“It does not matter, we are announcing it.”

“And I am telling you for the last time, we are not!” Junmyeon yelled back.

“They aren’t just rumors, now are they? People are already calling them out!!” one of the black suits answered calmly, “and because of his behavior, it has affected the group morale. He should have known the weight his status and action carries. Fans are already asking for his removal from the group. This much he needs to do, for the company and the group.”

“The group morale has been affected by the mistreatment of our members, because of which three of them have left. The fourth one has been made to sit on the fence because of your mismanagement,” Junmyeon countered.

“We are not taking that into account,” another black suit said as he slammed his hand on the table, “and this has to go away!! Right now!!” 

“Then let it die down!! The company is not obliged to issue a statement. It hasn't done that before, so why now?” Junmyeon said as he tried to regain composure. Minseok placed his hand on his shoulder, so he relaxed a little. In the silence that followed, Junmyeon looked down at Baekhyun. He was still frozen, like someone had found his off switch. Junmyeon had been busy with Baekhyun as they practiced for their MCing when they were called.

In the wake of Exo - M leaving, the media had started a witch hunt against the entire group. As if the incident hadn’t already left them sore and feeling down in the dumps, the public went crazy for fake news about them. Sharing them on social media, commenting on them, and saesangs just increased their intensity. 

One such incident caused a huge stir in the public and their fans. It was a picture of Baekhyun with a senior female artist from the company. Junmyeon knew that they were close friends and often practiced together. But that is what the majority of them did, practice with seniors to improve. Whether it was just friendship or not, Junmyeon did not know and it didn’t matter either.

“Hyung, no matter what happens, stick to what you think is right. They will bring up members who have left or ignore responsibility completely. Use it against them,” Jongdae had caught his arm before the meeting. 

“This is not Baekhyun’s responsibility! It is on the media, crazy people and their craziness! All of us go out with our senior members all the ing time. Sehun has been pictured picking up food for them! How is this an issue?” Junmyeon's loud argument brought Baekhyun back to the present. He did not know where to look or say, his throat still closed up.

“Baekhyun, you have signed a contract,” the gray suit said, looking down on Baekhyun as towered over him. He turned to Junmyeon and Minseok and said, “You all have. This is how we will do it. We called you here to inform you, not ask for your opinions. You are just idols, we are the ones running the company. You are kids, we are the adults here. There is no room for arguments, Got it?”

Minseok grinded his teeth as he got up and physically dragged his group members out of the room. The suits got up exclaiming, ‘what are you doing!’, ‘what the! Come back!’, ‘what disrespectful behavior’

“No,” Minseok said in a calm but loud voice, “you have made it quite clear how you view us. Sprouting idols as an insult to our faces. We are idols AND we are artists. When you all are ready to have a conversation, not a sit down, call us.”

 

“That was that,” Junmyeon said once they were out of the building, “Baekhyun, what do you want to do? Practice or go back to the dorm?”

“Let us go back, Junmyeon, I don’t think he should go for practice,” Minseok said.

“NO!” shouted Baekhyun. 

He finally spoke, “I can’t give up hyung!!! What if they….they throw me out? Hyung!! Let’s go back to practise, I….I promise I won’t mess up. I won’t even joke about anything, I’ll be serious this time, please!! Just don’t throw me out…” pleaded Baekhyun, grasping Junmyeon's hand hard. Minseok hugged his back. Junmyeon grabbed Baekhyun by his hand and pulled him in for a hug.

“I promise you, you aren’t going anywhere, Baekhyun,” Junmyeon said.

“Exo won’t be the same without you, you know it and so do they” Minseok said, “Which is why they are trying to twist us around. They can’t let anymore members go. They are just trying to manipulate us into doing what they want.”

“Then let them do that!! That way things will die down, right??” Baekhyun pleaded.

Minseok sighed as he turned to look him in the eye, “They want to confirm it because they want to hype our media presence. It won’t be fair to you or her, because you both will have to deal with the consequences. It will be personal and, for the company, just another way to get more revenues.”

“But…” Baekhyun started, “what if….. But what if….umm” he stopped to let his sobs die down a little. He hiccuped, “What if it was true? That we were out for a date? Would that make a difference? Maybe one of us might have thought so…. I mean, I think so. I do not know, but would it matter? because seriously…umm…”

Junmyeon looked at Minseok before he looked at Baekhyun's eyes, and said, “It matters. Is it something you want to answer? To the media, just because they think they have a picture of you? Keeping in mind we have been photographed with several female idols before this, assumed to be dating, and even had babies with.”

“This is personal Baekhyun. Not everyone has a right to know what goes on in your life. Even if one of you thought that it was a date, it should remain between the two of you. We are public figures but that does not mean our lives are public as well,” Minseok added.

“I don’t…Hyung, what should I do? Just tell me, what…” Baekhyun sobbed, losing balance and fell forward. Junmyeon caught him in the reflex and hugged him tightly. He kept rubbing his hands on Baekhyun’s back to soothe his sobs.

“Jongdae and Kyungsoo are done with vocals and are heading back to dorms, should we catch a ride with them?” Minseok asked as he put away his phone.

Junmyeon nodded, “ask them to pick up our script. Baekhyun and I will practice at the dorms. What about others?”

“Jongin, Sehun and I have dance practice now, Chanyeol must be heading to the producers or back to dorms with them. I’ll wait here with you, until they come,” Minseok said as rubbed Baekhyun's back.

 

*************************************************************

 

“Kyungsooooooooo”

“Baekhyun-ah”

“Kyuuuuuuuuuunnnnngsoo”

“Baekhyun-ah”

“Kyuuuuuuuuuunnnnngsoo”

“Hyung”

“KyungAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

“Hyung”

“Sooo-ah”

“Hyungie”

“Sooo-aaaaaaaaaaah”

“Hyungie”

“Soooooooo-ah”

“Hyungie”

“Should I leave exo?”

“If it makes you happy, then yes”

At that Baekhyun sat up and stared at him, and he stared back while still laying down.

“What if it was to save exo?”

It was Kyungsoo’s turn to get up to look at Baekhyun. They both had been lying on the sofa, with heads on the opposite arm rests and legs tangled underneath the blanket.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked. Baekhyun had weird requests sometimes and outrageous questions and actions but never to this extent.

“More like, would you want me to? If exo were to go down, all because of me? Like people would hate exo and it would be because of me. All that hard work in vocal, dance training, the debut, the comebacks, everything will be ruined. Because of me,” he paused looking away and back at Kyungsoo and continued, 

“Because of something I did, something stupid. Because I did not understand it, not then. And it caused us to disband. To never sing again, would you hate me???”

“Hyung, what are you talking about?” he asked as he tapped the other’s knee. Baekhyun shook his head and continued,

“What if they asked me to leave because of what I did? And it would still affect you all. Should I just… should I just leave before I cause it or should I be hated? I don’t want to leave exo, I don’t want to… but” he stopped to swallow a sob. But he did look up at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo was staring at him.

Kyungsoo knew something had gone wrong the minute they stepped in the car. It seemed like they Junmyeon and Baekhyun had switched bodies. Even in the dorms, when they practiced, Junmyeon Hyung was teasing like Baekhyun normally would. Chanyeol and Jongdae were helping Sehun set up their line with friends back home and the ones that left. Minseok hyung had to practise with Jongin to learn Yixing’s steps.

 

Baekhyun’s face was all puffy, eyes red and bloated, and he hadn’t even joined them for lunch. Nor had he forced Chanyeol to split candies. He understood what little he overheard from Junmyeon and Minseok’s hyungs conversation. But this wasn't the time to speculate what and whys.

 

“Are you good at history?” he asked.

The abrupt question surprised Baekhyun, “What?”. Kyungsoo ignored him and started tucking pillows behind himself. 

Impatiently, Baekhyun grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand and asked, “What are you asking? What does that have to do with this?”

“I asked if you were good at history,” Kyungsoo said as he tucked Baekhyun in the blanket that had fallen off his shoulders.

“Are you asking for my marks in school? Right now?? Why are you suddenly asking me about my marks in school??”

Kyungsoo looked at him. He knew Baekhyun would answer. It was rather a strange question, but he would eventually answer. Baekhyun always answered him, whether in gestures or words. All he had to do was to stare at him and wait patiently.

“I was okay-ish. Why?” he asked with a frown maring his forehead.

Kyungsoo pushed himself to sit close to Baekhyun and said, “Then you should know, that great empires didn’t ever fall because of one person, hyung.”

At the stunned expression and continued silence, Kyungsoo continued.

“It is caused by many factors coming together. Like situations being dire, people looking out for themselves only, and their decisions based on greed and selfish thinking. But they never fall because of just one person.”

Baekhyun stared at him. He knew what Kyungsoo was trying to say, but he waited with bated breath. He needed clear words.

“If exo were to fail, if we were to fail,” Kyungsoo said softly, holding both of Baekhyun’s hands, “it won’t be just because of you. It would be because we, as a group, failed. As a group, hyung. Because that is what we are, a group, aren't we?”

“You are just… you are just saying that because….,” he looked at their hands, “because you don’t know what happened or what is going happening out there.”

“Maybe I don’t know what happened or what will happen later, but I know one thing for sure, hyung,” he smiled as Baekhyung finally looked at him.

“What,” Baekhyun asked in a small voice, sniffling.

“Exo would never fail because of you. If exo fails, then we would have failed  as a group, together.”

Baekhyun had tears pooling in his eyes, “but what if…what if they…what if people tell you I was the reason why we failed?”

“Why would I believe them?”

“Seriously?” Baekhyun asked, “why not?”

“Because I see you, hyung,” Kyungsoo said. “I see you everyday. I see you everyday working hard, for us and for exo-l. Working till late, practicing until you can’t continue, performing despite bad health and injuries, and you do it again the next day. So, I don't have to believe someone who hasn't seen you work hard.”

Kyungsoo's words  broke his resolve to not cry anymore. He felt Kyungsoo pull him into his arms. Baekhyun cried out his heart with the blanket shielding them from the outside world and its cold nature. Kyungsoo rocked him back and forth as he murmured, “it’s okay, it’ll be alright hyung, it’s okay.” 

It took a long time for Baekhyun’s sobs to slow down and stop. But it was okay. When he did untangle himself from the hug, he responded to kyungsoo’s smile with his own.

This tender moment was broken by the growling of Baekhyun's stomach. He felt the rumble of Kyungsoo's laugh as Baekhyun pushed him for laughing at him.

Kyungsoo’s apology was accompanied by, “should I make you something for you, hyung? I think there is kimchi bokumbap.”

“And gaeran mari?” he asked with a pout, allowing Kyungsoo to wipe his eyes with the sleeves of his T-shirt.

He threaded his hand through Baekhyun's hair and arranged it to his satisfaction.

“Kyungjaaaa, and gaeran mari as well?” he asked again.

“Only if you sit at the counter and not try to help or distract me,” was the response from Kyungsoo as he got up.

Baekhyun nodded frantically. He allowed himself to be pulled up by his cute dongsaeng.

 

*************************************************************

 

“See, I told you it was the right thing to do,” Jongin whispered to Chanyeol. Both of them were crouched outside the kitchen. They were spying on the occupants inside from the door.

“Yeah okay!! You were right!! I get it,” Chanyeol grumbled, “it was the right thing, but that does not mean I have to like it.”

“What do you mean?” Jongin asked. He was still looking at  the scene in the kitchen, ignoring the big, doe eyes of Chanyeol and the frowning eyebrows. Baekhyun looked like he wasn’t going to let go of Kyungsoo anytime soon. He was even pouting and pleading for a taste as Kyungsoo cooked. When Kyungsoo conceded, Jongin and Chanyeol wore identical frowns at each other as a reaction to it.

“You see that?” Chanyeol whispered, “Now he is going to cling to him even more. Damn it! I wanted that Kimchi stew!” Chanyeol’s grumbling made sense to Jongin. Now, they will have to double team to keep Kyungsoo beside them and not be pulled by Baekhyun. Ah, the extra work!