You grew angry. Your Dad hadn't made contact with you in 3 years and now, just after you've gotten a job he comes calling back. You quickly stormed out of the dressing room determined to end this right here, right now.

"Yes?" you answered the call, finding a quiet spot in the corner hidden away from the hustle.

"Eun Mi, my daughter, how have you been?" your Dad greeted, a sickly sweet tone in his voice.

"What do you want?" you sternly asked, as tears had already begun welling up in your eyes.

"Is that any way to greet your father, Eun Mi?" your father continued, the sweet tone still present. Your father, the one that hadn't contacted you in three years had the nerve to lecture you on greeting people. You scoffed back into the line, your last breath coming out a little shaky as the tears were now falling.

"Just answer the question, I'm busy" you controlled your voice, not wanting your dad to know he was making you weak.

"Come on Eun Mi, it's been three years, don’t we have some catching up to do, I hear you've found a real job now."

"So you've been keeping count of how long you've been gone from my life?" you asked, blinking away the tears that clouded your vision. Your heartstrings had already bundled up and you didn't know how much longer you could take.

"Eun Mi, I'm serious, you need to show some respect to your father, I raised you-"

"Please, as you somehow know, I've gotten a job, so if you have nothing else to say, I need to go" you interrupted, a flow of tears now rolling down your cheeks. You ended the call and let out the breath you were holding in. You took a few deep breaths and tried to control your tears. You willed to let the anger overtake your emotions but the overwhelming sorrow you felt couldn't be overpowered. You took a few more breaths and managed to stop your tears, you wiped away the remaining tears and slapped your face lightly. As you turned around to resume cleaning up, Luhan was standing there, a worried look plastered on his face. The two of your stared at each other, the background seemed to fade slightly as you stared at him. A loud ringing broke the still scene, Luhan's phone had begun ringing in his pocket. The next thing you knew, Luhan had broken his gaze and was making his way back into the dressing room. You remained rooted to your spot, staring at the space Luhan was previously standing in. You were snapped back into reality as one of the staff members had bumped into you.

"Oh sorry" she apologised, bowing slightly.

"No no, don't worry, keep going" you replied, bowing too. "Actually, do you know where the bathrooms are?" you asked, feeling your eyes still swelling from your tears.  She led you into the bathrooms, your face still stained from your tears. You splashed some cold water on your face and wiped away the specks of mascara around your eyes. You checked your watch and saw that it was almost time to leave, with one last check in the mirror you stepped out, ready to push back what had just happened. As you entered the dressing rooms once more, the boys were still busy celebrating and you couldn't help but feel slightly better, their mood just spreading across the room.

"Alright boys, time to go now!" you called, clapping your hands to get everyone's attention. Hyun Kyun was already waiting by the vans and Youngjun would be travelling separately from the group later on tonight. The boys were all rounded up and were now grouped in front of you, most of them still excitedly chatting, the high from their showcase was not going to wear down anytime soon.

----

You had only been in South Korea for a couple of days but already, you were travelling back to China. You had never taken so many flights in such a short amount of time, but considering this new position, you expected your passport would be getting a lot of use. As you sat at the gate of your flight, you texted So young and James just to update them on your whereabouts.

~So young ♥~

Already? Girl, I should've gotten you to bring me some cosmetics then.

~Handsome James~

Yeah, about that, I haven't gotten your cosmetics yet.

~So young ♥~

I swear James, if you don't get them….

~Handsome James~

I'm a man, do you think I know what cream BB cushion is?

~So young ♥~

James, you literally have to show the sales assistant a photo and she'll get it for you. I literally cannot dumb this down for you anymore than I already have.

~Handsome James~

Calm down, I'll be able to get them, trust in me, who got us that high mark in our first university project?

~So young ♥~

I believe that was me.

~Handsome James~

Hah, as if.

You rolled your eyes at the group chat messages, it was like you weren't even present in the chat. Before they could bicker some more, you decided to finally catch them up on the happenings.

Yourself

My dad called me two days ago, he called me tonight again, he wants to meet up. The bickering from the two immediately stopped.

~So young ♥~

Tell me when your plane lands, I'm coming over.

~Handsome James~

Do you want me to fly over to China now too?

~So young ♥~

Just be on skype, we'll video call you.

Yourself

We can't skype guys, I'll be at the dorm, I can't tell you where that is cause of privacy issues, plus we have a big day tomorrow.

~So young ♥~

Then come home, say you need things from here, Eun Mi, seriously.

~Handsome James~

Come on Eun Mi, you can't just push this away.

Yourself

I'll skype you guys when I'm back at the dorm. I'm boarding now, talk to you guys later. xx

You turned your phone off and tucked it into your coat pocket as an announcement played through the speakers.

Flight 315 flying to Beijing, China will begin boarding from gate 63A. Flight 315 flying to Beijing, China will begin boarding from gate 63A.

---

The boys had taken up an entire row in the cabin whilst Tao, Kai and Hyun Kyun were occupying a row of seats by the window. You were seated in the middle aisle by yourself. As the plane had finished boarding, there was a spare seat situated right of you, next to the walkway and another passenger to your left. Truthfully, you were quite glad you were going to be seated alone on the flight, no matter how hard you pushed back what had happened, you mind still wandered and you didn't want anyone else to see you being weak. The lights in the cabin had begun dimming down and the majority of the passengers were all snoozing off now. You wrapped a blanket around yourself, your head resting toward the empty seat. Your mind kept you awake as it whirred with thoughts. You thought back to when you were in primary school, where you'd come home after school, a couple of plates of food already set out on the table for you. You thought back to the time So young, James and yourself had finished your first set of exams in university, where the three of you spent the night just relieving all the stress. You thought about Luhan's expression tonight, the way his eyes pierced into yours, the way he just left you.

"Ms, are you okay?" a flight stewardess interrupted, a tissue in her hand. Tears were silently streaming down your face, you quickly accepted the tissue and wiped away your tears.

"I'm fine, it's just been a long day."

"Is there anything I can get for you, Ms?"  she queried on, a warm smile on her face.

"No, thank you very much" you returned her smile. You settled back into your seat as the stewardess silently left.  You hadn't had time to slip back into your thoughts before another person had slipped into the empty seat next to you. Lay took the tissue from your hand and began wiping away the tears on your cheek. As he wiped away the previous tears, new ones seemed to form and fall in their place.

"Come here" Lay spoke softly, pushing the arm rest up and pulling you onto his shoulder. You tried to stop, but soon enough your tears had wet the sleeve of Lay's t-shirt.  You weren't quite sure how long you cried into Lay, all you knew was that he was still there when they finally stopped. As you slowly pulled away from Lay's shoulder, you looked over to see he had his eyes closed. As soon as you got up, Lay had opened his eyes, looking worriedly over at you.

"Thank you for being here, I'm sorry you had to see me like this." you whispered to Lay, you bowed your head slightly out of embarrassment. You looked back up to see Lay give you a slightly annoyed look.

"Don't be silly now. Are you okay?" You fought back the new tears as you answered him.

"I'm okay, it's just been a long day" you lied. The two of you were silent for a while, the sound of the plane engine filling in the silence.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this job is so demanding that way. Thank you so much for all your hard work. Thank you so so much." Lay bowed, his apologies and thanks filling up your drained heart.

"Truthfully, there's just been a lot of things happening in my personal life recently, and without my friends by my side, it's just been a bit hard to deal with" you confessed, your eyes fixed on the floor.

"I wish you could see your friends again. I'm sorry this job took them away from you. For now, let me fill their place?" You considered Lay's proposal, to be honest, outside James and So young you were quite a shy, introverted person. You struggled to open up to people.

"Now's not the time, you need to rest up, you still have your showcase in Beijing tomorrow." you reasoned, checking Lay's watch. The plane was due to land in around an hour and the boys were going to begin rehearsals early afternoon. Lay grimaced slightly but nodded his head in understanding in the end.

"You too, rest now" Lay ordered, pulling you back onto his shoulder. You slept lightly for the rest of the plane ride, with Lay never leaving your side. As the plane announced its descent you convinced Lay to return to his seat after a few minutes of compromise, but as soon as all fourteen of you made it into the airport terminal, Lay was found right by your side once more. Throughout luggage claim and customs Lay was always one step behind you and as you entered the van Lay had secured a seat directly behind you. The ride back to the dorm flew by and the fourteen of you were now back at exo-m's dorm.

"Alright boys, split yourself off into separate rooms, get an early night, rehearsals begin 10am tomorrow." Hyun Kyun alerted, the boys quickly forming into smaller groups.

"Yixing.. Are you coming?" D.O asked, one foot on the stairs. Lay was still standing by you. You stood rooted to your spot, your situation finally clicking in your mind.

"Come on, let's rest" you signalled as you pushed Lay up the stairs, following behind D.O. As you reach the second landing you could hear Luhan and Sehun whispering from their open room.

"Bro, let's sneak out and play at the arcade." Sehun whispered, muffling his laugh as he spoke. Before Luhan could even answer, Suho has appeared behind D.O and marched into the room.

"You will do no such thing" Suho threatened, crossing his arms over his torso. Sehun bowed his head in embarrassment as D.O giggled behind you.

"I was kidding hyung" Sehun shyly defended, Luhan hiding his laugh behind his hand now.

"You know what, I think I'll sleep with Sehun tonight" Suho announced, throwing an arm over Sehun's shoulders. Almost as if he'd been signalled, Chen raced into the hallway.

"What do you mean, you said you'd sleep with me" Chen whined, tugging at Suho's sleeve. By now, D.O couldn't hold in his laughter anymore, leading Luhan to also burst out into laughter. You looked onto the scene with amusement, no matter what had happened recently, you couldn't deny the happiness that Exo brought to you. The lack of sleep after the long day had seemingly crashed down upon you and you silently retreated back towards your room. Lay had noticed straight away and was jogging up behind you.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently, the sound of Chen's whining could still be heard in the background.

"Better, definitely better. I'm just feeling super tired" you admitted, reaching your door. Lay nodded, opening the door for you.

"Sleep well Eun Mi, I'll wake you up in the morning" Lay notified, as you entered your room.

"Thank you Yixing for everything tonight" you smiled, a genuine smile.

"Thank you for allowing me to be there for you" Lay smiled back before closing the door. You let out a small sigh before falling onto your bed. You were honestly thankful to have Lay by your side and you didn't know how you would've gotten through tonight without him. Speaking of which, you had just remembered you said you would Skype your friends when you got back to the dorm, reaching for your phone, you settled into your bed, ready for a long night of talking.

---

As Lay closed the door behind him, he looked up to see that the previous scene had cleared out and only Luhan was in the hallway now.

"You're still awake Lulu? Are you really sneaking out to the arcade?" Lay quietly whispered, eyeing Luhan up and down. Luhan chuckled at Lay's remarks.

"No, Suho has a death grip on Sehun now. I… just wanted to check up on Eun Mi…" Luhan replied, choosing his words carefully.

"How did you know she wasn't okay?" Lay pondered, his innocent eyes blinking at Luhan.

"I just caught a glimpse of her before, she seemed pretty tired, that's all" Luhan answered, his eyes flickered over to your closed door.

"She told me there's been some tough personal things happening recently. On top of our already hectic schedule, I guess she was just feeling lost and alone" Lay admitted, slowing walking towards his own room, Luhan following in suit.

"What kind of personal things?" Luhan queried on, speaking softly so the other members wouldn't be disturbed.

"I'm not sure Lu, she didn't say much more" Lay continued. The two boys were now stood in front of Lay's bedroom door, D.O could be heard inside, singing softly.

"Do you think she'll be okay, Yixing?" Luhan mumbled, looking Lay in the eyes.

"I think, all we need to do now, is to make her understand that we'll be here for her, just like how she's here for all of us. She just needs to know she's not alone, we're part of her family now" Lay confided, patting Luhan on the shoulder. "You should be less cold to her, she's not as strong as you think" Lay urged on, squinting his eyes at Luhan.

"Tch, I understand" Luhan confirmed before pulling Lay in for a hug. "Rest up Yixing, you've worked hard tonight" Luhan encouraged, letting go of Lay.

"You too bro, I'll see you tomorrow" Lay responded, patting Luhan on the shoulder before entering his room.  Luhan fished his phone from his pocket, seeing if any of his friends had texted him back, updating him.

Sorry bro, your parents won't open the door.

Luhan sighed out in frustration, shoving his phone back into his pocket. If his parents weren't going to open the door for his friends, he'll just have to go there himself. Luhan stormed down the stairs, his socks preventing his steps from making any sound. He strode towards the front door, slipping his feet into his sneakers. Just as Luhan was about to turn the door handle, the sound of Tao and Chanyeol conversing stopped him.

"Tao, do you think the Chinese fans will like me?" Chanyeol asked as Tao was filling up his glass of water.

"Of course bro, you're pretty funny" Tao answered, giggling slightly. "What about me? Do you think the Korean fans liked me?"

"Is that even a question? You're our Chinese maknae, kungfu master, HAH!" Chanyeol confidently replied, hitting Tao as he answered.

"That's a relief, I don't want them to just love exo-k or exo-m. We are one" Tao admitted, not reacting to Chanyeol's feeble punch.

"C'mon, let's sleep now" Chanyeol smiled, patting Tao on the head as he led him out of the kitchen. Luhan sighed, kicking his shoes back off, sliding onto the floor. Luhan buried his face in his hands, the image of your crying face coming to his mind. He sat like that for a while, the noise from the other member's rooms dying down as he continued to sit on the ground. 

The dorm was now almost silent; the members all fast asleep. You had just gotten off Skype with James and So young and your phone told you it was already 2:30am. You had talked so much that your throat felt dry and you decided to get a glass of water before getting some sleep before the Beijing debut showcase. You tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to make even a slight sound. As you made your way to the first floor, you heard a shuffle coming from the door. As you look towards the front door, you were met with Luhan, sitting on the floor, his head buried in his hands. You silently jogged over, concerned you were hallucinating from the lack of rest.

"Luhan?" you gently called. Luhan slowly lifted his head, locking eyes with you.

Hey hey! Miss me?

Hehe.