They can still remember the day clearly. The day when Baekhyun disappeared. 

It was a little after New Year's and the group had been taking a short break from touring to enjoy the holiday. Nothing was out of the ordinary, or at least nothing seemed abnormal. Baekhyun had been a little distant; but who wasn't when dealing with heavy amounts of stress? Chanyeol and Baekhyun had been goofing around while waiting for Kyungsoo to finish cooking their dinner. They considered eating out for the night, but Junmyeon insisted that they eat a home cooked meal since they had only been eating out the last month and a half. The dorm room smelled of delicious food and Baekhyun had been ranting about how hungry he was while he and Chanyeol went back and forth with tagging each other in funny cat videos on Instagram. "I'm hungry." Baekhyun whines loudly while watching the fifth video that Chanyeol tagged him in that night.

"I know. You keep saying that." He snorts quietly before tagging him in another video. "Baek, watch this one. It's funny."

"Is it another cat video?"

"It's a bird this time, thank you." He huffs quietly. "A parakeet I think, but I'm not sure." Baekhyun raises an eyebrow before bursting out into loud laughter when the multi colored parrot stomps across the floor. "It's so cute!" He coos as he swiftly sits up from his spot on the floor. "Chanyeol," he looks at the other with a serious expression, "buy me a parakeet for my birthday." 

"For real?" He asks as he stares down at the black haired vocalist. He only nods enthusiastically in response and shows off his killer smile. "Alright. I'll buy you a parakeet for your birthday. What color?"

"Blue! I want a baby blue parakeet." 

"I hope you're ready to be a father, Baek. Having a parakeet is some serious business." He says with wide eyes. Baekhyun giggles loudly and climbs onto the couch with him. "You'll be the godfather. Or the uncle. Or the grandfather. It's up to you." He mumbles while chewing on the inside of his cheek. 

"Godfather. It sounds cooler." He winks playfully. The two stop talking when Kyungsoo calls everyone in for dinner, Baekhyun nearly darting out of the room before Kyungsoo even finished his sentence. 

Of course Chanyeol never bought Baekhyun a blue parakeet for his birthday since he went missing before May even rolled around. He actually went missing later that night in the early hours of the morning before anyone was awake. No one knew for sure what exactly happened and where he went, but that seemed to be the only thing that was known for certain in his case. Baekhyun left the house around two in the morning for unknown reasons and that was about it. Everything else was a mystery. The police had several different ideas as to what happened to him.

The first idea was that he was kidnapped and murdered. They plotted that he was kidnapped only an hour after leaving the dorms and then murdered anywhere from five to twelve hours after being kidnapped. The second idea was that he ran off. They suggested that the life of an idol just became too overbearing for Baekhyun to handle and he needed a way out. That was the least believable idea to EXO and the fans alike. The third idea was that Baekhyun was murdered in a robbery gone wrong only hours after he left the house. They explained that perhaps someone tried to mug him and he fought back, resulting in his death. The last idea was that he was the victim of a serial killer. That one was also unlikely, but they believed it more than him just running away. The reason for his missing body was pretty black and white. They either knew what they were doing and hid his body in a place that no one would find him, cut him into pieces so he wouldn't be identifiable, or he was still alive somewhere. They really hoped it was the last one; the image of Baekhyun's corpse rotting away somewhere or pieces of his body scattered around made Sehun and Jongdae vomit the first time they heard that. 

The car ride back to the dorms had been a quiet one with only the faint sniffles from the members being heard. No one was in a mood to talk. Kyungsoo and Minseok knew that they needed to talk to the others about the conversation they had with Luhan earlier, but they knew now wasn't the time. They might even have to put it off until later the next day. Today was a rough day and they knew that; each man needed some time to really register today's events. It was a big day for everyone. After fifteen minutes the van pulls up to the dorms, everyone getting out and heading to their rooms afterwards. Sehun and Jongin went to their shared room, both immediately going to bed despite it being only one in the afternoon. Jongdae and Junmyeon went to their shared room as well, though the two just went onto their phones and laptops. Chanyeol went straight to his room that he shared with Minseok, Yixing doing the same and going to the room that he shared with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo and Minseok were the only two standing in the living room.

"When should we talk to them?" Kyungsoo asks in a low voice as he slips his shoes off. 

"Not until tomorrow. I don't think any of them even want to think about Baekhyun right now." Minseok sighs and slips his suit off. "It'll be hard; I imagine Jongdae might agree with us in saying that Baekhyun might not be dead. Junmyeon though..."

"Junmyeon won't be happy. More so because he doesn't want any of us getting our hopes up."

"Or getting his hopes up." Minseok adds. "I think everyone here though can agree that Baekhyun isn't dead. Or at least agree with the notion that we don't think he's dead."

"I think they'll also agree that his case was handled poorly. For several different reasons. You know that if it had been a different idol it would have been treated better. Hell, it would probably already be solved by now." Minseok eyes Kyungsoo carefully.

"What are you getting at?" He asks quietly. Kyungsoo just shares a long look with Minseok before finally looking away. "You know the police force didn't like him because of his recent scandal." He says quietly. "It was obvious to see." Minseok nodded in understanding when it finally clicked.

Six months prior to Baekhyun disappearing he had been involved in a scandal. It was a bad one; one that nearly ended his career. He had been outed as gay. Baekhyun had gone out with a man around his age and the two spent the night together, enjoying each other's company. However, the man Baekhyun was with had secretly taken pictures of him sleeping in his bed and on top of that dispatch had snapped photos of Baekhyun leaving the man's apartment looking quite disheveled. It was extremely evident what he had been doing over there and the news of this blew up like wildfire. He had been put on a temporary leave for nearly a full three months and he wasn't allowed to speak during interviews, he was not allowed to be asked about the scandal, and he was stripped of almost all of his lines when recording songs and performing older songs. Fans of Baekhyun and EXO were upset with how SM handled his scandal and were demanding them to give the poor man a break. He was human after all and he still had needs that only another person could satisfy. 

He technically never came out as gay. Baekhyun ignored the scandal when in public and acted as if it never happened. There was never a coming out speech or an apology issued, he