2014

It was another day at practice with EXO, Jongin was exhausted. They had been practising for weeks nonstop for their comeback. And he was undeniably homesick but he knew the others were too. Therefore, he couldn't complain because it would be unfair to those who had their families overseas like Lay, Luhan & Tao. So he kept his feelings to himself for the entire day. After practice ended at 10PM, everyone left to go back to their shared dorm but Jongin decided to stay back and dance more to get his mind off of things. He missed Aerin and wanted to know how she was doing although Hansol had updated him from time to time.

Noticing he was alone, he decided to play Baby Don't Cry on the radio and started dancing. The song started off with piano keys playing and then transitioned to Baekhyun's voice singing. Jongin moved to the beat, letting his body flow with the song. His emotions followed suit.

“Jongin-ah,”

Again, a familiar voice interrupted him. Jongin stopped then sprinted to the radio and turned to Kyungsoo while chugging down a bottle of water. Kyungsoo approached him slowly, afraid that Jongin was mad at him for interrupting. They sat next to each other in the middle of the studio, Jongin was breathing heavily as they kept silent until Kyungsoo cleared his throat and turned to Jongin.

“Is there something bothering you, Jonginnie? Are you homesick? I am sure we can be granted with a short break before the comeback.”

Kyungsoo looked into Jongin's eyes with the most sincere doe eyes and then gave him a hug. In that embrace, Jongin started sobbing in Kyungsoo's shoulder. It was hard for him to keep his sister a secret. It was hard to be an idol. Everything seemed hard to him at his weakest point. This was his downfall. Ever since Kris had left the group, everyone changed. Everyone slowly started to give up. Practising seemed harder, without one person present. He knew the responsibility to keep the group together was harder than before. They needed each other more than anything.

Feeling a bit better, Jongin removed himself from Kyungsoo's embrace and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and looked at Kyungsoo. He had another thought popping into his mind.

“Hyung, would you like to follow me somewhere?”

Kyungsoo's doe eyes widened.

<~TheWhiteRose~><~TheWhiteRose~><~TheWhiteRose~><~TheWhiteRose~>

On their way to the hospital, Jongin explained to Kyungsoo about the existence of his younger sister, how he had to keep her away from the public for her sake and it was almost her fourteenth birthday at the strike of midnight. The two friends collected balloons, a white cake and white roses before proceeding to the hospital. When they got there, the nurses tried to stop them but Jongin explained about his surprise for his sister thus having the nurse letting them go. It was 11:53PM and they were outside Aerin's ward. There, they bumped into Hansol, who was going out of the elevator. He, too, had a few things in his hands for Aerin.

“Jongin hyung, annyeonghasaeyo.”

They exchanged bows and Hansol noticed Kyungsoo's presence. He cocked an eyebrow looking at him. They were all dressed hiding their identities (masks and caps and shades). 'This is another idol.' Hansol thought while scanning the new person.

“Annyeonghasaeyo, Do Kyungsoo, D.O of EXO.”

Hansol nodded and bowed greeting to the senior.

“Annyeonghasaeyo, sunbaenim. Hansol-ibnida. I am a trainee.”

Kyungsoo gave Hansol a smile as he nodded to his greeting. As soon as the atmosphere was kind of awkward, Hansol looked at his wrist watch and decided to enter Aerin's ward, 11:57PM. He went closer to Aerin and kissed her forehead as she was sleeping with her arm wrapped around a large sized teddy bear Hansol bought for her during her 13th Birthday. Aerin stirred in her sleep and woke up, her eyes slowly fluttering open. She hummed, seeing Hansol in the middle of the night.

“Hey, baby girl.”

Hansol smiled and whistled, a cue to call in Jongin and his guest. It was 12AM sharp and Jongin and Kyungsoo walked into her ward and sang her Happy Birthday with Hansol. Aerin got into a sitting position and smiled at the surprise. Jongin walked over to her with the cake in his hands and asked her to blow the candles.

“Make a wish, Aerin-ah!”

Jongin said with a bright smile. Aerin closed her eyes tightly with her hands intertwined together as she made a wish before blowing out the candles. They all celebrated until she noticed a new being in the room. She suddenly stayed quiet as