Kris returned and went to change into costume quickly before doing hair and makeup.  It had been over a week since his hair and makeup was done for him.  After everyone was ready, they went behind the stage and heard the thousands of fans already screaming loudly.  The fans had already heard of Kris’s return and were so anxious to see him again.  Suho always led the cheer for EXO before going on stage.

Suho bravely said, “From now on, let’s think about the fans and others before we think of ourselves.”  Suho was obviously still hurt by Kris, and Kris looked downwards to avoid Suho’s deathly gaze.  “We have trained so hard for this moment, and I am glad I can share this dream with you guys.  EXO fighting!”  Suho stuck his hand out and one by one the members put their hand on top of Suho’s.  Kris was the last to put his hand in the middle; he slowly reached out and placed his hand on top.  Suho quickly yelled, “We are one!” and the 12 hands rapidly rose up in the air with excitement.

EXO went on stage and made their formation for Wolf.  The performance was even better than usual, with their unique costumes, lighting, and special effects.  They then performed Mama and History, giving off the same charisma attributed to EXO.  To the fans, there was no sign of unhappiness or awkwardness between the members because the members covered up their emotions professionally.  But underneath their cool façade, they were hurting inside and had to let it out sometime, just not now in front of so many fans.

After the first set of performances, they lined up with Kris first, as always.  The audience went crazy and shouted Kris’s name repetitively to demonstrate their happiness that Kris came back. 

Kris simply smiled and waved at them and mouthed, “I missed you guys too.”

Suho had prepared a speech like usual for the fans and said, “Thank you…  Did you enjoy our performance?”

The fans gave a resounding “Yes!”

Suho continued, “That’s good!  We will keep working hard to give you more outstanding performances.  Thank you for all of your support since our debut.  We could not be here without you guys, fulfilling our dreams.  You are very important to us and we will always think of you guys before anything else.  I hope you guys will stay happy and not cry over us.  We will continue to make you guys happy.  The fans are our family!”

As Kris listened to Suho’s speech, he could not help but reflect upon his decisions.  Kris knew his decisions all had a reason, but it was too sudden.  He started crying again; he couldn’t help it.  All the fans noticed and yelled, “Don’t cry!  Don’t cry!” simultaneously, but the more they yelled, the harder he cried. 

Though the members stopped talking to him, they couldn’t watch Kris keep crying on stage in front of the fans.  Chanyeol, who was next to Kris, put his hand on Kris to comfort him, but it was no use.  Suho walked over to Kris and the other members followed him to give Kris a group hug.  Kris, embarrassed, started laughing but kept crying.  The other members burst into tears, and the fans were half cheering, half crying. 

To lighten the mood, Chen yelled out, “Don’t ever leave us again or else I’ll seriously shoot lightning so that you cannot go to the galaxy.  At least take us with you!”

Tao cried out, “Where were you, hyung?  I missed you so much!” and squeezed Kris even tighter.  “Don’t ever leave!  You know how scared I was when taking a shower these past few days?  None of the other members would take a shower with me!”

The fans burst out laughing and Baekhyun shouted, “Ya, hyung!  Don’t ever leave again!  Or else I will play endless pranks on you with Chanyeol!  Kkaepsong…”

Lay and Luhan repeated in Chinese, “Thanks for coming back, Wu Yi Fan!” 

Lay told Kris, “Don’t ever go, okay?  If you have any issues, please tell us.” 

Luhan said, “Yeah!  We can resolve it together.  Jia you!”

Sehun kept telling Kris, “Don’t go again.  Never again,” and continued to cry. 

Kai and D.O. were calmly hugging everyone and smiling at Kris. 

Xiumin was still crying, broke his usual silence, and said, “Kris, thank you for coming back to EXO.  You are our one and only leader.  Don’t leave.”

Suho, still in the center of the now happy group hug, somehow managed to climb up and said into the microphone, “Kris is back!  EXO is complete.  We are one!  If you want to go to the galaxy, please tell us and the fans so we can follow you!  We missed you so much.” 

Suho continued to cry and handed Kris the microphone.

Kris, suffocated by Tao and Sehun’s tight squeeze, managed to get out the words, “Don’t worry, you guys.  I’m not going anywhere.  All twelve members is my style.  Nothing less.  Please no more crying.  EXO we are one!  Forever!”

The fans burst into loud cheers and chanted, “EXO!  EXO!  EXO!”  After a while the members unraveled themselves from the group hug except for Tao and Sehun, who were still clinging onto Kris tightly, as if not to let him go.  Kris stood there awkwardly patting them and reassuring them that he would never leave.  The EXO members spent a couple of minutes to gather themselves once again after releasing all their emotions.  They had swollen, red eyes, but they did not care, and the fans did not care either. 

As the members took their positions for Growl, they felt a sense of unity once again, like during their debut 2 years ago.  They started performing with genuine happiness now that Kris was back.  After Growl, they performed Overdose. 

Kris thought, “I will never miss out on performing with the members ever again.  Sure S.M. gives me too much work sometimes, but I know the members will help me through it.”

The members moved in perfect sync and happily.  The familiar warm and genuine smiles of the members returned to their faces once again.

“We are truly one now,” Kris told himself.  “Always.”