Continuity: Chapter 4
Baekhyun-centric feat Kai & Chen

#26:Ohana (Part 3)

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind."

"Or forgotten."

Technically speaking, Baekhyun was one of the older members of the group of Guardians, and it wouldn’t have been unusual for him to have a hand in helping to raise the younger ones. However due to his general dislike for the company of other people, the issue was rarely pressed and Baekhyun had a lot of time to himself. Once in a while there would be a situation in which Baekhyun would be encouraged to assume responsibility, which would be a lazy attempt without much effort behind it and that would be the end of it.

However when the older members of the group were out of the Sanctuary…well there wasn’t really a way Baekhyun could avoid responsibility then. And eventually there came a time when Kris, Xiu Min, Lu Han, Suho and Lay left the sanctuary for a three day, two night meditation retreat with the Masters.

Chen and Tao were clinging to Kris’ legs and looking up at him with tears in their eyes. “Take me with you!” Chen begged. “Don’t leave me alone with these people!”

Tao tried to shove Chen out of the way. “I’ll be really quiet,” he promised Kris tearfully. “You won’t even know that I’m there!”

Kris looked hopeless as he bent to pry their arms off of him. “I’ll be back before you can even miss me.”

“But I miss you already!” Chen wailed.

Baekhyun groaned to himself and went over to help Kris. “Come on, the sooner you let go the sooner they can leave, get this over with and come back.”

Tao glared at Baekhyun from behind Kris’ leg. “You’re not the boss of us!”

Baekhyun felt his eye twitch and he tried to remind himself that Tao was only ten. But then Baekhyun was only eleven and he was so much more mature than Tao was. And what was Chen’s excuse? He was eleven too and still carrying on like a baby. Kai was more mature than him at nine. Okay, maybe that was going too far, but still!

“Baekhyun is the boss starting now,” Kris said firmly. “So you two had better show him the same respect that you show me, or you will be in trouble. Do you understand?”

They both looked miserable at the prospect but nodded and released Kris’ legs. Suho kissed everyone’s forehead (Kai furiously wiped his face afterward) and just like that, they were gone. Chanyeol was stuck in the healers room with a high temperature, so Baekhyun was by himself looking after five young boys, all of whom wanted anyone but him.

It was clear after the first few hours that Baekhyun was not going to have the same control as Kris did, nor the patience that Suho did. Sehun was coloring on about 15 sheets of paper, Kai was chasing Chen around in circles, Tao wasn’t eating and Kyungsoo was wandering around pointing a stick at things and yelling nonsense words.

Baekhyun was almost ready to throw his hands up and just let them run wild, when suddenly Chen whirled around and put his hands up in front of him. Kai skidded to a halt but wound up staggering into Chen’s outstretched arms. What happened next was the real shocker though, Chen shoved Kai so hard that he fell backwards, landing hard on his wrist.

Everyone fell silent and stared open mouthed at the pair of them.

“Ow,” Kai whimpered, clutching his arm. “What was that for?”

Chen glowered and stomped his foot. “Well maybe next time you won’t bother me!”

“I was playing,” Kai said faintly, cradling his wrist. “Ow, that hurt!”

At first Baekhyun thought that Kai would bounce back up, but as he continued to sit on the ground and tears started to form in his eyes, Baekhyun realized that Kai wasn’t faking this. He rushed over and knelt beside Kai.

“Let me see,” he commanded.

Chen gaped at him. “Oh now you care?!”

Baekhyun frowned at Chen. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He was chasing me around the room for twenty minutes!” Chen shrieked. “Why didn’t you stop him?!”

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. “He was playing with you.”

Chen practically hissed. “Well how do you know I wasn’t playing?”

In a very tiny voice Kai said, “I never hurt you.”

Chen froze, breathing harshly. Kai shook with suppressed sobs. Baekhyun could see that no matter what way this argument ended, no matter how he handled it, someone was going to be unhappy.

“I’m going to take Kai to the Healers,” Baekhyun said slowly. “Chen, you come with me. The rest of you go to the Dining Hall and wait for dinner.”

Baekhyun hauled Kai to his feet and put his arm around his shoulder as they walked off. Chen trailed behind them looking sulky.

They didn’t see Chanyeol, and Baekhyun figured he must have been in an ice bath. The Healers said that Kai’s wrist would be fine within a few hours, but they put it in a sling just to be safe. After that Baekhyun pulled Chen and Kai aside and looked them both in the eye.

“I don’t know what is going on with the pair of you,” he said slowly, “But I’m getting sick of the way you act around each other. Tomorrow we’re going for a walk, just the three of us, and we’re going to work whatever this is out. Understand?”

They nodded rapidly and Baekhyun told them to go ahead to the Dining Hall. When they were gone he slumped back against the wall and took several deep breaths. He would never admit it, but in that moment he wished that he could be more like Suho or Kris.

Baekhyun was woken up after midnight by a light tap on his shoulder. He groaned and rolled over, and the tap came again.

“Baekhyun, are you awake?”

It was Tao. “No,” Baekhyun groaned.

The bed dipped and Baekhyun jolted up, already pushing Tao off.

“No,” he repeated firmly. “I am not your snuggle buddy.”

The moon was bright, illuminating the room. Tao looked up at him with big, tearful eyes and his lip quivered. “Nobody else has room,” he whimpered. “Chen is with Kyungsoo and Sehun and Kai are together…and I can’t go to Chanyeol.” He sniffled and hiccupped. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Well, Baekhyun wasn’t heartless.

“For the love of the Tree,” he sighed, scooting over and pulling back his covers. Tao immediately climbed in, as though afraid Baekhyun would change his mind.

“You’re ten years old, Tao,” Baekhyun grumbled, rolling over so his back was to Tao. “You shouldn’t be sleeping in other people’s beds, same goes for Kyungsoo. Even Sehun is getting a little old for this.”

“By whose standards?” Tao demanded crossly. “We’re kids, we have nightmares, we get scared.”

“You haven’t had a nightmare in years,” Baekhyun said, “And what could you possibly be afraid of that you couldn’t fight off with Wushu?”

Tao was quiet for a moment. “Being forgotten. Getting left behind. Waking up and finding out that it was all a dream and I don’t have anyone.”

Baekhyun turned over to face Tao. “You honestly think that could happen?”

Tao eyed him disbelievingly. “You don’t?”

“I have the occasional nightmare,” Baekhyun said evenly. “But that’s all it is. When I wake up, I remember where I am and I go back to sleep.”

Tao smiled sadly. “Then I wish I could be more like you.”

Baekhyun stared at him wide eyed. He had no idea as to what went on Tao’s mind, but if it was enough for him to want to be like Baekhyun, who rarely interacted with the other members and kept to himself, how bad could it be?

Baekhyun didn’t turn back over. He faced Tao and after a moment Tao crept closer, winding his arms around Baekhyun’s waist and resting his head on his shoulder. “You know, you give pretty good hugs,” Tao mumbled. “When you want to, that is.”

Baekhyun laughed. “It’s about the only thing I can do,” he said quietly. “I have no idea how to act around people.”

He felt Tao smile against his shoulder. “Well, you handled what happened between Chen and Kai pretty well.”

“You think so?” Baekhyun asked. “Well then wish me luck for what I’m about to do tomorrow.”

“Good luck,” Tao said sleepily.

Baekhyun tapped the back of Kai’s leg with his stick. “Keep it up now,” he said brightly.

Kai groaned. “We’ve been walking forever,” he whined. “Can’t we take a break?”

Baekhyun snorted. “It’s been twenty minutes and we’re not even walking uphill. I’ve seen you run up and down stairs for longer than this.”

Kai grumbled under his breath. Baekhyun glanced over at Chen. “Quit pouting at me,” he ordered. “It’s not going to change anything.”

“You aren’t even that much older than me,” Chen muttered.

Baekhyun was making them walk in front of him so he could make sure neither of them tried anything funny. He didn’t want one tripping the other or poking or mouthing nasty things.

After another ten minutes Kai stopped walking. “I’m tired!” He cried. “When are we going back?”

“When I feel like I can leave you two alone and not be afraid that you’ll hurt each other,” Baekhyun retorted.

Kai bristled, drawing himself up to his full height (still shorter than Baekhyun),“I never hurt anyone!” he yelled. “I never laid a hand on him!”

“No,” Chen fired back, “You just torment me all the time!”

“I’ve told you before,” Kai shouted, “I’m only playing with you!”

“You think pretending to eat worms and chasing me is playing?” Chen shrieked.

“Sehun likes it. Kyungsoo goes along with it. You’re the only one who doesn’t seem to have any fun! All you do is sit and watch us play, it’s like you think we’re going to bite your head off if you try to join us.”

Chen blinked back tears. “I don’t know how!” He screamed.

Kai scowled. “Don’t know how to what?”

“To talk to you! Any of you!” Chen cried.

Kai gaped at him. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! We’re talking right now!”

“You don’t get it,” Chen sobbed. “It’s hard. I’m not like the rest of you.” He started to pace, wringing his hands. “Whenever I try to go up to someone and talk to them…it’s like this wall pops up in front of me, and I can’t go around it. What if I say something weird? What if I get pushed away? What if, what if, a million different bad things!” Chen stopped and folded his arms around himself. “So I sit by myself because I’d rather be alone from my own choice than do something wrong and be pushed away.” (1)

Kai shook his head. “We never pushed you away,” he said quietly.

Chen looked down at the ground. “Suho says it’s because when I tried to play with my sister, my parents yelled at me.”

Kai gasped softly. “They did? Why?”

Chen shrugged. “They were afraid of me I guess. But I don’t know if that’s why. Maybe I’m just weird.”

Kai took a small step in Chen’s direction. “You’re not weird.”

Chen sniffled and wiped his eyes. “I feel weird,” he said quietly.

Kai shuffled over to Chen and put his hand on his shoulder. “So what if you are weird though? We all are. I can move across a room by poofing off in a cloud of smoke, how weird is that?”

Chen started to laugh and cry at the same time, and Kai smiled. “I don’t care if you’re weird as long as you’re having fun,” Kai told him.

Chen turned around and gave Kai a serious look. “Then stop chasing me! We’ve been through this already!”

Kai blushed and looked down. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “It was supposed to be funny.”

Chen looked like he was deep in thought. “Maybe…” he said quietly, “Maybe it’s a little fun.”

Kai looked up brightly. “Really?!” He squealed.

Chen suddenly looked panicky. “That doesn’t mean I like being chased! It’s just…nice to know that someone is paying attention to me,” he said hurriedly, tripping over his words. When he was done he covered his face with his hands and groaned.

“So weird,” he muttered helplessly.

Kai grabbed Chen’s wrists and pulled them away from his face. “No,” he assured, “It’s okay.”

They stood there for a moment in silence, then Kai cleared his throat. “So, can you play with us more? Like if we ask you to join, will you?”

Chen bit his lip. “I’m no good at pirates and stuff like that…” he mumbled.

“So we’ll teach you!” Kai promised. “And if not then…you can be the Prince and we can pretend to kidnap you!”

Chen looked a little confused. “That’s fun?”

“Sure!” Kai cried, jumping up and down. “You’ll see, it’ll be the best!”

He looked a little skeptical, but Chen nodded. “Okay, sure then.”

Kai looked down shyly. "Sorry I chased you."

Chen cleared his throat. "Sorry I pushed you. Is your wrist feeling better?"

Kai nodded. "It didn't really hurt...I was more sad than anything."

Chen scuffed his foot against the ground. "Then I'm sorry I Made you sad."

"It's okay," Kai assured him. "I'm not sad anymore."

Baekhyun grinned. Now that they had made up, they could move on with their lives. “Okay! Let’s go back home!”

The two of them jumped like they had forgotten that Baekhyun was even there. Kai suddenly realized he was still holding Chen’s wrists and let go, blushing.

When Baekhyun looked over his shoulder on the way back, he saw Chen sneakily grab hold of Kai’s hand and lock their fingers together.

When he came home the next day, Suho and Kris seemed surprised to find them all in one piece.

“So, there weren’t any problems?” Kris confirmed.

Baekhyun smiled. “None at all. In fact, I think we solved a lot of problems, so there should be less now.”

Suho raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Baekhyun huffed and crossed his arms. “Honestly, you make it sound like looking after them is hard.” He turned around and called, “Come on kids, let’s go play!”

As he walked away, Baekhyun heard Kris mutter, “Maybe it’s because he’s more on their level mentally.”

Baekhyun chose to take that as a compliment.

(1) Chen has social anxiety, which makes it hard for him to approach other people because he fears being judged-different from general shyness.

Shyness is feeling of apprehension or awkwardness when a person is with other people, especially in new situations or with unfamiliar people.

Social anxiety is discomfort or fear when a person is in social situation and concerned about being judged or evaluated by others. It can be characterized by an intense fixation with what others are thinking about them, and they fear embarrassment, criticism, or rejection. This results in the individual feeling insecure and that they are not good enough for other people. A result of this is the assumption that peers will automatically reject them in the social situations.

I adapted thos definitions from Wikipedia. Because dictionaries just complicate things. Anyway I'm sure some of you have probably figured Chen had anxiety already. Poor kid, I torment him almost as much as Kai and Sehun.

But happy times are here because Baekhyun is bonding with the little ones!! And 2Jong are slowly becoming friends :DDDD I need to up the romance on this pairing...and we haven't had a sappy chapter in a while...

(ohohohohoho I smell fluff)