stay

final

sehun stared at the paper in front of him blankly.

exo, one of the biggest kpop groups, to continue as a 8-member boy band after departure of eldest member, xiumin.

his eyes held a hint of sadness and anger as his mostly emotionless gaze scanned the headline countless time. he couldn't bring himself to read the article further; just the thought of losing another member was enough to make him want to through the whole dorm apart.

the clock showed 3:23 am as the tiny lamp in his room provided just enough light to show the newspaper in front of him.

a picture of them from their love shot promotion was plastered on the front page. there, at the center of the crowd, was xiumin's face.

and sehun couldn't bare to look at the paper further. his hands reacting on his own- tearing the paper apart into bits in pieces, his own breath growing heavier as his movements got blurrier and faster. there was frustration flooding in every vein of his, anger and sadness which had seeped into his skin was suddenly pouring out. he hated it, it was like reliving the moments when kris, luhan or tao left.

it was pure agony.

in his hatred driven mind, he decided he hated xiumin. his umin-hyung, for leaving him, for leaving them, for leaving the band and for leaving all the exo-ls who loved him.

as a stray tear drop rolled down his cheek, he started at the now shredded paper in his hands. he hated minseok.

a cold winter day, it could be best described, when minseok dragged sehun out of his bed to take him somewhere in the wee hours of the day. the rest were sleeping, exhausted from hours of practise and stress which had engulfed them as they prepared for their debut.

sehun had whined constantly of the bitter cold while putting on his multiple layers of protection. minseok had only giggled, choosing to simply smile when demanded a reason to be dragged out of his bed at 6am to go in the freezing cold.

"trust hyung, sehunnie! i know you'll love it!"

"aish, umin-hyung! it's so cold!"

"yeah, but you'll love it once we get there!"

and from there, minseok took sehun's hands in his as they both walked to the unknown location stealthily.

sehun's constant cribbing has died down as he observed where his hyung was taking him. as the maknae of the group, he was used to all the things trying to take care of him; some more subtle than the others. he didn't spend that much time alone with minseok though, but something about being in the eldest's presence was comforting; the man just had a soothing aura around him.

at one point, sehun had become so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even realised they had stopped walking until minseok tugged at his hand slightly, a hopeful glint in his eyes as he asked sehun if he liked it.

at that moment, sehun finally took a proper look at the view in front of him. it was the city of seoul, covered with snow. a glistening white city under the sun's warm rays; a certain charm that sehun had never seen before. it looked like a kingdom from a fairy tale. the contrast of the white snow with the occasional bright red or yellow car peeking out made sehun even more awestruck. how could a city covered with a snowy blanket be this colourful- the shiny undertones of frozen water bodies reflecting under the sun added glamour to the tranquil scenery.

it wasn't until he felt a glove covered hand push his jaw close, that he realised his mouth was wide open- his surprise clearly evident. minseok had an adorable gummy smile stretching on his face, his eyes filled with hope, as he asked sehun.