The tears were hot in his eyes and left a burning trail on the side of his eyes as they flowed down. He was too tired to wipe them away so he left it there, to scald his skin with pain and go away on its own, just like he did with everything else.

His head rung with words from the boys; especially Baekhyun's.

They spent a lot of time together, even though Baekhyun knew it would come back to bite him for doing something he was specifically told not to do.

*

"Suho never meant it, you know." Baekhyun said quietly as they sat by the river, drinking coffee.

They didn't really drink coffee, as a principle, Kris insists on drinking colorless water as to not decolorize his teeth out of vanity. Baekhyun just wanted to make him happy, and he didn't even like coffee, it just kept his hands warm.

"I know."

"Please, you know you can talk to me." Baekhyun pleaded; it was his tenth offering that evening.

"I- I don't know who to trust anymore. Remember I used to talk so much to our stylist when I had my hair done? Look at where that got me."

"I'm not the same, you know that!" Baekhyun whined.

Kris smiled and turned his head away from Baekhyun, afraid of the tears Baekhyun could disarm from his eyes.

"You've never been the same with anyone, why do you like me so much anyway?"

"Don't make me sound gay; my girlfriend is going to laugh if she hears this." Baekhyun chuckled and punched Kris on the shoulder playfully.

"Why do I like you?" Baekhyun paused and thought for a moment and then, " At first, I didn't. I preferred Chen, really. You looked hostile and too arrogant for any conversation with me. But when we moved into that new place and shared rooms, I guess I thawed out a little. You're a funny guy."

"Kriscasso and not my style, the funny clothes you wear to the airport all the time. I liked that, because you didn't want to be the same with everyone, and you have principles that you stick to-" Baekhyun continued as he prodded the cup of coffee to emphasize his point.

"I'm going to miss you guys, Baek." Kris whispered.

Baekhyun could see the fear in his eyes; many people mistake it for pride at first glance. If only they took their time to actually look at it properly, to understand that under all that charisma is just a person with a wish to be happy.

"I'm sure I'm going to miss you too. Are you sure this is what you want to do? You know you could just apologize to the company and you don't have to leave."

"I want to be happy. Am I sure about this? Not really, but I just need your support."

"Kris, I'm going to cry like a baby when I come back to the dorm. You're awful." Baekhyun sniffed, grinning.

"Tell the other boys I'll see them tomorrow, I have to pick up some stuff from my room."

"We won't be home until midnight, we have have practice and some variety show to record."

"That didn't show on the sched-"

"They changed it after you left, rescheduled for 11 people instead of-"

"12." Kris completed the sentence.

"That was fast." Kris mused.

"Are you mad?"

"No, just shocked."

Kris stole a glance of his watch and stood up, beckoning Baekhyun to do the same.

"What?"

"I want to go ride a bike. C'mon, before people start recognizing us. Just like old times, speeding past the river, right?"

"You know how slow I am?"

"I'll wait for you."

"You always say that, but you ditch me anyway."

Kris's eyes watered at that sentence and he let it trickle down his cheek.

"I guess I do, huh?"

Baekhyun patted a tissue on his cheek to stop the tears and slung an arm around Kris.

"If leaving makes you happy, we're happy too. Don't be sad, Wu Yi Fan. A brand new life is waiting for you."

"Thank you Baek, I love you. And I mean it."

"I love you too, now let's go ride bikes!" Baekhyun said excitedly and grabbed Kris's hand and ran to the rental bike stand.

Just like old times.

*

"Kris?" A voice from outside wavered uncertainly and a hesitant knock followed.

"Your flight to Vancouver leaves in two hours. And the taxi's here. Do you want to go now?"

Kris brushed himself off and stood up.

A new life was waiting for him, and he wasn't scared anymore.

When a star runs out of gas and burns out,it explodes into a supernova. Then a new star will be formed.