Chapter Seven

Luhan watches Chen and Tao dispassionately as Kris repeats what Luhan told him that morning. At the back of his mind is a frozen picture of one of the paramedics ushering the idols out of the bathroom hurriedly to get them out of the way. They were as wanted as mosquitoes, which made Kris and the manager indignant, but the manager was given the green light to stay by Yixing’s side. Yixing’s face is pale and his eyes are unfocused, which was an expression that did not belong on the hardworking boy’s face. Luhan thinks that the two maknaes look ready to kill Luhan for knowing and not telling them, and silently applauds them for their self-control. He did not mind much if they would put him out of his misery now. The sneezes have stopped, and his headache has eased, and he does not want to dwell on why that is so.

Tao and Chen glance at each other. The two of them communicate the least, with the language barriers erecting solid walls between them, but that does not stop them from trying. The way they look at each other with dead eyes makes Luhan think they suspected something before. “It shouldn’t have been you who went to the hospital that night,” Tao says, struggling to keep the anger from his voice.

Xiu Min and Chen stare at Tao. All of them are sitting uncomfortably in the plush chairs, pushing them close to make a circle. Only Tao is sitting on the left armrest, with his long legs propped on the other armrest. He had been fidgeting and shifting in his seat as Kris talked until he ended up there. Chen is sitting beside Luhan, but has his back fully facing Luhan against the armrest. Instead he huddles into himself, looking down at his twisted hands. It is rude and disrespectful, but Luhan doesn’t really care. He probably deserves it.

Kris notices the confusion in the air, and inwardly groans. Unlike Suho, he depends heavily on the good-nature and assumed maturity of each member to tie up any relationship problems. It has worked so far, with the language barrier working towards their favour rather than against it, as each of them relies on another to create interdependence as members and independence as a group that rarely comes so smoothly for idol groups. With their main bilingual translators – Yixing and Luhan – out of the loop, it looks like he had to shoulder responsibility for this particular conversation.

He quietly repeats what Tao has said in Korean, and Tao appears astonished for a second, before nodding. Chen looks up and seizes the opportunity of a translator to talk.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s just a feeling,” he says awkwardly, still not looking at Luhan. The boy holds grudges well. “We could all have forced Yixing-hyung to go to the doctor for a check-up.”

“He could have gone yesterday!” Tao looks at Xiu Min and Kris. He tries not to make it an accusatory glance, but he glares angrily at them anyway. The blame game has started. “As soon as you two knew!” Xiu Min starts to open his mouth in defence, shocked.

“You’ve known it for thirteen days!” bursts out Chen, overlapping what Tao was saying and interrupting Xiu Min. “And you made Yixing-hyung worry so much when you stopped talking to him!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” snaps Luhan, his face contorting at the accusation. “I just thought he was overworked too, alright? It was until the showcase a few days ago that I began to suspect, and I did ask if he was sick but he didn’t answer!”

Xiu Min, the oldest, steps in for the first time. “He didn’t know,” he says firmly in Korean, and then glances at Kris. Kris sighs, and translates, careful to use the same heavy emphasis. “Luhan thought he was going crazy, and Yixing thought he was fine. It’s no use pointing fingers now.”

“Then what do we do?” Chen asks.

“We wait,” replies Kris simply. “We’re all worried, but there’s nothing we can do.”

Luhan pauses. He really didn’t want to voice out any opinion now, but he looks around in bewilderment as the rest settle uncomfortably into their chairs. “Um. What are we going to tell EXO-K?”

This time, all of them share the same apprehensive faces.

Suho folds his arms when Tao comes in first, and by the time Kris brings up the rear, Suho has rounded on the other leader. “What the hell?” Suho asks, and the rest of EXO is reminded by the fact that Suho has survived six long years of training, so that he was technically ‘sunbae’ to all of them.

Kris pulls an equally black face, and the atmosphere becomes frightening between the two leaders.

“We heard the news,” Chanyeol interjects in his deep voice, pointing to the television. “Yixing went to the hospital?”

“How did you know?” Xiu Min asks, astonished. EXO-K’s manager came to fetch them from the airport and the van was silent.

“The News,” emphasises Chanyeol, and Baekhyun wrestles the remote away from his hand to go to their movie recordings. A news reporter greets them calmly, her voice uncomfortably loud in the silent apartment, and a picture of their album cover zooms out of the middle of the screen to reveal the scene of an ambulance speeding away into the night.

“It came on ten minutes ago,” he added.

“We didn’t know,” Kris tells Suho, “he was throwing up in the airplane, and it became worse when we arrived in Seoul.”

“Then how come Sehun knew all about it?” Suho demands and EXO-M’s eyes draw towards Luhan, whose eyes suddenly become very glassy. “He’s crying in the bathroom, and Jongin and Kyungsoo are in there trying to comfort him and find how he knew something was happening to Yixing yesterday.”

“Ask Luhan-hyung,” mutters Chen under his breath, and Kris snaps, “KIM JONGDAE.”

Chen presses his lips together, and heads towards Baekhyun, who pats the empty seat beside him reassuringly. Baekhyun puts an arm around the younger boy’s shoulders.

“Luhan?” Suho turns to the tall Chinese boy, who stands alone miserably at the door. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are quiet in the living room, unused to seeing their leader look so uncharacteristically angry and upset. Kris’s face matches, and nobody in EXO-M looks ready to give a rational explanation.

Tao goes to rewind the tape, frowning at the unfamiliar language. Baekhyun translates as much as he can, but the information is not much. An EXO-M idol was taken to the hospital straight from the airport.

“How did you know it was Yixing then?” points out Xiu Min.

“Sehun,” chorus both Baekhyun and Chanyeol together. Chanyeol continues, “Sehun said that we should call Kris or someone, because Yixing was – uhm –”

“Dead,” Baekhyun supplies very quietly.

“– And then Suho-hyung became angry,” Chanyeol continues, his volume matching Baekhyun’s as he gives his leader a sidelong glance, “and Sehun wouldn’t shut up about Luhan being sick–”

“We didn’t really understand what he was saying,” Baekhyun remarks sadly, “he just went berserk as soon as he saw the news. But then… Luhan looks okay?”

Luhan looks miserable. Suho and Kris seem to have ended their conversation, because Suho turns around to the living room. “Meeting now,” he commands, “Kyungsoo, come out of there soon.”

When they do, Sehun flies straight into Luhan’s arms, apologizing hoarsely. Luhan pats him on the back, and whispers back flatly that he should have kept everything to himself. Kyungsoo and Jongin exchange greetings with EXO-M.

“This probably sounds stupid,” Luhan starts, taking a deep breath. “But I can tell when people are dying.”

 

While Luhan talks, Kris’s and Suho’s handphones vibrate softly. They exchange glances when they see each other reaching into their respective pockets. There are only a few words from their manager

Yixing is sleeping. EXO visit tomorrow. Do not talk to the press.

EXO-K reacts remarkably less viciously than the EXO-M maknaes. Perhaps it is because they haven’t seen EXO-M for a long time, and don’t really believe Luhan. It’s better to welcome home a few distraught boys who were overly affected by the news, instead of a few angry ones with one touched in the head. They establish that Luhan caught wind of Yixing being sick sooner than the rest, and mentioned it in passing to Sehun who overreacts. All that is left is a gloomy feeling in the dormitories. Suho lost his anger ages ago, and Kris just looks tired.

Kyungsoo returned from the kitchen with Jongin, handing out comfort food. “It’s not your fault,” he reassures Luhan. “That’s what we’ve been telling Sehun, and it’s true.”

Luhan accepts his hot chocolate quietly. “Thank you.”

“We’re bunking in the living room then?” Kris asks, looking at EXO-M, and is immediately rebutted by EXO-K who willingly offer up their beds. Everyone except Jongin, but Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and offers his roommate’s bed as well.

“Why don’t we all sleep in the living room?” Chanyeol suggests in the end, his face lighting up at the prospect of a giant sleepover. Baekhyun hits him with the cushion on the couch, but everyone warms up to the idea. The coffee table is pushed aside, and an avalanche of blankets, mattresses and pillows are rolled into the living room.

“I claim the sofa,” Baekhyun says calmly, before he is pushed off by Chanyeol, whose legs are pulled back down to ground level by Kris. Chen jumps onto the couch, and pulls Suho’s arm so they both are tangled on the couch under the blankets.

“Oh go to sleep,” Kris says; his voice muffled from under the pillow he puts over his head.

 

All of them are treated to Baekhyun’s quiet whimpers for a while, before he finally sets off to dreamland. EXO-M fall asleep first, tired from jet-lag. Slowly, the rest drift off.

“I’m still angry at you,” a quiet voice whispers over the snores.

“I know,” the reply comes back almost immediately. It is distraught. “I should have –”

“But I think I’m angrier at myself –” and the second voice shuts up. “I spent nearly every night studying with him. I should have seen it too. If I couldn’t have, I can’t blame you for doubting he was sick too.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“Whoever you predicted before… He died, did he?”

There is a pregnant pause. “It doesn’t mean it’s true. It could be different for other people.”

“That’s what you’ve probably been telling yourself the last few days.” Again, silence.  Then, “are you scared?”

“Yes.”

“What would happen without Yixing-hyung?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to think about that, Chen.”

“You’ll see him tomorrow,” adds a new voice, and Kris moves his pillow away and looks up at the ceiling. “Stop it. He’s in the hospital, and he’s being taken care of. Now go to sleep.”

Kris puts the pillow back on his face.

TBC