Wu Yifan was definitely not a ninja and to sneak into a tightly-guarded five-star hotel in downtown Beijing was not an easy thing to do, not if the person he was going to meet was someone famous. But he would take the risk, any risk to see his loved one. He made a mental note to thank Luhan for all the help even though his most trusted friend was in Seoul. It would give Luhan an alibi though that he had nothing to do with Yifan sneaking into the hotel.

It took Yifan 10 minutes to avoid the guards and keep himself away from the CCTV to reach the destined room. He used the master key that he got from Luhan’s acquaintance to open the bedroom. He saw a tall boy, slightly shorter than he was, stood in the middle of the room as if expecting him.

“Duizhang,” Chanyeol greeted him in whisper while smiling. He stepped forward to hug his former rapping partner in EXO. “Luhan hyung called me,” the Korean informed him. “He’s still in the bathroom. I’ll just go to the manager’s room. Take your time.”

Yifan thanked Chanyeol sincerely. “I’ll pay you back later,” he whispered to his friend.

Chanyeol nodded and left the room quietly.

Yifan stood in anxiety. He was nervous. A thousand questions filled in his mind. What if he still hates me? What if he kicks me out? Does he still love me?  Yifan knew he was at fault for disappointing his former members. It had been four months since he filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment and he missed Joonmyeon so very much that it almost killed him. But he kept telling himself that he would be a better person, an A-list actor, that he would go to Hollywood, that he would make Joonmyeon proud of him before he could ask for the petite EXO leader’s hand to marry him.

“Chan…. You can use the…” Joonmyeon’s voice was cut. “What? What are you doing here?” His voice was stern. It was obvious that he did not expect Yifan to be in his room.

Yifan gulped. But he took all the troubles to be standing in front of Joonmyeon. “Hi Joonie… I… I miss you and I thought…”

“Get out!” Joonmyeon was half screaming. But Yifan knew that his boyfriend – or his ex? – was trying hard not to shed tears.

“No! I won’t get out. I miss you so much Joon,” he said while narrowing their gap.

Joonmyeon stepped back. “You left! You left me! You left a week before our very first concert! You left a week before my birthday! My ing birthday! It was supposed to be my happiest day!” The tiny male spoke while gritting his teeth, obviously holding back his emotion.

Yifan was defeated. “I’m sorry… I truly am. But I had no choice back then.”

“You did have a choice! You just ran away from reality.”

“They turned down all the acting offers for me. What do you expect me to react?” This time Yifan failed to remain cool. “It was a once in a lifetime chance for me. I lost my chance a year ago. I don’t want to lose it again.”

A torturing silence engulfed the room. “If only I could find a way to stay…” Yifan whispered. His gaze fell onto the carpeted floor. “I’m sorry for being an irresponsible leader. I’m sorry for leaving. But I have my reason. It’s not me against you guys, you should know that.”

But Joonmyeon did not react and that made Yifan panic. “You have every right to hate me. I deserve that,” Yifan’s voice turned hoarse. “I came here to tell you that I still love you, I will always love you. I know I don’t deserve your love. But I need to know if you still have a little bit of affection to me.”

Joonmyeon stayed mum.

Yifan thought the door was already shut and there was no way it would be reopened for him.

He stepped backwards, staring longingly to Joonmyeon, who looked at anything but him. “Good bye Joonie… and good luck. You’re the best leader EXO can ever have.”

Yifan was about to open the door when he heard Joonmyeon said: “Wait!”

He was about to turn around when he felt a pair of tiny arms hugging his waist from behind. “Don’t turn around,” Joonmyeon whispered. Then Yifan felt the back of his shirt was wet. He felt a pang in his heart. He was the reason of those tears while he had promised to always make Joonmyeon smile.

“Joon…” he tried to turn around but the hug only got tighter.

“Let me do this while I can,” Yifan heard Joonmyeon’s whisper and he could only let his own tears fall.

“Joon… I’m sorry. I truly am…”

“Are you gonna say that over and over again?”

“If I have to, I will.”

Yifan turned around when he felt the tiny hands released their grip on his waist. He stared at Joonmyeon’s eyes while his callous large hands wiped away the tears. “I’m sorry for making you cry. I’m sorry for disappointing you, for leaving you without any words.”

Joonmyeon grabbed the much larger hands. “I’m okay now. The boys are doing well. They cope with the situation much better than I had thought.”

They both exchanged smiles.

“Except Luhan,” Joonmyeon said and Yifan raised his eyebrows. “I know he still keeps in touch with you but he pretends nothing happens. I should have known that he’ll help you to meet me here.”

Yifan chuckles. “Don’t be angry with him. I can’t meet you without his help.”

They hugged each other. Yifan brought Joonmyeon to sit on the couch but they preferred to keep a safe distance between them. “How was Prague? You must work really hard in your first movie,” Joonmyeon asked him.

Yifan took a minute before replying. “Yes, it was really hard in the beginning. It was hard to focus on the movie while I still had a lingering problem here. But my seniors really helped me and I’m glad I took the role.”

Joonmyeon sighed. “I hope it will be a success. You sacrificed everything for your acting career.”

Another silence.

“You looked great in the movie’s pictures,” Joonmyeon said with sincerity.

“You mean handsome.”

The tiny male laughed. “You’re still so full of yourself.”

Yifan moved closer until their shoulders touched. “But you love me.”

“I do. I still love you,” Joonmyeon said, trying to hide his blush.

Yifan lifted Joonmyeon’s chin before leaning down to softly kiss the latter’s lips. It was still as tender as Joonmyeon could remember and he could only let droplets fall from the corner of his eyes. Oh, how he missed Yifan’s lips on his. Joonmyeon slowly kissed Yifan back and soon their kiss turned more passionate.

“Manager hyung will kill you if he found out,” Joonmyeon whispered when they both pulled away for air.

Yifan only smirked but Joonmyeon knew that Chanyeol was tasked – either by Yifan or Luhan – to deal with the manager. He laughed again. “You always find your way to get something,” he playfully smacked Yifan’s arm while launching himself into the Chinese-Canadian’s embrace.

“I’ll do anything to have you in my arms like this,” Yifan said.

“Even if you have to sneak into my hotel room like this?”

Yifan nodded. “I don’t mind all the troubles to see you. I miss you Babe.”

Joonmyeon sighed. “It’s been a while. I miss you too.”

Yifan pulled Joonmyeon closer – if that was even possible – before giving the latter butterfly kisses. He paused while staring at the petite male’s lips and crashed their lips together. He felt so desperate. Time was his enemy. The clock was ticking and soon Joonmyeon would have to fly away again.

They abruptly pulled away when the door was opened and Chanyeol rushed in. “Sorry but manager hyung was going here. You’ve got to go duizhang,” he apologetically said.

The tall guy pretended to pack his things although Yifan was sure that Chanyeol only gave them their limited private moment. He pecked Joonmyeon lips, patted the latter’s head and then walked backwards although their fingers were still intertwined.

The EXO leader looked at their linked hands before smiling bitterly. “You still have lots of rings in your fingers,” he whispered. But then he widened his eyes when he spotted a particular ring. It was in a shape of wings. “You wear this.”

Yifan smiled. “It’s our couple rings.”

Joonmyeon pulled a long white-gold necklace from inside his shirt. Yifan saw the same ring was hanging on the necklace. “I still have it, too.”

Yifan smiled again but this time his eyes were teary. “Wait for me, will you?”

“Yes,” Joonmyeon whispered. His voice was nearly inaudible. He bit his lower lip. “I’ll wait until you can come back to me.”

“Thanks… I love you.” With those words, Yifan turned around and quickly left the room. He waited in the nearest alley so he could see Joonmyeon left the hotel room and headed to the elevator. He took a deep breath, whispering to himself. “I’ll definitely come back to you Joon. I will”.