It was only a countdown before we had to part with EXO-M. We wouldn’t see each other for… Seungwon hyung told me not to think about it so time would pass faster but I don’t think it would help not knowing.

Today, the twelve of us were rehearsing together. We actually do every day, but only for a few hours, not for the whole day. Slightly into the afternoon, when we were repeating our routines, Luhan hyung accidentally kicked the bottle we were using as centerpoint. It was not closed well, and thus the contents spilled ahead of us. We were trying to contain our laughs, having to finish the song.

As soon as the song finished, we burst into laughter and Luhan hyung in his still-surprised face came out of the room looking for a mop. I came with him to the janitor’s closet and we took a mop and its matching bucket. The leaders were trying to sabotage the mop trying to be responsible for their kids but Luhan hyung rejected, being the one held guilty.

He got out of the room to return the mop and bucket, and we started dancing again, this time with a toilet roll so that it wouldn’t spill.

We danced until the sky curtains turned dark—which would never happen—but then, it was dusk before we knew it. We took a little break from dancing and decided to do what Yunho sunbaenim advised us to do: running around the sky room singing.

As far as I know, the sky room has sound isolators.

After something like the twentyfifth lap, the hyungs decided that it was enough and they were hungry.

“I’ll buy dinner,” Luhan hyung offered, most probably still feeling guilty about the spill. “Money money money!”

The hyungs and I started crawling to their bags to find their wallet and take money. “Hyung, I’m coming with you,” I offered.

“Come,” he smiled, cuter than ever. Why on earth do impossibly young faces like these exist.

Luhan hyung and I got outside the sky room and we jogged downstairs, then got out of the building. He sneaked an arm around mine and put his hands in his pockets, so we were locked together. I was used to it, this warm, lovely guy. I really, really like the atmosphere when Luhan hyung is around.

“Hyungie,” I called out.

Luhan hyung looked to his left and replied. “Yes?”

“When will we be able to meet again? They can’t part us for too long right?” I asked, in need of reassurement.

He sighed, eyes looking through the horizon. “It’ll be soon before you know it.”

We walked our way, not knowing what to buy. We forgot to ask. So instead of asking, we entered the closest shack and bought a dozen boxes of rice and chicken.

We sat there waiting for the big order. “I can’t imagine being unable to hang out with you,” I said. “I’m going to miss you a lot.”

“Gnaaw,” Luhan hyung cooed cutely and hugged me from my side. “Even right now I miss you already,” he joked. He let go and tried to look beyond the cook’s back.

“I can’t believe we’ll be going tomorrow,” Luhan hyung sighed, shoulders slumped, looking at the enormous pans ahead of us.

I turned to see Luhan hyung.

“You seem so troubled lately,” he patted my head. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I rubbed the back of my head.

“Nothing…?” Luhan hyung mocked at me playfully. “No, tell me. What’s happening.”

“I…”

 “You...?” Luhan hyung asked. “Come on, Sehun ah. It’s just me.”

“I… I like someone,” I whispered shyly. When I pulled away, Luhan hyung’s expressions slightly changed.

He gave me a ‘really?’ face, with brown eyes cut shallow. “O—oh. Okay… ” he shrugged and nodded. “How long have you liked this person?”

“I don’t know… haven’t really counted…” I looked down to my fingers, considering if I should count.

“Here, Kid.” The cook slid a stack of three boxes to our face, and he made us expect more. He made us busy rearranging the stuff, and Luhan hyung put me back to topic.

“Well then, have you told this person?”

I shook my head.

Another pack of three boxes came to us.

“You should tell,” he nodded advisingly. The rest of the boxes finally arrived and Luhan hyung stood to count his money and pay. I helped taking half of the boxes. We shouted thank you to the shack owners and walked out. Luhan hyung continued his dialog. “You should tell the person, Sehun. You’ve heard many proverbs about regret.”

“I don’t think I really should…”

“But why?” he asked in a surprised tone, rearranging the boxes he was hugging.

“The person… the person is with another person.”

Luhan hyung stopped his steps and turned his whole body to face me, arms hugging the packs of rice.

“Well, you’ll never know,” he said smugly.

He turned back and walked on.

“I was once like you too, Sehun. You won’t like the feeling of seeing the person slip away from you,” Luhan hyung confessed. “The person is technically a dongsaeng, but he was a sunbae so I was a bit awkward…” he smiled shyly, looking down to the pedestrian. “He was tall, and very shy and timid, but very warm once you get to know him.” Luhan hyung looked at me.

“Your turn,” he smiled. “Now tell me about this person.”

I looked upon the road ahead and sighed, wishing to blow away the burden. “This person is… different. He gives life to what he does.” I took a deep breath and sighed. “He was just… so distinct, so different. His distinct smile, his distinct walk, his distinct moves. They all have his identity, his scent embedded in it. You can even see the beauty seeping when he was doing nothing.”

“People with such immense passion take the power out of my knees, hyung.” I said, most probably blushing by now. “Now tell me how did the person look like to you?”

"This person." He smiled painfully to the road ahead. “He was prettier than Archangel Michael and brighter than Eden,” Luhan hyung answered, playing a pun on the song he recorded a couple months back. “Just that.”

As our steps drifted by, I realized that Luhan hyung’s steps became slower and slower that I had to stop every so often for him to catch up.

We finally got back to the building and brought the food upstairs. The hyungs were sitting waiting for us, and the sky room came to a cheer upon our arrival.

The leaders came to give out the boxes to everyone, helping me and Luhan hyung out.

I sat beside Luhan hyung in the circle we made, then Joonmyun hyung, again, led the grace.

We finished praying and started eating. Chatters began to break, and laughter followed. Luhan hyung told another story about when he tried to climb a tree when he was younger. His smiles were so earnest. I couldn’t believe that we wouldn’t see each other soon.

Yixing hyung tried to tell about the new minimarket close to our dorms, but the effort itself made us laugh. It was not about his lack in Korean, but it was him. He imitated the cashier nuna with full success.

It became quiet for a while, because everyone ran out of jokes. Tiny chatters started to happen again.

I leaned towards Luhan hyung a while after I swallowed. “Hyung,” I asked.

“Hm?” Luhan hyung was busy biting his chicken apart.

“Why don’t you tell? It’s your last night in Seoul.”

He smiled lightly and shook his head. He put his left hand on my knee. “It would only pain that person even more. This is something I can overcome anyway.” He squeezed my jeans, his expression blank and shallow, masking something. I wished I could see through it.

Tao hyung and I cleaned things up (because our beloved Magnae Two would never ever do the chores) and we continued practicing as soon as we felt that the food was down. When we were about to part ways on the way home, we hugged each other for so long, so tight, for the last time in a pretty long extent.

We waved and got back to our dorms. Then, when I entered my room I saw that I left a neatly folded sweatshirt on the desk. I asked permission to Joonmyun hyung to go to the M dorm and I went there running.

I pressed the bell to no answer, then I pressed again, earning a sleepy “Coming!” from inside. Kris hyung opened the door and he was somehow surprised to see me.

“I forgot to give this, Hyung.” I gave the sweatshirt. “it’s your size so everyone can fit in.”

Kris hyung smiled, very softly, and hugged me tight. His eyes were red when we parted. “Thank you,” he mouthed.

“Are the hyungs asleep?” I asked. Yes, hyungs; the general affectionate call to everyone from the general magnae.

Kris hyung nodded, then kissed my cheek, hugged me so tight, and patted my head. “Tell the hyungs that I love them,” he said to me in an extremely fatherly manner.

I smiled and hugged him too. “Tell the hyungs that I love them too.”

I stepped back and waved, view blurred in crystals. Kris hyung’s smile tonight was warmer than any fireplace.

“See you soon, Sehun.”