Luhan threw the basketball half-heartedly at the hoop and it missed. He sighed and walked over to pick the basketball up and then tried shooting again. He was exhausted. Today had been a day full of dance practices in order to memorize the new routine (now that Yifan had left). It had started at 5am and ended at 8pm. Afterwards, they were told they had to go for vocal training and Luhan had strained his voice for 3 more hours. It was only then that they were allowed to go back to the dorm. 

But the dorm meant Minseok and Luhan still wasn't ready to face him. After the news of Yifan leaving had been confirmed, the first thing that Minseok had done was stare at Luhan questioningly. Asking him a silent question. What about you? Are you going to leave? 

And for months, Luhan had forgotten about leaving, even though at times it would pop in his head when he was once again discriminated by the managers or didn't get as much screen time as the Korean members. But he had stopped thinking about leaving because he didn't want to upset Minseok. But with Yifan leaving, he couldn't help but wonder again. Especially since (according to Yixing), Yifan was much happier. 

Luhan knew that, in his heart, there were only 2 things stopping him from leaving. One was Minseok and the other were the members. He had seen the members break down after Yifan leaving, had seen Suho cry and question his leadership, had seen Tao use pain and anger to mask his sadness and despair, had seen EXO break down. 

He didn't want them to go through any pain, he didn't want them to question whether it was their fault that a member left. Because he knew that Yifan's leaving had nothing to do with the members. It was the management, the stress, the exhaustion, the schedule. He knew the reasons because he felt the same things. 

He sighed, sitting down on the floor and staring at the basketball in his hands, too tired to continue throwing. It was then that he heard him. "Isn't it too cold for you to be out here?" He glanced up in shock to see Minseok glancing down at him with 2 coffees in his hand. "M-minseok." He stuttered, surprised by the boy's sudden appearance. Minseok smiled and sat down next to him. "Here." He held out a coffee. Luhan accepted it and it was only when the warm exterior touched his cold hands that he realized how cold he was. "Thanks." He whispered in response. Minseok smiled. "No problem." He replied. 

Luhan felt awkward and drank silently from the cup of coffee. He could feel Minseok's gaze on him but he pretended not to notice. "Why are you avoiding me?" Minseok spoke up finally, breaking the silence with his calm voice. Luhan winced at the blunt question and fiddled with the cup of coffee. "I..haven't been avoiding you." He said and even to his own ears, it was unconvincing. Minseok let out a snort. "Yeah, right." He said, sounding unconvinced. Luhan didn't respond. 

Minseok suddenly stood up and turned to him. "Let's go." He said. "Where?" Luhan asked, looking up at the boy. "For a walk." Minseok elaborated. Luhan swallowed nervously. "Uh, I'm not sure-" "Come on Lu-ge, please?" Minseok asked cutely, doing aegyo. Luhan sighed with a smile. "And you say I do aegyo." He teased, getting up. Minseok gave a wide gummy grin. "Come on." He said, grabbing Luhan's hand and leading him away from the basketball court. Luhan held the basketball under his arm and held onto the coffee cup with his hand as he followed the boy. 

~

They walked on the street near the basketball court (it was too late for any citizens to actually be there). Minseok seemed to be thinking deeply about something and Luhan didn't want to interrupt him (he also had no idea what to say) and so they walked silently. It was only when they reached a traffic light that Minseok stopped and turned to him. "I'm not going to ask you anything." He began softly. "Huh?" Luhan asked stupidly. Minseok gave him an endearing smile. "Whatever you do, it's your choice. I'm not going to stop you." Minseok said. He took a deep breath before continuing. "And I don't want to be a reason for you to stay. If you want to leave, you should." Minseok spoke softly but firmly. 

Luhan hadn't expected this. He felt a bit nostalgic and sad, a mixture of emotions he didn't like. "Minseok." He breathed out. "Your happiness and health is the most important thing." Minseok finished, biting his lip. Luhan couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Minseok's face and pulled it towards him before kissing the boy passionately. Minseok responded by curling his fingers into Luhan's hair and kissing back with equal passion. 

When they pulled apart, both breathless, Luhan smiled at Minseok. "I love you." He said softly. Minseok gave a bittersweet smile in response. 

~

They were all at the dorm, still awake despite it being 1am and watching a movie when the doorbell rang. Chanyeol got up from the couch, groaning about being tired as he opened the door. Luhan looked up to see Heechul walk through the door pompously before holding a letter in the air. "Delivery!" The older boy smirked. "S-sunbae..." Joonmyun trailed off, looking confused (AN: Sunbae- senior). Heechul grinned. "I have a letter from Yifan." He announced. Luhan glanced up with anticipation as everyone reacted differently. "Can I read it?" Yixing asked excitedly. Zitao stood up. "I don't want to-" He was pulled down by Baekhyun and Jongdae immediately. "Read it out for us." Jongin urged. 

Heechul scoffed. "I'm just the delivery man. I'm not your ing servant." He said and handed the letter to Joonmyun before walking off, blowing a kiss to Minseok (which annoyed Luhan) on his way out. "What.. sunbae! I don't understand! How did you-" The door slammed before Joonmyun could finish. The leader flinched and turned back to the letter. "What should I do?" He asked the members. "Read it out." Minseok said softly. 

Joonmyun glanced up uncertainly. "O-okay." He said and stood up, walking to the front. He carefully unfolded the paper and smoothed it out before clearing his throat and beginning. 

"I'm not sure if this will really get to you so I'm going to keep it short. I know we may not be able to communicate for a long time. This lawsuit and the issues that we are facing will not be resolved quickly. I want to apologize for not being able to tell anyone that I was going to leave. The statement was released without my knowledge. But I do not regret leaving. The stress and health problems that I was facing were too much for me to handle and I couldn't take it anymore. Please don't blame yourselves or question whether you were part of the reasons why I left. You weren't. I love you all and consider you to be my brothers. Hopefully, one day we will be able to talk again. I look forward to that meeting. Until then, take care of youselves. I will be supporting EXO." 

Suho paused, staring at the last words with a sad smile. "Love, both Kris and Wu Yifan." He ended. 

~~~

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