There were celebrations in the car ride home; you were joining in on the antics, feeling just as buzzed as the boys.

However the moment you got out the van and set foot in the hotel you gulped.

Your stomach flipped upside down because the realisation hit you;

You were flying back to Korea today…

Taking a deep breath, you parted from the others as the boys went to their own designated hotel rooms to pack.

You sat in your untidy room and thought;

‘How the actual hell is it this messy when I’ve been in this room for like, 30 minutes!?’                             

You rolled your eyes and realised no matter how grown up you thought you were, having a job on the other side of the world; you still were a teenager who missed their clean freak mum who would’ve had a heart attack if she knew what a mess you were.

‘Well, guess I better get started.’

And with that you took your staff badge off and began packing.

---------

*knock knock*

‘Oh?’ You turned to the door upon hearing someone knock. You were so immersed in packing you almost didn’t hear it.

‘Coming.’ You said rushing to the door and opening it.

It was Tao.

‘Can I come in.’ He said with a sad look.

You always forgot how much taller he was compared to you until he actually stood in front of you.

His eye bags were especially evident seeing as he was so tired.

‘Tao what is it?’ You asked as Tao entered the room.

His eyes immediately turned to the open duffle bag.

‘WAHH _______-ah WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!?’

Your eyes widened as Tao began to whine and yell in your hotel room like a 5 year old.

‘Zitao Shhhh.’ you exclaimed pressing a finger to your lips while you stuffed a brush into your bag.

‘No!’ Tao exclaimed; he grabbed onto your wrist and then the other one, pulling both your hands closer to him. You stood on your tip toes, gently trying to slip out of Tao’s grip.

‘Why do you have to leave too?’ He asked once more; desperation was evident in his voice.

‘They don’t need you as much _____-ah! We need you!’ Tao bit his bottom lip to stop his lips from quivering.

‘Zitao…I have to-‘

‘Come on stop packing.’ He said letting go of your wrists slowly, making sure you wouldn’t start packing straight away. You pursed your lips together before speaking;

‘Tao we don’t have time, we’ve discussed-‘

‘-Look can’t you talk to the management?’ Tao begged. His eyes flashed to the bag since you were about to stuff a shirt in it.

‘Tao stop!’ You pleaded; your voice no louder than a whisper as he lifted the duffle bag over his head; knowing full well you wouldn’t be able to reach it.

Nonetheless you stood on your tip-toes again; chest pressed against Tao’s as you tried as hard as you could to almost touch the bag. But what good would it do? He would just pull it away the moment you gripped onto it. Why was he making this harder than it already was?

‘I’ll say something, who do I need to talk to??’ You heard Tao’s voice thick with frustration; he was fighting your departure, refusing to believe it.

‘_______-ah I heard shouting-‘

Kevin walked in; concern evident in his face as he pulled his earphones out and witnessed the scene.

‘Tao what are you-‘

‘Duizhang back me up; tell _____-ah she’s not going!’ Tao ordered as he passed the bag to Kevin who looked darted his gaze from Tao to you.  

‘Tell her to stay.’ Tao said as Kevin took the bag and stared at it, unable to utter those words. You stood with pursed lips, refusing to well up.

‘Fan I can’t find Zitao, I thought he-‘

Yixing walked into the strange scene and stood staring in confusion for a moment;

‘What’s going on?’ He asked looking around the room.

‘Yixing tell ______-ah she’s not leaving!’ Tao whined.

Yixing angrily tutted once he understood what was happening.

‘Aish Zitao really!? Come over here and let ______ pack for goodness sake I know we’re all upset but we can’t do anything.’ He signalled Tao over and heaved a sigh, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them.

‘Why is no one on my side!?’

And with that Tao rushed out the room with slumped shoulders.

You took a step forward wanting to go and comfort Tao but Yixing rolled his eyes and followed Tao; probably to try and calm him down in your place.

Kevin stood still for a few more moments as you clenched and unclenched your fists; feeling so helpless. What could you do?

‘I should go and apologise’ you said unsmiling.

‘I think that will make it worse.’ Kevin said shaking his head slowly.

‘Sorry, here.’ He added placing your bag back on the bed.

‘I should probably go?’ He said taking a step back.

‘No don’t. Um…it’s just…I don’t want to be alone.’ You said heaving a sigh.

‘I’m ready so I can help you?’ Kevin offered sitting on your bed while he passed you a rolled up shirt. 

‘Thanks.’ You said taking it from him and stuffing it in your bag.

‘It doesn’t feel like you’re leaving.’ Kevin said almost in a joking way.

‘Huh? Oh no I feel like you’re coming with us.’ You almost chuckled at the wonderful thought.

‘Thanks _____-ah.’ Kevin muttered almost soothingly.

‘For what?’ You asked in bewilderment as Kevin looked like he was relaying some nostalgic memories in his head.

‘For everything.’ He replied smiling softly at you.

‘Mmm right back at you.’ You replied trying to act nonchalant even if you felt your cheeks get hot.

‘Haha…um…______.’ Kevin’s tone changed to a more anxious one, but you hardly noticed while he handed you your toothbrush and you shoved that in the bag.

‘Yep?’ You said hoping you weren’t going to leave anything behind.

Kevin combed his fingers through his hair before absentmindedly picking something else up to hand to you;

‘I just wanted to say…well…I kinda, I’ve been thinking a lot about something I wanted to say to you. Like I’ve been thinking a lot about….you…and I mean since I won’t see you for a while, like I should probably say it now-‘

Before he could finish his sentence, you both stared at what he’d handed you.

Your eyes widened.

It was your pink laced bra.

It just dangled there in front of both of you.

If there was ever a moment where you didn’t want to disappear as much as right now…

‘Oh, ah, gosh, I’m so so-‘

‘-THANKS BUT I’LL TAKE IT FROM HERE!’ You almost yelled in absolute embarrassment and horror as you ripped the bra from Kevin’s hands and stuffed it right at the bottom of the bag so it was 100% out of sight.

‘I’m really sorry about that!’ Kevin’s cheeks flushed – you would’ve thought it was absolutely adorable how this was the first time you’d ever seen Kevin embarrassed had it not been for the fact that it was completely at your expense.

‘IT’S FINE I’TS NOT YOUR FAULT. BUT I’LL FINISH ON MY OWN THANKS BYE!’ You almost slammed the door shut behind Kevin as you practically pushed him out the room. You jumped onto your bed face down, wanting to die then and there; not even thinking about the fact that you never got to hear what Kevin was about to say.

====================

You all arrived at the airport seeing as all 6 of M plus Tao’s unbelievable amount of begging managed to sway the other managers to let them accompany you and K to say goodbye.

You all had to take the VIP route to the boarding area and arrived when most of the passengers were on board so it was pretty empty.

You bit your bottom lip as the boys all said bye to each other. It was wonderful seeing them embrace each other and give pats on the back and bear hugs.

It was stupid: Baekhyun set Jong Dae off who then set Tao off as Tao turned to you; picking you up off the floor in a bear hug that winded you. You worriedly looked past Tao to the other managers; but thankfully they were busy discussing business with the airline management so they didn’t notice.

You lifted your arms and embraced Tao, patting the back of his jet black hair. You breathed in his scent for the last time.

‘Take care of yourself Zitao.’ You said in Mandarin; wiping a stupid tear that had slid down your cheek unintentionally.

‘I will, and you better keep healthy otherwise I’m coming to Korea and dragging you back with us!’ Tao pouted as you wiped his tears from his eyes soothingly.

‘You will be great.’ You said smiling encouragingly at him. Tao nodded as he moved on to say bye to the others.

‘Goodbye ______-ah. Take care of yourself, make sure you eat and don’t work too hard.’ Yixing said with his arms open. You moved closer while Yixing wrapped his arms around you and patted your back soothingly. You couldn’t help but feel a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

‘I should be saying that to you; please remember to rest Yixing – don’t try to be superman all the time.’ You said giving him a slanted grin to try and resist the tears that wanted to slide down your cheeks.

‘I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine.’ Yixing replied releasing you and shaking his head; allowing you to move on to Jong Dae who was laughing to try and stop himself from shedding one more tear.

‘Yah take care of yourself, don’t cry!’ Jong Dae joked as he softly nudged your arm before