Luhan looked into the vocal practice room and saw their leader in the middle of a lesson.

Joonmyeon was looking frustrated. Luhan watched as the instructor patted the leader on the back as he got up to leave. Joonmyeon put his head in his hands.

Luhan bowed as the instructor walked past him, before stepping inside.

“Hey,” Luhan said, handing the leader a bottle of water.

Joonmyeon looked up and muttered a thanks before taking a drink.

“Why aren’t I improving?” Joonmyeon moaned, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

Luhan patted the leader on the shoulder. “What do you mean? You’re doing fine, Joonmyeon. Stop being so hard on yourself.”

The leader groaned. “What are you doing here? You don’t have a lesson today.”

“I-I need to tell you something.”

Joonmyeon looked up at him. “Mm?”

“I-“ Luhan paused. “I’m leaving, Joonmyeon.”

There was a silence. “What?” Joonmyeon said, his eyes darkening.

“I’m sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, then why are you doing this? You know what this is going to do to our team’s image,” Joonmyeon said flatly.

“I know…” Luhan said. “I’m really sorry it had to come down to this.”

The leader remained silent. “…What are we going to do if both you and him are gone now?”

Luhan took a deep breath. “I’m going to try to negotiate, Joonmyeon. My parents are willing to pay the termination fee. I don’t want this to get ugly. I’ll try to make a clean break-”

Joonmyeon stared at him, his expression unreadable. “You know that's not going to happen more than anyone else. Can’t you rethink this? Doesn't EXO mean anything to you?”

Luhan was stunned into silence. "Of course you guys mean everything to me! Do you think this was an easy decision, Joonmyeon? You guys are the reason I've held on for this long!"  

Joonmyeon fiddled with the water bottle in his hands.

“I’ll try to finish the rest of the tour, Joonmyeon. It’s the least I can do,” Luhan said, softly.

Joonmyeon bit his lip. 

"Can I ask for a favor, Joonmyeon?"

Joonmyeon looked up at him silently. "Can you watch over the rest of the members? Especially the four of them. You know they'll probably have the hardest time," Luhan said, his head low.

Joonmyeon sighed. “I can't even keep the team together. I’m a terrible leader.”

“This isn't your fault, Joonmyeon. You're a great leader. Don't blame yourself,” Luhan stood up to leave, when Joonmyeon grabbed his arm.

“Hey,” the leader’s voice wavered ever so slightly. He swallowed. “T-thanks for telling me ahead of time.”

Luhan suddenly felt tears coming up and blinked them away furiously.

“I don’t hate him,” Joonmyeon continued quietly. “I just wish he trusted us enough to let us know.”

“I hope one day you can tell him that yourself," Luhan said softly. He squeezed Joonmyeon's shoulder gently. "Saranghaja,” he said quietly, before walking away.

The door shut behind him. “Saranghaja,” Joonmyeon whispered, closing his eyes tightly.

* * *

Joonmyeon looked into the audience. It was his turn to speak. He took a deep breath.

"...I think our Chinese members, especially Luhan, are very happy today," the leader said. "Thank you to all the fans for loving Luhan and EXO!"

The Beijing fans cheered.

Luhan looked over at him, blinking back his tears. Joonmyeon nodded towards him, a short exchange shared between them, before looking back into the audience.

The members took a final bow as they stood on stage as eleven for the last time.