Baekhyun has a unique skill among his friends. He can fall asleep in one place and wake up somewhere totally different.

In brief, he sleepwalks. Within the first couple of hours of going to sleep, his body will wake up but leave his consciousness blissfully unaware and go for a walk. Most often, he’ll wake up from it in the middle of the night confused and a little annoyed. It takes a long time to go back to sleep, and when he finally does, it seems like he just blinks, and it’s morning. He’ll roll out of bed disoriented, grumpy, and tired, growing more annoyed with every good morning! greeting.

His friends find it hilarious, usually. Jongdae and Chanyeol especially have videos saved on their phones of his nighttime ramblings and bizarre philosophical talks as well as zombie-Baek traipsing through the apartment or returning from early morning convenience-store runs. Chanyeol used to find it extremely funny, but he was the unfortunate soul who was thrown onto a table when he thought Baekhyun was awake but actually wasn’t.

They all learned to not touch Baekhyun when he was sleepwalking or shuffling like a zombie, just to be safe.

Outside their immediate circle of friends, other friends have seen the videos and laugh about his sleepwalking. Baekhyun can joke about it, too, hiding his mounting anxiety throughout the day and anticipating a fitful night’s sleep.

He’s tried a couple things to help him sleep and stay asleep. After a day of running around and playing soccer, he’ll be so exhausted he passes out the moment he’s horizontal. If he’s mentally exhausted, though, like after studying for hours before a test, then he’ll sleep lightly and get no rest at all, but he doesn’t sleepwalk. It’s not exactly a perk.

The worst thing has been alcohol. As tired as it makes him—and he’s a lightweight, so it doesn’t take much to put him to sleep—he sleepwalks every time and usually finds the first available space to curl up. Morning will find him draped over Jongdae or Kyungsoo, safe and still very tired as well as a bit bruised from being prodded at to move over.

For every few normal sleepwalking episodes, there’s one that will stand out. Tossing Chanyeol—who’s taller than all of them and isn’t nearly as light as he looks—is one of the weird episodes, and Baekhyun is still sorry about it.

The weirdest one, by far, happens at the beginning of a new week. Exams are creeping up; everyone’s stressed and spending more time in cafes and libraries than anywhere else.

Jongdae's on their living room sofa when Baekhyun’s door opens, and he limps out. He’s still wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday.

"What happened to you?”

“No idea.” Baekhyun grabs ice from the freezer and limps back to his room. "I was studying pretty much all of yesterday." He unfastens his jeans and sits on his bed, raising his voice so his friend can hear him. "My knees just hurt when I woke up." He pushes his pants down his legs and carefully picks up a leg to look at his knee. It's bright red, rubbed raw.

"Oh my God!" Jongdae gasps from the doorway, having followed him to made some lewd joke. "What did you do?"

"I don't know! It's like when I'd get those burns on my hands from the mats during practice, but I don't remember doing anything like a tumble or falling or anything..." He touches the raised edges of the abused flesh and winces, gingerly holding the ice against it. "What should I do? It's both of my knees."

"Well, wash them, obviously." Jongdae's grabbing his wallet and keys. "I'll see if Joonmyun hyung has gauze or something. Bandages won't work."

Once his volunteer nurse team wraps his knees with enough ointment and gauze to make it look like he’s wearing kneepads, Baekhyun goes out with Jongdae to get food. Chanyeol is the only cook among the three of them, and he’s been camping out in the music rooms while preparing a project, so their kitchen is depressingly bare.

Baekhyun’s just as surprised as Jongdae when a pretty girl sidles up to him, plastering herself to his side with a purred “Morning, oppa.”

"Hi?"

She frowns, looking at his eyes for some kind of acknowledgement. "I'm Hyeran…?" As if that means anything to him.

"Baekhyun."

Jongdae waves from his other side. "Jongdae."

Hyeran’s eyes close off, and she scowls at the toes of her shoes. "I know you didn't drink anything last night, so you'd at least have the decency to remember me," she mutters, pushing him away and stalking down the walkway.

Jongdae snorts. "Dude, what'd you do?"

"I don't know!” Baekhyun rubs his shoulder. The shove didn’t hurt, but he can’t help but feel bad about the ashamed flush to her cheek. “I don't even know her."

"She is cute..." Jongdae narrows his eyes at Baekhyun. "You didn't sleep with her, did you?"

"No! I don't think so, at least. I don't remember it, anyway…” It’s not his best defense. “What'd we do last night?" They start walking again. The more he moves, the less his knees hurt, which is a good thing, he thinks.

"I was with Joonmyun hyung and Kyungsoo,” Jongdae says. “You said you needed to study for something Friday."

Baekhyun nods. He remembers that. "And I did. I went to that cafe by the shoe store. Studied a while, borrowed someone's laptop charger, met up with some classmates, and then I crashed on someone's couch, because it was late. Didn't I text you?"

"Yeah, you did. I didn't reply though, sorry. Our jam session was kind of intense." Jongdae shrugs. "Maybe you did something in your sleep?" he suggests. "You do sleepwalk."

"Talking and walking are one thing, but,” Baekhyun lowers his voice, “sleep ? I doubt it."

"Anything’s possible, Baek.” Jongdae shrugs again. “Maybe it's not super common, but neither is sleep walking." He started reading about it, once, after waking up during their sleepovers as kids a couple times to find Baekhyun gone or moving around the room like a zombie. It’s scary to see but usually not dangerous.

"I honestly don't remember anything!"

"Because you were asleep. Your brain's firing totally different cylinders, then."

Baekhyun groans. “This is ridiculous. Maybe I should get some sleeping pills.”

“Side-effects of a lot of those is sleepwalking and nightmares.”

“!” He throws his hands in the air. “Know what? it. I’ll just not sleep. Coffee, black tea, caffeine pills, entire tubs of chocolate ice cream… I’ll break the Guinness record for days without sleep. Nothing weird will happen while I’m awake.” It’s neither the safest nor healthiest option, but he’s so tired of hearing about things he’s done after the fact. Sleeptalking is fine—Jongdae uses earplugs, and Chanyeol snores; sleepwalking has taken him to stores and bars, where he’s spent more money than his awake and aware self would usually; but sleeping? That’s going too far. He’s had it with sleep. It’s overrated.

His resolve lasts most of the week. Brief naps tide him over; he considers himself the king of power naps. While his roommates watch over him quietly and fret amongst themselves, his other friends are a bit more vocal about his slow self-destruction.

Sehun’s one of the pushier ones. As an underclassman, he’s not yet experienced the same levels of stress college inevitably piles onto students, and he spends a fair bit of his ample free time in Baekhyun’s room, quietly watching him overwork himself like a judgemental cat.

"You should sleep, hyung."

"I'm fine." It’s been his mantra, lately.

"You should sleep, hyung."

"Sehun. I am fine." He types faster. His tolerance and patience have both taken a nosedive, lately. "I don't need to sleep. I don't want to sleep. I need to finish this. I don’t want to slack off." Sehun's quiet again and pulls his legs up and hooks his elbows around his knees, resting his chin on his hands. Baekhyun waits a couple heartbeats, pretending to read over what he's written, and tries to relax. He knows the kid's only trying to look out for him, but he doesn't want to worry him by admitting he's just afraid to sleep.

He hasn't had memorable nightmares in years, but he remembers his brother making fun of him for sleepwalking when they were kids. He'd meander the house at night, playing with their dog and eventually climbing between his parents on their bed and sleeping the rest of the night. Freshman year of undergrad, he shared a dorm with Chanyeol, who didn't know he sleepwalked but found out pretty quick when Baekhyun returned to their dorm in his pajamas with plastic bags of instant ramen from the convenience store and no explanation the next morning.

He's driven while asleep; he's walked around campus; he's visited friends and said strange things. Locked doors don't matter; if he can't unlock it with whatever he MacGyvers up, he bangs on the door until it opens. Some people have even called the police because of him, although no charges were ever pressed.

It’s not something anyone else should have to deal with, and Baekhyun thinks he’s got it under control, now. He has a short-term solution, at least. If he can just survive this week, he’ll have a bit more relaxed time without deadlines that he can look for a trigger to his sleepwalking, fix it, and be done with it.

Sehun pulls his phone from his pocket, looking up to make sure Baekhyun isn’t watching, and texts Jongdae: hyung isn’t sleeping. what should i do?

he’s being dumb. Jongdae replies. he’ll sleep eventually. just ignore him.

“Eventually” can be long time, though, Sehun thinks. While no one’s died from sleep deprivation, he still has mental images of going to Baekhyun’s funeral and seeing the epitaph Byun Baekhyun, beloved son and brother, too stubborn to sleep but now sleeping forever.

It’d be funny, in some ways. He’s too worried to laugh, though. The longest he’s personally gone without sleep has been two and a half days, because Jongin challenged him to a video game tournament that Sehun just could not back out of. They both crashed for three days straight after that, and Jongin still hasn’t caught up on his sleep debt. Sehun has fielded more than one concerned friend asking why Jongin is asleep more than awake.

Jongdae is right about one thing, at least; Baekhyun has to sleep eventually.

Eventually happens that weekend, after Baekhyun’s end-of-the-week goal.

Early in the morning, before the crickets go to sleep and the birds ready to sing at the sun, Sehun rolls over but only makes it part-way, finally waking up when he feels something physically blocking him.

Across the room, Jongin's sleeping soundly, breathing heavy and even. The curtains are drawn with the barest glow of ambient light shining around the edges. Their phones are off or under their pillows, so any LED indications are blocked. It's quiet and peaceful; no one's hosting any wild parties; the entire dormitory is asleep and calm.

Beside him, however, is the form of someone, and Sehun is absolutely positive he went to bed by himself. If this is a burglar, the only thing they’re stealing is Sehun’s peace of mind and sense of personal space.

"Hey." Sehun finds their shoulder and shakes it. "Hey."

They slowly uncurl and stretch out, shifting back with a whiny What?.

"Baekhyun hyung?"

"Sehunnie?” His voice is thick with sleepy confusion. “What’re you doin’ in my bed?"

"Your bed? "This is my bed. In my room.”

"It is?" Baekhyun struggles out of the tangled sheet to lean on his elbows and squint in the dim light. He sounds completely confused, which matches Sehun's own feelings. They're friends a handful of years apart, not as close as Sehun is with Jongin, maybe, but close enough that Sehun doesn't feel too awkward sleeping with him, even totally sober, because there was that one time at a party that Baekhyun literally passed out on Sehun’s lap, but this is definitely kind of weird.

"Would I really bring Jongin along, if I came over for the night?"

Baekhyun stops rubbing at his eye. "Would you?"

"No!" Sehun pushes at him. "How did you even get in? The door was locked."

"This building has y locks. They’re easy to open." He yawns and rubs his eyes again. "I don't even remember coming in.” Baekhyun and Jongdae live off campus in their own apartment. It's relatively close, definitely within walking distance, but it's not like it's a ty apartment or anything. There's working heat and semi-reliable air conditioning, which is more than can be said for the old building Sehun and Jongin live in. "When did I even get here...?"

Sehun's phone begins to vibrate under his pillow. Jongin snores sharply, rolling onto his stomach with a sigh. His pillow falls to the floor. Sehun grabs his phone and squints at the display. "It's Jongdae hyung... Hello?"

"Sorry to wake you, Sehun,” he sounds breathless and tense, “but is Baekhyun there?"

"Yeah." Jongdae's relieved sigh makes the cell phone's speakers crackle.

"Oh, thank God. I was freaking out. Is he alright?"

"I think so." Baekhyun sits upright and rubs his eyes with a fist, uncaring that his knee sits over Sehun's. "You wanna talk to him?"

"As long as he's okay, I'm good. I just woke up to pee, and he wasn't in our room. Can he just crash with you guys for the night?"

Sehun shrugs, not that Jongdae can see. "Sure." It’s late; everyone’s tired.

"Thank you. You can kick his to the curb in the morning."

"Okay. See you later, hyung."

"Good night."

Baekhyun yawns, scratching his bare chest. His hair is an impressive nest atop his head, and there’s a line of dried drool at the corner of his mouth that he rubs at with his palm.

"Did you walk here like that, hyung?"

He looks at himself and frowns. "If not, my clothes are decorating the lawn, I guess. What'd Jongdae want?"

"Just wanted to know where you were. You can stay here, if you want."

"You sure?"

"You're already here, so whatever. Jongin doesn't care, do you, Jongin?" Jongin sighs and mumbles something in his sleep. "See? No complaints."

"Gimme a pillow, and I can sleep on the floor."

"It's fine, hyung. You’re already up here, so whatever.” It’s really not whatever, but he can play it cool in the dark. He lays back down and waits for Baekhyun. They shift and readjust. Sehun ends up hooking a leg over Baekhyun's, drawing closer so he's less likely to fall off his bed. They're longer, which is nice when one is six feet tall and still growing, but it's still a single and not really designed for more than one person.

Baekhyun shifts a little bit until his face is even with Sehun’s on the pillow. "Thanks for worrying about me. I’m sorry I was a before.”

“You were stressed.”

“But it wasn’t fair, so I’m sorry.”

“Hyung—” He giggles when Baekhyun suddenly pinches him.

“Just accept my apology, you brat!” Baekhyun hisses.

Sehun rubs the sore spot on his side. “You can make it up to me by buying me food.”

“Taking advantage of my kindness?”

“Yes.” Baekhyun pinches him again. “Ow!”

“You really are a brat, but I’ll take you out tomorrow, okay? Let no one say I don’t treat our cute youngest, even when he’s a little brat.” He shimmies down the bed, pillowing his head on Sehun’s arm. “Now go to sleep.”

“You, too, hyung, or you won’t get any taller.”

“You little—!” Baekhyun almost sits up but is held down by Sehun’s other arm and leg. “That’s total bull, anyway. Jongin would be tall as a giraffe, otherwise!”

“I’m sorry, hyung. You’re right.” His tone manages to be condescending and as well as placating. “Let’s just go to sleep.” He readjusts his arms, keeping Baekhyun in a light embrace. In seemingly no time at all, he’s asleep.

Baekhyun lays awake, equal parts comfortable and anxious. There’s no telling if he’ll sleepwalk again tonight or where he’ll find himself in the morning. Tucked against Sehun and held under his weight, he’s more relaxed than he can recall having been in his own bed. Maybe a nap would be okay; he’ll be awake in time to meet Chanyeol for breakfast.

His plan is ruined when he sleeps clear through that morning and into late afternoon. Sehun’s there when he finally wakes up, more awake and rested than he’s felt in a long time.

“Hi, hyung.”

Baekhyun smiles. “Good morning.”

a/n: This was written for an event I found through Sebaek Scum Network on Tumblr but hosted here on AFF, but my fic had a formatting mistake. So this is posted twice, but mine should look prettier. uwu

As cute as the prompt was meant to be, sleepwalking is kind of serious. It is a type of parasomnia, a sleep disorder, and it's usually seen in kids, and they often grow out of it. (I've experienced it twice that I can remember. Once had me climbing out of my loft bed and not using the ladder. Woke me up real fast.) Because of that, I didn't just want a cutesy story; I would love to rewrite this and really make Baekhyun suffer and make changes in his life (such as taking Sehun into his heart~) that improve his sleep and lessen the sleepwalking episodes.