This is one of the things that Kris likes the most. This moment, this emotion that fills him with joy and excitement every time. Reuniting with Exo-K, seeing their happy faces, hugging, joking and much teasing, it makes Kris feel very content, almost complete. He misses them a lot, more than they will ever know. But Kris just smiles a little, hug a little, joke a little. This is Kris' way. This is how a leader should behave. This Kris firmly believes. 

They practiced hard that day and when it ended, everyone was flat-out exhausted. As they changed to clean clothes and were freshening themselves up, Joonmyeon shouted, "Manager said we are going out to dinner, so in 5 minutes everyone be ready outside." The boys roared with wohoos, yeaahs and alrights. Less than 5 minutes later, all 12 of them were hanging outside the building waiting. Their managers came out shortly and after a brief discussion between the 2, the boys were instructed to get into 2 cars. The 12 boys scuffled around and randomly got into the cars so quickly that a minute later, they all headed out, leaving their work place for their most anticipated dinner.

Kris, who was sitting in the passenger's seat next to their manager, turned to look at the commotion behind him. There, at the back, was the noisy pair Chanyeol and Baekhyun talking at the same time. Next to them was another equally noisy person, Chen, alternating between laughing and talking just as loud, which makes them the noisy triplet. In front of them was Xiumin, who was laughing hard, his pink gums showing cutely and next to him, Joonmyeon laughing less hard but his eyes were slowly disappearing. Kris smiled as he looked at how ridiculously happy everyone looked.

"Joonmyeon hyung... Tell them we want to have fried chicken, ok! It's a special day so we MUST eat special food!" Chanyeol said too loudly in the confined space.

"What is sooooo special about today…?" Joonmyeon asked, making his eyes as huge as they can possible go. 

"We are here!" Chen shouted also too loudly. 

"Yeah and tell the managers we practiced really hard today too." Xiumin joined in. 

"That's right! So now we need fried chicken to recharge our energy… fried chicken… fried chicken…" Baekhyun started to chant. 

"Hyung just tell them, ok?… hyuuung…" Chen begged in his failed aegyo voice.

Joonmyeon just smiled and playfully shrugged his shoulders continuously which annoyed the boys that they all started to hit and push him around in his seat.

Ohh Joonmyeon, Joonmyeon… Stop being like this with the boys, Kris sighed silently as he turned back around. He decided then that he would speak his mind a little to Joonmyeon sometime soon.

Dinner was fried chicken to everyone's delight. The mood was simply the best but it had to end. After all, the food was all gone.

"Let's do something fun tomorrow!" Sehun suggested excitedly as they were leaving the restaurant. Everyone turned to him in shock. 

"I know, I know hyungs are all tired. So let's have fun INDOORS." They all remained still, letting the maknae finish.

"Let's have a movie marathon at our dorm tomorrow!" Sehun exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Everyone turned back around and resumed walking towards their cars. 

"Wait, wait... Luhan hyung, come over tomorrow ok?" Sehun stood in front of Luhan, pulling at his hand. "We have 2 days off, so you must come over tomorrow with everyone ok? There is the day after to rest. Come over ok hyung?"

Luhan gave Sehun a warm smile and pulled him in for a hug. "Ok, I'll try to persuade them. Good night Sehun-ah.". 

"Good night hyung." Sehun responded trusting his beloved hyung. Everyone was saying their good nights, hugging and waving at each other at the parking lot as the 2 cars pulled out and drove away.

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"They are coming over! Luhan hyung just called to say they are coming over soon." Sehun shouted to no one in particular.

It was around midday and everyone was all over the house doing their bit of housework. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were mopping the floor, Jongin was picking clothes from the rooms to be laundered, Joonmyeon was starting the laundry and Kyungsoo was at the kitchen table preparing ingredients for lunch. This was a common sight on their rest day. 

Sehun walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Kyungsoo. He leaned in and asked sweetly. "Kyungsoo hyung, will you cook lunch for all of us to eat together?" 

Kyungsoo slowly turned and smirked at Sehun when he saw the maknae smile like an angel. "Yes I will. And no need for you to turn all nice and polite here because it doesn't suit you." 

Sehun burst out laughing loudly, "Hahahaaaa aaaah hyuuuung!!!" slapping the shorter boy's shoulder about a dozen times before hugging it to his face. "You know I would like to help you cook but I will end up eating all the food hahaahaaaa!" 

Kyungsoo smiled while shaking Sehun off his shoulder and said, "Go on." With that, Sehun skipped out of the kitchen.

The dorm became chaotic the minute 6 boys stepped in. Luhan was dragged by Sehun into his bedroom, Tao, Chen, Lay and Xiumin started circling and cooing around a big box of fans' gifts in the living room that have not been sorted out while Baekhyun and Chanyeol were pulling them away from the box playfully and Jongin and Kyungsoo gathered there shortly. Kris dropped himself down on the sofa and watched the circus in front of him in amusement. He felt so much affection for everyone, more than they will ever know. Joonmyeon was nowhere in sight. Just as he was wondering where Joonmyeon was, the boy walked pass him into the kitchen with Sehun tailing behind with a paper in hand.

"Hyung, you are going now, right? Hyung, try to get this movie, it's really good. This one too. Hyung, hyung here just take this along." Sehun was rattling on and shoving the paper into Joonmyeon's hand.

Then Jongin flashed by Kris, rushing into the kitchen. "Hyung, hyung, wait... Can you buy snacks? Just some light snacks... mmmm fried chicken? No.. no?"

Kris thought the maknaes really looked like sick puppies hopping in front of Joonmyeon as he was drinking water from the fridge.

Why can't Joonmyeon control the maknaes' whiny behaviour? Kris thought. Kris felt like swatting them away.

"What's going on?" Kris asked them, standing at the kitchen entrance.

"Ohh.. I'm going out for a while." Joonmyeon answered, looking over the towering boys' shoulders.

"Yippie!" Jongin shouted and started dancing weirdly while Sehun suddenly hugged Joonmyeon with his long arms.

Prying himself from Sehun, Joonmyeon said, "With Kyungsoo."

Jongin stopped his dance and asked “Huh, why with Kyungsoo?”.

"I'll go with you." Kris said.

"Oh ok. I go get my wallet now." Joonmyeon said leaving the maknaes in the kitchen.

Kris didn't wait to speak his mind to Joonmyeon. As they were walking on the street, Kris spoke softly.

"You know you are too lenient with the boys. They are clambering all over you already." Kris slung his arm around Joonmyeon's shoulders hoping that he sounded casual so that both of them will not be awkward later.

"You think so? No, no, they are not usually like this. It's just that today they are excited because all of you are here. I am too." Joonmyeon said a little excitedly and chuckled at himself. Kris nodded and can't help but smile. He realized it has been months since he and his co-leader had spent some private time together so he decided to let the topic rest for now. They both walked on and chatted comfortably about each other's incidents over the past months until they reached the DVD rental store. 

Joonmyeon went straight to the counter, handed a paper to the shop attendant who disappeared into some shelves. Shortly after, the attendant came back, rang the cash register and handed a plastic bag to Joonmyeon in exchange for cash. Joonmyeon said thanks and headed out. Kris quickly said thanks too and hurried out after Joonmyeon. 

That was fast, Kris thought and was impressed at Joonmyeon's speed at getting the task done. They headed back to the dorm but stopped by at a nearby convenient store to buy snacks. Kris watched as Joonmyeon picked out snacks and placed them in a basket.

"Sehun and Chanyeol like this…" Taking some chocolate bars from the counter.

"Let's take this, no wait, Kyungsoo will nag me for this… He would want me to buy fruits…" He walked over to the next lane and saw chips and cookies.

"Oh Xiumin and Chen will love this…" He took a few packets of prawn chips and put them in his basket.

"I remember Lay likes this…" He said while holding a bag of corn chips.

"What about this one? Everyone will eat this right?…" Joonmyeon turned to ask Kris, holding a packet of peanut ball snacks. Kris was a couple of steps behind him, hands in his pockets and looking deadly straight at him.

Surprised and remembered how impatient Kris can get, Joonmyeon stuttered when he said, "A-am I taking too long? Oh I'm done now, let's go." and started walking towards the check-out counter.

Kris took the basket from Joonmyeon's hand, "No, no… We have time. We can look around some more." Kris heard himself almost plead and felt embarrassed. Lucky for him, Joonmyeon did not notice.

"I think we bought enough already." Joonmyeon said and signaled Kris to hurry.

They walked silently in that short distance back to the dorm. Kris was deep in thought as he recalled how Joonmyeon picked out the snacks. He thought it was amazing how Joonmyeon knew which member likes which food, which food he should avoid buying, which food he should buy without being told to and actually considered everyone's tastes even if they were just snacks. He realized how different he is to Joonmyeon. Kris would simply pick the snacks he thinks are best for the boys if he were to buy for them. He suddenly found Joonmyeon cute and suppressed a laughter because that thought itself was funny.

Kyungsoo served fruits, snacks and drinks on the coffee table for everyone. All of them gathered in front the TV, chatting and looking through the DVDs that Joonmyeon brought back. They chose the first movie to watch and settled themselves comfortably on the floor and sofa. Everyone was excited but became silent when Chanyeol started to play the DVD. It was a comedy-drama, Kris remembered he had read on the DVD cover earlier. The opening soundtrack started to play and the movie began.

 
Kris suddenly jolted and he realized he had dozed off on the sofa. He had known that this would happen as it usually does when he sits quietly for more than an hour. He felt a hand on his arm and slowly opened his eyes. Joonmyeon was hovering over him, speaking too softly. Kris could not hear what he was saying but he was being pulled up by his arm. By some unknown power, Kris found himself walking to a bedroom and landed on a soft pillow. It was one of the other things that Kris likes the most, the feeling of soft pillows. He was blinking slowly, feeling bliss when he saw Joonmyeon again. This time, Joonmyeon was tugging at the quilt underneath Kris and pulled it up to his chest. Strangely, Kris wanted to reach out to touch Joonmyeon. Instead, he just watched through heavy-lidded eyes as Joonmyeon smiled and muttered something before Kris slumbered off to sleep.
 
Kris stirred on the bed. He felt wonderful and well-rested. Slowly, he opened his eyes and realized he was sleeping on Joonmyeon's bed. He stretched himself well before getting out. He saw most of the boys scattered on the living room floor and sofa, some playing on their mobile phones while others were still watching TV. It was showing a different movie now and he recalled it was another DVD Joonmyeon had rented. Joonmyeon, he remembered seeing Joonmyeon before he fell asleep on that soft pillow. He remembered his kind face looking down at him, his gentle smile and their hands touching. 

Wait, did we really touch? Did I really feel Joonmyeon's hand? Why did I do that? Oh. . Kris mentally panicked. Aye.. maybe nothing happened, he assured himself. So what is this fluttering feeling in his stomach? I'M HUNGRY, that must be why.. Kris quickly told himself.

 
They had a simple late lunch and ordered dinner delivery that night. The day passed quickly as always when 12 of them are together. As a habit in the past, the M-boys would sleepover at the K dorm when they hang out there and were too tired to return to their dorm. Kris saw most of them were already lounging in their comfy clothes so he knew it was going to be the same that night. It was very late when Kris finally got his turn to wash up. He walked into the living room and sprawled himself on his favorite spot on the sofa. Kris waited for Joonmyeon like he usually does at the end of the evening. That was the time they have their regular catch-up chat about work and the boys. He saw someone in the kitchen and it was Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo. Joonmyeon was putting away the clean dishes while Kyungsoo was wiping the kitchen table. Kris wondered why Joonmyeon always had to help tidy the kitchen at night. He could have gotten Baekhyun or Chanyeol to help Kyungsoo. Kris never helped Lay to do that in their kitchen. It was either Xiumin or Luhan who will help Lay to tidy up at night. He wished that Joonmyeon will use that precious time to do something important like look through the next day's schedule or just get more sleep. He felt that Joonmyeon should really sleep early as he was usually the first to wake up in the morning. Kris decided he will suggest that to Joonmyeon later. Feeling impatient, Kris glanced into the kitchen again.
 
He was stunned to see Joonmyeon massaging Kyungsoo's shoulders where he stood behind the younger boy's chair. Joonmyeon said something to Kyungsoo and they both laughed softly. Joonmyeon then came around and sat next to Kyungsoo. It looked like they were starting a conversation. It was more like Kyungsoo talked and Joonmyeon listened because Joonmyeon kept nodding his head every now and then while looking intently at Kyungsoo. Kris was so taken by their demeanor that he could not look away. Joonmyeon is a naturally kind and warm person. He has always been friendly and helpful but Kris has never seen him this attentive and caring after their debut. He felt his heart went squishy and tender. He suddenly realized that he has been staring at Joonmyeon and immediately snapped himself out of it. He sat motionless and felt heat slowly rising up to his face. He was biting his lower lip and thinking about this unfamiliar feeling when he heard Kyungsoo called out to him, "Good night Kris hyung." 

Startled, Kris turned and replied, "Ohh good night Kyungsooie." Kris watched Kyungsoo walk to his bedroom while Joonmyeon settled himself next to him heavily on the sofa.

"Aaahh… Have you waited long? Sorry. Now, what shall we talk about tonight?" Kris didn't answer right away. He was too confused as to why his heart was beating so fast and why he was suddenly feeling hot. When no answer came, Joonmyeon turned and looked up at Kris. Kris saw dreamy, brown eyes, shining bright at him, a flawless face looking a little tired but still radiant and beautiful and the most alluring lips forming into an angelic smile.

Kris took a deep breath and it hitched a little. "Let's just watch TV and rest tonight." That was all that Kris managed to say because he once again felt those flutters in his stomach, a little stronger this time his skin tingled all over.

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