“I can’t wait until we’re back at the dorm, I’m exhausted,” Baekhyun sighed, his voice muffled by his mouth mask as he slumped in his seat, “I’m gonna take a nice warm shower and then lie on my bed and go to sleep.”

    “You’re not taking a shower if I can do anything about it,” Sehun commented, leaning on Junmyeon’s shoulder, “I call dibs.”

    “There’re two bathrooms in the dorm children, you don’t have to argue so much,” Minseok commented, slightly opening one eye to look at them, “Just wait until we get there.”

    “Hyung, how much longer do we have until we reach the dorm?” Junmyeon asked their manager, patting Sehun’s head as the younger gave a whining noise from the back of his throat and mumbled something that sounded like a complaint.

    “About an hour, you should all sleep, you deserve some rest,” Yongmin told him, looking back from the passenger’s seat and seeing all eight of them slumped from exhaustion, “You’ve all worked so hard with performing and it’s a significant time difference, so rest. I’ll wake you all up when we get there.”

“Thank you hyung,” Junmyeon responded, even though he knew that everyone else in the van had pretty much fallen asleep judging by the deep, even breaths and the occasional snores.

The older man smiled at the exhausted leader, “It’s not problem Junmyeon, now rest.”

The younger only nodded, and he soon leaned his head back, mindful to not make Sehun uncomfortable as the younger was still leaning on his shoulder, and he closes his eyes. With the calm, even breathing of others and the lull from the van moving along the road, Junmyeon soon fell asleep, succumbing to exhaustion.

~~🐺~~

“We’re here,” Junmyeon heard a voice break through his sleep, and he tiredly opened his eyes, blinking slowly.

“Hmm? An hour already?” Junmyeon asked, his voice groggy as he rubbed one of his eyes.

“Yeah, you all slept like rocks,” Yongmin commented, a small smile on his face, “Make sure you send them all to bed as soon as possible, alright?”

“Of course,” Junmyeon replied, looking at the others and seeing them slowly begin to stir, “They need the rest.”

“The same goes for you too Junmyeon, make sure you sleep as well,” Yongmin gave Junmyeon a pointed look, knowing that the leader tended to forget about himself.

“I will, I promise hyung,” Junmyeon said, looking the manager in the eye and giving a firm nod of assurance.

“Good, now, get these sleepy boys to bed,” Yongmin returned the nod, before giving a small smile, “Good night Junmyeon, you and the others did so well.”

“Thank you hyung,” Junmyeon smiled back, before gently nudging Sehun, “Sehunnie, wake up, we’re home.”

“Hmm,” Sehun mumbled, but he woke up anyway, giving a hug yawn and blinking as he opened his eyes, “I call the shower.”

“You gotta get there first maknae,” Baekhyun retorted, already making his way towards the door of the van as he was closer.

“I will race you to the dorm,” Sehun threatened, knowing that he could beat Baekhyun since this incident had occurred before.

“Can’t this wait until we’re at least outside of the van?” Kyungsoo asked, adjusting his snapback since it had fallen off when he was sleeping.

Sehun and Baekhyun looked at each other for a moment before they both nodded. Everyone soon got out of the van, and Junmyeon was the last person to leave the vehicle.

“Still lively even when they’re ready to sleep on the ground,” Junmyeon mumbled, and he heard Yongmin chuckle, “Good night again hyung.”

“Good night again Junmyeon,” the manager replied one last time, “Sleep well. Oh, and happy anniversary.”

“Sleep well, and thank you hyung” the leader gave one last warm smile before finally stepping out of the vehicle and stretching, looking at the other boys who were sleepily standing and waiting for him, or well, everyone besides Baekhyun and Sehun who looked like they were ready to run a marathon.

“It’s just a shower children,” Junmyeon said tiredly, but he knew that wouldn’t work so he took a deep breath and decided to take a different measure of action, “Race there and you’re going to have to clean the dorm for a week. I’ll have Minseok-hyung inspect your cleaning job and if anything is wrong I extend the time of how long you need to clean the dorm.”

Apparently, the threat was a pretty good one because Sehun and Baekhyun backed down, bowing their heads and mumbling apologies and things along the lines of “We won’t race we promise”. Junmyeon nodded, satisfied before he was stumbling from the weight of both Chanyeol and Jongdae patting him (*cough* hitting *cough*) on the back.

“Hoooo that was a good one hyung!” Chanyeol laughed, and Jongdae’s bright, clear laughter showed how he agreed, “Nice!”

Junmyeon smiled before looking sheepishly at EXO’s oldest member, “Sorry for using you Minseok-hyung.”

“It’s no problem Junmyeon, I would gladly carry help out with carrying out their punishment,” Minseok replied, only making Jongdae and Chanyeol laugh harder.

“Excuse me, this is all great and fun and stuff, but can we get to the dorm? Jongin’s falling asleep on his feet and I don’t want to deal with a ragdoll leaning on me,” Kyungsoo spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention towards him and the dancer.

Jongin was indeed falling asleep, and he was leaning heavily on Kyungsoo who, despite being strong, was struggling to support the weight of a tall and muscular young dancer. Smiling a little, Junmyeon went over and helped Kyungsoo, taking part of Jongin’s weight by placing one of the dancer’s arms around his shoulder.

“Let’s go to the dorm, when we’re there we can decided showers and stuff,” Junmyeon said, and everyone immediately agreed. At that point, they all just wanted to be able go their dorm and relax.

They began to make their way inside the building and went to the elevator, Jongin having been transferred to Chanyeol since the rapper could better support the sleepy dancer who was mumbling a strange mix of apologies for making the others pretty much carry him and jumbled sentences. They soon got to their floor, and they passed a few fellow artists whom they briefly greeted. Jongdae was the first person to get to the dorm’s door, and he swiped his keycard before opening the door. They all entered and took their shoes off before Jongdae was the first person to actually step into dorm.

“Honey, I’m home!” he jokingly shouted, having gotten a burst of energy from seemingly nowhere.

Music, Angel to be exact from EXO’s very first album, began playing and the lights to the dorm as a tall, dark haired, and familiar dancer appeared.

“Welcome home ‘honey’,” Yixing replied, giving them all a dimpled smile.

Jongdae gave a shriek as he practically launched himself at the other, wrapping his arms around the taller idol to give him a bone-crushing hug. Everyone else soon realized what was going on and they all rushed towards Yixing, even Jongin had woken up enough to go and join in on the huge hug everyone was giving their brother who had been gone for far too long. The room was soon filled with chatter and laughter and screams of happiness, their joy too much to be contained. With a huge smile on his face, Junmyeon decided to let the others greet the Chinese member first so he stood back and watched everything.

Yixing laughed and chattered away about nothing and anything, telling them how much he missed them about the things he was doing in China and about how he wished he could’ve seen the fountain show and perform at the Olympics.

“I managed to come back to Korea though just in time to greet you all,” Yixing smiled as he was finally released from the hug, “It was supposed to be a surprise, so surprise!”

“This is the best surprise ever!” Jongdae cheered, “I can’t believe you’re here!”

The dancer just flashed a dimpled smile at everyone, “I can’t believe it either, but here I am.”

Everyone began talking again, but Junmyeon decided to push Jongin down the hallway towards the shower since the dancer was yawning every other second and Junmyeon wanted to get the younger to bed so he could get as much sleep as possible. It was late (or early if you were one of the people who thought that way) in Korea and the time zone difference was brutal, so the jetlag was also factoring into everyone’s exhaustion being amplified by a hundred.

Everyone noticed Jongin going to take his shower, so they soon dispersed to mostly likely change into more comfortable clothing and unwind. They all gave Yixing one last hug before retreating to their respective rooms.

Pretty soon, it was only Junmyeon and Yixing. The taller of them stretched his arms wide, inviting Junmyeon for a hug. The leader quickly goes to the other and wraps his arms around the dancer, feeling the other do the same.

“I’ve missed you so much Xing,” Junmyeon whispered, closing his eyes and and burying his face into Yixing’s shoulder.

“I’ve missed you too Myeon,” Yixing replies, and Junmyeon hugs the other even tighter.

Hearing his nickname come from Yixing’s lips in real-life and not over a phone call or through a call felt amazing, the full weight of everything hitting him as he realized just how much longing and want he had ignored for so long, not having wanted it to consume and destroy him.

Junmyeon leaned back and looked at the other, everything but Yixing’s face melding together as his eyes filled with tears and he whispered, “You’re here, you’re really here.”

Unwrapping his arms from around Yixing, Junmyeon brought his hands up to Yixing’s face, gently brushing his thumbs over the other’s cheeks. He traced the other’s more prominent cheekbones, felt how his cheeks had become thinner, and he managed to see the added stress lines and crows feet that had appeared on the dancer’s face. Yixing had changed, but he was still the same. His dimples still appeared when he smiled, he still wore the same cologne, he still used the same jasmine shampoo, and his eyes still shone with just as much care and love for Junmyeon as they always had.

“You’ve matured so much,” Junmyeon replied, tears spilling from his eyes only to be wiped away by Yixing.

“So have you,” the other said, smiling as he looked at Junmyeon, “But you’ve lost your adorable cheeks, and you’ve gotten thinner too. Hmm, I’m going to make you a big breakfast Myeonnie, actually, I’ll make one for all of you.”

“You don’t have to do that Xing,” Junmyeon laughed, watching as the other gave the most adorable pout in the whole world.

“But I want to,” Yixing replied, “You’ve all worked so hard and deserve to sleep in after such a long flight.”

“Are you saying that you also haven’t been working your off?” Junmyeon asked, giving Yixing a look while raising his eyebrow.

“Well, I’m not saying that exactly…” Yixing began, but he was soon cut off by Junmyeon.

“Then I don’t wanna hear it,” Junmyeon interrupted, “You deserve to rest as well Xing. So don’t stress over it.”

“Okay….” Yixing eventually relented, knowing that he wasn’t going to win, “But you! You, Kim Junmyeon, will take a shower and go to bed right away.”

The leader looked at Yixing, ad he only nodded. Something about Yixing and himself that was incredibly similar was how they both would be extremely similar when it came to taking care of others. They would both refuse to budge when it came to looking out for the health and wellness of anyone else, but when it came to themselves they did a terrible job.

“You’re taking a shower after me,” Junmyeon replied, “But while I’m taking said shower, you should go and say goodnight to everyone. We’ve all missed you so much.”

“Of course,” Yixing immediately agreed with a smile, “A goodnight kiss and happy 6 year anniversary for everyone.”

“Good,” Junmyeon returned the smile before he heard the showers of both bathrooms being turned off, “And that’s my queue to go and wash up.”

“Wait, one last thing,” Yixing said before Junmyeon could walk off, and before the older boy could ask what was wrong, Yixing was soon giving the other a soft, tender, but love filled kiss.

Junmyeon immediately melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Yixing’s neck and happily returning just as much love and affection as he wa receiving. It had been so long since they had kissed, and the ache of want and longing returned. The kiss was long, and it would’ve gone on if it weren’t for a certain voice breaking through the atmosphere.

    “Ewwww Mom and Dad are kissiiiiing,” Baekhyun teased, and the two immediately broke apart, looking at the puppy who quickly retreated to his room, cackling along the way.

    “That kid,” Junmyeon sighed, redirecting his attention back to Yixing, “Guess I should shower now, huh?”

    “Hmm probably,” Yixing hummed, smiling “I’ll start saying goodnight to everyone.”

    “Okay,” Junmyeon replied before going slightly onto his toes and giving Yixing a kiss on the cheek, right where his dimple formed, “Welcome home Xing.”

    “It’s good to be home,” Yixing replied, giving Junmyeon one last hug before letting go and gently nudging Junmyeon down the hall because they both knew that they weren’t going to get anything done if one of them didn’t take any initiative.

    Entering the bathroom, Junmyeon got ready for his shower with a big smile on his face, everyone was finally home and he couldn’t be happier.

~~🐺~~

    Sighing, Junmyeon fluffed his recently dried hair as he entered his room, crawling into bed and curling up immediately. It was strange, not having to worry about waking up Sehun anymore, but he still missed sharing a room with the younger. Sighing, Junmyeon closed his eyes, and pretty much immediately fell asleep.

    And he would’ve stayed asleep if he hadn’t heard his bedroom’s door open and close and felt his covers be lifted. Waking up, Junmyeon felt two strong arms wrap around his middle and he felt someone bury their nose into his hair. Smiling, Junmyeon immediately knew who it was.

    “Hi Xing,” Junmyeon replied sleepily, shifting so he was facing the other and looking at Yixing’s happy eyes (his own eyes having adjusted to the room’s darkness).

    “Hi,” Yixing returned the simple greeting, “Sorry for waking you up, but I couldn’t help myself.”

    “It’s okay,” the older of the two replied, and there was a brief silence before he spoke again, “Can you believe it’s been six years? Six years since we first stepped onto a stage as EXO. Do you remember tht day, that stage?”

    “Of course,” Yixing immediately responded, his tone wistful, “We couldn’t even bow properly, you actually bowed twice.”

    “I remember,” Junmyeon replied with a chuckled, “We were called ‘SM’s First Mistake’ and we had such small fan meets and became virtually irrelevant since we took such a long hiatus. And then Wolf happened.”

    “Ah Wolf, a ridiculous but important song to us,” Yixing smiled as he remembered 2013, “It got us noticed, and when we got Wolf’s first win you and me were bawling our eyes out.”

    “I’ll never live that down,” Junmyeon sighed, but there was no malice behind his tone, “And then Growl came out and our popularity just skyrocketed. We got to film EXO Showtime, and on November 23, 2013 at 23:44 KST on a Friday we won Album of The Year.”

    “You actually memorized it,” Yixing replied, in awe at the other’s memory.

    “Of course I did, I’ll never forget that night,” Junmyeon said, looking at Yixing’s awestruck expression, “2013 was a great year, I’ve seen many fans call it our golden year.”

    “It was a great time, but it was followed by the worst of times,” Yixing whispered, his tone becoming melancholy, “When Yifan left, I- no, we didn’t know what would happen, our fans didn’t know what would happen. It felt like we would fall apart. But, we didn’t. You kept us together Myeon, you kept us going. You stood on that stage alone, you smiled on that stage despite wanting to cry. You kept us going, you comforted us and kept us together when Luhan-ge left. You kept us going when Tao left. You’ve kept us together, you’re the reason why we’ve made it so far and didn’t end up disbanding or breaking apart like everyone thought we would have back in 2014. You’re the reason, you’ve been a great leader and I know that me and everyone else wouldn’t want anyone else to be our leader.”

    “X-Xing,” Junmyeon tried to speak, but his voice was shaking too much as warm tears began to fall from his eyes.

    “I remember back in trainee days, you were our guide through those times. You took us under your wings, because you wanted to see us succeed, you didn’t want us to go through what you went through of spending nearly seven years wondering when, or even if, you’d debut. I remember our early days, when Yifan was still here and we were promoting as EXO and you felt like you weren’t fit to be our leader. But Junmyeon, you’ve proved yourself to be the best leader we could ever ask for. You’ve kept us together, you’ve kept us going when we’ve wanted to stop, you’ve picked us up when we’ve fallen, you make sure that we talk things out so we don’t keep things bottled up, you’ve been strong when we were at our weakest. You’ve been so dedicated and so hardworking that nobody else could’ve made a better leader than you. So, thank you Junmyeonnie, thank you for being our leader and for letting us get to our sixth anniversary instead of it ending at our second way back in 2014,” Yixing  quietly and softly said, looking at Junmyeon the whole time with eyes full of admiration and pure love.

    Pretty soon, Junmyeon was quietly sobbing, and Yixing hugged the shorter boy even closer and whispering words of comfort into the leader’s ears, “Shhh, it’s okay Junmyeon.”

    “Th-thank you Yixing,” Junmyeon finally managed to say after crying for a little longer, “Thank you for working so hard and never giving up on EXO, for helping the others when they’ve needed it and for not giving up on me. There are so many people in this world and yet you chose me, I don’t know what I did in a past life to be able to have you as my significant other, but not a day goes by without me thanking whoever is out there for letting me be the person you’ve chosen to be with.”

    “Of course I wouldn’t have left you Myeon,” Yixing replied, eyes softening even though they too had begun to fill with tears, “I gave you my heart, I need to keep it beating.”

    Yixing placed his hand on Junmyeon’s chest, right where the leader’s heart was, “Therefore, I need to always be by your side. Even if I’m gone because I need to be in China, I will always come back to you. You more radiant and beautiful than any star that shines in the sky, you’re my precious star whom I will always love and cherish.”

    A smile on his face, Junmyeon placed a kiss on Yixing’s forehead, “And you’re more precious than any jewel to ever exist, to me, you’re treasure Yixing. I will always love and cherish and care about you.”

    The two of them fell silent, gazing at each other for a little and both wiping each other’s tears. Eventually, Junmyeon yawned and Yixing laughed, pulling the other closer, “We should get some sleep Myeon, we can talk with the others and catch up more when we wake up.”

    “Alright,” Junmyeon agreed, cuddling up to Yixing and sighing, “I love you Yixing, my dearest treasure.”

    “I love you too Junmyeon, my shining star,” Yixing returned, kissing the crown of Junmyeon’s head before whispering, “Goodnight, happy six years.”

    “Goodnight, happy six years,” the other echoed back, letting his eyes fall shut, Yixing’s heartbeat lulling him to sleep.

    Their breaths deep and even and Junmyeon being wrapped in Yixing’s embrace, the two of them slept peacefully, happy to know that after six years, everyone’s bond were still as strong as ever and they would look happily towards the future.

~~🐺~~

It’s been a long six years filled with ups and downs, hasn’t it? There have been times where EXO and EXO-Ls were happy and times where everything felt like it would fall apart. But, they made it, we made it. EXO made it through the cursed fifth year. They made it through some of the nightmares that no group would ever wish to experience. They made it through tragedies and rough times.

    And now, because they haven’t given up, EXO was the group that was called the Nation’s Pick. They were the first Kpop group to have their song be played in the Dubai Fountain Show, they were the first Kpop group to perform on the world stage of the Olympics, they were the first group to get commemorative medals from the mint that made the Olympic medals, they were the group with over a hundred program awards, they were the group with twenty-five daesangs, they were the group that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for having won the most awards at MAMA. They were the group who managed to sell-out tickets in 0.2 seconds for their fourth tour, heck, the fact that they were only six years old and already had four tours was incredible. They performed at Tokyo Dome and were the first to perform at Gocheok Sky Dome.Their members were all successful and talented, being able to shine as actors. EXO had risen from being labelled as “SM’s First Mistake” into the “Nation’s Pick” and a Number 1 Worldwide Artist who could stare at a sea of silver made from their fans who would always love and support them.

    EXO have come far over the years, achieving so much for such a young group. But in the end, they’re still the same dorky and humble and kind and dedicated and hardworking boys we’ve all fallen in love with. Happy 6 Year Anniversary EXO and EXO-Ls, let’s walk towards the future together! We Are One! EXO 사랑하자!

Thank you for reading this long oneshot and for everything EXO and EXO-Ls, I hope we can all keep going forward together! Love you all so much, take care!!! (^ㅅ^)V