TAO didn't know when he stopped crying. But he knew that his throat was dry and he needed something to drink. But no one allowed him to drink a drop of soju until he explained what was going on with him. He was too shy to tell them that a crush had turned into this. So he said it slowly.

"I fell in love with him when I first saw his demonstration in class. I thought he was too soft looking when he entered the gym and was sure that he was just some teacher's assistant. But when he said he was the professor a few of us thought he was kidding. Then music played to add to the drama and he performed flawless wushu."

"Wushu couple," Chen said out loud. Too much soju too soon. The others shushed him. He placed his hands on his mouth and nodded in agreement.

Tao continued. "I had a plan to fail the class so I can take it up again." the others actually looked at him disbelievingly. They knew that he hated messing up his grades and he loved martial arts. So Tao trying to suck at something that involved both was new to them. "I know, I know. It didn't work. He found out, somehow he found out that I was better than what I pretended to be. He called me out and I lost to him. His smile was bright but lonely. I don't know how else to explain it. I wanted to see him really, really smile. But the only way to really help him was to make him have what he lost. Wait...I jumped in my story. Oh. Right. He was in a bad place, a dark part of his life we can say. He was...lost. Or I think it's better to say that he lost his anchor. Him. That Heechul person. Kris hyung and I found out that his friends have all but abandoned him since I guess he was so hurt that he cried in the middle of a conversation about nothing remotely depressing. When he talked about them he sounded like he missed them a lot and that they were lost to him." Tao didn't know he had tears left but he wiped them off his cheeks nevertheless.

"I had not meant for them to come back for him. I made a promise to myself that I would replace them in his heart slowly. I would be there and I would share you guys with him so that he would have a crowd of loving people to share secrets with and his pains as well. Sure we were younger than him but together we are one." he mentioned their mantra. We are One. We are EXO.

The others smiled at his statement. Tao was a loyal person and he loved deeper than all of them ever could. He even told them he would never date anyone from their group because he would not be able to choose since he loved them all equally. They knew that he was kidding when he said that. But most of them thought it was because he had already chosen to love Kris in secret. It turns out, it was gyo-soh-nim that caught his heart.

Kai filled a shot glass with soju. "Here. Drink. Then tell us what happened next." Tao did just that. And they were relieved when he was able to say it.

"I saw him being held by that person so lovingly. I knew that my chances of replacing him were close to none. And you know how sometimes you feel or hear the sound of glass breaking when your hopes are dashed. I knew what that sounds like now. I heard it, in the back of my mind I heard it and I couldn't stop looking because he looked so happy. I wish he was looking at me when he smiled despite his tears."

Many of them listening wiped the silent tears. Luhan was sobbing. Xiumin was cooing at him despite holding back tears.

"Look. I don't mean to be an as$ but we are not in a funeral. Tao is not dead, he's heartbroken. There is no helping it. And we can't do much to ease his pain if we just drink and cry here." Lay was contradicting his own words because he was wiping tears away as he spoke then drank a shot at the end of his speech. "We need to find a way to get Tao the person he wants to be with."

Suho butted in. "Getting the person he wants would not be the solution if that person is in love with someone else. It would just be a more direct form of rejection."

Lay looked pissed. "They what do you expect him to do, mop around and wait for a blessing? Like those two breaking up again? What then, he would be the rebound guy? Hell no."

Tao got in between before they came into blows. "I don't want him to be with me if he's going to have to give up the person he really loves. I haven't and will never force anyone to love me back. You all know me better than that."

"But you have to at least try." Lay was adamant. He stood up and paced.

"Says the fool who never did," Suho muttered.

"What did you say to me?" Kris raised his hand and Lay sat back down.

"You two are not helping." Kris felt the throbbing of his temple. Maybe gathering them was a bad idea.

"What Lay's saying is sound. But you have to remember that if your purpose to make him happy again you might have to do the worst possible thing you could ever think of. " Sehun their maknae said in a pensive almost eerie calm manner.

"And what is that thing?" Tao had to ask. He had to think there was a chance for him to still be a witness to Sungmin's happiness.

"Be his friend. I mean, remain as you are, as his friend. It's the worst thing that you could ever do because it would hurt more than trying to forget about him. It's the only way you can be with him and not ruin his happiness with that Heechul guy." They looked at each other and realized just how cruel Sehun's suggestion was. They've all been friend-zoned once or twice and it smarts like a mother.

"You make a great friend. But you also know how to control your emotions. I am not saying that you have to be all rainbow and smiles around them but you can open up to the idea that you are just a friend. Once you understand that he can only love you as a friend then the pain will slowly dull. And you can move the frack on." Sehun was wise for someone his age...sometimes. "And besides, he's soooooooo old."

The rest laughed at the punch line. Tao felt himself smiling a bit more than he expected. He played with the idea in his head. It was the day before he had to go back to school and face Sungmin again. The latter had no idea what Tao felt about him and would be expecting him to be the same way. Friendly and accessible. He stood up and got his phone from his bag. He saw that there were messages and his friends forced him to read them all then delete them.

"I'm with SUJU at Heechul's place. I won't be at work until Monday. Thank you for this. I owe you two now." The others understood what that meant.

"Are you busy? Why are you not replying? I guess because I didn't really ask any questions huh? ;-) But I am so grateful to you I don't know how to express it. Please tell me how I can pay you back for this. I mean it this time. Anything you want...expect a special grade in my class."

Kris saw Tao's expression and wanted to cry again because Sungmin's messages were cutting at his friend more than the idea that he was lost to him. It was because the messages meant that there was still hope that Tao can't shrug off even if he wanted to get rid of it.

"I hope you are doing fine. Someday I would ask you and Kris to meet my brothers. They are very curious about you. Especially Siwon. I think he wants to ask you what you meant when you were going to take care of me instead of them doing that. He's protective of me even before. I told him that you are an important student to me and if he ever did something or said something to you I would go on national TV to tell everyone about his odd secrets. ;-) We are coming back tonight and some of them will fly off to Canada, China, and the US again. But this time I had with them would have never have been so possible if not for you. THANK YOU SO MUCH. This meant the world to me."

Tao was smiling but crying. He didn't want to read the other messages but he had to. His friends were on the edge of their seats.

"Is your phone broken?" There were several versions of that and there were some messages where Sungmin asked if someone else got his phone to please return it to his office. Tao had to smile. He even thought the phone was no longer with him because he's ignored it this long.

Then there were the voicemails. Tao couldn't so Kris just played it on speakerphone. The rest were wondering what Sungmin sounded like. The first voicemail kept them on their feet.

"It's beautiful here. Where I am now I can see the fields and the river. But I wished that you were here because I would have been able to show you what you have given me. My brothers are back though they may not stay too long. But we all made promises not to stop making time to see each other and made a pack to clear this weekend regardless of what we might be doing every year to remember to catch up. But we all promised it would be in SK so it's cheaper for the ones of us who are not capable of expensive trips. You started a new SUJU tradition. Thank you, Tao. Call me when you get this message."

There was another one. Sungmin sounded like he was upset.

"Why haven't you called me back? Is your phone broken or lost? Whoever gets this message bring this phone back to ..." and he rattled off his name and his office information.

Kai had to smirk. "He's a very good teacher, being this alert and concerned about you. Are you sure that he didn't date you? He sounds like a concerned lover."

"I wish." Tao had to try to smile or his friends would feel like they failed this mission. He would try it, the smile therapy, and hope to God that it works.

"Sometimes wishing is even worse. There's hope still and sometimes it's the hardest thing to let go of." Suho looked at Lay who was pouring soju on a cup so intently it showed he was drunk. Tao didn't miss the pain on Suho's face.

"I think that hope if you let it possess you makes you strong enough to be brave enough to love someone. Someone wise told me once that cowards are never meant to fall in love." Tao heard the click in his head. He smiled, a little more genuine this time.

"I can't be too cowardly. But I can't be rash. I would have to show him my love and tell him the reason for it. If he still chooses Heechul then I would let that be. But I am not going to let him go without a fight." Luhan whooped at Tao's declaration.

"So how do you plan to seduce this gyo-soh-nim of yours?" Chanyeol had to ask.

Tao grinned at his friend. "I thought you would have something tried and tested or something that's so crazy it just might work."

"Why me?" Chanyeol's reaction made the others laugh. They all knew why.

"Because you were able to make me love you," Baekhyun answered.

"We are going to need something unforgettable. Something that Sungmin-nim would remember for the rest of his life. But we can't do it in Uni because that might get us kicked out." D.O. said, rubbing his chin to try to think of something.

"I googled him and Heechul is some kind of international singer. Damn, he's good looking, almost androgynous. He's freaking popular." Chen showed a video of Heechul singing with another person.

"Who's the other guy?" Tao had asked. The other one was also a great singer and must be a SUJU as well. They were wearing a sort of uniform that had their university's logo on it. It might have been a costume of some kind.

"I think his name is Kyung-hoon or something or the other. That one can sing too, huh?"

"THAT'S IT!" Luhan stood up. Hands up in the air and he whirled before he landed on the sofa where Xiumin was sitting. He kissed his Xiu and faced the others. " We need something akin to an accidental date." He pointed at Kris. "You can help us. We can get them together without Sungmin-nim knowing it's a setup. We can give them a ticket each. We can pretend we have three tickets. Kris hyung buys the ticket to Sungmin-nim and as he owes Tao a favor then he would not hesitate to come. Kris hyung gives the ticket that is not near the ones Sungmin and Tao would have. It could be an honest mistake. As they were those tickets were complimentary. Then Tao and Sungmin would have shared a moment together. It's no picnic concert but it'll do."