“Min Seok,” Chen breathed, looking at Xiumin with hurt in his eyes.

Xiumin’s eyebrows furrowed, confused as to why his boyfriend was looking at him with such a heart broken stare.

          “What?” Xiumin asked quietly.

          “You… You didn’t… How could you?”

Xiumin took a step forward and reached toward Chen.

          “What are you talking about?”

Chen flinched away as Xiumin came near. A look of betrayal flashed across his features.

          “After all we’ve been through… You still did this,” Chen said.

          “What?! What happened?” Xiumin said, very concerned now.

          “That’s it. I’m done. We’re done,” Chen said with such finality in his voice that Xiumin could feel his heart crack into two.

          “I-I… Chen!” Xiumin called as the other turned away.

Xiumin shouted his name repeatedly, trying to get him to turn back and explain what was going on, but a loud siren-like noise washed his voice out and blared into his ears to the point he couldn’t even hear his own thoughts clearly.

-----

          Xiumin shot awake. Luhan’s phone was going off with the first alarm of many that were set to wake the deep sleeper up. Xiumin’s body was as tightly strung as a bowstring as he remembered what Chen had said. “We’re done.” Xiumin shuddered, releasing the tension. It was only a dream… Right? Swallowing nervously, Xiumin got out of bed and threw Luhan’s still ringing phone beside the younger’s head and walked out of the room. He found himself going to Chen’s room. He stopped in front of the door, wringing his hands. He reached out and opened the door. A stream of light from the hallway flooded the room, allowing Xiumin to see the figures of Lay and Chen, each sleeping in their own bed. Xiumin slipped inside and closed the door as quietly as he could. He approached Chen’s bed and lifted the covers, crawling under and laying beside him. Chen faced away from Xiumin, but Xiumin scooted closer and clung to his back, not wanting to let go, in fear of having him move away as he had in Xiumin’s dream. Stirred awake by Xiumin’s touch, Chen turned to face the elder, eyes barely open and voice groggy.

          “Xiumin?” Chen said sleepily.

          “Hi,” Xiumin replied softly.

          “What are you doing here?” Chen asked, flipping over completely.

Xiumin was about to respond, when he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Shaking his head, he buried his face into Chen’s chest and held his shoulders tightly.

          “You won’t e-ever le-leave me? W-will you?” Xiumin stuttered as tears began to flow.

          “Hey, no, no, no… There’s no way I’m leaving you. You’re stuck with me. Remember?” Chen said, rubbing Xiumin’s back.

Xiumin let out a choked laugh and nodded.

          “Shh… It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. It’s alright,” Chen whispered comfortingly into Xiumin’s ear.

Xiumin swallowed and let out a breath slowly, trying to regain his normal breathing. Chen continued circling Xiumin’s back with his fingertips and whispering soft reassurances and ‘I love you’s into Xiumin ear. Xiumin managed to calm himself down and pulled away from Chen’s chest.

          “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

          “Ani… You’re fine. It’s okay,” Chen replied.

          “I just… had a bad dream, and… I don’t know,” Xiumin said, unsure of what else to say.

          “Don’t worry, Min Seok. I’m here and I’m not leaving you. I love you.”

          “I love you too,” Xiumin whispered back.

Xiumin could just make out a smile on Chen’s lips as the other pulled him close again.

          “Let’s get some more sleep. We have about a half hour before we should get up.”

          “Arasseo,” Xiumin said, tucking his head into the crook of Chen’s neck and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Xiumin slowly felt himself drifting off into a warmer dreamland full of happiness and love.

          Xiumin woke for the second time that morning to the beautiful sound of Chen’s voice, singing along to a song played off of his phone while he got dressed. Xiumin rolled over as Chen pulled a shirt over his head. Chen looked to Xiumin, pausing in his singing.

          “How long have you been watching?” Chen asked hesitantly.

          “Not long,” Xiumin said stretching, “but I love your voice. Don’t stop singing.”

Chen smiled and began singing as he ran his fingers through his hair and continue getting ready. Xiumin sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He stood and walked to Chen’s side, putting an arm around his waist. Chen looked at him and sang along softly to the ballad that had come on. Xiumin smiled and leaned forward expectantly. Chen smiled mischievously. He pulled away and spun Xiumin, continuing with his song. Xiumin yelped in surprise as Chen pulled him close and dipped him with the final of the song.

          “Chen!” Xiumin said in alarm, in fear of being dropped.

Chen pulled him back up and finally kissed him on the lips after he’d finished the last note. Xiumin felt himself lose his balance from being thrown around, and if not for Chen’s arms around him, he would’ve fallen for sure. Chen pulled back to see Xiumin’s reaction. Xiumin pouted slightly and smacked his arm.

          “Yah! Don’t just fling me around like that!”

Chen laughed and pecked his lips one more time.

          “Arasseo, hyung… But you know you had fun, Baozi,” Chen said, poking Xiumin’s cheek.

          “Hmph.”

          “Anyways, you should get ready. We’re leaving in a few minutes,” Chen said.

Xiumin nodded and headed to his and Luhan’s room to get dressed. As he expected, Luhan was still asleep, despite the alarms that had gone off every five minutes. Xiumin smacked the younger boy, and when he didn’t respond, he yanked his leg and pulled him completely off the bed. Luhan landed with a thud. His eyes opened slightly, and he peered up at Xiumin.

          “Time to get up, Xiao Lu. We’re leaving in a few minutes,” Xiumin said.

Luhan mumbled something and stood up, walking out of the room to the bathroom, still wrapped in his blankets. Xiumin shook his head and closed the door behind the sleepy boy. Xiumin then changed into a pair of comfortable clothes. He would officially be meeting his mentee today. Xiumin recalled the kind words that he had said when they met in the park. Xiumin smiled at the thought. It would be good to have him as a mentee: a nice, calm presence in Xiumin’s crazy life. With that thought in his head, Xiumin began to wonder how Hye Rin was doing with Chen’s father. Xiumin sighed. He shouldn’t worry himself over it, yet his thoughts continued to drift toward the issue. He shook his head and cleared his mind, walking out of the room and heading out to the van that was to take them to the company building.

          Xiumin entered the building and was directed by their manager to go to one of the dance practice rooms with the other boys to meet their mentees. The twelve boys came into the room to find most of the younger boys already present. Xiumin found himself looking for the boy from the park, searching the small crowd of boys for the dark hair and familiar face. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned. The boy stood there, smiling.

          “Hello again,” the boy said.

          “Ah, yes. Annyeonghaseyo!” Xiumin said cheerily.

          “Despite knowing your name when we first met, I suppose I never introduced myself; I’m Hyun Jae,” he bowed slightly as he introduced himself.

          “I’m Xiumin,” Xiumin replied and returned the bow.

Hyun Jae laughed.

          “Yes, I know. I knew it was you when we first met,” he said.

          “Mwo?” Xiumin said, confused.

          “I’m actually a big fan of yours. I’m not sure if you remember, but I met you before you debuted. We went to the same high school,” Hyun Jae said.

          “Jinjja?!”

          “Ne. I’ve been a fan since then. I saw you perform at the talent show my freshman year. I believe you were a senior at the time,” he continued.

          “Wow… Yeah. I was in the show my senior year. Small world,” Xiumin said, smiling.

          “Yeah… Small world,” Hyun Jae said with a small smile.

          “Arasseo,” Xiumin said, rubbing his hands together, “Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, what would you like to do? You’re profile said you were a dancer and singer?”

          “Ne. I mostly dance, but I’m a decent singer as well.”

          “Do you want to work on singing some more? Or we could always dance if you prefer that… I do a little of everything myself, so anything is fine with me.”

          “Why don’t we start with singing? I’m sure I have the most room for improvement there,” Hyun Jae said.

          “Okay! We can go to one of the smaller practice rooms,” Xiumin said.

Hyun Jae nodded.

          “Do you also want to exchange phone numbers? That way we can contact each other later in the week?” Hyun Jae suggested.

          “Good idea! Now where did I put my phone?” Xiumin said, feeling his pockets for it.

Wait! Chen has it! Xiumin remembered. He had given his phone to Chen in the car so he could eat the rest of his breakfast on the way and had then forgotten to get it back.

          “Just a sec… Um, actually just come on. I have to grab my phone and then we can head out,” Xiumin said as Hyun Jae nodded.

They walked toward Chen and his mentee. Xiumin reached into his pocket without saying anything. Chen jumped in surprise as he felt a hand enter his pocket.

          “Yah!” Chen shouted in surprise.

Xiumin looked at him, smiling innocently.

          “Relax… I’m just getting my phone back,” Xiumin said.

          “You could warm me! Yeesh, Minnie…”

          “Mianhae. We’re heading to a smaller practice room now,” Xiumin said, pointing toward door.

          “Okay,” Chen said smiling, “Meet us for lunch though! We’ll be in the canteen.”

          “Arasseo. Alright. Ready, Hyun Jae?”

          “Ne, let’s go,” Hyun Jae said, shooting a look over his shoulder at Chen as they walked away.

Chen’s eyebrows furrowed as he saw the look in Xiumin’s mentee’s eyes. What could that mean?

A/N: Annyeong! It's been a while again .___. Mianhae OTL I wasn't as free as I thought I would be :p I had a lot of extra time today though~ Halloween is coming up too <3 I'm very excited. Do any of you have any special plans/traditions? I'm not really sure where everybody is from either, so I'd love to hear if your do anything different in your country! *sigh* I love learning about cultures <3

Regarding the issue with Luhan, I would just like to say that I am happy that he is free to rest and do as he likes, but I am very sad that he left the group. He is my ultimate bias and it did hurt a lot when I saw the news, but I plan to continue supporting him and I don't plan on letting this impact this fanfic. Stay strong!