Saranghaja.

a/n: i just couldn't handle the news that galaxy is leaving. i had to write this, i just had to. so yeah, this is in english. sorry for any grammatical errors. enjoy :)

edit//14.05.21// book cover credits to: PatriciiiaByun. In need of a book cover? Check out her shop, 'Baek's Book Covers'. Haha. Check out her other stories aswell. (Dongsaeng-ie, okay na ba? Haha. Okay ako na feeling close. Sarreh. ^_^V)

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It was far into the night and yet one room of a building was still lit up. Faint music from the room could be heard from the dark corridors of the building. The room held twelve young men covered in their own sweats singing and dancing to the music playing. With just one glance at them, their appearances screamed exhaustion, weariness, nevertheless, they continued their performance. Although it was visible that they were lacking of rest, they still danced gracefully to the melody. Their head, arms, hips, feet; their whole body was synchronized with one another. The twelve young men's voices harmonized well. You could feel that they really are one. 

Soon, the music came to an end. The group, they were Exo, all fell to the floor, completely exhausted. Only their deep breaths could be heard. No one talked, silence filled the practice room. When did they have their last break again? 1, 2, 3, 4 hours ago? No, I don't know. It didn't matter to them anyway. What's important to them is that they get the rest that they wanted. 

"Uhm, guys? Hey, can I have your attention, please?" A deep voice broke the deafening silence around them. It was Kris. All looked at him with tired eyes and Suho motioned for him to speak. 

"Uhm, yeah..I've thought about this for a while now, and uhm... I'm uh..leaving." Kris put his head down to avoid everyone's stares. 

"Oh when are you leaving, Ge? Are you going to visit your family? When are you coming back? Say Hi to your umma for me, okay, Gege?" Tao asked Kris, obviously not getting his point. Kris took a deep breath and sighed. He placed his hand on Tao's back and patted it carefully. 

"Uhm, you see Tao, I'm not coming back. I've thought about leaving EXO and I think I really have to." Kris never put his head up and didn't catch Tao, everybody's shocked expressions. 

Silence ensued again. 

The remaining eleven couldn't process what's happening. Whirlwind of questions invaded their minds. What happened? Why? When? How could this be? Does he need to leave? They couldn't think properly. Only one word came out from their mouths. 

"Why?" 

Kris sighed heavily again before answering. "I-uh-guys, it's getting pretty harder, a lot tougher than before. Our privacy, the sasaengs, the promotions, our company, the stress, the expectations, I can't handle all of them anymore. I think that if I continue, there might be a time that I'd mess up and fail everyone. I hope you understand." 

"BUT YOU ALREADY FAILED US GEGE BECAUSE OF YOUR DECISION!" Tao cried. Tears were running down his cheeks. Everyone was crying, even Chanyeol, Bakehyun and Chen, who were considered as the most playful ones. Suho tried to calm Tao down by bringing him to his embrace, whispering, "Shh it's gonna be alright, Tao-yah. It's gonna be alright. We are one, remember?"  

"No, I- you don't understand. You all respect me so much. What if I do something stupid and lose you guys? What if, one day, I'd just break down? What if I'm not good enough to be with you, to be in Exo..what if..." Kris was now sobbing too. He couldn't handle the pain, the pressure of being an artist. He had worries. What if he'd not be good enough for Exo? 

This time, it was Lay who spoke up. 

"Kris, you'll never lose us. We're always right here for you. You do so many stupid things all the time, and yet we're still here because we love you, no matter what." 

"If you're not good enough for Exo, then why do you think that they picked you to be a member?" Luhan. 

"You've trained long enough, Kris hyung. You suffered more compared to me so if it's gonna be between you and me, you deserve this better." Chen. 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun gave him a smile and a thumbs up. They still are speechless of what's happening. 

"And Hyung, you're very skilled. You can speak for different languages, good in sports, excellent in rapping, don't forget singing and dancing, too! You're also a great leader, even if I'm in Exo K and although Suho Hyung is there, I can still see your leadership when we're a whole." Kai. 

"Kris, I may be a quiet one and older than all of you, but you never fail to make me laugh. Your silliness, galaxy and you ruined cold image. All of those, it made you who you are." Xiumin. 

"Just by being Kris Hyung, you are loved by all of us, even our fans. You're good enough to be in Exo, you're even the best one to be put here. No one can replace you." Kyungsoo. 

"Kris Hyung, I may be the maknae, the youngest, they might even say that I don't understand this properly but I just want to say that Hyung never failed me. Hyung is always there when I needed him. Although I have Luhannie Hyung, Minseok Hyung, Suho Hyung, Lay Hyung, Baek Hyung, Yeol Hyung, Jongdae Hyung, Kyunggie Hyung ("Yah! You can't call MY Soo like that!" -Kai"), Tao and Kai, they can never replace Kris Hyung. They are all different in good ways from Hyung. Hyung gets mad at me sometimes for being a disrespectful maknae but I still love you for doing that. I know Hyung just likes the best for me. Hyung can also make people laugh without trying. He can melt someone's icy heart by just being himself. Kris Hyung is loved by so many people because he is Kris Hyung. I respect Hyung a lot, too, because he is very responsible, kind. Hyung, do you remember what you promised? Do you remember what you wrote in your padlock? You wrote, "We are EXO, together forever." So please Kris Hyung, don't leave. You said that EXO will be together forever. We are a family now, Hyung, if you leave, it's like a part of us dies. Hyung, do you remember what I said on our Sukira radio show? I pray for the hyungs every night that we could hold on to each other, all of us not to fight and last until the end happily. So Hyung, please, please don't leave us." Sehun said. The members were very shocked at what Sehun said, being the youngest and all. Kris felt his heart so heavy. He just let the tears cascade down his face. 

"Kris, I am a leader, too. I know the pressure is on us but Kris, please don't turn your back on us. We always say that we are one, that we will love. If you need us, we're all here for you. We won't leave you, Kris. We may come from different parents, different races, but we have found a family in our hearts. Kris, if you're hurting just tell us. We will gladly help you. We can go through this, I know we can it's because we are one. We are EXO, we are one. We will always be EXO, we will always be one. We can make it through the end together." Suho patted Kris on his back. 

Now, Tao spoke up. He finally regained himself after his outburst a while ago. 

"Gege, First of all, I'm sorry for what I've said earlier. I was shocked. I felt anger, I felt that I was betrayed because youre leaving me, us, but gege, I couldn't stay mad at you. You're the best gege I've ever met. You've been there for me since I started. You helped me when I couldn't speak Korean that much. You paid for my meals, you shopped with me, you waited for me outside the bathroom for half an hour because I was scared of showering alone, you put up with me and my prince disease, you never ffailed to make me laugh, you tell me what's right and what's wrong, you always helped me, Kris ge. Of course you deserve to be in EXO. You endured the pain of being away from your family since you were still a trainee. You had to live alone in a foreign country just to pursue you dreams. I admire you so much, Gege. You're the best leader EXO M could have, no one could ever replace you. Gege, don't give up now. We're now on the top. We all worked so hard for this. We endured so many sufferings from our trainee days up until now. We may be on top, but I know we still have a long way to go. So Kris Gege, please don't give up now. We can go through this together. EXO will never leave a brother behind, because we are a family. We are one, we are EXO." 

Kris doesn't know what to say. He just let the tears flow. The eleven made their ways to Kris and hugged him. They shared a group hug. 

"Thank you. Just thank you so much, all of you. Thank you for putting up with me, for believing in me. I won't leave you, not now, not ever. I promise." Kris smiled as he hugged the others. 

All of them might be hurting right now. All of them might be tired. They still have a long way to go but they can make it through the end together happily. Why? It is because they are EXO. They are not just a bunch of singers and dancers. No, they are more than that. They are a family. EXO will always be EXO and they will, forever be, one.