Yixing almost falls over as another body launches itself at him.

"Hyung! You’re back!"

He stumbles in through the doorway to be almost immediately accosted by countless pairs of arms. Greetings come from all around the room. He smiles. The thought that the other members had waited up for him warms him up from the inside.

He falls into the first embrace and looks down to see Baekhyun. Of course. On his other side, Junmyeon has his hand Yixing's shoulder and is reaching to take his luggage. Behind Baek's shoulder, Kyungsoo is visible, standing with Jongin.

Baekhyun, who is still clinging to him (Unsurprisingly. He is one of the touchiest members.) looks up at Yixing, "We missed you so much."

Chanyeol comes over and tries to pry Baekhyun off of Yixing. "Come on, give the man some space to breathe."

Baekhyun whines into Yixing's neck, "Noooo." Addressing Yixing he says, "Don't let him separate me from you."

He chuckles and pats his head. "Okay, okay. Just let me get into the room. And then you can cuddle with me all you want."

Sehun yells from across the room, "Hey, you have to share! You can't have him all to yourself."

Jongdae just shoots him a sympathetic look.

Yixing limps over to the couch with Baekhyun attached to his arm. As he collapses into the seat he notices that Minseok has fallen asleep while waiting up for him.

Everyone settles down. His luggage is transferred to his room. He’s asked if he is hungry and what took him so damn long to get here. He replies that he had eaten on the way from the airport and that his flight had been delayed.

Even though it’s late at night, the other members make an effort to stay awake for a little while and talk to him. It’s the usual conversation: How has he been while he was away from the group? How is it in China? Is he doing okay and taking care of himself? He must get lonely, surely being by himself?

And as always, Yixing is touched by the members’ concern and care for him. But after awhile, the conversation naturally dies out and one by one, the other members get up to go to bed. They greet him goodnight and tell him to get some sleep.

Surprisingly, Yixing is not very tired. Yet. He knows the exhaustion will all crash onto him at once.

Sehun is nodding off on the floor, leaning against the couch. Yixing tells him to go to bed. After briefly confirming that Yixing will be alright, Sehun obliges. Pretty soon, it’s just him, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol left.

Baekhyun is still curled into him. Yixing has his arm around the other man. If it were anyone else, their cuddling might have seemed strange, but it’s Baekhyun. He’s known for being very physically intimate with all the members.

Actually, everyone in EXO is pretty physically comfortable with everyone else. After all, they are a bunch of attractive, single, twenty-something-year-olds working, living and sleeping together. Sometimes life gets lonely, so they turn to each other for comfort.

Yixing looks to see why it’s fallen so quiet all of a sudden. It so happens that both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo have fallen asleep. Chanyeol has his head cradled in Kyungsoo's lap. Yixing smiles at the sight.

Baekhyun whispers into Yixing's shoulder, "You must get so lonely in China, all by yourself."

It’s as if Baekhyun had read his thoughts.

"Yeah, sometimes," he whispers back. "But I'm always pretty busy and don't have much time to myself to really linger on the loneliness."

Baekhyun sighs and holds him tighter. "You work too hard. And I don't like the thought of you alone out there in a foreign country."

"It's not a foreign country to me. It's my home. Korea is where I'm the real outsider."

. As soon as he says that, Yixing cringes on the inside. That had sounded bad.

Baekhyun pulls back. Yixing finds himself suddenly missing the warmth of his body. Baek looks up at him with a surprisingly hurt expression on his face, "An outsider?"

"Oh no." he shakes his head. "I didn't mean it like that."

Baekhyun doesn't look convinced.

Yixing puts his hands on the other man’s shoulders, "Listen to me. With EXO—with you—this is where I belong. I really didn't mean it like that.

Baekhyun sighs and deflates, "I know. And I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel to be the only Chinese person in an otherwise Korean group. For god's sake, you're one of the few non-Korean people in a fully Korean industry! It only makes sense for you to feel like you don't completely fit in. I shouldn't even be talking. I'm sorry."

Yixing smiles, "Why are you apologizing?"

Baekhyun gets up from the couch pulling Yixing along with him. "Why don't we continue talking in my room? That way we can let these two sleep in peace—" he gestures at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo now curled up together on the sofa. "Also, I think Minseok is sleeping in Jongdae's room, so we'll have my room all to ourselves."

"Okay, sure." he follows him into his room.

Baekhyun flops down on his bed and gestures at Yixing, "Make yourself comfortable."

Yixing sits down on the bed as well and leans against the headboard, facing Baekhyun.

Baekhyun is lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, with his arms crossed behind his head. He says, "You know hyung, I think you're very brave and hardworking to have persevered in the kpop industry. Seriously, you're amazing."

"Thanks, but I'm not the only one who's done it. It's really not that amazing of an achievement."

Baek rolls his eyes, "You're so modest, hyung."

Yixing chuckles, "If you say so."

After this, the conversation dies down and he’s almost dozing off when Baekhyun sits up and faces him. He has a strange look on his face.

"What is it?"

Baekhyun swallows nervously. He’s avoiding Yixing's gaze and is instead looking down at his hands.

He starts talking at a breakneck speed, "I know you probably hear this a lot, but honestly, the group would fall apart without you. We can't afford to lose you too. And it must be such a huge burden on your shoulders. You work so hard but I feel like you don't get appreciated for it. And I know you've promised never to leave us and you always keep your promises but—" Here Baekhyun's voice cracks with emotion.

"Hey, hey," he leans forward and takes Baekhyun's hands in his own. "It's okay. Slow down. Where's all this coming from anyway?"

To his surprise, Baekhyun lets out a short, cynical, forced laugh, "Forget it. It's nothing. I'm just being stupid again."

"It's definitely not nothing." Yixing leans forward. "Baekhyun, look at me. You can tell me anything."

Baekhyun finally meets his gaze. Yixing feels a stab of pain go through his heart. Baekhyun's eyelashes are wet with tears and his cheeks are tear stained. He looks desperate.

Without a second thought, Yixing pulls Baekhyun into his arms and holds him tightly. He whispers vehemently, "Tell me what's wrong. Otherwise I can't do anything to help you."

Baekhyun takes a shaky breath, "It's just. God, I'm being dramatic. But sometimes I wonder maybe—maybe if I had treated them differently, they wouldn't have left?"

Yixing knows exactly who Baekhyun is talking about.

The other man continues in a trembling voice, "Maybe if I had been nicer to them. To Tao. Not as much. Looked out for him more—I don't know. Maybe I was part of why they left. It's my fault. Maybe if I hadn't been such a —" Baekhyun lets out a choked sob.

He holds him tighter, "Listen to me Baekhyun. None of what happened is your fault. Kris, Luhan, and Tao left because of other reasons. You know that. They know that. Everything from their health to their contracts caused them to leave but never, ever were you their reason for leaving. You teasing Tao was just the way you showed him affection. It was harmless. That's the way you treat everyone you're close to. And the people who are close to you love you for who you are. If anyone says that you were the reason Tao left, then they have no idea what you're like. You loved Tao and he knew it."

"But what if he didn't? And now, I'm afraid I'll do something to drive you away too. I'm just so scared that you'll realize that I'm not worth it and leave. I mean, I know deep down, that you would never do that to us and that my thoughts don't even make sense. But sometimes I can't help myself. I can't stop myself from thinking these thoughts. My mind goes round and round in circles. And I can't stand the thought of you leaving. Ineed you hyung and I don't think I ever tell you how much I do. I don't know—" Baekhyun's voice breaks again. He starts shaking. His body racks with soundless, heart-wrenching sobs.  

The sound of the pain in Baekhyun's voice makes Yixing's heart ache. He’s always known that the other man is not always as carefree and happy as he leads everyone to believe, but has Baekhyun been carrying all this pain and self-loathing and hatred for so long? Yixing blames himself for not being around enough to have noticed.

Yixing just holds Baekhyun close and whispers soothing words of comfort to him, "You couldn't possibly ever do anything to drive me away. I promise, I'm never going to leave you. I need you just as much as you need me."

He can do nothing more but hold Baekhyun tightly and listen to him cry helplessly.

After a while, Baekhyun starts to calm down but Yixing doesn’t let go of him even when the sobs stop. They sit there in silence until Baekhyun says hoarsely, "I'm sorry."

"Shhh." he kisses the top of Baekhyun's head, "Don't you dare apologize."

Baekhyun lets out a weak chuckle, "I've probably made your shirt all wet with my tears."

"It doesn't matter. You're all that matters."

"You're probably beating yourself up on the inside now."

Yixing pulls back a little, surprised, and looks into Baekhyun's tear stained face. Baekhyun gives him a grim smile. "You have this way of blaming yourself when anyone else in the group is hurt. You take all this weight onto your shoulders. Seriously, none of this is your fault."

Baekhyun is right. At this very moment, Yixing is mentally berating himself for not taking better care of his teammates. For not being there.

He sighs. Baekhyun gives him a knowing look, "I'm right, aren't I? You're always so worried about everyone else that you forget to take care of yourself."

"Someone has to worry about you guys, otherwise who will?"

Baekhyun shakes his head, but he had a small, fond smile on his face.

"Baekhyun, remember you're the laughter and light of this group. You bring the joy to all of our lives. We can't have you being down," Yixing says.

"Sometimes the happiest boys are the ones that are secretly the saddest on the inside."

The way Baekhyun says that, with a sad, wry smile on his face, sends a pang through Yixing's heart. He wishes that he can always be there to protect the younger boy, no matter what.

Baekhyun pulls away from him and gets under the covers. He looks up at Yixing, "Can you sleep here with me tonight hyung?" He pats the space on the bed next to him, "There's more than enough space for you."

Yixing knows, no matter how hard he tries, he isn't going to be able to resist those puppy dog eyes. He sighs. "Fine."

Even though he’s putting up a reluctant front, he’s secretly pleased that Baekhyun wanted him to spend the night.

Yixing gets up and takes off his shirt and pants so that he’s left in his boxers. He doesn’t miss the way Baekhyun's eyes rake appreciatively over his bare body. He pretends not to notice.

As soon as the lights are off and he slips under the covers, Baekhyun gravitates towards him and curls into Yixing. He wraps his arms around the other man’s torso and delights in his warmth.

Yixing reaches up and tentatively starts Baekhyun’s silky, soft hair. He closes his eyes and revels in the feeling of the smaller boy’s body pressed against his. He feels sleep coming to him, easier than it normally ever would.

The last thing he hears before drifting off is Baekhyun's sweet voice whisper into the darkness (more to himself, than anybody else):

"You're always so busy protecting everyone else. Who's going to protect you?"

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Oh wow. I'm surprised that first scene turned out so angsty. And a lot longer than I expected. I didn't mean for it to be like that. It was something I'd written a while ago and I just decided for it to be their first night. I promise from here on out it'll be all fluff and crack. No more angst. Keep an eye out for the next update! Comments are appreciated. <3