/two/

The next afternoon, the boys were on their way out of the dorm building in a group of eleven as they piled into the agency assigned cars. They were headed back to Nam Yumi's house for something she called a proper party after the meet and greet she had with EXO. Along with the kpop group, other prominent young people in Korea had been invited to celebrate the twenty first birthday of the heiress to Samsung Telecommunications. Most were people she had only invited out of obligation--the sons and daughters of her fathers business partners. Nam Yumi didn't feel like she had any real friends other than Kim Junmyeon.

Yifan had been invited as well, but he cooped himself up in his room without saying another word to his group mates, refusing to go out after the day's practices. He was tired, he was fed up with everything and only wanted to be alone.

As he sat on his bed, he contemplated his thoughts. The same ones that had been circling around in his mind for a while now.

Should I just pack up my things and go?

I really could just take my things and leave before they come back.

They won't even notice that I left until tomorrow morning at the earliest when I don't show up to practice again.

That was true to a certain extent. For a week already, Minseok had been staying with Tao and Lu Han in their bedroom. Tao--whose secret Yifan already knew about--had surrendered his bed to Minseok while he shared the other bed with Lu Han. Yifan wasn't exactly pleased about the latter, but he was glad to have gotten Minseok out of the room. Then there was the fact that he, Lu Han, and Kyungsoo weren't exactly on speaking terms anymore, all because of problems that involved girls--or one girl in particular.

He wanted it to himself, so that when the time came, no one would be able to stop him from leaving. Without Minseok in the room, it was that much easier. Minseok didn't resent him for it. He and the other boys knew that Yifan was going through a rough time, and he surrendered the entire room to his group mate without question. Each of the other eleven members would do anything to make him smile again, even if it was something as insignificant as giving him the entire dorm room.

Yifan sighed once again, weighing his options.

I haven't heard back from my doctor...or my lawyer...Maybe the best thing is to stay until we have a plan to proceed.

He buried his face in his hands and took in a frustrated breath. He suddenly regretted not going to that party with the other boys, not because of the party itself, but because it could have easily been one of the last opportunities to spend time with them. They were unsuspecting of his plans and he didn't want to tell them anything. He didn't want them to resent him for wanting to leave, for seeking other opportunities that SM was denying him. He would probably seem selfish in their eyes.

They all worked so arduously and swore with so much conviction that they are one. And there was Yifan, being only one for himself.

Then he thought about that girl--from the meet and greet--he had been so cold to her for no reason. But she had caught him at a bed time--he was in a bad mood. Then again, when wasn't Wu Yifan in a bad mood of the late?

He finally pushed himself off his bed, deciding that he would go to that party. 

-

He had taken an agency car into the high scale residential areas of the Gangnam District in Seoul, having stopped by a flower shop to pick up some roses for the birthday girl. Perhaps it was too much, but he wanted to show his fan that he was sorry for treating her badly when all she wanted was to help him out. 

The car arrived at the location and it was a few minutes before they were let in. The security guards were asking for identifications for everyone in the car, after which they took down licence plate numbers, names, and other personal information. Yifan handed it all over with a sigh. Then he was let into the house where the driver stopped at the front steps. Already from the outside one could see lights and hear music blaring. The cars were being taken to a back lot by the valet parking staff.

He walked up to the front doors with a bouquet of red roses nestled in between his arms, feeling rather sheepish now that it was sinking in. He felt like one of those people from old movies in black and white. The boy all dressed up and with a bunch of roses to court the girl. Only he wasn't interested in courting Nam Yumi. He only wanted to offer an apology for having treated her the way that he did.

Right at the entrance were two intimidating security guards who stopped him like the people at the front gates had done earlier. "Name." One of them commanded in a stern voice.

I should have stayed home, Yifan sighed. "Wu Yifan." He said in a bored tone.

Without even looking at anything to confirm, the security guard replied, "Not on the list."

"The guards at the front let me in." Yifan challenged. "I was here yesterday. Try Kris Wu."

"Not on the list." The guard shook his head once more.

Yifan was about to turn around and leave the party, fed up with having to guess his way past the guards, when he saw Yumi walk by with another one of her guests. "Yumi-yah!" He called, waving his free arm frantically to get her attention. 

The way she was dressed was a stark contrast to the way she had been dressed for the television segment. For the segment she had dressed in a powder pink suit, clearly reflecting the wealth of her family. At her party she was dressed in a frilly little lace black dress with dark make up adorning her face. He had been surprised that he even recognized her in the darkness and strobe lights of the party inside. 

She turned as she heard her name being called and her lips turned into a smile. "Kris oppa! So glad you could make it. Jun oppa mentioned you were feeling ill."

Yifan smiled as he pushed past the two guards to enter the house. "I was. But then I felt better and I thought I would come apologize for treating you like crap yesterday. I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you." He said to her, apologetic and with a hint of awkwardness. It wasn't her fault, he just hadn't been very happy in weeks. He offered her the roses, practically shoving them into her arms out of nervousness. 

Her eyes widened in slight surprise. "Thank you, oppa." She bowed her head gratefully.

"Happy birthday." He added, his lips curling into the smallest hint of a smile.

She smiled back at him. She reached higher to peck him on the cheek. Even in her high heels she was still a ways shorter than Yifan who was over six feet tall. "Thank you. I hope you have fun at my party." She said to him.

-

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ohyumimydarling: finally was able to corner this guy and got him to take a pic with me ^.^ #birthdaygirl #yifan #mybias <3

comments...

i_overdose_on_exo: he makes her look so smol *-*

galaxysfanfan: she's so lucky!

kreasedpants: kris oppa is so handsome <3

exo_growl: she got the members to follow her on instagram too. so jealous T_T

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-

The party hadn't been as bad as he thought it would be. He spent the entire time trying to talk to Yena, who was busy putting all her attention on Lu Han. Meanwhile Yumi was trying to make conversation with him, which he allowed on occasion since it was her birthday and it was her party. She had even convinced him to take a picture with her, which she posted onto her instagram account.

But it wasn't until the next morning that Yifan followed her back.

He had gotten ready to attend group dance practices for Overdose, both the Korean and Chinese versions. In both he had barely gotten any lines. Even in the Chinese version, his Korean group mates seemed to get more lines than he did. Yifan didn't feel like he was respected as an artist by SM Entertainment.

He was only attending practices now out of a lack of something better to do. 

Yifan was the first one in the lounge, waiting for everyone else to arrive so that they could head to the SM Town building together, when Junmyeon entered the room. It was surprising that they even had the energy and the will power to wake up so early in the morning when they had gotten back to the dorms around two that morning. The party seemed to have gotten better as the night progressed and Yifan downed a few drinks. Enough so that he could loosen up and bury his troubles, but little enough that he wasn't going around revealing several secrets that he knew.

Wiggling his eyebrows at EXO-M's leader, Junmyeon said in a teasing voice, "I know someone who likes you, Yifan hyung."

Yifan sighed. "My mother, probably."

Junmyeon's teasing smile dropped in an instant. "You're such a kill joy."

Shrugging, Yifan replied, "Fine, I'll play along. Tell me who."

"You seriously didn't notice?" His group member shot him a look full of surprise. When Yifan shook his head, the EXO leader continued, "Yumi likes you. Hasn't it been a while since you dated anyone?"

The older boy thought about it. It had been so long since he had dated someone. So long that he didn't even remember the girl's name or what she looked like. All he really remembered was that they were both trainees under SM and that it had been the most awkward date in his life where everything that could have gone wrong did. 

His memories then flashed to mental images of him being told that he was going to debut with EXO, and the sub unit EXO-M. It had been one of the greatest moments of his life. He was finally going to debut after four years of training and working hard.

He remembered his audition and leaving Canada to move to Korea.

Flashback after flashback which culminated with his decision that SM Entertainment was no longer what he wanted.

"I thought she had a thing for you." Yifan pointed out.

Junmyeon crinkled up his nose in mild disgust because he simply didn't see Nam Yumi that way. "Please don't ever say that again. That would be like assuming that my sister is in love with me. Besides, I have other interests..." He trailed off with a specific person in mind.

"I have other interests too." Yifan said. He thought Yumi was pretty, and she had been nice to him, even when he had been cold to her. But she was a spoiled rich girl. She didn't know what it was to wok for anything like he and his mates did. She got everything handed to her whenever she wanted it. He thought that perhaps he was another of her whims, and he knew how it worked. She was the type who got everything she wanted, and then tossed it aside after getting bored with it.

He already felt that SM had done that to him with his career and his aspirations. He didn't want a girl doing it to him too.

"You don't even have a girlfriend though." Junmyeon argued.

"Neither do you." Yifan said back.

There was a flash thought in the EXO leader's mind before he continued, "But she likes you."

Yifan said nothing, but he couldn't help but bring up a thought in his mind. I'm not sticking around Korea much longer anyway.

-

♥39k likes

ohyumimydarling: oh heart, keep thy glow. <3 #21roses

comments...

lee_jina: oooh yumi ;) get it gurl.

lee_jina: your party was amazing btw 

ohyumimydarling: @lee_jina thx jina :p

lee_jina: when are we going clubbing again??

ohyumimydarling: @lee_jina i dont know. maybe this weekend..

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-

another rather filler update for you all. im having a lot of fun writing this because i have to put myself in yifan's shoes and trying to get into words the way he might have felt just before he decided to leave the group. its sad to think about it, but its a nice writing experience.

i hope you all like the update. and i'll try to update this again soon. thank you for reading.

-clary xx