When Baekhyun woke up in the morning he was alone on the couch. He had a splitting headache and sat up quickly which was a mistake because everything spun for a good 45 seconds before he was able to steady himself. He tried to remember the night before but only could recall glimpses, Jongdae, the store, some minimum wage robot? He groaned and put his hand to his head.

He found a sticky note on his forehead, written on it was

"u owe me so much coffee. xoxo- jongdae"

He put the sticky note back on his forehead and tried to stand up, but decided against it, preferring to sink back into the sofa than vomit out whatever was in his stomach.

A door somewhere opened and a herd of small dogs were suddenly on the couch, Baekhyun and biting him. He tried to gently push them off but that didn't work so he tried to pet three dogs at once but found a problem in the fact that he only had two hands. He ended up petting none of them and holding his arms out trying to solve his two arms-three dogs dilemma.

Luckily Jongin was there to save the day, he removed two of the dogs, leaving Baekhyun with a manageable one dog-two hand situation.

"Are you hungry? Minseok told me to make sure you eat. And drink water, and take your medicine." Jongin said, staring doe-eyed at Baekhyun.

"I'm fine. Tell Minseok to himself." Baekhyun stood up again, this time with success. He moved all the bags from the night before into his room, he vaguely remembered buying candy, he remembered Jongdae sitting in the cart, smiling.

He sat on the floor and dumped all the gingerbread houses on the floor. He pulled out a huge board he had been saving for this purpose and set to work assembling his gingerbread castle.

After a few hours, he was about halfway done, he had ed up a lot, but in the end, he figured it would work enough. Jongin had come in and forced him to take his medicine and eat some porridge. He was lost in the world of gingerbread, glad to have something to focus on.

He was interrupted by Jongin and, to his surprise, Choi Siwon, standing in his doorway. Jongin was smirking, "I can't believe you stood up a cop." He said.

"Hello Baekhyun, I'm told you had a...stressful night," Siwon said, kneeling down.

"Oh, I was supposed to meet you at work I'm so sorry," Baekhyun said, suddenly remembering the conversation shortly before he fell out of the tree.

"It's alright. Can we talk here? is there somewhere else you'd like to go? Your boss, Minseok, said you had been in the hospital yesterday are you okay?" Siwon sat on the floor across from Baekhyun, the half finished ginger castle between them.

"I'm fine I just have a minor concussion. We can talk here if you want. Do you want to help me build my castle?" Baekhyun picked up another huge tube of icing and handed it to Siwon.

"Um, sure. I just have a couple of questions, how long have you known the Kim family?"

"Um, about two years I guess."

"And did you ever know any member of the Kim's to be involved with anything...suspicious."

"What do you mean, suspicious. Jongdeok was a good guy. He like, didn't even drink." Baekhyun set down the piece of the house he was working on, "Why would someone kill him? He was like? a single dad."

Siwon sighed, "we got a call, the night of the accident. Someone saw a tall man putting water on the road, it was already slippery so it just made a lot of black ice. They also saw the person putting tire spikes. Upon investigation, we found the tires had been destroyed. We have a couple suspects but that's all I can tell you." They were quiet for a while. Siwon set down his frosting and looked around Baekhyun's room. Baekhyun had become so engaged in the house he wasn't paying attention.

"Who is this?" Siwon asked, holding up an old photograph. It was a picture from when they had first moved into the house, Luhan and Minseok, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, Jongin and his dogs. They were all smiling, their arms around each other. Siwon was pointing at Chanyeol.

"Oh, um, my ex. That was taken the day we all moved in here."

"What is his name?"

"Park Chanyeol? Why?"

"Can I take a picture of this? It May prove important to our investigation."

"Why?" Siwon was already taking a picture

"I'm not at liberty to say at this time. I think I'll let you rest for now. Is it okay if I reach out to you for further questions? Also, Park Sunyoung from Social Services might be in touch, she has some questions about Jongsu."

"What happened to the other guy?"

"He was reassigned. Sunyoung is good, though. And if you can think of anything else relevant to this please do not hesitate to call me." Siwon was standing up and brushing off, seeming to be in a huge rush to leave, "Also, um, good luck on your...gingerbread house." 

Baekhyun looked at the picture which he assumed was somewhere on the floor in a corner. It used to be framed but then he couldn't stand to see Chanyeol's face so he took it out and put it on the floor. He put the picture back under his bed and returned to quietly assembling the castle.

"Why do you need the picture?" He asked again.

"Are you going to decorate it today?" Siwon gestured to the house.

"No, I'm not decorating it. It's for someone else." Baekhyun responded, moving on from the photograph. Siwon stood up.

"Well, I think this is all for now. I will call you if anything else comes up." he suddenly seemed distracted but Baekhyun didn't notice.

"Cool-io my man." He also stood up, figuring as soon as Siwon left he could eat something.

They walked to the front and just as Siwon was reaching for the doorknob the door opened and a very livid Mrs. Byun was standing there, flanked by Minseok and Luhan who looked almost terrified and were standing farther apart than normal.

"Oh, so you are alive." She said, glaring at Baekhyun.

"Mother." He said. Siwon glanced between them, "How nice of you to stop by unannounced."

"Are you his roommates?" Siwon asked Minseok and Luhan.

"Yeah, who are you?" Luhan shot back. He wasn't in a good mood but Baekhyun was not doing a great job of picking up on social cues. In fact, he felt a little dizzy. He leaned against the back of the sofa.

"I'm Choi Siwon with the police, would either of you be available for questioning?"

"Now you're involved with the Police?" Baekhyun's mother's eyes almost bulged out of her head.

"Let's just get inside okay?" Minseok said calmly, ushering Luhan and Baekhyun's mother inside. Before anyone could say anything else he stood in front of Baekhyun staring at him, "You don't look great, have you eaten today?"

"yes"

"Baekhyun" Minseok crossed his arms.

"I was busy"

"Come with me." Minseok grabbed him by the arm and pushed him into the kitchen. He poured a glass of water and watched Baekhyun drink it, and then began boiling water for ramen.

"Why would you need to talk to us?" Luhan was talking to Siwon in the living room. Siwon shrugged.

"You have known Jongsu's family as long as Baekhyun."

"So? At some point, I've seen all his students but that doesn't mean I'd be much help in an investigation."

"Investigation?" Mrs. Byun demanded, staring at Siwon with the piercing look she had trained on Baekhyun seconds before.

"Yes. I'm a detective. Do you know any of Baekhyun's students?"

"How the hell would I? I had to call his roommate to find his address!"

"Alright thank you. I'll be in touch Baekhyun." Baekhyun nodded at him and Siwon left, awkwardly nodding goodbyes to everyone else. As soon as the door was closed Mrs. Byun rounded on Baekhyun.

"Why is there a detective talking to you?"

"Well, mom-"

"Here." Minseok interrupted Baekhyun by shoving ramen in his face, "eat half of this before you say anything else." Baekhyun locked eyes with him for a second before taking and quickly eating as much of the ramen as he could without breaking eye contact before Minseok grabbed the bowl away.

"I'm still hungry" Baekhyun whined.

"You can have the rest in ten minutes after you take your medicine." Minseok set the ramen on the counter. "Luhan and I are going to go to another room and order dinner while you guys talk."

"Wait don't leave me here-" Baekhyun tried to grab Minseok's arm but his depth perception was off and he ended up punching Minseok's stomach instead. Minseok ignored and shoved Luhan into his room.

Baekhyun's mom sat down on the couch. Baekhyun stood leaning against the wall, not making eye contact with her.

"Why did you leave so suddenly? I thought you would be happy to see Chanyeol." She said quietly. Baekhyun was suddenly very emotional.

"Something came up." He said bluntly.

"Why is there a cop?"

"One of my student's father was murdered. He is investigating it since I have known the family for a couple years he talked to me. I'm not in trouble." He was suddenly feeling very dizzy. He sat down on the floor, trying not to let his weakness show.

"Are you okay? You don't look good." His mom said, staring at him with concern.

"I'm fine. I hit my head the other day, not a big deal."

They sat in silence for a moment before the doorbell rang. Baekhyun got up and opened the door, almost ready to pass out. He didn't see anyone at first but was tackled by a small person hugging his legs.

"Hyung." Jongsu was bundled up in a puffy jacket and hat and scarf, but through the gap in his clothing, Baekhyun could see the child was crying. His nose was red and his face tear-streaked. Baekhyun put a hand on his head and looked outside for an adult.

"How did you get here?" He asked, kneeling down and pulling Jongsu off of him to look at him. He held the child at arms length and gently wiped away his tears.

"My grandma is sick again," He said, sobbing quietly. Baekhyun picked him up and closed the door, carrying Jongsu close to the fire Jongin had started.

"Who is this?" He had forgotten about his mom.

"Um, one of my students. Jongsu where is your uncle?"

"I was with Taeyeon Noona but Uncle called her and said Grandma was sick again."

"Where is your noona?" Baekhyun began helping Jongsu out of his layers. Jongsu shrugged. Baekhyun pulled out his phone, no missed calls or texts. He called Taeyeon.

"Baek now isn't really a great ti-"

"Where are you?" He asked before she could tell him it wasn't a good time.

"Listen don't tell Jongdae, Jongsu ran away and I don't know where he went." Taeyeon sounded close to tears.

"I have Jongsu, he's at my house," Baekhyun said, Jongsu was sniffling again. Baekhyun pulled him into a tight hug and let the child cry into him.

"Oh thank oh my god. Okay, I'm coming to get him." Taeyeon said, "Jongdae's mom just got re-admitted and I don't know what he would have done if I had lost like, the one person that matters to him anymore, ."

"We'll neither of you will have to deal with that. I can take care of him until you get here okay? Does Jongdae need anything?"

"I don't know Baekhyun he was really tired today, he wouldn't say why. He will probably stay at the hospital tonight." Baekhyun felt a pang of guilt. He was the reason Jongdae was tired.

"Okay, we'll talk more when you get here." He said, hanging up.

"Mom, this is Jongsu. Jongsu, this is my mom." Baekhyun pushed Jongsu up a little so he could look at his mom. He sniffled.

"It's good to meet you." He said respectfully.

"You too sweetie." Baekhyun's mom said in her calming mom voice.

Minseok and Luhan came out of their room, "Okay you can finish your ramen now." Minseok said, stopping in his tracks when he noticed Jongsu, "Hey bud"

"Hello, Hyung," Jongsu said.

"When did you get here?"

"Jongdae's mom is in the hospital again, Taeyeon is coming to get Jongsu."

"Tell them to stay for dinner. Minseok got excited and ordered a ton of food and Jongin is out tonight so there will be enough." Luhan said, ruffling Jongsu's hair as he walked by.

"I'm staying too." Mrs. Byun said, "this is a mess and you need a motherly touch." She stood up.

"Mom you don't have to-"

"Nonsense. You cut me out of your life for far too long Byun Baekhyun. I'm going to help out in any way I can." She said, with the voice of determination that Baekhyun knew was senseless to argue with.

He exchanged glances with Minseok and Luhan, both of them shrugged. "We could always use more help," Minseok said, smiling.

"Someone get that child some hot chocolate or something," She said, finally taking off her jacket and heading to the kitchen. Minseok nodded and began doing what he did best, preparing warm beverages.

Baekhyun sat down and zoned out for a second, letting everything unfold around him. He wasn't quite sure what it was but something was about to be very wrong. His stomach lurched and he figured it out. He stood up quickly and stumbled to the bathroom before emptying his stomach into the toilet.

"Did you tell your mom how you got that concussion?" Luhan asked from the doorway. Baekhyun's face was still in the toilet so he simply responded with the middle finger. He stood up slowly and Luhan handed him a wet towel to wipe his face. The cool towel felt amazing on his heated skin.

"Hyung?" Jongsu was standing timidly in the doorway, looking anxious.

"Hey, buddy," Baekhyun said, trying to stop the world from spinning.

"Are you okay?" Baekhyun noticed for the first time Jongsu was holding the stuffed cat from his dad. Luhan put a hand comfortingly on Jongsu's head.

"Yeah, buddy he's fine. He just doesn't feel well. You've been sick before right?"

"Once I threw up in Uncle's bed," Jongsu said, Baekhyun laughed, picturing Jongdae's reaction.

"He must have loved that," Baekhyun said. He felt steady enough to leave the bathroom, Jongsu found his hand and held it as they walked back to the kitchen. Right before they entered Jongsu stopped walking, staring at the ground. Luhan continued to find Minseok.

"What's wrong?" Baekhyun asked, kneeling next to Jongsu. Another tear fell from his soft cheek.

"Is my grandma gonna die?" He asked quietly.

"Oh, Jongsu," Baekhyun said, pulling him into another hug as Jongsu began to sob. "You're gonna be fine okay?"

"I don't want anyone else to die." Jongsu sobbed. At some point another pair of arms had wrapped around the both of them, Baekhyun looked up and smiled at Taeyeon who had arrived. Jongsu extracted himself from them and wiped his face.

"I'm sorry I ran away noona." He said, blushing a little. Taeyeon smiled gently and squeezed his arm.

"I'm glad you came somewhere safe." She said, "Just don't scare me like that again okay?"

"I won't" Jongsu said.

"Hey, Jongsu want to help me with dinner?" Minseok called out. That was his go-to coping/distracting mechanism. Baekhyun recognized it based off the many times Minseok had used it on him.

"Yeah" Jongsu's face brightened a little and he trotted to the kitchen where Minseok and Mrs. Byun were setting the table.

Instead of standing up, Baekhyun almost collapsed against the wall. Taeyeon looked at him with concern. She sat on the floor next to him and leaned in to kiss him but he pulled away,

"I just threw up you might not want to do that." He said by way of explanation.

"Are you okay?" She asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I just have a little concussion." He looked at his hands.

"What? How did that happen?"

"He fell out of a tree trying to run from his ex." Luhan supplied helpfully, stepping over them to get to the bathroom.

"You....what?"

"I mean. That's pretty much it. Don't tell my mom she thinks I'm straight."

"That's not that issue I'm having right now."

"What is your issue then?" Baekhyun had lost what little tact he had.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"It's really not a big deal," Baekhyun said, Taeyeon switched to the other wall so she was facing him.

"Yes, it is. I'm supposed to be your girlfriend. That means I can help you, especially when you hurt yourself doing stupid ."

"About that" Baekhyun remembered how he told Jongdae he was going to break up with Taeyeon. Now seemed like a good time.

"About what?" She looked kind of angry. It was probably because he didn't kiss her earlier, Baekhyun decided.

"About girlfriend." He was having trouble forming words coherently. He just wanted to lie down. Taeyeon stared at him, "I think we should Maybe. think about girlfriend"

"Baekhyun you aren't making any sense," Taeyeon said, her anger turning into concern.

"We aren't making sense." He responded, breaking up with someone was harder than it looks. "It would make sense if the girlfriend wasn't a thing."

"What?"

"Dinner is ready!" Luhan called from the kitchen.

"We can talk later okay?" Taeyeon said, standing up and helping Baekhyun.

"Yeah, we can break later." He agreed.

They all sat down, Jongsu between Baekhyun and Taeyeon, and Baekhyun's mother between Minseok and Luhan.

"I called Chanyeol this morning." Baekhyuns mother said casually, causing Baekhyun to cough and spit up his food. Jongsu stared with concern.

"Why?" Baekhyun asked, louder than he meant to.

"Because you both left so quickly! And you weren't answering your phone. You know he seemed concerned, he said he was thinking about stopping by to check on you."

"He said he was coming here?" Baekhyun actually spit out his food, all over Minseok who sighed loudly.

"He said he might. He misses you a lot! They were best friends, inseparable from diapers." Mrs. Byun explained to Taeyeon.

"What happened?" Taeyeon asked.

"The unthinkable," Luhan said dramatically.

"What does that mean?"

"He moved out. It didn't end well with any of us." Minseok said, still wiping off Baekhyuns spit.

"Is that the big eared guy I met the other day?" Jongsu asked.

"Yeah."

"He knew my dad," Jongsu said simply. Everyone exchanged glances.

"What?" Four voices said at once.

"He used to come over. I don't think they liked each other very much." Jongsu said.

"He came to your house?"

"Yeah, May I please have some more?" Jongsu held his empty bowl to Mrs. Byun.

"Anyways," She said, scooping more food for him, "Chanyeol is back in town and he just wants to talk to you again, like old times."

"When did he leave?" Taeyeon asked.

"About a year ago. He left town until last week." Luhan supplied as Baekhyun stabbed his bulgogi with a chopstick.

"He was at my house before my dad died." Jongsu said, "like a week before he died."

"What? That's impossible Jongsu. He's like, married now." Baekhyun said,

"I remember!" Jongsu protested. There was a knock on the door. Baekhyun exchanged glances with Minseok and Luhan, each daring the other to answer it.

"For gods sakes, you guys act like its a ghost." Taeyeon sighed, standing up and going to answer the door.

"I like her." Baekhyun's mom said, "I'm glad you finally found a girlfriend."

"Hello, um, is Baekhyun here?" Baekhyun didn't have to see the door to know who was there.

"Yeah, he is, who are you?" Taeyeon said, "Come in."

"I'm Park Chanyeol, and thank you."