? Is Luhan hyung hurt? What’s going on with him? Why can’t I get through to any EXO-M members?

            “Sehun-ah?” Sehun’s head snapped up.

            It was Joonmyun.

            “Oh, Joonmyun hyung, you scared me.”

            Joonmyun smiled at him, but there was a trace of sadness in his smile.

            “How long has it been since you’ve talked to Luhan?”

            Sehun was surprised by how direct the question was.

            “A while…”

            “He wants you to go to China.”

            “WHAT?!” Sehun jumped up. “WHY?!”

            “Do you not want to go?”

            “Of COURSE I want to go! When do I leave? Who am I going with? Am I going alone? How long am I going to be there? Where am I going to stay? How did Luhan get our company to allow this?”

            “The company didn’t allow this. The company doesn’t know.”

            “Oh.”

            “Do you still want to go?”

            “Yes.” Sehun had to see Luhan.

            “Then pack. Now. Your plane ticket is for 11:00 P.M.tonight.” Joonmyun handed Sehun a piece of paper with an address on it. “This is the hotel where you need to go. Take a cab. The ticket is round trip, and the trip back is scheduled for 10:00 P.M.tomorrow. DON’T MISS THE FLIGHT BACK. Your tickets are in here.” Joonmyun gave him an envelope.

            Sehun stuffed both the paper and envelope in his back pocket.

            “What about our schedule tomorrow?”

            “We just…happened to have a free day.”

            Sehun knew that his hyungs had somehow managed to get this free day for him. He gave Joonmyun a quick hug and thanked him. Then he raced around his room, packing clothes that seemed reasonable for a one day trip.

            By 8:30, Sehun was in the cab with a small carry-on bag, heading to IncheonAirport. None of the other members seemed to be surprised when he told them he was leaving, which confirmed his suspicions that they had planned all of this.

            At around 10:00, Sehun arrived at the airport. He got out of the taxi and thanked and paid the driver. He entered the airport, and breathed a small sigh of relief when no one seemed to recognize him. He sat in the lobby, waiting for his flight to be announced. As he waited, he thought about Luhan’s silence these last few weeks, and what it could mean.

            At that moment, his phone buzzed. Luhan’s name was on the screen.

            Sehun’s heart skipped a beat, as it usually did when he saw anything Luhan-related.

            He hurriedly opened the text and saw…

            …nothing. It was a blank text.

            Sehun leaned back in his chair, feeling a little dejected. He half-hoped that another text would come, but he somehow knew that it wouldn’t.

            He boarded the train, settling himself in his seat. The plan was full of elderly women; a couple of them pinched his cheeks and told him how good looking he was. He politely smiled and thanked them, but his mind couldn’t focus on anything that wasn’t Luhan.

            Sehun plugged his earphones in, listening to the Chinese versions of the EXO songs, and let Luhan’s soothing voice lull him into sleep.

            He was awakened by a flight attendant who informed him that they would be landing soon. Sehun rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up in his seat. Outside the windows were pitch black, and they seemed to be flying in a cloud. Sehun stared out into the blackness until he saw the first lights appear on the ground. Then his head was filled with Luhan once more.

            BeijingCapitalInternationalAirportwas bustling with activity, even though it was well past midnight. There were flights coming in from all over the world, and one of them was Sehun’s. Once he was past security, he almost ran to go and hail a cab. Luckily, he was able to get one almost instantly.

            It was roughly a thirty minute drive to the address Joonmyun had given him. The hotel turned out to be a pretty impressive four-and-a-half star with glass windows. After thanking and paying the taxi driver distractedly, Sehun walked in the front doors and was immediately stopped by a young Chinese woman.

            “You are Sehun?”

            Sehun was surprised.

            “Yes.”

            She nodded. “Here is your room key. You are room number 420. On the fourth floor.”

            He thanked her and left the lobby.

            Sehun had to restrain himself from sprinting up four flights of stairs when the elevator took an extra ten seconds to arrive. He was alone in the elevator, which helped him calm down a little before meeting Luhan in the hotel room.

            I’m going to see Luhan hyung! After all these months, I’m finally going to see him! I wonder if he missed me as much as I missed him. I wonder how he’s doing in China. I need to poke him for not texting me enough. He promised to text every day! But it’s okay. I just want to see Luhan hyung again. Luhan hyung is going to be in the hotel room! I’m going to see him! I’m really really going to see him!

            Sehun knew that there was a ridiculous grin on his face.

            When the elevator arrived to the right floor, Sehun gave up restraining himself and sprinted to room 420. He fumbled with the key in excitement before he was able to unlock the door properly.

            He opened the door, expecting Luhan to come running into his arms, but the room was dark except for one brightly lit candle.

            Sehun flicked the lights on to bathe the room in golden light. The room appeared to be empty save him. He saw that the candle was on a table at the other end of the room. He could see that there was also a clear glass vase on the table, holding a single red rose. He almost ran to the table, and saw that there was also a book on it, and a card.

            Sehun reflexively reached for the card first, not expecting the words written on it.

A/N: Thanks to everyone that's reading, commenting, and/or subscribing! :)

And I noticed that there's some issue with the spacing in my chapters...I have no idea why haha XD

it's probably because I'm copying and pasting from Word, but oh well :3

and I put Joonmyun in there because he's slowly starting to destroy my "bias" list which is nonexistant anyway because of EXO