"Thanks for having me over, hyung. You should really come to the company and see the guys! We've missed you a lot." Kai said as he stood with in front of the door. They had hung out for a good two hours until Kai's curfew had started to kick in. Once it was that time, they were both incredibly disappointed after being able to spend such a fun time together.

"You know what, I might actually visit. I miss you guys a lot too. Tell them all I say hi." Kyungsoo smiled, thinking of all of his trainee friends that had become his family during his training period. Leaving SM was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do. He often thought of his times back at SM and improving as a singer, but leaving was the more responsible choice. The only way he could live at peace with his mother's death was to give up his dreams and take over with his mother's cafe. Taking care of Ara was a big part of his life too. Without Kyungsoo, Ara wouldn't survive a day. And he knew that better than anyone. But taking a break from work and his busy life with his old friends sounded like heaven.

"I really hope you do. It was really nice to see you again." Kai genuinely smiled at Kyungsoo and pulled him into a warm hug. Kai could hardly believe that he was actually hugging Kyungsoo. When Kyungsoo left SM, Kai was devastated. They both had an extremely strong bond and supported each other through the difficult times as trainees. This reunion was the happiest Kai had been in a long time. Just like before, Kyungsoo could practically read Kai's mind. He sensed that Kai desperately needed this time to enjoy his company and began to console Kai with rhythmic pats on the back. Kai buried his face into Kyungsoo's shoulder, the soft material of Kyungsoo's sweater brushing against his cheek. 

"It's okay, I'm here for you." Kyungsoo softly stated while patting Kai's strong back. Being much shorter and smaller than Kai's tall stature, Kyungsoo began to feel suffocated by the tight embrace. But it was a nice suffocation, one that was ironically rejuvenating. "Feel free to come any time to visit. I might be busy from time to time, but I'm always home after work in case you just need someone." Although he knew Ara wouldn't like the promise he just made to Kai, Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel obligated to make such a promise. He mentally apologized to Ara and pulled away from the hug, interrupting the tender moment.

"I'll remember that. Thanks, hyung." The door closed softly behind Kai as he left the warm atmosphere of Kyungsoo's apartment and joined the humid summer night. Shortly after, Kai boarded the bus that would take him back to the company. The bus was essentially empty, apart from the bus driver and a middle aged man in a business suit.

Kai took out his phone, only to be bombarded with texts from Luhan, Joonmyeon, and Sehun. They were all along the lines of something like 'Where are you?' or 'Come home now.' and were sent at least four times by each member. Rather than replying, he simply shoved his phone back into his pocket and leaned against the headrest. This short bus ride was most likely the only privacy he would be able to have for a long time until the moment he stepped off. Once the bus made it to his stop, he jumped up and swiftly made his way to the front of the bus.

"Thank you." He quietly said to the bus driver on his way out. The stop was only a short walk to the dorm, an even shorter walk considering how Kai walked as fast as humanly possible in order not to worry the other members. By the time he made it to his floor, he was able to see Joonmyeon standing outside of the door waiting for him. 

"Jongin!" Joonmyeon gasped exasperatedly. "Curfew started an hour ago, where were you?" He spoke while staring at his watch, clearly counting the seconds that Kai wasn't there. Kai also stared at Joonmyeon's watch with a dull expression. Their shoulders brushed past each other as Kai walked into the dorm instead of answering Joonmyeon. 

"Kai, there you are. We were waiting for you." Sehun immediately stood up from his seat on the sofa once the door opened to reveal Kai. "The choreographer was pissed that you left during break... Where did you go that was more important than lessons?" Sehun continued talking while Kai just sat on the sofa next to Sehun. The door slammed behind Joonmyeon who came back in after being ignored by Kai. Without even looking, Kai could tell Joonmyeon was angry for ignoring him. But that was the least of his worries at the moment.

"I went to see Kyungsoo hyung." Kai answered both Sehun and Joonmyeon's questions while reaching for the television remote. As soon as he turned it on, Joonmyeon snatched the remote and turned it back off. Sehun and Joonmyeon both stared at Kai with wide eyes. Simply hearing the name Kyungsoo was a surprise to them.

"Kyungsoo? How? But he told us not to go looking for him, so how did you find out?" Joonmyeon questioned, completely forgetting he was even angry before.

"He owns a cafe that my sister goes to a lot. She told me that the owner looked like my old friend so I visited. And it turned out to be Kyungsoo hyung." 

"How is he? Did he say anything about his mom?" Sehun asked with big, concerned eyes. 

"He brought it up briefly. And when I asked him about how he was, he said he was managing. I told him to visit us though." Kai answered, looking away reluctantly. He wanted to tell them all about what happened with Kyungsoo. He wanted to tell them about Kyungsoo's sister and his cafe and how much they talked together. He wanted to tell them so bad. But his pride got in the way.

"Well, it's good that you were able to get in touch with him again. But what's important right now is that we talk about what happened during lessons today. You can tell us all about it later." Joonmyeon nodded his head towards the balcony. Once Joonmyeon began walking, Kai immediately began to follow. Whether it was the fact that Kai felt guilty for ignoring Joonmyeon or the fact that he respected him, Kai would have followed Joonmyeon regardless of the circumstances. Behind the glass sliding door of the balcony, Yixing sat on the ledge of the balcony, talking in Chinese on the phone. Once he saw Kai and Joonmyeon on the other side of the glass, he hurried off of the phone and opened the door for them.

"Kai, you're back! It's good you didn't come back too late or else you would have gotten in big trouble!" Yixing exclaimed in broken Korean. Jongin just stared at Yixing with his arms crossed, loathing every word that came out of Yixing's mouth with that thick Chinese accent of his. Joonmyeon gave Yixing a small smile before asking him to go inside so they could talk. Yixing nodded and gave a worried look in Kai's direction. "See you later... you too, Kai." He hesitantly placed a hand on Kai's shoulder before snatching it away as if he was afraid Kai would bite it off. Once Joonmyeon and Kai were finally alone, they wordlessly sat on the patio chairs that were placed next to each other. 

"You know, you're going to have to stop acting like you hate Yixing sooner or later. It's terrible of you to be so rude to someone older than you." Joonmyeon broke the silence with his nagging tone, receiving an immediate eye roll from Kai.

"As a hyung, he should have my respect. But as trainees, I'm his sunbae. And who said I'm acting like I hate him? Maybe I really do hate him." Kai defended himself right away, as if he had waited for this speech from Joonmyeon all of his life.

"Ugh, you're really annoying." Joonmyeon mumbled loudly enough for Kai to hear. Kai just slapped Joonmyeon's arm playfully in return with a scoff. "Don't worry, I know you don't hate Yixing. How could anyone actually hate such a sweet guy?" Joonmyeon sarcastically remarked, knowing fully well why Kai resented Yixing so much. Yixing excelled in dancing almost as well as Kai did, which immediately caused him to become possessive over his position as lead dancer in the group. Unlike Kai however, Yixing didn't put in as much practice into dancing as Kai did. Yet for some reason, Yixing was still able to keep up as easily as Kai was. With someone of such talent in the group, Kai felt inadequate in comparison to Yixing.

"Just move on to the lecture." Kai groaned, not in the mood to hear Joonmyeon's sarcasm. Joonmyeon cleared his throat as his expression grew more stern. 

"Well... All I can really say is that I'm disappointed in you. I'm disappointed that you left practice as soon as things didn't go your way and pouted like a child. You didn't come back until midnight which is an hour past curfew and you even ignored me earlier. You're letting your emotions get the best of you by acting immature and irresponsible and you aren't this person. What's going on with you?" As Kai listened to Joonmyeon's lecture, he found himself getting upset at all of the accusations being thrown at him. "Just because the choreographer scolded you for not putting in enough effort, you leave? You've never done anything like--"

"Do you really think I left just because I got scolded?" Kai interrupted and jerked his head in Joonmyeon's direction. The intense glare in his eyes scared Joonmyeon. "I can deal with getting scolded. I've been scolded plenty of times before. I left because he scolded me for not putting in enough effort when I was trying my best. And then as soon as he finishes shouting at me, he immediately goes ahead and praises Yixing for 'being able to catch on so quickly.' Do you know how frustrating that is, hyung? I went over these stupid dance moves during practice so many times but it's not good enough for anyone." He abruptly stood up and threw his beanie onto the ground. Harshly running his long fingers through his dark hair, Kai let out a quiet groan in frustration. 

"Kai, you know that he only did that to motivate you. He knows that you were trying your best. But the only way he can help you to exceed that is with criticism. And remember, Yixing is a new member. He was only chosen to be apart of the group a month ago. He's barely had as much time to practice as you've had. He needs the positive encouragement so that he'll keep trying. But with you, it's completely different." Joonmyeon stood up as he spoke, picking up Kai's beanie from the ground and dusting it off. He patted Kai's shoulder with a small smile. "You have so much potential and so does Yixing. But you're not going to reach that potential if you don't focus on yourself, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Kai muttered and gave a nod. He knew Joonmyeon was right and knew all of this from the beginning. But hearing it from his close friend was much easier than from himself. 

"Now tomorrow, you'd better be ready to apologize to everyone with your knees on the ground. If you don't, I'll make sure to push you onto the ground myself." Joonmyeon chided with a playful tone. But they both knew he was completely serious. Joonmyeon left Kai on the balcony, closing the door behind him as well. Kai collapsed back onto the patio chair and stared at the empty night sky. The city lights blocked the stars from shining, leaving the moon all by itself in the big empty sky. The moon looked so lonely and Kai knew exactly how it felt.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed today's chapter! I hope you guys liked the little Kaisoo moment I put in, I plan to include those in a lot of the story just for fun :) Please subscribe to this story if you want more <3 I'll make sure to update as soon as I can :)