Tao's words rang in Kris' head; a taunting mantra that just wouldn't shut up. It was pure torture for him. Everyday something would remind him of how he failed Tao. Now, it was Tao himself who told Kris how much of a failure he was.

What was he supposed to think?

He knew how fragile and vulnerable Tao was right now, so whether or not Tao really meant what he said will always be a mystery to Kris.

Kris left the dorm, announcing that he had to take a walk. He was desperate to clear his head. He was desperate for Tao's words to stop playing in his head.

Kris had some how found himself at a park. He smiled weakly.

EXO M had come here before. After a long day of working they wanted to go somewhere they could release all their toxic energy. Tao immediately suggested the park. Thankfully, it was so late at night that no kids were around. The park was completely theirs, with no adults looking at the strangely or kids whining because of them.

Kris wondered if a day like that could ever happen again. 

Everyone just seemed to have...changed ever since that night.

Everyone tried to put up a brave face for Tao. They tried to be the same, always joking around and pretending to be carefree. 

Kris saw right through that act, and he knew that it would only be a matter of time before everyone broke.

Guess that time would be today. 

Tao had been a ticking time bomb in terms of his emotions. He tried to continue being his usual self, but Kris knew that it was terribly hard for him.

Kris felt his eyes water, his strong leader facade had died. 

He hated the term 'leader'. It seemed as though he had failed in that aspect. 

He felt someone gently tap his shoulder. He turned, only to see a small girl sitting next to him.

"You shouldn't cry," she said, shaking her head. "Especially here. It's too depressing."

Kris scoffed. "I wasn't crying," he quickly defended himself. "And didn't anybody tell you not to talk to strangers?"

The girl shrugged. "Why are you crying anyway?"

Kris looked down at the girl. There was no way he was going to explain that his friend was drugged and attacked at a party. She was too young for that and it would just be too awkward, telling his business willingly to someone he didn't know. He finally sighed. "Let's just say...I let a friend down, and I don't know if he'll ever find it in his heart to forgive me."

"Well he's your friend right?" she asked innocently.

Kris nodded. "And he's very dear to me too."

"Then what's your problem?" she asked. "He's your friend. He'll come back to you. He probably just needs time to think, not time for you to give up on him."

Kris just looked at the girl, his mouth hanging open.

The girl.just looked at him. "So...you should probably go look for him now."

"Um...yeah," Kris muttered before slowly standing up. "I'll go...look for him then." He slowly started walking away, pondering the young girl's words. He would never take advice from a child. 

But he'd make an exception. 

"Are you sure it's a good idea for Kris to be alone right now?" Lay asked. He, along with his geges, had become extremely worried about Kris, and really didn't want him to just leave while he seemed a bit unstable mentally.

Kris had this dead look in his eyes. 

Xiumin shook his head. It had been two hours since Kris left and they hadn't heard a word from him the whole time. "I wish someone went with him," he said. "But he was so adament about going by himself..."

Luhan sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "We may be horrible people," he muttered. He flexed his right hand, still a bit sore from punching Tao.

"You should have iced that," Lay said as he looked at Luhan in worry.

Luhan shook his head. "It's fine, really," he said, flashing a small smile to reinforce his st