He stood under the hot, pouring water for god knows how long, feeling it pummel his skin like rain. His mind emptied of everything except thoughts of Sumin.  Visions of her when they were together, happy and so in love kept filtering. God, they were so in love. They never needed anyone else, because they were contented with each other.

He remembered her bashful smiles with her cheeks dusted with rose tinge, or when she grew truly embarrassed and her face and ears turned red. Her giggles that easily turned to laughter, always sounded musical to him. Her eyes, that spoke all languages of understanding, kindness,  happiness, comfort, sorrow. She only needed to turn her doe eyes on him, giving him her loving look to make all the unfairness in the world disappear, relieved him of any stress and healed any pain.  She doesn’t speak much: she has always been more of a listener, taking delight in his happiness, sharing his frustration or absorbing his rants. She's always there for him.

But now, she’s gone. He squeezed his eyes shut. For almost three years.. yet.. today.. truly today he felt defeated. He finally lost all hope of ever having her back. 

He didn’t know how he did it, but earlier, he went through the concert as usual, singing and interacting happily with his fans. It was as if there was his clone, who was not dying inside. Or it could be that he soaked into the atmosphere to hide from his devastated heart.

Sehun heard Chanyeol’s voice first before he and Baekhyun walked into his shower. Sehun glanced and noticed they were both dressed. He remembered that they have an after party to attend, that’s why they are at the shower of the venue and not the hotel. 

“Sorry, I get out of the shower now,” he apologised weakly as he turned off the tap. His skin has turned red from all the hot water. He turned to grab his towel.

“Sehun-ah,” Baekhyun spoke gently. “Get ready quickly. We bring you to Sumin.”

His movement paused before he continued wrapping the towel around his waist. “She wouldn’t want to talk to me. Not after what I said to her,” he whispered heartbreakingly.

“At least go and apologise. And if she doesn’t rebuffed you, tell her what’s in your heart. If she still want to leave, you know you had sought her forgiveness. You’ll regret it otherwise,” Chanyeol advised. 

Sehun turned to his hyung, his eyes seeking their assurance. He is grasping for any chance to make amends.

“Quick, we know where she is now. And she is alone,” Baekhyun urged, giving Sehun a reassuring smile.

Sumin was packing away the stuff in the room. It’s the final room to clear. She had been quietly doing the clean up alone in the rooms behind the stage. She could hear muffled sounds of the concert and it seems a success. She was glad.

He looked so handsome, she sighed as she remembered landing her eyes on him earlier. Her heart had beaten so hard that she feared it would burst out of her chest. She loved that he was back to his black hair, her favourite since the dark hair set off his milky skin off, making the contrast striking especially with the chiselled face. He looked like an Adonis carved on a piece of marble.  Maybe even better, she giggled. She paused and stared at her hand that was enclosed in his earlier. His hand was as warm and as comforting as she had remembered it. A tiny smile broke on her face as she remembered how she could not take her eyes off his hand holding hers, as if willing for her dream not to end. She closed her eyes and her fingers grazed her lips as she played the kiss in her mind. His kiss had evoked sensations that she thought never to feel again. She her lips, as she revelled in the feel of his lips that remained on hers. She had truly enjoyed his kiss.

Sumin was not upset at Sehun anymore. He was angry because he thought she had moved on and now in a relationship. She had chosen to let him continue in that belief, and ended up hurting him even more. The words said were in retaliation to the pain he must have felt. Admittedly, it still shocked her to hear it and it did hurt her feelings. But even when her vision was clouded with tears, she saw the remorse and the pain he felt for hurting her. Through their short interaction, she could still feel his love for her, and that thought would be the warmth she could bask in for months or years to come. 

She hummed to one of EXO’s song as she continued folding the messy stack of  banners.

Standing outside the door and peeking through the small glass window, Sehun saw Sumin picking one banner from a pile and quickly folding it neatly before picking another. He turned towards Chanyeol and Baekhyun who had earlier assured him that they would stood guard and prevent anyone from entering the room. They would wait for him before going to the after party together. In the meantime, the rest of the members would hold the fort first. At their silent urging, he entered the room quietly. 

Sumin was lost in her happy thoughts when she felt the familiar warmness behind her. There was no physical contact but he must