'Finally...' You threw yourself onto the bed after coming out from the shower. It was already 4am when you arrive back at your hotel room. It was a long day of shoot from early in the day till night and you could finally have some rest. It has been 3 weeks since you were in Taiwan and you got busier since you had more scenes to shoot for the week. You needed to prolong your stay in Taiwan since you still had alot of scenes to shoot. You needed to snooze before you head to the airport to catch your flight back to Korea in a few hours. You weren't schedule to shoot for the next four days and Gems had a concert to perform in so the timing was just right for you to attend the concert.

"Hello?" You answered the room telephone. It was your manager calling, reminding you of the time you needed to leave to the airport. You looked at your phone and you had around 5 hours before you leave for the airport. Due to your busy schedule. you only had time to reply to your messages during your free time. You updated your fans and friends in Korea about your current situations through your various SNS accounts. Kris has been texting you everyday since you reached Taiwan but as the scenes you needed to shoot increased, the time you spent talking to him decreased. You had the time to think about the both of you. It has been five years since you knew him and honestly speaking, he has become someone important in your life, a part and parcel of you that you couldn't live without. You knew what you wanted and it has never changed since the first day you developed  feelings for him.

You snapped a picture of yourself and posted it up on your Instagram account with the captions ‘Goodnight Taiwan. See you soon Korea!’ You looked through your SNS accounts at the posts your friends posted before finally deciding to sleep.

---

“Do we need to change our formation since unnie’s not going to be back for the performance?” Gayeon asked.

“So do we need to take her parts in the song as well?” Shimin added. Your members were in the dance studio rehearsing for the concert that is taking place tomorrow.

“What makes you think that I won’t be back for the performance huh?” You said while leaning against the door frame, looking at your members.

“UNNIE!” Miko exclaimed as she ran towards you, throwing herself at you making you lose your balance. “You’re back!”

“Yes kids, I’m back. I have 4 days free of shoot so I’m back for the concert.” You answered. “Looks like you missed me a lot uh, Miko.” You gently pinched the maknae’s cheek.

“We all did!” Shimin protested. “How come you look skinnier?”

“I do?” You examined yourself in front of the studio’s mirror. “I guess it’s cause I didn’t have enough rest plus the irregular eating hours. But I feel okay, so don’t worry.” You assured your members.  

“Looks like there’ll be lesser work for me to do since you are back.” Jaewon, your choreographer said. ‘if not I’ll have to shift the kids around for the trio formation. Let’s get started.”

“Enjing Noona!” Someone yelled as you walked pass one of the studios with your members. You turned around and see a violet haired Sehun walking out from the studio.

“Woah, I like your new hair colour.” You commented. “For the comeback?”

“Mmm.” He nodded. “Are you guys going for dinner? Can I tag along?” Sehun sounded like a three year old wanting to go to the amusement park but he has always been like that around you even though he is just a year younger.

“Aren’t you still having practice?” Shimin said. “You have to see if we approve of you joining too you know.” She joked, making Sehun roll his eyes at her comment.

“Oh Sehun you sound like a three year old.” Said the voice that always made your heart flutter. “How come you didn’t inform me you are back?” Kris said, walking out from the studio. His blonde hair was now burgundy and it was tied in a tiny ponytail since it grew longer, way longer than you last remembered.

“Now you know.” It took you a while before you could answer since you were practically staring at the giant the moment he came out.

“Why don’t you guys help to buy dinner for us?” Shimin suggested, looking at you.

“Who? Me?”

“Yeah, you and Kris oppa.” Shimin said. You knew her intensions but you shot her a death glare. It would be a little weird if it was just the two of you and rumors will go around although you didn’t really mind.

“We can’t carry all the food back for 16 of you.” You said. “You and you, come along.” You pointed at Sehun and Shimin before they could even protest. You followed Kris and Sehun into the boy’s practice room and asked for their opinion for dinner. Someone else caught your attention the moment you walked into the room. The happy virus was seated in a corner, adjusting his cap. You could see his new hair colour peaking out of his cap, it was something you didn’t expect him to get. You walked over and yank the cap of him, letting you have a full view of his new hair colour. “Wah daebak.” You said. Chanyeol’s hair colour was blonde, platinum blonde.

“I know I look good, you don’t have to do this.” Chanyeol said.

“Woah look at that confidence…” You said sarcastically. “Well I guess the fans will like it.”

“Do you?” Chanyeol threw the question back at you. You paused for a while and looked at the mirror. You could see Kris looking at the both of you with a stern face, you knew he was jealous. After all, he knows that Chanyeol likes you.

“I love it.” You answered, earning a high five from the happy virus.

You guys settled for dinner from Donghae’s taco shop. The four of you set off in a cab after getting the orders from the other members. It was a cooling night since spring was approaching. “How long are you back for?” Kris asked.

“Four days? I need to be back by Tuesday morning cause I have a scene to shoot from evening onwards.”

“I thought you’re only leaving for a month? Seems like you need to stay there longer than planned.” Kris said, sounding a little disappointed.

“Seems like there are more scenes than expected. Maybe 1 to 2 more months?” You said. “Anyways, when are you guys dropping your new album?”

 “On the April 8. Our 3rd anniversary. We’re releasing our teasers soon.” Sehun said.

“And someone’s birthday…” Kris added softly, but loud enough for you to hear. You smiled to yourself, your heart filled with joy that he actually remembers your birthday.

“Why are you smiling? I never said it was your birthday.” Kris said in English with a smirk on his face.

“Damnit Yifan you’re so irritating!” You smacked his thigh. “I won’t be in Korea anyway so it doesn’t matter. Looking forward to your new album SUNBAENIM.” You emphasized  on the last three syllabus. Kris laughed at your response he liked it when he teased you.

You reached the shop shortly and there was quite a crowd since it was a Friday. The four of you created quite a commotion when you entered the store, with customers and fans taking out their phones to snap picture and occasional screams from fangirls. The four of you quickly made your way to the counter to order since there were a lot of orders and you didn't want to hog up the place. You passed them the list of order that you took from the rest and waited at an empty table for your food to be ready.

"Sehun oppa, you know the guy that is filming with unnie looks like you?" Shimin said as she scrolled through her phone. "Look."

"Really?" Sehun said as he took the phone from Shimin. It was one of the photos you reposted from the actor's weibo account. 

"What picture?" Kris asked as he pulled Sehun's hand closer to him so he could see as well. "You two seem pretty close." He said while looking at the photo. The photo had your fellow actor placing his arms around your shoulder and you two making funny faces at the camera.

"I thought you seen it already." You said. "He has been taking care of me quite well so we're quite close I guess?" You looked at Kris. He was examining the photo with a frown and his lips pressed into a line. He looked away and stared at his hands.

"Oh really..." He said softly as he adjusted the bracelets on his hand.

'He's jealous.' Sehun mouthed the words to you and you laughed. 

'I know.' You replied. Kris gets jealous easily but you liked that about him. It was a good excuse to and it also meant how much he values you.

"Seems like you are adapting quite well." Shimin said.

"Yeah. The environment's good and everyone's really nice and approachable. But I miss you guys." You said. "I'm still not used to going back to an empty room after I end every day."

"I never knew our noise played such an important part in your life." Shimin joked.

"Oh they are like music to my ears." You laughed.

Your orders were ready soon after and there was quite a handful for you all to carry. You all hailed a cab and headed back to SM. Just like the old times, the atmosphere at dinner was really light hearted. You took the chance to know more about the boy's new album and also to update them about on your status. You really enjoyed moments like this. It was as though you were back in your trainee days where you hung around with your members and the boys since you were of the same batch of trainees. 

---

"Let's run though this one more time." Your manager said. You were doing your final stage run before the concert happening at night. It was drizzling slightly so the stage was more slippery than usual. You headed backstage after rehearsal to rest and prepare before the actual concert starts. You saw Sehun and Kai talking to two other girls, which most probably were their friends cause they seemed really close. Kris and Lay joined them a while shortly and there was another girl that joined in as well. As you walked closer, you realise the girls were from 2eyes since you recognised Daeun, who was Sehun’s classmate and close friend. The two other girls were Dasom and Hyerin. You weren’t really close with them but you exchange greetings with them when you met them backstage during your promotions.

You couldn't hear your conversation from where you were but you could see that they were enjoying themselves, Kris too, had his smile constantly plastered on his face. As they spoke, Hyerin was constantly looking at Kris and gently hitting his arms whenever they talked about something really funny. She leaned close to Kris' ear and whispered something, making Kris laugh a little and her looking contented, and looking at him with admiration. "Annyeonghasaeyo." Gems greeted as they approached the few of them. You needed to walk past the 7 of them to get to your waiting area. The few of them greeted you back and exchanged a few words before leaving. You shifted your gaze to Kris and then to Hyerim and back to Kris, a little uncomfortable at how close the two of them were standing together. Kris shifted his position, most probably he noticed the expression on your face. You met his eyes with yours and he was just staring at you with a straight face. You left the group soon after with your members and went back to your waiting room.

As you were leaving for the carpark, once again you saw Hyerin talking to Kris but this time, it was just the two of them. They were just standing outside Exo’s waiting area while they waited for their vans to come. You wanted to make your presence known but you felt that it was very silly for you to do so. ‘There’s nothing wrong with him talking to another girl right?’ You asked yourself. Afterall, you do spend a lot of time with his other members as well and he didn’t seem to mind.

“Enjing ah!” Lay shouted as he exited from his waiting room walking towards yours. Kris jumped a little when he heard your name being called and he scanned his eyes around the place, trying to find you. His followed where Lay was walking and finally met yours which was obviously looking at him. As soon as your eyes meet, you turned to Lay who was walking towards you.

“Yes, Yixing ge?”

"The few of us haven't had a meal together for a long time. Luhan suggested we have supper together." Lay said.

"We? As in.."

"The four of us plus you and Shimin. You know, the usual, just like the predebut days. I asked Shimin already she said okay so I'm guessing it's fine for you too."

"Yeah I'll see you guys then. Same place?"

"Mmm." Lay nodded. 

"Sorry guys we're late." Lay said as they walked into the store. It was a coffee house that the 6 of you always frequent ever since you were trainees and it brought back loads of memories. It has been a long time since the six of you met up. It was always with the other members but it just felt different when it was only the six of you. Maybe it was because you all had similar backgrounds, coming all the way to Korea to chase your dream. The boys had two days of rest besides their usual training before their comeback and Gems were on a break after the long promotion period you had since your debut. The coffee house was rather empty since it was a weekday and it was almost midnight when everyone was there.

"Since we are all here, we should celebrate your birthday beforehand." Luhan suggested. Just as he finished his sentence, the waiter placed a slice of cake infront of you. It was your favourite cheesecake from the store, the one that you would always order when you frequent the store. The candle was already lit and placed on the cake. They started singing the birthday song for you and all you could do was to smile at what they prepared for you.

"Since we can't celebrate it on the day itself, someone decided to bring forward the celebration." Lay said.

"Someone?" You asked.

"Who else could it be." Tao answered. You looked to your left where Kris was seated. He covered his mouth with his hand that was supporting his head and looking at you. Even though you couldn't see his full expression, you could sense a victorious aura coming from him, deep inside, he was beaming because he managed to surprise you. 

Of course it was Kris. He was the only one among the five that knew you liked the cake. You remembered saying it out randoming during one of your visits with him here and you never expected him to remember what you said. "Thank you." You said to Kris. "And to the rest of you as well. Thank you so much for being a part of my life."

"Why are making it sound like we're gonna part? You should be happy!" Tao said. 

"Alright alright." You laughed. "How's the comeback preparations? Two more days right?"

"I saw the teasers and it's I was like... Woah..." Shimin said with her animated expression making the rest of your laugh.

"We're really stoked for our comeback. I guess we just feel extra energised whenever the 12 of us promote together." Luhan said. "Yah! Dui zhang, why aren't you saying anything."

"You can use this time to practice what you're going to say during the interviews you know." Lay suggested.

"What do you want me to say? Really promote the album like I am going to during interviews?" Kris replied. " Anyways, just look forward to it. It's gonna be different as you can see from my hair colour."

"Oh yeah dui zhang, I wanted to ask you this for a long time. Since when were you so close to Hyerim?"  Tao said all of a sudden. You almost choked on your cake when you heard Tao's question. You grabbed your glass of water to help clear your throat, placing it back onto the table a little too loudly.

'What a good timing Huang ZiTao...' Kris cursed mentally, shooting Tao a glare. "We're not close. We just... talked. She's the one that has been coming to find me." Kris replied, slightly turning to see your reaction but all you did was just eating the cake that was in front of you.

“It seems like she’s interested in you, ge.” Tao added. That sentence didn’t help at all. All Kris wanted to do was to shut the younger one up.

“To be honest, I keep seeing her with Daeun whenever she comes and look for Sehun and Hyerim seem to be always looking for someone in our waiting room.” Lay said.

“She even asked me about you when we bump into each other backstage.” Shimin added. “Like… I’m not even from Exo.”

“We can consider letting you join if you are interested.” Luhan joked.

“I can let you join Exo too, if you are interested.” You joked. “But it’ll be your loss for leaving Gems, obviously.” You wanted to make the atmosphere light so Kris didn’t have to feel so tensed up about what the rest have said and, you wanted to make yourself feel better too. Truthfully, you were a little affected by what the rest mentioned.

“But I’m not interested in her…It’s not like you guys don’t know.” Kris said, bringing you all back to the topic. He wanted to make it clear that it was one-sided.

“Oh we do alright. We know who you are interested in.” Lay said, making everyone laugh. It was obvious who they were talking about.

“Jokes aside, what are your plans now? Gems’ official schedules are over right?” Kris asked, trying to divert the topic.

“Yeah we’re done with our promotions. Besides random concerts I guess we’re on break until our preparation for the next album.” Shimin said. “Well, it doesn’t apply to her obviously.”

“I know right.” You answered. “I’ll have my break after that, hopefully.”

“I don’t think we’re gonna have another comeback so soon. I guess the people are a little sick of us already.” Shimin added. “I think our manager said something about us being able to go back home.”

“Really?!” You exclaimed. “I want to go home too!” You sulked at the thought of only being able to go back after you finish filming. But you’re not complaining cause you enjoy what you are currently doing.

“When are you flying back again?” Luhan asked.

“Either Monday night or early Tuesday morning. I’m hoping Monday night though so I can have a night’s rest when I reach the hotel.” You replied. “I’m most probably gonna to stone in the dorm tomorrow since its Sunday.”

“We can go shopping!” Shimin suggested.

“But I thought Gayeon has some recording going on?”

“Well… We can wait for her to finish I guess. Since it’s in the morning.” Shimin replied.

“What are we doing again?” Tao asked s. “Are we gonna play basketball or something?”

“I guess we could.” Kris replied. He’s hyped whenever it’s about basketball. Afterall, he was the captain that lead his team to win several competitions. “But can we play at a later timing? I want to sleep in.”

“You’re so lazy, goodness.” You blurted out.

“No I’m not.” Kris poked your side making you jump a little. “I just need my beauty sleep. I’m gonna miss it when the promotion starts.”

“Whatever you say…” You shrugged and stuck out your tongue. Kris poked you again after seeing what you just did.

After spending almost 3 hours at the coffee house, you all finally decided to leave with Tao’s constantly whinning of him being exhausted. Shimin and you were discussing if you both should walk home or hail a cab since there was already no bus service. You preferred the idea of walking home since the coffee house wasn't that far from your dorm and you wanted to save money. Plus, the two of you could have some heart to heart talk on the way home.

"How are you guys going back?" Luhan asked.

"Walking." You replied.

"Walking? I don't think it's safe for you both to walk back. What don't you just hail a cab."

"It's expensive and our dorm is not THAT far from here." You said.

"Why don't we give you a ride back?" Lay suggested.

"Ride? What ride?" Shimin said. "You have a car?"

"No, silly. We rode our bikes here. You can stand at the back if you guys don't mind." 

"Sounds like a plan!" Shimin exclaimed before you could say anything. "Yixing ge I'll take your bike. And well, you can choose whose bike you want to take but I guess it's obvious huh." Shimin teased. You swore for the thousandth time that you are going to cut her up into 1000 pieces the moment she step into the dorm.

"I shall deal with you later." You warned the younger who was obviously used to it.

"You guys go ahead first." Kris said to the others as they walk out. There wasn't any area for you to sit on his bike so you could only stand on the metal that was protruding out from the back. You climbed on carefully after Kris sat on his bike, trying to get your balance before he took off. "Hold on." He warned and he started paddling slowly, letting you balance yourself before he acelerated. You liked how the night breeze was blowing against your skin, enjoying the quiet streets you had to yourselves. It has been a while since it was just the two of you alone. You got off the bike to stretch your back when Kris stopped at the traffic light. 

"Funny how we never actually did such things whenever we went on your dates. It was always us riding our own bikes." You said.

"You like it don't you?" Kris said.

"Well, it would be better if I could sit. All this bending is going to kill my back." You said as you climb back up. "Green light." You signalled Kris to go. Kris took the longer route back so he could spend time with you. The both of you weren't offically back together but you guys are already acting like it. As you were reaching your dorm, you could already see the other four standing and talking by the gate.

"I think Zitao is going to nag at you for taking so long." You said.

"What else can he do? Make me shower with him, again?" Kris laughed. "Anyways, free to meet me tomorrow night? Like after my basketball match with the boys."

"Should be fine." You answered without hesitation.

"Great." You couldn't see his face from the back but juding from his tone, you could guess that his was grinning to himself. "I'll text you later."

"It's about time you got here!" Tao said with his arms across his chest.

"Thanks guys. We'll be going in then." You said before heading back to your dorm.

"What took you guys so long?" Shimin asked.

"Traffic." You answered sarcastically.

"Oh wow, REALLY? It must have been bad." Shimin replied, rolling her eyes at the same time. "But seriously."

"You know him, he took a longer route so we could have some time together."

"Are you two back together already? Don't lie to me." Shimin asked.

"No."

"Are you not going to get back together with him?" She asked but all you did was shrug your shoulder. "Answer me!!" Shimin yelled across the bedroom.

"Shhh! You are so annoying! " You threw a soft toy over to the girl. "I'm meeting him tomorrow night, if you count that as an answer."

"Oh~ And you're telling you guys are not togsther?"

"We're not."

"Whatever you say..."

"Goodnight Shimin." You said to end the conversation. It took you awhile before you could fall asleep. Was it because you finally got to spend time with Kris or was it because you were excited about going out with him tomorrow. You felt silly because you are acting as if it was the first date with the guy you like when it obviously isn't.

'Should we get back together......'

CHAPTER 32 DONE! :D Sorry for the long wait, it's finally posted. Sad to say, the story is most probably going to end soon since it's VERY obvious that I am trying to drag the story. But, I MIGHT do a sequel if you guys want~. :P ANYWAYS, hope you all enjoy this chapter and like I always say, feel free to comment as and when you like.

To the new readers, please subscribe if you like the story! ^^ Till the next time~ *blows kisses*