Everyone has been dreaming of this day. The day that the twelve forces would come back together after defeating the evil one. There were people who lost hope, a six year long wait was too long for them. But there are others who remained strong despite the odds.

 

It came through everyone like lightning. There was a thunder at first... Kris and Luhan being spotted in Seoul together, staying in the same hotel and dropping hints that they would soon be back. It was all just there. No one knew when the lightning would strike, all they knew was that it would come soon.

 

For the EXO members everything was quite a blur. They were about to do their closing ment, thanking their fans from all over the world for the effort they had put in for their 6th anniversary. Suddenly two voices they haven't heard for so long finally graced their deprived ears. Hugs were exchanged and tears fell, it was all a blur to the members but it is certainly one memory that will never be erased from their minds.

 

The members dreamed of happy memories that night. No one was worrying what tomorrow's schedule might bring and how the management would react, they lived in the moment. To say that things were pretty awkward the next morning was an understatement, and it wasn't because of Kris and Luhan.

 

The early birds of EXO were sitting in the dining room, diligently eating the breakfast that was prepared for them by Kyungsoo and Lay. It was the hyungs, Xiumin, Luhan, Kris, Suho, Lay and Kyungsoo who always woke up early. The younger ones aka the beagle line, Chen, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Tao, Sehun and Kai were still in their rooms and would probably get up when it's only a few minutes till they leave for their schedule.

 

"Did you have a nice rest?" Kyungsoo asked the two.

 

"Um, yeah Kyungsoo. It was nice to be back in my old room." Luhan smiles. Kris stopped eating and stares at his plate.

 

"Kris hyung are you alright?" Kyungsoo asks.

 

"Hmm?" Kris' head shoots up. "Oh, yeah, sort of." The rest drop the topic since they know that Kris is thinking about Tao.

 

"Morning." Chanyeol murmurs as he got out of Baekhyun's room. The members drop their utensils and their jaws hang open. It's been year since they last saw Chanyeol get out of that room and they knew that even if Chanyeol and Baekhyun are on good terms, there was still some awkward tension between them.

 

"Do we really have to get up this early today?" Baekhyun whines behind Chanyeol, completely oblivious to the hanging jaws of the members.

 

The two sit on opposite ends of the table, it has been like that ever since Chanyeol moved out of their room. Kris was the first to break the silence and the others snap out of their daze. "So what's your schedule today?" Kris asks Chanyeol. The two always had their practices together since they are both rappers and Kris missed all the goofing off that they did "Do you think your trainer would mind if we stayed in the practice room?"

 

"I don't think he would since he's barely even there." Chanyeol explains "We just had our comeback so I doubt that he'll show up."

 

"He's probably still passed out in the studio." Baekhyun adds "I saw him get in one with a cooler before the anniversary started."

 

"Kids." Their manager barges into the kitchen. Usually the manager just always stayed in his room or the living room, it was very unusual for him to enter the dining room."Aish where are those maknaes? Oversleeping again?"

 

"What about Chen?" Luhan asks

 

"He's getting ready. He's my roommate remember?" the manager says "Suho, you better wake those three up if you don't want to be late." The managers phone beeps and his eyes widen "Yah! All of you get ready we're leaving in 10 minutes! CEO wants to see you."

 

"What?" All eight members shove their food to their mouth and throws their dishes to the sink, cleaning will have to be done later. They have only met the CEO thrice, when they were about to debut, when Kris left, and when Luhan left. The CEO only brought really good or really bad news and the member hoped the it would be the first.

 

It turns out that the CEO only wanted to talk about EXO renewing their contract as a whole group. Since Kris and Luhan are back, they thought that EXO needed a new start. It was included in the contract that the group would have a comeback at the earliest possible date, which was 3 months from that day.

 

“Sir, don’t you think it’s too soon?” Suho asks. “Kris and Luhan hyung have just come back. They are not in shape for schedules yet.”

 

“We thought about that but the management thinks it’s best to have your comeback while the news of you being complete is still fresh.”

 

“Suho it’s fine,” Luhan says “Thank you for giving us another chance. We will surely work hard.”

 

“That’s good to hear.” The CEO nods in agreement. “Now is there anything else you would want to bring up before we sign the contracts?” The three maknaes immediately raise their hands. “Yes?”

 

“Sir, I requested for an overseas trip after our promotions three months ago.” Tao explained. “It already got approved and I already have the plane tickets and the accommodations. My girlfriend is expecting me to visit her for 2 weeks.”

 

“I also requested a trip to Jeju.” Sehun says

 

“I’m just staying here in Seoul but I already made plans with my girlfriend.” Jongin adds. “The three of us filled and got approved.”

 

The three maknaes have been excited for their vacations ever since they started dating. Usually they would only lounge at home and play, but now that they’re in relationships, they have become more mature and wanted the best for their partners. It was especially hard for Tao because it’s been a while since he last saw his girlfriend, and being such a long way from each other became very hard for them.

 

The manager pauses to think for a moment and  says “Oh well, I guess you can still go to that.” The three let out the breaths they were holding. “It’s beyond our control and we did allow you three to have these relationships. Just make sure to bring one of the managers with you at all times. Your popularity is increasing day by day and crowd control has been pretty hard these days when it comes to you.” The three of them nod and Baekhyun smiles at them. It was rare to see these bright smiles on their maknaes. They’ve always been tired and usually had gentle smiles that fit their image, seeing them like this just brings happiness to the other members.

 

For three whole months, all the members did was practice, practice and practice. They would only come home once a week since they preferred to sleep in the training room. They valued every minute of rest that they could pull out. The members who had solo activities, Kyungsoo who had a drama to finish, Kris with his movie premieres, and Chen with his solo album, barely had anytime to sleep some days. Their trainers tried to make their schedules lighter by cutting their vocal training and focusing more on dance training because it will be done in one take.

 

“Suho was right” Kris breathed heavily “We’re not in shape for this.”

 

“Speak for yourself, Yifan.” Luhan, who was still on his toes tells him with a wink.

 

“It’s not my fault I wasn’t offered any dramas with a performance and you were offered like 10 of them.” Kris spat out.

 

“Need any help?” Tao sat next to Kris. Unlike Kris, Tao wasn’t breathing heavily. Maybe Luhan was right, it was just him who was in no shape.”

 

“Shouldn’t you be going to your wushu training?” Kris checks his watch. “You’re gonna be late ZItao, come on I’ll walk you there.” Zitao shakes his head

 

“No need gege. You just rest, you seem pretty tired.” When Tao exited the room Kris sighs.

 

“Luhan hyung I’m going to my apartment.” Kris shouts

 

“Why? Is something wrong?” Luhan stops dancing and the rest follow him. It was just like this during their last practice with Kris after he left 3 years ago.

 

“No, I’m not running aways guys. I just need some air and my vitamins. I’m so out of shape right now.” Kris tells the kids “I promise I’ll come back after an hour or so.”

 

Kris sat on his bed, staring at a picture frame(http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/05/10/a4/0510a4feebb23a818822752a47933d5c.jpg ) It was his and Tao’s picture from Growl era, when everything was alright. He just had a little crush on Tao back then, he sent him subtle hints about it but the maknae never seem to have gotten them. He sighs as a tear rolled down his face.

 

"I never should have left you." Kris sighs as a stream of tears starts to fall down his face. He remembered all those times they were together. The days when they didn't worry about what would happen tomorrow, when things weren't awkward between them.

 

The two were the best of friends. Being Chinese, they were often judged and criticized differently from the Korean trainees. Tao who was so young and innocent at that time couldn't do anything. Glares and empty threats were all he could do, like it would do much. Then Yifan came into the picture. With his perfectly sculpted face, toned body and cold glare, it scared the other trainees to the bones. They became an inseparable pair. Tao always following Yifan, always pestering the older to go with him around Seoul. At first Yifan was irritated, but as time went by he got used to the cute panda shadow.

 

"Why did I have to fall for you?" He often questioned himself. He could have any girl that he wanted, no one could deny his looks, but why did it have to be his best friend? He should have just kept it to himself... instead his stupid heart had to go to Tao and confess weeks before he planned to sue SM and leave the group.

 

He missed those times when Tao was oblivious to his actions. He could hug the little panda all he wanted and Tao would submit to him. He missed flirting with him, those little touches that he cherished...

 

"I'm so sorry." There was so much that he was sorry for. He was sorry for not being by his side when he first entered SM, he was sorry for making him worry whenever he would arrive late for training, he was sorry that his most precious panda has wasted so much blood, tears and sweat just to debut, he was sorry that his panda couldn't enjoy life like every other teenager in the world. He was sorry for those little things that he had no control over but felt like it was his responsibility to give to Tao. Most especially he was sorry that Tao would have to live being sorry to him, always bearing the guilt of not accepting Kris. He should never had put so much of a burden on Tao's shoulders.