A/N: Sorry for the delay. Here's the next part. I need to get to the feels already. It's overflowing into my RL.

“SeHun.”

“Yeah, hyung?”

“…”

SeHun looked over at Kai who had fallen behind him, absent mindedly staring in some undefined direction. At first, SeHun followed his gaze in hopes of seeing what Kai was looking at, but after he realized there was nothing but streets and the city, he turned his attention back to Kai.

“Hyung,” SeHun called out, slightly raising his voice. “Yah! Hyung!”

“…uh?” Kai snapped out of his reverie and stared at SeHun. “What?”

“What were you calling me for? Or were you talking to yourself or something?”

“Oh… I forgot.”

“YAH!”

“I was just kidding. There was a cat over there, and I got distracted because it… Er, anyway… I was gonna ask you… What happened before I disappeared?”

“Eh?”

The youngest two were aimlessly strolling around while waiting for the other members’ free moments in their schedules. Kai was halfway through his house arrest, and the cabin fever was seriously starting to destroy his mind, especially after the last encounter with the “ghost.” After seeing his face, Kai’s memory was slowly piecing back together, but the biggest chunks that were missing were what bothered him the most. Obviously.

“You mean… you don’t remember?” SeHun asked almost reluctantly.

“What? Remember what? What happened?” Kai pressed.

The youngest scratched his head nervously. “That… Well… Yah, I dunno. We figured you were better now, but if that’s just because you don’t remember…”

“SeHun-ah! Tell me!”

“No! I don’t want to!”

Kai grabbed on to the collar of SeHun’s jacket. “Oh SeHun, if you don’t tell me in the next five seconds, I swear, I’m gonna – ”

An obnoxious ringtone cut him off, and SeHun gratefully yanked his phone out of his pocket. “Ah! ChanYeol! What’s up?”

Kai cursed under his breath, dropping the magnae’s jacket collar, and impatiently kicked at the sidewalk.

“Yeah,” SeHun continued. “Mm. Okay. We’ll be there in a bit.” He ended the call and warily gazed at Kai. “Well… We’re gonna meet up with ChanYeol and BaekHyun in a bit. He said SuHo’s gonna go out with SuJu-hyungdeul. KyungSoo… is probably lost. I dunno.”

“Uh-huh.” Kai glared at SeHun.

“…”

“…”

“Aish!!!” SeHun threw up his arms. “Fine! But you can’t… disappear on us again, okay?”

“Well…” KyungSoo finally started, breaking the tense silence. “I mean, how much do you actually remember, anyway?”

Kai pondered for a bit. “Nothing special, really… I guess it was just us doing our normal promotions and stuff, right?

“Well, there’s that, obviously. But I’m talking outside of EXO. Like our off time.”

“Oh…” Kai went silent to consider even more. “…um…”

“I’ll make it easier for you. Do you remember hanging out with SHINee-hyungdeul?”

SHINee? Kai obviously remembered them, what with SHINee being their super-popular seniors. What was so special about them? As Kai thought harder, he realized there was something empty, suppressed, about his memory of the elder group.

“What…?” He started to speak, but for some reason, his breath caught in his throat.

The other four’s wary expressions became much more pronounced. KyungSoo scooted closer to Kai, watching his reaction.

“We used to hang out with SHINee quite a bit,” he continued, “since they’re pretty close in age to us.”

Kai found his voice again, realizing that he had nothing to dredge up from his memories. “And what? What happened with them?”

“You remember hanging out with TaeMin-hyung?”

TaeMin.

They waited to see a reaction, but there was none.

“You and TaeMin-hyung were best friends. You two were always hanging out.”

“Okay…?”

“Well, you guys started dating. I – ”

That got Kai’s attention. “Wait, what?”

ChanYeol nodded enthusiastically. “It was great! You two really liked each other! Ow!”

His eyes suddenly turned down, and he looked over morosely at BaekHyun who had just his elbow into the large boy’s side. BaekHyun gave him a swift, scolding glare before returning his attention back to Kai whose face was still scrunched up in confusion, trying to remember what his friends were telling him.

Kai shook his head. Still nothing. “Okay, so… We were going out. Then what?”

Once again, there was the reluctant pause that came from the group as they traded glances amongst each other. Even ChanYeol didn’t look like he wanted to pitch in for the next part.

“Then…” SeHun started. “To be honest, we’re not too sure. Something happened, and neither of you two really told us what it was. Even SHINee-hyungdeul never said anything. But we pretty much got the gist that you two broke up.”

Kai waited. The other four waited. And Kai looked at them expectantly.

“…and that’s it? We broke up for some reason?” Kai almost let out a scoff. “Honestly, I was expecting more than that.”

KyungSoo pursed his lips. “Yeah, but Kai, this was something that seriously wrecked you. You wouldn’t come to practice, you wouldn’t answer our calls, you wouldn’t eat – ”

“And you disappeared for a month,” BaekHyun added.

Kai sighed and shook his head slowly. “Yeah, but… Even with you guys telling me this, I just don’t feel anything right now. I feel… nothing.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, I guess,” KyungSoo said with finality. “That just means you’re probably over it, so we won’t have to worry about it anymore. Now let’s eat.”

SeHun gratefully dug in voraciously, and the others quickly followed suit. Kai almost felt a sense of relief finally settle in, but in the back of his mind, the hole was still there.

“Kim JongIn.”

“Kim JongIn? Okay. Are you a trainee?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Oh, okay. Work hard. You’re looking good.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks. Err…”

The elder-by-one-year chuckled a bit before trotting off to catch up with his teammates. The trainee, still winded and catching his breath, stayed where he was, splayed on the hardwood floor after practicing for hours straight. He watched as the bowl haircut disappeared behind the doorframe.

. . .

< KkamJong! Wat u doin?! >

< Chilling…? Y? >

< Let’s go play! >

< No thx. Tired. >

< WOT :( but jinki hyung invited us… >

< Really? >

< Ye. Him and shinee hyungs gonna hang out. I already called kyungie 2 >

< The hell? Kyung didn’t tell me. >

< kkk you gonna go? hurry up >

< K. Gotta pants. >

< aioo kai >

< shuddup >

. . .

“Aha! It fell off! Hang on.”

“Eh?”

As TaeMin pinched the back of Kai’s jacket together in order to refasten the bulldog clip, Kai tried to breathe normally, disregarding the fact that TaeMin was so close. Disregarding the fact that TaeMin was touching him.

“There you go.”

“Ah, thanks, hyung.”

“Alright!” the photographer’s voice rang out. “Let’s resume!”

Kai continued to give the camera smoldering looks, but he couldn’t ignore TaeMin’s beaming face staring him down. In the corner of his eye was a soft smile. In the corner of his eye was a goofy face trying to get him to break concentration and laugh.

In the corner of his eye was TaeMin and no one else.

. . .

“Hyung!”

TaeMin turned and grinned widely at the owner of the voice who called. The energy backstage was still high. They could still hear the fans bustling about in the auditorium but not over the frenzied bustle of the stage crew. And still TaeMin was able to pick out Kai’s voice from the mess.

“Oh, JongIn!”

Kai playfully punched TaeMin. “Congratulations again, hyung.”

“Thanks. Next time you’ll beat us, right?”

“Ah, no.” Kai looked down sheepishly. “That’s impossible.”

When he heard no answer, Kai looked up again, thinking TaeMin had departed with his bandmates. But he was still there, softly beaming at the awkward kid before him. TaeMin reached up towards Kai’s face, and for a second Kai’s mind crashed.

But TaeMin’s hand reached up to pull some confetti that had become entangled in Kai’s frizzy hair. Speechless, Kai could only stare into TaeMin’s eyes. TaeMin laughed and flicked the confetti in Kai’s face.

“Next time,” he repeated. “Now let’s go eat.”

. . .

Kai awoke with a start. His apartment was completely dark, and the harsh glow from the digital clock on his nightstand read 4:13 A.M.

He shuddered and clutched at his chest as his heart began to collapse.