Baekho was the only one still waiting at home for Ren. The others didn’t want to waste their time off by sitting around waiting for the maknae to have his fun, and Baekho understood that completely. But he still opted to stay home so Ren would have someone to talk to in that whisper soft voice of his. Sometimes it seemed like the only time you could hear him was when he was singing, but Baekho really didn’t mind.

He was laying back on the couch with his eyes closed, smiling as he thought of the last time he had done this while waiting for Ren. The quiet little blond had climbed right up on top of him and settled in, not saying a word. It was one of the best memories Baekho had, but he wasn’t really picky about his memories when it came to Ren. Any memory was a good one, as far as Baekho was concerned. There was no chance of bad memories with Ren.

His smile widened when he heard the door open, and he didn’t bother to get up, assuming Ren would just join him. He waited for the familiar weight to press into his torso, but the longer he waited the less confident he became that it was Ren. He was about to sigh when he heard a soft sniffle, followed by the sound of the door closing.

“B-B-Baekho?” Ren stuttered, and Baekho got up quickly, going over to the maknae.

“Hey, what happened?” He asked, his voice low and soothing. Ren sobbed, stumbling into Baekho with jerky movements. The way the younger was crying had Baekho on edge. He sounded like he’d seen a murder or something. “Ren? Hey, look at me.”

“A-aniyo!” Ren said, his voice raised as he shook his head. “I can’t look at you. I’m sorry.”

“Why can’t you look at me?” Baekho asked, his eyes wide. Ren gripped Baekho’s shirt tightly in his fingers. He tucked his head under Baekho’s chin, surprising the elder a bit. “Ren?”

“There’s bad things everywhere.” Ren said. “I can’t look at them.”

“What do you mean, jagiya?” Baekho asked, kissing Ren’s head softly.

“Mir made bad things happen.” Ren said. “He did something bad, and he made us do it too.”

“What did he make you do?” Baekho asked, and Ren tensed in his arms before dissolving completely.

“A-ani!” He all but screamed. “Ani!”

“Woah, woah!” Baekho wrapped his arms securely around Ren, and the younger practically tried to climb him. “Let’s sit on the couch.“

When he was met with no objection, Baekho led the shaking boy to the couch. Ren wouldn’t take any place that wasn’t Baekho, however, and so the elder found himself with a lapful of maknae. He pet Ren’s hair with shaking hands, utterly terrified. What the hell did Mir do to his boyfriend? He carefully slipped his phone out of his pocket and dialed Mir’s number, but got no response. He hung up and dialed Seungho, and he was almost surprised when he did answer.

“What?!” Seungho all but shouted, and Ren twitched in his lap, somewhere between sleep and consciousness.

“Mir did something to Ren.” Baekho said softly, more than a little bit intimidated by his sunbae. Seungho was quiet for a moment, then sighed.

“Yeah. Of course. He couldn’t just with one person, no, he had to with everyone.” Seungho sighed. “Look, I’m waiting for him to get home, I’m waiting for Rain to get here, and there’s really not a whole lot I can do until then. I will let you know as soon as I find out what he did.”

“Thanks.” Baekho whispered, hanging up the phone. He was only 17 years old. How was he supposed to handle this? He felt like he was going to cry as he texted Onew, telling him what was going on.

It didn’t take him long to figure out that Mir had done the same...thing...to Taemin and the Exo maknaes. He was starting to really freak out when he realized that Ren wasn’t crying anymore. He wasn’t doing anything, just laying limp against him, and he resisted the urge to shake him as he texted Onew back, all but begging for some help. He knew they had their own maknae to take care of, but Baekho wasn’t sure he could do it alone.

Salty tears slid down his cheeks as he brushed his fingers through the eerily still boys hair. He could see his chest moving up and down, but that was only a small comfort. The longer he sat, waiting for a response and wishing that someone would just jump out and say ‘April Fools!’, the harder he cried. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Ren shifted slightly, but it relaxed him some too. Ren was going to be fine, right?

His phone buzzed on the couch beside him, and it scared him so badly he nearly dropped Ren. The blond boy whined, moving slightly so he was more securely in Baekho’s lap as the elder read the text from Onew, saying Jonghyun was on his way. He sighed in relief, so focused on making sure Ren was ok he didn’t even notice when the object of his thoughts leaned up a bit until he felt the feather light kisses on the side of his neck.

That was new.

“Ren, are you ok?” Baekho asked, trying to lean out of the intimate touch. Ren was silent for a long time.

“I...wanted to kiss you...” Ren said, sounding hurt and upset. Baekho’s heart squeezed, and he turned his face toward the maknae. They stared at each other for a long time, and finally Ren leaned up and pressed his lips to the elders. It wasn’t their first kiss, but Ren seemed really shy about it. He slipped his eyes closed again, relaxing against Baekho.

“Can you tell me what Mir did?” Baekho asked, and Ren took a minute to process what he was saying. When it clicked, he shook his head. “Why not?”

“Because I did it too.” Ren said. “I said no, but he made me, but...I still should’ve just kept saying no.”

“It’s fine. I just need to know how to take care of you.” Baekho insisted, but Ren shook his head.

“You’re going to hate me.” Ren said stubbornly. Baekho sighed.

“I could never hate you.” He said. Ren shook his head adamantly.

“I can’t.” Ren insisted, his voice feather light. Baekho his hair softly, trying to figure out what the hell Mir could have made them all do that would make Ren think he deserved to be hated. He couldn’t think of a single thing, and it was bothering him a lot.

He nearly had a heart attack when there was a knock at the door, and he tried to scoot Ren onto the couch so he could go let Jonghyun in, but Ren refused to let go. Baekho sighed, lifting the boy like a child and letting his head rest on his shoulder while he made his way to the door. Jonghyun’s eyes were huge when he took in the sight of them, and reached forward to help steady Baekho’s footing.

“Did he tell you anything?” Jonghyun asked, his tone slightly hopeful.

Baekho shook his head, his watery eyes leaking. Jonghyun sighed and ushered them out to his car. It ended up being a very difficult ride, because the second Baekho tried to put Ren in the back seat the blonde's eyes shot open. If Baekho had ever seen a more horrified expression in his life, he couldn’t recall it.

“Ren..” Baekho called softly, trying to soothe him. The boy in question burst into tears, and Baekho ended up sliding into the back with him, having a short battle with him over the seat belt.

For some reason Baekho couldn’t fathom, Ren seemed completely convinced that the seatbelt was going to kill him, so Baekho had to keep his hands under the belt. The only issue with that, was Ren wanted to cuddle as well, and Baekho was having a hard time positioning himself exactly how Ren wanted. He couldn’t possibly have been more relieved in his entire life than when he heard the car shut off, and he was able to unbuckle his maknae.

Upon entering the dorm they were met with hoards of people in the hallway, most of whom were members of Exo. Baekho adjusted his hold on Ren, a bit embarrassed that other than his emotional maknae, he was the youngest there. He was grateful with he spotted Kris, and followed the leader into the dorm so he could sit down with Ren. He was a little surprised to see how tightly Kai was clinging to Kris, but given the circumstances he understood. He was more than a little freaked out himself.

“Where are they?” An angry, deep voice sounded. Baekho looked up quickly, just in time to see Rain dragging Mir into the building.