Don't go, Suho Hyung.

Part 2- Upset Maknae

Meeting the day lasted for two hours. Members sat there sipping on their respective coffees and bubble tea. Sehun glanced at the members. Chanyeol and Baekhyun surely looked more attentive when they were probably attending classes in school. Baekhyun was fiddling in his chair,itching to stand up and maybe hum a song. This was Baekhyun and it was hard to predict. Chnayeol was fidgeting in his chair too , may be because he was too big for it. His legs were hitting the table and it was bothering him. Chen hyung was glancing at the wall clock every five minutes hoping it would move faster. Kai was sitting on his right and was ready to sleep any second now. Only person who was listening in the meeting was Suho. Well, he was the leader for a reason. Even when the meetings were supremely boring and drab, Suho listened with rapt attention. Rest of the members actually banked on Suho to be attentive in all the meetings so that he could just tell them.

" So that's the schedule for the next three months till January end. We will have to figure out the schedule post January once we have Suho's confirmed enlistment date." Their manager said and left the meeting hall. That's when all the fidgeting, staring at the clock and yawning stopped. Five pairs of eyes stared at Suho. Sehun knew Suho would be enlisting this year but didn't know that the date was just round the corner. He stared at Suho with a stunned expression. Chanyeol didn't wait for Suho to say something and stormed out of the meeting room. Kai was enraged and without glancing at the leader followed Chanyeol. Chen and Baekhyun looked at Suho and gave him a small smile, reassuring their support. Suho stared at the youngest EXO who hadn't glanced up to confront him.

Suho softly whispered to Sehun," Sehun?"

Sehun was upset, more importantly he felt betrayed. He had tried speaking to Suho about his enlistment date but he had been so noncommittal , feigning as if he had no idea. Sehun looked at Suho with hurt evident in his eyes and left for practice room without saying a word. Suho slid further in his chair and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He hadn't expected three of them to behave like this. Who ever said that they had grown up and matured into adults? Suho was the last one left in the meeting room when he saw Chen and Baekhyun's retreating forms. How was he supposed to them that he himself was having such a tough time dealing with this? The reason he didn't tell them was because he was still figuring things out.

He walked to the practice room and hesitated before opening the door. It was time to confront them. He opened the door. Chen , Kai and Sehun were sitting on the side busy with their phones. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were lying down the floor and staring at the ceiling. Chanyeol looked back and saw Suho entering the room.

"How long have you known?" Chanyeol asked as he turned and flopped on his elbows. Suho smiled to himself. As expected Chanyeol took bulls by the horn and addressed the question.

Suho removed his jacket and kept it neatly on the side. "Can I speak to everyone?" he asked as he looked at everyone. Kai, Chen and Sehun put down their phones and moved closer to Chanyeol and Baekhyun who were lying in the centre of the room.

"I have known about my enlistment for about 10 days now. I wanted to push it to April but management wanted it to happen sooner. I will most likely enroll in mid February. Post my enlistment there is nothing concrete. I don't think there are any concerts for this year end. All of you will be pursuing your sub units. I want you all to release your albums. Chen, Baekhyun and Kai will be working on one album. Sehun and Chanyeol will be working on the other album. The EXO concerts will now happen in early 2021 when DO and Xiumin are back. They have asked me to pick a leader who will take EXO forward. I will not be picking one. You will pick one and tell me. I would communicate the decision to the management." Suho said as his eyes turned glassy. He looked at each and everyone of them. How far they had come. How they had developed into these mature , handsome , talented artists. Suho was proud! He was damn proud of his boys! If anyone had asked him what was his biggest achievement, he would happily and proudly tell them that it was being the leader of the most genuine, talented, honest and happy set of 8 boys.

Kai answered Suho's question,"Chen!"

Baekhyun was in his element," Drum rolls please, it is Chen!"

The others just nodded making it a given that Chen was the best person to lead the group in Suho's absence. Chen looked up at Suho and gave him a reassuring smile, still second guessing if he could lead these men as well as Suho had in the last 10 years.

There was so much more that Suho wanted to say and there was much more that members wanted to say but it was just difficult putting it all in words. Suho looked at his four babies in the practice room , Kai , Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had reconciled to the situation but he was concerned about Kai and Sehun. They were the youngest and probably the most vulnerable. He was more worried about Sehun. Sehun had this tendency to go into his shell and not express himself. Suho had been with him for a long time to read maknae's mind but he wasn't sure if the others would be able to do that in his absence. If only he could tell Sehun about how much he had fought with the management to get Sehun to enlist with him but they had refused point blank. He peaked at Sehun, who was discussing a dancing step with Kai. Sehun wasn't going to express his anger straightforward, no that wasn't what Sehun would do. Suho was bracing himself for a few weeks of Sehun tantrums and misdemeanor before he would come and speak to Suho.