After the split the boys that had chosen Kris had been forced out of the facility, Suho gave them a week to pack up everything and go. Luhan was able to pull some strings with his family and got a place for himself and Lay to stay, Xiumin moved back in with his parents and Chen ended up living in his old apartment, lucky his landlord hadn’t bothered to find any new tenants in the years he’d been gone. Kris still rented a small apartment in town, it was big enough for him and Tao to share until they found a more suitable arrangement.

It was difficult for everyone to split and once half the group was gone the facility seemed, bigger. Contact between them faded over the next few days as the boys settled into their new lives.

-Luhan and Lay-

Luhan didn’t like the idea of being indebted to his parent so in order for him to be able to live in their house with Lay he started working for his father, he was appointed as a salesman at one of the branches of the furniture shops the family was in charge of. The pay but it was enough for Luhan to not feel like he was mooching on his father’s success.

Walking into the room he’d been allowed to have Luhan sat heavily on the foot of his bed and pulled his tie over his head, throwing it on the floor his leant forward, resting his head in his hands.

Walking in from the bathroom they shared Lay picked up the tie and put it away before sitting next to Luhan and pulling the boy into his arms.

“It’s ok, Kris called today and he thinks he’s found somewhere for us to go, we just have to be patient” Leaning into the younger boy Luhan tried to clear his head before speaking, doing everything he could to think of things in a positive way, “It’s fine, I’m fine.”Sitting up properly Luhan smiled at Lay as genuinely as he could, happy the younger boy was willing to put up with him being gone so much. Standing up Luhan made his way to the bathroom, tired and a still feeling stressed, and started a bath for himself. The sound of his phone chiming his text tone distracted him for a moment and leaning against the sink he read Sehun’s message.

D.O, Baekhyun, me, you and whoever else wants to come, tonight at the bar?

-Sehun

Leaving his bath to run Luhan walked back into the bedroom and, still holding his phone, smiled to Lay, “We’ve been invited out with some of the guys, wanna go?”

“Who’s going to be there?”

“Baekhyun, D.O, maybe some other people, Sehun. You know just some people.” Opening his laptop Lay logged onto his account before responding, thinking it over a little before shaking his head.

“Can’t we just stay in tonight? Watch a movie?” Luhan turned his phone in his hands and pouted a little at the younger boy.

“I just thought it’d be nice to see the others, we could just go for a drink then come back” Frowning Lay stood up and walked to Luhan, wrapping his arms around the older boy’s waist he pulled Luhan close to him and smiled playfully. “I never get you to myself Lu~ let’s just stay here tonight, ok?” Resting his head on the younger boy’s shoulder Luhan mumbled into the crook of Lay’s neck, trying to bring the boy around to going out, “you can have me to yourself when we get back, it’s been weeks since we’ve seen them properly.” Stepping back a little Lay looked at the longing in Luhan’s eyes and knew why it was there, he knew the boy didn’t really want to see ‘the guys’ he wanted to see Sehun. Gently pushing random strands of hair out of Luhan’s face Lay sighed a little and slowly shook his head, “aren’t you scared, seeing them again is going to hurt, I miss them as well but I can’t let you put yourself through that.” Resting his hand on the back of Luhan’s neck Lay gave the boy a sad smile and softly kissed his cheek, “trust me Lu~ it’ll just cause you pain to see them again and then have to leave.” Nodding to Lay Luhan gave him a quick kiss before walking back into the bathroom to turn off the tap of his now finished bath. Closing the door behind him Luhan put his phone on the windowsill, without replying to Sehun, and got ready to relax, letting the warm water wash over him and clear his head. Lay was right, seeing them was a bad idea.

-Kris and Tao-

Kris had been happy to have Tao stay with him, they boy was sweet and they got along, but in the weeks that they had been living together Tao was yet to say a word, the shock of Suho’s decision to kick him out of the group still not quite settled with him. Getting him to eat had become a chore and he’d lost a lot of weight in the time he’d been away from the rest of the group, he hadn’t slept nearly enough, he wasn’t training anymore and he every now and then Kris would catch him crying at nothing. It was a foreign thing to Kris to take care of somebody, he was awkward about it and never really knew what to say or how to get a response from the younger boy. Since the day he’d brought him to the apartment Kris had been debating whether or not to call one of the other boys to help him.

When Kris walked into the front room after work Tao was curled up in bed, the covers pulled up to his chest and from the redness of his eyes it was easy to tell he’d been crying again. Putting down his bag Kris sat next to the teen on his bed and tried to get his attention, “hey, you hungry?” Tao continued to stare off into space, either not listening to or not hearing Kris. Standing up the older boy walked to his kitchenette and started cooking, talking to Tao over his shoulder as he did.

“Work was crazy today. I kept bumping into that doctor, you know the one you saved, I don’t know why it just felt so weird seeing him around. I was thinking about inviting the others over sometime this week, I think I found a good place for us to go so we can all be together. Sound good?” He hadn’t really expected a response but still felt disappointed when none came. Keeping up his carefree tone Kris continued to babble into the silence, “There’s a room at the new place that looks like its big enough for you to practise in so if it all works out you can start training again, that wushu stick of yours is gathering dust.” Looking over his shoulder at Tao the older boy could see he had moved a little so he was looking at Kris, it was the first sign that he was actually still able to communicate in a while so, not wanting to jinx or taint it, Kris turned back to his cooking and spoke more clearly. “Lay and Xiumin and coming with me in a few days to check it out properly, you could come with us if you want, see what you think of it. We could go out for lunch after, maybe go for a walk or see a movie. If you fancy it?” Serving up two plates of food Kris walked to the small table near his bead and set the meal down. He stepped back into the kitchenette to get some drinks and utensils and smiled to himself as he heard Tao getting out of bed and sitting at the table.

Taking his place opposite the teen Kris began eating, trying his best not to frown at the way Tao’s pyjama top hung loosely off his slim body, he didn’t know what else to say so they ate in silence.

Half way through his meal Tao stopped eating and broke down again, his entire body shaking with the force of his sobs. Forgetting his own food instantly Kris moved to Tao’s side and pulled the teen into his arms, rubbing small circles on his back as he whispered that everything would be ok, Tao clung to Kris desperately while trying to pull himself together. Through his heavy breaths Tao managed to push out a weak, “It’s all my fault.” Before the sobs overpowered him completely.