It’s been weeks since the leader and the two Korean members had their short meeting in the park and the atmosphere around them is still incredibly awkward. They only talk to each other when it’s necessary. The only time they even get within ten feet of each other is for meals and interviews. Even torturing Lu Han has become more like a chore than an actual form of enjoyment. Kris and Tao, after the older was forgiven for giving the younger alcohol, grew closer each day. Xiu Min and Chen, both wanting to fix the issues that the other had to deal with, took to locking themselves in their room whenever they were home. Lu Han, finally having a phone again, spent most of his time talking to Se Hun while staring at his Donald Duck picture on the wall. Lay, pretty much left alone on a daily basis while the other couples lock themselves away all day, busies himself by watching TV when they’re home. He’d call Suho if he could, but the Korean half of Exo is too busy with promotions. It might not bother Lu Han to call Se Hun when they’re busy, but Lay can’t bring himself to do that to Suho.

Some days aren’t that bad. There are some days where they’re all together and it almost feels like everything is back to how it’s supposed to be. Then someone realizes that they’re having fun together and it’s over instantly. It’s usually Chen. Though every single member feels sorry for him, none of them can bring themselves to say anything. It’s painful to watch the emotions in his eyes when he finds that, while they’ve all been having fun, he’s somehow managed to find himself closer to Kris than to Xiu Min. It’s painful to watch the way he fumbles over his words when he finds himself having to talk to Kris while looking directly into his eyes. It’s painful to watch him sulk off to his room when he’s silently decided to himself that he simply can’t be there anymore.

It’s just as painful to watch Kris react whenever it happens. Whenever Chen scoots away when he’s gotten too close, you can see how Kris wants to reach over and pull him back and let him know that it’s okay. Whenever Chen starts stuttering because of him, you can see how the leader actually forces himself to break eye contact so that the younger can speak. Whenever Chen heads to his room, looking down at the floor as if he isn’t good enough to hold his head up, you can just tell that Kris wants to run over and hug him, telling him that everything is fine. He actually did that once. It was a week or so after the talk in the park. Chen had just finally come out of his and Xiu Min’s room and went to make something to eat. When he was almost done making his sandwich, Kris walked in, looking towards the floor so he couldn’t see anybody was in there. When he looked up and locked eyes with Chen, the younger stopped what he was doing and rushed to get out of the kitchen, no longer hungry. Before he managed to make his way out of the kitchen, Kris pulled him into a hug, repeating over and over in a quiet whisper that everything would work out.  Kris finally let go of him when he felt Chen turn into a statue, unmoving and not talking, not even breathing.

He almost did the exact same thing a week later. The only thing that stopped him was that he had Tao on his lap at the time and couldn’t get up. “Do you think I’m a bad leader, Zi Tao?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around Tao’s waist.

Turning the TV on mute, Tao turned around on Kris’s lap to face him. “No.” Kris wrapped his arms a little tighter around Tao’s waist, the latter putting his index finger on the leader’s lips before he could say anything. “No, I am not just saying that because I love you. I’m saying it because it’s true. You watch over five other people, two of them older than you, on a daily basis. There will be times that something goes wrong. Life wouldn’t be life without problems and mistakes, gege. It’s how you deal with them that matters,” he answered, a small smile on his face as he leaned in to quickly peck Kris on the lips. “The way to deal with this one is to just let him work it out with himself. The only other person who could possibly help him through this is Min Seok.” Before continuing, he held his right hand up between them, pinky extended while looking at Kris. “Promise me that you won’t try to help him unless he personally comes to you and asks for it.” Nodding, Kris took his right arm from around Tao’s waist and hooked his pinky around the younger’s. “Good,” he said as he took his hand away, turning back around on Kris’s lap. “Now back to my show. He was just about to frost the cake.”

------------

“Do you think it would help or harm the situation if I tried to get all twelve of us together?” Kris asks Xiu Min before picking up a piece of sushi.

“You know,” Xiu Min starts, stopping to swallow his food before continuing, “you’re not a very good listener. Zi Tao said you should just let Jong Dae work through this on his own. I know that he’d love to see the other members. I also know he’d spend the whole time putting on a show. The others know that you guys are two of the closest members in the group. They’d be confused if he just ignored you the whole time we were together, so he’d force himself to be attached to your side the whole time.”

“Maybe that’s what we need though,” Kris suggests before pushing another piece of sushi into his mouth, Xiu Min taking the opportunity to do the same.

“Wrong,” the oldest says between chews. “That would just put him back to where he started. I’ve spent the last five or six weeks almost always at his side. We talk. If he had to go around for however long while pretending like you two were the best of friends, his mind would start telling him that you two are together because you’d always be… well... together.”

Kris nods, understanding. “I guess so. Joon Myun still has some hate for me because of the situation between Panda, Jong Dae, and me anyway. If he saw me doing basically the exact same thing again, he’d probably destroy me, bring me back to life, and then destroy me again.” Mouth dry, he steals a few sips from Xiu Min’s cup of water when he sees that his own glass is already empty. “I feel bad for him though, you know? I mean… I love Jong Dae. Not like that, obviously, but you know… like a best friend loves a best friend. I feel like me just sitting here doing nothing while he suffers isn’t right.”

“Trust me; he’s much happier suffering all by his lonesome than he would be suffering with you there.”

Kris sighs, knowing that Xiu Min is right. “We should hurry and finish up here. Even if I can’t help him out, I’d feel better if we were at least in the same place together just in case he changes his mind.” Splitting up the remaining pieces of sushi between them, Kris shoves every piece of his into his mouth at once, getting up and leaving the restaurant before he’s even finished chewing, yelling over his shoulder at Xiu Min, and telling him to pay.

------------

“Gege,” Tao says when Kris walks through the door.

“Hey, sweetie,” the older replies, chuckling when he sees Tao’s cheeks start to redden.

“I missed you,” the younger says, wrapping his arms around Kris’s waist.

“Then why didn’t you come with us, you silly Panda Bear?”

Giggling, Tao runs off to their bedroom, coming back with a plastic bag. “Because I didn’t want to spoil my appetite for when you make this!” He pulls a single box of cake mix from the bag, pearly whites showing as he grins.

“And just where did our young cutie get the money for this?” Kris asks as he takes the box from Tao, shaking it in front of his eyes. He gets his answer when he feels Tao’s hand reaching into the back pocket of his jeans to give him his change. “Panda Bear, you took money from my wallet?” The younger nods, still smiling. “You know all you had to do was ask, right?”

“I know,” Tao answers, nodding. “It’s more fun if I do it this way though.”

“Why are you so cute?” Kris muses out loud, reaching up to ruffle Tao’s hair.

“Because I know you can’t refuse me when I am,” Tao says as he grabs Kris’s free hand and starts to pull him towards the kitchen. “Duizhang, my cake isn’t going to bake itself.”

“If you’re gonna force me to make you a cake, the least you could do is get the kitchen ready for me,” Kris complains before they get that far, laughing inwardly when he sees that the counter is already prepared for him. “Never mind,” he says, cheeks tinted pink as Tao giggles at him. Putting the box on the counter, Kris pulls Tao into his arms and rests his chin on the latter’s shoulder. “What did I do to deserve such a gem like you?”

“You were given fantastic baking skills and a gorgeous smile,” Tao answers as he pulls away and kisses Kris on the cheek. “Now get to it,” he says, patting the taller man’s shoulders.

Rolling his eyes, Kris obeys. Tearing open the box and letting the packets inside pour out onto the counter, he tosses the box across the room. He’s baked this same cake for Tao so many times that he doesn’t even need to read the instructions on the back. He can’t help but smile when Tao quietly claps behind him, praising him.

As he’s putting the cake in the oven a little while later, he can hear the front door slam, followed right away by Xiu Min yelling his name. “Wu Yi Fan!” he shouts as he storms into the kitchen. “Next time we go out to eat, don’t you dare just run off like that and tell me to pay.”

“I said I’d pay you back when you got home,” Kris replies as he starts putting the recently used dishes in the sink.

“No, you didn’t,” Xiu Min says.

“I did.” Kris nods as he says it. “It’s just that I was already outside and you couldn’t hear me.”

Xiu Min holds his hands up in front of him and squints, imagining the empty space between his flexing hands is actually Kris’s neck. He grunts when he puts his hands back down by his sides. “I didn’t have enough to pay for all of that, so do you know what I had to do? Do you?” Kris shakes his head. “I didn’t think so. Let me tell you what I had to do,” Xiu Min says as he sits down at the table. “After suffering from extreme embarrassment, I had to deal with even more embarrassment when a couple of fans behind me heard my dilemma. What’s that you ask? Why would that embarrass me? The answer to that question would be because when they heard that, they decided to pay for the whole check themselves. The whole check, Yi Fan.”

“I fail to see the problem there,” Kris says as he sits down at the table as well, directly across from Xiu Min. “A free meal is always good in my opinion.”

“It is absolutely impossible to explain how horrible it is to have your fans pay for your meal when you should be able to do so yourself,” Xiu Min replies, finally calming down. “Completely indescribable.”

“Claims that it’s indescribable, but repeatedly described it as totally embarrassing,” Tao thinks to himself. “Sounds legit to me.”

“Excuse me?” Xiu Min asks, causing Tao to jump a little in surprise.

“Oh,” the younger says. “Oh crap. Did I say that out loud?” Kris nods. “Double crap. I was just supposed to be thinking that,” he says as he rushes out of the kitchen, his cheeks going red for the second time today.

------------

Jong Dae,

Um… hello. It feels kind of awkward to write you a letter when we are, quite literally, always within 30 feet of each other. But since we don’t exactly talk anymore, this is the only thing I could think of. Well… no; this was actually Lu Han’s idea; not mine. Crazy, right? He’s actually quite useful when he isn’t busy fawning over Se Hun like a lovesick idiot.
  Anyway, I’m already getting off track and I’ve only written a couple of sentences. I just wanted to let you know that I hope you’re okay. Since I never really see you much, and we don’t talk to each other, I don’t really know. I could ask the others, I guess, but they’d probably just tell me what I want to hear just to shut me up.
  I just wanted to remind you that I’m always right here if you need to talk about something. I’m really good at listening. Even if you just need me to sit here while you yell at me for being the world’s biggest idiot, I can do that. Or maybe if you get angry at someone else and need to vent, you can pretend I’m them and yell at me. I can do that too. Or um… if you need me to beat somebody up, I can do that too! Not Min Seok though. You have to beat him up yourself. He’d hurt me if I tried. Okay, maybe I can’t beat somebody up for you. I have an image to protect and whatnot; I can beat them up in my head for you though! That counts, right?
  The members in Korea are well. I don’t know if you knew. So… I’m telling you just in case you didn’t.
  Hm… what else? Yi Xing spends most of his time playing video games with Panda Bear. Lu Han is always in his room talking to Se Hun. You probably know that though since his room is right next to yours. Just ignore this part then. I don’t have to tell you about Min Seok because he probably tells you all about his day anyway.
  Um… I guess that’s all I have to say. All I really wanted to say in the first place was hi. And that I hope you’re okay. And that I miss having you around. And that I want to be the first person to know when you’re feeling better. Promise, okay? Okay. I’m pinky promising myself but pretending one of the pinkies is yours, so you have to tell me first or I’ll be sad.

~ Yi Fan

P.S. – When Zi Tao wasn’t looking, I cut this piece of cake and hid it from him. I hope you like it. Hopefully you get to it before he sees it sitting in front of the door.

P.P.S. – Did Min Seok tell you that fans paid our check at the sushi restaurant? Hehehe.

P.P.P.S – I just realized I wrote all of this in English. I hope you can actually read this. You can read it, right? Hope so.

--

Folding the paper into the shape of an envelope, Kris goes to the kitchen to get the piece of cake he just mentioned at the end of the letter, making sure it’s covered before going and putting it on the floor in front of Chen’s room, sliding the letter under the bedroom door with a smile on his face.

_____________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Hello~. This got a late update. I had most of it done yesterday, but then I watched CN Blue & TVXQ perform on Music Bank in Hong Kong and I literally had no emotions left afterwards. Lol.

It's my longest chapter yet though! So, yay for that! ^_^
Hello~ to you new subscribers. Finally passed 200, so let the happy dancing commence!

@ChoKyute - Indeed, it was.
@fluffcloud - Haha. Glad you enjoyed it.
@VitaminBuns - I swear I'm trying to update like I used to! Lol. Even though I don't do much during the day, it feels like I never have time to write. xD  You must continue watching! I got all caught up all in a day. *_*  Song Seung Hun is just... that man is too gorgeous. And Jaejoong, that man will be the death of me. And Lee Bum Soo! That is one insanely attractive 42-year-old man.
@wowphantasticbaby - Boy, what a reaction! Lol. Glad you enjoyed!
@starkey - Ahh~, thank you~. Excuse me while I love on noona. <3
@krismaticlove - That man makes anything look good though.
@seonri9095 - Yay for Dr. Jin!  -High five-  New episode tonight~!
@legna_angel - It really is easier to just ship everybody in Exo with everybody. Haha. They're all so damn compatible that it's insane.
@aznmusiklife - Glad you liked it.
@Shilohin - Hehe.
@animeotakupooh - Pulled that speech from my actual life, so I'm happy that other people seem to connect well to it. And you better believe I've seen that gif. Lol. Multiple times. -Cuddles with Tumblr-

Hope you enjoyed this update!
I'll be working on the next chapter to my other story before I start on the next one to this.
Just letting you all know in advance that it'll be another few days for this one. ^_^