☆★☆ Goodbye For Now ☆★☆

The night before, the group of twelve boys had a party and said their goodbyes. What was meant to be emotional and serious had ended up with more laughs than tears. Most of the night involved arm wrestling, freestyle rapping and food. Despite the pleasant mood he had been in when he finally collapsed on his bed, Chen found it impossible to fall asleep. It didn’t seem to matter that his entire body was aching from their final practice or that he could barely keep his eyes open. Even though his eyes were closed, Chen’s mind refused to let him sleep. It refused to let him fade away from all the worries and sadness he had suppressed throughout his final day. Instead he found himself lost in the thoughts he had avoided, now that there was nothing else to distract him from them. In the darkness he let out a sob masked as a cough and to his stomach so that his tears instantly soaked into the fabric of his pillow.

Chen didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until he felt someone gently nudging him awake the next morning. He let out a groan when he realized what felt like a second had been an entire night. He still felt sleepy as if he hadn’t rested at all. Despite wanting to return to his dreamless sleep Chen was only met by another round of nudging. Chen groaned once more and opened one eye to see who it was. He was partly surprised to see Suho looking down at him. Suho was the one who normally woke him but it seemed surprising today since the EXO K members didn’t have to be awake yet. They didn’t have any schedules for at least three hours after M’s plane was supposed to leave. Chen had to blink once more to check that he was awake but knew he was when he saw the annoyed look creeping into Suho’s face.

“Good morning hyung. Wasn’t expecting to see you this morning.” Chen said with a hint of happiness in his groggy voice. The words seemed to have an instant effect on the group’s leader as his features softened slightly.

“D.O and I decided to make breakfast for you all before you leave. I told Kris to come wake you since it’ll be his job from now on but he said this would be my last chance.” Suho said. Chen could hear the bitter tone in the leader’s voice but decided to ignore it and remain cheerful.

“Aww, I didn’t know you’d miss waking me up.” Chen cooed as he rolled onto his back and stretched. He missed the sad flicker in the leader’s eyes.

“I won’t. Get up, get dressed and come get breakfast before it gets cold. We got up really early for you guys.” He fussed before walking away and leaving the room.

Chen watched the empty doorway for a moment as he processed what lay ahead of him once he stepped out of bed. The beginning of something new. He wasn’t sure if he was sad, scared or excited since he appeared to be feeling a decent mixture of them all. As he got to his feet and changed into his clothes he had picked the day before he noticed how his whole body felt heavier than usual. He noticed how his stomach seemed weird and he wondered if it was a good idea to eat breakfast with his stomach feeling that way. It didn’t really matter. Even if he ended up throwing up in the airport bathroom later he wouldn’t ignore the two’s hard work.

The living room was quiet for the most part. Looking around he noticed Lay, Kris, Luhan and Xiumin all seemed half asleep still. Xiumin had his head rested in Luhan’s lap who had a hand lying across his friend. Both appeared to have their eyes closed. Tao was the complete opposite. Chen had to consider if he had ever seen the tall boy look more cheerful than he did at that moment. He was smiling widely and literally bouncing on his heels. Chen noticed how Kris was smiling lazily at the other and felt a sense of distance already. He knew that most of the members were feeling the exact opposite from him about going to China. For him it was leaving home but for four of them it was being able to finally return home. He tried to be happy for them instead of feeling sorry for himself but as he looked around at the group he still felt the invisible barrier between them.

Chen let out a tired sigh as he approached the kitchen where Suho and D.O appeared to be packing whatever food was left. Instantly Chen felt himself wake up at the sight of his food disappearing.

“What are you doing? What am I supposed to eat?” Chen asked, his stomach echoing his words with a loud groan that made D.O grin slightly.

“The manager said you guys woke up to late so we’re packing it so that you can eat on the road.” Suho explained without looking up.

“Here’s yours.” D.O said gently as he walked up and handed Chen the bag he had been packing. Even after he took the bag the other boy stood where he was. Chen met the boy’s heavy eyes and felt a shock rush through him. Instantly he felt like he wanted to cry but forced a smile to his face instead.

“Thanks.” He replied simply while attempting to give his best wolfish grin. It appeared to have had some effect because D.O smiled slightly again.

“You should go see Chanyeol. When we woke up he was sleeping in the living room. He said he was scared you would leave without saying goodbye. We sent him to his bed and swore we’d get you to go see him.” D.O explained. Chen was only slightly surprised to hear the request. Then again, he wasn’t all that surprised really.

“So childish.” He laughed as he nodded his head acknowledging that he would do it. Then it came. D.O’s genuine grin. Chen smiled just feeling grateful to be able to see it one last time.

When he entered Chanyeol’s room he could already hear the tall boy quietly snoring. It was obvious he wasn’t having any trouble sleeping. Chen smiled to himself as he moved up to the sleepi