Days passed. Exo-M had packed up for their trip back to Seoul to record their new album. Yang hadn’t come to visit since that one night Lu Han had mistaken her brother for her. Kris was still smiling as always so anyone could tell that they had still been talking, or at least texting.

              “Hey, Xing Xing,” Chen whispers, tugging on the older boy’s sweatshirt sleeve. The six of them had gotten into their van and were on their way to the airport. Tao was enthusiastically playing rock-paper-scissors with Lu Han and Xiu Min; Lay had been dozing off every now and then while Kris was smiling at his phone; he was probably reading a text from Yang.

              “Something wrong, Chen Chen?” he asked drowsily, still somewhat asleep with his eyes shut.

              “Did something happen that one night?” he whispered quietly. “You know, that one night? The night before Yang stopped coming?” Chen continued. “Where has she been anyway?”

              “Home.” Yi Xing replied coldly, he was now wide-awake and he suddenly seemed so angry. His eyes were now opened and glaring at the van floors.

              “Xing Xing...” Chen speaks cautiously now, but receives no reply for the rest of the trip to the airport.

              Ever since the night Yang found Lu Han uttering words she couldn’t understand the meaning behind, Yi Xing had sternly told her n0t to come over for a while. But just because she didn’t come over anymore didn’t exactly mean that she and Kris weren’t the same lovely couple. It didn’t change Lu Han’s situation for the better in any way...

              When the group finally arrived at the airport, everyone stepped out wearing their backpacks and glasses, pulling along their suitcases. The crowd of squealing fans were standing there with their gifts in hand, holding up signs that read “good luck!”, “Record well!”, “I love you”, and other things of the sort.

              Kris was the first to step out, he cooly unfolded his sunglasses and slipped them on as he stepped out of the van, causing a few girls to faint. Next was Lay and Chen, the two of them wore black, thick-rimmed glasses as they stepped out, engaging in some small talk while fixing the straps of their backpacks and grabbing their suitcases. Tao jumped out of the car with a celebratory  yell, causing the fangirls to coo at his cuteness. He was followed by Xiu Min who walked out calmly before Lu Han.

              “Did you study the new music?” Chen asked, trying to strike up some sort of conversation with Lu Han as they stood in line at the airport security check. And to his surprise, the conversation continued quite well.

              “Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask you, did you get the chorus of the main song? I can’t seem to get the notes to sound right,” Lu Han replied in Korean, shocking Chen quite a bit, but the younger boy began to relax a little more when Lu Han continued talking. The younger boy soon got over his shock and smiled back. He became rather more comfortable than before when he was always worried and nervous about how Lu Han was feeling.

              “Yeah, this one?” he asked, before singing an a cappella of the chorus. Lu Han joined in, slipping his backpack off his shoulders and placing the bag on the conveyer belt of the scanner. Somewhere behind the clear glass wall that separated the security check from the outside, an EXOtic squealed and a few cameras flashed as the two sang together.

              The other members stared at the duo as they sang and a few seconds later, Yi Xing joined in with a carefree smile, followed by Min Seok. It was nice to be able to let go and let things be the way they used to be, even if it was only for a little bit. As the six walked to their departure gate, Lu Han pulled Lay to the side with him.

              “Hey, where are we going?” Yi Xing asked after Lu Han had pulled him along for a little bit.

              “I’m buying ice cream,” Lu Han rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Yi Xing quickened his steps a bit to match Lu Han’s before slowing down to the older boy’s pace.

              “Huh?”

              “I lost Rock-Paper-Scissors,” he explained as they got in line for the ice cream. When he saw the look of confusion on the younger boy’s face, Lu Han laughed. A true, happy laugh. “I’m buying ice cream for Zi Tao and Min Seok.”

              “Oh?” Yi Xing raised an eyebrow. “And I’m here because...”

              “I kidnapped you,” Lu Han said, sarcasm dripping from his words. “No, I wanted to treat you to some ice cream, too,” he grinned.

There has got to be some kind of catch...

              The guitarist watched Lu Han carefully, but to no avail, the ice cream was just out of Lu Han good, old generosity. He was being the Lu Han that Yi Xing had always known before.

              “Can I get a cup of strawberry ice cream? Uhm... one vanilla and one coffee-flavored, please?” Lu Han smiled at the cashier, but the man just punched in his order in a bored manner. 

              “Anything else?” he asked in a monotone voice. The 22-year-old looked back at Yi Xing.

              “So...? What kind do you want?” he asked, expectantly.

              “Uhm...uh...I’ll get a..uh...coffee, too,” Yi Xing quickly told the man, his eyes didn’t leave Lu Han’s figure though. But the boy showed no signs of sadness or of any negative emotions from times before. He was just that happy cheerful boy that Yi Xing had always known.

              “So one strawberry, one vanilla and two coffee-flavored?” 

              “Yes sir,” the cashier gave Lu Han his total and Lu Han handed him the cash. “Thank you. You can keep the change.”

              The two boys stepped to the side as they waited for the ice creams. The two friends conversed, smiles overtaking their truly happy faces. Yi Xing had forgotten about his headache and Lu Han’s problems and Kris was definitely the last thought that would come to his mind at this moment.

              They walked to their gate after getting the ice cream cups: Lay was holding his and Xiu Min’s ice cream while Lu Han held Tao’s and his own. The two walked along at a reasonably comfortable pace, in no rush at all. The two untouched ice cream cups were starting to melt but the two could care less.

              Out of nowhere, the two boys were tackled with a hug from behind. An arm around both their shoulders. In between the two boys was...Yang.

              “Hey guys, what’s up?” she grinned at the two. “Sorry I’m late!”

              Lu Han couldn’t get over the sudden shock that Yang was there right now, in such close proximity to him. He was so shocked that she was right there beside him right now after such a long month...at the airport?!?!

              “What are you doing here?” Lu Han asked in confusion. Yang made a face, knocking his head lightly with her fist before dropping down from the two taller boy’s shoulders. Her feet were off the ground as they walked so she jumped down, feeling slightly more comfortable with her feet on solid ground.

              “Is that something you say to your best friend after a whole week and a half of not seeing her?” Yang teased.

It’s been a week and a half? How come it seemed like months?

              “Anyway, I’m going with you guys to Korea. I kinda miss seeing those two rascals,” Yang gave her a smile that made Lu Han’s heart race. “Didn’t Yi Xing tell you?”

              “Oh yeah...I forgot to tell them,” he lied. The only person Yi Xing hadn’t told about Xiao Yang coming was Lu Han. Everyone else knew, but that was just because Yi Xing didn’t want to ruin Lu Han’s heart even more by having him worry about her coming along. But looking at it now...maybe he should’ve told Lu Han...

              Yang shook her head and wrapped both arms around her brother’s waist, “how can you forget about your own sister?”

               Lay laughed nervously, shooting Lu Han a glance every now and then. Yang caught him shooting cautious glances at the now quiet boy. She wondered if he always did that before. It was strange to her. 

Why is he doing that? It’s as if something wrong really did happen...

              When the three of them arrived at the gate, their awkward atmosphere was expanded into everyone else when Yang ran over to her boyfriend and dropped down into the seat next to him. She gave him a big wet kiss on his cheek and giggled after pulling away. 

               “Here’s your ice cream,” Lu Han said emotionlessly, handing Tao his strawberry ice cream, half-melted. Xiu Min got his from Lay, who tried to make a joke as he sat on top of Chen, but no one laughed and Chen didn’t push him off either. 

               Lu Han scooped up a large bite of his coffee ice cream, placing it in his mouth. Lay did the exact same with his own. Tao slowly took a small nibble of his while Xiu Min just began to gobble it down as if it were the best ice cream ever.

Suddenly this ice cream doesn’t taste so good...

              Yi Xing, Lu Han and Tao just stared at their cups of ice cream as Min Seok gulped his down like water. The atmosphere had really caused their taste of the usually delicious ice cream to drop horribly. 

              “We are now boarding passengers from Gate A99,” the voice called over the speakers. The group stood up, following Hyun Kyun to the ticket counter. 

              The trip on the airplane wasn’t any better than the awkward atmosphere from before. Kris sat with Yang of course and the two fell asleep on each other. Lu Han sat two seats behind them in the other row. He sat at the window, watching the gray clouds pass by. Those white, fluffy clouds were gone, just like his happy mood. Yi Xing tried to cheer him up at least a little bit, but nothing helped. After 15 minutes of failure, Yi Xing turned to Chen sitting on the other side of the aisle, trying to make small talk with his best friend. 

               Min Seok was now sleeping, his head hanging low on his neck. Chen fixed his chair, so that he was leaning back instead of upright, so the older Korean wouldn’t have a sore neck later. He continued to talk to Yi Xing softly as he did so. Tao sat with Hyun Kyun in front of Lu Han and Yi Xing. Exo-M’s manager had fallen asleep while Tao was playing games on his phone and listening to music.

               The plane ride was actually more peaceful than Yi Xing could have hoped for and soon he turned back to see Lu Han’s eyes closed and thinking he was asleep, he turned back to Chen. Little did he know that Lu Han was nowhere close to sleep. A small tear rolled down Lu Han’s cheek as he thought of his and Yang’s past memories.