Luhan had just taken a step into the relatively empty bus when his phone rang. A quick glance at the ID and he made his way to the back of the public vehicle, away from any potential eavesdroppers. He took a deep breath before pressing the accept button.

He could get through this.

“Hello?”

“Lu ge...”

He could not get through this.

He unconsciously let a smile settle on his lips. It had been a while since they had kept in touch. Luhan was busy with his activities in China while the other was occupied by his own hectic schedule.

Pulling the mask under his chin and directing his gaze out the window, he inquired, “It’s nice to hear from you again. What can I help you with?” There was a long pause, long enough for Luhan to guess what might be running in the younger’s mind. “Lay?”

The man on the other side of the line let out a sigh before he started cautiously. “It’s nothing, ge. I was just curious how you’ve been. Are you sleeping well? How’s your schedule? You’re not sick, right? You’re fine, right ge?”

A chuckle left his mouth. “I’m fine, Lay. If anything, I should be worried about you. How’s your back?”

“It’s sore sometimes but I’ll get through it.” They fell back into silence as neither of them knew what to say.

Since when had they become this awkward and distant before?

“Lu ge?”

“Yeah?”

Lay hesitated before continuing his talk. “Xiumin hyung and Chen went on a coffee run just now and...” Lay’s voice faltered but Luhan already knew where he was going. “Xiumin hyung thought he saw you when he entered the cafe. Pretty crazy, huh?”

Luhan wanted to deny it. He wanted to shout, “No, he’s not crazy! He did see me!” Instead, he replied with a lame ‘yeah’.

“Lu ge.”

He hummed in acknowledgement, not trusting his voice to speak just yet. He knew if he did, he would either break down crying or blurting out the truth.

“Are you... are you here? Are you in Seoul?”

Luhan knew the question was bound to pop out sooner or later but that didn’t mean he knew how to answer it. It was an even harder decision because Lay was the one asking him. His little brother, his best friend, his partner in crime.

“Nope.” The lie easily slipped out of his mouth, his calm voice masking his real raging emotion. Oh, how he so badly want to break down that very moment. “Hey, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Oh, okay. Bye, Lu ge. I miss you.” The line went dead and Luhan swallowed the words he so desperately wanted to say back.

“I miss you too.”

*~*~*~*~*

The place was quiet. It wouldn’t have been a problem if none of them were the crazy types before a show. Unfortunately, Luhan had a really good idea for the change of atmosphere. He looked around, trying to find something, anything that could take his mind away. The silence was slowly killing him inside, knowing he was the cause of all this.

Suddenly, a bowl of soup noodles was pushed in front of him, making his head turned towards the brown-headed boy who was staring at him with a sad smile. All the other members were standing a few feet behind him, as if not daring to come any closer.

“You hadn’t eaten yet, so we thought you might be hungry. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you later,” DO say and it was hard not to catch the underlying tone in his voice. Heck, he saw right through his brave facade and he knew. He stared at the steaming bowl for a while but shook his head. He couldn’t stomach anything from them, knowing that they were still being nice to him, caring for him even after knowing what he was about to do to them. With a sigh, DO take a seat and abruptly pulled him into a hug.

“I’m sorry.” The surrounding seemed to suddenly stopped as he continued talking, all eyes glued on the two. “I’m sorry we couldn’t have stayed together longer. I’m sorry you have to go. I’m sorry we couldn’t make you stay but I don’t want you to be sorry for leaving us because you’re not. We’ve been a family for 2 years now, so why stop now? We’re brothers even if crazy happens to us because that is who we are and nothing will change that. We’ll always support you just like how you will always support us.”

Tears pooled his doe eyes, obstructing his eyesight but nether less saw the rest nodding their heads. Soon, one by one, all of them came closer and joined the hug. Luhan couldn’t stop himself as the first tear slid down his red cheeks.

Sehun, who was hugging his back whispered softly, his voice cracking a bit from crying, “Do you have to go?”

He couldn’t answer him. Instead he just tightens his grasp on them, not wanting to let go just yet. Not yet...

----------

Hey, guys. So....yeah, that happened. Please don't kill me! I just adore Layhan's friendship and I couldn't resist!

Anyway, I updated! I just want to dedicate this chapter to the 100+ views I got and to the 4 subscriber of this book. It might not be much but I think it's a big accomplishment for me considering I just started out in aff a few months ago. Thanks to ice_fanfanlaxy, Miss-Sesame, kmsbrothers and greenrocky3.

So, the next chapter... *slowly backing off* Still not sure if you need the tissues but just in case.

On that last note, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll see you guys at the end.

~BookWorm61 :)